Archive: http://www.fanworkrecs.com
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, I just play with them for non-profit fun until they run screaming back to their creators.
Warnings: AU - AAAAAAAAAAAU. Some yaoi, lemon, violence, language. You should be a legal adult to read this. Open-mindedness helps, too.
Pairings: all over the map; Duo-centric. yaoi and het.
Author's Notes: A huge helping of "suspension of disbelief" would be appropriate before you read this. I'm sure J or G could explain the science behind it, but they're kinda dead right now...
Part 5 ~ Scraps (cont'd)
Duo tried to ignore the painful lump in his throat at the thought of Heero marrying Relena. It was stupid! In this universe, he and Heero weren't even partners, let alone lovers. Hell, his alter ego was married, too. He should just forget about it and go with the flow.
But his throat was still tight with loss as he reached for the computer again, bringing up the next vid-log.
Duo paced back and forth in front of the screen, his braid whipping around at every turn. "I went back tonight to have a little 'chat' with Wheat when there were fewer people around. I fully intended to find out *everything* he knew about his buyer. But when I got there, I found him sitting in his office chair with a surprised expression on his face and two nice neat bullet holes in the centre of his forehead. Very clean, very professional.
"And the gundanium he had stored is gone..."
A tired-looking Duo spoke quietly to the camera. "I found out that Wheat sent the gundanium off-colony the very day he was murdered. It went out as a shipment of hazardous waste, headed for a refining facility on GMF-4812. I haven't been able to track it any further yet.
"With L2 pretty well stripped of gundanium - well, except for the bit I've managed to put away - it's not too likely I'll be able to make any more headway here.
"Sooooooooo, I've talked my way into a berth on the Aloha, one of the Sweeper's freight haulers. I had to tell them I really needed the money - which is true - but now they're all worried about me. It's nice of them, but it'll be kinda inconvenient when I have to sneak off and do some poking around.
"The bad news is that the round trip to each port in the Earth Sphere will take about 4 months." He frowned unhappily. "I *really* don't want to have to leave my family for that long, but I won't find out anything more unless I go have a look firsthand. And I couldn't live with myself if it turned out that I could have stopped this, but just didn't make the effort."
Duo slowly massaged his forehead with his fingers, his hands half-covering his face. "Wheat's shipment of hazardous waste - the vessel it was on had some sort of catastrophic navigational failure and got sucked into Venus' gravity well. The ship was lost with all hands, burning up during the descent into the atmosphere.
He lowered his arms and looked up at the camera. "'Lost with all hands.' That means that they either didn't have time to react to their ship veering wildly off course and shredding to pieces, or they were somehow incapacitated. Guess which one I'm betting on...
"And hey - what a shock! - not one of the 'waste' containers was recovered! Imagine that!
"Whoever this buyer is, he's just killed 6 innocent people."
"The situation here on L1 is much the same as on L2. There's no gundanium to be had; the scraps are long gone, there's no smelter here to create more, and there aren't any shipments scheduled to arrive."
Duo's eyes glittered, his whole posture radiating frustration and anger. "From what I can tell in two days, there's almost no gundanium here on Earth. There was never a lot of it, since it had to be ordered specially from one of the zero-G alloy smelters in space, but now there's virtually nothing left and no way to get more.
"And why is that?"
"Oh, because the gundanium recycling plant that used to be on the moon - *used* to be, up to, let's see..." he looked at his watch, "about 4 hours ago - has been destroyed by a freak meteor storm...
"Luckily, the moon base detected the swarm approaching, and they were able to evacuate everyone before it arrived."
He laughed a little bitterly. "Ya know, I have to admit that when I heard that, the first thing I thought of was, 'Hey, with everyone out of the way, a quick and clever thief could nip in and steal as much gundanium as he could manage before the storm hit!'
"Now, having the nasty, suspicious mind that I have, I gotta wonder if that meteor swarm was even natural. I know that it's possible for a ship to slingshot a rock with enough force to simulate a meteor strike, but to create a storm like that would take dozens of ships working together..."
He paused, thinking. "So, a fleet of ships, piloted by people that the gundanium-hog trusts. Or people that he figures are expendable. And that same fleet of ships would speed the loading of the gundanium, to get it out of the recycling facility before it was hit.
"It could be Heero or Wufei - or His Imperial Blondness for that matter - using Peacekeepers either sworn to secrecy or about to suffer a series of 'strange and tragic accidents'.
"Or it could be Quatre and his Maguanacs. They're still fanatically loyal, and they would probably volunteer for anything he asked of them. And no matter how evil it seemed on the surface, they would probably trust him enough to wait for months for an explanation."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs, resting his forehead on the heel of his palm. "I tried to get a hold of Heero, but he's off on a trip somewhere. Relena said he's been really busy lately, traveling all over the Earth Sphere for his latest secret mission. Of course, she couldn't give me any details, but I gotta admit I'm a little worried. What's he been up to lately, and where has he gone?"
"Wufei was pretty busy, too, but we had a bit of a yak. I asked about Milliardo... I didn't find out much beyond that he's fine," a little grin brightened his face as he remembered, "and that Wu-man is still sickeningly in love with him. In his own way, he's even worse than Quatre and Trowa were right after the war!
"But as far as the gundanium thefts go, as ruler of the entire Earth Sphere, Milliardo's schedule is always full and pretty public. I doubt he would have enough time or privacy to be personally involved. Of course, that doesn't mean he isn't *ordering* it to be done. And if he is pulling the strings, I have no clue if Wufei knows about it.
"As for Wufei himself, he didn't seem at all stilted or nervous when I brought up the topic of the recent 'disaster' on the moon. He seemed... well, he reacted exactly as I would have expected, if it were nothing more than a meteor storm. He didn't seem overly upset, or too casual..."
He threw his hands up into the air. "Aaaaaaah, I'm trying to analyze this too much! Now I'm thinking that his very lack of suspicious behaviour is suspicious!" He snorted, and reached out to end the recording
Duo paused the playback and gathered his wits. So Relena wasn't the Empress, Zechs (or Milliardo) was the Emperor. And he apparently had a relationship going with Wufei.
Duo tried to picture Wufei as 'sickeningly in love' with anybody, and failed miserably. He snickered, thinking about it. He bet Wufei would look really silly with a sappy look on his face.
Probably as foolish as Heero would, looking at Relena.
He sobered, but the thought was less painful this time. Heero was involved enough with Relena that she was answering his calls when he was away.
He sighed. OK, so be it. Get over it. And get on with it. He turned back to the vid-logs.
"The spot that Wufei's colony used to inhabit at L5 is now a floating scrapyard. The overlapping gravity fields from the sun and Earth ensure that the junk stays more or less in the same area, but still... it's kinda creepy. It's like space itself keeps the bits and pieces together as a reminder. I wonder if Wufei ever comes back here...
He shook his head slightly and continued in a firmer tone, "Anyway, I took a runabout and used its sensors to sweep the area. Surprise, surprise! There's no gundanium left. At least whoever is behind all this wouldn't have had to have killed anyone to get it. At least I hope not...""L4 is up next. It would look strange if I didn't send word to Quatre that I'm coming, so I'll do that, and hope that he responds with his standard 'come and stay as long as you're in port' invitation. I hate to abuse his hospitality, but the opportunity to snoop around his mansion and maybe his office is too good to pass up. I just hope..." he paused, looking sad.
"I want to stop this bastard, I do. But I also don't want to find any evidence. I don't want it to be one of my friends."
"This evening has been... interesting.
"Quatre responded as I thought he would, and I'm here in one of the guest quarters of his mansion. Q-ball is looking good - fit, alert, not too over-worked. He said Trowa's been making sure he doesn't get too stressed."Duo laughed. "I may have to take back what I said about Wufei and Milliardo! Quat and Tro are giving them a run for their money in the 'lovey-dovey' competition. Trowa's loosened up a lot since the last time I saw him. He's more publicly affectionate than I've ever seen him. It's good.
"They were both relaxed and cheerful... and I just can't reconcile that attitude with cold-bloodedly murdering ships' crews for the sake of a new gundam.
"What worries me is this: for any one of us to be driven enough to want to reconstruct a gundam, we'd have to be *really* unhappy, or pissed off about *something*! But things are quiet throughout the Earth Sphere, and all the guys seem content with their lives..."
"Well... I don't have any reason to speak to His Majesty privately, so I can't judge him for sure. But I've seen some clips of the more recent speeches he's given. 'Fei is always there, and they always smile at each other when they think no one is looking. They look... happy.
"But..." he bit his lip, "I haven't been able to talk to Heero. He's been gone on some mission since I first went to Earth. Relena just says it's highly classified, but she let it slip that he hasn't called her since he left. I gotta admit I'm worried.
"I know he's been given pretty well free rein to do as he sees fit - he reports directly to His Majesty, and I would guess he has the highest clearance. He could requisition ships and pilots, whatever he needs...
"I just can't figure out *why* he would do it. He's come out of the shell he had around himself during the war; I can't see him wanting to go ba-"
Duo hit the pause key and listened carefully. He could hear slight noises coming from the front door. He closed the file and popped the diskette out, slipping it into his pocket. Then he took up position by the short wall separating the living room from the entryway. His hand itched for the reassuring feel of a gun.
The front door opened; soft footsteps entered and the door closed quietly again. The whisper of material sliding against itself came to his ears, along with a muted "ooof".
He smiled. He would recognize that little exclamation anywhere. "Hilde," he said, stepping around the corner.
She jumped a foot, whirling in midair and squeaking out a tiny scream. "Aaaaaaahh!!! Duo!!!!! Don't DO that!!" She smacked him on the shoulder and glared at him. He grinned back, relieved that it was her and not some faceless psychotic pilot.
Her frown melted into a smile and she stepped forward to slide her arms around his waist.
He stiffened a little before remembering that she thought they were married - no, they were married. He relaxed into the embrace, wrapping his own arms around her. He had to act the way his alter ego would.
"Ohhhhhhh, that feels good. I need this." She squeezed tighter for a moment, snuggling in under his chin. Then she released him and stepped back, grabbing one of his hands and tugging him down the hallway after her.
"Helen's still asleep?" she asked softly as they passed their daughter's door.
"Yeah," he answered, following her into the bedroom.
"Well, the auction was a disaster from beginning to end." She let go of his hand and went to the chest of drawers, kicking off her shoes.
"Ah, that's too bad." He sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, prepared to listen to her talk about her day.
"First of all, the catalogue wasn't printed up in time, so no one knew what material was coming up next," Hilde said, shrugging off her suit jacket and laying it on the end of the bed.
Duo's eyes widened as he realized that she intended to change her clothing in front of him. He was prepared to listen, yes; prepared to see her undressing as she talked, definitely no.
He sat up quickly, intending to swing his legs to the floor so he could bolt from the room, but then he realized that his alter ego wouldn't do that. His alter ego would probably sit back and enjoy the show. His alter ego was a jerk.
Hilde looked over, a little surprised at his abrupt movement. He had to act normal, to avoid awkward questions that he simply couldn't answer with lies. He forced himself to ease back against the wall. "What a pain," he said, hoping it was an appropriate comment to whatever it was she had said last.
She nodded, her hands going to the buttons on her blouse. "No kidding! And of course Burrows and Losten started blaming each other for the oversight, instead of sitting down and working out a listing..." The two halves of the blouse fell apart slightly, revealing a strip of pale flesh from her throat to her waist, intersected by a lacy bra. A black lacy bra.
Duo swallowed and dragged his gaze away. He really shouldn't be seeing this. It was his alter ego that was married to Hilde, not him. He just happened to be inside his body right now. And that body was starting to react to what was probably a familiar and welcome sight.
He sat up a bit more and bent his knees, resting his folded arms across them. He hoped like hell he looked more casual than he felt.
"Are you listening to me?"
With a sinking heart he realized that if he kept looking away, he would end up in the middle of a nasty argument. He really didn't want to get into a fight...
"Um, yeah, babe," he offered her a bright smile, looking rather desperately at nothing lower than her face. "Burrows and Losten were blaming each other for the missing list."
"Yes, and they spent so much time yelling at each other that..."
Oh, this was ridiculous. He couldn't stare into her eyes the entire time, she would notice there was something wrong. What if he let his gaze drift down, then over to the end of the bed? Then he could frown as if deep in thought while he kept his gaze safely on his own feet.
And even if he did see something he shouldn't, well, she didn't know he wasn't her husband, so she wouldn't be embarrassed. And he shouldn't be embarrassed, because he'd just discovered he was gay, so the sight wouldn't affect him at all. Right? Right.
His eyes flicked downwards and oh, shit, she was slipping out of her pants, her slender legs coming slowly into view. Despite his best intentions, he was riveted.
The blouse was just long enough in front to cover the junction of her thighs, but he could catch the briefest glimpse of a set of matching lacy black panties as she lifted first one foot, then the other, out of the pant legs.
He couldn't take his eyes off her as she slowly paced across the room to hang up the suit in the closet. With every step, her hips twitched to the side and the blouse rode up a bit and exposed an enticing view of a shadowed inner thigh and the high-cut black panties clinging to her pert little behind. He could feel sweat breaking out in tiny pinpricks all over his body.
"And when the auction finally started..."
When she reached the closet she turned her back and stretched up to take a hanger. The blouse slipped up to her waist and he was looking dizzily at her rounded ass, daintily outlined in black lace. He almost moaned aloud as his erection hardened fully, sending urgent messages to the rest of his body. He found his hands kneading empty air and his hips twitching up in little thrusts.
Hilde turned around, still talking, and he froze. To his intense relief and slightly insulted masculine pride, she didn't seem to notice his raging arousal.
"So they didn't even get to our lots, and I'll have to go back tomorrow..."
She waved her hands, the gestures pulling her blouse apart a little bit more. He licked his lips, his gaze drawn to the gentle swell of her breasts and the way the black lace contrasted so delightfully against her pale skin.
"And then the aliens came and demanded a sacrifice of three rubber boots, a Christmas tree and a box of chocolates."
"Oh?" he said into the expectant space, trying desperately to figure out if the tiny peak he could see on each smooth curve was just an extra bit of lace, or something more intimately fascinating..
"Yes. And His Imperial Majesty announced today that the entire L2 colony has been deeded to a cat."
"Uh-huh." They were nipples, he was almost certain. If he could get her to lift her arms...
"A black Persian cat named Fluffles."
"Yeah..."
The sudden silence alerted him, and he jerked his gaze up to her face, cheeks flaming with mortification as he realized he'd been caught staring.
Hilde was shaking her head slowly, her eyes dancing. "Well, I can't complain that you don't make me feel appreciated..."
She sauntered to the edge of the bed and put one slender hand on his shoulder, pushing his upper body back against the wall. With a quick move she was straddling his hips, rubbing her bottom back into his groin.
"Oooooh... You have the most wonderful way of improving my mood, Duo Maxwell."
End Page 9
(:./wingnut/alter9)
