04-Aug-2003
17-Dec-2005
Title: The X Faction 7/?
Author: Kitty Chou
Archive: GW Addiction, raygunworks.net
Category: AU, Yaoi, Angst, OOC-ness (depending on how you think of the guys
thinking)
Pairing: 1x2, 3x4, 5+H (look, I changed it from '+' to 'x'... oooohhhh)
Disclaimer: *clears throat* I do not in any way, shape, or form own Gundam
Wing or its wonderful characters! I just pull them out to play and then
clean them up and put them back when I'm done! I'm making no money and if
you sue me you will receive no money because *shock* I have none. And I
don't own Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, though you're clever if you catch that
one.
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, yaoi, angst, violence, lime
Spoilers: Well, if you don't know who won on the show, then yes.
Author's Notes: You know, sometimes I think Fazoli's is just too slow and expensive
to be worth it. But then, maybe I'm just a Taco Bell kind of girl. My semester is
over! Yay! I now have two weeks for writing!
Feedback: Please send feedback! ARNIE HUNGRY!!!
Duo was in the Control Room when Heero confronted him that evening. He was working at the one of the consoles, attempting to hack into the Foreign Ministry database and cursing loudly when the firewall repeatedly threw him out. He was starting to worry that this system might crack his fake ISP numbers. When the door opened, he paid no attention to it, but jumped when Heero spoke.
"I thought you were supposed to be resting?" Heero questioned softly in an amused tone.
Duo whipped around, flushing from having been caught off his guard. "Don't DO that!" he shouted at Heero, adjusting his glasses, which had slid down his nose when he jumped. Heero imagined that if he still had his braid, it would have puffed out like the tail of a startled cat. "And no, I don't need to rest. Quatre is just being overprotective of me. What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I was curious to see how many people you kept in the Control Room at night," he shrugged in reply. "I assumed there would be more than one."
"Oh," Duo said lamely, turning back to the console. A strained silence filled the room, broken only by Duo's nervously erratic typing.
"Duo," Heero spoke into the silence, causing the typing to falter.
"Don't," Duo broke in forcefully, his posture stiff and uninviting.
"You don't know what I'm going to say," Heero chided him.
"Yes, I do. So don't say it." They fell into silence once more, Duo curses breaking it every now and then as he became increasingly frustrated by his failure to hack the system. Curious, Heero moved closer, looking down at the screen Duo was working off.
"Would you like me to try?" he asked, gesturing at the console.
"What, you don't think I can do it?" Duo retorted, glaring at him.
"Are you going to snap at everything I say tonight?"
"No," Duo sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry. This security system is just pissing me off. Go ahead and try."
Heero nodded and took his seat when Duo stood, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Almost at once he began hacking into the mainframe, bypassing security and breaking code with an uncanny speed. Duo leaned over his shoulder with a gasp, his eyes wide with shock as the Foreign Ministry security system fell without so much as a dying wail.
"What...? How the hell did you do that, Yuy?" Duo demanded.
"I designed the system," Heero replied indifferently, shrugging. "Most of it is still my programming. Very little of it is new."
"Oh of course!" Duo slapped a palm to his forehead and leaned back against the control panel with a groan. "I should have known that you would have designed the system! You did work for the girl after all! Damn... I knew I should have just uploaded ARNIE..."
"What is ARNIE?" Heero asked, his eyes scanning across the screen as he searched through the database.
"Automatic Retrieval Network for Incriminating Evidence. But basically, it's designed to disable security systems so we can get all the information we need. Specifically, it's designed to take down the really tough systems, most of which are either designed by you or clever knockoffs designed by you. The downside is that sometimes... "
"It kills more than the security," Heero finished.
"Which is why I didn't use it on the Foreign Ministry mainframe. The last thing we need is a premature start to a war we can avoid. I'll tell you one thing though, ARNIE acts as a nice defensive program for our own database...as you found out," Duo drifted off quietly, looking away. "Sorry about your laptop, Heero. I know how much it meant to you."
"It's just a machine," Heero replied indifferently. "I'll just make a new one."
"Just a machine?" Duo asked incredulously. "Who are you and what have you done with Heero Yuy? That 'machine' was practically your technological love child!"
"I'll make a new one," he repeated, before fishing something out of his jacket pocket and placing it beside him on the console beside Duo. "I have all I need."
"Heero... " Duo breathed, running his fingers over the square of plastic bearing his silly little painting. "You kept this?"
"Yes," Heero answered quietly. His typing slowed for a moment, but before he could turn toward Duo, something caught his eye. "Duo, look at this."
Heero opened a file labeled 'Project Omega Freeze'. Inside were detailed plans for a mobile doll, codenamed Delta, to be mass-produced on Earth. Further searching brought forth the location of the base.
"The old Antarctica base?" Duo exclaimed in surprise. "I thought it was destroyed!"
"It was," Heero frowned. "Relena... must have had it rebuilt for the mobile suit production." It was still hard for him to believe that Relena was really behind all of this.
"I can't believe it!" Duo cried out. "You've been here less than a day and you've already found the damn base of operations! You're unbelievable!" Duo grinned at him from his position over Heero's shoulder, receiving an answering smirk in return. His grin faded however when it became increasingly obvious how close they were to one another.
He spun away suddenly, walking towards the door with a false smile on his face. "Well now that we know where the dolls are I think I'll go hit the sack. After all, I'm supposed to be resting and if Quatre finds out I'm not he'll-"
"Duo," Heero interrupted, getting to his feet.
"No," Duo said firmly. "We're not doing this." He turned to leave.
"Why do you keep running away from me?" Heero demanded.
Duo stopped dead and spun around hotly. "Why the hell did you run in the first place?" he shouted, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
Neither of them moved, staring at one another as they locked in a silent contest of wills. Heero broke first and looked away. "I'm sorry," he apologized softly.
"No," Duo sighed dejectedly, deflating and sagging slightly. "I'm sorry. I-I was always biased when it came to Relena. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard.
"Before we... Before I joined the Preventers, I worked with Hilde at the salvage yard. One day I was working on the engine of an old mobile suit. Relena came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, but I hadn't heard her, so I jumped and my braid caught in the gears. I had this system where I hooked the starter up to a remote device so I wouldn't have to climb around to the cockpit to start the engine...so when she startled me I hit the button on accident and started the damn thing. It was a good thing I had my knife on me or I... wouldn't be 'ahead' in life, that's for sure." He laughed self-deprecatingly, running his hand over his long ponytail, his mind still expecting the feel of a much longer braid even now.
"The funny thing is, Relena didn't apologize or anything, though she was startled too. She just looked at me and logically asked why I would work with such a hazardous vanity. And as much as she pissed me off that day, she was right. So I quit the salvage business since I'd obviously lost my touch and joined up with the Preventers. Cutting off the nose to spite the face, you might say... "
"That's why you never let it grow back out?" Heero asked unnecessarily.
"Nah, I like this length okay," he chuckled, running his hand over his hair again. "Besides, in a weird way, it would be letting her win."
Heero nodded in understanding, then frowned as something came to him. "What was Relena doing there?"
"Oh," Duo laughed. "She was looking for you."
A small smile played upon his lips before a shadow of guilt came over him. "I... I should have listened to you. If I had, then Quatre wouldn't have... "
"No, Heero," Duo told him resolutely. "If you had listened to me, then both you and Quatre would be dead and we wouldn't know about the conspiracy. I'm...it's horrible of me, but I'm so glad Quatre did what he did. If he hadn't, you would be dead and I... I couldn't bear that... " Duo drifted off, looking away as his eyes glimmered with unshed tears that he quickly wiped at.
Moving forward, Heero took Duo by the shoulders, pulling him forward. "I'm not dead," he whispered, their lips barely touching. "I won't die." Heero leaned forward, his lips sliding over Duo's in a slow, searching heat. Even though they had kissed frequently, and fervently, in the past, it was almost like the first time again. The first time Heero tasted Duo's coffee breath as it left him in small, steamy puffs of air. The first time Duo felt the thin scar on Heero's upper lip slide sensuously against his mouth with the faint hint of stubble on his chin. The first time their bodies pressed gently against one another, rocking and rubbing in a slow instinctive passion.
Coming suddenly to his senses, Duo pulled away sharply, backing up into a table with a hand pressed to his lips as though he'd been burned there. "What the hell, Heero? You can't just break into my evil lair and waltz in here in the dead of night to kiss me like... THAT!"
Heero came forward again, trapping Duo against the table and placing his palm on the small of his back. Sliding his other hand around the back of Duo's neck, he pulled their mouths together again, lips crashing together this time in a fire rekindled. Duo struggled, bringing his hands up to push halfhearted at Heero, but his resistance crumbled when Heero slid his tongue along his upper lip. Simultaneously, they sighed in pleasure, their breath mingling as their tongues slid together, rubbing languidly against one another.
After several long moments, Heero pulled back, breathing heavily as he stared into Duo's rather lust glazed eyes. "Why not?" he countered huskily to Duo's all but forgotten outburst. Leaning forward, he rubbed against the side of Duo's face, nuzzling his ear tenderly with the slight rasp of near stubble.
"What?" Duo gasped, tilting his head into the sensation. "Oh... I... I can't remember..."
Heero laughed softly, moving back to kiss Duo again. "Good," he whispered against his lips. Bending him backwards, Heero swiped an arm across the table, sending a flurry of maps and charts carelessly to the floor.
"God, I've missed you."
Quatre put his head in his hands with a sigh. He hadn't found out nearly as much as he had hoped to on Mars. True, they now knew about the battleship, if Tembin was indeed the reincarnation of Libra, but they still didn't know if Zechs and Noin were involved. It was almost certain they were, being the head of the Mars Development Project, but it was possible they were blind to the real situation.
Although Zechs was Relena's brother, as far as Quatre knew she still believed him dead. It was unlikely that Noin was involved, as she was dedicated to keeping the peace and had a very level head. Besides that, they were both Preventers, and Une would have detained them if they were somehow plotting against the Earth Sphere Alliance. That meant Relena was heading the development of Tembin through a third party. But who was the third party?
His door chimed, breaking him out of his reverie. Raising his head, he scrubbed at his eyes tiredly before answering. "Door open," he called receiving a ding in reply as the computer system registered his command and opened the door.
Trowa stepped through the doorway, but stopped there, looking decidedly uneasy about being in Quatre's private quarters. Hope and dread flared inside Quatre, drying his mouth for a moment before he could greet the tall man.
"Good evening, Trowa! What are you doing up at this hour? I imagine tomorrow is going to be very busy, so you should get some-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Trowa quietly broke in.
Quatre sighed and closed his eyes briefly, the dread spreading hollowly over the hope in his chest. "Should I have, Trowa? You made it rather clear that you wanted nothing to do with me." Trowa looked away with a pained expression, causing Quatre to sigh again. "I'm sorry. You should go, I feel I'm rather bad company at the moment."
"I did," Trowa said gently. "I did...want you."
Frowning, Quatre looked at the man before him. "Generally, Trowa," he began carefully, "when you want someone, you don't run away right before you kiss them."
"I know I... I thought..." Trowa broke off before sighing in defeat. "You deserved better. You still deserve better."
If Quatre could have reached, he probably would have slapped Trowa. As it was, he radiated his displeasure as he wheeled forward, glaring balefully. "How dare you. Who are you to decide what I do or don't deserve?" he asked, his tone low and even, but angry. "Don't I deserve to be happy? Don't I deserve to be in love? Damn it, Trowa! I'm not some glass idol you need to put on a pedestal! My cloth was stained as red as yours! I've killed, Trowa! I've murdered countless people, innocent people! So have you, I understand that! We've killed and we've suffered and for once can't we have a bit of happiness?"
Trowa shook his head, not meeting Quatre's eyes as he turned towards the door. "No. You don't understand, Quatre. You don't understand at all."
"Close and lock door!" Quatre shouted, effectively trapping them inside as the computer bolted the panel. "I'm not letting you run away again, Trowa. Not because you have some need to keep me unattainable to your desires. You can't ‘taint' me, Trowa. Only I can do that."
"But I can!" Trowa shouted, hitting his fist against the door in frustration. "I can ruin you, Quatre! I can hurt you. I-"
"No, Trowa," he replied quietly, calmly. "You can't hurt me by loving me. But if you leave me now, like this, you will hurt me. Do you love me?"
"I'm not," Trowa whispered brokenly, resting his forehead against the smooth metal panel before him. "I'm not Trowa."
"Oh, fucking hell!" Quatre shouted in exasperation, throwing up his hands in frustration. Trowa turned and looked back at him in surprise, having never before heard the blond curse. "I don't care if you call yourself Doctor Death, Destroyer of Worlds! Do you or do you not love me, Trowa Barton?!"
"I love you, but-"
"Good," Quatre cut him off firmly, moving forward until the foot rests of his wheelchair pressed against Trowa's shins. "So shut up and kiss me already." And reaching forward, he snagged the front of Trowa's shirt in his fist and yanked the man down to him. Trowa put up no resistance the moment his lips touched Quatre's bracing himself on the arms of his chair.
Their movements were desperate from being denied so long as their mouths clashed together, teeth knocking and noses bumping with the unfamiliarity as lovers. They learned each other quickly enough, their lips melding together with the hunger of new passion. Overwhelmed, Trowa groaned as he sank to his knees before Quatre, resting his hands on the blonde man's thighs. One of Quatre's hands wound itself into his hair, the other still fisted in his shirt. Their fervent kisses slowed, becoming soft and wet, eventually leaving them a hairsbreadth apart, panting heavily.
Their eyes sought each other and Trowa smiled gently, bringing fourth a bright and breathy laugh from his counterpart. A smile still on his face, Trowa captured Quatre's lips again, sliding his hands up his legs to rest behind his hips, squeezing lightly. Quatre had swayed him with a kiss.
The smiling, happy kisses soon heated again into a mutual claiming, bringing forth breathy moans and panted words that never formed. Words were no longer necessary now. Slowly, Quatre parted his weak legs and moved them to wrap lightly around the kneeling man. Getting the message, Trowa pulled him forward and off the wheelchair to rest upon his lap. Shakily, he straightened to stand again with Quatre holding on, their mouths still passionately engaged. He nudged the chair out of the way, moving them to Quatre's bed to lay with his lover.
"I love you."
"Oh good, I'm not the only one not getting laid tonight."
Wufei looked up irritably from his late night snack, which happened to be a modest bowl of vanilla ice cream mixed with a healthy amount of blackberry jam. Leaning in the doorway to the kitchen was Hilde, grinning broadly at him with one dark blue eyebrow arched. She had changed out of uniform into a white tank top and pair of flannel pajama bottoms, which bore a pattern that looked suspiciously like ice skating bunnies in ballerina costumes. Wufei himself had borrowed less exciting sleepwear from Duo, as he had refused to let anyone to bring his ship in to dock.
"What do you want, woman?" he asked her, annoyed at having been caught in his secret indulgence.
Hilde laughed as she walked to the freezer, sticking her head inside. "The same thing you want, MAN," she replied sarcastically, popping out of the freezer again with a pint of triple chocolate ice cream in her hand. "To eat ice cream and brood over a man I can never have while said man has sex in the Control Room with the asshole who smashed his heart into itty bitty bloody pieces."
"What?" he asked, the shock clear on his face.
She gave him the look. "Oh please. Don't play innocent with me." Leaning against the counter as her ice cream warmed in the microwave, she folded her arms knowingly. "I've known you were in love with Duo from the moment I first met you. The cute ones are always gay... "
"No, I meant- I am not gay," Wufei protested firmly, setting down his spoon loudly. "I am not attracted to men."
"But you are in love with Duo," she insisted, pointing her own spoon at him as she pulled it from the drawer. "Love is more than just sex, Wufei. Sex is just the fun part."
"I am not... I don't..." Frowning, he trailed off as everything suddenly spun into doubt. Sighing, he sank a hand into his hair irritably, as it hung loose about his face. "Do you enjoy tormenting people this late at night?"
"Oh yes," Hilde smirked rather triumphantly, retrieving her now softened ice cream and pulling up a stool to join him at the high kitchen counter. "People don't fight back nearly as much and they're always that much more mortified in the morning. You know, that looks absolutely revolting."
Caught off guard by the sudden change in subject, Wufei looked down at his bowl. "It tastes good," he said, defending his ice cream as he pulled it closer.
She raised an eyebrow at him again. "They're two entirely different food types. How can it be good?"
"Do you eat ketchup with your eggs like-?" he stopped, refusing to say Duo's name now.
"That's an entirely different matter, Mr. Chang," she protested. "Ketchup goes with everything."
"So does blackberry jam," he insisted, scooping up another spoonful.
"It doesn't go with ketchup," she pointed out smugly, her spoon hovering as though tempted to snatch some of Wufei's treat. Noticing this, he brought the bowl even closer to himself, wrapping a protective arm around it. Hilde pouted at this. "Oh come on! How can you prove that you're right unless I try it?"
Wufei considered this and decided that was logical, which irritated him, but he knew when to admit defeat. Using his own spoon, he scooped up a small amount and offered it to her.
"That's your spoon," she objected, looking warily at the proffered spoon as if it held some toxic substance.
"Your spoon has cookie dough ice cream on it," he stated.
Hilde rolled her dark eyes. "Men. Alright, I'll eat your cooties," she sighed, leaning forward to wrap her lips around the spoon. Sitting back, she made a little noise of pleasure and smiled at him. "Hey, that's pretty damn good!" She leaned forward again and opened her mouth expectantly.
"What?" he asked warily, leaning away from her with the bowl now cradled protectively against his chest.
"Feed me!" she demanded, her mouth still open expectantly.
"I'm not going to feed you my ice cream!"
"Why not?" Hilde asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Because it's MY ice cream!"
"Please..." she pouted, giving him her best doe eyes.
"Go make your own," he looked away gruffly, having an acute weakness for puppy dog looks, which was exactly how he ended up with a pair of pugs, Sally and Po. His elderly neighbor in the apartment across from his own was currently watching them. Hilde was far harder to resist, as her eyes were neither wide set or ‘buggy' as the pug's namesake liked to call them.
"Wufei..." she whined pitifully, reaching forward to trail her nails lightly up his arm. He jerked under the faint tickling sensation and looked at her again. She pouted at full strength, her eyes watering with crocodile tears. Sighing in defeat, he scooped out some more ice cream and fed it to her, causing her to smile brilliantly and sigh again in pleasure.
Something alarming stirred in Wufei and he suddenly set down his bowl, pushing back his stool as he got to his feet. "You can finish it. I am going back to bed," he told a startled Hilde brusquely. "Goodnight."
"Wufei," Hilde called, halting him. "You know, someday you might just get lucky and find yourself a female Duo. Or you could just clone him with a sex change for your own perverse desires... "
Turning slightly, he nodded at her, admitting a lot of things he couldn't say aloud even as he completely ignored the last part. A small smile graced his lips as he exited the kitchen, listening to the sound of Hilde happily finishing his ice cream.
"I just might."
End Part 7
Next Chapter: The morning after.
(:./kitty/faction7)
