Hi peoples! *waves* i've started yet another fic! *hears groans* Hey - I'm working on Starting Over Again Part 3, and realm of Dreams Part 4 but my muse came up and booted me in the head with an idea for an EPIC!!! I ain't done one of these in a long time. *grins in maniac anticipation*
Please, please, PLEASE tell me what you think - I'm so nervous about this thing it's making me sweat! I've never done a serious crossover before and I want it to be done as cleanly, seriously and believably as possible - that's why such a long intro and little action in part one - there's going to be so much happening once the G-boys arrive in the Marvel world but I want it coherent and interesting. Any comments, suggestions, critiques and what not are begged for!
DISCLAIMER: There is no connection between me and anthing pertaining to Gundam Wing *hides Duo's leash* except complete awe for the people who own the copywrites. This is done purely for entertainment.
Title: Into The Heart Of Darkness
Parts: Prologue, part 1 and part 1b of ?
Author: Stormy
Warnings: Angst, sap - this is just the beginning though.
Pairings: 3x4 established but not mentioned - yet. 1x2 - we're getting there! 5x? later on.
Archive: Jacky's page (addy's in the sig) and whoever else wants it!
Thanking you all very much in advance for reading!
(Year: 195, Location: the outskirts of the Sank Kingdom)
" Oi Heero!" Duo Maxwell jogged frantically to catch up with his erstwhile partner, long braid flapping behind him wildly. " Wait up!"
Heero Yuy turned slightly at the sound of his partner's voice, faint smirk already in place. Duo jumped and landed next to him with a flourish.
" Ta-dah!"
" Hn."
" Well, ya could've waited for me, you know!" Duo ignored the pointed smirk and waggled a finger at him. " I would have for you."
" Like you'd ever have to." Heero faced forwards again, long legs eating up the ground beneath him. Duo sighed and tried to match him. And failed. Spitting out a curse, he began jogging again.
" No wonder I'm so skinny," he grumbled. " All I do is run everywhere."
Heero hid his smile beneath of mask of casual indifference. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his friend flail his arms, ranting about justice in a way that would have made Wufei proud. On the outside, Heero looked to be ignoring Duo's attempts to make conversation, but on the inside....on the inside, Heero was focusing on every word the braided baka said.
_Focus on the mission, baka_, he told himself angrily. Heero hated arguing with his own mind - he had a habit of losing, especially when it concerned a certain American pilot. His mind knew that if he were to ever approach Duo and let him know his budding feelings - feelings which the Perfect Soldier felt he had no right in having - he was sure that the American would understand, maybe even reciprocate those feelings. But that would mean opening up in such a way as to leave him completely vulnerable, and Heero knew he couldn't do that. He was vaguely aware of a tugging on his arm.
" Heero? Man, you in there?"
Duo's worried voice broke through the wall his thoughts had produced and he shrugged Duo's hand off his arm.
" I'm fine." He picked up the pace. " Come on. We're going to be late."
Duo stood there, and watched his partner accelerate. " Sure, you're okay," he muttered. " Damn." Then he growled in frustration. " ARRRGHH!! Dammitt Heero - WAIT UP!!"
" I HATE math!" Duo groaned as he flung his book bag into the corner of the dorm room he shared with Heero. Pulling a dramatic face, he collapsed face first onto his bed, body twitching in an attempt to imitate the throes of death. Heero, following behind him, smirked at the American's antics.
" Baka. You should know more then the teacher. Didn't Professor G teach you ANYTHING useful?"
Duo sat up, wounded, and stuck out his tongue. " I'll have you know, he taught me LOTS of useful things."
Faintly interested, Heero looked up. " Such as?"
Heero had the pleasure of watching Duo's face burn a faint shade of red and was about to make a comment when he saw the uneasy look on his face. It occured to him, not for the first time, that he knew very little about his braided partner. Perhaps this would be a revelation. Holding his tongue, he waited to see if Duo would elaborate.
" Aw, nevermind," Duo mumbled, suddenly finding the pattern on the bedsheets extremely interesting. " Nothing important."
Heero thought he felt a faint pang of disappointment as Duo's face resumed its normally cheerful expression.
" But I still hate math!"
Heero hmph'd and turned around, heading for his laptop set up at the small desk. in the corner. Booting it up, he clicked on his incoming mail messages and heard the familiar beep. Duo stopped playing with the bedspread and looked up, eyes interested.
" Mission?"
" Hn."
" You could say, ' Yes Duo. We have a mission.' Or even a, ' Duo, as usual you were right - we have a mission'." Duo flopped forwards on the bed and propped his head up on one hand. " Hn. Hn. That's all you ever say."
" Duo?"
" Yeah?"
" Shut up."
" Okay, you say that too," Duo conceded with a sigh. He pointed at the laptop. " Well?"
" Mission."
" ARRRRGHHH!!"
Again, Heero was hard-pressed to cover the smile before Duo saw it but the American had an uncanny ability to sense these things. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he sat up, pointing a finger unerringly at Heero.
" You're...you're....." Duo swallowed and tried again. " You're SMILING?"
Said smile abruptly vanished to be replaced with a familiar neutral expression. Duo bit back the cry of disappointment at seeing a normal look on his partner's face vanish so quickly. He covered it up with a quick, " I didn't know you could do that without your face cracking."
Heero shot a glare at him and Duo 'eeped and held up his hands in surrender. Satisfied, Heero turned back to the laptop and finished reading the email from Dr J. Duo smirked at his partner's unyeilding back. _ Oh yes, that was a smile Heero Yuy. You're not as inhuman as you make yourself out to be_. Duo chewed on the end of his braid thoughtfully, a faint smile on his face. _ Just you wait Yuy - I'll make you human, yet_! Cheered by that thought, he got to his feet and walked over to the desk, draping himself over Heero's shoulder to stare at the screen. " So what's up?"
" There's a base, quite a ways from here, doing experiments with space matter." Heero shifted in his seat, slightly unnnerved by the Deathscythe pilot's close proximity. Duo wrinkled his nose.
" Space matter? You mean debris?"
" No. Matter - as in black matter. Much the same kind of energy one would find in a black hole."
Duo leaned back and Heero gave an inward sigh of relief. Duo resumed chewing on his braid, eyes narrowed as he thought about the implications of what Heero had said.
" Why would Oz be studying black holes?"
" Not studying them," Heero said. " Creating them."
Duo's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. " What the hell for?"
Heero shrugged. " That's what we're supposed to find out, baka!" He turned around, sliding the chair back, missing Duo's toes by mere inches.
" Hey!"
" It's a mission for the five of us," Heero continued. " Apparently this base is one of the more heavily guarded ones and will require all of the Gundam pilots."
" You mean.." Duo's voice trailed off as a huge smile broke out on his face. " All RIGHT! We haven't seen the others in WEEKS!"
Four, to be exact. Duo and Heero had been sent to this school for the purpose of infiltrating an Oz base to steal the data for a new underwater suit, similar to gundams, called the Aqurius. Having finished their mission in record time, they had been told to remain at the school, until further notice. Duo had initially pouted, wanting to go back to Quatre's estate for some R&R before their next job, but they'd been told that Quatre and Trowa were also away on a mission. Similarily, Wufei had been sent to do a solo run that would keep him busy for a while. That had been three weeks ago. Suddenly, Duo was champing at the bit in his eagerness to see his buddies again.
" Are we gonna meet up at the base? Or do we meet first, then blow up?"
" We're relocating to one of Quatre's safehouses, in a place that used to be called New York," Heero said, fingers once again flying over the keyboard. " I'm erasing our school history now - start packing. The others are already there."
" Whoo-hoo!" Duo cheered and pranced back over to his side of the room. Throwing open drawers, he began haphazardly throwing articles of clothing into his ever-present duffle bag. Heero finished initiating the procedure that would erase any trace of them having been there in the school records, and would show a transfer to a new, made-up school, to throw anyone off. Satisfied, he turned the computer off and stretched, feeling his muscles bunch and tighten. He gave a faint grimace and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, a warm pair of hands were there, kneading the tense flesh with a skill and gentleness that surprised the Zero pilot.
" What-"
" Relax, man!" Duo clucked his tongue disapprovingly. " No wonder you're always so grumpy - you've got knots that size of rocks taking up residence in your shoulders!"
Moving quickly, he pushed the pilot back into his seat before he could object and began to seriously massage Heero's neck and shoulders, digging his fingers deep into the muscle trying to dislodge all the tension.
_Man, I'll bet no one's ever given him a massage before in his life_, he declared silently. _Gonna have to use some muscle to get iron boy to relax_.
Heero sat there stiffly, unsure as to why he was allowing Duo to do this. Despite his reservations, he felt himself leaning back into the pilot's touch, giving an inward sigh of relief as Duo found a trouble spot and applied pressure to the knotted muscle, painfully kneading and twisting it until it gave up the fight. Heero closed his eyes and let Duo work on the rest of the knots. _I'll yell at him later_.
After a few minutes, Duo patted Heero's shoulders. " Better?" Without waiting for an answer - and not really expecting one - he returned to his side of the room and resumed packing. Heero slowly opened his eyes and watched his partner for a minute. Then he stood, noting immediately the difference in his sore muscles and gave a very faint, almost hidden smile. Walking to the bed, he pulled out his own bag and opened it. Then he looked at Duo.
" Yes."
" Huh?" Duo looked up - but Heero had already turned away and was going through his own drawers, picking out each article and folding it neatly, a contrast to Duo's grab-and- stuff technique. Duo grinned anyway, recognizing Heero's attempt to say thank you and returned to packing.
_Oh yeah - definitely more human_.
End Part 1A
Stormy
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