Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing
A/N: I'm sorry it's so late! In between problems with my graduation and writer's block and just plain laziness, this became hell to finish. This chapter was written when my writer's block wasn't as bad, but was still there, and therefore it's probably worse than the usual crap I spew out so yeah... just a warning XD Sorry!
Warning: I could only reread it twice before posting so there might be mistakes lurking (outside the usual grammatical errors that I can't seem to fix). If there's anything major point it out and I'll fix it ASAP.
Note: I don't know if I replied to every review to the last chapter. In case I didn't reply to yours: Thank you for reading the story! You rock! And thanks for the review!
Enjoy!
Posted on 25th Feb. 2008
Duo squinted at the screen watching the pale yellow codes flitter quickly across it. His expert eyes were immediately drawn to one nonsensical code causing the program to crash and he fixed it. Then with a victorious smile on his face he closed the window and started the program again.
‘Error 193. This program has performed an illegal operation.’
“Motherfucker!” He swore rather loudly and Wufei banged on the cubicle wall to warn him about his language. “Whatever Wu, my program just crashed again.”
He heard a quiet sigh and then the sound of a chair’s wheels squeaking. Next thing he knew Wufei was standing behind him, leaning over his shoulders to look at the codes.
“See here you…” Wufei started saying, pointing towards a couple of numbers and symbols when Duo’s cell phone went off. Ignoring Wufei’s glare at the ringing device Duo picked it up looking at the caller ID.
“It’s Heero!” He said excitedly and flipped it open. “Heero! How are you?”
Wufei poked Duo until he got up off the chair distractedly taking his place he started working on Duo’s program as he talked to Heero animatedly.
“Yeah I’m okay… sure… okay great… see you! … Hey, I miss you!” He said with a giggle! A giggle! Wufei rolled his eyes at the mushy one sided conversation. “I love you!” He cooed and Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose. “But I love you more!” He felt his temper flaring. “No I love you more!” He started taking deep calming breaths. “I love you times infinity!” He started counting backwards from 200, prime numbers only. “You’re my little ooggie woogiee!!” That’s it!
“This is a workplace Maxwell!” He growled, “Take your little chat with Heero somewhere else.”
“Hey Heero, sorry I have to go. The stick up Wufei’s ass just grew thorns.” He said with a smirk. “Say hello to Wu-puppy, sweetie.”
“I don’t have any need to talk to –” Wufei growled when Duo put the cell phone to his ear but stopped midway when all he heard was a dial tone. “What?”
“You’re too easy to annoy Wu-babe.” Duo said with a laugh, trying to move the fingers of his right hand. The plaster restricted movement but he was healing. The doctor had told him that another week or so and the plaster could be removed. The only problem he was facing was the infernal itching on his covered hand! It won’t go away!
“Stop wasting time and come here.” Wufei demanded and Duo grinned widely before leaning over his shoulder to look at the program and the codes raining down the computer screen.
“How’s Aiko doing?” Wufei asked as they headed out of the office building. He was looking down on his jacket fumbling with the zipper. The thing was getting tougher and tougher to click the older that jacket got. “Meiran was asking.” He said as explanation before he finally gave up and snapped the buttons closed instead, shivering in the bitter cold.
“She’s good. Why don’t you just buy a new jacket?” Duo asked stuffing the remains of a sandwich from lunch into his mouth.
“I already have a new jacket. I like this one better.” He said stubbornly before shivering rather violently. Duo shrugged at his answer. He didn’t think he’d ever understand Wufei.
They walked a little further before they heard loud voices. Someone was arguing and they both stopped when they heard a familiar voice answering agitatedly. Turning the corner they saw James Derouche, his pale face pink with anger and his blue eyes bright. He was talking rather loudly on his cell.
Curious, Duo held a hand out keeping Wufei from walking further and started listening.
“That was not what I want! I don’t want you to hurt anyone damnit!” He said as he paced back and forth. He scowled as he listened and then his face morphed to that of shock. “You cannot just try to –” He looked back and forth and whispered the next word so Duo and Wufei were unable to hear him, “– It just doesn’t work that way!”
“Damn it I wanna know what’s going on!” Duo said excitedly bouncing from foot to foot. Wufei shrugged. He was intrigued but he didn’t feel all that comfortable eavesdropping on a colleague.
“No! Listen… listen… Ad- Listen to me DAMNIT!” He said loudly and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He took several deep breaths and then continued. “I know that if he was removed from the equation we’ll both have what we want but –” He listened a bit more and then huffed.
“Ooohhh murder.” Duo whispered as he plastered himself to the corner, just one eye peaking around the edge. Wufei leaned in further, now curious beyond belief.
“He clearly doesn’t want…” Derouche was interrupted again and his face turned redder. “How dare you…” He seethed, “I’m tired of just hanging in the balance okay? Who do you want? You can’t have us both.”
“Love problems?” Wufei said quirking an eyebrow.
“Don’t look at me Wu-puppy. I don’t know how you go from murder to love.” Duo whispered back.
As they watched Derouche leaned against the wall, mere feet from them and suddenly seemed defeated. “Just leave him alone Adam.” He said softly but Duo and Wufei heard, their eyes widening at the name. “I don’t care anymore. He deserves it.”
“Adam?!” Duo whispered harshly and Wufei quickly shushed him.
“Not the same Adam?” He whispered back and Duo frowned.
“You can’t be with me and then go after your –” Derouche sounded so tired that even Duo started feeling slightly bad for the guy. “You know what? We're done. Don’t call me again.” He said as he flipped the phone off.
Duo and Wufei scuffled back as James marched right past them, huddling in his jacket a little. He crossed the road quickly and disappeared into a throng of people. Duo and Wufei exchanged looks along the lines of ‘What the fuck?’ and ‘That was interesting.’
Duo hummed a little as he walked towards Heero’s place, fighting the rough, chilly winds. He went over everything he had heard that day on his way back from work.
So… Adam… and Derouc- err… James… had something going on between them? Is it even the same Adam? If it’s someone else then the coincidence is too much… but then again…
Okay so let’s say for a moment that this Adam was that Adam... then James is in a relationship with him… which doesn’t make sense because isn’t Adam… well… trying to get Heero?
He couldn’t be going after Heero while being with James at the same time… could he?
Is he two-timing them?
And apparently James knows about that? Which Duo doesn’t mind quite as much because Derouche is an asshole and probably deserves what he gets but that’s not the point and…
Damn.
And Duo wasn’t even going to go in the direction of the maybe-murder conspiracy. He swallowed thickly. He really didn’t want to know if Adam has been trying to kill someone. He was already knee deep in this whole thing when all he'd wanted was to go out with the cute guy at the park!
Life's quite the bitch sometimes! But the murder thing... is Adam really capable of -
He stopped mid-step and mid-thought. He glanced at his still healing right hand.
Well…damn.
Speeding up, he ran down the street, his arms flailing at his sides truly believing he has discovered something HUGE. He skidded to a stop at Heero’s porch nearly slipping on the ice at the steps and knocked on the door excitedly.
As soon as the door is opened Duo flung himself into the house, expecting to glomp Heero but instead getting his face smashed into a broad, strong chest.
“Ngugh” Duo mumbled intelligibly as he peeled himself off the hulking giant and looked up.
“Hello to you too.” Trowa said and stepped to the side letting the braided man inside.
“Trowa! Adam has been trying to kill me!” Duo said flailing his arms again and Trowa raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Because I was certain you got your hand fractured by a band of circus monkeys.” He said dryly and closed the door, locking it.
Duo scowled at him and then stuck out his tongue at him. “Haha very funny. Now tell me where Heero is, I’m done talking to you.” He demanded and before Trowa could even properly open his mouth to answer he continued, “Actually, don’t talk. I’ll find him myself.” He said as he smacked Trowa’s ass and danced out of his reach, laughing, when he reached for the hyper man.
He peeked into each room quickly before ascertaining that Heero must be in the basement. When he opened the basement door he heard enthusiastic barking and guessed that he must be playing with Aiko.
Going downstairs he tried to ignore Trowa shadowing him. He came upon Heero sitting on the ground, Aiko rolling around and jumping in front of him happily. He watched Heero for a moment admiring the way he sat on the ground, back against the wall, the dark glasses hiding his beautiful eyes and the way he had one elbow resting on a bent knee and the other jean-clad leg stretched out in front of him. He was wearing a loose, grey sweatshirt that was bunched a little at the back where he had likely slid down the wall exposing a strip of bare skin of his back. His hair were slightly messy as they always were… he probably didn’t even know just how good he looked.
“Ro baby!” Duo said loudly trying to swallow around his suddenly dry throat. It would not be good to get too… excited… while Trowa was here.
Heero’s head jerked lightly at Duo’s voice just as Aiko ran towards him, shoving her nose into his hand that was resting on his knee. He smoothly took out a red rubber ball from her mouth and threw it again with controlled practised moves.
“Duo.” He said with that half smile that made Duo sweat. “You’re here early.”
Duo headed to Heero’s side purposefully, sitting down close enough that his thigh brushed Heero’s bent leg. “Yeah, couldn’t stay away from my baby.” He said with a wink to Trowa who smirked instead of getting riled up at him.
Trowa walked towards them, leaning against the adjoining wall, watching Aiko try to dig the ball out where it had rolled behind some storage boxes. “You were saying something about Adam earlier.” He prompted and both Duo and Heero shifted their attention to him.
“Did something happen again?” Heero asked, worry creeping into his voice.
“Well… I’m not hurt if that’s what you’re asking.” Duo said but then he pulled up his knees to his chest, crossing his arms over them and resting his chin on them. “But… something did happen… very weird though.” Trowa grunted and Duo saw Heero frown at his answer. “Heero… do you recognize the name Derouche?” Duo decided to ask instead.
Heero’s frown deepened but then he shook his head. Duo sighed. Trowa sank down to the ground in front of them as he got further interested. “Who’s that?”
“A guy I work with.” Duo shrugged. “I heard something strange today,” and he proceeded to tell them about the snatches of one-sided conversation Wufei and him had heard that day.
“But it may not be the same Adam.” Trowa proposed and Duo nodded. “But if he is… any ideas about what could be going on?”
“It sounded like… well, that Adam and James are in a relationship…” Duo saw Heero frown at that statement and for some inexplicable reason he found himself trying to explain it away. “It might not be that though, I didn’t hear enough for it to be clear.”
Heero stayed quiet and Trowa frowned as he watched his friend. “What would Derouche want out of this? If his Adam is our Adam then… well, what would James get out of you gone?”
Duo shrugged again. “Beats me. But as far as I could tell, they’re done. James told Adam to not call him again. He may back off after this.”
“Or get worse.” Heero said quietly. Duo scowled and Trowa’s lips tightened into a thin line. “He doesn’t take threats well.”
A moment of silence followed that statement. Duo chewed on his lower lip as he thought. Adam getting worse couldn’t possibly be good… and Heero being here alone with a too-trusting dog was not a very comforting thought.
Duo would hate for him to be on the other side of the city should Heero need him. It’ll take him at least half an hour to get here… not to mention the subway doesn’t run at 2 am which would strand him in central while Heero was downtown.
His hand strayed to Heero’s leg, grasping his thigh lightly as he fingered the inseam of his jeans. If only he lived near Heero… that would solve so many problems…
And he needed a damn car!
Well, his lease was ending soon anyway, so if he didn’t renew it he could move downtown, find an apartment near Heero’s house so he could run there if necessary.
Downtown apartments were expensive though…
Duo did some quick calculations in his head adding the likely costs of moving, the three times higher rent rate as well as the cost of a car he was planning on getting.
The numbers didn’t look pretty.
He could skip the car and just walk everywhere. Not to mention staying close to his office would also reduce the cost of getting the subway pass…
He shook his head. He could afford it. It was doable and he was definitely earning enough to manage this. He’ll move downtown, he had only two months left on his lease anyway… just enough time to give notice.
“I’ll move.” Duo proposed, breaking the silence.
Trowa glanced at him questioningly and Duo elaborated. “My lease is running out. I can’t help Heero if I’m all the way in central and he needs me. This way, I get to be around if Adam tries something.”
He glanced at Heero to see what he thought of the plan. His head was dipped, his bangs covering half his face but from the little bit of his face that he could see he noted that Heero was… blushing?
Why blushing?
Trowa looked at Duo, his green eyes looking deep into Duo’s violet and then he nodded suddenly. “Good idea. Quatre and I live too far away and it’s best if Heero has someone with him at all times… at least until this Adam business gets taken care of.”
At all times? Duo wondered about that as he frowned.
“When?” Heero asked, his voice quiet.
“My lease runs out in two months, I’ll start hunting for an apartment now and so by the time it’s done I should be good.” Duo explained with a shrug.
Trowa frowned at him confused and then his eyes widened when Duo’s words sank in. “You’re moving?” He asked.
“Uh… yeah… that’s what I said didn’t I?” Duo asked as he glanced at the similar look of confusion on Heero’s face.
“No… well, I thought…” Heero said but then stopped mid-sentence.
“We thought you were moving in.” Trowa said relaxing, and lying down on the soft carpet. Duo hummed when he heard that watching Heero’s expression. It was schooled into blankness. For a few seconds the only sound in the room was Aiko’s frustrated scratching trying to get at the ball. She whined for a moment and then resumed shoving her paw between the wall and carton.
“Well… I could… if you want me to I mean…” Duo said to Heero feeling his face heat up a little along with some other parts of his body at the thought of living with Heero.
Heero in the shower… Heero in the morning… Heero naked…
Duo swallowed a groan at the image.
“Do you want to?” Heero asked and Duo shifted uncomfortably. He glanced at Trowa checking to see what he wanted. Noticing Duo’s look Trowa just raised an eyebrow in question.
Oh yes I want to. I really, really want to. God I want to so much!!
“I… uh… it would be nice.” Duo said embarrassed and Heero nodded.
“There’s only one bedroom.” Trowa pointed out oh so helpfully and Duo shot a glare in his direction.
“Yeah, I noticed Cyclops.” He said and threw an arm around Heero, hugging him to his side. “I’m sure Heero won’t mind sharing.”
“I’m sure.” Trowa echoed with a smirk. Then with one smooth move he had pulled himself up and standing in front of them… looming rather, with his height. “I’m going to head back now, Quatre must be back by now.” He said as he turned to leave.
“Give Q-baby a kiss for me.” Duo said unable to hold it in.
Trowa froze and Duo couldn’t help the smug grin that bloomed on his face. Then without turning around Trowa said, “Sure. And give Heero a kiss for me too. He’s especially sensitive behind his ears.”
“Trowa!” Heero said shocked and Cyclops chuckled, raising a hand in a pseudo-wave and went upstairs.
Duo gaped. Then he chuckled right along, laying his head on Heero’s shoulder. His lips near Heero’s ear he whispered, “Is that true?” He felt him shiver when he breathed on his ear and Duo smiled. Very lightly he placed a small kiss on the soft skin behind his ear and Heero inhaled sharply. “It’s true.” He said chuckling and Heero coloured.
“Come on.” Duo said as he got up and grasped pulling Heero up with him. “I’m going to make you dinner.” They made their way upstairs just as Aiko looked up, her tongue hanging out, noticed them leaving and abandoned the red ball to trot after them.
Duo shuffled in his closet, pulling at a box containing the books he had shoved into the back so many years ago. Behind him there were several cartons stacked, some open, some sealed. His notice to the landlord about moving out had been sent and now he was enthusiastically packing everything he owned. He was throwing away a lot of it, some he couldn’t bear to part with… like these books that his father owned. He flexed the fingers of his right hand gently, the plaster gone but after being careful of them for so long he continued to be exceptionally careful with them.
He sighed and gave another tug at the box containing the books.He had about a month and a half of the lease still left but he was planning on moving out early. He wouldn’t leave Heero alone any longer than was absolutely needed. Later during the week a charity organisation would stop by and take his furniture away.
Hey… it was in good condition and donating it beat throwing it away.
He headed into the living room, bare now save for the furniture and one lone phone sitting on the coffee table. He grabbed his jackets from behind the door and stuffed one into another carton and put the other on.
He’ll go grab some food, then he’ll be right back and resume packing. He closed the front door behind him as he left to grab a sandwich or something from the deli around the corner.
Just as the slam of the door was echoing in the silent and empty apartment, the phone rang.
Once… twice… then it shifted to voicemail.
‘This is Duo. I have an answering machine… how cool is that? Use it.’
Beep.
‘Maxwell… this is James… umm… Derouche… we work together… well of course you know me, I mean, we make each other’s lives hell…’ There was an embarrassed chuckle. ‘Well… see there’s umm… a guy… Adam… he’s… well… could you call me back? Just… call me back as soon as you get this, okay?’
Beep.
A/N: Hope it was worth the wait... or not... sigh. I suck.
Review?
Persephone