Gundam Wing

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing. I just borrowed some of the characters. Rated: NC-17

Coming Down Slow

Title: Coming Down Slow
Chapter: Series of Drabbles
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Swearing, violence, whatever else comes to mind at the time.
Parings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X6. Relena as friend to all the boys.
Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to Gundam Wing. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it.

I’m not sure exactly what this is. It’s just something that jumped out and bit me. I think it’s going to wind up a series of drabbles that merge into a short story.

Coming Down Slow

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Pt. 1 P
"Turn around and put your hands behind your back." The cop slapped cuffs on the long-haired boy and never realized that he’d just handcuffed the Gundam pilot 02. Duo just leaned his forehead against the brick wall and stared at the dirty alley pavement.

When he was told to he climbed into the paddy wagon and allowed them to chain him to the bench seat. He was so tired all he wanted was to be left alone. And he was hungry, a thing he hated more than being shot.

When he was booked, the booking clerk wrinkled his nose at the smell. Duo knew he stank. The last flop he’d had didn’t have running water, but he’d been strictly on the streets for the last week and sleeping in a squat was guaranteed to make you stink. He grumbled softly, "Just get this over will you. I want a shower." The clerk snorted then looked like he regretted it. He hurried the booking.

Duo settled in the holding cell to wait for whatever came next. He fell asleep, warm and dry for the first time in days. He remembered the day it had started raining. He couldn’t remember why it was important.

The door opened to admit a Preventers officer. He was an odd looking little man, hunched and wizened. He reminded Duo unpleasantly of J. And drugs.

"If you’ll come with me, please." The man, whose name tag said simply ‘Sedge’, held the door open and waited for Duo to drag himself off the bench.

The guard with Sedge whispered. "Better be careful. Never know about these kids. He might be coming down from something."

Duo singsonged. "I heard that. Don’t do drugs. Not good for a growing boy." He gave Sedge a savage look. "Not that I’ll live long enough to grow."

Sedge, Duo wondered if he should call him Mister or maybe he had a rank, just guided him down the hall by one elbow. Duo wondered idly if they were ever going to remove the handcuffs or if he was ever going to get his shower. He’d really rather have a bath, after a shower. He felt like he was crawling, perhaps he was. Lice were a definite possibility.

Mr. Sedge told Duo to sit in the hard chair before the table bolted to the middle of the floor. He did so and when told to lean forward he did that too. Mr. Sedge took off the handcuffs and left, telling Duo that someone would be in to talk to him soon.

Duo put his head on the table and fell back to sleep.

The door opening again woke him, he wondered if he was ever going to get to sleep himself out. If the nightmares didn’t wake him every hour on the hour, he might.

"Preventer Maxwell??" the voice sounded surprised.

Duo just opened one eye and snarled, "One, I’m hungry. Two, I’m filthy. Three, tell Une she’s a dead woman walking."
July 4, 2006

Pt 2 P
"Lady Une wants to see you immediately. Come with me."

Duo eyed the man and started to argue, then he decided ‘why not? She wants to see me now, fine. Now it is.’

The man, who’s name Duo couldn’t have given a flying fuck about, lead him to Une’s office like he didn’t know where it was. Duo endured the stares and frankly shocked exclamations. He knew he looked like shit. His jeans were more than thread bared and his t-shirt had seen better days last century. His boots were broken in several places and he didn’t have any socks. His jacket was just plain nasty, in more ways than one.

He stepped into Une’s office and didn’t bother to salute, he was too tired. He just stood and waited for Une to get a good whiff of him.

Une looked up at Duo then at the man who stood in the door with a sly smirk on his face.

"Out!"

Mr. Smartypants fled.

Une glanced at Duo then sighed. "Well, now that you have defiled my office with that. . . aroma, report please."

Duo grunted, scratched at his neck and shrugged. "Hustled my ass around the underbelly of the world for six months. Got beat up, stabbed, did some bad ass shit, found your boy, busted his ass and here I am. You want more than that, you’ll wait. I’m filthy, incase you hadn’t noticed. I’m hungry, I’m tired, I want something to eat, a bath, then a shower or the other way around. And I’d really like to be warm again. Ok? Can I go now?"

Une considered for a moment. "In a few minutes. Please, sit down before you fall down."

Duo just shrugged and pulled a comfortable, upholstered chair away from the wall and settled in it.

"Your handler was supposed to give you some money. What happened to it?"

Duo picked at a scab on his knee. "He couldn’t give me much. He was posing as a john, so all he could give me was the going rate for a blow job. And he couldn’t show up too often or there’d be questions asked that I couldn’t answer. So . . . he’s a good joe, so don’t break his chops."

Une just nodded. "Very well. Go take a shower. I’ll deal with the debriefing for now." Une wrote some notes in a file then looked Duo right in the eye. "Good work, Maxwell. Get some rest. Come to debrief in 72 hours. Dismissed."

Duo levered himself out of the chair with some effort and headed out the door.

Une went back to her paper work. She realized that she had an itch. She examined the spot then shuddered. She called her aid in, and when the man walked in the door, he was treated to the sight of Ann Une in her skivvies.

"Pick up everything there and put it in that chair. Wrap it all in plastic and have it burned." She headed into her private wash room and stuck her head back out. "And bring me some Nitz. Body wash and shampoo."
July 5, 2006

Pt 3 P
Duo settled in the shower in the sub basement gym. There was no one there at this time of day, or was it night, Duo wasn’t too sure.

He’d gone by the towel window and gotten everything he’d need to get himself cleaned up, including a razor. He didn’t need to shave very often, the good doctor had seen to that, but he needed a shave now. The thin wispy beard itched in it’s own special way.

After shaving, he wet his hair and applied the Nitz shampoo liberally, in fact, he used the entire bottle. Then he started scraping the crud off himself. Literally.

He used plenty of wash and scrubbed hard. His feet were calloused and the callouses held dirt with an unrelenting grasp. He scrubbed harder. Finally giving up on his feet he moved on to his hair again. The shampoo had done it’s work so he rinsed it out and applied conditioner. It smelled like coconut. Which made him think of Heero.

He’d seen Heero a few times. He’d come by once a month posing as a john and they’d go off together. Heero would take him to a hotdog stand and let him gorge on dogs and fries. They’d go to a motel and Duo would shower and they’d make love; long, slow, ecstatic love. But Heero had been sent on a mission two months ago and Duo hadn’t seen him since.

Duo realized that he was crouched in the shower, curled up against the back wall with water coursing over him in pounding sheets. He clamped one hand over his mouth to stifle the sobs, no one could hear him cry. Except Heero.

~ * ~
The shower attendant knew that Duo wouldn’t appreciate him getting involved personally but he also knew Duo needed help. He called Heero.

"He’s down in the showers still. You better see to him. He’s kind of a mess."

Heero walked into the shower completely ignoring the fact that he was getting soaked. The shower was the kind that all the heads worked from a common shutoff. He turned the valve and then settled on the wet floor.

Duo turned into Heero’s arms and sobbed softly.

"Hey, it’s ok. I’ve got you. Just let it go. No one’s going to bother us."

Heero settled back against the wall too. He gathered Duo, naked and soaking wet in his arms and just held him.
July 7, 2006

Pt. 4 P

"Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and out of here. You’ll feel better when you’re home."

Heero hauled Duo up off the floor and wrapped him in a towel. He wrung out the long, now clean and bug free hair and wrapped it in another towel. He rubbed up and down on Duo’s arms and back until he finally stopped shivering.

"Why’s it always so cold when I’m undercover? Why can’t I ever go under cover in Florida or . . . or California or the Mediterranean somewhere? Why’s it always Russia or Chicago or some other god forsaken frozen waste land?"

"Dunno, just is I guess. I always wind up somewhere kinky. Like that time I had to infiltrate that performing arts school. Some of those guys were really weird."

Duo sighed as he finished toweling himself off. "I’d welcome a school of any kink. And I do mean kink. Street rat meets weirdo. Not so bad. Better than street rat fights off pimp. And drug dealer, and whores, and who knows what kind of pervert. Heero, I’m tired. Take me home, please."

Heero just handed Duo a clean uniform that he’d thoughtfully left on the radiator. While Duo dressed, Heero disposed of his clothing, stuffing it into a plastic bio hazard bag for the attendant to dispose of.

"Une had her chair and clothing burned. Why’s that?"

Duo shrugged. "She got impatient so I just answered her. Never mind the Iron Maiden, she’ll get over it. Home."

Heero led the way to the underground parking garage and keyed the car up. It slid out of its place and moved to the entry way on silent glide rails.

Heero gently made sure Duo didn’t bump his head when he got in, he was so tired that he was staggering, nearly asleep on his feet.

"Duo?"

"Mmmm?"

"Go to sleep. I’ve got you."

"Thanks. I’ll wake up when the car stops."

Heero pushed a still wet lock of bangs out of Duo’s eyes. "I know. Sleep now."

Heero didn’t mind that Duo snored like a buzz saw. All that meant was Duo was really sleeping, probably for the first time in months.
July 8, 2006

Pt. 5 P

Duo slept until they reached his apartment. He woke just as the ITS pod slid into a parking space. Heero had dozed as the car made its way to the building Duo lived in. He woke and reached over to wake Duo. He found himself staring at the business end of a very ugly knife.

"Easy. It’s me. Duo? You awake?"

Duo rubbed at his eyes for a moment.

"Yeah, I’m awake. Sorry."

Heero shrugged "Don’t mention it. At least you didn’t give me a shiner. Come on, let’s go in. What floor do you live on now?"

"347. When I got that raise, I opted up. It’s really nice . . . I think."

Heero made an enquiring noise deep in his chest. "You don’t know?"

Duo made a face. "I lived in it for all of two days. Six months ago. I have no real idea what it looks like. Or even if it’s still mine. Shit."

Heero rushed to reassure Duo. "It’s still yours. You know Preventers wouldn’t let you lose your home."

Duo snorted. "Yeah? What about Jameson? He lost his car because Accounting screwed up and didn’t make the payments on it. Though what anyone would want with a personal car is beyond me. Public transport is so much better. Always there when you want it, no maintenance to worry about. Although a nice fuel burner is good if you want to go into the country."

Heero agreed with Duo only saying. "He lost his Recreational Vehicle. There was a big stink about it. He got a new one. But . . ."

They reached the bank of elevators and Heero interrupted himself to ask, "Express. Or sectional?"

"Express. The speed doesn’t bother me. But you should see Quatre, he turns green. Kinda funny. A Gundam pilot who gets sick on an elevator."

"Well, they do generate about a third of a G. And in gravity it’s a little unnerving. Not that it bothers me."

They stepped onto the elevator and settled in for the ride up three hundred and forty-seven floors. Duo dug out his wallet and extracted his key. It was color coded so he wouldn’t get it mixed up with a credit chip. Duo blithely slid it into the slot in the elevator and swiped it. Nothing happened.

"Yeah. Well fuck." Duo pressed a button on the elevator wall.

A mechanical female voice answered. "Express elevator twelve. How may I help you?"
"My card doesn’t work. What’s up with that?"

"Please swipe it again. I’ll process your resident number and take point three five seconds to find out the problem."

Duo swiped his card again muttering direly about nonpayment of rent and the results there of.

"I’m sorry, sir. Your card hasn’t been used in six months, four days . . . "

Duo interrupted to demand the AI skip the length of time and tell him what was going on.

"Your card was cancelled. Your rent was put in escrow and your apartment cleaned of personal effects. They can be retrieved from the storage on the forty-first floor any time between seven ay em and ten pee em. Thank you for your patience. Please exit the elevator and building in an expeditious manner."

Duo snarled. "Dammit. Now what. Heero, I’m tired. I’m still hungry and thirsty. And I don’t think my going to a public residence is a good idea."

Heero pulled out his wallet and dug out his key card. He swiped it and punched in his residence number.

"You’ll stay with me. We’ll sort this mess out when you’ve had some rest and food. I’ve got some fresh fish and mushrooms. I think I’ve got some bean sprouts, too. I’ll figure out something. You’ll eat almost anything, so I can manage."

Duo snorted wearily. "I’ll eat stuff you won’t. I’m not picky. Especially after what I’ve been eating lately."

Heero shuddered dramatically. "Gah! Flop house food. And homeless shelter stew."

Duo gave Heero a bleak look. "Worse than that. I know all the good dumpsters for six blocks in any direction from 44th and 20th."

Heero made a gagging noise.
July 10, 2006

Pt. 6 P
Duo sat at Heero’s kitchen table and dozed while Heero made something that smelled wonderful. Duo realized that he hadn’t had a hot meal in at least three weeks. And precious little cold either.

Heero glanced over at Duo, he was really worried about him. He was way too quiet. Before this assignment he’d have thrown a fit about losing his apartment, a very loud one. Now he was almost apathetic. This was very bad.

Heero put the plate in front of Duo, explaining, "I marinated the fish in mirin then fried it. It’s on a bed of brown rice, steamed mushrooms and peas. The sprouts were over the fence. Slimy. I made you some green tea. You really don’t need any coffee." Duo just grunted around a mouthful of fish. "After you’re done eating, you’re going to bed. I’ll . . . sleep on the couch."

Duo shook his head. "I’ll never get to sleep with you in the other room. Sleep with me." he raised haunted eyes to Heero’s sharp blue one’s, "please?"

Heero just nodded. "If it’ll make you feel better." Duo nodded then went back to his food.

Suddenly he stopped wolfing down the food. He turned pale and started sweating. Heero hurried to his side to hold him, give him comfort, something.

Duo pushed him aside almost violently. He made it to the sink just in time to avoid making a mess on the floor.

Heero held him around the waist with one arm while he held Duo’s braid with the other.

Duo heaved hard, spewing the contents of his abused stomach into the sink. When he was finished he sank into the chair Heero shoved into the backs of his knees.

"Dammit. Heero, I’m sorry man. I should have known better. I’ve been so hungry for so long my stomach won’t handle it." He eyed the plate of food sadly. "What a waste."

Heero stepped between Duo’s splayed knees and pulled his head into his stomach. He rubbed Duo’s back for a few moments.

"It’s my fault. I should have known better too. I’m sorry. I used butter on the rice. I made it too rich."

Duo laughed a little sourly. "Well, we both screwed up. Man, I really feel rough now. Maybe just some white soda?"

Heero went to the refrigerator and opened a bottle. "Here, sip it slow. I’ll warm up some chicken broth. Maybe a piece of whole grain bread?"

Duo nodded. "No butter. It doesn’t set well half the time. Too much grease will get me quick. Especially now."

Heero opened a carton of broth and poured some into a mug, sticking it in the microwave he turned to get Duo’s bread. He hated the dejected hunch of Duo’s shoulders and the longing sideways glances at the plate of food that Duo couldn’t stomach.

The mug Heero had gotten out for his tea shattered into shards in his hand.

July 13, 2006

Pt. 7 P

Duo got up after sipping the broth and nibbling the bread down. He was now so tired he was staggering. Heero put one arm around Duo’s shoulders and steered him down the hall, into the bedroom and onto the bed.

"‘Ro, this is your bed. I can’t take your bed."

"Only one in the place. I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t fancy sleeping with you when you’ve been sick. Thankyouverymuch. You’ll be Mr. Starfish."

Duo snickered at that and snuggled down, falling asleep before he could cover himself.

Heero reached carefully for the edge of the blanket, pulled it up to Duo’s chin and slipped out the door, flipping off the lights and shutting the door firmly.

He leaned against the door for a moment, one hand on the knob and the other flat on the door. "Sleep tight, Duo." He wondered if his prayer would help.

Heero settled onto the couch, which was quite comfortable as he knew that he was going to have sleep over friends on a fairly consistent basis. Not that he minded. He covered himself with the blanket he’d fetched from the small linen closet in the bathroom and fell into a light doze.

Duo moaned softly, thrashing the covers off his sweating body. He continued to struggle with invisible attackers until Heero heard him.

Heero knew better than to get close to Duo when he was having a nightmare, it was way too dangerous. Despite the looks, long hair, big eyes, and childishly plump cheeks. Duo was fast and deadly, even, or especially, asleep. So Heero opened a drawer and pulled out several pairs of balled up socks.

The first toss was the last, Duo exploded from the bed in a flurry of bedding and blows. Luckily, Heero was nowhere near enough for Duo to hit him before he realized who was there. The click of a hammer hitting was startlingly loud sounding as it did between Duo’s panting breaths.

"Oh, hell. Damn it. Fucking Christ on a crutch. Heero . . . what . . ." Duo flopped down on the bed still clutching the .38 caliber revolver in his hand. The ancient weapon design was still popular with thugs and punks.

Heero gasped softly as he realized that it hadn’t misfired, Duo had unloaded before coming to his home.

"You awake now?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah. And I’m not going back to sleep just yet. If I do, I’ll just have another nightmare. Shit! I’m so tired. So fucking tired. I can’t sleep."

Heero crawled into the bed with Duo. "Come here. I’ll hold you. It worked during the wars, maybe it’ll work now."

Duo groaned softly. "If I could just come down, I could sleep. But I can’t until I get debriefed. Thanks ‘Ro, maybe it’ll help."

Duo unashamedly cuddled into Heero’s chest with a sigh. Heero settled Duo and listened as his breathing even out again.
July 14, 2006

Pt. 8 P

Heero held Duo for the rest of the night and into the morning. Duo slept the sleep of the exhausted, never moving until Heero finally gave in to the demands of his bladder and scooted out from under him.

Duo mumbled once then settled back to sleep hugging the pillow.

Heero did his business, brushed his teeth and decided that he was hungry. After raiding the refrigerator he returned to bed, almost.

Duo exploded from the bed again. This time a wild swing caught Heero in the solar plexus knocking the air from his lungs. Heero didn’t try to fight back or protect himself he just lay on the floor waiting for Duo to wake up.

Duo blinked several times then snarled. "Dammit, Heero. What the hell. You know better." He reached his hand down to Heero, who grasped it without comment. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. Pride’s pretty bruised, but other than that I’m ok. I didn’t think it was that bad. It was undercover, yeah. But . . ."

Duo was shaking his head. "It was on the streets. All the time, unless I was with you. I’m all wired. Be careful. I need to come down slow or I’ll hurt someone."

Heero frowned, he hated it when Une hid things from him. His monthly visits as a john had evidently been Duo’s only relief. Heero hung his head.

"I’m sorry I couldn’t come more often. And I had a mission of my own the last bit."

Duo nodded. "I know. Une sent that little ratty man to tell me. He was the one you didn’t like the look of. But he was the one who took my reports and gave me what little money I could explain. Can we talk about something else? How bout those Astros?"

Heero smiled. "They lost."

"AAAWWWWW, fuck!"
July 17, 2006

Pt 9P

Lady Une settled behind her desk and straightened everything on it. She knew she was fidgeting but she couldn’t help it. After reading the preliminary debriefing she was sure she didn’t want to hear what Maxwell had to say. A thing she really didn’t want to do.

How this mission had gone so badly sideways was beyond her. What was supposed to be a six week mission as a street kid had turned into six months. Her informant had kept insisting that their target was there, but Maxwell had never caught sight of him. Not until the last week. The damn dealer had been out of town for some reason or other.

She looked up to see Colonel Duo Maxwell standing in front of her desk.

"Colonel Maxwell. You’re looking better than the last time I saw you."

Duo just gazed at her left ear and kept his mouth shut. He was pissed, he knew that Une had a suspicion that either her intel was wrong or the target was not where he was supposed to be. She could have called him in then sent him back out, but she didn’t.

Une sighed, so this was how it was going to be. I’m . . ."

"If you say ‘I’m sorry’ I’ll know you’re lying. Don’t do it. You knew the intel was bad. I spent six months wallowing in filth so you could save face. Tell me I’m wrong."

Une debated for a moment. "You’re wrong. I’m psychotic, not stupid. That informant kept saying he was around. He was always reliable before this. And, for what it’s worth, I am sorry."

Duo eyed Une for a moment then shrugged. "Ok. But sorry don’t feed the cat."

Une winced, when the L2 accent was that thick even she wanted to hide.

"Very well, Colonel Maxwell. The debriefing will be in my ready room in ten minutes. Get some coffee and come in when you’re ready."

Duo saluted sharply, turned on his heel and left shutting the door quietly behind him.

Une rubbed her eyes. This was not going to be pretty.

~ * ~

Duo was thirty minutes late and Une thanked her lucky stars that he hadn’t made them wait an hour.

The debriefing officer stood and snapped. "Young man, you’re late. This disrespect will not be tolerated. Who do you think you are?"

Duo eyed him with disgust. "One, the poor shlump that spent six months living on the streets due to poor intel. Two, a colonel. I believe that I out rank you by several ranks. And three, someone you really don’t want to piss off. Seriously. You’ll find all kinds of things in places you don’t want them."

The major blinked, eyed the pips on Duo’s shoulders and snapped to a stiff salute. Duo saluted back without comment. At ease." Duo glanced at the two other men in the room. They’d been standing at attention since he walked into the room. "Sorry. Please sit down, gentlemen. Shall we get started?"

The major made a face, he decided he was going to have to struggle to get his debriefing back under control.

Little did he know.
July 26, 2006

Pt. 10P

"Ok, coffee, snacks. I’m good to go." Duo settled down gave Une a hairy eye ball and decided he didn’t like her debriefing officer at all. Major Johnson was a stiff, by the book office jockey with delusions of intelligence.

"Well, Mr. Maxwell, first we’ll listen to your story. Then we’ll have some questions for you."

Une started to slip out the door but Duo caught her.

"Not another step. Sit." Duo pointed to the chair she’d just hopefully vacated. Everyone in the room was flabbergasted to see Une return to her chair with only a token protest that she did have work to do.

Duo settled in his chair and started talking. He talked for twenty minutes, sipping his coffee and munching on snacks. The Major fidgeted making it plain that he wasn’t pleased, Duo ignored him continuing the flow of chatter.

Finally Major Johnson had enough. "Shall we get started? First, I’ll turn on the recorder. Also the stenographer will take manual notes. Then, you can tell your little story."

Duo glared at Une who cringed. This man was going to spark an explosion of Duo’s well feared wrath or she was mistaken. *please, let me be mistaken.*

Duo generally censored his reports by cutting out the nastiest parts unless they directly affected the outcome of the mission. This time he didn’t bother.

July 28, 2006

Authors note: the next parts are excerpts from the mission report. They include vulgar, foul language, references to sexual situations, drugs and whatever else I think Duo would have encountered on the streets. If you’re sensitive to references to pederasty, drugs, sex, or foul language, you might not want to read this.

Pt. 11P
Duo sat back and eyed the gathered debriefing staff, none of them had ever been a field agent, much less undercover. He decided that he was tired of pulling punches with these people if they didn’t like the ugly side of the business they could go.

"Ok people if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I’m just telling the story. To start with. My mission was simple, find this guy, pump him and dump him. Intel and Assassination. Didn’t turn out quite the way it was planned."

Several people squirmed uncomfortably. Une just gave Duo a flat look. She had a suspicion what was coming.

"So, I go into the field as a prosti, I’m 20 but I still look 15 or so. The target is a pederast. If you don’t know what that is . . . it’s a mother fucker who likes little boys. Some very little. This jerk off likes ‘em between 13 and 16 so I fit the profile perfectly. And I look delicate. The guy likes ‘em girly too. By the way, my first contact might have been skimming off some of my cash. I needed him to show at least three times a week and give me a forty. He showed once or twice and gave a twenty. Check it out."

Une made a note. And nodded, Duo was way too thin, if the contact had been skimming that would explain it. The second contact was well known to Une and was an honest man. She didn’t know why the contacts had been switched at the last but she intended to find out.

"So I go in and start living at the local youth center. Not a bad place as they go. Foods good, plentiful and the beds are clean. But they don’t allow hustlers and you gotta be clean, and sober. So I got thrown out."

"I checked around for our guy. Let’s call him John, just for a name. I know we’re not supposed to say his real name. I hang at all the right places at the right times and the fucker doesn’t show."

Major Johnson grimaced. "Watch your language."

Une flinched, Duo gave Johnson Shinigami’s grin. "You fuckin’ watch my god damn language. You cock sucking son of a bitch. You don’t like it fuck off and jack off out of here."

Johnson’s face flamed, Une cleared her throat and glared at him, he settled back in his seat frowning. Une made another note.

"Now where the fuck was I, before shit for brains interrupted me?"

The steno just read back the last thing Duo had said before the interruption.

"Ok, yeah. Thanks. . . like I was saying. I sashayed my freezin’ ass up and down that run for three fuckin’ cold weeks. Not a nibble. Other than a few blow jobs I had to take. And fighting off the pimps was such fun. Ya know? Then things got worse. I got black balled. Lots of fun there."

July 31, 2006

Pt. 12P

"Getting black balled by a bunch of pimps doesn’t sound like such a bad thing." Major Johnson was still determined to get control of the debriefing.

Duo eyed the man like he was something nasty on the sole of his boot. "Ya? Wanna think ‘bout that a mo’?"

"Not really. I have only contempt for those men. They use the helpless to feather their nest without a thought to the chaos they cause."

Duo groaned. "God you’re so sanctimonious. It’s the oldest profession. The girls need protection. Every pimp will protect any girl as long as she stays in her own territory. They put me out. After getting black balled I was a poacher. They don’t treat poachers kindly."

Johnson made one more attempt to get control. "Since you weren’t going to actually do anything, what difference did it make?"

"You really are determined to live up to your name aren’t you?" Une choked. "Ok, asshole, here’s the skinny. Poachers usually get the crap beat out of them on a regular basis. And I had to at least look like I was doing business or they’d figure out something was up. So . . . I’m dodgin’ pimps on one hand and cops on the other. And the tarts ain’t helpin’ any either. Every time I got a john they’re tellin’ him I got Genesis and every other STD there is. And I really needed some of those johns."

Duo picked at the label on the soda bottle he’d just opened, then sighed. "Look, I’m tired already. You shut your gob and let me get on with it."

Une waited. . . waited . . . here it came. . . . and . . . .

"Young man, I’ve just about had it with your attitude." Une groaned. "You need an attitude adjustment, you better think about yourself and how you want to be when you grow up."

Duo sat with his mouth open for two seconds. Then someone dropped something in the hall outside the not-quite-shut door. Duo twitched, slid out of his chair and crouched under the table. Une grabbed the steno before she did something stupid. The rest of the people in the room stayed right where they were. Major Johnson didn’t take the hint.

He had to crouch down and open his big mouth. Duo turned on the balls of his feet and the snap of the hammer on the firing pad was loud in the silence. When his hand gun didn’t go off, Duo took a slash at Johnson with the knife in his left hand. Johnson jerked back just in time, or almost, Duo nicked the end of his nose.

Johnson gasped as the knife blade swooshed past his face. He jerked back holding his nose. "He cut me. That little shit cut me!"

Une told him to shut up.

August 2, 2006

Pt. 13P

Duo’s manic grin made the psychologist jerk back. "He’s in deep. I knew this wasn’t a good idea." The psychologist turned to Duo. "Easy now. Take it easy. Could you come out of there . . . please?"

Duo scooted nearer the edge of the table peering out like a small wild animal. Une was not convinced this was a good idea.

The psychologist wasn’t either. Major Johnson had to prove that his first name really was Dick. He reached for Duo, Duo wasn’t interested.

Une stood up, told the steno to find Heero and grabbed Johnson by the arm. Startled the major turned around and tried to punch Une, it didn’t connect. Johnson found his fist clutched in Duo’s hand.

"Tell you what. Let’s have that attitude adjustment you talked about. Only I’ll adjust your attitude. You really don’t know a thing about me but you’re judging me. I’m not your naughty son caught with a hand in the cookie jar. You know. . . I was about ten before I ever saw one." Duo grinned nastily. "I saw cock before I was four. You want me to think about what I want to be when I grow up? Well, sorry, asshole. I grew up on L-2. I’m more grown up at 20 than you’ll ever be. I was more grown up at 12, when I started training to fight a Gundam. I was a man at 15 falling out of space in Deathsythe. You’re never going to be more than an anal retentive bean counter with delusions of competence. Ever seen the working end of death? No?" Duo swivelled around to glare at Une. "Get this cock sucking dick head out of here."

Une just nodded, issued the order and wasn’t surprised in the least when Major Johnson argued with her.

Une jerked her head at the major and snarled, "Out. Now."

Major Johnson blinked then announced that Une didn’t have the authority to order him to leave. The silence in the room was so thick you could have touched it.

Then a soft voice hissed, "I didn’t think he was that stupid."

Another answered. "Yeah, he’s stupid, he hasn’t even caught onto the name thing."

Une looked at Duo, mouthed ‘name?’ then turned to stare at Johnson.

Duo grinned, not a pretty sight. "Name. Major Johnson. Translation. Big prick. And that’s exactly what you are. Go tell your mother she wants you."

August 11, 2006

Pt. 14P

Une only figured out what happened in hind sight. Images from her memory put together to create an intelligent sequence of events.

Duo started to turn, Johnson grabbed his upper arm yanking him back.

"You little shit. You’ll regret not giving me due respect. You don’t deserve your rank."

Duo started to say something, which was remarkable as this sort of thing usually led to violence, then Johnson broke half a dozen rules, two laws and several ordinances. He slapped Duo, or tried to.

Duo blocked the slap with his left forearm, grabbed Johnson and threw him into the wall. He backed into a nook between a supply cabinet and the wall, gun in his right hand, knife in his left. The blank expression in his eyes told Une that he was now well out of it and beyond their abilities to handle.

"Where the fuck is Yuy? Get him here, now. And get Johnson out of here. I want that fool arrested, book him. I’m pressing charges myself. Go. Go. Go."

People scrambled to obey. No one liked the look in Duo’s eyes. They promised murder, mayhem and disaster.

There was a loud crash in the hallway and Heero stepped into the room rubbing his right fist with his left hand. He didn’t look pleased. Not in a ‘pissed off’ not pleased way, more in a homicidal ‘I want to kill him’ not pleased way. Une tried very hard not to sigh, she failed.

"Where’s Duo." Heero’s total lack of inflection made it a statement rather than a question.

The psychologist pointed with a grimace. "Be careful. He’s zoned out. That idiot Johnson tried to slap him. Sorry, I can’t help, he doesn’t trust me enough. If I’d known who Une was wanting me to work with, I’d have refused. You guys only trust each other. Where’s Chang?"

Heero shook his head. "‘Fei won’t get near either one of us when we’re like this." Heero turned to Une. "You might want to press charges."

Une glanced at Duo, who was still crouched in his nook. Heero was ignoring him, so she did too.

"Johnson is under arrest. I’m filling out the paper work as soon as we’re done here."

Heero shrugged. "Against me. I heard what he was calling Duo. I sucker punched him. Broke his jaw in at least two places."

Une shrugged back. "Considering the situation . . . not a problem. I’ll write it off to stress of the moment."

Heero nodded with a soft grunt. "Clear the room. Everybody out. I’ll be taking Duo out the fire stairs. We’ll go home. No debriefing. And never again. I don’t care about regulations. Fuck ‘em. You want a mission report. Fine. We’ll do them like we used to. No more of this stress. I can handle it only by turning off. Go."

Une left, gathering the remaining people with a glance.

August 14, 2006

Pt. 15P

Heero approached Duo called his name softly then showed him his gun. He put it on the floor between them.

"Come on, Duo love. You know the rules. I show you mine, you show me yours."

Duo nodded, blinked then focused on Heero. "Dammit. What . . . never mind. Pick that thing up and get me out of here. I . . . did I hurt anyone?"

"No. At least no one that matters. Come on. I’m taking you out the fire exit."

Duo disappeared his weapons and wrapped his arms around Heero’s waist. Heero put one arm around Duo’s shoulders and opened the door with the other.

"‘Ro? What happened? I . . . you said I didn’t hurt anyone."

Heero gave the medics a grim glare and snarled at one for good measure. "You didn’t. I did. I overheard something I didn’t like. Come on, this way."

Heero guided Duo to the fire door and out into the stair well, the clatter of their boots was loud on the steel stairs.

When they got to the bottom of the stair well, Duo grumbled, "Did you remember to get a key card?"

Heero shook his head. "I was in a bit of a hurry, I didn’t decide how I was taking you out until I’d assessed the situation. Open it, will you?"

Duo fished a small plastic box out of his hair along with some wire and a small magnetic strip. He fiddled with a dial on the box and dragged the strip through the lock. The door obligingly clicked then opened. Duo tucked his things away again.

Heero grimaced. "Well, there goes another stereotype." Duo made an enquiring sound. "I thought you kept lock picks in your braid."

"Yeah, sometimes. But only if we’re going on a mission in a military complex. They’re the only one’s who still rely on keyed locks. Most industries and prisons rely on computer operated electronic security locks. The kind with a swipe card and keypad. They’re so much easier to deal with. I don’t keep lockpicks unless I’m going to need them. They set off metal detectors. Come on. I wanna go home."

They jogged down the alley and nipped around the corner into the parking garage. Heero used the remote to open the door of their car and they nearly dove in. Duo punched in their home address code and settled back into his seat. Heero punched autopilot and cuddled up to him. Duo shuddered once then started to weep, soft, slow, salty tears.

"Heero, I’m just so fuckin’ tired. I want to sleep for a week, eat junk til I puke, and not be bothered by debriefing. Is that too much to ask?"

Heero let Duo cry it out, rubbing his back and wiping tears from his cheeks.

August 23, 2006

Pt. 16P

The phone rang about four hours later, but Heero ignored it. Duo was sitting on the couch trying to get himself to sleep. Heero was completing his mission report, just like the old days, except that the report was dictated by Duo. All Heero was doing was cleaning it up a bit.

"Shouldn’t you like punctuate that and shit. Spelling is good. I know you. But . . ."

Heero grunted. "No. They don’t like it, piss on them. And I included an assessment of the usefulness of formal debriefing on all of us. It says basically; ‘Forget it’."

Duo made a rude noise. "Yeah, like they’ll take your advice."

Heero shrugged. "They will, you’ll see. Come on, I’m tired and you’re about to drop where you sit."

Duo followed Heero into the bedroom, but couldn’t settle. He wandered around the small room picking up things only to put them right back down. Heero watched from the bed for a while then got up and took Duo by one hand.

"Come to bed. You’ll feel better after some sleep."

"I can’t. I’ve tried. I fall asleep but I don’t dream. I don’t rest."

Heero got Duo into bed and pulled him to his chest. "Try."

Duo sighed and lay on his back, on his belly, on his side, his other side; he thumped his pillow. Nothing worked. Heero put up with this patiently until Duo started on his twentieth round.

"Duo, you’re not going to go to sleep if you don’t lie still."

I can’t. I . . . feel . . . exposed. You think I’m stupid."

Heero shrugged, shaking the bed slightly. "No. Nor paranoid. I feel the same when I come back. All jittery and creepy. You remember?"

Duo sighed, "Yeah. You slept with the light on for three days, until I came over and held you . . . would you mind?"

Heero snorted. "What the hell do you think I’ve been waiting for?"

Duo cuddled up to Heero and put his head on Heero’s chest. They lay that way for several minutes until Duo sighed heavily.

"Nope. Not working. I still feel exposed. I feel like I’m sleepin’ in the middle of a football field. Fuck!"

Heero got up pulled Duo out of the bed and started scooting it. "This’ll work. It works for me, so it ought to work for you."

September 30, 2006

Pt.17P

Heero pushed the bed against the wall then crawled under it. Duo followed him after a second.

Heero maneuvered Duo back against the wall, handed him a small caliber hand gun and a pillow. He then put himself between Duo and the door. Duo sighed and snuggled against Heero’s back, put the gun on the floor and the pillow on top of it. He lay his head on the pillow and was asleep before Heero got settled. Heero smiled to himself, remembering when Duo had done the same for him.

He settled himself and went to sleep too.

He woke once, Duo had rolled over and was backing up against him, putting them back to back. He checked and realized that Duo had lost his blanket. When he touched Duo’s shoulder, Duo lashed out and punched him. Heero caught the punch in the palm of one hand. As awkward as it was under the bed, he was still faster than Duo. He kissed the fist and Duo mumbled, ‘sorry’, back asleep before he was finished with the word. Heero finished tucking the blanket under Duo’s chin and went back to sleep himself.

They both woke again near noon, the pounding on the door making further sleep impossible.

"Door."

"Dead."

"I’ll help."

But they didn’t have to get up to find out who it was.

Lady Une knelt on the floor peering under the bed carefully. At first all she could see was two pair of eyes glowing in the reflected overhead. One pair bright cobalt blue, the other amethyst. Neither pair looked pleased to see her.

The next thing she noticed was a pair of handguns, pointed squarely between her eyes.

"Well, shit"

Heero crawled out from under the bed, not bothering to lay his weapon down.

"Lady Une, to what do we owe this dubious pleasure?"

"No one showed up at the secondary debriefing. I was worried that you hadn’t called to cuss me out, so I came over."

Une leaned down to peek under the bed, Duo blinked back, his eyes wide. Heero stepped between Une and Duo, forcing her to step back by invading her personal space. She stepped back without complaint.

Une knew that most of the men and women in Preventers didn’t understand why she put up with the antics Heero and Duo got up to. But they were Gundam pilots, very good at what they did, absolutely dedicated to their jobs and crazy as shit house rats, as Duo would say. They worked by their own set of rules and Une had no intention of upsetting things by insisting that they follow rules that didn’t make allowances for special circumstances. Like the fact that Heero had been an assassins tool at an age when he should have been playing with teddy bears instead of 9mm’s. Like the fact that Duo had avoided being raped by killing the intended rapist, a man at least six times his size. She shrugged off her thoughts.

"Maxwell, come out of there."

Duo crawled out and Une shook her head. He was dressed, or undressed, depending on how you looked at it, in boxers, gun harness, knife sheaths and nothing else.

Duo glared at Une. "I’m not debriefing. Nu-uh, no way, no how. For. Get. It."

"Very well." Une shrugged. "I’ll tell the debriefing officer."

Duo glanced at Heero, who raised an eyebrow. "Don’t look at me."

"Une, you’re a bitch. I hate it when you’re being all reasonable. There’s a hook there, what is it."

"There’s a new debriefing officer for you guys." Une refrained from commenting on the pejorative, she wasn’t about to antagonize one of her best agents at this point.

Duo gave Une a skeptical look. "Just for little ol’ me? I’m flattered."

Une gave Heero a sour look. "Not just for you. Yuy has a bad habit of scowling at debriefing officers until they have a nervous break down. Chang can chop logic like a Jesuit, which makes the officers leave in frustration. You just try to kill them." Une grimaced. "For which, quite frankly, I really don’t blame you. I’ve endured some really stupid debriefing officers myself."

Heero shook his head at that thought. "And so, who is our debriefing officer?"

"Chang Wu Fei."

October 2, 2006

Pt. 18P

Duo blinked, glanced at Heero then started laughing. Heero joined in his softer chuckles almost overpowered by Duo’s nearly hysterical bray.

Une waited patiently until they both stopped then shrugged. "I never thought it was a good idea to have you debriefed by standard personnel. Milliardo nearly killed one man and broke another’s jaw. See Chang before Friday."

Une managed to leave with her dignity intact but she knew it was only by Duo’s sufferance. She just hoped her security system was up to keeping him out of her apartment. And her office, her private shower at the office, her locker in the gym, her car and her briefcase. She shuddered. Duo had a completely sadistic sense of humor and Heero aided and abetted him wholeheartedly.

Duo smirked at Une’s retreating back. "Heero we have to think of something special for her. Do you have any ideas?"

Heero smirked at Duo. "Nothing."

Duo blinked, then blinked again. "Nothing?"

Heero broke into a grin. "Yup. Absolutely nothing. She’ll go crazy trying to figure out what we’re going to do."

Duo nearly fell down he laughed so hard.

~ * ~

They ate breakfast and settled between them that they weren’t going into the office today. Instead they were going to go shopping. Duo needed some clothing and Heero was going to see that he didn’t by black, for once.

The trip to the mall was fun, Heero drove and Duo relaxed in the seat beside him. He watched the scenery run by, commenting from time to time.

"Heero?"

"Yeah?"

"We need a vacation. A real one. I want to go sight seeing."

"Where?" Heero kept his eyes on the road, not feeling the need to turn his head to look at Duo as they talked.

"Don’t care. Just not here. You know?"

Heero shrugged. "I think we should ask Quatre if we can borrow one of his houses. One out in the middle of no where."

When we get back, I’ll call him. He’ll be delighted. He’s always trying to get us to stay with him."

"True. He has a whole island in the South China Sea. Why not ask for that?"

"Sound good to me. Mall. There."

Heero just snorted as he made the turn into the mall parking lot.

~ * ~

Wufei met them at the door.

"Come on. I want to get this over with." He turned to Duo. "Coffee?"

"Yeah. Be nice. Where are we going?"

Wufei pointed to a small coffee shop situated in the corner of the lobby. "There."

Heero raised an eye brow at Wufei who just gazed levelly back. Wufei followed Duo to the small table in the back and settled himself with his back to the room. Heero sat next to Duo, who fidgeted unhappily.

"Wufei, I don’t want to act like an ass, but I’ve already been over stuff with that other bunch."

Wufei sipped at the tea the waitress had left. He’d obviously ordered ahead because the waitress also brought Duo and Heero’s favored coffee drinks.

"Yes, and the interview was totally inadequate. Fools."

Duo started to bristle up, until he heard the final word.

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"Just start from the beginning and talk until you’re done. I’ll record it. That recorder they used was awful. Can’t understand half what you said. And the notes are almost worse. Whoever transcribed them tried to correct your grammar and half the sense was lost. Damn onna."
Duo sighed, gulped his coffee and settled down to tell Wufei everything he could remember. He was tired of repeating himself, but Wufei asked and he would deliver. Not like Wufei wouldn’t do the same for him, if needed.

Duo talked, Heero listened and Wufei kept his mouth shut. He wanted to rant and rave, Duo had gone through a lot on this mission. In fact, he still wasn’t over it.

Wufei waited until Duo ran down before he said anything. "Well, I . . . never. And now I sound like an old woman. Shit. Duo, you’re on leave until further notice."

"Une already said that."

"And so is Heero."

Heero smirked at Wufei, head cocked to one side. " Une will piss blood. But we all need a vacation. When was the last time you had more than two days off together?"

Wufei shrugged. "I’m going to finish this paperwork, then I’m off, too."

Heero nodded once. "We’re going to take advantage of Quatre’s offer of one of his houses. He has a nice Hienlienien one in the South China Sea. We were thinking of going there."

Wufei contemplated this while he sipped the last of his tea.

"Could I impose on you and come as well?"

Duo grinned, the first sincere one since he’d gotten back. "Please. It’d be great. Maybe Quatre and Trowa will show up. That’d be great. Just like old times, only without the freezing and being hungry."

Wufei got up and bowed slightly to Duo. "Thank you for being so patient with my foolishness. I’ll be done with the report this afternoon. I’ll need you to read and sign off on it. Then we can go."

Duo signaled the waitress for more coffee. "Sure thing. Just give me a ring and I’ll be right up."

"Thank you." Wufei made his way to the door and into the lobby, disappearing in the direction of the elevators.

"Well, that went well. Do you think Une will be satisfied? I hope so, because I’m going to shoot the next guy who asks me to tell that story. I’m sick of it. You turned in a perfectly good mission report. What? They think if they bug me enough I’m going to change my story to something they like better? Not a chance. Even a fish, you know."

Heero eyed Duo. "Even a fish? What?"

"Part of an old saying. ‘Even a fish wouldn’t get caught if it’d keep its mouth shut.’ does that really apply here? I’m so messed up." Duo groaned and put his head in his hands, Heero patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"You want to go for ice cream?"

Duo sighed. "Don’t think even ice cream is gonna fix this."

October 7, 2006

Pt. 19

Une signed the report acceptance form and put it aside. "That was exactly what I’ve been trying to get for years. Thank you."

Wufei bowed from the waist. "I’ve been telling you for months. The debriefing staff all have a bug up their . . . ahem. They don’t like field agents and let them know it. Have all the field agents just come in and write a mission report. Heero can write a manual when we come back from leave."

Une sighed. "How long will you be gone?"

"I’m not sure. Indefinite means exactly that. We’ll all be back when the urge to shoot anything that moves wrong goes away."

"I see. Sometime in the next few years, I hope"

Wufei gave her his best inscrutable Chinese look. "Sometime, I assure you."

Une pinned him with a look but gave up when Wufei’s bland expression didn’t change any.

"Very well. I know you’re all tired. Between you, you’ve been in the field more than any three other agents combined. So . . . go . . . vacation . . . enjoy." She flapped a hand at Wufei. "Scat."

He left with a very pleased expression on his usually placid face.

~ * ~

Wufei settled at his desk and made a phone call, when he was done talking he stretched luxuriously and stood up. He picked up his uniform jacket and shrugged it on, gathering up a few papers from the printer, he left his office and shut the door.

"Good evening, Grace. I’ll see you in about six months, if you’re unlucky."

Grace just smiled, it was about time that all three of the youngest agents had some time off.

"Take your time. I’ll still be here when you get back. Holding down the fort, languishing in the shadows. Unappreciated, unsung"

Wufei tossed a paper clip at her. "Unstrung, did you say? Well . . ." He ducked as she threw a wad of paper back at him.

"You email me, you hear. I don’t want to see you back until those circles are out from under your eyes."

Wufei passed her desk, giving her an exaggerated salute on the way. "Ma’am, yes, ma’am. Will do, ma’am."

He took the stairs, too eager to be out of the building to wait for the elevator.

As he descended, he planned. This was going to be the best joke ever, if he could get Duo to cooperate.

~ * ~

Duo settled at their kitchen table, sandwich in hand. "Mmmm. PB&J with the crust. Is there any milk?"

Heero shook his head. "Sorry. Considering my heritage, not a good idea."

Duo spared an inquiring look from his sandwich. "Humph?"

"I’m lactose intolerant. I can manage ice cream or frozen yogurt, but milk just kills me."

"Cheese?"

"If I know I’m eating cheese, there’s an over the counter pill I can take."

"J?"

"Didn’t care if I got enough calcium from natural foods or not. Shots."

Duo grimaced around a mouth full of peanut butter.

“I’m glad we’re rid of all them. Change the subject. Like to where are we going to take vacation, who all is going with us and how are we going to get there. I favor getting Quatre to send a helicopter to the roof here and take us off. Do you think Wuffers will go?”

Heero contemplated his sandwich for a moment then shrugged. “Don’t know. I wish he would. It would be nice. Don’t you think?” Duo missed Heero’s secret smile.

“Oh, yeah. That would be really nice. All of us together again. Sun, sand, relaxation. Great stuff.”

“I’ll get in touch with Une and make arrangements.”

Duo swallowed the last of his sandwich and sighed. He hadn’t had a decent PB&J the entire time he’d been under cover. It was considered childish. He wasn’t going under cover again anytime soon. Une could kiss his ass.

Heero waited until Duo had swallowed one last time then he pulled him gently to his feet. “Come on. You can sit in on the pissing and moaning. You’ll get a kick out of it.”

Duo looked a little skeptical but any entertainment was better than none. All his games and stereo equipment were still in storage and he wasn’t about to lumber Heero’s apartment up with it. At least, not until he was sure he was staying.

Heero eyed Duo wondering when would be a good time to ask him if he was staying here, or looking for a new apartment of his own. He hoped that Duo would want to stay with him.

~ * ~

Heero settled behind his desk and picked up the phone. Duo wandered around the office, fiddling with this and that.

“Une? . . . Yes. Duo and I will be going to Xi Wa . . . I know that’s not a real Chinese name. It’s the name of Quatre’s island in the South China Sea. Duo and I are going there for how ever long it takes to get both of us back to optimum performance . . . no . . . we’re both over stressed and tired. I know you hadn’t planned for me to go. It doesn’t matter, we’re both taking advantage of Po’s recommendation for extended leave.”

Duo flinched as Une got shrill. Heero just held the phone away from his ear until she ran out of breath. “Call Po.” He dropped the slender rod of the receiver back on the cradle and smirked savagely at the thing.

Duo settled on the edge of the desk. “How’d she take it?”

“What?”

“How’d she . . .“ Duo smacked Heero on the shoulder. “Pig.” Heero grinned at him.

“She . . . well, I swear she’s more shrill than Relena. She could be an air raid warning. Come on.”

Duo hopped off the desk and followed Heero to the door. “Where are we going? If we’re going out, I need to get my wallet and stuff.” Heero snickered softly, Duo kept things in his braid that Heero didn’t want to think of, carefully braided in each day, but he never put his wallet in his pocket until he knew he was going out and would need it. He shook his head in amusement.

Duo gathered up wallet, keys, watch and key card. After stuffing them in appropriate pockets he followed Heero out the door.

Heero led Duo to the elevator and up to the roof. Duo gave him a questioning look.

“You know that suggestion about the helicopter?”

Duo nodded.

“I already thought of it.”

Pt. 20

Three Days Later

“And you should have seen my face. I swear you could have knocked me over with a feather. Here I’m expecting him to show me stars or something and there’s that helicopter waiting for us. He’s got this all planned out before hand. And we took off and flew all night. We got here yesterday morning. It’s great.”

Duo yawned and stretched. A servant came up to him with a tray.

“Hey, man. Thanks.”

Duo took the drink off the tray and settled back.

“So how long have you been here?”

Quatre shrugged. “We got here a few hours before you did. But Trowa slipped me a sleeping pill or something. I slept the clock around. I must admit that I feel much better. Much better.”

“Yeah? Well, Q-man, I’ll say you were looking pretty peaked the last time I saw you on tv. You need to rest.”

Quatre grinned at Duo. “And you don’t?”

Duo grinned right back. “Yeah I do. But you don’t have to slip me a Micky to get me to rest. I’m going to take a nap . . . in about two minutes. The time it takes me to get to my room.”

Quatre started to say something then stopped. Heero would be really unhappy if anyone spoiled his surprise. Quatre wanted all his friends to be happy.

Heero wandered by and settled himself on the foot of Duo’s lounger. He patted at Duo’s feet until he moved them to make more room.

“Going to take a nap?” Duo nodded. “Can you stay awake for two more minutes?”

Duo shrugged and poked Heero in the ribs with one foot. Heero slapped absently at it.

“Sure. But . . . where’s Trowa. I though he was going to stay here too?”

“He is. He just went to the heli pad to meet someone.”

“Oh. Who?”

Duo gave a crow of delight when he heard a dry, slightly amused voice say. “Me.”

“Wuffers! WufeiWufeiWufeiWufeiWufei. You came, you’re here. You look awful. Come here sit down take a load off. Have a drink and some chips and sun screen. Heero where’s the sun screen?”

Wufei took Duo’s attentions with good grace. He was glad to see that Duo looked recovered to some extent. The dark circles under his eyes were gone and he looked more relaxed.

Wufei wished he could relax too, perhaps here, where there was no telephone to interrupt every action from showering to meditation, he could unwind too.

Heero handed over the sun screen and nothing would do but for Wufei to strip off his shirt and allow Duo to anoint him with the stinking yellow lotion. The color would disappear, Duo explained, when the carrier evaporated. Wufei settled on a lounger and waited until Duo calmed down.

“How do you feel?”

Duo grinned. “Better. I feel safe here. There’s no one that hasn’t been thoroughly checked out. How long are you here for?”

Wufei grinned. “I’m on indefinite leave too. I wasn’t sure I’d get it, but I did.” Wufei pinned Heero with a pointed look. “And I know which hacker to thank for it.”

Heero sat up enough to give Wufei a slight bow then flopped down again. Duo grinned happily and gave Heero a thumbs up.

They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around on the terrace. Wufei went inside long enough to change into more casual clothing.

Quatre left shortly after to find Trowa and make a call.

~ * ~

Duo nearly hurt himself when he saw the Hawaiian shirt and lederhosen.

Wufei stuck his nose in the air and announced. “I’ll have you know that Howard himself assured me that this was the newest fashion in vacation clothing.”

Heero dissolved in laughter, and Wufei, satisfied that he’d made the proper impression announced, “Well, this is great. Just what I like. Sun, sand, friends. Quatre and Trowa with us. You two annoying the hell out of me. Oh, and I have to tell you this.”

Heero and Duo calmed themselves enough to listen to Wufei. “Une is a mess. She’s just sure you’ve booby-trapped something. She’s had the debugging crew over her office twice, her quarters at least three times and the gym and I’m not sure where else. Every time someone opens something she twitches. It’s hilarious.”

Laughter from the French doors made them all jump. All three of them produced weapons from somewhere on their person.

Trowa held up his hands, laughing good naturedly at the battery of armament pointed at him.

“I surrender. Please hold me prisoner until you’re ready to go back.”

He flopped onto the nearest chair, slouching bonelessly.

Duo grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Where’s Quat?”

Trowa smirked at Duo. “He’s getting in touch with a ‘spy’ we have in HQ. Wants the low down on Une.”

Heero settled Duo between his legs on the lounger and turned to Trowa. “Low down?”

“Yeah, seems she’s having a melt down of some kind. Wants her rooms searched daily. And the gym and her office. Every time someone drops something, or opens a drawer, she’s crawling under something. No one seems to know what’s wrong with her.”

Duo and Heero both burst into laughter, Wufei grinned like a loon.

“Oh, that’s good. Heero, you were right. She’s going to lose her mind. I love it.”

Quatre ambled out just then and announced that Une was as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs and was driving the debugging crews crazy. He had to stop talking twice to get his giggles under control.

Heero just hugged Duo and whispered, ‘Told ya.’ in his ear.

Wufei stretched languidly, looking as self-satisfied as a cat full of cream. “I do so like coming down slow.”

They all agreed with him and settled in to sleep in the sun.
October 11, 2006