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"Regained "Written By: Artemis Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: yaoi lemon, masturbation, angst, violence,
language Pairings: 6x2, 3x4, mention of 13+11, R+1 Summary: Sequel to Interfacing: Lost. GAIA, the
new alliance, fights its first battle in Antarctica; Duo and Zechs
begin to rebuild their relationship "Regained" Chapter 11
On the other side of the door to one end of the dining room was the general dining hall which was already cleared from the morning meal. Turning to face the little blond, Trowa bowed his head, raising a hand, but then let it drop back to his side. "Quatre... kitten... I'm sorry. I... I've hurt you." Despite feeling shaken from Trowa's behavior in the meeting, Quatre wanted to fall into the other boy's arms right now. The words of apology warmed him and made him remember how much he loved Trowa. But he resisted the urge. //Wait... you have questions first,// he thought. Taking a deep breath he spoke softly, "Trowa. I don't understand why you acted that way. Have you and Heero become... close?" He turned away a little, unable to look at Trowa just then. //I didn't sense anything like that between them, but maybe...// "What?" Trowa was stunned. //How could he think anything could get close to...that?// "No, it's not like that, Quatre." He took a deep breath and made himself put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Heero is the perfect soldier... that's all. I admire him and I trust his judgment. Quatre, OZ nearly caught up to us in Gibraltar. If Noin hadn't offered us a carrier, they still might have. But you didn't see what Heero's been through... what he put himself through." The little blond turned back. "OZ nearly captured you? Oh, Trowa," he said, squeezing the hand on his shoulder. He stood for a moment, quietly looking into the emerald eyes he loved so much. //I almost lost you?// The thought made him shiver, so he quickly brought up the question of Heero Yuy again. "So, you admire Heero," he said with a nod. "I only know him from the stories Duo has told me. And he always made Heero sound so... superhuman. Have you been able to become friends with him?" "Friends..." Trowa sounded startled. He and Heero talked very little, had only shared sketchy details of their rather rough upbringing, Heero's intensive training and Trowa's years as a mercenary. "Yes, I suppose so. He doesn't trust easily. I'm not entirely certain he trusts me. Actually, I'm not sure he can trust anyone." //And enough about Heero Yuy...// Leaning closer, Trowa murmured, "I don't know yet what I'm doing here, Quatre... I only know that I'm glad to see you... and... and I hope that we can spend a little time together. Would you like that, kitten?" His voice softened at this last as he gazed at the slim beauty before him. "Oh, tiger. Yes, I want time with you," Quatre said, grinning warmly and putting his hands on the taller boy's hips. His heart was beating fast, and his body stirred at their closeness. He had thought about Trowa hundreds, no thousands of times since they parted. Pined for him, fantasized about him... Couldn't stop talking about him to his dear, patient friend Duo. "I'm so glad you're here," he said, looking up into the handsome, quiet face. "We're finally together again." The endearment made Trowa blush, and he couldn't help a small smile at his sweet little boyfriend. "For a while. Yeah, I think I might manage to stay a little while... after dogging the Perfect Soldier for a month, I could use the comfort..." Sighing, he put his arms around Quatre and drew him closer, then bent to kiss him. Quatre closed his eyes and accepted the kiss with a pounding heart. He had ached for Trowa for so long that he couldn't stop a moan from escaping him. "Mmmm," he said, and slid his hands around Trowa's waist to keep the boy snug to him. //He feels so good... I've wanted this for so long.// The kiss lingered, making the Arabian bold, and he let his tongue press for entrance into the other boy's mouth. He was delighted at the immediate welcome and blushed hotly as the hunger between them increased. //Oh, shit, he tastes so good, my kitten,// Trowa thought, eagerly exploring Quatre's mouth. He, too, felt the fire surge between them... and something else was surging, he realized, feeling his pants grow tight. //I don't care where we are...// Hungry, Trowa slid a hand down to cup Quatre's sweet ass, squeezing as he pushed his own bulge against the other. "Hnnn," Quatre moaned at the press of their bodies... hard cocks rubbing together. //Allah, I could come in my pants!// He let his own hands slip down then and cup the delicious firm curve of Trowa's ass. //Oh... I want to see him naked!// Suddenly, overcome by his own desires, a wave of dizziness hit him. He had to pull out of that ravenous kiss to get much needed air back into his lungs. "Trowa," he said, panting hard and looking wide-eyed at his love. "Please... Can we go to your room?" "Oh, yeah," Trowa smirked. He released his little love but firmly grasped his hand in his. "Tiger's going to have his way with his kitten," he added, winking as he led Quatre to his quarters. Noin pressed her hand to Zechs's arm as the others stood to leave. "Hang on, just a moment," she whispered. Zechs glanced and saw Trowa and Quatre slipping out the door to the dining hall, and Duo following close on Heero's heels departing to the hallway. //He's going to take Heero to task for his attitude, I'm sure,// he thought, sighing, but he let him go. //They need to get it out in the open, perhaps...// Straightening, he turned to Noin. "Sure, of course." Once the room was cleared, Noin stood and leaned back on the table, tilting her head as she looked at her princely friend. "Well, that's some group of Gundam pilots we've assembled," she said with a grin. "It's obvious Heero won't budge until he has to, but the one I'm most curious about is Duo." She inched a little closer to Zechs and then almost conspiratorially asked, "Are you two...?" She knew damn well they were, but she wanted to hear it from her friend. //She's caught on... but it will be more fun to play her a little...// "Are we what, Noin?" Zechs asked, raising a white eyebrow at her in mock suspicion. "Oh, please. Don't play coy with me, Zechs. I know exactly what's going on between the two of you. I just want to hear you say it," she said with a barely suppressed grin. //She knows me all too well...// Zechs smiled, then, relaxing his posture. "Very well... yes, Duo and I have a relationship. You're not going to believe this, but we met without either knowing what the other was - I'd told him I was a soldier... and he didn't ask... and I never knew he was a Gundam pilot." //And I don't know how else we could have come together, otherwise...// "You didn't know he was a Gundam pilot?" she asked, her face alight with shock. "You were still with OZ when the two of you met," she said in sudden realization. She shook her head then. "Oh, you really must tell me, Zechs. How did you meet? In a bar somewhere? And when did you find out who he was?" She was rattling off questions as fast as she could think of them, but she knew the Lightning Count could handle it. "Noin, please," Zechs tried to forestall the flood of questions, a jolt of panic spreading through him. "Actually we met on the GlobalNet... and decided to meet in person. And for the rest, dear Noin, please... let it suffice to say that the discovery of our true positions in this war... was traumatic. Quatre had found out who I was and intercepted Duo, and..." He bowed his head. "You really don't need to know the rest. And I'm afraid we're still not all the way back to how we were, though it is improving. I... I do love him very much." "Oh, Zechs," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me what happened." //I can't imagine... What would a Gundam pilot do when he suddenly realized he was involved with an OZ officer? My poor Zechs. He's certainly shaken up about it.// "Let's talk about more pleasant things then," she smiled, withdrawing her hand. "Like how you happened to fall in love with a young man who's nothing like anyone I've ever seen you with before. You have to admit, Duo doesn't look like your type." //But then why is that dolt Bronn Sangers, Zechs's type? I'll never understand why Zechs gets involved with guys like that.// "My type?" Zechs chuckled but there was a note of irony in his voice. "If 'my type' is like any of the puppy subordinates lapping at my coattails, then I've been barking up the wrong tree - pardon the awful mix of metaphors!" He smiled again as she laughed outright. "But seriously, I've never fallen in love like this because I've never met such a bright, bold spirit before. Duo is so refreshingly unlike anyone I've ever met, and his sheer joie de vivre has been a balm to my heart." "Zechs, are you saying you've *really* fallen in love with Duo? He's not just..." She was about to say 'just one of your torrid affairs' but that sounded too crass. "I can see he means a great deal to you," she said, her voice going a little sad. She was afraid that Zechs would get his heart broken. He was a very special man, but no one except Lucrezia Noin seemed to understand this. As far as she could tell, all the men Zechs had been involved with had only used him for sex and power. "And Duo? Does he feel the same? Is he in love with you?" //Oh, God I hope so. But can that little Gundam pilot heal Zechs's heart? Give him the love he deserves and desperately needs?// Zechs took a deep breath and leaned against the table beside her. //I'm so grateful I've got someone who knows me to talk about this with... since I'm not willing to tell Treize yet...// "Yes... we're really in love," he breathed, himself awed by it. "I'm as astounded as you are. I really have lost my heart to him... and I know he loves me very deeply. You see... he isn't after anything except my love, Noin. He isn't using me in any way at all." "Oh, that's so wonderful, Zechs," she said, and nudged him playfully and smiled. //I should talk to Duo though... I want to hear this from him as well,// she thought, still feeling protective of her friend. "It really is amazing then... that you found Duo in the middle of this war." He sighed and stepped away from the table to face her again, crossing his arms over his chest. "Noin, after we liberated the Sank Kingdom... after Siberia... I had felt empty and purposeless. You know I hadn't been so committed to OZ as to helping Treize out... and getting myself into position to take my revenge. Now that I've done the latter... the only thing I was able to take an interest in was fighting the Gundams. But now, finding someone to hopefully make a future with, I seem to be interested in making that a future we can live in peacefully. Falling in love with Duo helped me find that new purpose even before I knew what he was." Zechs straightened, the Count for a moment. "And I believe you have seen as I have, Noin, that OZ, thanks to Romefeller's new pushes, is not leading the Earthsphere toward that peace." "Anything but peace," she snorted in agreement. "And His Excellency. What about him? He seems right in line with what Romefeller wants," she said, shaking her head. Though she knew Zechs and Treize were friends, it wasn't a friendship she understood---other than perhaps their common aristocratic background. It had been seven long years since she'd been under Treize's command. Since then, she'd rarely been in the same room with His Excellency Treize Khushrenada and most of her current knowledge came from the many press conferences he'd given. His speeches had left her a little unsure of the future. //At least she's on the same page as me,// Zechs considered carefully. "Treize... yes, well... I can say that the coup d'etat over the Alliance has not produced the results that Romefeller sought... and that Romefeller itself is pushing to the foreground in a highly militaristic manner that even His Excellency finds uncomfortable. Since the Alliance did not fold so easily, there is a new impetus to build ever more fearsome machines of war. And I'm afraid the advent of the Gundams contributed to that push as well." He met her gaze squarely, no longer merely ruminating. "The future is in flux, Noin. And no one's future is more uncertain at this moment than Treize Khushrenada's. Trust me on this." "Do you fear for His Excellency's life?" she asked, wondering if Treize's fate would be the same as the Alliance leaders. Zechs smiled tightly. "His Excellency is a resourceful man. And he has a core of loyal followers to draw upon. I wouldn't worry about him. He may even help our efforts in the long run." "Help us, huh?" Noin asked a bit surprised. "Well, I suppose anything's possible with His Excellency," she added with good humor. "And speaking of help... Don't you think you should check on your little man? He didn't seem too happy with Heero." "You're right," Zechs murmured, uncrossing his arms and glancing over at the door. "Duo seems to delight in teasing him every chance he gets." He looked back at her to see if she was laughing at him; as she didn't seem to be, he added, relieved, "Really, Noin, Duo can be... simply wonderful." She chuckled, happy for her friend. "I bet he can be." Noin's mind flashed suddenly on an image of Zechs and Duo together. The intimate glimpse made her blush pink, but she didn't push it aside. It fascinated her to realize how her alpha male friend would enjoy a much smaller mate... a little dynamo such as Duo Maxwell to shake up his life. //I'll bet that Gundam pilot has Zechs wrapped around his little finger,// she thought with a devilish grin. "Well, there haven't been any loud noises," she said, flipping her bangs out of her eyes and nodding to the door. "But Duo seemed very unhappy with the way Heero was speaking to you... and everyone else for that matter. No wonder these Gundam pilots haven't allied. They can barely speak civilly to each other." With that last statement Noin pushed Zechs towards the door. "So, get a move on, mister! You may be needed to break things up out there." "I'm on it," Zechs said with a smirk, and headed that way. After everyone was finished with breakfast, Duo watched as Heero got up and headed for the door. //Not so fast,// he thought, still steaming from the boy's curt remarks. Without a word to Zechs, Duo followed Heero out of the room, and noticing no one else was coming, he closed the door behind him a bit hard... to get Heero's attention. The noise didn't even make the other boy flinch as he continued down the hall away from the dining suite. "Hey, you!" Duo called out to stop him. Heero was already stopping, for he remembered he needed to wait for Zechs since the ex-OZ pilot was going to show him his Gundam. He crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall, not yet looking Duo's way. "What is it?" he asked mildly. "You know, we're trying to do a good thing here!" Duo said, coming up to stand in front of him. //Zechs won't be happy with me for this, but I really need to give Heero Yuy a piece of my mind.// "We're trying to ally so we have half a chance at winning this war." He put his fists on his hips and stared intently at the blank face before him. "And now you walk in here like some judge to condemn us all. Well, that's just crap!" Heero turned his head to regard the other pilot, frowning slightly. "You're allying with a man whom I have no reason to believe has truly defected from our enemy and you don't think I should be concerned?" As yet, his voice was firm but cool. He was not going to turn this into a confrontation unnecessarily. "Well, it'd be nice if you gave me and Quatre a little credit," Duo said, defiantly. "You think we haven't done our homework?" //If you only knew what we went through to trust Zechs!// "Quatre's Maguanacs intercepted an OZ transmission that proved Zechs had gone against the orders to destroy your Gundam. He only made them believe he'd destroyed it. And that search party you encountered was after Zechs for that very reason! He's a traitor in their eyes." "Some say a traitor can't be trusted," Heero murmured, refusing to respond to Duo's challenge. "What if one of us does something he can't condone - would he betray us, too?" There was steel in his blue-gray eyes; he had a long way to go before he could allow himself to trust anyone as completely as Duo and Quatre seemed to. //I never even trusted Dr. J, though I took orders from him... not completely. But then I was trained to do that.// "Zechs would never betray me... or any of us," Duo said with conviction. //Though for two horrible days I thought he had,// he thought and cringed. //But that was my mistake...// Heero narrowed his eyes at the other boy. "How can you be so sure? Just from one radio transmission that could have been staged? Don't you realize this whole base, this whole alliance thing could be one huge plot to manipulate us once again, Duo?" //I wasn't going to get angry,// Heero told himself, furious even as he lost a little of his vaunted control. "Don't you know that he could be using you and Quatre in order to destroy you?" //No, no, no!// These were the exact arguments that Duo had thrown at Quatre, which he had been so adamant for his friend to believe in order to stop their imminent destruction. //Fuck! Is he a mind reader or something?// Hearing these arguments again made Duo panic with the resurgence of old fears. He had to get a grip and quickly, otherwise the perceptive Heero would notice and assume things were not well in the house of GAIA. "Sometimes you just have to trust other people's judgment," he said finally, trying with all his might to keep a handle on his anger. "I know Zechs to be a caring and honorable man. He would die for us before he would let anyone harm us!" The Prussian blue eyes widened slightly as Heero felt a puzzle piece slip into place. //Something's happened,// he thought, studying a strangely controlled Duo Maxwell. //Duo should be screaming bloody murder at me just because... at least he used to... so something huge has happened to make Duo trust Zechs.// Then his eyes narrowed. //Zechs saved his life, perhaps... from OZ? How did they even run across each other's paths? Quatre, too - he's mixed up in this just as deeply. It has to be big... I can see Quatre trusting someone like Zechs pretty easily, but not Duo. He might be a rude loudmouth, but he's committed to the colonies like the rest of us... isn't he?// "Say something damn it!" Duo shouted, remembering Heero's habit of long periods of silence. He hated when Heero got like this. It was bad enough the guy rarely had anything nice to say when he did speak, but this intense, silent scrutiny always made Duo completely nuts. "I know that cynical little mind of yours is working on something... just say it!" Heero didn't as much as blink. "You don't trust Zechs Merquise just because of a stray OZ transmission, Duo. I know it takes a lot more than that to make you trust someone. So I'm wondering what it was... what massive thing happened between you two to change your mind about a known enemy like this?" Duo shivered at the compliment, and Heero's ability to deduce the situation around him. "He was our captive," the boy with the braid said a bit softly, bowing his head. "I treated him very badly, but he never fought back. Never tried to escape. He wanted to ally with us and gave us all the information we wanted about OZ." Duo moved then to lean on the wall next to Heero. //God, I don't want to relive this. Zechs is still suffering from what I did to him...// "He's a prince you know. Prince Peacecraft... heir to the Sank Kingdom." When Duo said the name it was as if he was announcing the man to a large assembly. It rolled off his tongue like he was born to say it. He allowed himself a small grin then, thinking of Zechs and how much he loved him, but then he returned to the story. "Zechs hid his identity in order to take revenge for his parents' deaths," he said and looked at Heero to see if he could read any reaction on the boy's face. It was impassive as ever. "His kingdom was overthrown when he was only six... The Alliance made him an orphan just like us." Heero listened carefully, keeping his expression closed until he could process all the startling information spilling from Duo Maxwell. //The Alliance orphaned Zechs!// This was vitally critical information, explaining much about how the legendary ace pilot of OZ could walk away from privilege and position to band with colonial rebels. //Then he's never been part of Romefeller. Never was part of the decision to trap us at New Edwards... and he allowed Trowa to leave from the field of battle at Siberia though we were his enemies. Not only must Zechs Merquise be a man of high honor, he perhaps never truly sought the power that came to him so easily...// Then Heero was stepping away from the wall to face Duo again, crossing his arms over his chest. "You captured Zechs?" he asked, incredulous, letting himself react to the first astonishing admission now that he'd settled the rest in his mind. "And he freely told you anything you wanted to know about OZ?" //Foolish, Merquise. Too risky, too much chance to take at the hands of someone as trigger-happy as the God of Death...// The Prussian blue eyes staring back at Duo were intense and a bit intimidating. But Duo had never let that get to him before and he most certainly wasn't going to start now. Especially since Heero was posturing again... against Zechs. A deep sense of protectiveness was suddenly kicking in with full force. Duo couldn't allow anything bad to happen to Zechs ever again... not after what he'd done to him. "You're a real piece of work, you know that, Yuy?" Duo snorted, pushing away from the wall to meet the gaze dead on. //Here we go...// "How's that?" Heero replied, keeping his voice neutral. //I'm not going to fight him; I've got better things to do, like work on my Gundam...// "You think Zechs was easy to capture. That he was a push over for giving us that information... You think he's weak," Duo said, his voice rising with a tinge of defensiveness. He took another half step forward to shrink the space between them... to intimidate right back. "That's not what I said," Heero tried to explain reasonably, though he was frowning. Despite his effort, his voice did rise in volume a little. "I just find it hard to understand why someone like Zechs would think he had a chance of allying with Gundam pilots to the degree that he'd actually give them dirt on OZ once they'd captured him. It just doesn't make sense to me... and, yeah, it seems that would make him weak..." Duo couldn't let it drop. Not when Heero was being this insanely objective and seemingly emotionless. "Zechs is anything but weak, he's OZ's best. *Was* OZ's best!" Duo wasn't quite sure why that gave him a sense of pride when just a couple of days ago that fact had been like a dagger in his heart. "Hell, you think we're all weak!" he shouted in frustration. "And you're just itching to prove it." "Now wait a minute," Heero countered a bit more stridently than he'd wished. "I fought with you at New Edwards... and when you asked me to take the air route to Siberia when we had to stop the transport of those Taurus suits, I trusted your decision to coordinate our efforts. So I don't know what you think I'm 'itching to prove', Duo. I'm just trying to understand what this new alliance thing is all about, that's all." //So I know if I need to kill anyone who's going to get in my way...// "Sure I remember," Duo said, allowing a small smile to curl his lips. Things had gone badly at New Edwards and the mission to Siberia, but the coordination of efforts had shown promise. But Duo's frustration was just too great to hold onto that memory for long. "I also know that you only do what's best for you," he said. He heard a door open down the hall then, but ignored it, assuming it was one of the ex-OZies taking care of base matters. Stepping out into the hall, Zechs immediately saw his lover and Heero Yuy facing one another down the hall. //Uh-oh, how are they getting along, I wonder? Not too well, I'm guessing... Oh, Duo...// "Oh, my," Noin said, covering her mouth a bit late to silence her comment. She had followed Zechs out of the dining room and almost instantly saw the two boys locked in confrontation. "Zechs," she whispered. "I think I'll let you handle this... I'm heading up to the control tower." She patted his arm and grimaced a little as she looked back down the hall and then headed in the other direction. Heero glanced in the direction of the sounds and saw Zechs and Noin come out of the dining room. //I'm not fighting Duo here,// he decided. //But it will likely come to that... later.// Duo inched closer to Heero, fists clenched. "Remember when I salvaged Wing Gundam from the Japan Sea? Well, you didn't even thank me. Or wait a minute... maybe that's what you were doing when you stole parts from my Gundam! Oh, that must've been it, huh, Heero? You were thanking me for my help by stealing from me!" The other pilot looked back at Duo coolly, purposely not reacting to Duo's goading. "First of all, I never asked you to retrieve my Gundam, which would have safely self-detonated below the ocean if you hadn't stopped the detonation sequence. I didn't ask you to rescue me from that Alliance medical facility. And I sabotaged your Gundam because I had a mission to complete. But that was all before I fought with you," Heero responded smoothly. //Let Zechs hear this...// "New Edwards changed that. OZ targeted all of us for that deception." The war became them versus us all of a sudden. //Is *that* how it got out of the ocean?// Zechs thought, amused. //My Duo is one noble sort - first he shoots Heero twice and then he rescues him from the medical facility, eh? Hmmmm, it's amazing that the Gundam pilots haven't killed each other yet...// Slowly and quietly, he approached the boys - Heero, whom he was sure had seen him, and Duo, whose back was mostly facing Zechs. "So, let me get this straight," Duo said, his voice laced with sarcasm as it often was when he was frustrated. He held out his hand as he began to count. "One... I should've let your Gundam be destroyed. Two... I should've let you be dissected by those Alliance bastards. Three... you had good reason to steal from me. Am I getting this right?" he asked and tossed his head, sending his braid swishing behind him. "And four... you never thanked me because you never asked for my help in the first place. Well, when you put it like that..." he said, but before he could finish he noticed Heero's eyes flick away for just a second. //Someone's coming toward us?// Duo turned to see and his eyes immediately went wide when he discovered his Zechs was just a dozen feet away. //Oh, shit! How much of this has he heard?// "Um... Hi!" "Hello," Zechs greeted both of the boys smoothly as he reached them. He laid a hand on Duo's near shoulder, squeezing briefly. "I have just one comment, if you don't mind. Sometimes... one must choose to let the past go rather than try to settle it. It's a lesson I've had to learn myself... recently." //Painfully...// "Sound like words of wisdom to me," Duo said, cheerfully, giving the impression that no cross words had been shared between him and Heero. He patted Zechs's hand on his shoulder and then grinned smugly at Heero, gloating a little over his relationship with the tall blond. //He probably doesn't know what to make of me and Zechs!// Then Zechs was squeezing Duo's shoulder again before releasing it. "Please excuse me, Duo, but Heero's been patiently waiting to see that we do, in fact, have his Gundam and have restored it. I think we should go take a look at that now." "Oh, yeah, we don't want to keep Heero waiting," Duo said with a little chuckle. //He just might implode or something!// "But before you go," he said, putting his hands on his hips and looking at Heero, "I just want to say that the past is easier to let go when people *apologize* for what they've done." With that said, Duo turned to go, swinging his braid behind him, and headed off down the hall. "Catch you later, Zechs!" Zechs stood and watched his occasionally demonic little lover saunter away. //I can't tell - are they getting along? Can they work together? We need Heero though... even if he doesn't apologize to Duo for something he obviously doesn't think warrants apology...// "This way," he nodded at Heero, gesturing in the other direction down the hall.
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