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" Junkers "Written By: CalicOcat Life With Heero Arc fic 9 Genre: Angst, Friendship Pairings: None yet Rated: PG-13 Warnings: AU, OOC, Swearing Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone
with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone
else, please ask. Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said. Notes: The arc begins between one and two years after Endless Waltz. Duo POV in this story. 'Thinking' "Speaking" ************ Time passing or scene change Author's Notes: This is the first in an arc of stories. I don't know for sure how many stories there will be or how often I'll be posting them. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings will vary from story to story as well, as will the genre. Pairings will probably eventually make their way in, but it will be quite a while since the first half dozen or so stories are drafted out and there's no real indication of pairings in them as of yet. Feedback is appreciated.
Junkers Arc fic 9 Looking over the latest shipload of assorted salvage
material, Duo kept a close eye out for a new restoration project.
He'd really enjoyed spending his evenings working on the little classic
convertible that was his "baby" and he was looking forward
to finding another potential project. Not every old car - classic
or not - was worth restoring. Since this project would be for sale
once it was completed, it not only had to interest him, it also had
to have real resale potential. After rejecting several cars, a small
pickup, and a couple of motorcycles (tempting, but the two combined
still wouldn't give a complete one and the parts from them would be
worth more than the finished bike would bring by the time he had to
purchase what was missing), Duo had just about decided that there
was once again nothing worthwhile. Then, he spotted it. In rough condition,
no doubt about it, but at least externally very complete. The upholstery
was completely rotten, but the actual seats could be restored. A quick
glance at the engine looked at least semi-promising, but the exhaust
system was totally shot. Probably the single most expensive item on
any restored classic vehicle was the conversion of the old engine
to burn modern fuel and pass modern exhaust tests. It was either do
that or buy a *very* expensive permit to run the vehicle with the
old system on a "living history" license, in which case
you also had to find a source for the fuel. The tires were long since
rotted off, but the original hubcaps were still intact and only slightly
dented. Checking the vehicle over a second time, he spotted a small
plate Duo was both shocked and delighted to come home that evening and discover Heero under the hood of the "junker", printouts of the wiring diagrams, engine schematics, etc. spread out over the worktable. Waving him over, Heero told him, "Duo, I've got a list here of the stuff we're going to need. I tracked down a few of the parts online, but it looks like we might have to get *these* ones custom-made or retool them ourselves from something similar." Listening to Heero's surprisingly animated explanation
of precisely what was or wasn't salvageable on the classic car, Duo
could barely keep from cheering. If Heero was willing to work on rebuilding
these old cars, it would give him something to do all day while Duo
was at the scrapyard. And since he'd be doing most of the actual work,
Duo could split the profits from the sale of the restored vehicle
with him. Which would go a long way towards making Heero feel useful
again. And if it turned out that the two of them could work on the
cars together without killing each other, well, it just might be time
to finally follow through on his wish to start easing his way out
of the increasingly monotonous salvage business. Hilde's fiancé,
though currently still with the Sweepers, had indicated that he would
like to become more involved in the day to day running of the place,
so he suspected Hilde and Rick would be happy to arrange some sort
of a buyout of his share. Oh, it wouldn't happen overnight - the business
was worth quite a bit, but neither partner was exactly raking in the
money as most of the profits went back into improving operations.
But if something could be worked out to reduce his working days (and,
obviously, the salary he took home in exchange for them), then he But first, he'd have to see how well Heero handled the restoration of an old vehicle, something rather different from working on a state-of-the-art piece of machinery like a Gundam. Heero had always seemed to enjoy working on first Wing and later Zero. He had even been perfectly willing to lend a hand if Duo was doing something to Deathscythe that was a two-man job. Back then, they'd worked together quite well. The question was whether they still would now. Maybe this would turn out to be a new career opportunity for them both. |
