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" Give Thanks"Written By: CalicOcat
Pairing: 1x2x1, background 3x4 Rated: PG -13 Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Lime/Implied Lemon, Violence Archives: Anyone who already has permission to
archive anything else of mine, go ahead. Anyone else, please ask. Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said. Notes: Tenth in the Holiday Series
(written for American Thanksgiving). 'Thinking' "Speaking" ************ Time passing or scene change Author's Notes: Yes, this is late - *very* late.
At least I finally got it finished... Feedback is appreciated.
" Give Thanks" 'Thanksgiving... I have a great deal to be thankful
for this year...' Beginning with the man sprawled on his back across
considerably more than his share of the bed, hogging all the covers
and snoring none-too-quietly. Propping himself up on one elbow, Heero grinned tolerantly
down at his partner. Braid unravelling in a ratty tangle, unruly bangs
sticking out in every direction, mouth slightly open and a trickle
of drool snaking its way down the side of his face, Duo was still
a beautiful sight to wake up to as far as Heero was concerned. He
brushed a careful fingertip lightly over the very ends of Duo's eyelashes.
Duo stirred slightly as Heero transferred his attention to the other
eye and repeated the delicate caress. A faint murmur of content escaped
Duo's throat and a hint of a smile tugged at his lips. Repeating the
feathery contact, Heero followed up with a tender kiss to each eyelid,
feeling them quiver beneath his lips. Soft sounds of wordless approval
and a hand stirring lethargically in the bedding indicated Duo's growing
awareness. Heero hovered over his lover as Duo opened his eyes
and drowsily blinked up at him. Before Duo had a chance to speak,
Heero placed a gentle finger against Duo's parted lips and shook his
head. He smiled slightly in response to the puzzled look dimly visible
on Duo's face. It was very, very early in the morning and Duo was
undoubtedly wondering why Heero had woken him. They didn't have to
leave for Quatre's until after noon. Despite his obvious curiosity,
Duo readily acquiesced to Heero's unspoken request and held his silence.
Heero bent to kiss Duo softly, silently thanking him for his cooperation.
This afternoon, he and Duo would be celebrating with
friends, giving thanks as a group for another year of peace. Heero
intended for them to spend the morning hours in their own private
celebration of thanksgiving. *** Lying in Heero's arms, sweaty, sticky, and sated, Duo
snuggled a little closer. He was unwilling to break the peaceful stillness
of the morning with words just yet. It had been difficult to honour
Heero's request not to speak but it had been well worth the effort.
Without words being spoken, other noises became evident. The quiet
rustle of bedclothes, the soft susurrus of skin against skin, the
faint whisper of callused fingers sliding through silken hair, the
tiny wordless gasps and murmurs of desire... Heero's tender caresses and loving kisses had conveyed
his love and appreciation for Duo - body, heart, and soul - in a way
that words could not begin to match. There had been no rush, no urgency,
to their lovemaking. It had been a beautiful expression of Heero's
thankfulness for their relationship. And as soon as he found the energy to actually move,
Duo intended to make his own love and appreciation equally clear.
They had all morning, after all... Though he *would* need to go let the dog out at some
point... A few all-too-short minutes later, Duo was rudely shaken
from his contented half-drowse by the strident ringing of the phone.
Neither he nor Heero made any offer to get up and answer it. That
was what the answering machine was for, after all. *** "Yuy? Maxwell? Pick up the phone, gentlemen. I'm
sorry to disturb you on the holiday but we have a situation..."
Heero groaned in resignation and reluctantly untangled
himself from Duo. Sitting up, he reached for the phone. Duty called
and he knew that Une would not interrupt their holiday lightly. "Yuy
here." As Une began to brief him, the mattress creaked and
shifted. Heero turned his head and nodded in acknowledgement of Duo's
gesture towards his tangled hair. Duo blew a quick kiss towards Heero
and Heero gave him a brief smile in return. Then he turned his full
attention towards the phone while Duo left the room. He knew that
Duo was heading off to let Chocolate out and start getting cleaned
up for work. They both would definitely need showers before they left
the house. This wasn't quite the way that Heero had hoped to spend
their first Thanksgiving as a couple. *** Crouched outside the back door of a rundown house in
a very bad section of the city, Duo couldn't help thinking wistfully
of where he - and Heero - were *supposed* to be right then. Namely,
at Quatre's luxurious residence, visiting with friends. And instead
of wearing Kevlar vests and holding guns while preparing to invade
a house and - hopefully - rescue a senator's kidnapped daughter, they
should have been enjoying a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, that poor kid should be safe in her own home
watching Thanksgiving Day parades on TV, not stuck in *this* dump,
held hostage to try pressuring her mom into voting against a certain
piece of legislation when parliament reconvenes after the holiday...'
Duo thought grimly. "Try" being the operative word. L4 Representative Senator Greaves was not a stupid woman.
She'd known damn well that following instructions to *not* report
her daughter's kidnapping wouldn't guarantee the child's safety. And
she had no intention of allowing what she'd referred to as "cowardly
scum" to influence her vote. However, she also had no intention
of unnecessarily endangering her child's life. Rather than report
the kidnapping directly to local law enforcement and risk the kidnappers
finding out that she'd done so, she'd contacted an old schoolfriend
who just happened to have a "baby brother" with very close
ties to the Preventers. And Quatre, of course, had taken things into
his capable hands and had very discreetly contacted Une. Which of course meant Une reluctantly cancelling our
holiday...' Duo's eyes swept repeatedly over the area as he waited
for the time to enter the house. He hated this part of a mission -
the interminable waiting while nerves tingled and muscles quivered
in readiness. It was even worse when waiting alone as he was right
now. Especially knowing that somewhere around the side of the house
his partner was also waiting for the operation to get underway. Flicking a quick glance at his watch, Duo tightened
his jaw at the confirmation that he really *did* still have another
two minutes to wait. He really wanted this over and done with so that
they could all give thanks for the safe return of the young girl.
Gun in hand and lockpicks at the ready, Duo stayed behind
the dubious shelter of the reeking garbage can and waited for the
signal. *** Voices raised on the sidewalk in front of the house
right on time. Heero immediately set to work carefully and quietly
cutting a hole in the basement window he was crouched beside. A small
part of his mind admired the sheer volume that Dorothy and Noin were
producing in their little spat; Dorothy seemed to be really getting
into her role. As he reached through the hole and unlocked the window,
Heero shook his head slightly, faintly amused by the language being
used by the usually aristocratic young woman. He'd had his doubts
about letting her and Noin provide the distraction out front - they
weren't exactly familiar with the characters they were playing after
all - but they were doing a pretty damn good acting job. He could
almost believe that they really *were* just a couple of hookers having
a very loud argument over whose territory this block was. Once inside the basement, Heero performed a cursory
sweep to verify that it was unoccupied. Sweep completed, he signalled
for the other agents to climb down through the window. Then he headed
up the stairs and silently eased the door open a crack, listening
carefully and peering through the narrow space. Satisfied that the
area was clear, he gradually pushed the door open far enough to slip
through. There was no one in the narrow hallway but he could hear
voices towards the front of the house commenting in amusement on the
"cat-fight" taking place outside. A glance in the opposite
direction revealed Duo gliding soundlessly into sight, two agents
close on his heels. Duo signalled an all-clear and gestured at the stairs
leading to the second story. Heero nodded his acceptance and headed
off to take care of the suspects he could hear on this floor, his
own team close behind him, while Duo's team ascended the staircase.
*** With a few quick motions, Duo sent his team to reconnoitre
the upstairs rooms. Only one of the doors stood open and that room
- overlooking the street out front - was empty. Hand signals told
Duo that sounds were confirmed in two of the remaining three rooms.
He ordered an agent to take the apparently-empty room
anyway. No point taking unnecessary chances. Behind him, a shout of "Code Green!" came
from the supposedly-empty room and Duo grinned in satisfaction even
as he dodged gunfire from within his own room. The kidnapped girl
was alive and in stable condition. Whether she was genuinely unhurt
or not would remain to be seen but she was at least not in need of
immediate medical attention. Duo returned fire, sending the shooter diving for cover
behind the bed. "Drop your weapon and come out with your hands
up!" Duo barked sharply. He ducked as another gunshot answered
his demand. Distantly, he was aware of the sounds of a struggle in
the adjoining room. An instant later, the connecting door burst open
and two figures staggered through it. Seeing that Agent Brook was
seriously outclassed by the hulking man currently trying to stab him
and unable to get a clear shot, Duo lunged into the fray. *** This was *not* how I wanted to spend Thanksgiving...'
Heero laced his fingers through Duo's and bent his head to press a
gentle kiss to the back of Duo's hand. He threw a glance at the monitor
readouts and settled back into his chair with a sigh. It would probably
be quite a while yet before Duo woke up. A quiet knock on the doorframe caught Heero's attention
and he looked up. "How is he?" Quatre asked softly. "Lucky," Heero replied. Quatre gave him a disbelieving look and repeated, "Lucky?"
Heero nodded and gave him a rueful half-smile. "Yes.
He'll be limping for a while but the bullet didn't seriously damage
the bone and it missed the tendon." They'd had to dig the bullet
out of Duo's calf but it had barely chipped the tibia and the bone
fragments hadn't caused any serious further damage. "And his arm?" "The Kevlar vest deflected the stab," Heero
leaned forward and gently touched the targeted area on Duo's chest,
knowing that Quatre would understand just how fortunate the vest's
presence had been. "The knife slid off and sliced into his arm
instead. Soft tissue damage only; they just repaired the blood vessels
and stitched it up." Again, Duo had been lucky. The knife wound
hadn't caused any permanent damage although Duo had lost a fair amount
of blood. 'I'm just thankful that we had paramedics standing by. Having
them already on the scene made a big difference...' One ambulance had taken the kidnap victim - she only
had a few bumps and bruises but the hospital was keeping her overnight
for observation - and the other had taken both Duo and Agent Brook,
who'd also been injured. The suspects responsible for their injuries
had left the scene in body bags; another Preventer had downed the
shooter and, despite being wounded, Duo had managed to turn the other
assailant's own knife back on him. Shaking his head slightly, Quatre agreed wryly, "Lucky."
He gazed at Duo's still, pale form for a few moments, then turned
back to Heero. "Trowa's gone to pick up Chocolate and take him
back to our place. We figured that you wouldn't want to have to leave
Duo just to take care of the dog." "Thanks," Heero answered gratefully. Since
the hospital *would* actually allow him to stay with Duo - thanks
to the fact that medical science had finally gotten a clue and realized
that the advantages to the patient of having family continuously present
far outweighed the perceived inconvenience to the hospital - he had
every intention of remaining at Duo's side unless and until Duo himself
ordered him to go home. "Is there anything else we can do for you?"
"Not really. He won't be awake much before tomorrow,
Quatre. You might as well go home for now." "Wouldn't *you* like some company?" Heero gazed steadily at Quatre and raised one eyebrow
slightly. "Actually... No." He would rather just be left
alone with Duo. Belatedly, he added, "Sorry." Quatre smiled faintly and murmured, "Why am I not
surprised... "Alright." He crossed the room and gave Heero
a hug, then leaned over the bed and squeezed Heero and Duo's joined
hands gently. He instructed Heero firmly, "Call if you need anything;
otherwise I'll see you both in the morning." Nodding his acceptance, Heero was silently grateful
for the understanding of good friends. Not everyone would be as tolerant
and sympathetic towards his preference to keep a solitary vigil. As
Quatre headed towards the door, Heero called softly after him, "Happy
Thanksgiving, Quatre." The day might not have gone as planned
but it could have been far worse. An innocent child was safe and although
Duo was injured, he was in stable condition and would probably spend
only a few days in the hospital. Heero would far rather give thanks
for the positive than dwell on the negative. Quatre turned and gave Heero a startled look that softened
to one of comprehension. Inclining his head slightly, he agreed, "We
*do* have a lot to be thankful for, don't we... "Happy Thanksgiving, Heero." ################################################# |
