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"What May Come"Written By: Clara Barton Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. The following
is an intellectual exercise with no intention of profit. That said,
these characterizations, words, and situations are mine. Please ask
before reprinting. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Language, angst, violence, sex Pairings: 2x3x2 Summary: Almost two years after the war, Trowa Barton decides to move on and enrolls at Amaris University, located on the former Lunar Base. He quickly learns that the past isn't so easy to run away from, especially not when the past confronts him in the form of Duo Maxwell. A/N: This has been in my head for years. I'm
sorry it isn't an update to any of my WIPs but… it's a challenge
to get back in the heads of characters who I haven't lived with in
a while. For now, all I can do is try to write - but rest assured
that I am looking over my old work and making notes and preparing
to update. Eventually. I'm sorry I can't promise more. "What May Come " Chapter Twelve "One of these days, I'm going to beat you." Trowa shook his head in pity. "Will that be the day you tie my hands behind my back and push me into the pool backwards?" Duo tried to splash him, but Trowa slipped under the water and reached out, grabbing Duo's ankles and pulling him down with him. He let the other man twist out of his grip and together they swam down to the bottom of the pool and for a moment it felt like time stopped. They didn't do this too often - they both spent a fair amount of time underwater, pushing their limits, but rarely did they do it together. It was even more rare for them to look directly at each other, exposed and illuminated. Trowa looked at the way Duo's hair floated around his face and the way the pool lights made his scars glow and he wondered what Duo saw, when Duo looked at him. Eventually they gave into the call of oxygen and drifted to the surface. Duo was still looking at him and Trowa found himself reluctant to look away. "When did you get that one?" Duo looked away from Trowa's face, breaking the moment, and gestured to the tattoo over Trowa's heart. It was the alchemical symbol for Mercury. Trowa imagined Duo recognized the symbol - it wasn't used that often these days, but he was willing to bet money that the first time Duo had seen his tattoos he had committed them to memory and researched possible meanings for them. "A few months before Operation Meteor began." "The first time?" Trowa nodded. "Quicksilver? Do you think you're so unpredictable and changeable?" They didn't usually do this either - guess about their pasts. "You think I'm not?" He challenged. Duo shrugged. They were close enough that their feet touched as they treaded the water. "I dunno. Maybe you were? Hell, I never knew what you were going to do - never really knew who you were." "Me either," Trowa said. "I'm not sure I do now." "Do you ever regret it? Keeping his name?" "I have to go by something." Duo sighed. "Don't we all." Trowa had never really considered that, the fact that Duo Maxwell wasn't the name his former comrade had been born with. "You made your own name, at least," he offered. Duo gave him a dark look. "I took this name, same way I took everything else in life." Trowa decided to steer them clear of whatever path this conversation was taking. "What are your plans for the winter break?" "Dunno. Escaping this place for two weeks." "Any thoughts on where you will escape to?" "Howard's on Earth, and there's no way I can afford a shuttle down there. I figure I'll try to hop a few shuttles around the colonies - hey, you think Quatre'd like me to come visit?" It was too perfect of an opening for Trowa to resist. "I'm sure he would love for you to visit. Come with me." "What? Come with you? You're visiting him over the break?" Trowa nodded. "The circus is dirtside - they've got some gig near San Francisco." "Jesus. So you're spending it with him instead?" Duo looked sincerely devastated for Trowa. "It won't be that bad - especially if you come with me." He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted Duo to come with him - well, he knew why: he wanted the backup because while Quatre wasn't that bad, he was bad enough. "Trowa, I spent a month with him during the war. Thirty days." "I know." Duo sighed in exasperation. "You know how he does that thing?" "What thing?" "That thing where he annoys the shit out of you?" Trowa had to struggle to keep from laughing. He forced himself to look confused. Duo sighed again. "When he asks you how you feel? Or tells you shit about himself and his dreams for the future?" "Oh, that thing. Yes. I know that thing." Duo looked on the verge of dunking him under water. "Do you know how many times he made me contemplate suicide and surrender during that month? Too many. And now you want me to go with you, to visit him? For how long?" "Two weeks." "Two - two weeks? That's the entire break! You seriously think you can spend that much time with him and not lose it?" "There's always that risk. But that's what makes life worth living - risks." Duo looked at him like he was crazy, but eventually he sighed. "Fine. I'll go with you to Quatre's - on one condition." Duo looked deadly serious as he held up a single finger and glared at Trowa. "Okay." "You're going to buy me six - seven - packages of freeze-dried ice cream and you're going to eat them with me. And enjoy yourself." "That sounds like three conditions," Trowa pointed out. "Whatever. That's the only way I'll agree to this demented vacation." Trowa rolled his eyes but he gave in. "Fine. I'll help you eat seven packages of cardboard mulch."
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