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"Going the Distance"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: Angst, language, violence, sex, AU Pairings: 1x2x3 Summary: Duo Maxwell has just signed on to join Team Gundam Wing, an upstart League of Legends team looking to win the World Championships. Duo Maxwell, the first openly gay professional gamer. Duo Maxwell, the guy hated by almost all of Reddit. Duo Maxwell, the guy whose own brother hates him. Duo Maxwell, the guy who really just wants to find a team that doesn't hate him. A/N: This fic is an AU that has the boys playing
professional League of Legends. I'm going to try my best to not get
bogged down too much in game terminology or things like that, but,
well, I WILL reference the game and try to explain as much as I can,
as I go. I'm also way too lazy to make up "new" teams for
the league, so I will be using existing teams and players, with the
exceptions of Team Gundam Wing, Zodiac Gaming, and the Valkyries.
So… I will be referencing real people and real teams. "Going the Distance" Chapter Twenty-Six "An interview." "Just one." Relena had a hopeful, apologetic look on her face that she had to know was impossible to deny. Duo sighed. It was Saturday morning, and the team was gathering downstairs before getting into the van. Quatre kept looking over at Duo, and his concern might as well have been printed on a billboard. Sally also kept looking at him, but she didn't seem as convinced that Duo would collapse at any second. She was just watchful. Having their eyes on him almost non-stop over the past few days had been just as irritating and uncomfortable as having Trowa and Heero not looking at him. Or talking to him. Duo had practiced with the team on Thursday afternoon and, after getting the cautious go-ahead from his doctor yesterday morning, Duo had practiced with the team in the afternoon and into the evening - only putting up a weak protest when Sally insisted they all call it a night at ten instead of midnight. He still felt tired, achy, his body still giving him the odd twinge of pain, and sitting wasn't his most favorite activity at the moment. He had, however, stopped taking the pain medication the hospital gave him on Thursday night. It made him sluggish, and his dreams were too bizarre for him to handle. Now, however, as Relena stared him down and the threat of an interview hung over his head, Duo wished he was still medicated. "Why me?" he asked, aware that he sounded petulant even before Meilin rolled her eyes at him. Relena frowned and gave an annoyed huff. "Because you're you. This is the second-to-last weekend in the summer split, and today is our last game against ZG. Even if last week hadn't happened, they would want to interview you." "Yeah, but - Quatre's the team captain." "Quatre doesn't have a brother on the enemy team," Meilin pointed out. "Enemy team?" Meilin shrugged. "Yeah." "Well, why not her - she used to be on the enemy team. I'm sure she's got plenty to say." Meilin offered them a smirk that suggested that she did, in fact, have plenty to say. Probably none of it what an interviewer would want to hear. "They want you, Duo," Relena insisted. "They want to ask about last week, and-" "His health is none of their business," Trowa spoke up, still not looking at Duo. "I agree," Quatre added, frowning. "He doesn't have to talk about that -they shouldn't ask him." "I'll tell them he doesn't want to talk about it," Relena said. "So, nothing about your health - now are you okay doing the interview?" He really wasn't, but Duo knew that Relena wasn't asking him for her sake. She was asking because Riot wanted the interview. And, technically, Duo worked for them as well as for TGW. So if they wanted an interview, he really couldn't say no. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Okay. Whatever." Relena's shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you." "We should get going," Sally indicated the kitchen clock. It was almost eleven - they definitely needed to get going. They climbed into the van - Heero taking the very back seat, and Meilin claiming the seat beside him before Trowa could. The top laner sat down in the middle row while Quatre stretched out, as always, in the first row. Which meant Duo either had to make Quatre move, or sit beside Trowa. It almost felt like he was back in the beginning of Spring Split, moving into a house with a team that was cohesive and awesome and not like him. Duo sighed again and sat down beside Trowa, careful to keep to the other side of the seat. Sally drove them to the studio in silence, the low hum of the radio in the front the only sound. This was worse than the start of Spring Split, Duo decided when Sally took a turn too hard and he slid into Trowa and the other man shied away from him. Much worse. Duo scooted back to the other side of the seat and clutched the armrest, determined not to let it happen again. He didn't really need to have Trowa physically recoil from him to make it clear that whatever Trowa - and Heero - had felt for him or thought of him before he had been enough of an idiot to collapse on stage had definitely died. As soon as Sally parked, Duo pushed his way out of the van, stepping into the bright, sunny day, and saw the line of fans crowding the front, public entrance to the studio. They saw the TGW team climb out of the bus and started to call out. Duo offered a vague wave in their direction, not really sure if they were cheering for him - doubting that they were. The team walked towards the back entrance, but as they got closer, some of what the fans said became clearer. "Duo! Duo, kick some ass!" "Crush ZG!" "Duo, you're a god!" "Meilin, will you marry me?" "Duo! You're the sexiest gamer nerd alive!" That got Duo's attention. He turned and looked at the line of people, scanning it, and sure enough, there was Jason. Duo felt himself smile, felt all of his anxiety and anger and self-loathing slide to the back of his mind, as his gaze locked with Jason's. "I'll catch up to you," Duo said over his shoulder, in Quatre's direction, and started to walk towards the fans. They cheered even louder, asking for his autograph, asking for photos, and as much as Duo wanted to just ignore everyone but Jason, he found himself stopping and reaching for Sharpies or posing with with people in TGW paraphernalia as he worked his way down the line towards Jason. It took several minutes, but he was finally just a few feet from Jason. The other man was looking him over, gaze warm and concerned, and Duo, for a brief, crazy moment, wanted to pull him out of the line and hug him. It felt really damn good to be looked at like that. "How are you?" Jason asked, in front of everyone. Duo shrugged. "I'm okay." "I was worried about you," Jason continued, his gray eyes locked with Duo's. "You could have called," Duo pointed out. Jason snorted. "Right. Because if I did that, you'd just have said you were fine and don't worry about it. You're kind of shit at taking care of yourself, I don't know if you've noticed." Duo stared at him for a long moment, aware of the fans still clamouring for attention, but unable to think about anything other than what Jason had said. It reminded him of Trowa - selling him out to the team the other night. Except, it was clear that Jason said it because he was worried, because he wanted Duo to be okay - not because he was pissed off at him. "Well, I am fine," Duo assured Jason as he reached for another pen and hat to autograph. "Tired, achy. Lonely," he added with another shrug. "But I'm okay." Jason gave him a serious look, and Duo wondered if, like the last time he had shown up at a game unexpectedly, he would hint at getting back together with Duo. Because, unlike last time, Duo would probably take him up on it. "Good," Jason said, breaking the moment. "I don't know how you fucking did it, but I like watching League of Legends now, and it would really suck if I had to stop cheering for my favorite player." So no, Jason wasn't trying to hook up. Duo felt equally relieved and bereft about that, but he forced a smirk and handed back the hat and pen to the person behind Jason. "Well, I don't want to disappoint you." Duo stepped back, waved again, and turned to walk to the back entrance. Relena was waiting for him, doing something on her phone, but she looked up at Duo's approach and arched an eyebrow. "Was that Jason?" Duo nodded and had to grin. "Yeah." "Oh. I didn't know - are you two back together?" "No, no. He was... He just wanted to see me, make sure I was okay. Plus, he came to see the games today." Relena didn't look like she believed him. "He's just a friend," Duo told her, deciding it was true. "Well," Relena said, as she hooked her arm through Duo's and dragged him towards the room where he knew they liked to host interviews, "it's good to have friends. I'm happy you have another." As soon as they stepped into the room, Duo felt all of his anxiety come rushing back. He hated interviews so much. Beside him, Relena gave his arm a squeeze. "Fifteen minutes, and then it will be over," she told him in a low voice. "And I'll be right here the whole time." Duo frowned. "You don't - I'm sure the team needs you. You don't have to wait around while I do this." "Duo, you need me. I'm exactly where I should be." Relena gave him a long, hard look, and Duo sighed. "Yeah, okay." He stepped away from her and towards the interview crew. "Hey, Duo," one of the guys, in a black Riot t-shirt, greeted him and gestured for Duo to sit on the stool set up in front of all of the lights and cameras. Duo sighed, forced a smile, and took a seat. "Just a few questions - about the season, your game against ZG, your team - and then you're done, okay?" the guy said. Duo nodded. "Yeah, sounds good." He tried to project an air of calm, tried not to think about all of the shitty interviews in the past. "Talk to us about what it means to compete against your brother for first place in North America." "Playing against Solo is awesome. It's crazy, too, because as a kid all I ever wanted to do was be like him." Duo shrugged. "I used to dream of us playing on the same team and kicking ass. But, here we are." "So, would you want to play for ZG in the future?" Duo snorted derisively. "Hell no." And then he realized how bad that probably sounded. "I mean, ZG is... a team. They're good, obviously. But they aren't TGW. This team - I love these guys. We've worked our asses off, and-" Duo realized, abruptly, that his team might not even want him with them next season. Might dump him as soon as playoffs and - hopefully - Worlds were over. "And there's no team I'd rather be on," he finished, lamely. "When you were picked up by TGW at the beginning of the year, did you ever think you would be two games away from a guaranteed spot in the playoffs to go to Worlds?" Duo smirked, but shook his head. "No. No way. This is crazy - and awesome. TGW has always had the talent, but now - our team - I think we're pretty unstoppable. There was no way I thought the season was going to go this well, back in January." "And how does it feel to set a new record?" "Uh... new record?" Duo had no idea what he was talking about. "You have the most kills and the most assists of any North American jungler in a season, ever - and you still have four games to go in the season." "Oh. Wow. I had no idea." Even as he said it, Duo was pretty sure Sally and Relena had mentioned something about that a few weeks ago, about Duo putting up impressive numbers and - and he had been distracted by thinking about Heero and Trowa and what they would be doing later, naked, in bed, and hadn't really listened. "That's... great?" Duo said. "I'm just glad I'm not leading the region in deaths." "About that, you had a pretty close call yourself last weekend." Duo frowned, and looked past the interviewer to where Relena stood. "Alan, we agreed, we aren't talking about-" she started. "One question, okay, the fans are concerned - you owe them that much." Duo clenched his jaw. He really, really didn't think he owed anyone any information about his health, and he resented the way they were trying to guilt him into talking about it. "So," Alan continued, turning back to Duo and gesturing for the cameras to start recording again, "can you tell us what happened last week - what you've been going through - how you're feeling now?" "I'm feeling fine now. I'm ready to go out and beat ZG and CLG, and have a great weekend of games." "Can you tell us-" "Last weekend was awful," Duo interrupted. "I almost died, and my team - my brother - and I all freaked out about it. But that was last weekend, and I've recovered, and I'd like to just think about the future." The interviewer stared at Duo, and he knew that it wasn't what he wanted to hear, knew that he wanted details and personal information, but Duo just stared him down. He had had enough, last year, of his personal life being made into eSports headlines. "Okay, well, I think that wraps us up here. Best of luck in your games this weekend." "Thanks." Duo stood up, shook his hand, and made a beeline for the door. -o- It was grueling - one of the longest games of the seasons - but seventy-five minutes after they started playing, TGW defeated ZG. For a moment, all Duo could do was stare at his computer screen, at the blue victory banner. He felt, more than anything else, relieved. It had been the most difficult game he had ever played. From the start, he hadn't been able to get comfortable - his side twinging in pain and his empty stomach protesting the fact that he still wasn't eating much. And, of course, he had the tense body of Trowa just to his right, the overly-concerned eyes of Quatre just to his left. Duo had felt trapped, in pain, already tired and aching to go back to bed, before the game had even started. And then it had started, with ZG invading his jungle and Solo killing Duo, getting first blood and putting Duo way behind. Duo had struggled, had tamped down his anger and everything else and just focused on the fact that he was not going to lose to ZG. Not today. Not like this, when his team was full of doubts and the whole world seemed to think he was some kind of pathetic invalid. Normally, if you got counter-jungled that early and put behind that badly, the plan would be to try to farm your way back to even numbers, to cross your fingers and hope your laners could hold their own because you, as the jungler, weren't going to be able to do shit for the next ten minutes. But Duo could already see how ZG, smug and confident, were counting on Duo burying himself in the jungle and not helping his lanes. Solo was trying to bully Quatre in the mid lane, Wufei and Ralph were teaming up against Trowa in the top lane, and Zechs and Otto were playing with reckless confidence in the bot lane. They were all convinced that Duo wouldn't be able to help his teammates at all. Well, fuck that, Duo decided. He was playing Lee Sin, and while a few more items would have helped, there was plenty he could do early in the game - even when he was behind. So he roamed up top, told Trowa to get ready, and dove in. Twenty minutes of that - Duo throwing himself into ganks and refusing to play ZG's game - finally paid off when TGW aced ZG and went for an early Baron play. And then everything went to hell when Solo managed to steal the Baron and ZG hunted them down and aced them in return. Another twenty minutes of back and forth gameplay, where each team capitalized on every mistake their opponents made, left Duo exhausted and jittery. He was fading fast, but after fifty minutes, there was no clear way to victory for either team. It wasn't until the seventy-minute marker, when Duo managed to kill Solo in probably the most epic one versus one fight Duo had ever had, that the tide finally, decisively, turned. ZG fought back - managed to take down Meilin and Trowa - but Duo, Heero and Quatre stayed alive and waited for their teammates to respawn, and then, at Baron, Trowa got a pentakill, acing the enemy team, and TGW pushed in for the win. Around Duo, his teammates stood up, Quatre hugging everyone, Meilin smirking and punching Heero on the shoulder in a way that made him scowl at her, and Trowa - Trowa stared down at Duo with a frown. Duo sighed. Of course. Trowa was pissed enough at him that he couldn't even appreciate this moment. He pushed away from the table and stood up, wincing as his body protested. Yeah, he needed to lay down, as soon as possible, and take some tylenol at least. Trowa's frown became a full-fledged scowl, and Duo was convinced he was going to say something, but before Trowa could, Quatre nudged them. "Come on, let's go shake their hands." Duo sighed. And then there was that - yet another chance for Solo to completely ignore his existence. But Duo fell into step behind the rest of his team. He shook Otto's hand, barely made contact with Zechs before the other man sneered and dropped his hand, looked up at Solo and prepared himself to be given the cold shoulder yet again, but then Solo pulled him into a hug. Duo was startled enough that he just stood there, arms out at his sides, staring wide-eyed as cameras in the audience flashed. "Good game," Solo said into Duo's hair, his voice rough, and Duo swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, good game," his own voice broke, and he flushed as he stepped away. Solo smirked down at him, his eyes warm, and it took Duo back to before - before Alex and Solo's suspension and all of this shit. Back to when Solo was the brother that Duo had worshipped and things had been easy. Solo ruffled his hair, and Duo ducked away with a scowl while Solo laughed. "I thought for sure we had this win in the bag when I got first blood on you, you little bastard," Solo said, his voice light. "Yeah, well, I'm not that easy to keep down." Solo nodded, his expression turning serious. "No," he agreed, "you aren't at all." He held out his hand and Duo shook it, for the first time all year. -o- It was after nine by the time they returned to the TGW gaming house. Their game had been later in the afternoon, and hadn't ended until almost six. After that, Quatre and Heero had given interviews for Riot before the whole team headed outside to sign autographs for a while. They had grabbed dinner after, at the dive pizza place that Quatre and Relena both loved so much, and Duo had only been able to stare at his slices and poke at them. He absolutely did not feel like eating them - despite how hungry he was. Heero had sat beside him and wordlessly shoved the bread basket in Duo's direction. It was better than nothing, and not covered in tomato sauce or cheese or grease, so Duo had eaten a few pieces and tried his best not to just fall asleep at the table. He did fall asleep in the van on the ride home, waking up only when Sally parked, and he was relieved that he had curled against the armrest and not against Trowa. "I want to review our strategy against CLG tomorrow," Quatre said as they walked into the house. "That top play that Trowa and Duo did today - when Solo roamed top? - that was awesome, and I want us to think of more plays like that we can do tomorrow. I think-" "No," Heero interrupted him. Quatre frowned and turned to him in confusion. "No?" Heero shook his head. "Not tonight. We can talk about it in the morning." Sally arched an eyebrow. "It's still pretty early - I think we have enough time to talk through a few things tonight before you all-" "It can wait until tomorrow," Trowa argued, stepping up beside Heero. "The game against ZG was exhausting. We need to relax tonight." Heero and Trowa had never suggested relaxing over strategizing, and Duo wasn't the only one staring at them in confusion. "Okay..." Quatre said. "Yeah, if you guys need the night to rest. That's fine." He nodded. "Of course. It's not a big deal - let's all meet early, let's say nine-thirty? And we can talk through a few things." "Nine-thirty?" Relena repeated, eyes wide. "Quatre Winner, did you just suggest getting up early? Are you feeling okay?" She stepped forward and put her hand on his forehead. Quatre rolled his eyes and stopped her, his hand curving around her wrist. "I'm fine," he assured her. "But I think I'll go watch the EU games." He started to walk away, Relena's hand sliding from his grasp, and Duo arched an eyebrow at Relena's blush. She glared at him, tossed her hair, and followed Quatre out of the room. "I'm still hungry," Meilin announced, shooting Sally a significant look, "help me figure out how to heat up the lasagna." Sally shook her head but smirked. "You're so spoiled," she muttered as she followed Meilin towards the kitchen. Leaving Trowa, Heero and Duo alone. Very awkwardly and silently alone. Duo scratched the back of his neck. "So, uh... I guess I'm just... going to go get in some more practice," he said, because he felt like he needed to say something and he definitely needed the practice, considering how slow he had been at some points during the game today. "No," Heero said, in the same tone he had used on Quatre. "No?" Duo echoed. "You need to rest," Trowa said. "I'm fine. I need to practice - I missed smite today, and-" "You almost fell asleep at dinner three times," Heero interrupted him. "And you were in pain all afternoon, during the game," Trowa added. "You need to lay down." "I do not-" It had been all Duo had wanted to do, all afternoon. But now that he had Trowa and Heero facing him down, Duo had to fight against it. Against them. "Yes, you do," Heero argued. "You can't even stand up straight right now without swaying." Duo glared at him. "I'm fucking fine, and I don't need the two of you-" "We know," Trowa cut in, voice scathing. "We know you don't need or want either of us. But you need someone. Because you're shit at taking care of yourself." Trowa angrily ran a hand through his hair, upsetting the way it fell over his face. "Why don't you call Jason or something? Just-" "Why the hell would I call Jason?" "You two-" Heero made a gesture towards Duo. "He came to see you today. He cares about you, and you clearly care about him." "Yeah, he's a fucking friend, and it was nice to know someone cared about me." Duo glared at them, the sting of his loneliness in the hospital still fresh. Heero and Trowa glared right back. "Fuck this," Duo muttered, and shook his head. "You're right. I am tired. I'm exhausted and yeah, I was in pain all afternoon. You're right. The two of you are always fucking right and just-" Duo felt his pain and exhaustion catch up, felt his anger leave him and he just felt tired, in a way that went beyond his aching body and troubled sleep. "I'm sorry, for everything. I ruined everything, just like I always do, and I let you both down. I'm sorry." He turned, not waiting for their response, and walked up the stairs to his room. He didn't need - couldn't handle - seeing their frowns or scowls anymore. He didn't need to see his own disappointment reflected back at him. ~ * ~ |
