|
"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 Six Duo couldn't kill a single Jungle camp. Not one single monster. He died every time he tried. He couldn't gank a single lane. Every time he came close he was spotted and attacked. He died thirty times. Solo killed him ten times and made his champion stand over Duo's body and laugh at him. Everyone laughed at him. His teammates laughed at him. ZG laughed at him. The studio audience laughed at him. Jason laughed at him. Duo woke up from the nightmare, his heartbeat thundering in his ears and the echo of Solo's laughter haunting him. He drew in a deep breath and looked around. The room was dark. His cell phone said it was only three in the morning. Beside him, Jason was asleep, using Duo's arm as a pillow. Slowly, Duo eased his arm out from under Jason's head. It hurt like hell - pins and needles stabbing him as it slowly regained circulation. Duo quietly got out of bed and rooted around for his boxers. He pulled them on and grabbed his discarded team shirt and put that on as well. He left his room, closing the door behind himself, and stealthily walked down the stairs. The kitchen was empty and Duo grabbed a clean mug and poured himself a glass of milk. He briefly debated whether or not he should heat it up. Solo used to that for him, when Duo was a kid and woke up from a nightmare and was too scared to go back to sleep. But Duo wasn't a kid anymore. He was nineteen, and Solo wasn't here. Solo was at his own house, at the ZG gaming house, probably sleeping like a baby, dreaming about all of the ways he would embarrass the shit out of Duo during the game tomorrow. Angrily, Duo shoved the mug of milk into the microwave and punched in 30 seconds on the timer. "Trouble sleeping?" Duo turned to see Trowa walk into the kitchen. "Yeah," Duo admitted after a moment of hesitation. He wanted to offer some glib retort, but what was the point? Why else would he be heating up a mug of milk at three in the morning? Trowa nodded and opened the refrigerator door. Duo frowned at him. Trowa was wearing his usual flannel pajama bottoms, but he had on Heero's Batman t-shirt. It was tight on him, stretched across his shoulders and back. Likely Trowa had picked up the closest shirt in the dark and it had happened to be Heero's. Still - wouldn't he realize that when he put it on and it didn't fit? "Me either," Trowa said and grabbed the gallon of milk. Duo reached into the cupboard and pulled out another mug. He passed it to Trowa. The microwave beeped and Duo took out his milk. Trowa arched an eyebrow. "Always worked when I was a kid," Duo defended himself. Trowa nodded, but made no move to heat his own mug. He set the mug down and hauled himself up onto the kitchen counter before taking a sip. Duo followed his example, jumping onto the counter a foot away from Trowa and leaning his back against the cabinets. He cradled the warm mug between his hands and took a small sip. "You played well today," Trowa said after a few minutes of surprisingly companionable silence. Duo shrugged. "Don't deflect me," Trowa said and he sounded a little irritated. Duo looked over, but Trowa had his eyes closed and was leaning back on the cabinets as well. "Thanks," Duo said. "I - I should have played like that last week too." Trowa shrugged and took a sip of his milk, eyes still closed. "We all should have played like that last week." Duo nodded in agreement, even though Trowa couldn't see him. "Your Thresh today - holy shit you're unstoppable with him." Trowa smirked and finally opened his eyes to look at Duo. "I never get to play him. Last year he was banned away from me for forty five out of the fifty-six games. Lucky for me, everyone wants to ban away your champions and I can play whatever the fuck I want." Duo snorted. "I don't see that happening for much longer. Not every team is going to make the mistake of targeting me and letting you and the other guys play your best champions." "Probably not," Trowa agreed. They fell silent again, and Duo reflected on the fact that this was the most he and Trowa had ever spoken. It seemed like both Trowa and Heero were quiet to the point of being unresponsive most of the time, but Duo watched them, the way they seemed to silently communicate with each other. He wondered at that, at how they managed to work together so seamlessly. "You're worried about tomorrow," Trowa said. It was not a question. "What's there to worry about? Breaking my nails? Stubbing my toe? What could possibly go wrong?" "I don't think you want to play the sarcastic asshole game with me, Duo," Trowa said and he sounded tired and a little hurt. Duo sighed. "Sorry. Just habit, I guess. Yeah. I'm worried." It suddenly occurred to him that Trowa was awake at three in the morning, sitting on the kitchen counter, drinking milk. "You're worried too," he realized. Trowa shrugged one shoulder, but he looked troubled. Duo had never seen Trowa actually look like this before. "Heero and Zechs have some... history between them." "Uh, yeah," Duo agreed. He had seen the Youtube videos. Everyone had seen the Youtube videos. Last year, at the All-Star games in London between the Spring and Summer splits, Zechs and Heero had both been voted onto the two mixed All-Star Teams. Fan voting had matched them against each other for the one versus one tournament and it had been... the longest fifteen minutes of any gamer's life. The one versus one was traditionally played until the first kill. Matches like that usually lasted two, three, maybe five minutes. But Zechs and Heero had battled it out for a full fifteen minutes before Zechs finally killed Heero, and then stood over his champion's dead body and laughed at him. "It's not just the All-Star game," Trowa murmured. "They run into each other all of the time on Solo Queue and Zechs... he knows exactly how to get under Heero's skin and mess with him." "What about you?" Trowa frowned. "What about me?" "Does Zechs get under your skin? Does he mess with you?" "Only through Heero. I couldn't care less what Zechs thinks about me. But Heero... I can't save him from everything." Duo arched an eyebrow. "I dunno. If you get to play Thresh again tomorrow you probably could save him from everything." "I'm not talking about the game play, Duo." "I know, Trowa." They looked at each other, and Duo had a weird moment of thinking he really understood Trowa. Maybe he was getting the hang of this silent communication? "It's tough to watch a friend go through shit and have them not understand how much better they are than that," Duo said. Trowa nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah," he agreed, and Duo ignored the emotion in his voice. "It really fucking is." Duo finished off his milk and slid off the counter. He rinsed his mug out and added it to the dishwasher. "Try to sleep," he advised. He made a move to pat Trowa on the knee, but then realized that might be kind of weird, so he let his hand fall back down to his side. "Nice boxers," Trowa called out to him as Duo left. He looked down, realized he had pulled on the damn Pokemon boxers, and felt like a moron. But when he looked over his shoulder, Trowa was smirking at him, warmth in his eyes and, if Duo didn't know better, a bit of lust. -o- "Want me to make you breakfast?" Duo stared in amazement. "I'm sorry. Did you just offer to make me breakfast?" Jason chuckled as he pulled his jeans back on. "I figured you might need some nourishment. You've got a tough day ahead of you." Duo rolled over in the bed and pulled a pillow over his face. "Please don't remind me." The bed sank as Jason climbed back in. He took the pillow away and looked at Duo, a serious expression on his face. "Why did you decide to become a professional gamer?" It probably should have been an easy question with an easy answer, but it wasn't. Not for Duo. "Growing up... Solo and I had it kind of rough. But when I was ten we were moved to this foster home and our foster father bought us an Xbox. Solo and I used to play Halo on it for hours and sometimes Howard - our foster father - would play with us. It was... those are the best memories of my childhood. We were moved, after a few years, but Solo got a job at a Gamestop and he got into computer gaming, and he won some tournaments and started to get attention - this is back when he played Starcraft, before he switched over to League. But then, when League came out... it was like he'd found the perfect fit, you know? And he taught me how to play and it was... it was fucking awesome. I was only sixteen, so I was with this foster family, but he was on his own and he saved up enough money to buy me a PC so I could play with him. We played Solo Queue together and destroyed kids and then we made a full team and... and he got noticed by the pros and invited to join Zodiac Gaming. I guess... I don't know. I always wanted to be like him. I wanted to play with him." Jason sat back on his heels. "And now you don't even talk to him." "Ah, no. Not since Alex." "Have you tried?" "Tried what?" Jason shrugged. "Calling him? Texting him? Playing with him?" Duo shook his head. It was a lie - once a month, whenever he saw Solo sign onto League, Duo would send him a game invite, hoping against hope that his brother would accept. He never did. Jason sighed. "Well. I think this is on both of you. Yeah, he was an asshole - but you're letting this get worse and worse all of the time." "Maybe," Duo agreed. "But he hates me. Actually, honestly, hates me. I'm his faggot brother that everyone hates and I almost cost him his job." "Has he said that? Called you a faggot? Said anything about his job?" "No. He just stands behind his teammates while they say it." Jason looked thoughtful. "How about that breakfast?" He asked. "What?" Duo was taken aback by the abrupt subject change. Jason shrugged. "I'm thinking this is a longer and more painful conversation than the one we should have the morning after we've slept together for the first time." Duo had to nod in agreement, and relief. "Fair enough," he said. "Good. Get up. I have to be somewhere at noon, so if you want breakfast..." Duo rolled out of bed, clumsily catching himself before he actually fell onto the floor, and stood up. Jason regarded him with a look of patronizing amusement. "I'm a gamer, not a ballet dancer," Duo muttered. "Yep," Jason agreed, a smirk on his face. Duo rolled his eyes but he rifled through his drawers for clean clothes - he would change into his team uniform later - but for now he settled on boxers, sweatpants, and his beloved MLG sweater. "So, when you say breakfast..." Jason smirked. "We'll see what kind of supplies you have, first." Duo led Jason to the kitchen and then sat down on the center island counter, out of Jason's way, and watched him search through their refrigerator and cabinets. He heard voices behind him and turned to see Quatre's bedroom door open. Dorothy Catalonia walked out, her long blonde hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and... she was wearing the same t-shirt and leggings she had changed into last night when TGW went over to watch the games at the VK house. She caught him watching her. "If you tell anyone," she threatened, walking into the kitchen and holding up her right index finger menacingly, "I'll get a hammer and shatter your left hand." Duo stared at her. "Um... that's a really scary threat, Dorothy. And what are you afraid of me telling people? That you're banging my team captain?" Duo had to grin. "Hey - that's a first. Captain on captain action." Dorothy's glare intensified. Her eyes flicked over to Jason. "I'll tell everyone about him if you say anything." Duo snorted. "Um, hate to break this to you princess, but everyone already knows I'm gay." "But they don't know your boyfriend's name. I could make his life a living hell." Duo jumped down from the counter, putting himself between Jason and Dorothy. "Okay. Let's calm our shit. I'm not going to say anything to anyone about your little secret romance with Quatre. But don't threaten my boyfriend. He's got nothing to do with this. If you try to make his life hell, I promise I'll ruin yours." Dorothy arched one eyebrow but then crossed her arms and shrugged. "I'm glad we understand each other." And with that, she left. "You people are weird," Jason muttered as he mixed pancake batter together. "Tell me about it." Duo walked up behind him and kissed the back of his neck. Jason shied away. "Sorry." "No, just - feels weird. Sorry," Jason shrugged. "I don't mind you kissing me. Just not... there I guess." Duo nodded. "Alright. Don't kiss Jason on the back of his neck. Noted." Jason gave him a look but Duo just smiled back at him. By the time Jason started on his second batch of pancakes, Relena joined them in the kitchen. "Morning," Duo greeted her, mouth full of pancakes and syrup and she gave him a disgusted look. "Mouth closed," she instructed. Duo obediently closed his mouth and chewed. "This one is definitely a keeper," Relena said, snagging one of the pancakes with her fingers and juggling it to cool it down for a moment before biting into it. Duo nodded eagerly in agreement. "Weird and easy to please," Jason muttered. Relena sighed in pleasure after another bite of the pancake. "Seriously. Jason. If you just want to move in now, I'm okay with that." She said. Jason gave a slightly nervous laugh. "I'm thinking that's a huge step in our relationship," Jason said. "Especially when we're just keeping this casual." Duo looked over at him, but Jason had turned back to the stovetop. Relena caught his eye and arched an eyebrow. Duo had to shrug. This was definitely news to him. He wondered what exactly Jason meant by 'casual.' Jason finished making the last batch of pancakes and put a few on a plate for Relena before taking the rest for himself. The three of them ate in companionable silence and Duo regretted the fact that Jason had just made it clear this wouldn't be a regular occurrence. "Coming to the game this afternoon?" Relena asked him. Jason shook his head. "I've got plans - sorry," he added for Duo. "I know it's going to be a tough game." Duo shrugged. He hadn't really expected Jason to come to the game today - not after investing so much time with Duo last night. "We're still on for tomorrow morning, right?" Jason asked. Duo nodded. "Definitely. I'm going to need it after the hell of today." Relena looked at him in question. "Soccer - Jason and a few guys meet up at the park and play on Sunday mornings. That's how I met him." "Ah. Hmmm. Is this event open to the public? Because if these guys look anything like you two then I could be convinced to come along and cheer." Duo snorted a laugh. Jason shrugged. "I don't think anyone looks as good as Duo, but some of the guys are okay." Duo actually blushed at the compliment. "Few guys look as good as Duo," Relena said. "Agreed," Jason nodded. Duo shook his head. "I'm right here, guys." "Yes you are," Relena agreed and turned to look at him with a smirk. Jason joined her, and the two of them waggled their eyebrows suggestively. -o- "So, I think all we really need to focus on today is playing like a team." Quatre's version of a pep talk in the holding room wasn't doing much to settle Duo's nerves. He wondered if the philosophy book was helping Wufei any - this had to be almost as rough on him as it was on Duo. And then there was Heero, playing a warm up game on his laptop, back to the rest of the room, with only Trowa in his line of sight. Duo supposed that should be a sign of how tense things were - Trowa wasn't sleeping on the couch, but sitting on the arm of it, beside Heero, able to look at him and pay attention to what Quatre was saying at the same time. "So we can hold hands and cry together, as a team, after we get slaughtered?" Duo asked. Quatre gave him a look. "Sorry," Duo regretted the question. There was no need to bring everyone else down. "I refuse to hold your hand while you cry because your brother is an asshole," Wufei muttered, not looking up from his book. Wufei's words had Duo's fingers itching to curl into fists. And then he realized - why bother defending Solo? "Okay, this isn't helping," Quatre said. "We need to focus on us. Forget them. Forget our shit with Ralph and Solo and Zechs. Let's just play our game." "You're right," Trowa agreed. "We can't let their presence take away from our team game. Toss me a water, Duo," he added and nodded towards the cooler beside Duo's chair. Duo threw one of the cold bottles to him and Trowa caught it one handed, having to stretch quite a bit because hand-eye coordination in reality had never been Duo's strong point. "Nice catch," he said, knowing that he would have likely fallen on his face if he'd tried that. Trowa smirked. "Gotta catch them all," Heero muttered. Trowa choked on the sip of water he had taken and then coughed. Duo could only stare. Trowa had told Heero about Duo's boxers... and now Heero was making fun of him for it. "Anyway," Quatre said, giving all of them a weird look, "I think we should focus our bans on the Jungle. I know this might suck for Duo, but we know who Ralph likes to play and we know how Ralph likes to play. We should take advantage of that. Is that okay with you, Duo?" Duo looked away from the back of Heero's head, away from Trowa's slight smile and his green eyes and fuck them. "Yeah. Fine by me." Wufei looked over his book and up at Duo. "I'll trust you to gank when you want," he said. "I won't wait for you to die this time. Not today." That, at least, was something. Duo nodded, grateful for that. Someone knocked on the door to signal that it was time. Duo drew in a deep breath and stood up. He tried to clear his mind, tried to put all of the shit behind him - shit with Solo, with ZG, with his own team. Quatre clapped him on the shoulder. "We can do this." -o- As it turned out, they couldn't. It hadn't been a bloodbath. It had, in fact, been a damn close game, coming down to the last three minutes and Solo getting a triple kill off of Quatre, Wufei and Duo for his team to be able to secure the Baron Nashor buff and then push for a win. It had been close. So damn close that Duo had thought they had a chance. The studio audience went crazy, chanting ZG and Solo at the top of their voices. Calling Zechs a god. Calling out to Ralph that he was a master of the Jungle. The ZG team crossed the stage and approached TGW, smirks on their faces, swaggers in their steps. Meilin went first, telling each of them that it had been a good game and shaking their hands before crossing back to her side of the stage, waving to all of the adoring fan boys whose hearts she had stolen last year when she had debuted. Treize came next, smug smirk on his face and his handshake was quick, a painful squeeze to prove his superiority. Ralph was next, and he paused as he shook Wufei's hand, said something about better luck next team and laughed before walking away. Zechs had some choice words for Heero, it seemed, taking his time shaking his hand and then laughing when Trowa not too subtly pushed him away. And then Solo. His shoulder length blonde hair tucked behind his ears and his stupid Gunnar gaming glasses perched on his forehead. He shook hands with Trowa, with Heero, with Quatre. He walked right past Duo without even looking at him to shake hands with Wufei and then walk away, the crowd still chanting his name. ~ * ~ |
