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"Entanglement"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, sex Pairings: 2x3, 1x2x3, past 1x4, past 1x5 Summary: It was supposed to be one night, a threesome with a complete stranger to celebrate their anniversary, but things got complicated. Sequel to: King of Hearts, Defeated and Brand New Day A/N: I wrote Defeated as a one shot, but then
I wrote King of Hearts (actually a prequel to Defeated) for the 2014
Smut Off with Miss-Murdered and I've just fallen in love with these
characters so I wrote Brand New Day. Entanglement is a multi-chapter
fic of the events taking place after Brand New Day. You definitely
need to read those three one shots before reading this. "Entanglement" Chapter Eighteen He tried to remember the last time he had been this tired. Maybe it had been their honeymoon, that flight back from Hawaii, because for the entire week they were there Trowa couldn't think of a single night they got more than five hours of sleep because Duo was making very good on his threat to spend the entire honeymoon screwing like rabbits. But he'd slept on the plane from Honolulu to LAX - hell, they both had - and then again on the flight from LAX to LaGuardia and even Duo had slept then. Maybe it was studying for the New York Bar exam, when he'd had less than three hours of sleep for two nights in a row in a futile attempt to study. Futile, because Duo's idea of helping him study, of preparing them both for an examination that would determine their entire future careers, had been sex. A lot of sex. It was a good thing they were both brilliant, a good thing they knew what they were doing because Trowa caught himself falling asleep twice during the Bar and if he had failed it, if Duo had failed it, he doubted he could have ever forgiven him. But this was a different kind of tired. Maybe because he was older, because thirty was oh so close these days, but when Trowa stepped outside to hail a cab at JFK he felt exhausted. He hadn't been able to sleep on the flight, a first for him, but considering the fact that it was a short flight, Chicago to New York, the lost sleep really shouldn't matter that much. What mattered was the fact that he had spent forty-eight hours on a plane this past week and he hadn't spent a single night in his own bed, in his own home, with his husband and his lover, in two and a half weeks. These damned contract negotiations Treize had assigned to Trowa were like a wild-goose chase. The players and the teams refused to come to terms, and if Trowa didn't know better, if Trowa didn't know that Treize liked to win and liked money more than anything else, he would have suspected that Treize wanted him to fail. But Trowa hadn't failed, he'd finally, after flying back and forth between Chicago and Little Rock, Arkansas three times this week, convinced the Cubs ace pitcher to go back to them, to settle for a little less money and a longer contract and everyone was happy. The previous weeks had been filled with similar negotiations, and Trowa was basically on an extended layover, three days in New York before he had to fly back out, this time to Miami, to deal with one of his own long standing clients, and Trowa really felt he was at the end of his rope, his patience exhausted and his ability to care long since gone. A cab finally stopped, and Trowa got into the back, out of the icy rain falling on him and the stale smell of the cab made his stomach turn. He hadn't been sleeping much, or very well, and he hadn't been eating much, or very well either. "Where to?" The driver asked. "The Four Seasons," Trowa said and he settled back in the seat, closed his eyes and tried not to breathe too deeply. He wanted to go home. After nearly three weeks spent in beds not his own, all Trowa wanted to do was fall face first into his bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours. But he couldn't. Not tonight. Because it was February Fourteenth, and Duo had booked a room - their room at the Four Seasons and Trowa was tired, exhausted and spent and empty, but Duo and Heero would be there, waiting for him and he wasn't the only one who had had a shitty three weeks. Heero had kept his promise, had Skyped Trowa when he and Duo fucked and Trowa had watched and masturbated and it had been okay, not as good as being with them, for sure, but better than nothing. They called him every day, sometimes sharing the conversation, sometimes separately, and it was damn good to hear their voices, to hear about their days and their frustrations and listen to Heero tease Duo about his swimming, and Duo tease Heero about running. And Heero had also said I love you, one night when Trowa was on speakerphone with both of them and Trowa had stumbled for a moment, taken aback because he realized that he and Duo said it to each other every night, had told Heero they loved him on occasion as well, but Heero had said it this time, in such a casual way that it was clear he meant it, hadn't wanted to make it a big deal and then Trowa could hear rustling, could hear Duo kissing Heero and it was a good moment, hearing those words from Heero. But Trowa hated Treize even more, because that had been two weeks ago and Trowa still hadn't seen Heero, or Duo, and now it was February Fourteenth and he should be thinking ahead to whatever mischief Duo had planned for this night, the third anniversary of their wedding, the first anniversary of their time with Heero. But he was so damned tired, his clothes rumpled and his face rough with stubble because he hadn't shaved since yesterday morning, and he was convinced he didn't have the stamina for whatever Duo had planned for them tonight. It was only six when Trowa got to the hotel room, and he felt more than a little guilty when he walked into the empty hotel room and felt relief. They weren't there yet, which meant Trowa had time to take a shower, maybe, if he was lucky and they had to work a little late, he could even catch a nap. Those hopes were hardly appropriate, hardly even romantic, but Trowa was too tired for romance. He took his time in the shower, mostly because he found himself leaning against the side and closing his eyes, letting the hot water rain down on him and he dozed off a few times before he finally found the motivation to get out of the shower. He debated shaving, even went so far as to dig out his kit from his travel bag, but as he stared at the fogged mirror he really didn't feel up to it. His eyes were tired, blurry and as he wiped off the mirror he saw that he looked like shit, despite the shower, and he doubted the shave would make that much of a difference. He snorted, looking at himself, and figured that one look at him would kill any erotic thoughts Duo or Heero might walk in with. Heero had called his phone while he was in the shower and then texted him instead of leaving a voice message. Running late. Will be there at seven. Half an hour. Time enough for a short nap at least. Trowa pulled on clean boxers, his last pair, and climbed into the bed. MLG didn't skimp on accommodations or travel, he rode first class on his nine million plane flights and he stayed in luxury business suites - or the closest thing to it, as the case was in Little Rock - but none of them compared to the Four Seasons. Or at least not this Four Seasons, because he had very fond memories of this bed, and even if not, the feather pillow and the mattress that was just the right blend of soft and firm had him drifting off right away. -o- When Trowa woke up the hotel room was dark except for a blue glow and he rolled over to see Heero sitting in bed beside him, laptop on his thighs, typing away. Heero glanced over, saw his eyes open and smiled slightly. "Hey," Trowa said, his voice was rough with sleep and he felt a little out of place, as he usually did after a nap. "Hey," Heero replied and leaned down to kiss him. Trowa kissed him back, glad he had at least taken the time to brush his teeth when he had abandoned hope of shaving. And then he remembered. "Love you," he said when they broke the kiss. Heero ran a finger over his jaw, scratching at his stubble. "I love you, too," he said and Trowa felt himself grinning, knowing he looked like an idiot and not really caring. Heero chuckled and returned to his work, saving whatever he was working on before shutting down his computer. The room was only dark for a moment, and then Heero reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. Trowa winced at the light, even though it wasn't much, and he glanced at the alarm clock. It was after eight. "Where is Duo?" Heero scowled. "On his way, hopefully. He texted about twenty minutes ago. Treize tried to rope him into a dinner meeting with a new client but Alex covered for him." Duo was probably equal parts grateful and irritated by that. Duo already felt he owed Vandy a lot, felt he was pivotal in moving this relationship forward, and Duo didn't like feeling indebted to anyone. "How much of a bastard has Treize been?" Trowa asked, because Duo didn't lie to him, not really, but he didn't exactly volunteer information if he thought it would upset Trowa. Heero shrugged one shoulder. "Aside from sending you all over the country and loading Duo down with enough divorce cases to keep him in settlement meetings or in court for the next two years? He's been a complete bastard." Trowa nodded. "Is Duo still joking about quitting?" Heero snorted. "I think it stopped being a joke the second time." Heero shook his head. "He doesn't even bother to control his face anymore - every time he sees Treize he just gets this look of cold detachment on his face." "People have noticed," Trowa guessed, because people liked Duo and they liked to look at him. Heero nodded. "They've noticed." Trowa sighed. "He can't quit. None of us can - not if we want to keep practicing law in the US or in Europe. Our non-compete clauses are too strict." "They are," Heero agreed, but then he hesitated. "What?" "How attached are you to MLG? To living in New York?" Trowa considered the question. It wasn't like Heero to indulge in idle chat, so this conversation was clearly going somewhere. "We've talked about moving to LA, but I don't think either of us is that interested. You?" "I don't want to live in LA," Heero said and then paused, his blue eyes searching Trowa's face. "What about London?" "London?" Trowa echoed. Heero nodded. "Our non-compete won't allow it. MLG has a London office now. We wouldn't even be able to practice in France or Germany. We'd have to try Turkey or Russia - and Duo isn't going to go for either of those. Not to mention the fact that we'd all be arrested and thrown in jail if we moved to Russia." "I'm not talking about Russia or Turkey. I'm talking about London. If there was a way," Heero added when Trowa started to speak again. "If there was a way around the non-compete, would you want to take it? Would you want to move, to leave behind your apartment and your house at Martha's and everything? Just to get away from Treize?" "Just?" Trowa repeated and he had to laugh bitterly. "Just to get away from the man who tries to feel me up every time I'm alone with him? Just to get away from the man who told me last month that he'd happily make me a senior partner if I was willing to to prostitute myself to him? Just to get away from the bastard who wants to end your career and has spent the last six weeks doing his damn best to keep me away from my husband?" "London is not New York," Heero said, his voice soft. "The firm wouldn't be the same, the money not quite as good, and we would have to start over." Heero wasn't just weaving some fantasy alternative to their current situation, Trowa realized. "What firm?" He asked. "Darlian and Partners," Heero said, his gaze steady. It took a moment for Trowa to fit it together, to figure out what the hell Heero was talking about. "Relena wants to buy out the London branch." Heero nodded. "It would still be associated with MLG, the parent firm would still have a ten percent share, but Thomas would hold that. It's in the by-laws. We wouldn't be breaking our non-compete, but we wouldn't be working for MLG anymore, wouldn't have to work with or for Treize ever again." "Darlian and Partners?" Trowa asked. Heero's lips twitched a little. "She thought four names would crowd the letterhead - that's what she said, anyway, but I'm pretty sure she didn't want the alphabetical order to bump her name to second." Trowa must be more exhausted than he had thought, must be bordering on hallucinating because it sounded like Heero was suggesting that Relena, Heero, Duo and Trowa would be partners in a new law firm in London. A law firm far away from Treize. "We can try to figure out something else," Heero said, his voice quiet, and Trowa realized he had been silent for too long. "No," Trowa said. "No, it's - it's a really good plan. How feasible is it, though? Would Relena really go for this?" "We've already got the paperwork drawn up, and her father has given his approval. We just need you and Duo to agree to it." "You did all of this." "I didn't know if it would work," Heero confessed, and he looked guilty, "I didn't want to say anything in case it fell apart. And we don't have to do it - we can stay here, in New York. We can figure out another way to get around Treize if we have to. But I had to do something. I had to try to -" Trowa pulled Heero against him and kissed him. It took a moment, for Heero to relax into the kiss and wrap his arms around Trowa and hold him close. It took a moment, but when it happened, when Heero realized that Trowa was happy, was relieved and more than a little overwhelmed by the prospect of freedom from Treize, Heero kissed him back and the world, for the first time in almost two months, felt just about right again. That kiss turned into another, and despite the soreness and fatigue Trowa still felt, he also felt a rush of energy, and soon they were both naked, bodies clinging together and it felt so damn good that Trowa forgot about everything else except for the feel of Heero against him. Duo found them like that, kissing and caressing and close to orgasm just from their hands on each other. He walked into the hotel room carrying a box of pizza and a plastic bag that clinked, the shape suggesting a six pack of beer. Duo closed the door and grinned. "I guess I'm late to the party," he said. "As usual," Trowa moaned, Heero's mouth latched onto his left nipple even as they continued to stroke each other's cocks. "Hm. Yeah, sorry about that." Duo put down the pizza and the beer and stood at the foot of his bed, watching them, his blue eyes dark and a smirk on his face. He made no move to join them, so Trowa returned his attention to Heero. They came together, an accident more than good timing, and Duo went into the bathroom to get a towel. He came back and crawled onto the bed and cleaned them off, dabbing the warm, wet towel against their bodies and leaning down to kiss each each of them. "It's good to see you," Duo said, looking at Trowa with a serious expression on his face. He looked tired, maybe not as tired as Trowa felt, but now that he took the time to examine them, it was clear that Duo and Heero weren't at their best either. There was no just about getting away from Treize, Trowa decided. "Heero texted me about an hour ago and said you looked pretty wrecked," Duo said and he leaned back on the bed, stretching his legs out to tangle with Trowa's. "So I'm shelving my plans to tie you up and use all of these really interesting toys I ordered online for a later date." "Toys?" Duo smirked and Trowa couldn't tell if he was teasing or not. Probably not - Duo rarely joked about sex. "And instead... I got pizza from that place you like so much and some beer. It's probably not going to make our top ten list of anniversaries when we look back in twenty years, but it's the first one we've all spent together, talking," he added, giving Heero a fond look. Trowa thought back to that night, picking Duo up in the bar and it was hard to think that had been a year ago. Sometimes if felt like yesterday, sometimes like a lifetime ago. "Hungry?" Duo asked and Trowa nodded. He hadn't eaten since that morning, when he had grabbed a bagel on his way out of his hotel in Chicago, before he'd been stuck at the airport for six hours when his flight was delayed due to inclement weather. Duo rolled off the bed, towards the food, but as he did a box fell out of his jacket pocket. It was a light blue box, unmistakable considering the color and the silver writing on it. "Er, sorry, that was supposed to be for later," Duo said and reached for the box, but Trowa beat him to it. Jewelry? Duo had bought him a watch for Christmas, that first year they had been dating while still in law school across the country from each other, and while Trowa still had the watch, kept it in their lock box because it was special, he didn't like to wear watches and Duo hadn't thought to ask, and so Duo hadn't ventured down the jewelry path again, not until the day they traded rings at the altar. Duo bit his lip and actually looked nervous and Trowa wondered just what was in the box. He arched an eyebrow. If Duo really didn't want him to open it now, he wouldn't. "I - yeah, okay, go ahead. But wait - actually just wait a second." Duo held up his hands and then sat back on the bed, at the edge, and he looked back and forth between Trowa and Heero. "I know it's just been a year, and it hasn't even really been, you know - it took us a while to get to this point," he said. It was rare for Trowa to see Duo this at a loss for words, and while he found it amusing, it was clear that Heero was actually worried, a slight frown on his face and his eyebrows drawn together. "Duo, you're freaking Heero out," Trowa said and Duo looked over at Heero. "Sorry," Duo smiled, and it looked a little forced. He was nervous as hell about something. "I'm not trying to freak you out. I just - maybe it's too much or too soon or just not right, but I wanted something." He drew in a deep breath and seemed to be thinking about what to say next. "Tro and I are married, and we didn't see this happening - didn't imagine we'd find you and fall in love and want you with us, want a partner to share our lives but we do." Duo looked over at Trowa, who nodded in agreement. He had no idea where Duo was going with this. "I don't want to get a divorce, for a lot of reasons, but none of those reasons is because our relationship with you is less important than the relationship Trowa and I used to have." "I would never ask you to do that," Heero said. "I know, but - I'm fucking this up so much," Duo muttered to himself. He got off the bed and reached for his briefcase and pulled out a brown file. He handed it over to Heero. "You have to sign - both of you - but this adds you to our will, splits everything we have three ways and it's not the same thing as a marriage, but it's legal - it says you're part of this, part of us. And this," he gestured to the box in Trowa's hand, "this is, uh, well... open it, I guess." It wasn't a traditional ring box, or the right size for a watch or any jewelry Trowa could easily place. He opened it and saw three ring boxes lined up, side by side, each with their individual initials on the boxes. Duo reached out, took one and passed it to Heero and then gave another to Trowa. Trowa opened his and found a ring. It was platinum, and Trowa wondered if this was Duo finally acknowledging that the yellow gold wedding bands weren't his favorite either, but it wasn't just a simple band. There was a symbol etched into the top of it. "It's a triquetra," Duo said. "A trinity thing. I just figured... you know." Trowa looked up at him, took in Duo's anxious expression and the way he was fiddling with the last box, the one with his initials on it. "If you guys don't like them we can get something else. I just - it felt weird talking to Trowa about it without talking to you about it too, Heero and I just wanted this to be a surprise and -" "It's conspicuous," Heero finally said, still turning the band over in his fingers, still holding it as though he wasn't sure if it could hurt him. "Too conspicuous?" Duo asked, and there was a raw edge in his voice that made Trowa want to reach out to him. Trowa looked over at Heero, and saw that Heero was looking back at him. "It's one thing to not care about what people at MLG think," Heero said. Trowa understood where he was going with this and he sighed. "What?" Duo asked, looking between them. Trowa gestured towards Heero. "I have a plan we should discuss, about us - a possibility for our future." "Um... does this plan involve us not being us?" Duo asked. "No, but it does involve us not wanting to walk around the office giving Treize the finger." "Well, I like this plan already." Heero nodded. "But you might not want to give me this, to make us this obvious if -" "No," Duo interrupted. "I don't really care what this plan is. I want to be obvious - I want to be conspicuous. I love you Heero. I love Trowa. This - us - it means more to me than I can put into words. This is just a ring, and it's just a damn symbol, but it's our symbol and I don't care if people know or don't know. But I want to know we've got this, for us." Trowa thought Heero was probably right, that the rings were damned conspicuous and maybe Duo had done it because he was past the point of caring what people thought of them at MLG, but that didn't mean he didn't want to do it. Maybe Treize was the tipping point, but Duo wouldn't have done this if it wasn't important to him. Trowa slipped off his wedding band and tried on the new ring. It fit well. "I like it," he said and smiled at Duo. Duo grinned back at him, a little hesitant because Heero still hadn't made a move to put his own ring on. "You don't have to," Duo said softly. "It hasn't been that long and -" "I love you, Duo," Heero interrupted him. "I love both of you. I don't - I can't believe you're doing this, but I like it too." He put the ring on and Trowa felt his heart beat erratically for a moment, seeing that ring on his finger, but then Duo was hugging Heero, kissing him and pulling Trowa against them and the pizza, and Heero's plan, were forgotten for the moment. ~ * ~ |
