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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 9 "I was in a threesome once." It took every ounce of self control Duo possessed to swallow the sip of beer he had taken instead of spew it out onto the bar counter. Slowly, he turned to look at Vandy. "What?" Vandy shrugged one shoulder casually. "Yeah man, back in college. Me and Tom - my roommate - and Sarah, this girl he was dating. We hooked up for a few months but then it got weird because Tom and I just wanted to fuck and she would just be there, in the way, you know?" Duo could only stare, unable to process Vandy's words or the mental images they conjured. They were at The Green Monster, the Red Sox bar Duo had found years ago, and Duo was on his fourth beer of the night. They had been at the bar for two hours now, long enough to watch the Red Sox lose to the Mariners, long enough for Vandy to list ten ways his uncle could fire Heero and Trowa each, long enough for Vandy to pull up a PDF copy of Duo and Trowa's prenup - long enough to avoid answering Duo when he demanded to know how and why the fuck Vandy had that on his phone, long enough for Duo to realize that the only way to convince Vandy that Trowa wasn't cheating on him with Heero was to just tell him the truth, long enough to relate the events of their anniversary and all of the months of tension and flirting since and the glorious weekend of sex at the Cape and Duo's complete inability to figure out what the hell happened next. "But it's not like you're going to have that problem," Vandy continued. Duo had to arch an eyebrow at him. "I'm not?" "Nah. I mean - Trowa would be insane to leave you for anyone and it's clear Heero can't sit in the same room with you without mentally undressing you." "Yet you thought it was perfectly logical for Trowa to be cheating on me with Heero. Without my involvement." Duo pointed out. Vandy shrugged again. "Yeah, but that's because I saw them together." Duo sighed. Of course, that was the problem - Duo had seen them together too, just Heero and Trowa, and he knew the two of them fit together in ways that Duo and Trowa didn't. Vandy arched an eyebrow at his expression. "What, you think Trowa would leave you for Heero?" Duo glared at his beer glass to avoid answering. Vandy snorted. "Dude - Trowa's wanted to be with you since the first day of our internship. Now that you've got him, he's not going anywhere." "Then why do we have this new person in our lives?" Duo growled. Vandy sighed. "You know why you're so good with divorce cases, D-man?" Duo winced at the nickname, but shook his head in the negative. "Because you always think the worst of people. And that's what you're doing right now - when in fact, maybe this is an opportunity. Think of it like a merger." Duo gave him a look. "You're the one who handles all of those things," he pointed out. Vandy smirked. "I know - you're good at pulling shit apart and I'm good at putting it together." Duo had never really thought about it like that, but in a lot of ways it was true. He handled far too many divorce cases for MLG for his tastes, but Vandy was the counsel who prepared paperwork for almost all of the corporate mergers that their clients put together. Duo sighed. "Okay. If this is a... merger, then what am I supposed to be thinking about?" He still didn't follow Vandy's analogy, but, considering his own inability to wrap his head around just what he, Trowa and Heero were doing, it might be worth listening to someone else's perspective on it. "Pros and cons, D-man. Right now Barton-Maxwell seems to be performing well - what would be the benefits of throwing He-man into the mix? What about the cons?" Duo swallowed hard. "Well, we couldn't adopt. There's no way any agency would allow two gay married men and their third partner adopt a child." Vandy stared at him. "I was sort of going for the whole you feel insecure thing -" "I thought I wasn't supposed to think the worst of people here," Duo groused. "Right. No, we're still doing that. You just jumped ahead of my next seven arguments." Duo bit back his immediate instinct to point out that he was always ahead of Vandy's arguments. "D-man. You're thinking long term problems - like big picture shit." Duo scowled. "I thought that was the -" "You seriously see this becoming something permanent?" "What else would it be? Why else - it's already more than a one night stand." "Right. But it could be like - some couples take cooking classes or try different sex positions. Maybe you and Trowa are just -" "No. Heero isn't some class or kink to keep things interesting," Duo snapped. Vandy arched an eyebrow. "Duo." Vandy hardly ever called Duo by his name. "Alex?" Duo never called Vandy by his name. "You've got it bad, man," Vandy said. Duo glared at him. "I know that already." "Like Trowa bad - you really fall hard don't you?" Duo continued to glare and Vandy just shook his head. "So if you're already ready to change your life plans then what's the hold up?" Duo sighed and tried to figure out how to admit his fears without sounding completely pathetic. "D-man. You're my bro. Just tell me." Jesus. It was Vandy - not Trowa, not Heero - he didn't need to worry about sounding pathetic to someone who called him D-man. "Trowa was ready to never even give us a chance until I forced his hand," Duo began. "So you think he doesn't want a -" "No. He wants Heero. Obviously. And I guess I do too but-" "D-man, are you resisting this because you don't want it? Or because it wrecks your carefully made plans and not having a plan makes you totally lose your shit?" Duo glared at Vandy. He hated that the other man could read him that well. "So you gave me your one big con- aside from the really stupid insecurity shit- now what would the pros be?" Vandy prompted him. "He's a great lawyer and he's amazing in bed," Duo said. Vandy gave him a look. "He's good for Trowa," Duo admitted. "Yeah?" "Yeah - his billings have never been higher. Ever since Heero started working at MLG Trowa has been kicking some serious ass." Trowa had always been one of the best lawyers at MLG, but he didn't share Duo's competitive streak or his desire to become a named partner and run the firm one day. Trowa had his own standards for success, and Duo had tried, very early on, to push him down the same path Duo envisioned for himself, but that had almost led to the end of their relationship and he had backed down. But now, with Heero at the firm, it wasn't as if Trowa had suddenly grown competitive - it was more like Heero's presence gave him the confidence to push himself even more. "Okay, work aside... is he good for Trowa?" Duo had to nod in agreement. "They work out together every morning - they have since the day Heero started and..." Duo drew in a deep breath for his next admission, "and I know likes the company. They're friends and Heero fits with Trowa and gives him - I don't know, I don't know what it is but Trowa needs him." "What about you?" "Huh?" "You just told me why Heero's good for Trowa, what about you?" That was harder to discuss, but Duo ordered another beer and decided to just spill his guts once and for all. "He doesn't let me run away - he fights with me and he forces me to face the shit I don't want to." It wasn't just Heero's insistence that Duo talk about what had happened to him in therapy - it was their prep work for the case, it was every day at the office and over the weekend - Heero was willing to fight to keep Duo there, to make him understand, and Duo hated that he needed that - needed someone who thought he was worth fighting for. "You know, I've always felt kind of bad for Trowa," Vandy said after a few minutes of silence. Duo arched an eyebrow. "Why?" "Because you're a lot to handle." Duo glared at him. "Thanks, Vandy, that's -" "Don't get your panties in a twist. I meant it as a compliment. You're a genius, you're stupidly hot, you're driven at work and ready to fight for the people and things you believe in and you expect the most out of everyone around you. That's a lot for someone like Trowa to handle. He's quiet and I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to live in a cabin the middle of the woods and never speak to anyone but he had the misfortune to fall for you." Duo had always suspected the same about Trowa - he was a great lawyer and he had no trouble keeping up with Duo when they went out to party, but he always seemed happier to get home, or to be at the Cape, or buried in his work. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying, Trowa needs the backup. He needs Heero to help him keep you from losing your shit and you need Heero to keep Trowa from isolating himself." Put like that, it made perfect sense. "But what the hell are we giving Heero? Vandy - Trowa and I are married. We've been together for five years and we had plans for the future and -" "And Heero's the only one who can decide what he wants from this, D-man. Same thing for Trowa, so you've got to stop being a lawyer on this one and just think about what you want." "You make it sound so fucking easy," Duo groused. Vandy shrugged. "Drink a few more beers and maybe it will be." -o- When Duo woke up his head was pounding and something wet was scratching his face. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself face to face with the ugliest cat he had ever encountered. It was a huge, gray and ginger beast that stared at him with yellow-green eyes. It took a moment for Duo to figure out where he was - Vandy's couch - and to recall why he was on Vandy's couch. They had stayed at the Green Monster until last call, and Vandy's offer to let Duo use his couch had been damned appealing considering that he still didn't know what he wanted and really couldn't face going home to Trowa after the way he had exploded on him that morning. "Morning sunshine," Vandy greeted him, fully dressed and bearing a mug of coffee. Duo accepted it gratefully and gently shoved the cat off his chest so he could sit up. "What time is it?" He asked. "Just after eight," Vandy told him, sounding too damned cheerful considering the amount of beer they had consumed just hours ago. "Fuck," Duo scalded his tongue on the coffee. He had to be in court at ten for the YSI case. That gave him barely enough time to pull himself together. "Feel free to use my shower, but I need to head out - I'm meeting Lou for breakfast." Duo stared at him and swallowed down a mouthful of coffee and his pride. "Thanks for last night, Vandy. I -" Vandy waved his hand. "No need to thank me, bro. I'm here for you - duh." "Right." "Anyway, put out some towels for you - see you at work?" Duo nodded. "I'm in court most of the day, but I'll swing by your office," he promised. Vandy smirked, saluted him, and left. Duo stared at the cat as he finished his coffee. Last night had helped put things in perspective for Duo - but Vandy was right - not having a plan for the future did make Duo lose his shit and he had absolutely no idea how to just jump into something like this that would completely alter the rest of his life. He finished the coffee and showered, taking just long enough to scrub himself down, and then texted Allison to ask her to set out his extra suit at the office - there was no way he could show up in court in the same clothes he had worn yesterday, but he didn't have enough time to go home, to the office and make it downtown to the courthouse on time. By the time he made it to MLG he was running tight on time, but he pulled up his email on the computer while he changed into the new suit and read over the notes Heero had taken the time to send out last night after their opening statements. He was in the middle of pulling on a clean shirt when his office door opened and Trowa stepped in, a concerned scowl on his face. "Hey," Duo greeted him. Trowa looked rough - the skin under his eyes was dark and his skin was pale, as if he had spent the night without much sleep. "You didn't come home last night," Trowa said, his voice neutral. Duo winced. That voice was never one that Duo enjoyed having directed at him - it meant he had done something wrong and Trowa was trying to avoid revealing just how much it affected him. "Yeah, by the time Vandy and I left the bar it was -" "You always come home, no matter how bad our fights are, you've never not come home." Now there was emotion in Trowa's voice, raw, aching hurt that made Duo feel like an asshole. "Trowa -" "Duo, I can't -" "Am I interrupting something?" Heero stepped into the office and Duo would have found it all amusing if he wasn't sure Trowa had just been about to say something Duo absolutely could not stand to hear. Trowa held his gaze, clearly waiting for Duo to decide what to do. "We have to be in court in twenty minutes, Tro." Duo finished buttoning his shirt and shoved it into his trousers before pulling on his vest. "I - I'm going to come home tonight." Heero's brows pulled together in confusion and he looked over at Trowa. Clearly he hadn't told Heero about Duo's absence during their morning workout. Trowa looked far from satisfied by Duo's words. "I'd like it if we can all talk, tomorrow night. Actually talk this time," he added, "maybe we can't plan out what the hell we're doing, but I need something to go on," he looked at Trowa, willing him to understand. Trowa held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. "Fine. I can cook? You two are in court all afternoon." Duo nodded in agreement and starting to tie his tie. "Heero? Is that okay with you?" The other man had a guarded expression on his face, but he also nodded. Duo realized that he might have seriously fucked this up - he had been the one to suggest they all go to the Cape in the first place, but as soon as they returned to reality he had run away from Trowa and from Heero. Duo grabbed his briefcase and leaned in to kiss Trowa. "I'm sorry," he said. Trowa kissed him back, more than a hint of desperation in his action, and Duo had to swallow hard and force himself to follow Heero to the elevator. He might be on the verge of fucking up his own life, but he needed to pull himself together and get ready to face down Zechs. Yesterday had been barely civil, as he and Zechs each tried to convince the jury that their clients were innocent and the opposing counsel was an evil, manipulative bastard. Through it all, Heero had sat at the table beside him, offering comments or suggestions, but letting Duo take the lead and do his job. Duo had worried, more than once over the last few months, that Heero would try to take over or to force him to do things his way, but Heero hadn't - he had followed Duo's lead every step of the way. As they rode in a cab to the courthouse, Heero pushed his knee against Duo's and rested his hand on top of Duo's on the seat between them. "I want more than sex, too," Heero said, his voice low. Duo turned to look at him. "I don't know what happened yesterday - you were amazing in court but you were clearly a wreck before we got there and after we left - but I want more than sex and I don't want to drive you away from Trowa or your life together." He drew in a deep breath. "I can still walk away from this, if -" "No," Duo finally decided. "You're not walking away from this. None of us are. I just need to get my shit together." He drew in a deep breath and threaded his fingers through Heero's squeezing slightly for a moment. "But right now I just want to focus on kicking Zech's ass in court today." Heero smirked at him. "Fine by me. You focus on kicking his ass and I'll focus on mentally undressing you and fantasizing about fucking you in the witness stand." "Trowa shared that little kink of his with you?" Duo asked. Heero nodded. "I'm pretty sure I would have come up with it on my own anyway," Heero assured him. -o- By Friday night, Duo was exhausted. Zechs Merquise was an amazing lawyer, completely cutthroat, and ready and willing to twist the testimony of every witness to suit his arguments. It took all of Duo's concentration to just keep up with him and try to crack holes in Zechs' biased version of events. Despite his assurance to Thomas Darlian months ago that he could handle Zechs on his own, he was beyond grateful for Heero's presence. He had great insights into what Zechs was planning and he even seemed to follow Duo's own tactics and logic without needed to discuss their plans. He really was a great partner, and Duo thought they really might have a chance to win this case. Of course, as he and Heero climbed out of a cab at seven that night and Duo escorted Heero through the lobby of his building and towards the elevator, he put the case at the back of his mind and tried to focus on this instead. They rode the elevator in silence, and it reminded Duo of that night all those months ago when Heero had stepped into the elevator and Duo had dropped to his knees and started to mouth Trowa's cock through the fabric of his trousers. Heero arched an eyebrow at him, and Duo knew he was thinking about the same thing. When the elevator stopped on the sixteenth floor, Duo led the way to their apartment, and as he opened the door he could smell the familiar, lemony-garlic smell of sauteed chicken. Trowa didn't enjoy cooking as much as Duo did, but the meals he did make were amazing, and Duo always looked forward to the nights when Trowa cooked. He set his briefcase down by the door and gestured for Heero to do the same. "We're home," he announced and Trowa stepped out from the kitchen, wearing Duo's apron over his suit pants, his dress shirt still on but rolled up at the sleeves and open at the neck. He looked sexy as hell, but after a tense, silent night between them last night, Duo knew that forgoing an actual conversation for more sex wouldn't solve anything. "It smells amazing," Heero spoke up. "It tastes just as good," Duo assured him. "Wine?" Both Heero and Trowa nodded and Duo went into the kitchen to open a bottle of white wine and pour glasses for each of them before setting the table. "So... I want this to work for us," Duo said once they were all seated and had taken a few bites of dinner. He didn't want this conversation to be put off any longer, and discussing this over dinner meant even less chance of distraction. Trowa nodded in agreement. "I do too," Heero said. "But I don't know how and that frankly freaks me the fuck out," Duo admitted. "I plan everything - and I'm not saying we need a plan here, but we need something. I need some kind of idea of what this thing is we're doing." "Our threesome?" Trowa asked. "Yeah. Is this - are we just doing this on the weekend? Is this a permanent thing? Are we -" "He's trying to make a plan," Trowa said to Heero. Heero nodded, his lips twitching upwards at the corners. "Seems that way." "I told you," Trowa added. "You two already talked about this?" Duo had to ask. Trowa nodded. "This morning. We decided a few things." Duo didn't know whether to be irritated that he hadn't been involved or relieved that he didn't need to make all of the decisions. "Such as?" "Such as Heero and I aren't going to fool around anymore without you." That had Duo fighting back a sigh of relief. "Thank you." "And you aren't going to run away every time something happens with us," Trowa continued. Duo scowled at him. "This isn't just about the three of us, Duo, this is about us. If Heero hadn't insisted on going to the grocery store with you last weekend we all know the weekend would have been a disaster. If I didn't let you run away from us whenever you don't want to deal with something we wouldn't be where we are now." Duo had to nod in agreement. "And I'm going to talk more, about what I want, and what I'm feeling," Trowa added after a moment of silence and a sharp look from Heero. Duo had to look over at Heero. He wondered just how Heero had managed to convince Trowa to say that - to acknowledge the need for it - and he wanted to be angry over the fact that he had been fighting with Trowa for years over these things and it took Heero to bring them to this point, but he found he wasn't angry. He was relieved and when Heero smirked at him Duo felt borderline euphoric. "So... schedule wise..." Duo prompted eventually. ~ * ~ |
