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"A Little Less Normal"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.
Warnings: AU, Yaoi, Lemon, Language, Angst, Romance Pairings: 3x2, 1x5, past 3x4 Summary: Trowa Barton starts a new job and intends to start a new life, free of complications like falling in love with your boss. But life doesn't go as planned, and Trowa struggles to find balance between work, love, and handsome strangers. A/N: This fic will feature several different pairings - and probably not the ones that you expect after a first glance. This is told in third person POV, but it will switch to different characters with each chapter. While not a crossover, I definitely want to acknowledge that the TV series, "Dirty Sexy Money" and the movie Two Weeks Notice both influenced me to write this. I would appreciate any feedback, whether it be negative or positive, criticism or lavish praise. Lavish praise preferred.
"A Little Less Normal "
Heero Yuy was nothing if not meticulous. He planned his days down to the last minute, and his ability to compile research was legendary. Seven days ago he had woken up at 5 a.m., gone for his morning run, showered, and walked to work, arriving at precisely 6:57, as he did every morning. And then he had received the phone call that ruined his perfectly crafted schedule. His father had died and he needed to leave Macau and come back to New York. For the first time in years, Heero's meticulous plans were completely destroyed. And every day since then something had happened to once again upset any plans he attempted to make. While he didn't exactly blame Odin for dying, Heero certainly resented the fact that his father had sent him to Macau two years ago and had neglected to inform him of the fact that he had terminal liver cancer and did not expect to live much longer. He had never had an easy relationship with his father, a situation that was exacerbated by his mother – who tried to intervene on his behalf as often as possible – and by his brother, who was as easy-going and jovial as Heero was work-obsessed and neurotic. On the long plane ride back to New York, Heero had made a list of his immediate priorities: 1. Comfort his mother 2. Contact his brother and talk him into behaving for the next six months 3. Contact Wufei Chang, executor of his father's estate 4. Contact Thomas Darlian, Vice President of Yuy Inc. 5. Hire new legal counsel. The first item had been completed with only mild success. Since his mother had been expecting her husband's death for some time, she had resigned herself to it. However, she had taken to the role of mourning widow with a passion, and it had made her more dependent on her family and staff than she usually was. Heero had done what he could for her, even moving back into the Upper West Side penthouse that he had walked out of two years before, vowing never to return to. The second item had been no more or less challenging than Heero had predicted it would be, but, in the end, had been accomplished. Once Heero had secured his brother's cooperation with comforting their mother and overseeing the funeral arrangements, he turned his attention back to Yuy Inc. Wufei Chang had been a childhood friend of Heero's, despite the fact that he was the scion of Chang International founder and president, Henry Chang. Wufei functioned much as Heero did within Yuy Inc., but, even though they two companies had overlapping investments, Odin had trusted both Henry and Wufei. Making Wufei the executor of his estate had been a strong move, and Heero was grateful for it. Heero settled into a routine the day after his arrival – he woke up, had his morning run, checked on his mother, and then went into work at Yuy Inc. headquarters, there he remained until after midnight before finally dragging himself back to the penthouse for a few hours of sleep before the cycle started all over again. He tried to keep the company running as the interim chairman, but he really felt as though he was treading water while sharks surrounded him. He knew that Darlian, in particular, wanted the company to expand aggressively into armament production. Other senior members of the board each seemed to have their own ideas for how Yuy Inc. should expand, and Heero spent most of his time bluntly refusing their suggestions and trying to find loopholes in their contracts. The task of hiring new legal counsel should have been the easiest of the five, but it turned out to be the most challenging. He had his secretary prioritize the candidates, and then assemble dossiers on the ten with the highest potential. The dossiers contained every scrap of information she could find on the individuals, from photographs to newspaper clippings, college transcripts, police records, and any letters of recommendation forwarded with their resumes. Heero had collected the dossiers and barricaded himself in the office that had once been his father's, but was now his reluctant inheritance. He read through each one as carefully as possible, making notes and committing key information to memory. He had been at it several hours before Wufei barged in, unannounced, arms laden with Thai take-away. After a brief dinner break, Heero shoved the dossiers in his friends' direction. "What do you think?" He asked. Wufei scowled as he picked them up and started to toss them into different piles. "Weasel, lawsuit waiting to happen, bloated, arrogant, useless, idiot, sycophant, eye-candy, mommy-track, and…maybe." Wufei had spent less than thirty seconds looking at each individual. With the exception of the last dossier, each of the others was scattered in a haphazard pile beside Heero's trashcan. He arched an eyebrow as he inspected the 'maybe.' "You really think it would be a good idea to my father's attorney?" Wufei shrugged. "He's loyal and experienced." "He also thinks that I'm a revolutionary and a whipper-snapper who doesn't know his place." Wufei nodded in sympathy. He too was faced with daily patronization from his father's oldest associates. Heero scowled and picked up the discarded pile. He sorted through them until he found the one that had earlier caught his attention. "What was your problem with Trowa Barton?" He asked. "Eye-candy. If all you need is a male model, then hire one." Heero chuckled. Privately, he agreed with Wufei's assessment of Trowa Barton's looks. And maybe attraction was the reason why he wanted to interview the man. Maybe. "Top of his class at Brown, and then again at Harvard Law." "Even your brother was at the top of his graduating class in college," Wufei said disdainfully. "He worked for Quatre Winner for two years," Heero pointed out. "Why was he fired?" Wufei immediately responded. Heero shrugged. "I'm not sure he was." "You could call." Heero considered it. While he and Quatre Winner were not friends, they were acquainted. He checked the time, and decided that there was a good chance that Quatre was still awake. He threw Barton's dossier at Wufei while he listened to the phone ring. Scowling, Wufei opened it and actually looked it over. "Hello?" "Quatre? This is Heero. Heero Yuy." "Oh – Heero! I was very sorry to hear of your father's death." "Thank you, Quatre. I was too." There was an awkward pause. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Quatre asked. "Actually, I'm in the process of hiring new legal counsel. Trowa Barton has applied and he listed you as a reference." "Yes, of course. I told him to apply." "So… you found him to be… satisfactory?" "More than. He was, is brilliant, and incredibly invested in his clients. He's a real catch." "Then why isn't he still working for you?" Heero asked, suspicion and curiosity in his voice. Quatre sighed. "The short answer is that he hated living in Abu Dhabi." "The long answer?" "Heero, I want to stress to you that Trowa Barton is amazingly smart, and driven, and willing to fight for the honor and justice of his clients." "But?" "There is no but. That is who he is. I think it's important for you to know that. If I could have kept him with me forever, I would have. You won't find anyone better suited to helping you make a stand in your father's company, either. He was enormously helpful when I took over Winner Enterprises." "Hn." Heero tried to read between the lines of what Quatre was telling him, but he struggled to do so. "He's only dealt with international law," Wufei said loudly. Over the phone line, Quatre sighed. He had obviously heard Wufei. "It's true that he hasn't practiced law in the States since about a year after he graduated from Harvard, but he's still a member of the New York and Massachusetts state bars. And, how exactly is it a bad thing that he has so much experience in international law? Are you planning on making Yuy Inc. a domestic company? Because, if you are, I would be happy to make some acquisitions from your overseas holdings." "No, that won't be happening," Heero said. " Thank you for your time, Quatre." "Of course. I hope he works out," Heero hung up the phone and looked at Wufei. His friend shrugged. "I don't trust him." "Why?" Wufei scowled and, after a long moment, muttered his answer. "He's too pretty." Heero tried to stop himself from laughing, but he couldn't. He chuckled, and realized it was the first time in what felt like years since he had. Wufei glared at him until he could control himself. "Your only complaint is that he's too pretty?" Wufei nodded miserably. "So, you don't want me to hire a well qualified, glowingly-recommended, top notch lawyer because he's too pretty." "I just think that he will be a distraction." Now it was Heero's turn to frown. "I'm not a teenager. I can keep my hands to myself and focus on my work. Besides, maybe I could do with some eye-candy around here. He won't be a distraction." Wufei still looked uncertain, but then he shrugged. "It's your decision. And besides, you already made it before I even got here." Heero smirked at that. "True. But I might have changed my mind if you had a better argument than his looks." Wufei shrugged again and handed back the dossier. "I've got to go. Have you decided on a day for the reading yet?" Heero shook his head. "Still waiting to hear back from –" "-from your idiot brother. Of course. Does he have no respect?" Wufei fumed. "He had respect. You know he does. He worshiped Odin. But it's not as if any of us had this month cleared on our calendars in advance. He has to work time into his schedule." Wufei snorted. "Yes, because he is so important and busy, he can't even find the time to go back to his home at night to sleep." Wufei shook his head. "No, sorry, that's you. He, on the other hand –" "Wufei. We aren't getting into this again. He's my brother. Despite his…flaws, and I agree, there are many of them, but he's a good man. And he's my brother. So I'm the only one who gets to complain about him. If you complain about him too, then I just look like an asshole." "What do you mean, look like an asshole?" Wufei asked with a smirk. Heero relaxed as he saw the tension leave Wufei. "He thinks probably Friday," he answered Wufei's initial question. "He thinks, probably?" Wufei exploded all over again. "Does he not realize that other people – people whose jobs are far more time consuming – also have to clear their schedules?" "Wufei." "Fine. Fine. I'm going. Call me and let me know." He jerked his head towards the dossier in Heero's hands. "Good luck with that one. When are you going to interview him?" "Wednesday." "And he would start?" "Thursday." Wufei laughed. "Nothing like throwing him to the wolves, huh?" "The same thing happened to us. And we turned out okay?" "Okay? Speak for yourself, Yuy. I turned out magnificently." Wufei puffed out his chest and Heero chuckled again. "Now I am really going. Try to get some sleep between now and forever, will you?" Heero nodded and waved his friend out. Once he was alone in the office, Heero studied the photo of Trowa Barton again. It was a fairly recent, color photograph. It featured both Quatre and Trowa getting out of a car, dressed in tuxedos and black bow ties, likely going to one of the dozens of charity events that Quatre's company sponsored. The photo was obviously a paparazzi shot, and while the main subject was Quatre, Trowa's features were also in focus. Even in the photograph, Heero found himself mesmerized by Trowa's sharp, green eyes. There was also no denying the fact that, as Wufei had termed it, Trowa Barton was definitely eye candy. However, just because he looked so appealing to Heero, there was no indication that he was gay, or would ever be interested in Heero. And, more importantly, Heero told himself, they would be working together. He shoved his attraction to the other man to the back of his mind and told himself to start acting like the president of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world.
The interview on Wednesday had gone well, and Heero had been only momentarily distracted by Trowa's looks when the man himself walked into his office. He was much, much better looking in person, Heero decided. To the point that he almost took Wufei's advice to not hire him. Trowa had been efficient in his answers to Heero's questions, and had even teased him at one point. He had been honest and quick witted. And Heero couldn't get over how well he wore the gray, pinstriped suit. Heero's father had believed that the old adage, "Clothes make the man," was bullshit. He did, however, believe that you could judge a man's character by how well he wore his clothes. If it was rags or a tuxedo – it was more about comfort in one's self and one's skin, and not about the actual garments. Odin had believed that a man who was comfortable in his own skin was an honorable man. Trowa Barton, Heero decided, was very comfortable in his clothes. It spoke of honesty – as did his responses. Heero had already dealt with too many sycophants or older executives whose only concerns were themselves. It was refreshing to have Trowa Barton sit there and tell him that he wanted a good challenge. After only a few minutes, it was obvious that Trowa would be the perfect fit for the position. Heero prolonged the interview for a few more minutes, however, just to sit and talk to the man. But, after fifteen minutes, he had to move on to the other items on his daily schedule. As Trowa walked out of his office, Heero couldn't help but look up from his work and admire the rear view. After the door to his office closed, Heero slammed his head against his desk. "No," he told himself. "You cannot fall for your lawyer. Get a grip." It was definitely not in his schedule, or any of his plans, to pursue an office romance. Even with someone as attractive and intelligent as Trowa Barton. So he shoved all of his attraction and his feelings into a box and put it in the recesses of his mind. His resolve crumbled almost instantly when Trowa walked into his office on Thursday morning, dressed in a brown suit and a lavender shirt and tie, briefcase in one hand and ceramic travel mug in the other, a slight grin on his face. Heero had slept very little the night before. He had spent hours pouring over his father's notes from the last meetings he held before his death, trying to figure out what his father had wanted to do and trying to reconcile his own personal goals for himself and the company. It was exhausting work, and at this point, Heero was able to function only because of the excessive amount of caffeine in his system from the four cups of coffee he had already had that morning. "I'm happy to have you with us," Heero said and held out his hand. Trowa smiled and set down his briefcase to shake Heero's hand. "Thank you. This is a great opportunity." He released Heero's hand. "I, ah, haven't had a tour yet, so I don't know where my office is – or were to put my briefcase." "Right. I'll have Sherisse give you the grand tour in a bit. For now – please, sit, and let's talk about the schedule over the next few days." "Of course." Heero gestured them to the partner desk in the corner of the office. Odin had been obsessed with his work, but, when they were young, he had encouraged both of his sons to visit him often. He had purchased several antique partner desks and had them installed in the various offices and libraries in the offices and homes that they owned for the purpose of giving both of them space to do their homework while he worked to take over the world. Heero sat down in his usual chair, a chair that had been vacant for at least fourteen years. Trowa sat down across from him and set down both his coffee and his briefcase. Heero waited while the other man withdrew a MacBook and a pair of thin framed glasses. Heero had to literally force himself to look away when Trowa put on the glasses. He had always, since he was a teenager, found reading glasses to be incredibly sexy. It was almost as if Trowa Barton existed only to torment Heero. "I'm ready," Trowa said. "Right. Right. My brother has finally agreed to clear his Friday afternoon, so we've got the reading of my father's will tomorrow at four-thirty. It shouldn't take more than two or three hours." Heero frowned slightly. "I won't expect you to come in this weekend." "Do you need me to?" Heero shrugged. "I'm not sure. None of us have any idea what's in that document – for all I know he could have given the company to my distant cousins, in which case, you might be out of a job. But, in all likelihood, there will be some points that we will want to negotiate. I think it can wait until Monday, however." "Let me know if you change your mind," Trowa said. Heero nodded, grateful for the sign of commitment. "Today I want to go over the structure of the company with you, our major holdings, and introduce you to the individuals who…." Heero tried to think of a polite way to put it. While he did, Trowa's lips twitched into a slight smile. "Who will likely give us the most resistance to any changes?" He offered. "Yes. If you want to put it nicely. As you mentioned yesterday – a lot of people have made a lot of money from this company. There is going to be… SIGNIFICANT resistance to my plans for the future of this company." "Why do you want to change it?" Trowa asked. "My father was a great man, and he did amazing things to start this company and make it what it is today. But that is the past. I want Yuy Inc. to have a viable future, and that means restructuring and reinvesting. It also means taking an active role in sustainable development. This company is enormously wealthy, it is our obligation to give back to our society and to be a model for development. I will not let this company become NRON or Halliburton." "Fair enough. I think we will likely encounter the most resistance from the chairman of your board. Thomas Darlian?" Heero was inordinately pleased that Trowa had done enough research to be able to bring up the topic. "Yes, exactly. But he won't be the only one." The morning was spent going over each senior board member's background and likely allegiance to either Heero or Darlian. At noon, they concluded that most of the board would support Darlian, but that it would be possible to slowly win over a majority. As they stood up from the desk, Trowa stretched, and Heero admired his lean body. At some point, Trowa had removed his jacket, and he was now just in his shirtsleeves, tie, and trousers. And of course, the glasses. "Lunch?" Heero suggested. "Yes. My brain would appreciate a few extra carbs. You've been giving me quite the workout this morning." It wasn't said with any innuendo, but Heero's mind could help but go to dirty places. He could so easily picture the two of them naked on the desk, Trowa spread out beneath him – "When would you like me back?" Trowa interrupted his train of thought. "Did you have plans?" Heero asked. "No. Actually, I don't even know where to go." Heero nodded. "If you are in the mood for carbs, there's a great Italian place a few blocks down." Trowa looked interested. "Mind if I join you?" He asked. "Not at all," Heero answered, relieved that he hadn't had to be more obvious about his desire to be with the other man. Trowa collected his jacket, removed his glasses, and followed Heero out of the office. In the lobby, Sherisse greeted them. "Is there something I can get you, Mr. Yuy?" "No, we're going to lunch. Should be back in an hour, hour and a half." She looked shocked. In the week that Heero had taken residence in his father's office, he hadn't once taken a lunch break. Nor much of any break, and certainly not for such a long period of time. "Alright," she said uncertainly. "Er, enjoy yourself, sir." The walk to the restaurant was in an easy, companionable silence. When they sat down at a secluded table in the back of the restaurant, Heero was relieved that Trowa didn't immediately start a conversation, but instead took a few moments to look over the menu and admire the décor. "I haven't been to an Italian restaurant in years," Trowa mused aloud as he looked over the menu. "I hope this is okay?" "Yes. Definitely. It's a nice break from hummus. Don't get me wrong – I love hummus, but it gets old after two years." Heero chuckled. "Did you travel much? With Winner?" Trowa shrugged. "Some. Mostly I stayed in Abu Dhabi to keep his sisters from forming a coup if he had to go on any extended business trips. Short ones or merger discussions – those I went on." He shook his head. "It's strange to think that I looked forward to a merger discussion in Moscow as a vacation." "So you won't object if I ask you to travel with me?" Heero asked. "Not at all." The waiter arrived to take their orders and deliver water to their table. Once he was gone, Trowa leaned back in his chair and grinned slightly. "So, we've mapped out our hostile takeover of your own company. What's on the schedule for the afternoon?" Heero chuckled. "I'd like to have Sherisse show you your office, allow you the chance to get settled and then we should touch base before you leave for the day. Around six?" Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Not eleven? The first week that I worked for Quatre we lived out of his office." "Yes, but Quatre had to fight off all of those insane sisters for control of the company. Everyone acknowledges that Odin wanted me to take over. Now we just need to work out the details. So, no, I'm not going to chain you to your desk." No matter how much he liked that mental image. Trowa shrugged. "I'm prepared, if you need me to." He frowned. "I didn't realize that you had a brother." Heero shifted in his seat and tried to think of the best way to explain his brother. "He's not invested in the company. You won't need to look for any coups coming from his direction. However, tomorrow afternoon, don't be surprised if he shows up half an hour late or if my mother spends the entire time reprimanding him for it, or for any of his other recent mistakes." "Sounds entertaining." "Or we could be lucky and he will show up half an hour early and be on his best behavior." "You don't sound very optimistic about that," Trowa said. "Years of experience with the opposite behavior have dulled my sense of optimism." Their food arrived and they ate in silence. It was a nice break from discussing the company, and Heero savored the moments to clear his mind of work and enjoy a meal with an attractive man. Who, yes, happened to be his employee. His incredibly sexy, intelligent, funny, and honest employee. As they walked back to the office, they passed a street vendor haggling with two teenagers over the price of a Yankees t-shirt. "You should be giving away Alex Rodriguez t-shirts! He needs all the fans he can get!" One boy was arguing. "It's criminal that you are charging more for his shirt than Derek Jeter! I mean, the DJ is… he's the DJ! Without him, the Yankees are nothing!" The other exclaimed. Trowa chuckled, and even Heero had to smile. "I should probably tell you that one of the perks of working for our company is that we have a luxury box AND tickets behind home plate at Yankee stadium," Heero said, as they continued walking. "Thank god you aren't a Mets fan," Trowa said and then shuddered. "You couldn't pay me enough to cheer for them." "And the Yankees?" Trowa hesitated a moment. "I should have issued a disclaimer when you interviewed me. I have to confess that I'm a dyed in the wool Red Sox fan." Heero winced. There went his dream of taking Trowa to a game. "But, I'm always up to see the Yankees lose, so yes, I will certainly make use of those tickets," Trowa added. Heero decided that, while he hadn't planned on having to deal with a distraction like Trowa, he could probably rearrange his schedule to accommodate it.
When Trowa stepped into Heero's office at six that night, Heero was happy for the interruption from the increasingly frustrating task of deciphering his father's notes from the last three board meetings. While a digital record had been taken, and Heero, as a vice president of the company and member of said board, had been emailed the minutes of the meeting, the record was as general as it could possibly be. Heero wanted details, and his father's handwriting had always been nearly illegible. While Heero appreciated his father's habit of obsessive note-taking, he sincerely wished that he had chosen a different way to record his thoughts – a tape recorder would have been preferable to the abstract art he now studied. "So, how was the first day? Ready to quit?" Heero asked as Trowa walked in. "Are you kidding? My office is bigger than my apartment. I'm considering terminating my lease and moving in here. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily." Heero chuckled at the joke. He was used to people complaining about the size of their living spaces. Having no personal experience with that, however, he couldn't make further comment. Growing up in the myriad townhouses, penthouses, and manor houses that his parents had acquired over the years, Heero had often found himself swallowed up by the vast spaces. "Good. I have meetings for most of tomorrow – but we should have an hour or so to talk before the reading of my father's will." "Excellent. I'm going to go start going through the records of the last board meetings and most recent corporate acquisitions and make sure that everything is in order." "Thank you. Today was…very helpful. I'm relieved to have someone like you working with me." Trowa smiled. "High praise coming from you, Mr. Yuy." "Heero, please call me Heero. And what does that mean?" "I know that you have an MBA and a law degree. I realize that my position is little more than a glorified personal assistant." "That's not true. This company is too large for me to manage everything on my own. I'm relying on you to catch any oversights and to help me frame the big picture for the future." Trowa still looked skeptical. "I'm not paying you to fetch my coffee. I have other people for that. I do value your legal expertise." "In that case, I have some recommendations for how you can go around the board to get the ball rolling towards restructuring the company." And so they spent the next three hours debating how much they could accomplish in the next six months towards Heero's goal of making sustainability R&D the main investment of Yuy Inc. By the time that Trowa finally left for the night, Heero was exhausted and, for the first time since he had returned from Macau, he went home before midnight. He banished any guilt at leaving so early with the knowledge that he and Trowa had accomplished more than he had planned for the day. As Heero prepared for bed, he prepared a mental checklist for the following day. When he worked his way towards the afternoon and evening time slots, he groaned in frustration. The reading of his father's will was bound to have a major impact on Heero's future, and he couldn't shake the feeling that Odin had taken the opportunity to punish Heero again, from the grave, for all of his many failings as a son.
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