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"I Will Find You"Written By: ELLE Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Gundam
Wing (unfortunately) and they were used without permission, but all
the words are my own. Rating: R Warnings: modern day AU, angst, some foul language
Pairings: 1x2x1 with brief mention of 3xH, implied
5xC Summary: A series of intersecting vignettes back and forth through time documenting Heero and Duo's relationship before and after the apocalypse - including what lengths they'd go to in order to be together again. Author's Notes: I have been writing this since
July so I'm happy to finally have it done! This is what happens when
you get terribly distracted and real life bowls you over with unexpected
news. ;-P
"I Will Find You" 1652 Days Until Last Communication Duo sighed as he fell heavily into his desk chair, staring
at the picture of his most recent ex before growling, ripping it from
the cork board, and throwing it in the trash. "Lost another one?" Susan inquired as she
walked by with some kind of smoothie from the break room, sitting
down at her desk next to him. Duo frowned, offering her a frustrated
glare, but it was a question that required no answer as she already
knew what he would say. "You'll find someone," she said, clearly trying
to be sympathetic, but Duo was already dreading the next two hours
where he had no clients scheduled. The last thing he wanted to do
was spend it bitching about his ex and his failed romantic life in
general. To be honest, he didn't really care. He was just tired
of dealing with petty jealousy. It was almost worse than the guys
who only wanted one thing. At least then he had no expectation of
trust. But to constantly be accused of infidelity was more than he
could bear. His job required him to interact with a lot of attractive
people who cared a lot about what they looked like, but that didn't
mean he was interested in any of them. "You just can't give up," Susan continued,
clearly undaunted by his outright lack of acknowledgement for the
forced conversation. "Your soul mate is out there." "Do you really believe that bullshit?" Duo
asked frankly, pushed over the edge as she had been married and divorced
twice by the age of twenty-six. But her wide eyes just blinked in
surprise, clearly offended. "Of course I do," she answered sagely. "It's
not bullshit. We all have someone we are spiritually tied to, who
will cross generations to come find us, who –" Duo tried not to roll his eyes as he tuned her out,
glancing over to his computer screen to check his monthly sales goals.
Most of the time, he didn't really care about love. He was happy enough
having a guy around for a few months to go to dinner with, to share
his bed and make sure he got home okay at the end of the night but
sometimes... Sometimes he wanted more than that. Sometimes he wanted
someone who would fight for him. Maybe that was an unrealistic expectation. He had been
adopted into what he thought of as one of life's great love stories
and he grew up watching a selfless kind of love where any adversity
could be overcome with patience, understanding, and a tender hug or
kiss. Where the only thing that mattered was supporting and defending
those that you loved – even when they were wrong. It wasn't until
he was off on his own that he realized that kind of love was special,
rare, and likely way the fuck out of his grasp. And although he loved
his parents, they set him up with some seriously unrealistic expectations. He knew from the beginning that this guy wasn't ever
going to be that, so he sighed and let it go. They'd had a nice few
months and that was all he'd ever expected from that relationship
so he shouldn't be disappointed. He should just learn either not to
care or not to get involved at all. "Have you heard a single word I just said?"
Susan asked, perfect pink mouth set into a pout. "Huh?" Duo asked, turning his eyes away from
the computer screen and she whined his name petulantly. But he was
scanning the floor, continuing to ignore her, and so he noticed when
he walked in. Duo had never seen him there before – all
classically handsome Marlon Brando kinda shit with dark tousled hair
falling into his eyes and full lips, trim waist and narrow hips, and
although he clearly could do with some lifting, he definitely had
potential. Duo snapped out of his stare and realized his mouth
had been hanging open slightly, clicking his teeth shut with an embarrassed
flush when he heard Susan's laughter. "I think Duo's found his soul mate," she said
to Kevin, who rolled his eyes as Duo glared back at them. "I
don't think he's a customer. I'm gonna message Tina to send him to
you." He heard the click of the keys and sighed, seeing his fate
sealed. "You wouldn't really fuck a cripple," Kevin
stated with a skeptical and disgusted raised brow and Duo stared in
shock, looking from Kevin back to the mystery man, noting the prosthetic
leg that he'd merely scanned over before. "That man is gorgeous," Duo stated
without reservation as he looked back to Kevin. "You bet I'd
fuck that." "Christ," Kevin muttered, shuddering a little
as he walked away and Duo frowned, unable to believe someone would
be that narrow-minded but then, given his place of employment he supposed
he shouldn't have been surprised. Everyone was very image focused,
especially the other trainers. Duo just enjoyed the challenge, getting
to work with his body, and helping people change their lives and habits
more than anything else. Tina waved at him from the front desk and Duo waved
back, attempting to hastily forget the unsettling comment as he plastered
a friendly smile onto his face. Susan was giggling but Duo ignored
her as the man walked over and Duo stood to greet him with a warm
handshake across the desk. "I'm Duo," he said, undaunted by the other
man's stoicism. "Nice to meet you." "Heero," he replied as their hands dropped,
not even the hint of a smile on his face. "Likewise." He
didn't seem too thrilled but then Duo let it go. Often people were
nervous, expecting him to try to upsell them into services they didn't
want. "I suppose you'd like the grand tour?" Duo
asked with a wink before leading him through the gym, careful not
to leave anything out, even though he figured Heero probably couldn't
really use a treadmill or an elliptical. He certainly wasn't going
to bias him the way Kevin did. "I'm really looking for a personal trainer,"
he said, and although Heero did seem a little ashamed, Duo didn't
call that out, and just smiled, genuine, as he always did. "Yeah? Well I'd be more than happy to help you
with that," Duo said. "Is there anything specific you'd
like to focus on? I mean obviously I would develop a meal and exercise
plan tailored specifically to you..." "Frankly I think my diet is fine," he stated
matter-of-factly and Duo nodded, sure he was probably right as despite
not having great muscle tone, he was far from fat. "But I would
like to build muscle. I was in physical therapy for several months
and after that my exercise regime was basically abandoned. I need
help tailoring a program to my specific requirements now." Duo took in the way Heero avoided making eye contact
as he spoke, preferring to stare at the desk, his own hands, a point
over Duo's shoulder where nothing of any real interest existed. Clearly
he was still struggling with his injury and didn't like to talk about
it. Not that Duo could blame him but he was glad for the sensitivity
he had employed up until this point and made a special note not to
do anything which might cause Heero to feel that he was treating him
differently. Which, Duo admitted to himself, was going to be a unique
challenge as his desire to flirt with this handsome customer nearly
got the better of him. "Sure," he said instead, casual and easy.
"I am sure we can come up with something together that would
be perfect for you." Duo pulled out several premade sheets of exercises which
he used to design work out routines by checking off different activities
for different days. "I am concerned," Heero started carefully,
clearly humiliated as his hands tightened into fists on his knees
and he stared at the sheets with no small amount of reservation, "about
my ability to complete any task with my leg as it is now." Duo attempted to meet his eyes although Heero was doing
his damned best to make sure that was impossible. He couldn't offer
him any measure of comfort without being able to see him but then
maybe Heero didn't want to be comforted, he figured as he put himself
in Heero's shoes, thought about what Kevin said, clearly disgusted.
Maybe to Heero comfort looked like pity. "You said you underwent physical therapy, yeah?"
Duo asked and Heero nodded his head slightly. "Yeah." "And obviously you can walk, right, and that was
no easy feat, eh?" Duo asked and once again Heero nodded, but
seemed a little embarrassed this time. "Yeah." "Well, here's the thing, Heero," Duo said
with a grin, watching as Heero's eyes finally slid over to his, reluctant
but nevertheless. "I believe you can do anything you damn well
want to do with enough determination." Heero seemed hesitant but it was only for a moment and
in that tiny moment before resolve formed deep within Heero's eyes
something passed between them that made it hard for Duo to catch his
breath enough to speak. For a moment all that bullshit Susan had spouted
about soul mates seemed strangely tangible and Duo knew – Heero
would fight for the things he loved. He didn't know anything about
Heero – didn't know if he had a wife or kids already or if he
even swung his way but he knew, knew beyond a doubt – Heero was
the kind of man he'd been waiting for. Or at least so rebound lust and infatuation dictated,
he told himself as he swallowed down butterflies. "You could probably even do leg press, you know,
with a spotter who knew what they were doing," he offered and
winked as he turned back to the papers. Heero seemed to relax then, his fingers loosening, leaning
back in the seat and watching Duo as he checked boxes and rambled
about how upper body especially shouldn't be a problem for him and
that they'd just have to be more creative with lower body routines.
Duo explained everything to him and Heero listened and made suggestions
based on his comfort level and experience. They worked out a schedule
together and Duo felt pretty confident that he'd be able to help Heero
achieve his goals and really, that was enough for him. But if he got
a little eye candy while doing it, well, that was just icing on the
cake. "So I'll see you tomorrow then?" Duo asked
as they stood after they finished up and he processed Heero's membership.
Heero just nodded his head and Duo reached out to shake his hand one
more time, warm palms pressed against one another, and he smiled.
"I look forward to working with you." Heero smiled then, just the barest hint of curled lips
that was likely forced anyway but nonetheless Duo felt his heart skip
a beat to see that tiny expression of pleasure, wondering what the
genuine article would look like and if he would ever see it and – And then he was releasing Heero's hand, letting him
walk away from his desk and out the door without another word as he
stared after him, already looking forward to tomorrow and seeing him
again despite knowing absolutely nothing about him. "So what did you think?" Susan teased, knowing
eyes appraising him with obvious amusement. "Soul mates?" "Jesus! No, Susan, just – no," Duo replied
hastily, rolling his eyes at such a ridiculous statement. As if you
could know something like that from one meeting anyway. Yet there was something... And as his eyes wandered back to the door, he found
that even if they weren't 'soul mates,' he was still looking forward
to getting to know Heero better.
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