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"All Through The Night "Written By: Honor Disclaimer: They aren’t mine. The boys are
actually quite grateful for this. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Shonen-ai, language, wacky humor, emotional
angst, romance, yaoi, and I’m acting like the war lasts two years
and Eternal Waltz didn’t happen Spoilers: Er…yeah, maybe. It would help if
you watch the series first. Pairings: 2x5, 3x4 established Summary: Sequel to Persistence ~dream/ thought~ /thought/ *emphasized* " All Through The Night " Chapter Nine
<<Duo—>> Amethyst eyes snapping, Duo slammed a hand down on the desk. “No.” <<There isn’t any other choice.>> “The last time that bitch was near us, she nearly killed ‘Fei. NO.” <<If we are to have any chance of peace once OZ is defeated, then we must have her alive. It’s only a week.>> “I don’t care if its five minutes! NO!!” G braced himself, leaning closer to the screen. <<You can’t let emotion interfere with this, Duo. I know how much you care about Wufei, and its obvious that you’re still mad at Relena, but you have to consider the future.>> “I ain’t the only one, Doc,” Duo snarled. “Everyone on this team is ready to shoot on sight. If you think I’m alone in this, you’re crazy.” G decided to switch tactics. <<Think of it this way. You’ll have a whole week to torture her.>> Actually…that *did* have a certain appeal. “I’ll think about it. Maxwell, out.” Duo slammed out of the computer room and came into the living room. He threw himself onto the couch, still glaring. Guard Relena? For a *week*? Ha! Not after what she had done to Wufei. He still had nightmares sometimes that he hadn’t been able to keep his friend breathing, and Quatre hadn’t come back with the counter drug in time, leaving Duo holding a corpse. When he woke up from those dreams, only seeing and touching Wufei calmed him down. After five minutes of brooding, Quatre slammed out of the computer room, slunk into the living room, and threw himself on the couch beside Duo. “Let me guess,” Duo bit off sarcastically. “H wants you to guard Relena for a week.” “You too?” Quatre looked like he had been bit into a lemon. “Can you believe them? After what she did to Wufei, they expect us to care if she actually lives!” Duo slouched further. “I’m not doing it.” “Neither am I.” Wufei came down the stairs and took in their positions with some confusion. “Duo, Quatre, let’s go. We have a mission.” The two on the couch froze, then slowly turned to look at Wufei. “Fei,” Duo said slowly, “are you referring to the mission where we guard the blonde bimbo?” “Yes.” “You’re actually agreeing to it?” Quatre burst out. “Obviously.” Duo groaned. “Of course you would. You’re as bad as Heero when it comes to missions.” Quatre growled low in his throat. “Wufei, I am *not* guarding her! Not after what she did.” Wufei nearly bit off a retort, but swallowed it at the last minute. It wasn’t just the last incident that was behind their refusal. Relena had steadily plagued them for months. The Dart incident was just the last straw. “Let me put this to you in a different way. In exchange for putting up with Relena for a week, we get to send her to space, where she will not have the ability to show up at our doorstep in pink limos.” He arched an eyebrow and waited for that to sink in. They exchanged looks and Quatre sagged. “He’s got a point.” “A good one,” Duo admitted morosely. “What about Heero and Tro?” “They won’t be back from that surveillance mission for at least two more weeks,” Quatre told him in resignation. “It’s going to be just us.” “…lovely. Fine, let’s pack.” + Noin watched as three Gundams landed just in front of the Sank palace. Relena was nearly cowering behind her, a duffle bag at her feet. She hadn’t been told anything when Relena had come home, but judging from her flinches for the following week, the pilots had evidently made their displeasure QUITE clear to the blonde. Only one hatch opened, and Chang Wufei dropped smoothly out. Noin blinked at this. She had expected Quatre to come for Relena, not the boy who was notorious for deeming women as ‘weak’. She exchanged a slight bow with him, which was something else that was a novelty. Since when did Chang have *manners*? “Chang. Thank you for coming.” He dismissed this with a throwaway gesture. “Relena, you are to ride with me.” If possible, the girl became even more white. Wufei’s eyes narrowed as he caught the reaction. “I assure you, I am your best option right now. Neither Duo or Quatre are in a very forgiving mood at the moment. If you ride with me, you can at least rest assured that you’ll arrive alive.” Noin stared at him in consternation. They were still that angry? From what Heero had told her, it had been an honest mistake even if it was a stupid one…well, those boys acted more like brothers than simple team mates. Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised by this. Relena hesitated for another moment before nodding. She picked up her duffle bag and walked forward. “I’m ready. Thank you, Noin.” “Safe journey,” Noin responded quietly. To herself, she made a mental note to call Sally. If anyone would know the complete story, it would probably be her. Heero’s version seemed a little lax in details just now. In silence she watched as Wufei helped Relena up into the Gundam, and the hatch closed. She stayed until they had left the ground and were nothing more than specks in the sky before going back into the palace. + Wufei’s cockpit had an unusual opening just to the side of his chair. Since he and Meiran had originally been trained as the pilots, they had crafted a second seat for another pilot to ride in. By opening a hatch, a second seat was revealed in the floor. It was here that Relena had strapped in, duffle securely in her lap. The first hour was very quiet. Relena barely dared to breathe. Wufei eventually got tired of her terror and growled, “Stop cowering, woman. I’m not going to beat you.” Relena’s eyes flinched towards his, then away. “Aren’t you angry with me?” “Yes. I have little patience with stupidity. That doesn’t mean I’ll unleash my anger on you.” “Oh.” Relena uncurled a little and dared another look at him. She didn’t know much about Wufei, but she did know that he always said exactly what he meant. “I *am* sorry for what happened, if that makes any difference.” “It only makes a difference if you learned from it,” he replied as he adjusted his course slightly. “I think I did,” was her soft response. Wufei cast a glance at her bowed head, and an unsolicited pang of pity tickled at the back of his mind. She looked so miserable and pathetic, hunched in on herself like that. He’d done stupid things as well…he could hardly hold her to her past mistakes and not allow her the chance to grow past them. It wouldn’t be fair. Besides, the whole incident was a little surreal to him. He’d been unconscious through most of it, after all. He’d already moved on. The least he could do was give her a few warnings. That wouldn’t hurt anything. “I’d stay out of Duo’s sight,” he stated without preamble. “He’s ready to shoot you even now. Quatre might be a little safer, but he still hasn’t forgiven you and he’s already in a rotten mood because of Trowa. I wouldn’t push his patience either.” Relena couldn’t understand why Wufei was being as nice as he was, but she wasn’t going to question it. Maybe her sincere apology had done some good. Wetting her lips she ventured, “Why is he upset with Trowa?” “Not upset with Trowa,” Wufei corrected. “Upset because of Trowa. Quatre is always in a foul humor when he’s separated from Trowa.” Relena didn’t know much about the other pilots. She had always been too focused on Heero to really care much about the others. That might have been a very severe oversight. “They must be good friends,” she whispered. Wufei gave her a sharp glance. “You don’t know, do you?” Relena frowned back in confusion. “Know?” “They’re lovers.” L-lovers?! Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton were lovers? Relena gaped, mouth working silently. “I had no idea…” “Apparently.” Wufei was rather darkly amused by her reaction. “I-I knew they were close because I always saw them together, but…” lovers? She fell quiet, thinking over that piece of information. Wufei let the conversation drop, satisfied that she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. At least this way, he could concentrate on what he needed to do. That was all he had really cared about, anyway. + “HaveyouseenmynewdufflebagIreallyneedit.” Wufei blinked and looked up at Duo. They had barely arrived at the safehouse. Relena was already hiding in her room (wise move). Duo had been bounding around the house for some minutes, although he had paid little attention as he was trying to cook something for dinner while Quatre set up the perimeter security. “…did you just say you fell into a lava pit?” Duo frowned. “What? That’s not what I said!” “Then slow down so I can actually understand you.” “I *said* have you seen my duffle bag? The new one.” Now that he thought of it, he had seen it somewhere… “I think Quatre took it with him.” “Oh. Yeah, it does have some of his stuff in there. Thanks, ‘Fei!” Wufei shrugged and went back to his cooking. He should have known that Duo would eventually become his normal hyper-active self, despite Relena being nearby. Quatre was another matter…Wufei couldn’t believe how the blond could hold a grudge. Being separated from Trowa for two weeks probably wasn’t helping. They ate all around the house. Relena slipped down quietly to get a plate for herself, then retreated to her room. Wufei was glad to see she was taking his advice seriously, but spared little thought toward her. Dishes done, he went into the living room. “Quatre, is security set up?” “And wired to our communicators,” the blond confirmed.
“Good night.” Wufei looked into the computer room as he went in, but saw Duo was playing on the xbox and left him alone without saying good night. When Duo played, he was always deeply engrossed in the game—he probably wouldn’t hear a squadron of Aries if they flew into the room. Yawning, he fell into bed and stretched out comfortably. One day down, six to go. + In the afternoon of the second day, Relena finally broke and snuck out of her room. If she were forced to stay and stare at the same four walls for even five more minutes, she would have gone stark raving mad. She just wanted a change in scenery, maybe watch some news, and avoid trouble. Especially Duo, since he seemed the angriest at her. She slipped down the stairs, ears perked for any sounds of other people. She didn’t hear anything, and hoped that everyone else was occupied in other parts of the sprawling house. Rounding the corner, she stepped into the living room. Quatre was already there, quietly reading. She started to back out, but he looked up at her and it seemed like the wrong move to retreat. “May…I watch the news?” He glanced at the set before nodding slowly in permission. Grateful for it, she settled onto a chair furthest away from him and flipped the TV on, thumbing through for the news. Twenty minutes passed and Wufei joined them by claiming a reading chair, a well loved book in his hands. His dark eyes noted the tense atmosphere, but also a certain lack of hostility. Perhaps even Quatre was starting to forgive her, in his own way. Faster than a speeding Gundam, a Braided Wonder flew through the air and tackled the innocent teenager in the reading chair. Wufei grunted at the impact, but didn’t throw off the hold around his waist. “Wuffers! I’mreallyreallyhungrydon’tyouwanttoeatsomethingtoo?” Wufei stared at his book then looked up at Duo blankly. “You’re running green and you need a car hood?” Duo blinked. “That isn’t what I said!” “Then slow down so I can understand you,” Wufei said patiently. “I’m hungry!” “Cook something,” Wufei returned blandly. “But you cook better than I do! Come on, I’ll do your laundry.” “I don’t trust you with my clothes. Besides, it’s done.” Duo paused for a moment, stumped. What would Wufei be willing to trade for…ah! “I’ll let you read for twenty minutes.” “No.” “Thirty minutes.” “An hour,” Wufei parried. Aha! Now he was getting somewhere. “Forty minutes.” “An hour.” “Forty-five?” Sighing, Wufei let his book fall closed. “…fine.” “*Yes*! Can I have beef and broccoli and fried rice?” In an unnoticed corner, Relena watched as they went into the kitchen, Duo’s arm wrapped around Wufei’s shoulders, the Chinese teen watching him with a half smile on his face. She’d caught glimpses of Trowa and Quatre acting in a similar manner a few times, and assumed they were friends. Wufei had corrected her assumption and proven the observation wrong. This time, she also thought Duo and Wufei to be friends—but maybe she was wrong here, too. They all had a late lunch of fried rice and beef and broccoli. Wufei was quite a good cook. He made Duo do the dishes, and everyone returned to the living room to resume their earlier activities. Relena felt a little hesitant in doing so, but…no one was giving her any indication that she was unwelcome. She wasn’t entirely welcome either, but they allowed her to stay.
“’Fei.” Wufei sighed in exasperation. “Didn’t you promise me forty-five minutes of peace to read?” “Yes, but I didn’t say they had to be *consecutive* minutes!” “…” The dragon made a note to himself get a written contract next time he made a deal with Duo on anything. Duo squirmed again. “Hey ‘Fei.” “What?” Wufei grumped. “You have bony ankles.” “So don’t lay on them.” “But I don’t have enough room to stretch out otherwise!” Wufei made a silent inquiry to his ancestors why he was plagued by a certain braided menace. Receiving no reply, he decided it was up to him to settle the sha zi so that he could get some decent reading in. “Sit up.” With Duo’s weight off of him, he redistributed his legs to the side. Duo happily cuddled into the narrow open space between Wufei’s legs and the back of the couch. He had just enough room to settle his head on Wufei’s stomach. Happy, he returned to his manga with a smile. No, surely after that scene Relena couldn’t be wrong. They had to be lovers. She’d dealt with the people on L5 before. The culture there was *not* physically demonstrative. Especially not between two males. Still, she kept quiet and left the room well before anyone would retire. It was probably best if she just stayed quiet. + Quatre sent a reply to his lover’s email, feeling a little restless and edgy. He hadn’t been with Trowa for two weeks now, and he was beginning to contemplate plans for joining him on the mission. Anything would be an improvement over this. He felt someone enter the room and looked up. Relena was standing there, very uncertain. She was in jeans and a blue shirt this time, looking her age for once. “Do you mind if I watch some television?” “No. Go ahead.” He almost winced as he saw how timid she was acting. He hadn’t really been acting that badly had he? Thinking over it, he realized with a grimace that he had. What she had done was stupid and rash…but there was a time in his life when he had also done something stupid and rash, and been forgiven for it. It didn’t seem fair to hold her by a different standard especially since she seemed so contrite for the mistake. Wufei had obviously already forgiven her, or he wouldn’t have allowed her in his Gundam, mission or no mission. Taking in a deep breath, he offered quietly “I’m sorry if I seem like a grouch. I usually am when Trowa is gone.” Relena was surprised by the gesture, but managed a smile in return. “It’s alright. Wufei warned me. He told me that you were lovers.” Quatre blinked at that piece of information. “He did? When?” “On the way here.” That was a very un-Wufei-like thing to do. Maybe their grouchy dragon was becoming more personable than Quatre had realized. “Oh.” Relena bit her bottom lip hesitantly then decided that there was probably no harm in asking the question. “Quatre…are Wufei and Duo lovers?” The blond’s jaw dropped. “No. Why do you think that?” They weren’t? “Well…it’s just that they’re so physically comfortable with each other. I was on L5 once, before it exploded, and no one there ever touched someone else. Wufei acts…quite differently from the cultural guidelines he was raised with.” “He’s been working on becoming more open with us…” Quatre answered absently. But now that she mentioned it, he realized that Wufei wasn’t really physically comfortable with anyone except Duo. The only time h had ever touched Wufei was when he was having nightmares, or during the course of mission-work and sparring. Duo…maybe it was just because Duo was constantly reaching out to Wufei? No, that wasn’t entirely true. Wufei also reached out for Duo. He turned thoughtful eyes on Relena. “Did Wufei mention anything about Duo?” “Not really…just that out of all of you, he was the most upset with me and that it would be wise to stay out of his sight.” Yes, Duo had been the one most upset with Relena. Furious was actually a better term. And Duo, usually the easiest person to get a reading on, had been strangely guarded the past two weeks. /Damn, sometimes I really do play blond. And it took another blond to point it out to me. That’s kind of sad./ “No, Relena, they aren’t lovers.” /Yet. But maybe…maybe they will be./ ~*~*~*~
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