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"Convincing Heero"Written By: Hemlock Inyx Disclaimer: This chick does not own any of the
Gundam Wing characters because they belong to Bandai and Sunrise.
I am borrowing them for this fict and will return them
in good (if somewhat sticky) condition. I also don't own Nora Robert's
Convincing Alex, on which this fict is heavily based (well more like
a fusion/translation). This fict is written out of love and not for
profit, don't sue. Thanks and enjoy! Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU Romance/Cop Drama, Cross-dressing/drag,
humor, romance, some OOC-ness, language, and murder- not main characters.
Pairings: 1x2, 4xC for added interest. More pairings
to come. Summary: Heero is a cop, Duo is a cross-dressing man who writes for a daytime soap opera. The pair meet when Duo is arrested doing 'research' for the soapie.
" Convincing Heero"
Dorothy considered herself an excellent judge of people, and she had already decided that Duo was one strange drag queen. But she kept coming back. Sure, the money was good, Dorothy thought as she sat drinking a diet soda in Duo’s basement office. And for a woman with a retirement plan, that had to be number one. Yet it was more than making an extra buck that kept her taking the trip up and across town several days a week. More, too, that kept her hanging around after they finished what Duo liked to call ‘consulting sessions.’ Dorothy was human enough to get a charge out of being connected, however remotely, to the entertainment world. She couldn’t deny that she’d been excited, awed and impressed when she watched a couple of tapings. But there was another factor, a much more basic one. Dorothy enjoyed Duo’s company. Besides being a strange queen, Duo had class. Dorothy didn’t figure a person had to possess class to recognize it in another. Class wasn’t just a matter of pedigree—though she’d discovered Duo had one. It was more than having an old lady in DAR, or an old man in Who’s Who. It was hazier than that. Though Dorothy couldn’t quite come up with the terms she wanted, she had recognized in Duo those rare qualities, grace and compassion. She was procrastinating over taking the trip back downtown by dawdling over her drink. Duo didn’t seem to mind if Dorothy hung around while he worked. In the few weeks since they’d hooked up, Dorothy noted that Duo worked hard and long. Harder, in Dorothy’s opinion, than she herself, or any of the other ladies in her profession. Certainly Duo’s hours were longer. It amused Dorothy to compare the two. In fact, she and Duo had gotten into a very interesting discussion on the similarities and differences between Duo’s selling his mind and Dorothy her body. What a kick that had been, Dorothy thought now, while Duo typed and mumbled. Philosophical discussions weren’t the norm in Dorothy’s world. The simple term she had not quite grasped for their relationship was friendship. They had become friends. “How late you gonna work?” Dorothy asked, and Duo glanced up absently from the computer screen. “Oh…not much longer.” Duo’s eyes were still slightly unfocused when he blew his bangs away from them. Brock was on the verge of seducing Jessica. “I just had this idea for a little twist on a scene for tomorrow.” Duo smiled then. It was quick, and a little wicked. “Of course, several members of the cast are going to want to murder me when I toss this at them in the morning. But that’s show biz.” Dorothy took a drag on her cigarette. “What time did you get in here this morning?” “Today? About nine-thirty. I was…” Duo thought of Heero. “Running a little late.” Lips pursed, Dorothy looked at the fake designer watch on her wrist. “And it’s after seven now.” Her grin flashed. “Girlfriend, you’d only put in half that many hours in my line of work.” “Yeah, but I get to sit down.” Duo rubbed at the dull ache in the back of his neck. He really was going to have to work on his posture. “Hungry?” Duo asked. “Want to order something in?” With a little tug of regret, Dorothy stabbed out the cigarette. “No. I gotta get to work, too.” “You could take the night off.” Casually Duo ran a finger lightly over the keyboard. “Maybe we could catch a movie.” Chuckling, Dorothy dug in her purse for a mirror to check her makeup. “You said you weren’t going to try to reform me.” “I lied.” Duo sat back in his chair while Dorothy painted her mouth blood red. He’d tried very hard not to pressure, not to preach. And thought he had succeeded. But he hadn’t tried not to care. That would have been useless. “I really worry about you. Especially since the last murder.” The odd twisting in Dorothy’s stomach had her shifting her eyes from her compact mirror to Duo. She couldn’t remember if anyone had ever worried about her before. Certainly not in years. “Didn’t I tell you I could take care of myself?” “Yes, but…” “No buts about it, honey.” With a second dip into her purse, Dorothy pulled out a stiletto. One flick of the wrist, and the long, razor-sharp blade zipped out. “What I can’t handle, this can.” Duo managed to close his mouth, but his eyes stayed riveted to the knife. In the overhead lights, it gleamed silver, bright as sudden death. Duo couldn’t say it was elegant. But it was fascinating, deathly fascinating. “Can I?” With a shrug of her shoulders, Dorothy passed the weapon to Duo. “Don’t mess with the blade,” she warned. “It’s as sharp as it looks.” Duo took a good grip on the handle, twisting his wrist this way and that, like a fencer. Duo wondered if Jade/Josie might carry one. Duo was already imagining a scene where the tormented Jade found the knife—maybe with the blade smeared with blood—in one of her practical handbags. No, her briefcase. Better. “Have you ever…?” “Not yet.” Dorothy held out a hand to take it back. “But there’s always a first time.” She pressed the button, and the blade whisked away again. “So don’t loose any sleep over me.” After dropping the weapon back into her bag, she took out an atomizer and sprayed scent generously on her skin. The air bloomed with roses. “Couple more months, I’ll have enough put away. I’m going to be spending the winter in the Florida sunshine while you slog though dirty snow.” Dorothy rose, tugging her tight off-the-shoulder top provocatively down, so that the rise of her breasts swelled invitingly over it. “See you around.” “Wait.” Duo scrambled though his own purse and came up with his mini recorder. “If it won’t bother your ethics, I thought you might use this.” At Dorothy’s wry glance, Duo’s cheeks heated. “I don’t mean to record that part. Just the streets, conversations with the other women, maybe a couple of, ah…transactions.” “You’re the boss.” Taking the recorder, Dorothy slipped it away. “Be careful,” Duo added, though he knew Dorothy would laugh. She did, sending a last cocky look over her bare shoulder. “Girlfriend, I’m always careful.” Still chuckling, Dorothy headed down the narrow corridor toward the freight elevator. She was already picturing the way Duo’s eyes would pop out when he listened to the tape and discovered that his “consultant” had recorded everything. The prospect of pulling such a fine joke had Dorothy grinning as the doors slid open. Her amusement died a quick death when Heero walked off. While they eyed each other with mutual suspicion, Heero pressed two fingers to the Door Open button. “How’s the moonlighting going, Dorothy?” “It passes the time.” When she started past him, he raised an arm to block the elevator opening. “What do you know about Crystal LaRue?” “I know she’s dead.” Dorothy fisted a hand on her hip, cocked it. “Something else you want?” Heero let her see that her snide invitation only amused him. “What do you know about her before she was dead?” “Nothing.” Dorothy would have given him the same answer if she’d been Crystal’s most intimate friend, but as it was, she was telling the simple truth. “I never met her. Heard she was new, didn’t have a man yet.” “Now, I heard that, too,” Heero said conversationally. “And I heard that Alex wanted to make her one of his wives.” “Maybe. Alex likes to start them young.” Heero struggled with his disgust. She’d been seventeen, he thought. A runaway who hadn’t know the rules and would never have a chance to learn them. “Did Alex roust her, put on the pressure?” “Can’t say.” “Can’s say, or won’t?” Dorothy opened the hand on her hip and began to drum her fingers there. “Listen, I don’t know what Alex did. I’ve been keeping out of his way lately.” Saying nothing, Heero studied her face. The bruising had faded. “Seems to me Duo is paying you enough that you could stay out of his way altogether.” “That’s my business.” “And Duo’s,” Heero said evenly. “I don’t want Alex finding out about this sideline of yours and going after Duo.” “You think I’d turn Alex on him?” Arrogance was sidelined as fury snapped into Dorothy’s voice. “I owe him.” “What?” “Respect,” she said, with an innate and graceful dignity that had Heero softening. “Duo had me eat at his table. He even said I could stay in his extra bedroom. Like a guest.” Her lips thinned at Heero’s expression. “Don’t sweat it, honey. I didn’t take him up on it. Sure, he’s paying me, and maybe you don’t think that’s any different than me taking money from some slob off the street. But Duo treats me like somebody. Not some thing, somebody.” Embarrassed by her own vehemence, she shrugged. “Duo doesn’t have the sense not to.” “He’s got sense, all right. Not all good.” Heero’s lips twitched, even as Dorothy’s did. “Maybe he hasn’t gone so wrong here. I just don’t want Duo hurt.” “Neither do I.” Dorothy tapped a scarlet nail on his chest. “You got a bad case, cop. Stars in your eyes.” The little wisp of envy came and went, almost unnoticed. “Make sure you keep them in his, or you’ll answer to me.” Heero’s grin flashed before he could prevent it. The charm of it nearly had Dorothy changing her mind about cops. “Yes, ma’am.” Like Duo, Heero wanted to say something that would stop her from going back on the streets. Unlike Duo, Heero accepted that there was nothing that would do it. “Maybe I see why he’s so stuck on you.” When Heero moved his blocking arm, Dorothy stepped into the elevator, turned. “You be good to him, Yuy. Duo deserves good.” The elevator doors clunked shut. Heero stood studying them a moment before he turned and wandered down the corridor to find Duo. TBC…
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