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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" Chapter 7 The last person Duo expected to see when he left his office a few days later was Dorothy. Even in the bustling crowds of midtown, the woman stood out. After a moment of blank surprise, Duo smiled and crossed the sidewalk. "Hi. Were you waiting for me?" "Yeah." "You should have come in." Duo adjusted the weight of his bag and briefcase. "I figured it would be better for you if I waited out here." "Don't be silly…" Duo's words trailed off as he tried to see though and around Dorothy's huge tinted glasses. Those sunburst colors around the left eye weren't all cosmetics. Duo's friendly smile faded. "What happened to you?" Dorothy shrugged. "Alex. He was a little ticked off about the other night." "That's despicable." "I've had worse." "Bastard." Duo said it between his teeth, but overlying his fury was a terrible sense of guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was my fault." "Ain't nobody's fault, girlfriend. Just the way things are." "It's not the way things should be. And if I hadn't…" Duo let that go, knowing you could only go back and change things in scripts. "Do you want to go to the police? I'll go with you. We could…" "Hell, no." Dorothy let out what passed for a laugh. "I'd get worse than a sore eye if I tried that. And if you think there's a cop alive who gives a damn about a hooker with a black eye, you are dumb as you look." Heero would care, Duo thought. He refused to believe otherwise. "We'll do whatever you want." Dorothy pulled out a cigarette, cocking her hip as she lit it. "Listen, you said you'd pay me to talk. I figure I can use the extra money. And I'm on my own time." "All right." Ideas were beginning to stir. "How much do you average a night?" As a matter of course, Dorothy started to inflate it, but found the lie stuck in her throat. "After Alex takes his cut, about seventy-five. Maybe a hundred. Business isn't as good as it used to be." "We'll talk." Distracted, Duo searched for a cab. "We'll never get a taxi at this hour," he mumbled. "I live uptown about twenty blocks. Do you mind walking?" This time Dorothy laughed full and long. "Lady, walking the streets comes natural to me." Once they reached Duo's apartment, Dorothy tipped down her sunglasses and whistled. Unable to resist, she walked to one of the wide windows. She could see a swatch of the East River through other buildings. The sound of traffic was so muted, it was almost musical. A far cry for the clatter and roar she lived with everyday. "My, oh, my, you do live high." "How about dinner?" Automatically Duo stepped out of his shoes. "We'll order in." Red meat, Duo thought. At the moment, he could have eaten it raw. "Sit down, I'll get us some wine." Wine, Dorothy thought as she stretched out on the plump cushions of the pit. She figured that sounded just dandy. "You pay for all this just writing stuff?" "Mostly." On impulse, Duo chose one of the best bottles in his wine rack. "You're not a vegetarian, are you?" Dorothy snorted. "Get real." "Good. I want steak." After handing Dorothy a glass he picked up the phone to order dinner. "I can't pay for that." "I'm buying," Duo assured her, and curled up on the couch. "I need a consultant, Dorothy." It was a risk but so was breathing, he decided. "I'll give you five hundred a week." Dorothy choked on the wine. "Five hundred, just to tell you about turning tricks?" "No. I want more. I want why. I want you to tell me about the other women. What draws them in. What you're afraid of, what you're not. When I ask you a question, I'll want an answer." His voice was brisk now, all business. "I'll know if you lie." Dorothy's eyes were shrewd and steady. "You need all that for a TV show?" "You'd be surprised." It had gone well beyond the show. The bruise on Dorothy's face grated on him. He had caused it, Duo reflected. He would find a way to fix it. "I'm buying a lot of your time for five hundred a week, Dorothy. You might want to take a little vacation from Alex." "What I do after I talk to you is for me to say." "Absolutely. But if you decided you wanted to take a break from the streets, and if you needed a place to stay while you did, I could help you." "Why?" Duo smiled. "Why not? It wouldn't cost me anymore." Intrigued, Dorothy considered. "I'll think about it." "Fine. We can get started right away." Duo rose to gather up pads, pencils, and his tape recorder. "Remember, this is daytime TV, and we can only do so much. I'll have to filter down a great deal of what you tell me. Why don't I fill you in on the story line?" Dorothy merely shrugged. "It's your nickel." "Yes, it is." Duo settled down again, and was weaving the complex and overlapping relationships of Millbrook-to Dorothy's confusion and fascination-when he heard the buzzer for his private elevator. Still talking, he walked over to release the security lock. "So, anyway, the Joise personality is dynamically opposed to Jade. The stronger she gets, the more confused and frightened Jade becomes. She doesn't remember where she's been when Joise comes out. And the lapses are getting long." "Sounds like the lady needs a shrink." "Actually, she'll go to Elana-she's a psychiatrist-but that's down the road a bit. And under hypnosis-ah, here's the food." At the elevator's ding, Duo opened the door. The smile froze on his face. "Hee-ro." "Don't you bother to ask who it is before you let someone come up?" Heero shook his head before he caught Duo's chin in his hand and kissed him. "Yes-that is, not when I'm expecting someone. What are you doing here?" "Kissing you?" And, at the moment, Duo wasn't as responsive as he'd come to expect. Then it occurred to him that Duo had said he was expecting someone. A man? A date? A lover? Heero's eyes cooled as he stepped back. "I guess I should have called first." "No. I mean, yes. That is…are you off tonight?" "I go back on in a couple of hours." "Oh. Well." The buzzer sounded again. "You could always tell him I'm the plumber." Baffled, Duo stepped back inside to release the elevator. "Tell who what?" "The guy on his way up." "Why should I tell the delivery boy you're a plumber?" "Delivery boy?" A sound inside the apartment had Heero edging closer. He wasn't jealous, damn it, he was just curious. "I guess you've already got company," he began and pushed the door wider. "Actually, I do." Giving up, Duo gestured him inside. "We were just about to have some dinner." Heero looked over at the couch just as Dorothy stood. Caught between them, Duo felt himself battered by double waves of hostility. "What the hell is she doing here?" "You called the cops," Dorothy said accusingly before Duo could answer. "You called the damn cops." "No. No, I didn't" Dorothy was already striding across the room. Duo knew that if the woman made it to the door he would have lost his chance. "Dorothy." He grabbed her arm. "I didn't call him." "And why the hell didn't you?" Heero tossed back. "Because it's none of your business." Still gripping Dorothy, Duo swirled on him. "This is my home, and she's my guest." "And you're a bigger idiot than I thought." Sizing up the situation, Dorothy relaxed fractionally. "You two got a thing?" "Yes," Heero shot back. "No," Duo snapped, then sighed. "Something in between the two," he mumbled. Duo snatched his wallet out of his bag as he heard the elevator ding. "Excuse me. That's dinner." While Duo herded the delivery boy inside to set up the meal, Heero and Dorothy stood eyeing each other with mutual dislike and suspicion. "What's the game Dorothy?" "No game." She flashed a smile that was as feral as a shark's. "I'm a paid consultant. Your queen's hired me." "The hell with that." Heero paused a moment, studying her bruised eye. "Alex do that?" Dorothy angled her chin. "I walked into a door." "Sure you did." Heero did care. Duo might have been surprised at how much he cared. Dorothy certainly would have been stunned. But Heero also knew there were things that couldn't be fixed. "You'll want to watch your step." "I don't make the same mistake twice." Heero turned away from her, his hands balled into fists in his pockets. "Maxwell, I want to talk to you." "Oh, just shut up." Duo didn't bother to look up as he counted out bills. "Can't you see I'm trying to figure the tip? There you go." "Thanks, lady." The delivery boy tucked the bills away. "Enjoy your dinner." "There's enough for three," Duo stated, turning toward Heero. "But you're not going to stay if you're rude." "Rude?" The single word bounced off Duo's ceiling. Heero was beside him in two strides. "You think it's rude for me to ask you if you've lost your mind when I walk in and find you've invited a hooker to dinner?" Duo's eyes narrowed. "Out." "Damn it, Duo.." "I said out." Duo gave him a hefty shove towards the door. "We went on one date," Duo reminded Heero. "One. Maybe I entertained the idea of something more, but that gives you no right to come into my house and tell me what to do and who to talk with." Heero grabbed Duo's hand before he could push him again. "One has nothing to do with the other." "You're right. Absolutely right. What I should have said is that I run my life, Detective." Duo snatched his hand away so that he could poke a finger at Heero's chest. "Me. Alone. Get the picture?" "Yeah." Heero wondered how Duo would like a nice clip on that pointy little chin of his. "I've got a picture for you." Heero hauled Duo up and kissed him hard. No gentle touch, no finesse. All steam heat. It lasted only seconds, but Heero succeeded in shocking Duo speechless. "Things change, Maxwell." Dark blue, furious eyes pinned Duo to the spot. "Get used to it." What that, Heero stormed out, slamming the door behind him. "Well." Duo took one breath, then another. His throat felt scalded. "Of all the incredible nerve. Who the hell does he think he is, marching in here that way?" Hands on his hips, Duo spun to face Dorothy. "Did you see that?" "Hard to miss it." Grinning, Dorothy snatched a french fry from a plate. "If he things he's getting away with that-attitude-he's very much mistaken." "Man's nuts about you." "Excuse me?" "Lady, that was one lovesick puppy." Duo snatched up his wine and gulped. "Don't be ridiculous. He was just showing off." "Uh-huh. If I had me a man who looked at me like that, I'd do one of two things." "Which are?" "I'd either sit back and enjoy, or I'd run for my life." Frowning, Duo sat down and picked up his fork. "I don't like to be pushed." "Seems to me it depends on who's doing the pushing." Dorothy sat, as well, and dug right into her steak. "He sure is one fine-looking man-for a cop." Duo stabbed at his salad. "I don't want to talk about him." "You're paying the tab," Dorothy said agreeably. With a grunt of assent, Duo tried to eat. Damn cop, he thought. Heero had ruined his appetite.
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