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"On the Off Chance "Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: R Warnings: AU, Yaoi, Romance Pairings: 3+2 Summary: Trowa takes a bit of a risk when he learns Duo is running again. A/N: I'd like to give a nod to Dyna Dee on her
special day and a big thank you to Waterlily for her editing.
"On the Off Chance " Chapter 1 "Looking for Agent Maxwell?" Of course he was. Why else would he be standing there? "Yes," Trowa answered simply. "Commander's office. He's transferring to L2, but then you know that." Actually, Trowa did not. He'd been in the field for the last month and missed whatever ruckus had occurred. "I heard he and Yuy had a fight," another agent said. "Not a fight," offered another, "a falling out. But I think Une's wanted Duo out of Sanc for a while." Several other agents gathered about, all suggesting crazier reasons for the move. None knew a damn thing first hand. "Thank you," Trowa said. All eyes were on him, expecting him to explain what was going on, because, naturally, he was "one of them" and knew the scoop. He strode off, though, leaving them hanging. He knew nothing and wouldn't have shared Duo's personal or professional confidences with any of them had he the information to share. He stopped at the coffee urn across from the door to the commander's office and waited. While waiting, he looked up some information. According to the shuttle launch timetable, he had already missed the early flight out. The next would be at eight o'clock that evening. He read his email, sent a few messages, and waited. Patience was a virtue, one of the very few he had. He was into his second paper cup of brew, when Duo opened the door and stepped out. Their eyes met and Duo shrugged in greeting. "Lunch?" Trowa asked, offering to take him out and talk. Duo held his eyes while considering his choices. "Yeah, that's fine. I got the time." At the elevator Trowa asked if he needed help packing. "Nope! Preventers already done that. Crated and ready to go cargo." Trowa knew that living at the Preventers dormitory meant he had nothing much, in particular, no furniture to move. "And it'll all just get delivered to the L2 building." Duo followed him into the elevator. "So. Good timing on your part." Trowa nodded and they rode down to the lobby in silence. He signed for a standard Preventers rental car and located it on the lot out back. Out on the street, Trowa guided them away from traffic and to the quieter city park. He bought them both hot dogs with chili and onions, fries, and a lemony soft drink. He let Duo choose the bench. "Good chili," Duo said. They munched. Trowa waited. He knew eventually Duo would start talking. It was just a matter of time. Ha.... A swig of soda later and Duo said, "You know Heero's moving in with 'Fei?" "No, I didn't." Trowa wondered hard at what that move truly entailed, but hoped Duo would save him prying and just explain. "Yeah, my doing, too. I told 'Ro that it was his chance to get out of the dorms and grow up. Wu did and was miserable alone." "Chang?" Trowa had a hard time believing that the Lone Wolf Wufei he knew was having trouble living by himself. "Yeah, heh, heh... Not that he'd admit it to anybody, but I could tell he was depressed with no one to talk to but his goldfish." "He does like to lecture a lot," Trowa agreed. "So, you pushed Yuy on to him?" "Sorta. They don't partner up at work, so they can have gripe fests and all... learn to cook... whatever." Commander Une never partnered any of the ex-Gundam pilots with one another. She believed in spreading the wealth, so she said. Trowa didn't care one way or the other. He did think Duo was being unfair packing so much information into the one word "whatever." "Share girlfriend stories," Duo said then stuffed his mouth with fries. "Ah." Trowa wasn't sure of anyone's orientation except his own and Quatre's. The Winner heir had been kind, but clear, that he was not interested in him in that way, turning down Trowa's suggestion that they date one another. Quatre's interest had turned to females, and now it was widely known that he and Relena were an "item". Heero, well, Trowa had thought he and Duo had had relations in the past, but apparently not, or what had been was over. Enough so that Duo was running and hiding himself away on the L2 colony. Wufei? He seemed to hate men and women equitably, so that put him... "wherever", as Duo would say. Trowa liked men exclusively, but covertly, and Duo in particular, and from afar. If Heero held any sway over Duo's affections, that distance couldn't be far enough. There was no reality Trowa could imagine where Duo Maxwell would choose him over Heero Yuy. No contest. And as to keeping Duo "out of sight, out of mind"? Well, Trowa thought he probably was out of his mind now doing what he was doing, forget how he'd felt before. Duo finished up and tossed his crumpled papers into the trash. "Thanks. Forgot about eating in all the rush. Hey, I know you need to go back to work, so don't worry about entertaining me for the next few hours." Trowa blocked his escape route with a clever move to throw out his garbage. "I don't." "You don't...what? Work?" "Need to go back or worry. Want to take a drive?" Trowa asked, hoping to entice Duo to spend more time with him. Duo stared into the distance, scanning for answers maybe. "Okay. You drive." "Okay." It really was a beautiful start to autumn. The afternoon sun shed its warm golden light over everything. The dry meadows shimmered with the wind. The field daisies popped white amongst the sky-blue chicory. "I'm glad to get outta here before winter," Duo said. "I don't like the cold either." "Yeah, if it just skipped winter. If the seasons went from spring to summer to fall and back to spring? Wouldn't that be something?" Trowa had to smile. "Yes, it would. It wouldn't be Sanc, though. I thought you liked snow?" "Snow? Oh, well, going to the snow, that's fun. Working, driving, slushing knew deep in the hellish stuff. Nope! Not for me. Give me L2 fake weather patterns any day." "So you're going for the weather?" Trowa asked. He said it casually, as if he didn't really care. Duo turned in his seat and watched him drive for a second before responding. "I wondered when you'd ask. It's okay, you know. Asking? It's not like it is any big secret. It's just... a change. Une's happy with it. She's never been really keen on having me right there. Not like you." Trowa gave a minuscule start before realizing Duo hadn't meant he thought Trowa was keen on him, even though he was. Lady Une, though. No, she hadn't liked Duo, but she always did like him. Trowa was her favorite for a while and then he quietly stopped her from asking him out and she moved her preferential treatment to Wufei and then to Zechs when he showed up. "You chose L2?" Trowa asked. "I did. I actually grew up there and have some affection for the place. I'd like to go back and bring..." Duo paused a bit, and stared out the window, "bring...something like peace there." He believed Duo would bring L2 something, but probably not the average person's notion of peace. But he could be wrong, and didn't think he could put that in any way that didn't sound like an insult, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Trowa slowed the car and pulled onto a gravel roadway leading to a farm stand. "Want to get out and stretch your legs?" he asked. "Sure. And get the last fresh real apple I'll eat for a while." Trowa smiled at him. "If you like." He watched as Duo picked up fruit and looked it over. An ear of corn he held near to his nose and inhaled, eyes closed, lips moving in a silent "goodbye". Trowa had to turn away. That just hurt too much. Duo bit into a crisp apple picked minutes ago from a tree he could reach out and touch. "Man, I'm gonna miss this." "You can come back," Trowa pointed out. He paid for the apple and one of his own. "You don't have to leave earthside forever." "I do for now," Duo insisted. Trowa inclined his chin to read the list of things available to do. "We can feed goats." Duo poked at a tomato. "We can walk through the corn maze." "Okay." ... "That took way longer than I thought it would," Duo said, breathless after the run back to the car. "The maze was complicated and you wouldn't let me just cut through the rows." "Because that's cheating, Trowa. You have to stay in the places where the corn's been cut down. It's a MAZE." "I know what a maze is. Cutting a path to escape would have been faster, is all I'm saying. Burger?" "Bur-ger? Oh, to eat. Yeah. That one with the shakes. The best shakes!" The Chow-Down hamburger house was a mile outside of the shuttle base. They'd have time to eat before take-off, but nothing else. No time left for leisurely strolls. Duo made slurping noises through his straw, getting the last dregs of his strawberry shake. With fall came the shortening of the day. Trowa liked how the orange glow from the setting sun lit up the matching highlights in Duo's hair. Colorful—that's how he would describe Duo if he were only allotted one word. Colorful. Striking blue-violet eyes, rich, chestnutty hair, pale skin with dark pink-toned lips. His personality was vibrant as well. In contrast, he felt plain beige all over, which is why he was so stunned by Duo's next declaration. "You got the greenest eyes I've ever seen." Duo smiled. "The sun's hitting them just right. You know? Really green. Not hazel. Green. And you have freckles! Never noticed that before. And look how the sun makes your hair look like that stuff on apples. What's it called?" Where'd that all come from, Trowa wondered, numb for a moment? "Um," he thought for a bit longer. "Caramel. Caramel apples." Trowa's first thought was "candy apple", like the ones he'd seen sold at the circus, but he didn't think Duo meant that. His hair was not bright red. "Caramel! That's it! Fall's a good time for you." "You, too," Trowa said, looking Duo over meaningfully. The observations about his looks had come on so suddenly, had made him feel warm and gooey... caramelly, inside. They both stared and then broke out laughing. Well, Duo did. Trowa sputtered in a far more self-contained way. "Whatta couple of saps!" Duo cried out. And then time was up. They parked the Preventers loaner in the return-car parking lot and took the free tram to the launch site. They stood in the boarding area where ticketed passengers would get sorted out for decontamination and visitors relocated to the viewing area. "Well, this is it," Duo said, his voice husky with pent up emotion. "Sure gonna miss you." "Maybe not," Trowa said. "Don't tell me what I know, Barton. I know I will miss you. Of all the bunch of us, you are the only one I think ever could get me. Yeah, that's what I said. We got being common in common. Neither of us are perfect... anythings." "We have no traceable lineage or commendable education pedigree, if that's what you mean." "Yeah, that kind of stuff, too. We're a lot alike in ways that count. I think." "I think so, too," Trowa said. His heart beat like a crazy man's. Duo had said the magic words. They had a great deal in common, yes. He'd hoped for but not expected so much. And he noticed his eyes and hair ...freckles. "Right, what I'm saying here is... we got some grey areas in our pasts, and some shared history, and.... you're gay, too." "That's also true." "Fuck it all..." Duo left off grumbling and looked at the crowd parting ahead, each person taking the path their journey called for. "Yeah, well. Just in time to say adios amigo , right? Just my kind of luck. Hey, you can wrangle a visit out of the commander and come say hi, maybe." Trowa stepped into the same line Duo had chosen. "I can do better." "Um, Tro'... you need tickets for this line. You know that." Trowa reached into his jacket pocket and held up his media device, There was a one way ticket to L2 showing on the display. "I know." "You're on the same flight? Man! When did that happen?" "While you were in Une's office. I arranged it." Duo's face had "incredulous" written across it. "But-? You don't have any... stuff! How..? Why-?" "On the off chance that you would want me to come along," Trowa whispered. "You do, don't you?" Duo broke out into a wide grin. "Do I?! You bet! This is gonna be so cool! Do you have a place to stay? You are still with Preventers or what? Wow! This is just sensational, you know?" Trowa couldn't quite match Duo's grin, but he tried. "I know." tbc...
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