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"On the Wings of an Eagle"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: NC 17 Warnings: AU, male/male pairings, language Pairings: several Summary: When Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell pay Quatre Winner a visit, he coerces them into archeological site destruction and matchmaking A/N: My deepest thanks go to the kindness of Snowdragon and WaterLily for editing and encouraging me to complete this. Sequel to For a Lark "On the Wings of an Eagle " Chapter Thirteen On the Wings of an Eagle I'd made it a point to stay out late to miss the homecoming, head banging, and final-result-taking of the Mission: Yuy-Chang get together, and had the Oasis been a gay bar Duo and I might have been tempted to hang out until morning. But it was straight up and not seedy enough for us, so we used the men's room to clean up. Getting the smell of explosives, smoke, and dust out of Duo's hair, unobtrusively, was more of a challenge than I'd wanted though. I didn't have to love everything about him to be in love. Still, we did a fair job, stuck around long enough to let the stale cigarette smoke permeate our hair and clothes, had a couple beers, and then wove our way back to the Big "W" ranchero. Guards greeted us with elation and rushed us into the mansion and to the dimly lit smoking room where everyone else was still gathered. There was definitely a funereal feel about the place. "Somebody die?" I asked. Nobody got my humor, except Duo, who chuckled and tagged on, "Since it's none of you, I got my money on some old geezer like Howard? How'd I do? Am I right?" C'mon guys, laugh! You know he's joking; Howard's an old buddy of his. Maybe they were too tired? Chang was quick to correct him. "Wrong as usual, Maxwell. That comes from formulating opinions before obtaining all the facts. Something I noticed you've done all the time I've known you." Oh, shit. I could feel Duo bristle through his shirt pressed against my back. "Is that so?" Duo ground out in a very low voice, rumbling into my chest. "We have news." Merquise actually stepped in to establish the peace. That felt all wrong, considering who he was. The only "peace" in Zechs Merquise had been dropped with "Peacecraft' name, right? But the past was past. I sure didn't want to be held accountable for what I'd had to do as a fifteen-year old, so it was time to adapt to this new man. "Let me illuminate the newcomers," he said. I dialed up the dimmer switch on the light, commenting, "Just doing my part." The prince and I shared a smile and he nodded my way. I'd been acknowledged. Officially. "Please, your may call me Zechs," he said. Well, I might. He went on to acquaint us with his observations made at a comfortable distance-- from what was probably the backseat of a limo. The robbers were many, the pursuers, few. Chang was a blur of Kung-fu kicks, drilled into him from birth, and fine swordsmanship. Yuy, Merquise explained, combined the strangulation and pinning moves of Jujutsu with good, old, western-style, kick-ass gun-slinging. He made me sorry to have missed the show, nearly. Yuy and Chang tried to look unaffected, as if "it was nothing," but they basked like lounge lizards in the glow of the limelight of simulated-success. We all agreed the destruction was "too bad" and mourned "the loss" of the antiquities as yet unfound—oh yes, and the keys to a civilization lost to history, thank you, Winner-- as Rashid described the damage to the site. After that, the head Maguanac took his turn at championing the cause. "You missed a great show," Rashid said. Duo sighed, "Aw, shucks." "It was a lesson in technique for the corps. How magnificently the crack team of Yuy and Chang tracked down the vandalizing violators to the man! My people had only to tie up the despoilers and take them away." Damned sorry I missed that. What I didn't miss was how Yuy's hand linked with Chang's. Contact! Thank God. (o) Winner Corporation owned many buildings, and one of them was a newly built condo complex walking distance to the University of Sanc. For fun, Winner proposed we all take a group road trip to the university to look around and check out the condo, just in case it might work for Duo and me. His idea of fun and mine were markedly different. Duo was full of fun ideas of his own, the road trip being his jumping off spot. He insisted on a limousine. Okay, Winner allowed that for the two hour drive. Drinks and food on board. Okay, that wasn't much. His choice of music. Now that ended up being a point of contention for miles. And miles. Chang had his preferences, Winner his, Duo, obviously had his. Merquise was in control and simply switched genres every so often. Surprisingly, Yuy and I didn't care. He seemed as amused as I over Duo and Chang's piss-off match. "Classic has stood the test of time." Winner contended. Duo "tsked," and then said, "Belongs back in the moldering archives like the name says." "Rap is not even music," Chang snapped back. "You are not even listening!" Duo moaned. "It's nothing but beat!" Winner declared, unfairly, I'd say. "Primal!" Duo growled. "Primitive!" Chang sneered. "Hot and sexy," Duo purred, curling into my side. "You sure are," I said, but so very, very quietly I'm certain only he heard me. Oh so very sexy. If anything was one hundred percent about me, it was my sex drive. It was set on cruise all the way and overdrive when Duo was sitting this close, practically on my lap. Getting off the meds, painkillers, and mood stabilizers contributed to my awakening libido; but, God, Duo Maxwell could bring the dead to life. I ought to know. This time with him was an entirely new start for me. I'd seen the end, or close to it, and now it was full of opportunity and hope. God help me when Duo meets someone better. The music got louder, drowning them out and the drive resumed a kind of peaceful "fun-ness." I had an arm around Duo Maxwell and he had a hand on my thigh. We were a couple, accepted by our friends who were themselves just beginning their own startling relationships. After the war, the rather quaint Sanc Kingdom on Earth had been replaced with the hulking city-state of Sanc. Governments changed with the times, substituting costly Princes and Princesses with ponderous layers of bureaucracy. At least they were too busy regulating and establishing processes to effect anything meaningful. What hadn't changed was the University in the center of the city. Zechs Merquise, we discovered, had attended the law college until he had been transferred to the military academy. He pointed out the law building as we passed by. "You might consider going back for your law degree, if you'd like," Winner suggested. "Or art, something cultural," Zechs chuckled. "Wouldn't that leave a few people speechless, having to critique my art in class?" He cleared his throat and tried pitching it higher. "What's the symbolism behind the mask in your painting, Mr. Merquise, or should I call you--?" His voice returned to normal and he held up a hand to his imaginary fellow student. "No, please, Zechs will do." He laughed more and I did too. "No, mixing with the army or the elite is fine, but not with the masses, not anymore." "You could fit in if you tried and if you changed your name and dyed your hair," Yuy said. "You've done it effectively before." Indeed, he had, but he simply shook his head and sat back, Winner's hand in his. Now there was a man who would understand the problems of noblesse oblige, and how their behavior must conform to their position and earned reputation. Not my problem or even in my realm of problems. Chang, I noticed, was glassy-eyed, absorbing in the sights with increasing intensity. Yuy elbowed him, asking, "What's wrong?" "Wrong? Nothing! I've never seen a campus so large. That building, it says "library" and it stands, what, ten stories high? More? It's just magnificent." He looked at me as if to say, "How is it you deserve this?" What he said was, "I envy you." Me? I was nothing; "No name," surely. "I just applied. I'm nothing special." "Piffle! You were a mechanic before you were a pilot and probably know more than half the staff here about Gundam technology." My heart started pounding. Compliments made me insecure, but coming from Chang Wufei, I felt what he'd said was undoubtedly true. If he continued to warm up, I might have to call him by his first name, too. Duo squeezed my hand and said, "Yeah, Tro's really smart. He could've done anything, but picked space engineering over physical fitness stuff. And we can afford it since we're veterans we get benefits." "What?" That came in a chorus of questioning voices. Duo explained about what the good doctor had discovered when I was injured, how the health care was partially funded, and the education. "Even re-training?" Chang wondered. "If it's classes and a degree, yeah." Duo leaned forward and touched Chang's knee. We both jumped, for different reasons. "You were a scholar once, weren't you?" "Yes. There was a time when the act of killing people was the furthest thing from my mind. I was pursuing a career in Ancient History." "You could finish your studies," Duo suggested. Heero looked unhappy, glaring hard enough to make me pull Duo back into his seat, securing him in my arms. "I have a job, a duty to perform! I can't drop everything and take up books again." "Sure ya can," Duo kicked in. "I bet you can get it all paid for, so you don't need a job. Quat here's got a place you can hang out in. Hey, I bet with a little encouragement you can talk Yuy into shacking up and sharing the rent." Yuy's breath hitched in surprise, shock even. Duo may have been right, but he was embarrassing the hell out of the other two men, not yet ready to "shack up" under any circumstances. Winner was right--this was fun. And Duo wasn't even done. "I can teach you to cook," he told Heero, poking his knee. Seriously, he said that. "I'm a great housemate, aren't I, 'Tro?" "Yes, you are." "I want to get out and walk around," Chang demanded. So we did. The campus covered acres and we traversed most of it, stopping to eat twice. I was really too excited to absorb much of where we were, what was happening, or food, but Duo insisted we sample the local rations, and no one stopped him. The only one that wasn't having a good time was Yuy, and he definitely looked glum. It occurred to me that he was worried Chang would leave his job, and Yuy, behind, and for the first time in years I felt sorry for the guy. I'd feel bad if Duo wasn't joining me in my new adventure. Not bad, devastated. I wasn't the only one aware of Yuy's gloomy mood. I noticed Merquise keeping an eye on him, when he wasn't keeping both eyes glued firmly to his little blond boyfriend. I watched as he pulled Yuy to the side in a coffee shop. Duo and Winner were exchanging desserts, testing four different kinds. Both men had a terrible sweet tooth for sugary treats, and were coaxing Chang into tasting also and helping them judge which was best, something he liked to do, I guessed. I edged closer to the window and there I caught a bit of what Merquise was saying. "I can understand your concern. You are starting out and are worried about losing what you've just found." Yuy nodded, "Hn." "You know, Preventers is headquartered here. I can't imagine you being unable to get a transfer to any one of five offices within ten miles of where we are standing now. Think about it." It was then that I could see the possibility of Zechs Merquise becoming a friend. He impressed me. How many times had this man re-invented himself? Like a phoenix from the fire? I liked this new man who was devoted to Quatre Winner, and I wondered how long they would last. How long did anything last? Some morning, Duo could wake up and say, "Damn! Isn't it about time the circus left town?" And he'd be gone. Take flight as if on the wings of an eagle and be gone. Aim high, but make the most of what there was now. I promised myself to live a little happier, believing that.
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