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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 Three I Hide Behind My Eyes "So," I asked the smiling, rather shy pair. "How did you meet?" "Over work, as usual," Winner summarized succinctly. "We're taking a break, attending a party, before we embark on a terraforming experiment on one of the company's satellites." "My dear," Merquise cut in. "He doesn't want to hear about that. Let me tell." Without argument, Winner waved him on. "I'll keep him honest," he whispered to me. "My terraforming job on Mars was over and so was my affair with Lucrezia Noin. I could leave them both behind, start yet another life over. Sadly, I had run out of places for rebirthing; that is, until I received two totally coincidental vid calls. First, my half-sister having heard of the project's completion invited me to Earth for a visit. The second, and, frankly, the most intriguing, was from the head of the Winner Corporation wishing to discuss a project requiring my particular skills." "I never called you," Winner corrected. "Grace, my secretary did. Don't make things up." The two exchanged painfully adoring smiles. God, I hoped Duo and I hadn't sapped it up like that in our first months. I was glad we'd been isolated from everyone we cared about during our infatuation phase. "I don't need to. Our meeting was epic. I caught the scent of him as he walked past. What happened next was an impulsive move, quite out of character for me. I trotted through the throngs of diplomats and party-goers, oddly compelled by a need to see his face. "Pardon me," he said. "Could you tell me the way to the men's room? "I used my friendliest tone. But then he smiled his smile, the smile that bloomed like wonder itself. It was as simple and elegant as that. It rendered me speechless. Before he uttered a word, I was already consumed with a singular desire, a wanton need, to win this man for myself. "That's not quite the way that went," Winner said. "You already spoke two complete sentences to me before I got a word in edgewise." They shared another pretty smile after which Merquise said, "I'm going that way myself, he said." "The men's room was not where I wanted to begin my courtship dance, but with no way to extract myself from my fib, I simply fell in line behind him. That's when I noticed the droop of his shoulders and handkerchief in his hand. A man in pain could only mean one thing, a broken romance. Having suffered through my own lately, I felt my timing was the worst. What this man needed was a shoulder to cry on, not a new amour. "You were right about the end of a romance part, except that I wasn't weepy, I was having a reaction to the shrimp. It irritates my eyes of all things." Quarter fluttered his eyelashes and made a face at his own goofiness. "That's what you say now," Merquise smiled with an indulgence I found pathetic bordering on hysterically funny. "I tided up quickly, and then left without more than a pleasant adieu. As disappointed as I felt, I had the presence of mind to find Relena and thank her for the lovely evening before leaving. She, however, was also distressed." "Not so much at all. She was the one giving me the ultimatum," Winner said. "I'll be fine. I'm sorry to be such poor company, and after you came so far to see me, she said. "Nonsense. It is I who should apologize to you for cluttering your life now." She would have none of that and, instead, dragged me away to spill her story. She had just broken off her six month relationship with her boyfriend after he confessed to having no sexual interest in her." "You'd think after the second date she would have dismissed me. I told her I wasn't a ladies' man from the start, but she seemed satisfied that dating me would keep the unwanted suitors at bay." Winner shook his head and smiled crookedly. "I also kept the desirable ones away and so it was time to dump me." "What a fool she was, but I'd grateful,' Zechs said with plenty of meaning. "All the cute blonde boys are gay, she declared. Why do they wait so long to come clean? "We repress what we know is unpopular, I told her. We want to fit in like everyone else. I only just acknowledged that I was gay all my life, after the cost of eternal denial became too high. "My admission came as a complete surprise to her, and after the usual questions (are you sure?) and assertions (you haven't found the right girl.) There was no right girl, but I thought I'd found the right boy at her party." And I swear, the little corporate blond giggled at that. What was keeping Duo, I wondered? He'd know how to hustle this story along. "Your...ex... wasn't wearing grey Armani with a pink tie, was he? I asked Relena. "Coral. The tie was coral. Yes, that was him. Do you know Cat? "Cat? What kind of name was that for a man, I wondered? Aloud I said, No, I may have run into him a few minutes ago. "She must not have been too in love with this Cat, because she wasn't suffering the rest of my stay in her home. Thankfully, my one week visit came to a close with us remaining family-close. She appealed to me to return after my business trip was concluded, and I let her coax me into saying yes, with a caveat. I had no idea if the job offer would pan out, and, if it did, where it might take me. I told her I would let her know. If possible, though, I would drop in on Relena again soon." "Have you?" I asked him. "I've called," Merquise answered. "She's doing well, new beau and all." "How soon they forget," Winner mused. To speed things along, I probed a bit. "Did you meet Winner again on your business trip then?" "Oh, yes. You can imagine the shock I went through as I admired the photographs in the Winner Corporation waiting room. "Cat" was Quatre Raberba Winner. Not only was he the head of the multi-national, intergalactic Winner Corps, but he had been one of the Gundam Pilots. I'd never put together that pilot, a boy I'd never met, with the man who I'd only just lusted over and with whom my half-sister, apparently, had just broken off a relationship. I had about one minute to absorb this information before his secretary called me into his office. "Zechs Merquise! He called out to me as if we'd been longtime friends. The merriment in his eyes told me he knew my every secret and that I should not bother pretending I didn't recognize him at our last meeting. "Mr. Winner, I said politely shaking his hand, except I didn't let go; I couldn't let go. My hand would not release his. But then his hand clung to mine as well." "I think your hand was coated in glue," Winner said with a malicious gleam in his eye. "Would you like to talk and walk? I would love to leave this office and I don't get to see the gardens I had installed at a terrible expense often enough, my sly little Cat asked. "Gardens were a luxury we hadn't enjoyed on Mars. I'd love to, I told him. I'd love to spend the rest of my day with you, and longer if you turn out to be anyway as delightful as I was thinking. "There's time for an early lunch. I'll order it delivered there. Any preferences? he asked me. "No. "I thought a military man would be flexible, he said. "Were we still talking about food, I wondered?" Quatre raked a hand through his neatly trimmed bangs. "I don't recall that conversation at all." "It went something like that," Merquise assured me. "And then he freed his hand to operate his vid phone, inform his secretary of his plans, and lead me to a side door, which opened to a private elevator. We descended hundreds of floors in so little time I felt the G-force. I gripped the support bar and met his smile with a grimace of my own. "You like surprises, I said to him. "He nodded at me. At times there aren't enough surprises left." Winner laughed a silvery, light laugh. "You make me sound far wittier than I am." "Heaven forbid!" Merquise chuckled. I was practically giddy from the bubbling merriment laying siege to me. Duo, save me! Give me your sarcasm, your irony! "--We walked the garden, leaning close, holding hands, allowing ourselves small displays of affection, just traditional gestures of fondness, but for the first time in my life I allowed myself to revel in them. "Bend after bend, the trail was hazy and quiet, the cascades of flowers gorgeous and lush. I admired him nestled into a cozy alcove of rocks that sheltered us from a misting." "The overhead sprinkler system was on automatic," Winner explained. "I should have taken note of the timer's schedule by the door." "I felt helpless that I hadn't a camera in order to capture him in all the places that needed to be preserved. The tree-lined walks seduced us away from the rocky ledges with the promise of lunch at the next turn. We stopped at a table and chairs set with our meal. A gentle breeze rippled the surface of the water feature in sight. A perfectly lovely design, by the way." Oh, that pleased Winner, little Cat, to no end. He colored and thanked him. "I love flowers." "I'll remember that on your birthday," Merquise said. His teeth glinted in the setting sun. I couldn't believe how late it was getting. I looked around for any sign of Duo. Not a hair. And, sadly, I could grow no wings or I might have taken flight right then. Flown the coop. But, instead, there I was with the two loons, er, love birds. "Despite the beauty of the surrounds, fatigue from travelling the universe settled upon me. I hoped he didn't serve me wine; I'd be lulled into a doze. I also was afraid. After lunch would be the job discussion and then I'd have to leave." "I thought about wine but I was afraid you'd be a bigger vintage snob than your sister." Winner winked. "Not I! We picnicked on chicken, bread, and fresh fruits and vegetables—a cornucopia of freshness I'd sorely missed on Mars. I wondered if he'd forget the intimate, nameless places where we had talked through the lazy hours. I wondered if, like me, he felt as if we had lived a whole, though tiny, life there." GAG! "I do remember the nice peach you sliced for me while I talked about the job." "You told me, I remember it word for word," Merquise said in a voice getting husky with emotion. "Your success on Mars reached my ears and I thought some of your unique solutions could solve the problems we've been having on our satellites. "My thoughts turned from admiring my host," they exchanged doting smiles, "to communicating with him. He impressed me with his knowledge and attention to detail." "I don't know why," Winner said, his eyebrow going crooked, "I'd been a Gundam pilot which requires a skill set specifically attuned to both characteristics." "I'm so sorry to have underestimated all your virtues," Merquise said. He made a big deal of kissing Quatre's finger tips. "Then you said to me: Can I persuade you to travel to the site with me and see the problems for yourself? A paid consultant? Yes, he said, but his eyes promised more." "Not at the time," Winner said. "I'm not slutty." We have only your word on that one, I thought to myself. "It was all wishful thinking in my mind," Merquise corrected himself mid slip-up. I was kind of enjoying his kissing up to Winner, but he stopped at that. Feeling like the story was mercilessly over made me think about getting up and finding Duo. "The trip—" Winner began. I sank back into my chair. "The trip passed like a dream," Merquise supplied smoothly. "Even though my personal income had dropped to near-poverty, a big part of me was still rooted within my family ancestral estate and my military regimens, in its orders and values. I was never comfortable in my own skin as much as when I was with Quatre Winner. He put me at ease. He gossiped with the workmen, laughed, talked about catching the local game on the TV, and somewhere in between, kept notes of all my suggestions. Everywhere we went, folks welcomed him like kin." "His hundred or so sisters have produced children; maybe they were his kin," I said. "Trowa!" Winner chuckled but kicked me just the same. "There aren't that many!" I don't know. Take twenty-eight and if each of them produced twenty-eight more, and so on; why in no time there could be a colony of Winnerkins. "He had a natural confidence entirely different from what I'd expected. I don't know what I'd expected, really. The way he moved, how his white hands danced when he talked-- I never got tired of looking at him. I especially liked the way he smiled whenever he caught my eyes". "I ensnared you with my charm," Winner said, absolutely delighted with himself. "Yes, you did, and then the short trip was over. I was twenty-six and had never been with a man. I knew something about falling in love and being in love in general terms—" I nearly pretended interest and asked him what, pray tell, love in general terms entailed? But, I didn't. "From literature and a little dabbling in brook, so to speak," Merquise went on to add, "--, but nothing first-hand about sex with a man." And I hoped to God that Merquise didn't start giving me a blow-by-blow description of what he'd learned since! "After parting with Noin," Merquise held onto the moment and took off again, "I had come to the conclusion that I would never marry a woman, if you know what I'm driving at?" I wasn't sure, but then I didn't care a rat's ass, either. He winked at me so I winked back. That settled it, I guess. "And then suddenly, I was living a miracle. I become conscious of the fact that I had met my dearest, my soul-mate, my purrfect Kit. My insides flip-flopped about. I was desperate to hang on to him, if only to make the emotions last a little longer. I liked the way I felt when I was near him. "So, just off the shuttle, I invited him to join me over coffee, anything to delay my departure. We sat side-by -side on a bench, huddled like conspirators over our steaming drinks. His presence made my head spin." Mine, too, but in a different way, I was sure. I was really getting sick of the sap and, to be strictly honest, just a tiny bit jealous of the way Winner, Merquise's little Kit Kat, fell so easily, it seemed, for Merquise when he turned up his nose for me and Duo. Did I say me? All right, I was rather fond of the pretty blond off and on, not that I thought I had a better chance snagging his attention than Duo's, but he was sweet. He was still very cute, but I was not carrying some damned flame for him. Not with Duo, the God of Death, in my bed. Speaking of which, was that Duo at the door about to grace the outdoor with his presence? Please, make it so. "Oh, ---" "I said to him: I have enjoyed being in your company so much, and winced at my formal-sounding speech, but I couldn't stop smiling. "He leaned over and stole a kiss. I tasted sugary coffee on his lips. The horns and cries and sounds of busy station softened, the walls lost their edges. The world went all crumbly, and I was keen only on the pink curves of his lips, the way he blew over the cup before taking each sip, and the unbelievably delicious warmth of his thigh against mine." "Oh... Zechs!" The two melted into an embrace I didn't need to be a part of, and I left in search of my main squeeze. Who knew I had such a high tolerance for the merciless torture of watching Merquise and Winner fawn all over each other? It could have qualified for sadism, or, since I hadn't yet run screaming, perhaps masochism? Goddamn! Who knew I was into S&M? Then my tolerance dipped off the scales and I had to leave. "Duo!"
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