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"Defying Gravity"A Romance in Three PartsWritten 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, yaoi, some language Summary: A multi part story of romance starting
with a turning point vacation, developing throughout a dangerous UC
mission, and moving ahead through the unexpected challenges of a summer
vacation. "Part Three: It's Another Vacation"
Chapter 11
He took Milliardo by surprise when he asked about staying at his estate. "Just thinking," Trowa said. "You and Quatre have been friends for years. Would you mind telling me what's going on in your head?" "He chose Winner Corp over me, simple as that. I would, too, given the choice. Can't have the poster boy for success shacking up with an ex-mercenary, ex-circus boy, ex-Gundam pilot, cop, who is also a male." "Quatre Winner said that?" "Hell, no. I did. I won't be cast as some gold-digger after his cash or some damned faggot pervert after his ass. I've got some pride." Trowa stretched his long legs over the deck ledge and gazed out to sea. "I thought I could handle him going to school and taking on the family business, until I started reading the company newsletters and local papers. Very low tolerance for the alternative lifestyle." "But Quatre grew up in that environment, and he's more than tolerant!" Milliardo argued. "He even had sex with other boys as a kid," Trowa said. "I don't know how he hid that. Probably not for long anyway because he left when he was—" "Fifteen, yes, like the rest of you warped people," Mill said, his eyes twinkling in jest. "Listen, he sounds to me like a very determined young man, unlikely to let family or business officials push him around." Trowa wasn't so sure, so he shrugged his response. "Then you're fucked." "Well, I do. I think you two parted rashly like two teenage boys terrified of the future and of a serious relationship. Now, hold on. I'm not condoning teenage commitments. You were probably correct parting. Meeting new people can be good, allow for personal growth." Trowa was, again, gazing out to sea, choosing to disagree in silence. "Which gets us back to your earlier request," the older man said with a pause. When Trowa cocked his head back towards him, Milliardo continued. "Of course you may come...for a visit. I would expect you to, and Jimmy would be terribly disappointed if you didn't." "But, not to stay, you mean." "No. I'm sorry, but that sounds like running away from your friends and problems. If things get tough you can visit anytime, certainly, and you'll have the dormitories at Preventers for emergencies. Maybe later you'll want to move out on your own, which would be fine, but go slow. Not too many changes at once. Think, I know you can think, long and hard about your future." Trowa nodded. "Yeah, sure. Makes sense, in a way. Just didn't want to do nothing and take the easy way." "Take the easy way?" Milliardo laughed aloud. "When did any of you take any way that was easy? You all make life so very difficult for yourselves." Trowa stood. "You're thinking of Maxwell." "And you in particular. You are a self-made man. You weren't born to riches and you had a rough start, but you made a success of it." "Yeah, I can always look back on this time of my life and say, 'at least I fucked the heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the universe'." "Trowa, get out of here," Milliardo said. He shooed him away with an elegant wave of his perfectly manicured hand. That evening, Trowa left his phone off the hook, while his neglected cell phone battery died. He sent Jimmy to visit Uncle Heero. He needed to think and for that he needed absolute quiet broken only by the crashing roar of the ocean outside his window. That could be open, too. Damp air and crashing roar. He rubbed at his chin, satisfied with his decision to grow a mustache and goatee. Trowa plugged his cell phone into the re-charger, but left it off. The only messages were from Heero, and there was one from Quatre, a hang up, no communication. And one from 'noname', a blast from the past, no doubt. He would definitely leave it off for the night. He thought he could make out L4 orbiting, or possibly it was a piece of crap floating in space. "Quatre, damn you anyway. Do good, and make this all worth something." (o) Quatre was in his room brooding over his situation. He had come home to pick up some training before going back Earthside to attend college. He was gay, had broken up with his first real love, and was living in the land of gay-hating strangers. He was being held to a death-bed promise to marry and was about to become engaged to a girl. In addition, he couldn't tell anyone why he would refuse to marry a lovely girl like Nada, because to admit he was gay would bring dishonor on his family. Quatre's head was aching like hell. He tried to think of a way out, but nothing worked. He tried to phone Trowa, but the line kept coming up busy. Quatre thought about calling Duo next, when there was a knock on his door. "Can I come in?" his eldest sister's voice said. "Yes." She entered the room and sat on the bed next to Quatre. He knew she was there to get an answer. He wanted to disappear. "When your father died, all his children were married except for you and Zaira, his little rose. He had tried to get her married during what turned out to be his last months of life, but it never happened. He gave in to Zaira's tantrums and left her on her own. Years have passed and she's still alone. I agree that she's not miserable and is enjoying her life fully, but for how long? When she gets old, who will look after her? Who would have taken care of me after father died, had I not been married? "You think that the ones who marry for love have no problems? Don't they have to make compromises? Love is a feeling you need to create for your partner, Quatre. And I don't think you'll get a better partner than Nada. Her family has phoned. Nada has given her consent. What do you say?" If she was a boy, I'd think about it, he thought to himself. How could he have sex with a girl? Quatre rose from the bed and went to the window, facing out to the dark yard. He could feel his eldest sister's eyes on his back but he didn't have the courage to face her and see her break down. "Qadira, I won't get married," he said holding the tenor of his voice strangely neutral. It worked for Heero. People took him seriously. "What? But why? Did Nada say something? Or something happen?" she exclaimed. And, since that tactic didn't jar his tongue loose, she tried another. "What did you do?" Quatre heard her get up from the bed and stand next to him. "I can't tell you why, but I won't marry. It's my final decision," he said with the same dispassionate tone. He could conceive of the pain others would now go through, but it was unavoidable, and not nearly as bad as it could be if he revealed his reason. He didn't have to see his sister's face to feel her disappointment and pain, to know how deeply affected she was by his decision; it was a long, crushing pain. Her slow steps and lack of words said everything. She stopped at the doorway but Quatre had no more to say. Then, he heard a thud'. When he turned, he saw his sister lying still on the floor "Qadira," he yelled as he rushed to her side. "Qadira, wake up. Qadira!" He ran to the door and shouted for the servant. "Abdel! Someone, please, call the doctor!" (o) Heero completed his order and shut down his computer. Duo had been looking over his version of their guest list. When Heero slapped shut his laptop, Duo looked up. "There's a problem," Duo announced. "If Howard comes with a date, then that makes thirteen guests." "And if he doesn't? It seems extremely unlikely that he will. You told me once how he hates coming Earthside, besides, isn't Howard single?" "If they don't come, that means there will be thirteen people if you include you and me. Either way it's unlucky." Heero stared at him, his blue eyes staring seriously from under his thatch of messy dark hair. "You're not superstitious. You've never been superstitious." "No, but even so, it's not a good thing to tempt fate at the start of something so important." Heero sighed. "Come to bed, Duo." "I was in bed, but then you got involved with whatever that laptop was doing for you... so I found my own entertainment," Duo said in a manner Heero took to be sulky. Duo doesn't like to share me with anyone else either, Heero thought to himself. He lost his battle to keep an inane smile from creeping back into place each time he fought it down. "What's with that look?" Duo asked. Heero had made a secret discovery, which he was proud and excited about, and was having the most difficult time concealing it from his lover. The product was one Heero had only imagined existed, one to keep Duo "safe," and as soon as he had located it on the website, he had placed his order. It would take time to build to order, but not long. He had paid extra for the rush job. He had even arranged for a Preventer courier to deliver it into his hands, only slightly abusing his work privileges, because it was an emergency, for him anyway. It would be his in a week! Oh, but he wanted it to be a surprise for Duo, so he mastered his face and heart rate. "Just looking forward to you. Now, I put everything away, so you can come to bed now," Heero said. "The way you harp on 'bed', it sounds as if that's the only thing on your mind." "At the moment," he said, "it is." And proved it. (o) Within minutes, the family doctor, Dr. Habib, was at the Winner estate examining Quatre's sister. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the doctor to say something. Quatre paced trying his best to block the worries of the others from his mind and deal with his own. How could he have been so careless? Quatre was silently calling on every deity he could remember, knowing God had served Duo well in the past, and Buddha had been good to Wufei. Allah, Quatre assumed, had abandoned him to fate a long time ago. "She's fine," Dr. Habib announced as he appeared where Quatre and the household had gathered. "I have given her an injection to help her sleep. By morning, she will be completely fine. But her heart is weak. A small shock can take her life. Today, she was lucky and it was just a mild stress. She fell unconscious. Next time, it can take her life." Like Quatre, Qadira was empathic. His parent's first and last children had been honored with this gift. Quatre wondered if his "cursed" gift would be the death of him, too, and then felt a wash of guilt spread from his head to his toes. How could he be so selfish? In refusing Nada, he had shocked his sister. He was about to take his sister's life in order to seek his own happiness! The house phone rang, jangling everyone's nerves. Quatre, being the closest, answered it more to shut it up than to be useful. "Hello?" "Hello, dear boy. It's me, Mrs. Shaza. Can I talk to Qadira?" he heard a feminine voice say. "She's resting right now. She had a small... attack." "Oh dear Allah! Is she okay?" "Yes, she's fine now." "That is good news, then," the woman said, clearly relieved. "Quatre, I shouldn't be asking these things at such a time when you are upset, but I wanted to know something important." Quatre suspected what it was. There was no use putting off the inevitable any longer. "No, it's okay. I understand. What is it you wish to ask?" he said. "Tell me, dear boy, what do you think of Nada? Do you accept the proposal?" Her hushed voice sounded to Quatre as if she didn't want anyone on her end to overhear. It was unusual from the girl's mother to ask the boy so direct a question. What should he say? The image of his father lying on his deathbed flashed in his head, and then his mother then his stricken sister. How many deaths could one man have on his conscience? Thousands. He'd murdered countless of the enemy in his time, but those were the faceless multitudes. He'd been under orders, so it was justified killing, not murder, he was told, and it helped him to live with that knowledge. However, if his sister died, he would know he was the cause. He would have murdered her. He would never be forgiven in this life, or the next. "Hello, dear boy, are you still there?" "Yes. I was just...reflecting. Yes, I accept the proposal," he said closing his eyes and sealing off his trampled heart. "Oh, Quatre, you have made us so happy. May Allah bless you with a long life, my sweet son," she said. Voices of joy could be heard thought the phone handset. "The priest said that this was a very auspicious date. So now we must arrange for the engagement party!" (o) The week had passed and they had not received any more phone calls. Still, Rashid had taken the threat seriously and done his homework. Duo listened as Rashid ran through the incoming call record. Heero was on full soldier alert, keeping an ear cocked toward the door, as if he was expecting armed OZ agents to storm their room any minute, while at the same time keeping his eyes glued to the printout as the older man ticked off each number. "Ah, here's one from 'no name'." Heero snagged the paper and scanned faster. "Here's the next." Duo skimmed over the record. "Why's Wufei's name missing?" "Master Winner assigned his room under the name 'Sally Po.'" Duo grinned. "Already number two, heh, heh... Mr. Sally Po, heh, heh... Well, that explains why he hasn't gotten a call. I know Sally disconnected the service to his cell phone, so they'd get some peace and quiet." "Does Chang know that?" Heero asked. "He'll be upset." "Chang knows where to stick his dick, and that's about it." Duo laughed and wandered off, looking out the window. "There's a dude from Preventers running up the walk. 'Ro—?" He nearly had the wind knocked out of him as Heero bowled him over on his way to the door. "Shit! Just run me down will ya?" Heero cast a "Sorry!" over his shoulder, and then jogged the rest of the way outside. Rashid offered Duo a hand up. "Master Yuy was expecting a special delivery?" Not that Duo knew anything about, but then he might have forgotten even if he had known. Duo frowned; he was annoyed at a weakness he had no control over. "Guess so." He wanted to change the subject, and fast. "So, Quatre hasn't gotten one of these calls either?" "No, but then his name is unattached to any of the rooms at this time." "But before, when he was here?" "Just Master Trowa's. I will be continuing to monitor the incoming calls," Rashid said. "How about now that he's on L4?" "Nothing. My fellow corpsmen keep me informed." "That's swell. Yeah... So, can we trace Mr. No-name's calls?" "Certainly. I'll get back to you when I have that information. Any more calls from this number shall be recorded and an alert sent to..." Rashid checked his notes, and said, "...this number at Preventer's Headquarters." "Sounds like you got it covered," Duo said. He wondered what was keeping Heero and looked out the window. "If there is nothing more?" Rashid asked, wishing to take his leave. "Ah, sure, but you might wanna check in with Heero and Mill out there. Something's up." Both Rashid and Duo left the cottage to join the other two men. Milliardo was pissed off. He had received a non-call from the mystery man. "Actually," Duo said, "it makes me feel marginally better knowing it isn't some insane gay basher trying to get at us." From the piercing blue flash of Heero's eyes on him, Duo figured he hadn't thought about the caller in that way, yet, and now he could. Wonderful! Something else for Heero to worry about. "Commander Une and Rashid are looking into it. For now, that's fine with me." "I shall contact you when I have pinpointed the source of those calls," Rashid assured them. "Oh, I'm sure that won't be necessary," Milliardo said. "The commander has her resources doing the same. Why, it's probably just some prank. Why don't you try and enjoy some of your time here at the beach." "Certainly," Rashid said, not committing himself one way or the other. "You might want to call Quatre and warn him, too," Duo suggested. Rashid nodded fractionally. Obviously that had already been covered. Duo flushed and hung his head. "Ah, sorry. I forgot for a second there." But he had remembered shortly after. That was an improvement, wasn't it, Duo wondered? "Duo and I will see you all at dinner," Heero declared, as much to say "get the hell outta here now." He took Duo by the elbow and steered him around the corner of the building.
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