"Defying Gravity"

A Romance in Three Parts

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, yaoi, some language

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3

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"

"In the meantime," Heero said, enjoying himself. "Quatre and I just sat there and stared at one another a moment, thinking over Wufei's dicey chair move and tendency to stare at Quatre. I told him, 'It doesn't mean a thing, Terry.'

"And you flipped out from that point on. 'Ra-ay,' and, yes, you said it like that, 'Ra-ay, he moved! He was sitting the other way, and he moved around that way so he could stare at me! He knows' That is what Quatre said, I swear to God," Heero said. "So I told him, 'For fuck's sake, Terry, what does he know?'"

"'He saw us looking at him,' you said, 'when he was out by the pool with Garrett.' Garrett was Duo and at no time did I recognize him or his voice. Duo, you could be an actor," Heero said.

"Thanks."

Heero kissed Duo's palm. "I pointed out to Quatre that it was a public place and that when we went for our swim he was still hanging around and he didn't act like anything was wrong then."

"But Heero!" Quatre put in for his defense. "Okay, remember, it wasn't Wufei sitting there, not to us! It was this dangerous criminal... brute and it was not at all part of our job to get involved in Garrett's drug trade schemes."

"Not officially," Heero corrected. "And that's exactly what you said then, too, except for Wufei's name. I think you called him--"

"Zhang Long Su," Wufei supplied.

"I saw Quatre lean way forward and heard him say: 'Ra-ay, Why did he move?'" Dorothy said.

"I did not," Quatre said petulantly.

Wufei said, "Well, what I saw was the one drug dealer leaning forward to speak tensely and grimly to the other one. I wondered if you talking about me. Such decadent creatures, reeking of crime and unholy knowledge. Drug dealers tended to be addicts themselves, didn't they? You weren't like OZ creatures at all, you were like the criminals in recent Sanc Kingdom films; civilized in a sneering way, secure in your power, spouting philosophy, utterly cold and emotionless. Well, not entirely emotionless. You two were holding hands, on and off. At the time I wholeheartedly wished that I had waited, oh, just a minute or two after you arrived so as not to call attention to myself, and then just hurried back to my room and avoided the next excruciating scene."

"Sounds pretty chummy," Trowa commented.

"Well, as your waitress left, Wufei, I was still with Heero and Quatre. I asked if they were ready to order," Dorothy said. "I didn't think Terry looked well, though. What he said was: 'I don't think I can eat.' So, I recommended that he take some Lomotil. You really were unwell, weren't you, Quatre?"

Quatre gave Dorothy a withering look. "Yes." He gave Heero a meaningful look and said, "I wasn't feeling well and all Heero could say was: 'Terry, don't call attention to yourself.'"

"Poor baby," Relena offered sympathetically. Quatre responded with a curt sniff and a shrug. "Really, Quatre. I mean it."

"So, Heero ordered the two of you a Trader Vic's Original Mai Tai, with 17-year old J. Wray & Nephew Rum over shaved ice. Very precise, Heero." Dorothy and Heero traded self-satisfied smiles.

"I didn't say I wanted that either," Quatre said. "I didn't drink."

"Did you ask for fresh mint?" Trowa asked. "It's important."

Heero closed his eyes. "I may have added something about mint."

"You did and I told you that I didn't think the drink would help him,'" Dorothy said. "You didn't listen, of course."

"Well, while you were drinking up a storm, I was at a loss for what to do," Wufei commented. "I turned my head, gazed this way and that, and found myself staring directly into the eyes of the frightful Shirley woman. A small involuntary moan escaped me in a moment of weakness, I admit."

"Ours eyes met and I remember now thinking, 'I know that man!'" Trowa said. "I thought, 'Isn't that odd; the short time I've been here, and I've already seen two men I think I've met before. First the driver of that pickup truck outside the hotel, which was Duo, but I knew him as Garrett, and now this man, which was Wufei, who I had been introduced to as Su-something at a party weeks before. I tried telling myself that it was probably just that people look like other people; or maybe this man was on the same plane coming down, though I didn't seem to remember him from then. I just sat there staring at Wufei trying to place his face."

"I'm going to die. That's what I told myself," Wufei said. "And oddly enough, the thought was not entirely unpleasant. I must have tucked into three or four Tsingtao's by that time. I just stared at a page in Spirit Talk and drank."

"I ordered food for myself and Quatre, who had been unable to concentrate on the menu. 'You know you like shrimp,' I told him, after the waitress departed. But he insisted he was too delicate: 'I won't taste a thing.'"

"Well, I couldn't, you know," Quatre said wearily just thinking about it.

"Too bad. Food was pretty good," Trowa said. "I was feeling okay. In fact, I remember pulling some book out of my purse-- handy things, purses. Let's see, I think it was a paperback edition of How to Get Rich in Antiquities by Phil Taub, and began to read chapter 13, 'Thieves and Thugs; A Prelude to Disaster.'"

"How apropos," Wufei sneered.

"I gulpedmy Mai Tai," Quatre said.

"As one waitress brought Shirley-Trowa her shrimp cocktail and glass of wine, I brought Wufei his duckling. 'And a glass of red wine,' he said. 'No, wait! Never mind.' It was all very confusing," Dorothy said.

"I dared not get any more intoxicated than I already was," Wufei said, "and I thought mixing beer and wine would make things far worse than they were."

"I had no such compulsions, never having touched a mixed drink before in my life, so I gulped Heero's Mai Tai next," Quatre said with a deep sigh, "and then he said in the most endearing way that Heero has-- you all know what I mean-- 'Terry, get a hold of yourself.' He actually said that to me!"

"Very touching, but what did you expect? It was Yuy. On the other hand, do you know what that boyfriend of yours did next, Winner? Did you see him? No," Wufei said, "I guess you couldn't from where you were sitting. Well, while reading her book, Trowa-Shirley ate her shrimp cocktail with her fingers, licking her fingers after each shrimp. Two businessmen at a nearby table watched her intently; all talk of tractor tires forgotten, I can tell you. Meanwhile, I tried to call the waitress over for another drink without attracting attention to myself."

Dorothy explained, "I was busy bringing two more Mai Tai's to Heero and Quatre. When I asked Quatre if he was feeling any better, he said..."

"'Not yet'," Quatre said. "I remember that very clearly."

"We waitresses passed one another, and the other one said to me, 'Some really weird ones tonight,' to which I could only agree, 'Mm-mm,' because I had no time to talk. Seeing Wufei's hand waving discreetly next to his ear, I veered away in that direction.

"'On second thought,' he said, 'I believe I'll have another Tsingtao. No, wait a minute; make it vodka on the rocks.'"

Wufei groaned and threw his head back, staring up at the stars. "A very bad combination. Teenagers should not drink."

"We're still teenagers," Trowa said.

"Speak for yourself!" Sally laughed and elbowed Dorothy. "Go on..."

"'Water on the side?' I offered. I was afraid he was just thirsty and I didn't want another sick drunk at one of my tables. Remember," Dorothy said, "I didn't know that these people were Wufei, Trowa, Heero, and Quatre. I'm using their names now just to make it easier to understand, but to me they were this flat-chested, tall woman, a nervous Asian man with shaggy hair-"

"It was a wig," Wufei put in. "And the 'nerve' thing was part of my act, mostly."

"Of course. We didn't think otherwise," Sally told him and kissing him to silence.

"And glasses. He wore his gold wire-rims, which I'd never seen him wear before," Dorothy said. "And at the other table, sitting together was this cute, gay couple. One boy with long dyed red hair and the other with really long brown, and both wearing tinted shades. Very cute, all of you," Dorothy said.

"Yes."

"What?" Trowa looked around.

"Yes," answered Wufei. "I said I'd have the water."

"Well, at the time I thought maybe you were bribing the waitress," Quatre said.

"What you said was: 'They're awfully chummy over there. He's bribing her.' " Heero leaned forward. "Three Mai Tai's on an empty stomach had turned Winner's eyes into cocktail onions. Still, there was nothing I could do but play along, so I asked, 'Bribe her to do what?' and he answered me, 'Poison us!' "

"Heero, please." Quatre rolled over burying his face in his arms.

"No, that's more like what I said to you," Heero said. "'Terry, please.'"

"While you were all drinking like fish, I finished my last shrimp," Trowa said triumphantly.

"Yes, I watched you," Wufei said. "For the last shrimp, the tease inserted a finger into her mouth, pursed her lips around it, and drew the finger slowly out, freed of red sauce."

"You were so nervous, Wufei," Dorothy said, "that you crunched your little duckling's bones, eating the wings entirely."

"I remember pointing that out," Quatre said. "'He's eating bones.'"

"And I remember saying, 'Terry, stopping looking at him.' You just sat there and blinked at me."

"I wanted your Mai Tai, Heero, but you kept holding it," Quatre explained.

Heero said, "I knew that if I gave you the chance, you'd drink it all. Then you just floored me when you said that Su, Wufei, looked like Freddie Baloch, who I recalled was your reading group buddy. I told you that he did not, although I didn't turn around to look. I mean, Quatre, Freddie was about fifty and Pakistani."

"I thought he could be Pakistani," Quatre said. "So, I said so. And you just said, 'Terry,' like it tasted bad."

"Quatre, you starting spouting all this nonsense about Freddie Baloch not always being fifty, comparing our situation to The Godfather, and going on about the bad guys almost looking like normal people, but that they had dead eyes because their souls were so black."

"Well," Quatre said, "it was true."

"About that time, I must've looked up from my book and remembered where I'd seen that Su dude before," Trowa said.

"Oh, yes, I remember looking off toward you only to discover you staring directly back at me, wide-eyed. 'She's recognized me!' I just knew it!" Wufei said. "So, I tried hunching down, shielding my face with my shoulder and arm, and eating frantically, hurriedly gnawing at my dinner, trying to finish it and get out of there."

"You ate like an animal," Quatre said. "I said that, didn't I? Yes, I did because I remember you telling me in that patronizing tone of voice of yours --which really annoys me, Heero-- 'Terry, will you please eat your nice shrimps, and stop looking at that man?'"

"And I wasn't even worrying about you freaks at the time because of Shirley. For some damned reason, probably some kind of built-in self-preservation, I convinced myself that maybe she wasn't absolutely sure it was me. If I could just get out of there-- I picked up my fresh vodka and drained half."

"Ah, well, it all came back to me in a rush of mortification, I have to say," Trowa said. "I'd had a little bit too much to drink at that party, which had been weeks before this happened, and gone on about stolen antiquities. Of course it was a problem; I knew I could go overboard as this Shirley character. Undercover work was not my thing, and as Shirley I could very easily become a bore on the subject of smuggling, and loud as well. Particularly at parties." Trowa smiled at that. "See? I'm talking too much already."

"Go on," Quatre urged him. "It's a treat to hear your voice for a change."

Trowa laughed at that, but with a little more encouragement, went on. "I could always tell when I was behaving badly in that fashion; men walked away from me. In the normal course of events, men walked toward me, but that night at that party, men were definitely moving away. Why, that poor man had probably thought I was accusing him of stealing treasures!"

"Yes, I did," Wufei said.

"I remember that party. God, you were awful," Duo said. "I was tempted to kill."

"Thanks for holding back," Trowa said. "Anyway, I hoped Chang there, or Su I guess he was, didn't recognize me."

"I think about that time I ordered another drink," Quatre said. "You all must realize that I had never had more than half a beer before in my life!"

"I didn't then," Heero said. "I thought you were a lush."

Quatre shouted, "Hit him for me, Duo. Hard!"

Dorothy smiled and said, "Well, Quatre, you're right. You ordered another. And I clearly overheard you partner say, 'Terry, are you crazy?'"

"My chicken must have arrived about then. I ducked my head to eat it, hoping the Su dude was too absorbed in his magazine to look around and recognize me," Trowa said, looking at Wufei and smiling broadly.

"That's when I waved down a waitress—"

"The wrong one," Dorothy put in.

"And asked for my check," Wufei said. "And that damned woman kept spewing out lists of further possibilities: 'No dessert? We have ice cream, cheesecake—' while I kept insisting, 'No, please, just the check.' 'No coffee?' she continued to press me. 'Check!' I had to shout before she finally gave in. Most annoying and she wasted precious time I needed to make a safe getaway."

"I wanted to... No, I needed to leave," Quatre said. "I asked Rei to give me the room key. 'Why?' he asked me; he had the gall to ask me! And I was feeling so sick and tired of everything going on and Heero's insensitive attitude that I just told him: 'Because I'm going to throw up.' And do you know what he said to me? Heero said, and just like this, tone and words and all: 'Terry, you're just too emotional.'"

Quatre smiled grimly. "The room was awash in powerful emotions, triggering my empathic nerves, my stomach was awash in alcohol, and Mr. Sensitivity was sitting there smug as can be. Not a concern on his mind. That's when I knew that Heero and I could never be partners again. We just simply didn't click."

Heero shook his head. "I thought we were getting along great. Shows how dense I must have been back then."

"Yeah, you're much different now," Quatre said. "Thanks to Duo's... ah... influence and all."

They all laughed at what Quatre delicately said, and didn't say.

"I didn't want to just leave you there to deal with the treacherous drug trader, but I was about to be very sick."

"It was okay, Winner," Heero told him. "Even without a gun I trusted my hand-to-hand combat skills."

"Oh, ho, but not I," Wufei said. "I sat there blinking as I watched one of the unholy drug dealers leave the restaurant and the other one stay. 'It's a pincer movement,' I thought. 'One is in front of me now, and the other behind me.' Honestly, my inebriated mind filled with visions of what might happen when I opened my room door that rivaled the worst I'd seen in an OZ prison, and of course I was unarmed, as Preventers would have it. From Rei's body type I assumed he was trained in martial arts and from his musculature I pegged him to be very fit."

"You sure spent a lot of time checking out Heero's body, 'Fei," Duo said with a chuckle.

"That was part of my training, Maxwell, not a perverted preference. I kept asking myself why hadn't I asked for my check earlier, or just simply left the restaurant at the beginning, no matter what anyone thought."

"Speaking of perverted," Trowa inserted. "I was interrupted from my book by one of those tracto-tire salesmen hanging over me with a smarmy smile. 'Miss, my friend and I were wondering if we could buy you an after-dinner drink?' he asked. I looked up and noticed Chang ask for his check, and knew my ordeal would soon be over, so I turned down the drink offer."

"Was that the only reason?" Quatre asked.

"Man, Tro-babe, you know how to work the odds," Duo said jokingly. "Not only does your boyfriend haveta worry about other boys chasing you, but men thinking you're a woman, too. You gotta'em after you whether you're a slob, a rent-boy, or in drag! Quatre, you must have to tie him up to keep him at home, huh?"

"In a manner of speaking," Quatre said slyly.

Heero and Trowa started laughing. "Huh? What am I missing here?" Duo asked.

"Trowa's experienced with ropes," Quatre said, "and whips. He's found all kinds of practical applications for his circus skills, at work and at home."

Duo stared, eyes narrowing. "Don't pull that crap on me, Quat-boy. You turned green walking into that S&M shop that one time. We were tracking a dealer on the job so don't give me any weird looks, Trowa, or you either, 'Ro."

"I wasn't," Heero said.

"Well, that was then," Quatre said airily.

Chapter 5

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