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"Greeting Cards"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: Yaoi, funeral practices, AU, fluff Pairings: 1+4, 1x2x1, 3+H, 5xH, 3x4, 6x9 Summary: Each chapter is based on Heero’s
greeting cards and Duo's mortuary. "Greeting Cards " Chapter 34 -- April Showers, Part 2 of 6 (o) Trowa POV Heero was trying too hard. He'd been edgy ever since we'd landed on this miserable island. Not that I was feeling hassle-free. I thought driving around and seeing parts of the place would bring back some memories of the place, but nada. I covered up my disappointment good enough to fool Quatre, which probably meant he was too overwhelmed with his own feelings for mine to make any impression. To be honest, I was so wrapped up in trying to jostle my memory and watching Yuy suffer that I hadn't given much thought to my lover's sensibilities. then we reached the cabin. I guess he expected to stay at the resort, because he looked disappointed when the van stopped at a rundown shack. Well, if we were lucky, damned lucky, then his discomfort would only last the one night. Heero, on the other hand, needed help; something his boyfriend seemed oblivious to. Sure, Duo had a lot on his plate, but I thought he could make more time for a second helping of Yuy. And here I'd come to think they were perfectly in tune with one another. I guess they were no more perfect than Quatre and me. I'd been awed by the artist for the longest time, partly for his talent, which was enormous, partly for his determined courtship of Duo, and partly, albeit a very large part, for his hot body. Being a gymnast in college made me body-aware, and Heero was cut. But his intensity of purpose was too much for me. Duo could have him; he deserved to be adored that completely. I was never more surprised when the artist started talking to me-- that he sought me out to confide in had been unexpected, but, as it turned out, good for the both of us. He called me on the phone to ask about Duo's food preferences and to make sure Quatre hadn't forgotten some detail in my life that Heero hadn't overlooked (and I had) and felt needed attending to. Intense, but a loyal friend. I guess he was my best friend too, odd as that was. I remember when he broke down and told me that Duo didn't love him enough to make a commitment. I thought they were boyfriends, and told him so, but that wasn't enough for him, not for Yuy. He had fucking asked Duo to marry him! I couldn't believe Yuy'd done that. I was speechless when he told me Duo'd turned him down, but then, Duo had always been self-sufficient. Maybe Heero was too possessive for him, too. I didn't know the answer; I didn't know what to tell him to do about it, but I thought it was something they could work out over time. Heero certainly proved himself to be resilient and got over it, agreeing to give Duo more time to think it over. They seemed to be doing okay in that department. In the sex department, too, because, God, he even talked about his sex life. I wished at first that Heero hadn't told me they were both subs in bed. I had incredible dreams for days after that, and I never, ever wanted foursomes in my life. I know it! Becoming like best friends meant I needed to "share" so I ended up revealing Quat and I were both tops and the problems that caused. Turns out they had sorted themselves out in a "turns" sort of way just about the same way we had. I guess it helped to know not all couples or couplings had to be perfect to be good. At least Yuy and I had a few good laughs over it and bonded. I don't know if heteros share the same problems, but to be gay and find a friend to confide in was hard. Aside from the four of us, I only knew two other same-sex guys I could even call acquaintances. Men are generally more aggressive, so to find a partner that doesn't try to strip you of your manhood was another challenge. Try to get all that plus mutual respect and affection and common interests, too? The odds weren't good for finding a good match, which is why I found it amazing that the four of us were together. I didn't even care if our being together had been contrived by a bunch of lunatic doctors in OZ laboratories creating cloned, perfect soldiers that lived forever, not as long as I had a man like Quatre Winner and friends like Heero and Duo as a result. Right now it looked to me like Yuy could use a few laughs. The guy was tense and Duo was going about supporting him in all the wrong ways. I didn't want to get involved, but friendship won out over good sense. "Next, we stop back at the cabin," Yuy said. "We need to collect our equipment and rest a couple hours." Duo snapped back sharply, "Rest? You gotta be kidding. Let's get this business done." "Yes, I'd like that, too," Yuy said with that edge returning to his voice, "but I'd rather wait until the lab activities shut down for the night, eliminating the chance that someone might be hauling a body out. I don't expect it, especially in the part of the crypt where we will be, but it's safer. And it is the plan." "Safer, right," Duo repeated sourly. I was a bit put off by his irritable tone of voice. I worked with the guy and loved him to death, but he had a lot of personality and a lot less tact to curb it. I also don't think he had any idea just how sensitive Heero was. He was susceptible to heartbreak. A careless word or two from Duo hurtled his boyfriend into a turmoil of misery. The sky was dark with a sprinkling of stars, but there was no moon to light our way, no street lights; in fact, there were no lights at all, until I pointed out the search light apparatus on the van roof and switched it on. After that, Heero concentrated on the rough road. "Quat, I need a word with Heero. Can you distract Duo? Just get him inside for a minute?" "I'll try." "Thanks." I kissed his hair and told him I loved him and he bit my earlobe, the little minx. Heero parked in back of the cabin, hiding the van behind a hedge. Everyone climbed out and entered the cabin except me and him. I touched his arm, bringing on a searing glare. "What?" "Come here," I dared to say. "Why?" I pulled him into the darkness. "I just wanted to talk." "I have the beginnings of a headache so make it short and to the point." I nearly changed my mind. "You seem bothered by something. Hoped you'd want to talk about it." He shook his head and I thought he was going to tell me to mind my own business with an unkind turn of phrase, but then he said, "I was thinking that Duo needed some pressure to make a decision." He met my eyes. "To commit." I shrugged. Damned if I could help him. "I am considering an ultimatum after this mission is over. If he had a time limit, I think he might say 'yes' at last." Where had Heero come up with that lame-brained idea? "You see that in some movie lately? I mean, hell, you might scare him into believing he'll lose you if he doesn't, and agree. Is that what you want? Or he might just run. Think of that?" He sighed and hung his head, rubbing his temples. "I want to get on with life and he is satisfied with this limbo status. If I give him forever, he will take forever. I have run out of ideas of what to do about it!" "I understand, but why now? Why not wait until this trip's over? It seems like a bad time to complicate things." "Yes. I was just thinking about it." "Well, don't." His eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a line. He wanted a better answer than that. "Okay, you've been thinking. I just mean why can't this wait a day or two? What's changed lately?" His eyes skated over mine and away. He stared blindly into the dark beyond where his mind seemed to go a lot. "A letter was delivered to me yesterday from Ty Keel... warning me not to leave Sanc. It was as if he knew about this trip." "Ty...?" Oh, him. Heero's ex and a paid killer working for Khushrenada now. Just another one of our possible enemies here. "Have you told Chang?" "No, just you. It would worry Duo and distract Chang. He knows the man is a threat. I have made no secret of that." "Well, threatening to leave Duo if he doesn't agree to marry you won't solve the Keel problem, Yuy. It might light a fire under Duo, but right now, why don't you let it ride so you can concentrate on this?" I gestured in the direction of the shrine, I think. "It might help your headache." He nodded and smiled. "It might. You have a way of putting things." He snorted a harsh chuckle, and then thanked me. "Can I go in now?" "Before we freeze, yeah." I enjoyed Quatre's hungry stare as I entered the cabin. To have the exclusive attention of Quatre Winner always set my heart to racing. I imagined being alone with him, his hands on me. My imagination stripped him naked. "What are you looking at?" he asked me, wearing a sly grin and, sigh, all his clothes. "You." "Everything okay?" he asked. "Yuy's worried about that ex of his hunting us down here; that, and his usual Duo insecurities." Quatre smiled, looking over my shoulder. "They look cozy now." I had to look. At that moment Duo reached over, buried a hand in a hunk of Heero's dark hair, and drew him into a kiss. "Yeah." "Well, Wufei recommended that we lay our sleeping bags on the floor, so I put yours over there by mine. You don't have to sleep, just close your eyes for a little while and keep me company. There's a boxed dinner for each of us. Very smartly packed, too." "Yeah, okay." I had hoped for a little more passion to go with the bold kiss, but with all the others crammed up around us I guess it wasn't the best time to get too worked up. When I looked across the room I noticed Zechs silhouetted against the fire and eating his sandwich. I imagined he was thinking about that girlfriend of his, Noin. She was an agent in some boat waiting for the call that we'd recovered the evidence required. That had to be dangerous, being the cavalry, the mobile unit with the guns, and I bet the man was worried for her safety. He never talked about her. He appeared cool as ice. But I bet he wasn't. Quatre tugged on my sleeve. He was in a sleeping bag staring up at me expectantly. "Hello?" I knelt by his side, imagining his warm smile and bright eyes searching mine in the dim light. I bent, drawing him into a gentle kiss. "You smell good." "Me or my food?" "You." "Jasmine." Did that mean he wore perfume? I didn't ask. He could bathe in it if he wanted to, as long as he looked as delicious as he did right then. We finished off the food. We'd been so busy I hadn't noticed skipping lunch. I horsed-down the food like a starving animal, and still barely beat out Quatre. I collected the trash and bagged it up. "There's room for two in my bag," he whispered, "because look how I zipped it together with yours. No one's looking. It's too dark." As if I cared who saw me with him. I didn't need coaxing. I slithered into the pocket of welcoming bliss, leaving my other friends to work out their own lives for the time being. I tucked the warm blond into all my cold spots, stifled his yelps with a full-on kiss, and still I could overhear just about everyone's conversations. "I hope this place warms up," Hilde said. She wasn't far off in the small room. No one could be. "I don't want to freeze my butt off in here while you guys are messing around in that tomb." "That's what the fireplace is for," Wufei whispered. I felt Quatre snicker into my chest as I watched Wufei escort his touchy girlfriend to a private corner. "Don't be nervous," he told her. "You think I'm shaking 'cause I'm nervous? I'm not nervous. I'm freezing. It's cold, and I've never been in a place like this," she admitted. "Especially me with me." I heard him unzip a sleeping bag. "I don't know what you mean." I could see the stuffy agent wrap his crabby girlfriend in his arms and then a bit of muttering, which I ignored in favor of what was going on in my arms. Quatre's lips brushed my ear as he whispered, "Just tell me when to stop, and I will." His hands slipped under my shirt and I heard a lot of rustling. "I want to see you." "But..." I said, gasping and pushing at his hands, "it's too dark!" He chuckled low in his throat. "Braille, sweetie." "Quat, I don't know..." my voice faded off as he finished unbuttoning and pulling his arms out of the sleeves. "We aren't alone." "Then keep it down. I just want to hold you...keep you warm," Quatre said. As we cuddled closely in the dark, I noticed, duh, that his shirt was missing. "Well, I guess that would be okay." I snuggled into the warmth of my boyfriend and felt damned lucky and happy to be there listening to the sounds. The cabin creaked with the temperature drop. The fire popped and crackled. Hilde giggled, be it ever so quietly. "Cut it out and be quiet!" Duo yelled. The next thing I knew, Wufei was shaking me gently. "Time to go." I opened my eyes, but he had disappeared before I could say anything. Lanterns were lit and hanging from hooks around the room to supplement the one bare bulb over the "kitchen' sink. Quatre was pulling on a shirt and looking around for the weapons to remain in the cabin. One by one, the others stood and readied themselves for our next adventure. "Trowa's driving us to the crypt," Heero told everyone. "We'll have our guns at the ready," Quatre announced in his perkiest tone, "in case we get over-eager crooks sniffing around." "Ah, aren't we the grave robbers?" Duo pointed out. "You know what I mean," he frowned under his silky blond bangs. "The other bad guys hunting us." I made no attempt to correct his version of the possible 'bad guys' any of us might encounter. Quatre seemed so happy and continued to gaily point out how prepared we were. "...And if anyone gets a scrape or bruise, Hilde can patch them up." For some reason that set Hilde off. "I coulda been the driver too, you know, done something." I straightened to my full height and went to open the van door. It was time to assert my manhood with the petite, dark-haired young woman before she talked her boyfriend into giving her the keys. "I'm driving there for two reasons. One, I want to be familiar with the road. And two, I know where the 'on' switch for the roof spotlight is and am tall enough to turn it on. Hey, what's that you've got with you?" "Nothing!" Hilde snapped and squeezed past me into the back of the van, carefully hiding what looked like a long stick. "And you gave three reasons." She whispered some sweet nothings, I suppose, into her lover's ear then scampered back into the cabin. I didn't really get that couple, but it wasn't my problem or business. I wasn't the only one wishing to avoid conflict. Zechs climbed into the van, wisely eluding them both. Quatre gave me a supportive nod from the cabin door, mouthing something like "love you". Whether he agreed with me or not, at least he always looked like he cared about what I had to say. I don't know how I ever could have dated women. Brain damage. Men were so much simpler. "Shotgun!" Duo shouted. He laughed when Chang declared, "It's my turn!" Heero actually held his boyfriend back from the door. "Go on," Heero told Chang. "Getcher hands off me!" Duo screamed and trailed off into husky giggles. "Ha, hah! No fair! That tickles!" Chang got in the last laugh this time. Men, simpler? Maybe just plain simple. Duo, freed, loaded his heavy backpack of clothes and equipment, and climbed in back alongside Heero. I could hear them talking to each other in low voices. I slammed the van door behind him, climbed up on the wheel well and stretched my arm along the van roof to the overhead light. With a flip of the switch, the roadway for about fifteen feet in front of them was awash in light. Still, even with the help of some illumination the road's condition was deplorable. "I don't want to break an axle," I grumbled to Wufei. "Get us stranded out here..." "I'll keep an eye out for you." "Thanks." "You're doing fine." Sigh. Heero pounded on a side window. "There it is up ahead. Stop, but leave on the headlights until we can get past the gate and get our lanterns out." I saw the shrine entrance ahead, slowed the van, and parked on a flat stretch off the road a ways. I stood clear while Heero and Duo hammered at the padlock with a rock. The crack-with-a-rock method had worked on the weathered gate to the shrine's garden, but this door was intended to keep the most aspiring of grave diggers out of the crypt itself. The brained one dropped the rock on his foot, and, in a huff, hopped over toward me to complain. As fascinating as that pair was, Wufei and Zechs' conversation teemed with warning flags, and I tried to overhear what they were saying. I guess I tipped off Duo that something was coming down and he nosed in. "She's been under a great deal of strain lately." Zechs looked over the top of the shorter agent's head. That didn't have the effect on Chang he probably had hoped for. Nothing made Wufei feel inferior. He carried the weight of his clan's pride on his shoulders. He pressed Zechs for more clarification without hesitation. "Strain? What does that mean? I found her to be suspicious but not obsessively so." "It isn't paranoia," Zechs was quick to say. "She really is being watched. She must be very careful not to slip up and show her hand." "So, you are saying the boss of this operation is acting nutty?" Duo asked. "Stressed," Zechs emphasized. Okay, so who wouldn't be stressed doing undercover around Treize and the hospital and keeping an eye on this operation? As long as it was just stress. "Too bad we couldn't find a crowbar," Heero said, unmindful of the ongoing conversation. "How would that help?" Zechs snapped. Heero looked about as affronted as I'd ever seen him and yet still proceeded to explain how he would use the tool to break the lock. I thought back to Hilde and wondered what she'd put in the van. "Chang? Didn't Hilde hide some stick in the van?" "Why yes!" His face cleared. "She told me." He trotted back to the van and returned brandishing the fireplace poker from the cabin like a lance. "This ought to suffice. Smart woman." "It sure should, if it is strong enough metal." Heero tested the feel of the heavy rod, then forced it between the chain links, twisted, and snapped the links. Okay, he impressed me with his strength. I couldn't have done that. On the far side of the garden, such as it was, stood a low, ugly stone building. "I will explore that for possible activity," Zechs announced and loped off. To the right about 200 yards was the gaping opening into the mountainside holding the numerous burials. It didn't look so bad, or it did, but it was too dark to tell. With all our preparations I figured that we should get this over in a few hours. Duo seemed to be of like mind and crowed at the sight of the dark hole, while his somber boyfriend and our dour agent tackled the gate blocking the entrance. Our celebration was cut short, when the wrought iron gate wouldn't budge. Duo gave it a tentative push. "Rusted shut," he determined. Heero turned on him. I'm surprised that the intensity of that glare didn't ignite the gent. "Barton? Give me a hand here." Guess I was the muscle. I tested the gate as Duo had done with the same non-results. "Break it down?" "Yes. Ready? On the count of three-" He and I shouldered the gate with such force that the hinges, which had been cemented into the wall, tore out the rock. We tumbled to the hard dirt floor moments before the entire iron gate gave way. As it twisted, it took down part of the supporting wall, tipped over, and fell amid a cloud of dust and falling rubble. Duo stepped around us, fanning the air, then knelt to see if we were okay. "Help me free them, Fei'." Heero and I needed no assistance to get up after Duo and Chang heaved off the massive gate and removed tons of rock. Nice start, gotta say. "You okay?" Duo asked, brushing dust off Yuy's ass. The dude was fine. "I'm okay, too." "Yeah, I could tell. No blood and you're walking." Next time, I should bleed for sympathy, and limp. Actually, Heero came over to check my eyes and talk to me to make sure my head wasn't screwed up, at which point Duo offered to tape up a cut on my hand, and Chang asked if I wanted to sit if I felt dizzy. I had great friends, really. I convinced them I was okay, and then they clustered around the dark opening to the crypt, setting out gear in preparation to go in. I fingered a sample face mask. "Where did you get that from?" Wufei asked. "I didn't see you bring that along." "Shall I demonstrate how to put this on and adjust it to fit properly?" "He's been practicing to be a steward for the airlines," Duo joked. "Oh, do you think I ought to? It's not too late for a career change," I kidded him back, smiling. "Yes it is," Wufei said. "Just get on with business." "Right. Well, this is our face mask system with air filtration to PP3 standard." I put it on, tightened the strap, did a slow spin on one heel, then removed it. "I think I'm done. Any questions?" "Plenty, but they can wait," Wufei muttered. Not much of a jokester, that one. "I got all night." "Okay, Trowa," Wufei said in a serious tone. "Here's where you stop." I had wanted to accompany them all in the search of the tombs-- it was a particular interest of mine, but I had agreed to stand guard back at the cabin with the others or outside the crypt with Zechs. I was re-assigned when Zechs trotted up to tell us about the "well-used" tunnel coming up from the shrine building and opening into the shrine garden. "I told you. It is an entrance from the labs to the shrine," Heero repeated. "A little used tunnel, but there." "I just looked it over and it appears to be used recently and often." Zechs and Heero were about to start a fist fight, so Duo and I moved in to drag them apart if it came to that. Chang stepped up with a middle ground solution. "I think we need you on lookout there, Barton. It's closer to the cabin but not far from us." I would be only a ten minute run away or a three minute car ride away from Hilde and Quatre, and I could aid the others in seconds. And Zechs would remain outside the crypt where he could spot intruders or aid the excavators. Not a bad set up, so I let Chang off the hook. "Yeah, I can keep an eye on that tunnel and the van at the same time." I looked at Zechs and shook my head. "I can probably spot you from there with that hair." This in truth distracted the man. He pulled his platinum mane back into a ponytail and Duo offered him a tie from his pocket collection. "Yeah, I get it. I'll check the walkie-talkie communications then head back to the shrine." Because Yuy determined his datatron wouldn't make any communication connections inside the crypt, I collected his and Duo's for safekeeping and lightened their packs. Before I headed back, Wufei grabbed my arm. "If something happens to me," our eyes met and exchanged silent understanding, "then as a last resort, call agent Shari on the walkie-talkie to make an off-island call." Me and not Zechs, I wondered? No, he probably had his own orders to follow. "No cell phone calls?" "Correct. She has access to secure lines out; they are required for flight plans. And she will contact the backup agents." "Nice to know we have Noin out there on official backup." "On boats off island waiting for her word." "Okay, but I hope it doesn't come to that." I rang up everyone to test our communication devices from the last century. "Barton testing...one, two, three. Over." My last call was to the cabin. Hilde answered with a curt "Hilde here. Things are lovely. Bye." My conversation with Quatre was a little longer, ending with my reassurances, "I've been reassigned. Yeah, that's right. I'm going to be on lookout at the shrine. Yeah, the weed garden watch. Miss you, too. Over, love." I figured the next thing that went wrong would send me into the tomb. I couldn't decide if that was really a good thing or not, but it didn't sound so good. On the other hand, Quatre was stuck with that crazy Hilde woman in what the two had to consider to be Hell House. Next time he might think before jumping in to "help" our friends. I bet he was already getting second thoughts about considering any of them his friends, Hilde especially. That had to be fun. I should have let Hilde take the driving job she so desired then I would have been stuck in the cabin with Quatre. Now that, I know, would have been both entertaining and pleasurable. Garden guard duty would not. Next time, I'll keep my big mouth shut--always a good thing.
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