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"The Heist "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: 1x2x1 Summary: Duo's planning a robbery, considering a reality TV show, and falling for the man who can lock him up for good. Can his friends help him? Can he help himself? A/N: This story takes place in a universe more
like ours today, where the colonies exist on land, not in space, and
where the world is on the cusp of change. Thanks goes to Waterlily
for her tireless editing and thoughtful suggestions throughout. "The Heist " Chapter 16 - Stacked Deck
Heero steered the bike down the alley and parked around the back by the entrance to Duo's apartment. "All right if we hold up here tonight?" "Absolutely," Duo said. "We oughta sit low and maybe get outta town early in the morning. Whaddaya think?" "Agreed. I'm not sure where to go. Possibly that coast trip we talked about?" "Sounds nice." Duo fumbled for his keys, dropped them, and had a hand full of soft, furry, purry cat face. "Aw cat... doesn't your owner feed ya anymore?" "Duo, you are the owner, and I thought we were going to call her Tiger?" "Oh, yeah. Forgot." "I don't suppose you have anything to eat inside?" Heero asked. "I can guarantee not." "All right. I've got to pick up a few supplies, no matter where we end up. I'll bring home dinner, too." "Cool. I'll pack and... um... could you get some cat food?" "Of course." Heero removed his duffle and set it inside the door. "I won't be gone for more than an hour or two. If I'm not back by then, barricade the doors." Duo grasped his arm and drew him in for a kiss. Adding an invitation for future action, he ground into Heero's thigh. "You will return." Heero sucked in a moan and kissed him back. "Having you waiting... I can't get over...this... that you want me." "Feed me, and you'll find out how much," Duo said with a laugh. "You're part cat. Don't make me explain that." After parting, Duo unlocked and opened the door to his shop, dragging Heero's bag inside. He collected his most trade-worthy items. Not all the jewelry was fungible and some he wouldn't be able to fence easily because of traceable hallmarks or because they were too valuable. He wanted to carry a few items to sell off, if he needed some fast cash. The other valuable items he double-checked, making sure they were well hidden away. Satisfied that if the building were destroyed his most important things were secure in his underground vault, he lugged Heero's duffle back out to the stairs, and then locked up shop. "C'mon...Tiger. I can getcha water." He climbed up the stairs to his apartment, where he filled the cat's water bowl. Smoothing his hand over her back sent her to purring. "You're gonna have to toughen up if you're gonna live on the streets." And he'd be the one doing the abandoning. A wave of guilt sent his mood into a downward spiral, and he fled the room to use the bathroom. "I gotta pack." Hanging from wall hooks were two backpacks. He chose the largest and dug through a crate for underwear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of fuzzy tail. "Outta the bag, cat!" She purred louder when he moved her from his bag to his lap. "How am I gonna get anything done with you here?" Complaining every other minute, he acted as though the kitty was the biggest deterrent to his getting his tasks done. But he still found a way to progress. Halfway done with packing, his phone buzzed. It was from Quatre, so he took the call. "Hey, all a-okay with you?" "Everything is just fine. Are you still at the palace?" "No, I'm home, but we'll be ready to scat, Jack, in the morning." "We? Is Hilde with you?" "No, she traveled with Trowa on the circus train. You haven't seen him yet, I take it?" "We've talked. Trowa is en route, and Wufei will join us tomorrow. We want you to come stay with us all." "Heero's here." "Heero Yuy?!" Quatre sounded completely surprised, but he recovered quickly. "Oh. Well, that's nice. Just a second, Duo." Duo waited, listening to a deeper voice in the background, but he couldn't make out the words over the sounds of a sea gull. Quatre came back on. "Are you still there?" "Yes. You at the beach?" "Close to one. Milliardo says Heero has important information you should know. So, ask him about his past." "I'll think about it." Duo had plenty of things to talk to him about. "Do try. Milliardo is extending an invitation to you both to come to his villa. And do bring Heero!" "A villa, huh? Does it have a pool?" "A lovely one-" Duo heard a shout through the phone, clearly Mill this time. "Tell him there's the ocean and I have a chef on staff, too!" "Heard that. Your invite's getting even better. Where?" "His place is located on the southeast coast of France, just outside of Marseille. Please, say you'll come?" "Sure. I ain't got a better offer. Text me the directions. And thanks." "Of course, Duo! You did such a good job-we all did! There's no reason why we shouldn't be comfortable while we get down to business planning what to do next." "Okay. I'll call when I'm close. Bye." The sound of a motorcycle had Duo running down the stairs to meet Heero. "You made it! Everything cool?" "Khushrenada's keeping a low profile. No rumors in town of anything going on, which is what we want. I brought us food and a few other things." Duo took the paper sack, leaving Heero with a plastic one from a hardware store. "What's in that one?" he asked. "Some things for attaching and securing bags to the bike. Let's eat now." MEOW! Tiger insisted on attention first, and got it from Heero. He opened a can he'd bought and filled a shallow bowl with the contents. Once her needs were met, the two hungry young men dove into the takeout containers, forks first. "Have you heard from anyone?" Duo asked. "No, but I wasn't expecting to." Heero patted the thick envelope Relena had given him and which he kept in his coat pocket. "I thought I'd take a look at this later." "Quatre called me." "He did? So, what did he say?" "He invited us to join him and the others, all the others, at Milliardo's villa." "Are you sure I'll be welcome?" "Yeah." "Really?" "There's swimming and food." "Sounds intriguing. I'll go if you want to." "Okay." "Good. Where are we going then?" "Marsielle." "That far? All right. I get to keep my promise of taking you to the coast." "Hmmm, I like that." Duo washed the forks and dumped the food container. At the door, Tiger was pawing and crying for attention again. "Aw, what now? You just came in and now you want out?" "She just ate. She probably just wants to do her business outside. Go open the door and I'll take out the garbage." "Sure. Nothing like being bossed around by my boyfriend and his cat." He made it sound like he didn't actually mind, though. "Your cat," Heero corrected. Duo opened the door and Tiger led the way. "I'll meet you half way-our cat, okay?" "Our cat. I like how that sounds." Heero trailed after the pair, carrying the garbage outside to a dumpster. Back at the door, he stood next to Duo, gazing up at the darkening sky. He wrapped an arm around him. "This is nice." "It is. Man, whatta day, huh?" "I'm still numb," Heero admitted. "I don't know if I still have a job any more. I haven't a place to live for a while." "You got me." "I have you, yes." Heero smiled. "That's the most unbelievable part, meeting you, becoming friends, then more, much, much more." "For a minute there, we nearly lost everything," Duo reminded him of the breakup. "For a while, my world was turned upside down, inside out. I still feel strange." Duo smiled. "So do I." They stood together until Tiger returned, and then Duo led Heero back inside and up the stairs to his apartment. There, he kicked the door shut and tugged Heero's arm until he'd dragged him onto the mattress. Ask him about his past... "Heero, I have this hole in my gut every time I try to think about, well, you and me." "Oh." God, Heero looked devastated to hear that. Duo wondered why he was dredging up serious topics, like talking about relationships, when he could be having amazing sex with the man? Damn, Quatre for putting that bug in his brain! "Yeah, it's not a good feeling, and I want it to go away and I think I know a way to make that happen, something you can do to help." "Just tell me what." Heero seemed desperate to do anything, but would he answer the question, Duo wondered? And if he didn't or even if he did, would it mark the end of the rode for them? It was too late to go backwards, so might as well get it over with. He let out the breath he'd been holding. "Between Hilde's slip-ups and my broad hints, you'd have to be a blockhead not to figure where I stand, what I did in the war. I don't like thinking we were trying to kill each other in the past, or might again. See my point?" "I do." Heero ran a hand through his hair and appeared to make a decision. "This is nice," Heero said, again, looking around until he fixed his gaze on Duo across the bed from him. Heero's voice was low and soft. "I'd forgotten how remarkable the seasonal changes were in Sanc, not having grown up here." He flashed Duo a quick, nervous smile, as if he was hoping Duo would draw the right conclusion. Duo was a quick thinker and good at practical math. "Oh," Duo drew out the sound as understanding set in. "Yeah? You're from pretty far away then." He ventured a bit further to ask, "A colony?" Heero nodded slowly. "Huh. I wouldn't have bet money that you were colony-born. I thought to be one of the elite guard, you had to be members of Sanc's nobility, you know, like second cousins once removed or the bastard sons from secret trysts, or something. Or am I totally off-base here?" "No, I'm colony born." Heero said in a low voice. "I was a soldier from the L1 colony," Heero admitted. "Is this what you want to talk about?" "It's a start. It's something I wanted to know, and I got the answer I wanted to hear," He kissed Heero to show him how glad he was to have good news, and the kiss in return was warm and happy, becoming hot and aroused before Duo ended it. "More questions?" Heero asked, not sounding as perturbed as he could have. "Yeah, I'm just getting started here." He smiled as Heero settled in more comfortably and rested an arm over his chest. "Me, too," Heero said, only his voice was getting husky. "Yeah, I can tell. So, tell me, colony brat, here's the question: how did you become a guard for the royal house?" Duo asked. "And if it means anything, the prince said to tell me about something when Quatre called." "He did?" Heero looked thoughtful for a minute. When Duo rubbed the tip of his braid over his fingers, he had prepared what he wanted to say. "All right... I met Zechs Merquise several times in hand to hand combat. We were enemies, but civilized, as he put it. The outcome was always in question with no clear winner, because there was always some interruption." "That sounds like the story of my life." "Making a long story short, then, Zechs converted to my side and returned to Sanc with me to help his step sister fend off Romfeller." "No shit?!" Duo blurted out. "You're the one that converted the Captain?" "Yes." Duo summarized with a concise, "Fuck." "About time." Heero unzipped Duo's pants and ran a finger along the waistband of his shorts, causing Duo to hiss as he sucked in his breath. "I remember being shocked when Zechs led a White Fang ground attack against the Old Alliance." "And was killed," Duo emphasized, thinking back. He eyes shifted sideways then down to what the other man's hands were doing. One hand had slipped under his shirt and was drawing circles on his ribs. "B-but we know that didn't happen. God, am I getting off to the sound of White Fang?" "Whi-ite Fang," Heero whispered, and then nipped at the nearest hip bone. Duo yelped and chuckled, encouraging Heero to do more. He moved to tease Duo's right nipple with a rough finger, talking as he caressed. "He took back his birth name and returned to Sanc, and it is through that connection that I received Relena's attention and was elevated to her guard. The end. The abridged version." "Okay, so why didn't you tell me sooner?" "I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone. Should the truth of his past, and mine, get out... that could be bad for either of us. You can understand that?" "Yeah sure. Honor bound for glory." "What does that mean? Oh, don't bother. Help me get these off you." Duo leveraged his hips up, while Heero yanked down on the belt loops. "Careful! I don't have that many pants. Oh, geez... my best suit's still there at the palace." "It will be there when we go back. No one is stealing suits." Heero was tearing off his own clothes. "It was my best!" "Make the prince buy you another; you're such good friends." "Uh, huh, I'll do that. Ahhh..." Duo sighed. Heero's well-cut upper body looked indestructible and very, very desirable and totally distracted Duo. He nearly forgot what they'd been talking about. "You are, really that close?" Heero asked. "I was just joking." "We kinda are, through Wufei. You know I won't tell a soul about what you just told me, don't you?" "I trust you completely," Heero said. "I love you, Duo." A shockwave hit Duo like a jolt of electricity, sending Duo's brain into a tailspin of uncertainty and letting him blurt out, "Man, I wasn't expecting that." "You weren't?" Heero now sounded troubled and confused. Now Duo realized he was going to have to explain that. Stupid big mouth! "Well, it's been a roller-coaster ride with you today." Duo squirmed a little to improve the angle of Heero's attack and kick off the last of his pants clinging to his ankles. He counted off on his fingers: "Breakfast in bed, and then arresting me, quickly followed by breaking up with me, and then we're friends and... and..." "And now I'm baring my soul and telling you I love you." Do I feel the same, Duo wondered? "Yeah. That. It's a big deal for me." "A romantic thief?" Heero leaned over and kissed him once, then again, harder, stroking his tongue along Duo's palate when Duo's lips parted. He pulled back enough to speak, but kept their lips in contact. "It's important to me, too. I never said it before, never felt this way about anyone else before. Not even close." And Duo knew Heero wanted to hear Duo tell him how he loved him too. He was waiting for it. "Why did you break up with me?" Duo asked instead. Heero sat back with a sigh. "Why? You keep saying I did, but I didn't, actually. Duo, think back for a minute. I felt hurt because you didn't tell me what you were going to do and it appeared to be very illegal. Then you got pissed off-" "-Because you were pissing me off, not listening to what I was saying and all focused on arresting me." "But you'd lied to me!" "I don't lie! Okay, I didn't tell you stuff because..." "Because you didn't trust me." "Because I wasn't sure if you might end up siding with the New Alliance at some point!" There, he'd said it again. His big fear. "But you know I wouldn't do that now, don't you?" Heero asked. "Oh, now I do." Duo moved over to avoid getting an elbow in the jaw as Heero removed his jeans completely. "Good. At least that's settled now. Tell me it is settled, Duo." He was naked, exposed to Duo's hungry gaze. "Right. It is settled." "So, if we put that behind us, do you think we can...?" Duo touched Heero's bare thigh and rubbed a circle with his thumb. "Move on? Be boyfriends?" "Call it what you want... a relationship...something meaningful... I want that- do you?" Did he? He studied the face so very close to his, the intense, blue eyes, boring into his, the lips, red from kissing him, the tortured hair, and felt the answer before he said it. "Yeah, as long as it's with you. Absolutely." Suddenly, he had all of Heero in his arms, on top of him, crushing him into the not very comfortable mattress. Between the fevered kisses on his nose, his eyelids, his chin, his lips, there were whispered words. "I love you," he understood. "Hey, 'Ro, lemme get a word in edgewise." Heero paused and once again, Duo felt those eyes riveting him in place. "Yes?" "I love you, too," he said. That won him an unabashed look of joy. "I want to make love to you. I want to make it special. Tell me what you want." Duo thought a moment about what Heero might think comprised special when it came to sex and came up with a great idea. "Say, did you keep those fancy palace manacles?" "No, I'm traveling light and those are not a necessity." "Depends," Duo murmured under his breath. "Well, I still got plenty of rope. Don't look at me that way. Here's your chance to tie my arms to the bedposts and talk dirty to me!" "You're kidding?" Heero asked, looking both pleased and excited. "Noooo." By the time Duo located rope soft enough to meet Heero's specifications, he'd had to go up and down the stairs three more times and dig through the dirty "office". So, before they could do more, they agreed a bath was in order. They washed in the tepid water that trickled into the stained tub, then did a quick rub-down to dry off. "Now," Heero begged. "Yeah," Duo agreed, dropping the rope in his rush to the mattress. They took turns topping, urgent for completion, engaging in sweaty, inspired love on the worn sheets- without the use of any rope or bindings. "Too much trouble." "Maybe another time." Half asleep, they lay with the window open, listening to the rain that started and stopped, off and on until dawn. (o) The next morning before the sun rose, the pair were up and securing their belongings to the motorcycle. The beams of the headlights were alive with moths, giving a stranger than life look to their conveyance. They were in love and happy and ready to take on the world. Nearly. Heero found one more thing to fuss over. When Duo noticed Heero attach a lidded basket to the handlebars, he had to ask what it was for. "It's for Tiger. Bring me a towel to line the inside." "The cat? We're bringing the cat along?" "We can't leave her here. She'll starve. She's our responsibility now." Duo couldn't argue the logic in that, and his heart felt a great deal lighter losing the Mantle of Guilt he'd wrapped around his conscience for having considered abandoning her. He and Heero had become her sole caretakers, like it or not. "I doubt she'll like riding in that." "We'll see." She loved it. She could peer out the cutout openings meant for hand-holds, but mostly slept all the way. Duo accused her of having such perfect manners just to show off to Heero, and Heero explained she probably thought the rumbling engine sounded like a large mother cat. Go Tiger! TBC...
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