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"Romancing the Dragon "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: 01x02, 06x05, and 03x04 Summary: A Halloween-themed, one-shot with multiple
get-togethers "Romancing the Dragon " Chapter 1 The last time Heero had seen Duo, the man had been surrounded by no fewer than four women hanging on his every word. There was no reason for Heero to wait for an opening; it could be never. Duo was waiting for the next assignment, holding court in the hall, while his partner was typing up their report. He could be busy for an hour or more. Earlier, Heero had walked by their office and looked in. "Maxwell? Good luck. We gotta hour to get this report done, so if you see him, tell'im to get his butt back in here." Peters was a likable lump. Duo ran circles around him out in the field and avoided him and his desk the rest of the time, as far as Heero could tell. "I'll tell him you miss him." "You do that, Yuy. He might listen to you." The agent with his famous-to-the-point-of-being-iconic, erratically arranged hair let out a two-part snort intended as a chuckle. "Not likely," he told him, and moved on to leave Peters to his work. Heero had learned the art of ascertaining the arrangement of an organization quickly and had made a point of moving on once he'd found out that it didn't agree with him. After participating in what he called "that traveling circus called Her Majesty's Guard", he'd left Relena's service to join Duo, Wufei, and Trowa at Une's peacekeeping Preventers agency. Quatre had just departed the agency to run his own business, and Heero knew why-Trowa was his lover. Heero didn't mind being put in charge of trainee weapons-training after his first week and found pleasure in the job. As he'd told Trowa, his closest friend, apart from Duo, "The position is perfect for me. No killing is required. I know the material inside out and I've been told that I relate to the young men and women well enough to drive the information into their brains." "You relate to trainees? Are they human in origin?" Trowa kidded him; at least, Heero took it as a joke and smiled. After dropping in on Duo's partner, Heero left the office hall, and approached the break room, which was when he heard the women's giggles and Duo's husky voice. Apparently, the braided one had his hands full and seemed to be enjoying some down time. Heero moved on again, aiming for the coffee aroma. Coffee would buy him time before lunch. He and Duo often shared a table in the downstairs cafeteria, when duties allowed it, and Duo's social life. He might be too busy to get away today, Heero thought as he wandered toward the coffee station. Trowa or Wufei might be free for lunch; I think we were all meeting sometime. Was that today? Thinking about Duo had driven all other details, like appointments, out of his head. He and Duo had become closer friends over the past months, real friends, not just war acquaintances. Duo was more open and talkative than either Trowa or Wufei, making it easy to get to know him. What Heero most liked about him was his contagious laugh. "He makes me see the humor around us," he'd once told Trowa in an attempt to obliquely explain how he felt. "Ex-terrorists being trusted with keeping the peace is pretty funny," Trowa had replied, either missing Heero's point or just being droll to avoid sensitive issues of the heart. Heero and Trowa never discussed romance. Never. Ever. But, Duo had been trying to get Heero to go out... on a date... a double date with him and some women at work, and Heero needed to talk to someone about what to do, and it wasn't going to be Trowa. "I'll take care of everything, if you'll just say you'll come. Please?" Duo had begged. But Heero wasn't interested. If Duo had asked out just him, Heero would have said "yes" instantly. He didn't mind going out, but he only wanted to date Duo and he didn't think his girl-chasing friend would understand that, or he knew Duo would understand what he meant and never want to spend time with him again. Taking that plunge had been too difficult for Heero. "Sooner or later I'll have to go on one of those double dates, just to be with him," he guessed. It was something he'd chew over and over and over. Pounding footfalls racing up behind him was all the warning Heero had. He had just enough time to spin on a heel and, in an instant, to recognize who was heading for a collision with him. Oof! Prepared or not, Heero nearly had the air knocked out of him. A pair of arms latched on, clenching his waist then sliding up to encircle his neck. The mussy-haired agent was too surprised to know what to say. The other man had moved too fast for him to break away without causing him harm, and he didn't want to hurt Duo. So he stood there, arms retracting around the heaving body all of their own, while damp breath moistened his ear. A voice whispered, "Make it look good, 'Ro. Like you really care." "Wha-?" A hot mouth clamped over Heero's. At no time was he under the impression that a girl was kissing him. Not once did he feel he was kissing anyone but a man. The prickly upper lip and the flat, hard chest pressing into his was a dead giveaway. When a heavy rope of brown hair slid over the back of his hand, the hand with muscles of iron secured to that strong back, Heero had no doubt that it could be no one but Duo Maxwell kissing back. He was not letting go and Duo was starting to wiggle. Too bad. You started this. Heero could hold his breath for two full minutes, but apparently Duo could not. Suction broke and he wrenched away his lips, panting. "Got...to...air-." Something like that. Duo's violet eyes met Heero's dark blues for an instant, varnished with shine, and then vanished under a screen of bangs as he looked down. "Are they gone?" Duo asked. Heero suspected he meant the ladies he'd been chatting with. "They are dispersing like fall leaves in a windstorm," he told him. "Drop a little poetic language once in awhile," Zechs, Heero's boss, had once recommended; although, he couldn't recall the application any more. "It gets noticed." Heero imagined it would, coming from Commander Merquise, ex-prince of Sanc, especially. He had given it a shot and on the first try, got the response he'd been hoping for. Duo's chin jerked up, and those expressive, blue-purple eyes were staring into his when he looked. If he wanted Heero to set him free, he'd have to ask. At this point the damage, if any, was done, was Heero's view on the situation. "Um... ah... thanks, bud, for the save." Wiggle. "I think we got'em convinced." Wiggle, wiggle. Save, my ass. That was a lame excuse, Heero thought. He was curious what Duo would come up with next. "Convinced of what?" "Ah, that I had other plans for the party, you know?" "What party?" "THE party. C'mon, 'Ro, think. He's your boss." He wiggled hard enough to get free from Heero, but lost his jacket to the other man's grip. "Merquise's Spook-tacular Halloween bash?" Heero said, repeating the words on the invitation. He brushed the wrinkles out of the Duo's jacket sleeve, pressed in place by his steel grip. "You have plans to go?" "I don't, not in fact; though, I think we all really oughta show up. And," Duo sighed and reached for his Preventers coat. "I didn't want to take any of them. Leeches." "Then don't." "I won't now. They really wanted to go to a party at the palace, but I think I've convinced them I'm out of bounds." "Off limits," Heero said. "Yeah, well, thanks for the cover. Not too many guys I could count on for a save like that." None would have done what I had, Heero thought, not that he believed a word of his lousy excuse. Lame as a one-legged chicken. If Duo's guess had been wrong about some mutual attraction going on between them, then Heero might laid him out on the floor with a right upper cut-or worse. No, he hadn't been guessing. He'd known. He had known Heero would let him kiss him senseless in the hall of the Preventers headquarters building, surrounded by agents and staff. So, Heero decided to state his case, little by little. "I'm glad to hear that. I hate competition getting in the way of progress." Duo's eyes widened to dinner plate dimensions. He blinked. He blinked again. Heero's lips curved upwards, slightly. Having silenced Duo Maxwell was an achievement in and of itself, but having gone this far with success, he decided to build on what had to be Duo's first move on him and his less than subtle hint that he was interested. "We should take this to the conference room, where we can talk," Heero told him. "The training personnel left a meeting there, and I know the room is available for the remainder of the unused hour." Duo appeared baffled by the turn of events or the flood of information. Why, Heero wondered? He took Duo by the elbow and steered him in the right direction. Duo seemed to recover and skipped along quickly, a nervous smile lurking around the corners of his mouth. Heero kept his expression fixed. He didn't know how he appeared to Duo, but wasn't concerned, because Duo had to be acquainted with his expressions by now. Heero paused at the door, cracking it open to make sure the room was empty. It was unoccupied as expected. "Hey, 'Ro?" Duo's voice sounded small. Was I frightening him, Heero wondered? Thinking now that he looked too stern, Heero worked at softening his eyes, parting his lips, looking, as Zechs had put it, 'Less intimidating.' "Yes?" "Lemme get this straight, er, completely understood. This is like a good kind of talk? Not a 'beat the shit out of Duo when no one's looking' kinda talk, right?" "Yes, of course. I think my reaction to your assault should have been a clue as to how I felt about you." "Assault? Y-yeah, sure. That was some kiss, I gotta say. A real toe curler. I just wanted to be super real sure. Can't be too careful, regardless of what Quat said." "Quat? What does he have to do with this?" Heero asked, although he could guess, the little schemer. He knew how Heero felt about Duo. His sensitive 'space heart' had told him. Heero thought it was more his 'sweet heart', Trowa, who had told him how crazy he'd reacted the last time Duo'd been shot and sent to the ER. Honestly, that dent in the door could have been from anyone's fist! Heero worked through the steps leading to the current situation. Trowa had done his math and figured out how Heero felt about Duo. Unable to do anything about it himself, Trowa had passed that juicy nugget on to his sheet-sharer. Quatre knew he'd struck gold, and didn't lose a microsecond latching onto Duo and giving him the news. And that explained why Duo wasn't afraid to make a public disturbance of his opening move. Now he wasn't so sure of my motives. Idiot. If he wasn't so sure of his source now, it had to be because of my actions, Heero concluded. Duo waited judiciously until the door closed behind them before replying. "He, um... hinted that I might have a chance with you. Just a hint. Could be wa-ay off base-" "Yeah, his little birdie 'space heart' told you so. He gave you that line, too?" Duo laughed and gilded Heero's world with his warmth. He dropped into a chair and settled his feet on the table top. A composed position, but Heero could see the tenseness in his shoulders and furtive eye contact. "Not exactly. Trowa told him about my being in the ER and you being worried." "Hn." Big mouths all of them. Heero pushed aside a book and pair of half-glasses, making room to hitch a leg up on the table. Propped on the edge , he could lean down over the attractive, nervously chatty man. "And you damaged the building when they wouldn't let you in to see me and Une had to have you led away-" Duo stopped to look down at his hands. His fingernails were chewed and he seemed poised to nibble at them again, but was hanging back. "It's true, though they shouldn't have told you." "But-!" "I should have told you then how I felt." He peeked up at me through his bangs. "Why didn't you?" "For all the reasons you said nothing to me. We had a good friendship and no surety of acceptance or success." Now he relaxed, slumped comfortably in the chair, and nodded his agreement. "True enough. And now?" "I'm still your friend," Heero told him, lowering his leg and taking a step closer. "Good." "I liked the kiss." While resting a hand on his shoulder, Heero swung a leg over Duo's and lowered himself onto his lap. "And the contact." "Contact's... good." Heero like how Duo's voice had gone husky, dry like the Tequila he liked to drink. Duo's feet hit the floor and arms wrapped around the slightly shorter man as Heero settled comfortably and pushed his groin into his flat stomach. The neatly braided head fell back and Duo moaned. "God, is this for real?" "I think we should try out that kiss again. Don't you?" Heero asked. "Yeah." Heero held up the other man's head, digging his fingers into that impossibly thick hair. He couldn't get over how sensitive his lips were, skimming over the delicate skin of Duo's eyelids. Lips were meant to do this, Heero thought, as he caressed further the rougher texture of his cheek. Tough hands dragged Heero's face into his, mashing lips onto lips, then Duo's parted and a moist tongue darted out. That's so like him. Heero cracked a smile, and let Duo muscle his way inside. Heero had never kissed like that. So invasive and primal. Heero growled and pushed back. Their tongues fought for territory, ownership of the other mouth. Heero was rocking on his lap- There was a click. Heero's back was to the door- proof of how completely out of it he was, because he never left himself so vulnerable, where he couldn't observe an attack- so he couldn't see who'd peeked in. Duo's eyes opened to mere slits then Heero felt him freeze and pull back. "Shit!" The door slammed shut again. "Who-?" Heero began to ask. "Chang!" Duo replied with an accompanying groan. "Of all the possible dickheads and dipsticks to be nosing around! Damnit all! I do not want to hear another of his lectures on 'inappropriate behavior in the workplace'!" Feeling their moment was lost, for the time being, Heero stood and gave his friend a hand up. "Nor do I. We should go after him. Talk to him." "Yeah, for all the good that'll do." "Let him vent around to just you and me," Heero said. "Right, and leave our bosses out of it?" Heero caught Duo's hand and for a moment his eyes. "It was good," he told him. "Yeah, it was. Not just a onetime thing, right?" "Not to me," Heero assured him. "We'll take up where we left off later." "I'll hold you to that," Duo said with a side smile. "Now, let's go see if we can put out the dragon's fire." "Mission accepted." It was an old comment of Heero's that came out of his mouth automatically still, but it sounded silly these days, he thought. Heero's smile went crooked to match Duo's. Before leaving, Heero reached across the table for the book and glasses, which he'd identified as Chang's. With the articles cradled in his hands, Heero scrambled to follow the flying braid attached to the man rushing to catch up to their intruder. (o) Wufei marched into his office and slammed the door so hard it bounced back open halfway and he was too upset to notice. "Dear Buddha." He stood, hands on his desktop, shoulder width apart, breathing in deep, measured breaths, preparing mentally to engage in his Tai Chi exercises. He would relieve his considerable stress. Immediately. Off flew the fitted Preventers jacket into a crumple on his chair, and then he took up his first position. Two steps into his exercises and his mind reverted to its former state of utter confusion. "I misinterpreted what I saw." He had not walked into a conference room and seen Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy locking lips in an embrace. Duo must have been joking around. Heero must have been shoving him away. Next position. Control breathing. Focus. "No. I didn't." It was possible that Duo had something in his eye, and Heero was showing him a new way to kill someone using only your tongue-* "Impossible!" He knew what he'd seen. There was no excusing it. They each had a hand embedded in the other's hair, a hand gripping the other's waist. They both were fully engaged in their act of... indecency. So shocking had been their display that he'd completely forgotten what he'd been going to do. "Why in hell had I gone looking in that room in the first place?" TBC... * A/N: Dear me, I must give credit to Waterlily for this one- she's got the bet sense of humor
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