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"Halfway to Sublimity"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: When Duo moves to a new town on the river,
he meets a young man running the river and a rich boy who seems nice.
Maybe he'll settle down for awhile, or maybe not. "Halfway to Sublimity" Chapter Nine Treize, Duo, Wufei, Heero, Quatre, and Trowa taking turns like good boys (POV)
Thanks to Silver Cateyes for the use of the "the cabin is far too small to house three men, and of course Trowa must stay up at the mansion" line and idea. Governor Treize Khushrenada did money right. He had his own investment firm in the capital city of Sanc and moved a lot of money around, both for himself and a select few clients. He backed numerous overland freighters, turning poor bushwhackers into rich merchants. But as of late, he liked start-ups. Naturally, he would warn his clients away from volatile-looking ones, but they didn't always take his advice. It astonished him how reckless people were with their money, how eager to part with it at first sniff of something that looked promising, but probably wasn't, like hounds on the trail of a fox. Or flies to honey. Honey... Honey was the color of her hair. Leia. How Dekim Barton fathered so lovely a thing as Leia, Treize didn't know. Barton's daughter was a sweet young lady Treize had been the first to taste. Leia, oh Leia! She was really-- I miss her. His thought, unfinished, stumbled up against loss. His dead mistress, Leia Barton, occupied his thoughts for several minutes. Hounds on the trail of a fox. No, Dekim Barton was more like the lowly fly than man's best friend. Treize didn't think the mercenary leader was anyone's best friend, but he held to the belief that one should keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.The originator of that quote was the Chinese general and military strategist, Sun Tzu, from L5. He would know; he wrote "The Art of War", which Treize had read at the age of eight. Treize withdrew the heavy tome from his bookcase, where it had been holding up other, lesser books for years, and flipped trough the pages, looking for a highlighted line. Sun Tzu had explored the possibility of victory without violence and stressed the need to win before the battle has even begun via proper strategy and attitude, a philosophy which Treize, General Khushrenada, had applied assiduously and, in return, had brought him countless victories in the past. "Why do you fail me now that I must resort to the Dekim Barton's of this world to conduct my battles?" he asked the pages. He left the book open where he had underscored: "He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain." Treize felt he was that man; at least, very nearly. Treize picked off the uppermost file from a stack of many and opened it again. Would Tsubarov's new invention give him the ultimate edge? The steam engine. How could steam power a cart or a boat? It was preposterous! And the chief engineer was demanding more money for R&D. Still, it was a start-up company and Dekim Barton had both an application for the product and the greed to pay for the rights. His question was whether the steam engine was would turn out to be sweet, profitable honey or a cunning fox. (o) Duo looked over Heero: a brooding, sulky-lipped hunk, a stud somewhere between eighteen and nineteen, with hairless, highly sculpted pectoral muscles on prominent display as he unbuttoned his shirt. Nothing was going to stop Duo now. They had finally broken through that "we're both dudes that like dudes" barrier. After that kiss, he wasn't going to let Heero backtrack into his shell, form regrets, or have second thoughts. Time for cementing their relationship. The first problem turned out to be Howard. The Sweepers' leader put a stop to their progress by blocking the entry to the bath house. "You get dirty water on that wound and you'll be fighting an infection sure as rats on a wharf. I'll give you boys a hand." "Shoot'im, 'Ro." Duo thought his previous boss's bright shirt with painted exotic flowers made a damned good target. "I understand," Heero said to the older man, disregarding Duo's nonsense. "I can take care of him, alone." "That's what I'm attempting to stop," Howard said. "If you get my drift. Some of the boys, well, they aren't too forgiving of boy-love at all." Duo dipped his chin and struggled with his embarrassment. It was like having your father tell you he was going to stay in the room so you and your boyfriend couldn't have sex. Exactly. "He's gonna wash my hair. Can't do it with one hand, can I?" "Generous boy!" Howard hooted and opened the door. "I'll just keep the conversation going. Been awhile, Maxwell." "Pervert," Duo muttered as he passed. Howard just laughed his sneezy laugh at the jibe. Duo's second problem was with the bandaging on his arm and the deep tub. He'd have to sit with that arm out, resting high and dry on the edge. Not so great for cuddling. Heero helped Duo into the tub, which he'd filled partway with warm water, then proceeded to unravel his braid. "Once you told me that you specialized in recovery and reclamation, moving goods on and off flatboats with Howard and the Sweepers, and running materials up to the salvage yards of Serendipity. You meant raiding pirate boats, didn't you?" Heero asked. "Heh, heh... Figured that one out on your own?" Duo asked. "We do all kinds of recovery, but cleaning up on the pirates is new, and the most profitable," Howard admitted. "Duo's good at river work," Heero said, his voice taking on a hard edge. "Always was a good worker," Howard said. "So, why did you let him go, send him away?" Heero demanded. "Hey! I'm sitting here!" Duo cried out. "Ouch! Fuck! The other end of that stuff's attached to my head!" "Right." Heero untangled his hands from Duo's hair with the dexterity he saved for just that. "What I'm talkin' 'bout-" Duo grumbled. "Keep your eyes to yerself, old man!" Howard hacked his raspy laugh and looked away. "Damned nuisance, that hair." "Hold your breath." Heero pushed Duo's head under water and said to Howard. "You knew the man, Solo, was leading the pirate ring, and that Duo was running from him." "Yeah, might as well be honest," Howard said. Duo surfaced, sputtering. "Fuckittohell! Gimme a chance to catch some air next time, 'Ro!" "Sorry." Heero massaged the bar of soap into his hair, scratching Duo's scalp just how Duo liked. "Better?" "Oh, yeah..." Heero worked the suds into the long strands and let Duo take care of his private parts. He would have like to have washed all of him, but with Howard puttering around, Heero avoided teasing himself with tempting thoughts. "So, Duo works for you now?" Howard asked. "We are partners. We share the work and a house." Heero wasn't sure about Duo's job agreement with Howard, so he added, "Until, ah, the one here with you reopens, if that's what he wants." Duo tensed up under his hands. "Um, about that position," Howard said. "Things are pretty tight. Even with this hoard to re-sell, business is damned slow. I don't even know if I'll be able to recall any of the men I laid off." Duo could feel Heero's shrug. "Duo's got a job for as long as he wants with me." "Doing what?" Duo grumbled. "I can't do a piss-ant thing until the ribs heal and my arm, ugh. I'll take weeks and you need-" "I need you, ah..., fit again, but I ran the river alone before. I'll just do less, like before." Heero said. "I'm going to dunk you again, now, to rinse. Ready?" Duo held his breath and nodded then down he went. "Did Duo tell you about how he and I met?" Howard asked. Heero said "yes" and let Duo up for air. "Again. Ready?" As Duo submerged Howard said, "The boy was a whore, or about to become one." Howard paused while Duo splashed around and surfaced again. "But he was so...spirited. He hadn't been beaten down yet, so I picked Duo up off the streets and gave him a job and a home." "Aw, not that story, Howie," Duo moaned. "Heero knows all that." "You don't think he wants to hear more about you was screwed, blued, and tattooed?" Howard asked, wheezing as he broke into his peculiar laugh. Duo caught Heero's eyes with a worried look. "He means that I was pretty badly messed up, that's all." "I know." Heero nodded and handed him a towel. "Here. I'll get another for your hair." Duo said, "Hurry up! I wanna bust ass outta here before this poor schmuck Howard starts going all schmaltzy on us." Howard grinned and turned away, heading for the door. But Duo didn't feel safe yet. As soon as the second towel appeared, he reached for it, but Heero reeled in him closer. "Let me do this." Heero's flat toned voice sounded sexy when he whispered. "Okay." Duo's voice going husky with lust. "Ah, hell, 'Ro, you didn't get a bath." "Tomorrow." Heero pressed and squeezed the water from the longest parts, and then helped Duo wrap the towel around his head. "There." His eyes trailed over the bruised chest, but didn't flinch. And then Heero leaned closer and pressed his lips to Duo's very surprised ones. The kiss was hardly more than a chaste peck, followed by a promise of "more later." "And that's why I can't leave you alone for a minute!" Howard's voice carried all the way to the house where the man stood waiting for them. "Hurry up. We got two more to wash up before the doctor arrives." Bathing Trowa was a much greater chore, since his entire leg had to be kept dry. To Trowa's embarrassment, Wufei lent Heero a hand, setting him on an upturned bucket in the middle of the tub with his bum leg resting high and dry on the side. Wufei and Heero took turns pouring water over Trowa, while he washed up as best he could. He dried off, and with their help, dressed in an extra shirt and worn, loose pants Howard found. The one pant leg was slit to the knee and rolled up, enabling it to fit over the heavy bandaging. His damaged buckskin pants and Duo's ripped shirt had been sent out for repair, and the rest of the boys' worn, grimy clothes had been carried away for laundering. Once Trowa was settled on the couch, he gave into his exhaustion, closed his eyes, surrounded by kind, generous folks offering him the kind of friendship and safety he hadn't known in many years, and awaited his turn to see the doctor. (o) Wufei changed the water, leaving Heero and Howard to carry away the done-in, young Cajun back to the house, and took his own bath in dignified silence and privacy. When Wufei returned to the house, the doctor was just leaving and passing on his woeful advice. Trowa was smoking-- no, holding an unlit cigarette in his hand and staring with rueful concentration at the fire, hoping the cigarette would light spontaneously for him, no doubt. Duo was sitting very near Heero. Very. With shoulders touching. Well, that was progress, Wufei decided. "Continue to replace the dressings as I've shown you," the doctor said in his doomsday voice. Wufei thought the man had missed his calling. He should have run a mortuary service. Maybe he did. Wufei guessed he'd contributed to it often enough with his primitive medicine. "I've left plenty for the next week, after that you must find your own dressings. You'll have to go to the apothecary's for sterile bindings. Of course, there's no telling, no telling. Infection can start up at anytime. Ah, but you were awfully lucky, you know. Could have hit the artery and then you would have been in dire straits, dire!" "Hey, handsome." Hilde rested a hand on Wufei's arm and gently turned him toward her. "You promised to walk me into town, and now I need a few things for dinner. Ready?" Well, he had promised. And, even though it wouldn't be dark for hours, being summer with light long into the evening hours, a woman should not walk unattended at night. "Yes." "And don't you dare smoke in my house, Trowclair!" she shouted back over her shoulder on her way out. She stomped off grumbling. "Miss Hilde," Wufei called out. He kept pace with ease, but he didn't understand why she was in such a rush and suddenly mad. "Was it something I said?" "You? Why should anything you say matter at all?" "Well, I-" had nothing to say that contributed to the conversation or made any sense whatsoever. "You just sail in, flailing that sword of yours around like some hero out of an old Chinese folktale, looking all gallant and brave and then you're so cultured and kind and thoughtful." Wufei was at a loss for words. He wasn't any of those things, was he? Well, cultured and brave, certainly. And-what was she saying now? "And you have to go so soon? With them? Oh, I know, you have to help out while Duo's hurt and can't pull his weight, I know, I know. But after that, you can come visit, can't you?" "You want to see me again?" he asked doubtful that such a thing could be true; no one else did. She wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace and kissed him firmly. "Yes, damn you anyway with your foreign charm and sexy smile." He hadn't thought he had a sexy smile. One eyebrow rose more than the other and the corners of his lips turned up oh so slightly. "Yeah, that one, hot stuff!" When Wufei and Hilde returned to the house with the bottle of wine she insisted they buy, the house had filled with five more of the Sweeper's team. Dinner was served, as were several rounds of drinks, and river tales told. All Heero and Duo exchanged were hungry gazes, in spite of the food. By the time Hilde shooed the excess hangers-on away, the invalids were nodding off. Trowa remained on the couch, but Duo was settled on piles of blankets, next to Heero. Wufei arranged his "bed" a little further off, although the he needn't have bothered. Heero and Duo kept their feelings for one another platonic, respectful, and chaste, from all outward appearances. Still, Heero remained restless. "Go take a bath; you'll sleep better," Wufei hissed. "Your ceaseless noise-making is keeping me awake." Heero agreed and slipped out from under the blanket and crept to the door. "A cold one would help the most," Wufei added. And then he realized he said that wearing his sexy smile. (o) The next day, Heero headed out to the loading docks and freight storage before dawn. He found the foreman and determined that the tobacco shipment would be a week late. That meant he needn't bother stopping by again before that time. He walked through town looking for a few items. There was no way he would carry the Cajun around anymore, so he purchased a sturdy crutch for Trowa's use, and on a whim, wandered along a cobbled street lined with street merchants and panhandlers. Heero thought it resembled Sublimity's Saturday Market, reduced to a single street. There, he purchased some bread, cheese, and, strangely, fresh apricots from a woman hawking her wares from a hand basket. When he returned, the boys said their final goodbyes to Hilde and Howard at the house, thanking them profusely, and promising to return and visit soon. Hilde's eyes glistened with moisture, but she stood strong. "Y'all take good care of one another and come back soon." "Next week I have a tobacco load to pick up," Heero said. "I shall accompany him," Wufei announced. His eyes were on Hilde the entire time. "Of course you will. He needs ya now that Duo's all gimpy. And you're all gallant and all." She broke out into a grin. "Aw, c'mon and gimme a hug, all of you!" Heero's hug was stiff and brief. Trowa's sincere with a whispered word or two. Duo gave her a one-armed squeeze, "See ya when I can." But Wufei's embrace lasted the longest. As they walked and hobbled to Heero's flatboat, Duo nudged Wufei. "Hey, that looked pretty chummy back there." Wufei glared hotly, but Duo looked to be already melting in the sun so it hardly mattered. "That's all right. Hilde's a pretty classy little lady, actually. From money. Old money, but her mum died, and then her dad became a drunkard so she ran off. She took her fortune with her and bought this house and a boat. Howard took her under his wing." "Like he did you." "Yeah," Duo said, "For all I know she's got more stashed away, but more likely she's supporting the rest of the Sweepers' business." "It would explain Howard releasing you and keeping a woman, even a strong one like her." "That's one way of looking at it, yeah." Duo's eyes slid to the side and he ran his fingers through his damp bangs. "I guess it must seem pretty insulting to you for a guy to be passed over for a girl, huh?" Wufei shrugged. "For anyone but Miss Hilde. She is an exceptional woman." "Chang! Give me a hand here!" Heero shouted. It took Heero and Wufei both to get Trowa on the boat without collapsing. Walking with a crutch was hard and he was still weak. He settled heavily on the floor of the boat with his back to the cabin and his knapsack on his lap and groaned. He didn't even check on his small skiff tied up beside. Heero took that as a sign of how unfit the guy really was and felt bad for him. Duo moved slowly, bending his bruised ribs as little as possible and with his injured arm cradled in a sling. "Where's Winner's chest of bullion?" Wufei asked. "De anchor fo my skiff?" Trowa said, bemused. "Under de water." "I was going to cut the rope and leave it," Heero said, motioning with his knife. "No!" Wufei shouted. "Don't do that!" "Why--?" Heero just shook his head. "Then you pull it up." Wufei gestured toward the on-board winch. "Why not use that?" Because it took time and Heero wanted to go; he didn't even have to explain. But Wufei was determined to return the valuable trunk and its worthless contents to Quatre, because he had made him a promise and he was a man of his word. Honor and all that, blah, blah, blah. So Heero helped him detach the rope from Trowa's skiff and attach it to the wench. Then they cranked, and cranked and the load rose by means of the rope wound around the cylinder. When the chest broke the surface, the dead weight made it hard to maneuver onto the boat. Trowa and Duo held the winch handle, so the rope didn't slip and to support the weight while Wufei and Heero manhandled the strongbox to the floor of the boat. "You know, Quatre will just laugh at you for schlepping that piece of shit back to him," Duo said. "I made a promise," Wufei said and turned away, ready to leave. This meant that after settling Duo and Trowa at the tiller and tossing Wufei one pole Heero had only to push off with the other long pole, and they were on their way. It was upstream all the way, but it was in the direction of home, making the work lighter somehow. Wufei found the rhythm of the work good for thinking, and his thoughts migrated to the young woman who had captured his imagination. Of course, she wasn't the right woman for him. Hilde was too independent, too boyish, and yet completely unforgettable. He sighed. He liked the tingly excitement he felt around her. And when he wasn't with her, Wufei felt a contentment that made him invulnerable. It was as if Hilde had dressed him in invisible, invincible armor. He imagined himself like a dragon and the miles swept past. Lunch was a quick break in a shady cove. Wufei dove into the beer, which had been chilling in the water by the side of the boat. No one turned down a dripping bottle of refreshment. Heero cut slices off the loaf and cheese wedge and handed them out with an apricot apiece. "Like a baby's bottom," Duo cooed as he rubbed the fuzzy fruit against his cheek. Wufei snorted. "Disgusting imagery." "Or your girlfriend's-" Duo whispered. "My what?" "You heard. You and Hilde were torching up the place." Wufei turned away and bit savagely into his bread. "I'll bet she asked you about your mother on that private little walk you took last night." "What makes you say that?" "She did, didn't she? What did ya tell her? Tell me that, and I'll tell ya why." "I don't see why I'm playing your game, but since there is nothing for me to be ashamed of ... well, I told her my mother was a virtuous woman whose memories I preserve with the greatest honor. She supported my scholastic endeavors against the will of my father, who wanted nothing more than for me to be a captain in the army. I regard her highly, and, now that she is gone, I must live up to her estimation of me with distinction." Duo absorbed what he said, then asked, "Wanna know why she asked? Well, Hilde once told me that you can always tell how a man will treat his woman by the way he treats his mother, the first woman in is life. And, you, Wu-man, just passed the test with flying colors!" "Finish eating," Heero said in a flat tone of voice. "It'll only get hotter or start raining as we sit here." Lunch break was over. The sun was hot and the humidity climbed. Trowa pulled his hat over his face, made a pillow of his knapsack, and dozed. Duo fell asleep listening to the slapping of the waves on the sides of the boat after dotting himself with more of Wufei's bug-be-gone salve. Heero and Wufei made it a contest, exercising strenuously to make record time upstream to home. When the two invalids awoke hours later, Heero and Wufei were already unloading the pelts and furs in Sublimity. A summer shower made the job more difficult, but with their home dock minutes away, no one complained. (o) Wufei's letter had proudly announced their good news, having bested the pirates (relieving Quatre's worst fears); mentioned their delay due to injuries, although none life-threatening (for which Quatre was thankful); noted in passing that Heero had picked up another 'bounder,' on the lam from Dekim Barton's gang (who sounded fantastically exciting to Quatre); and warned him of further delays due to one final stop at the tannery before coming home (which was a problem so inconsequential that Quatre dismissed Wufei's concern outright). This information, however, allowed Quatre to approximate their time of arrival. In order to be on time to greet his friends and welcome them all home (plus this new edgy parvenu character they were bringing along), though, required more precise information. So, he stationed a messenger boy on horseback at the tannery, who was to ride to the estate and tell him when Heero's boat was sighted. They should be only minutes away now. As Quatre waited at the dock with a carriage, he mused upon the condition of his friends, and the newcomer, the mysterious stranger. What would he be like? They wouldn't bring anyone home they didn't like, and Quatre trusted Duo's taste; he'd found Heero, after all! He spotted the boat, flew from the carriage, and ran to the dock, waving deliriously. "Oh, dear!" He took one look at Trowa in his manly deerskin coat and smiled. "Hello!" He hoped to God that the man was a homosexual. "Yo, Quat!" "Duo, you look terrible. How do you feel? I'm so sorry you were hurt. This was all my fault, suggesting that silly pirate-killing mission." Heero interrupted Quatre's rambling chatter. "Winner, you needn't have come to meet us." Wufei added his own comment. "In my note I suggested meeting tomorrow. I'm not up to anything but rest right now." "I know, that's why I'm here... Oh, my-" Whatever Quatre had been about to say was wiped from his mind. A warm hand covered his. The handsome stranger with the long fall of caramel hair covering one side of his face, masking him in mystery, offered him a handshake. "'Lo. Ah'm Trowa Barton, at you're service, s'il vous plais." Quatre swallowed. The light caught the man's visible eye just right and it sparkled like an emerald in the sand. "Ah, je fais!" Quatre whispered as he stepped forward and helped him from the boat with a strong hand. "Well, now. I'm Winner Raberba Winner and I'll accept your service, anytime." Trowa blinked. Quatre hadn't meant that to sound as forward as it came out (or had he?), but it was too late to take it back. Heero busied himself with tying up the flatboat and gathering the stray papers. Duo grinned and probably would have said something embarrassing had Heero not shoved the knapsacks into his face. "Take these." Wufei cleared his throat. "You've met. Good. Here, you can have this piece of tonnage back," Wufei said. He pointed to the chest of faux gold and then lugged one half of the strongbox onto the dock with Heero handling the other side. "Thanks for returning the bullion." Quatre patted the box and opened it. "It's all here. Great! I really didn't want to lose it." Heero pushed his way forward, coming to a stop inches from Quatre. "It's not real." "Oh, but it is! You see, I hadn't time to get fake bricks made." Wufei sputtered in Chinese something to the effect of "How horrible it was to think that a fortune in gold could have slipped into the water, or, worse yet, been sent to the bottom of the river on purpose just to relieve them of the weight!" but peppered liberally with what Quatre assumed to be curses and expletives in his native tongue. "You didn't know?" Heero asked Wufei, obviously angry. "NO!" "Aw, don't go pulling an attitude, 'Fei," Duo said as he knelt by the gold. "I'm sorry," Quatre began at once, "I tried to fix up a few fake bricks, but the coating just pealed off. A-and we had it all planned and timed so carefully! It was too late to make up convincing replicas. I couldn't have backed out, could I? Anyway, I didn't tell Wufei the truth because I didn't actually want him or any of you to risk your lives for just gold. And you would have, wouldn't you?" Duo drooled over the shining, gold spectacle before him. "If I can keep one, just one, I'll give you anything." He embraced what he could of the bullion and rubbed his cheek across the cool surfaces. "Um-mm." Heero yanked him to his feet by his good arm. "No, you won't. Think again. Dammit, Winner get that shit out of my sight." "Sorry. I should have told you," Quatre said quietly and closed the lid. "Yes, you should have. It's my boat." "Then let me make it up to you." Quatre took one handle, pulled (it didn't budge), and looked up, coloring slightly. "Ah, but first, I could use a hand with this." When Trowa made a lame attempt at hobbling over to help, Wufei nearly knocked him off his feet in a huff. "I'll get that." Heero had to lend them a hand to lift and finally carry the dead weight to the carriage. "If you are done, I'd like to see my house." By this time, Quatre Winner concluded that the little fishing cottage was far too small to house three men, especially the tall, lanky man in the buckskin coat with the long, swingy fringe. Yum. No, that beaten down little couch in the front room wouldn't do at all, what with the lame leg. Besides, he'd require nursing and Heero, nice as he was, would not be up to the task. Quatre felt ready to take on any mission. "I don't want to hear any excuses, you included, Wufei. You have nothing to eat." Quatre swung about and looked at the open-mouthed Duo. "Ruggles and Lucifer are in my barn. The storm was terrifying so Todd collected them." He raised a hand and took on Heero last (Trowa would put up no arguments, Quatre guessed.) "I have rooms ready, beds made up, and dinner waiting. I want to hear everything. And I know you're tired." Still, being the polite host, he turned to the handsome new face and extended his invitation. "Trowa, you must stay at my place. I have oodles of space." "He's not pulling your chain, either. It's a honking, bad-ass place," Duo said, his voice muffled from inside the carriage. Trowa stood shaking his head in disbelief. "And dey say I talk funny! Yes, I'll stay de night and accept your hos-pi-tal-i-ty. Merci, Monsieur Winner." Duo was in the carriage before Quatre got past the "nothing to eat" part. Heero gave up and hopped in beside him before Trowa got the same idea. Wufei didn't look like he could have walked to the end of the dock, much less all the way to his own home. Quatre could recognize exhaustion when it stared him in the face, and was relieved when Wufei climbed aboard without a gripe. The driver assisted Trowa and his crutch into a seat, Quatre jammed himself next to him with an unapologetic smile, and they set off. It was after teatime when they finally skirted the Watergardens property and dusk was coming on. They could hear water coursing. The countryside was full of rills and springs so that after a rain, there were parts of the land that turned into ballets of water: tiny falls into larger streams; streams into great forces; water flowing into ponds, lakes and eventually the Rogue river which emptied hundreds of miles away into a great sea. "Rashid! Please, get Amid to take care of the bullion later. I need you to assist Mr. Barton to a room where he can clean up. Oh, yes, thank you, Rashid. Mr. Maxwell can use your assistance, too." With professional ease, the guests were bustled into the house, cleaned up, and put to rest in a cool, downstairs sitting room awaiting the evening meal. (o) Trowa sat down in an armchair and felt the relief in his back. He hadn't known how tired he was until he sat down. He looked across the room through the crystal-cut picture window at some forest scene and a wall. Only part of the house could be seen; the rest was obscured by oceans of flower gardens and the woodland in front and the mountains rising behind. But what woods and mountains! He had glimpsed the property many times, but never dreamed he'd be inside as a guest of its owner. And Quatre Winner was no easy man to dismiss. "Now, I want to know everything about your adventure," Quatre began, his eye flashing with excitement. "But first, have you received medical assistance for your injuries?" "Yes!" Trowa and Duo along with Heero and Wufei answered in chorus. "Sorry! I wanted to make sure you were okay." "Is dinner gonna take much longer?" Duo asked. "Not at all," Quatre said to Duo. "You're not too bad off if appetite is any indication," Quatre said with added warmth this time. "So, tell me about the pirates. Were they where we expected? How many?" "He's always this way," Duo whispered when Trowa began to chuckle. "The pirate's hid their boat roughly where we expected it to be, but did not launch an attack until miles further where they lured us closer. How, is not important. Let's just say-" Duo interrupted Wufei. "If it hadn't been for my instincts, we would have been trapped in shallower water or even landed." Wufei fanned the air. "Possibly, but the point is, if there hadn't been a storm, we would have out run them and made it into Serendipity first. As it was-" Duo piped up again. "Howard, Hilde, and the rest of the Sweepers, not to mention our bud, 'Tro, here, saved our asses." "I see," said Quatre, turning to look at Trowa. "You arrived with the Sweepers, then?" "Around de same time, but not de same route." "He was spying on the boat at the wharf in Tumbletown. When pressed, it seemed to me-" Duo interrupted Wufei for the third time in a row. "He warned me. Word about our gold delivery was out." As he lit each of the oil lamps in the room, Quatre blue eyes caught the light. When the air stirred, his wide eyes appeared to shimmer with the lively reflections. "You risked your life for total strangers?" "I, ah-" Trowa's voice remained trapped in his throat. "Not total, exactly," Duo went on. "Turns out, 'Tro's been on the run from Dekim's guys. He even hid out at the cabin, before I moved in. So it's all cool. He took a bullet aimed at Ro's head and 'Ro saved me from getting' my throat slit." Duo acted out the scene, sans Solo. "Silently and swiftly, his shiv found its way beneath my jaw. I stabbed at his thigh, then BAM! Heero was all over him." "Not exactly," Heero muttered. Not swayed, Duo continued, "He was awesome! Oh, yeah, and 'Fei awed the pirates with his mighty sword." "And then the Sweeper's arrived-" Wufei put in. "Yeah, 'cause I wrote Hilde 'bout the plan so she'd know," Duo said. "I wasn't taking chances getting killed-" "Oh, certainly not," said Wufei, "not you. I suppose when you were jumping aboard the attacking ship and going after the leader alone, that was all carefully planned out and risk-free?" "Not exactly," Duo gestured with one hand then started twisting his braid tie. "I didn't know that was the leader." Trowa heard Heero's intake of breath, a hiss, moments before the man spun Duo's chair around to face him. "You recognized the man. You intentionally went after... Solo because you knew him-and you didn't bother to tell me!" "Not... no... You're reading too much into this," Duo said. "Certainly too much intelligent thought and premeditation," Wufei muttered. "I mean. I wasn't gonna start shooting into a crowd and hit you or 'Fei, so I moved up to gimme some space. When I got close in, I saw him." "Solo." "Yeah, Solo." "You knew who he was." "Not at first. Hell, I hadn't seen the guy for a couple years and what with the rain and all. But it was the gold tooth that did it." Trowa looked at Wufei, who shook his head and looked at Heero. "What gold tooth?" Heero asked. "Oh, the missing one. He had one when I knew him, then he got in this fight protecting me, sorta, and it got knocked out. I, ah, kept it for the longest time, but had to sell it to eat and all..." Duo's voice trailed off. "Then you must have been very close to the pirate, this... Solo... man, and that's when you saw the missing tooth," Quatre summarized. "Yeah, but by that time it was too late to warn Heero or anybody, and I was outta ammo, so I tried to tell him who I was, maybe strike a deal and get him to back off. But when I got close enough for him to hear my voice over the storm, he grabbed me. And that's when I went for my knife. So did he, but lucky for me, 'Ro saved me, and Tro' him." Quatre folded his arms over his chest with a sigh. "I hate to think what you would have done had you known the gold you were delivering was real." He smiled at Trowa. "What would they have done without you? And I feel so responsible for your getting hurt." The door opened and the hulking, dark presence of Rashid filled the doorway. "Dinner is served, sir." Trowa didn't know quite what to say to that. In fact, he didn't know what to say to Quatre Winner. "Ah, you shouldn't. You couldn't have foreseen-" "But I feel your pain. Let me help you," Quatre said. "I think you'll like the food here." Trowa had no choice but to let the young, handsome master of the house wrap an arm around him and support him all the way to the dining table. He had to admit he'd had worse helpers before. As he passed them, Wufei whispered to Quatre, "You know the way to a man's heart is not necessarily through his stomach." Trowa was stunned. He didn't know his feelings sent shock waves crashing onto Quatre's sensitive psyche. Trowa was even more confused when Quatre's wayward lurch nearly caused him to lose his balance as he whispered, "be still, my heart."
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