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"Friends "Written By: Karina
Series: Friends Pairings: 2+6 Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence. Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the characters. That’s the way it is. Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.
Aussie spelling and unbetaed. Summary: When Milliardo Peacecraft is abducted
and left to die a solitary death Duo Maxwell decides to take a hand
in the proceedings.
Chapter 10 Duo stepped back and surveyed the tent. The storage space he laughingly called a pantry was large enough to take the tent and the fire without there being a real fear the fabric might catch fire. The wind entering the hut through cracks and holes in the building set the flames dancing, and he wanted to ensure there was no danger of roasting himself and his companion. The lodge groaned to a particularly violent gust of wind and he shook his head slightly, his unease the storm might bring down the building in no way eased by their more secure position. He had taken stones from the hearth and placed them near the fire to heat, liking his companion’s idea of using them to help heat the tent. Marquise lay dosing beside the fire, and Duo knew it was about time he worked the man into the shelter once again. //If I get Zechs settled and roll in a few heated stones we could share a hot food pack and then get ourselves sorted to sleep. I’m tired and now I know the roof won’t cave in on me I think I can sleep quite comfortably. First I’ll lean the door back up against the wall.// Zechs stirred as Duo stepped over him. While roomy for a pantry it was still a little cramped given they had the tent, two adult male bodies and the fire all in the one space. “I’ll get you into the tent just as soon as I put the door back in the hole. We can have something hot to drink and then get some sleep. I’ll check you over before I settle down and see what damage we did to the sleeping bag dragging you in here.” “Don’t put the door tightly in the space. If the lodge does come down we need to be able to investigate the damage, and make certain we can dig an air vent. This is a sealed cave and we will need some air flow, especially with the fire burning.” Duo nodded slowly. “Yep. I’ll be sure to leave a nice draught. I like breathing more than I like being cold. Man, I thought the colonies were cold. The colony in the L2 cluster I came from had problems with the heating much of the time. It was never cold enough to kill, but some days it seemed damnably close.” Duo stepped into the lodge and worked the door into position, backing into the cave carefully. After a moment he decided the best thing to do was to place the door a little to the right in the frame, this would leave an inch wide gap from floor to ceiling. Much of the icy air and wind would be cut off, but there would be sufficient air to allow the fire to vent and provide air for him and Marquise. He made use of the broken rope and a few stones taken from the outer hearth to secure the door in place. “I never had to worry about things like weather in space. I hear some of the fancier colonies have something approximating weather control, though the problems of keeping it running smoothly are still being worked on.” “They are making progress resolving the issues.” “I don’t see that it is necessary myself.” Duo stepped back from the door and rummaged in the packs. “It is expensive to maintain and I can’t see that it has any real benefit. Seems to me it’s just the rich showing off.” “Perhaps so.” “I’ll get you in the tent in a minute. I thought I would just choose what we will be eating. You feel up to it?” “I need a drink and I am hungry.” “Soup then. Maybe in the morning we might try you on something a little thicker, I have a couple of stews here. How did you find yourself in this mess?” Marquise had known that question would be coming. His home was supposed to be a secured location, known only to a select few, which made him wonder about the identity of his abductor. His enforced isolation must cut down on the list of suspects. “I was returning from a mission. Someone discovered the location of my home and was waiting for me.” “Wouldn’t think you would have a shitty security system.” Duo commented, studying ration packs before setting one aside. “It is rather a good one.” Zechs murmured. “It was compromised, though I did not know that at the time, and I have to wonder at the skill level required to circumvent it. The screens revealed nothing of the breach, and when I walked in the front door I felt something sharp hit me in the chest. I believe that to have been a tranquilizer dart.” “Well, when we get back to civilization, I guess we will need to find your not so friendly friend. I might just enjoy having a little chat with him.” He tossed a second ration pack from hand to hand absently. “Another chicken and vegetable broth would be best, I think. Did you see anything that might help identify your would be murderer?” “Nothing. I am not certain I would even recognize his voice, given he never spoke to me above a whisper, and then he hissed more than spoke. I rather think he did not like me.” Duo snorted. “Yeah. You might say that. Trying to murder someone the way he tried to do you in suggests the guy has issues. Personal, I would think, but he might be a nutcase who blames you for everything in his life that ever went wrong. I guess you need to have a talk to him about it.” Crystal blue eyes narrowed and Duo suppressed a shiver which had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. Marquise looked feral, the epitome of the cold blooded hunter who knew how to kill and had no fear of dealing death. Marquise might not know who his assailant was, but Duo did not doubt the would be killer was right at the top of the man’s personal hit list. “I have every intention of finding him and engaging in a quiet conversation.” Duo nodded, watching as Marquise ran a hand through his hair. That hair was matted and knotted, and he guessed the man was not feeling particularly comfortable with it in that condition. Long fine boned fingers carded through a long lock and snagged, and Marquise began to work on teasing the matted hair apart with shaking fingers. “Here. I have a brush and comb. Never leave home without one.” The blonde smiled slightly. “Normally I don’t either.” “Well, we can resolve the issue of your tangled mane easily. I’ll even have the honours, if you don’t mind. I think I can handle that mess a little better than you just now. Do you plait it before you sleep? “No. With a decent brushing usually it does not knot too badly, and I find if I tie it in a pony tail the tie resting at the back of my head usually keeps me awake and gives me a headache.” Duo carded his fingers through the pale mass and sighed. “Damn, I like your hair. Lighter and finer than mine and you have masses of it. I’m a really messy bird’s nest if I don’t braid at night.” Duo settled behind Zechs and with a little pulling and shuffling managed to get the blonde leaning against the packs. Now in a position where he had free access to the pale mass Duo settled down with comb in hand and gave himself over, to what for him, was a more than pleasant pastime. He found handling his own hair soothing, and he had always wanted to get his hands on this pale waterfall. “You let it grow after the war.” He commented. “It was mid back on you then and now you can sit on it.” “There was no reason good enough to cut it.” As the comb and brush began to work in his hair Zechs gradually relaxed, finding confidence in the competent hands working on the tangles. “How come you got to keep it long in the first place? I mean, Earth forces military make you buzz cut on signing up.” Zechs shuddered delicately and inclined his head slightly to allow Duo greater access to a particularly stubborn knot. He was finding Duo’s attentions rather pleasant, and tried not to think of nature programming shows showing monkeys grooming each other and narrators talking of social bonding. Where that thought came from he did not want to pursue. “Treize had influence in many circles and I was not just a mobile suit pilot. Some of the missions I was assigned required one to be not an obvious military man. At least, not an Oz or an Alliance soldier.” Duo paused and stared at the pale head under his hands. This was new. “You did undercover work?” “Yes. Work not too dissimilar to what I am doing now.” Duo frowned, returning his attention to the tangled mane. Drawing the brush through the long stands he considered the wisdom of pursuing this line of conversation, but Marquise seemed not to be disturbed. He closed his mouth on a comment, frowning and after a moment took a smaller lock of hair and repeated the brushstroke, his frown deepening as the hair parted. “Your mask… was that to stop people from recognizing you as a Peacecraft, or was it a means to hide your face for those undercover missions?” Zechs smiled, resting his chin on his crossed arms, allowing the weight of the packs to support him. “Very good, Duo. Most people would not have made the connection, but then, not many knew about those missions. The mask served both purposes. When I graduated from the academy I took to wearing the mask to separate myself from my undercover persona. It ensured no one recognized me as a Peacecraft, or placed this face as the face of Zechs Marquise, Oz Specials officer. I had been told, on too many occasions, I closely resembled my father, though I could never actually see it. When the pace of the war began to pick up, my undercover missions became fewer and I was required to be Zechs Marquise, mobile suit pilot. Zechs was, by then, synonymous with the mask and the hair. ” “I never did understand how someone your age could have that high a rank in the military.” Duo worked the last of the mat out and ran the brush carefully through the lock of hair before moving on to another, though he kept his eyes on the last lock he had untangled. “It was not so unusual when you consider the Specials were not standard troops. We had our own ranking system which contained fewer ranks, and required very specific requirements to attain promotion within the rank structure. How else could Treize be an acknowledged Colonel at the age of twenty three? Special’s was, literally, special.” “He was twenty three when he was made a Colonel? Damn, that is young. No wonder he upset the Alliance hierarchy.” “He earned his rank; it was not gifted to him by family connections. He was brilliant and… and he was only twenty five when he died.” A low murmur. Duo hesitated and decided he did not want to go there. Rumours had abounded during the war about the man who had died as the World Sovereign. At one stage these two men had been the best of friends, yet they had ended up on opposing sides of the conflict and tried to kill each other. War did strange things to people, he mused, his gaze moving to the knot he was currently working on. “Ah, Zechs, have you got a girlfriend?” Blonde brows lowered and fine lips pursed. A girlfriend? Had Lucrezia not broadcast it to Preventers that he was homosexual? He had expected her to, but Duo did not work for Preventers, he reminded himself, though he would have thought his friends would have informed him of the scandal. Perhaps the Gundam Pilots were above petty rumour mongering? “No. Why?” He had no idea what Maxwell was leading up to, but he was not of a mind to discuss his love life… or lack there of. His personal life was not an open discussion, even to the man who had saved him. “I was wondering if you were the romantic sort and gave away locks of your hair.” “Excuse me?” Zechs glared over his shoulder at Duo, who was fingering long stands of hair with a thoughtful look on his face. “Well, if you are not the romantic sort to give away pieces of your crowning glory, then I’d venture to guess maybe your would-be murderer took a trophy.” At the confusion in those light blue eyes Duo shrugged. “Someone cut a lock of your hair, not from an obvious place, but a reasonable sized bit. Maybe our man likes to keep trophies, and if so, it may help us to prove who he is.” End ~ * ~ |
