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"Caught in the Crossfire "Written By: Miss Murdered Disclaimer: I don't own the GW characters –
am just borrowing to torment for my amusement Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Swearing, yaoi, violence, hints of long
past NCS Pairings: Primarily 3x2, past/presentish 1x2,
past 3x4 and 1x3 Summary: When Trowa's nephew is threatened by
the ruthless father who abandoned him, Trowa needs help in order to
fight back and protect both Catherine and the little boy. Things get
complicated when both Shinigami and the Perfect Soldier come to his
aid as the three men must discover where they stand with each other
while they work out a way to protect Trowa's family. "Caught in the Crossfire "
Chapter 12 Reunion They were waiting
for Heero, the atmosphere tense as Duo paced and ignored Trowa sitting
on the chair and Quatre sitting on the couch. Conversation had been
attempted on Quatre's part. Trowa had steadfastly ignored it –
answering with "yeah's" or "no's" – and offering
no more. Catherine avoided
the tension, avoided Quatre, a barely repressed sneer on her face
at his arrival and Duo could almost see she was biting her tongue
so hard that it might bleed. Metaphorically. Or maybe not so much. Quatre had arrived
three hours before Trowa had, Duo meeting with him at a small bistro
down the corner as he expected him to arrive in suit with the Magunacs
as, out of all of them, Quat was the least sneaky, least stealthy,
and he was the one Duo thought might give their location away. After
all, he was one of the most recognisable faces in the whole earth
sphere. The world's most famous billionaire. But he'd barely noticed
him as he walked into the bistro, messy dirty blond hair, a few days
of stubble, a faded hoodie and ripped jeans. He was dressed like Duo
did normally as a disguise – the concept amused him. They'd shaken
hands, Duo unsure whether they should hug, greet each other like old
friends but they weren't even that anymore. Too much time had passed. Duo had asked questions
that he already knew answers to – knew he'd married, knew he'd
had kids. When he brought out
pictures, twins, a boy and a girl, Duo had looked and tried not to
ask the question that had popped into his head. Probably asking if
they were conceived the old–fashioned way was inappropriate but
then he knew the story of all his sisters and his curiosity was piqued.
He guessed he'd never thought about kids – being woefully ill–equipped
to deal with his own fucked up life never mind anyone else's life
in his hands but then he wondered with all the shit their bodies went
through at such a young age whether they'd be capable. Guess he'd never
know. Quatre had come back to the apartment, waited with him as the
explosions were heard in the background and Catherine panicked, Duo
soothing her until they arrived back. Now they waited for Heero. Duo wondered if he
was waiting, as always, to make some kind of dramatic entrance –
always the quiet ones, he thought. Then when time ticked by he worried
– Heero injured and Nabokov's men in number and highly paid mercs,
not the shit that had been sent first time around. He avoided Trowa's
eye – a little uncomfortable in his gaze but he felt those deep
green eyes on him as he paced, finally relieved when the knocking
on the door indicated Heero – the coded rapping of knuckles against
wood making Duo start. "I'll get it,"
he said. Trowa merely grunted and Quatre nodded. As he walked out
of the door, he wondered if Quatre might attempt conversation but
he didn't – and Duo felt a damn knot in his stomach for what
he'd done to Trowa. He thought of how complicated his own feelings
for Heero were and they weren't coloured by the shit that went down
at the end of their relationship. Least Heero hadn't married Relena
and had some 2.4 children. Duo opened the door
and let Heero in – his sharp eyes taking in everything. He was
a little dirty, but beyond that seemed fine – a bag slung over
his shoulder. "You okay?" It was an irritated
growl he got in response. "I'm fine." Duo tried to say
something else and Heero stopped him. "Now that you're fucking
Trowa stop acting like we're together." It wasn't said with
any venom – a little anger maybe, but more like a statement of
fact. "Never could
hide anything from you, huh?" "No." Duo should've figured
– Heero was anything but dumb and he had been radiating guilt.
He supposed he hadn't been subtle about jumping Trowa in the shower,
disappearing together into an adjoining room probably had been a damn
give away. But he was blaming that on some fucked up adrenaline thing
rather that those first flurried thoughts of being into someone –
like he'd been into Heero – where spare moments during the war
were spent thinking about a boy in spandex and his wet dreams were
filled with the feel of his hair, memories of his lips, how his hands
felt – got him through OZ captivity and lonely nights where it
was only him and 'Scythe. He wasn't into Trowa
like that, he reasoned, he was twenty damn six now – not a teenage
boy and he was not thinking about how hard Trowa had fucked him into
the mattress or how Duo had returned the favour in the shower, loving
the feeling of hot slick skin and the press of cold tiles. "Quat's here,"
Duo said, breaking the moment between them. Heero had nothing
else to say to his statement and they entered the room. Unlike the
awkwardness between Trowa and the blond and Duo's own reticence when
they first met, Heero acknowledged him as he would anyone. "Quatre,"
he said and offered a hand in some odd display of formality that made
Duo wonder if he was at the very least working occasionally for the
Princess. "It's good to
see you, Heero." The display of politeness
was funny to Duo – it seemed so damn out of place – and
he went to lean against the window, perching on the sill, feeling
the cold of glass through his clothes. Heero took a seat and Duo saw
the tiniest indication of pain – a twitch on his face as he did
so – and he made a mental note for one of them to look at the
wound site. Duo cleared his throat
to attempt to alleviate some of the awkwardness and his eyes met Heero's
who nodded. He tried to meet Trowa's, to look apologetic or something
but he was being blanked. It made him a little pissed – yeah,
he'd blindsided him but surely eight years was enough time to be over
Quatre. He looked back to Heero. Fuck he'd never quite be over him.
Maybe your first always screwed you over. "Quatre's here
to take Catherine and Eli to a safe location so we can go get Nabokov." Trowa looked up then,
levelled him with a look that Duo had never seen. He associated Trowa
with calm, true that he didn't know him all that well despite their
fucks, but now he looked angry. Pissed. Murderous even. "Safe? Where
exactly is that?" His words came out with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Duo almost flinched. Didn't. Kept his composure. Quatre answered,
diverting Trowa's attention. "I have a resource satellite under
construction near L4. I'll transport them to there. No one knows about
it apart from trusted people within WEI and a few contacts within
the ESUN. No one will know their location. Once I get the all clear,
I can bring them back to earth." "By yourself?
Thought you always needed an army as back up," Trowa said –
his words scathing. Duo maybe had not
seen Trowa like this but he could tell what he was doing. It was like
he was one of his damn lions, backed into a corner by a superior force
and then he would fight back, viciously, not giving a shit. Quatre
seemed to wilt back into his chair at the response and Duo gave him
a sympathetic glance. But then really, Quatre had been the one who
had been an asshole at eighteen. Then Duo figured he still was an
asshole who played around with people's feelings – holding into
some candle he had for Heero while screwing around with Trowa. "I'll have back
up," Quatre answered, his voice level, calm and soothing. A reminder
of his role within the five of them long ago in so many ways. The
peacemaker aboard Peacemillion when tensions got high. "Quat's gonna
get them off earth tomorrow, then we travel to St. Petersburg to kill
this fucker. This plan will work Tro' – they need to be safe
before we fuckin' try anything as Heero's wounded and we need to use
you and –" Duo had plenty more
to say, was going to give a full, long rambling speech on what would
happen – the plan he and Heero had discussed but the voice from
the doorway stopped it. "So you've decided
that?" Catherine looked
angry. Duo had seen her like that – fierce, over protective when
he'd found Trowa all those years ago at the circus, confused and without
the memories that made him a Gundam pilot. She directed her eyes at
him, like she'd done then – but this time she was angrier, if
that were possible. She appeared to be shaking and she had the attention
of all the men in the room. They were all former Gundam pilots, all
trained killers, hell Duo was a gun for hire but when she walked into
the room, there was a palpable tension. Duo looked at Heero –
he knew Catherine's anger. He'd had knives thrown at him – he'd
told him that. When she'd been trying to protect Trowa again –
after the devastation that Quatre had left in his wake. "What right
do you have to decide what's best for us?" she asked, her anger
pointed in Duo's direction. "Your help hasn't worked so
far." Trowa stood at that
in an attempt to placate his sister, or that's what he guessed, but
Duo blamed his lack of tact and his amazing ability to put his foot
in his mouth despite being older, more mature, and he said only one
word. But that was enough. "Cathy –
" "Don't Cathy
me, Duo Maxwell! I know you're fucking my brother. You made friends
with Eli and you start fucking Trowa and you think you get a say in
our lives! You have no right to say anything to me. No right!" Duo blinked and felt
his body slacken into the window, as though trying to get further
away – it wasn't that he couldn't fight back but what she said
was not out of place. He really had no damn right. And his help? What
the fuck had his help done? Created a lot of confusion and emotional
drama. Maybe he was little surprised she knew and his eyes had flickered
over to Quatre who took that news with a slight hint of shock
on his face. "Catherine,"
Trowa said soothingly, on his feet, approaching her, attempting to
calm her down. She was shaking – that everyone could see. It seemed to calm
her slightly, looking up at Trowa and she seemed to be fighting with
some untold emotions. This calm didn't remain for very long. Duo thought
Quatre was the empathetic one who understood emotions, who understood
feelings and surely, he'd know not to piss off Catherine in what was
an already tense situation – but he didn't. He approached her.
"I will personally guarantee your safety. My security team is
extremely well trained and trustworthy." None of them expected
what she did next. Duo was still a little distracted by being told
off like a child – something that vaguely reminded him of Sister
Helen – when Catherine made her move. After all, Catherine had
been a circus performer, threw knives, could use the trapeze and she
was not to be trifled with. But then they were violent men trained
in hand to hand combat – really, one chick should've been easy
to stop. The slap across Quatre's
face was with all her strength and then she balled her hands into
fists and started hitting them against his chest. Quatre was totally
stunned – as they all were. It took a few seconds for one of
them to react and Trowa grabbed his sister underneath her arms from
behind, dragging her away. "Goddamn you!
Do you know what you did to Trowa? You cold-hearted bastard!" "Catherine,"
Trowa said gently as he pulled her away, her arms still flailing. "No – he
needs to know! What it was like – what you became… He nearly
killed himself over you!" That statement stopped
any conversation just as swiftly as the slap. Quatre raised his hand
to his cheek where the impact had been and gingerly touched it. Duo's
eyes met Trowa's across the room and he tried to say something in
that look – that Duo got it – and that even though he was
trying to damn convince himself they were doing something out of convenience
and a need to burn off some adrenalin, that he wasn't going to be
an asshole like Quatre had been. Or he'd try not to be. But really,
the situation was fucked. The slap and her
shouting seemed to take whatever mental and emotional reserves she
had left as then Catherine seemed to sag into Trowa's body. Duo knew
she'd been trying to maintain some semblance of normality the past
few days despite the fact they didn't know whether Trowa and Eli were
okay. That she hadn't slept. That she'd been awake in the night, making
tea or coffee, as he sat up in the living area, making contact with
Cypher and waiting, damn waiting for their arrival. It had made him
feel sick and it wasn't his kid – yeah, he cared for Heero and
Trowa but he didn't fucking know what it felt like to have your child
separated from you. Couldn't even imagine that. Catherine turned
into Trowa's chest and Duo saw him automatically wrap his arms around
her in a way that made his heart ache. It showed they were family.
Shit he'd never had, "I hate this…"
she said softly, her voice muffled by Trowa's t–shirt. "All
you planning mine and Eli's lives. And what you are going to have
to do. I want things back to how they were, Trowa. I want the circus
and you… you not to have to be this again." Her head was resting
against his chest and there was a silence in the room apart from quiet,
heavy breathing – until a small voice spoke up. "Mommy?" Trowa's eyes met
Duo's over Catherine's head – in recognition of the "oh
fuck" that nearly came out of his lips. Though Duo knew Eli had
probably heard far too much swearing over the past few days. "Why did you
hit? You said hitting is bad." Duo stepped forward
to try to defuse the situation, get down to Eli's level, but before
he could Quatre had knelt down in front of the little boy. "My name's Quatre.
What's yours?" "Eli." "That's a great
name. How old are you, Eli?" "Five." "Wow. I've got
a little girl and a little boy. Twins. They're four, not quite as
big as you." He paused and glanced across the room to meet green
eyes before returning his gaze to Eli's. "Your mommy hit me because
I hurt your Uncle Trowa really, really bad a long time ago. Before
you were born." Eli nodded, though
he had a puzzled expression on his face as though trying to understand
what Quatre had said. "Did you hit him?" Quatre smiled. "No,
I didn't hit him. I did things that were a lot worse than hitting.
It's something you might understand when you're older but the important
thing, Eli, is that I'm really sorry. I'm really, really sorry and
I never told him that." The little boy nodded
and seemed to accept that, and then looked over to his mother and
uncle, and Catherine, while a hell of a lot calmer than she had been,
was still shaking a little so Duo walked over and put his hand on
Eli's shoulder. "You wanna play
with some toys?" He thought that it
was best to get him out of the room – Eli didn't need to see
the damn argument or his mom strung out and emotional. Eli took a
moment to consider that – looked over at his mother and uncle
for approval and then gave Duo a bright smile. The kid had liked him
from pretty much that first day and maybe it reminded him of how he
used to be. He had been a kid, once, even when he was on the streets
and piloting a Gundam, he'd been optimistic and made jokes. It seemed
everything post war had turned his life to shit. It made him feel
a little less cynical playing with Eli, spending time with the kid
– he was never going to be Quatre and hell, he was never going
to be Trowa with that emotional connection to a child but he could
get him out of the room. Have a little fun. They played for a
little in one of the bedrooms – the one Catherine had chosen
– and they spread out toys on the sheets. Duo took a Space Leo,
some of the toys replaced by Trowa on their journey, but Eli was quiet
– hell, the kid was quiet anyway but then there was quiet. He'd
learnt his fifteen year old impressions of Trowa were entirely wrong.
He was thoughtful, considered – said shit that was needed to
be said rather filling silence with bullshit. He had to admire that
– maybe that's why he respected him or why he was now in this
situation. "Do you get
scared?" Eli asked, his hands falling from the toys and folding
into his lap. Duo looked at him,
cocked his head, and tried to give him one of his more confident smirks.
"Yeah, everyone does, dude. I could tell you a hundred stories
from the war." The kid curled up
on himself, his knees folded, arms around them. Duo remembered being
like that as a kid – wanting to be small. Hidden. Safe. It hadn't
fucking worked for him but Eli was different. "Hey kiddo,
what's this about?" "I don't want
to go with him." "Quatre? Quatre's
a good guy. Lemme tell you some stories about him from the war..." "No, my dad." Duo stopped at that,
felt a weird as hell feeling in the back of his throat. A lump or
something that made it hard to speak for a moment. There was all this
history, complexity – the relationships between the five of them
confusing and connected – like a fucked up spider web. But at
the heart of what they were doing was this kid – this kid who
should've never seen the amount of blood, violence that he did, should
never have met Duo Maxwell or Heero Yuy, shouldn't have to be taken
into hiding by the richest man in the earth sphere. Eli wasn't Duo –
orphaned and unwanted. Wasn't Trowa – raised by mercs as that
was a step up from starvation. Wasn't Heero – raised by an assassin
and taught how to kill. Eli was loved and wanted and he shouldn't
be scared, shouldn't need Gundam pilots to protect him. "We won't let
that happen," Duo said softly. "I won't let that
happen. You got my word."
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