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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 "
Escape The private shuttle port was practically empty apart
from a skeleton ground crew and a few men that Trowa recognised as
Maganacs. The shuttle outside was a bucket of bolts – an ex-Alliance
cruiser that could be classed generously as a rust bucket – however
while it was old, it was sound, that Trowa could see. For a second
he doubted why they'd come – Eli was holding Catherine's hand
as they stood a little behind him. Then he saw Duo. He was talking
to a man with a clipboard fervently and hadn't looked up at them. It was Quatre's gift, appearing at the hotel where they
were living temporarily in Marseille, trying to be low key, the weeks
since Nabokov's death a little uncertain until the dust cleared, until
it became apparent that nothing traced back. Documents, electronic
data all forged by Heero to make sure Trowa didn't come under any
suspicion and instead it all was pinned on a man who didn't exist
– one of Duo Maxwell's many aliases – and while Trowa, Catherine
and Eli had yet to return to the circus, normal life was beginning
to resume. Quatre had come then, in a suit, the proper businessman,
and he didn't look like Trowa's Quatre's at all – for which Trowa
was relieved as he had appeared and offered the one thing that kept
Trowa up at night: the chance to say goodbye to Duo. Fucked as it
was, he dreamt of him most damn nights, felt his body respond to imagining
him, his own hand useless in comparison to the memory of his skin
and his lips and he hated the feelings he had. And he hated the fact
he was here at the private shuttle port, ready to watch him walk away
again. Duo had been in hiding somewhere until he could make a true
break for it – the shuttle taking him away to god knew where. Duo looked up then. He blinked and glanced first at
Trowa and then behind him to Eli and Catherine. An expression crossed
his face that Trowa didn't recognise and he approached slowly. Seeing
Duo wet and covered in blood was not the image he wanted after everything
between them and so maybe it was a little selfish to want to see him
here, now, but then he thought of how Eli had been desperate to say
goodbye. And he was justifying his actions on a five year old boy
who was sad to be leaving a playmate. It was enough to make him shake
his head and realise that he was being a fucking idiot. "Tro'... I wasn't expecting you." Trowa shrugged his shoulders and looked back to see
where Catherine was on her knees talking quietly to Eli. She was probably
trying to explain what was going on here and that they needed a moment. "Eli wanted to say goodbye." Duo laughed. "Just Eli, huh?" "And me." They stood looking at each other, the distance between
them small but the knowledge of goodbye keeping them from drawing
close together. Trowa knew he'd been lost the moment they tumbled
onto a cheap bed in the Sanc Kingdom – fucked, kissed, looked
into each other's eyes. Now that memory seemed so far away as Duo
stood in front of him, his flight suit not fully zipped up, standing
with his hands in the pockets of it. They wouldn't see each other
for however damn long. Maybe forever. Trowa tried to dampen down the
emotions he was feeling and realised that it had been better left
as it was – no point in prolonging the inevitable. They had nothing. "Trowa… I'm not good at the goodbye shit." "Neither am I." With that, Trowa bridged the gap between them, taking
Duo's chin between two pale fingers and forcing his face upwards.
Blue eyes widened for a second – obviously thinking of the little
boy who really didn't need to see his uncle make out with another
man – but Trowa's lips were brushing his and Duo seemed to not
give a damn. Trowa titled his head downwards and gently prised his
lips apart, slipping his tongue inside and letting his eyes slide
closed. He felt Duo's fingers grip his biceps hard and he wrapped
an arm around Duo's waist, pulling him closer and feeling the toughened
material of the flight suit against his skin. There was a temptation
to let hands roam, to suggest the men's room and continue the kiss
in a private and more intimate setting. Trowa wanted one last time
with Duo and he could feel that the braided man felt the same. The
whole experience had been completely unexpected and had blindsided
Trowa. He'd never have believed he would have done the things he'd
done with Duo – never thought he'd find someone as perfectly
fucked up as him. But he had. And now this was hard. They parted reluctantly, Duo resting his head against
Trowa's chest, and he could feel the warmth of Duo's breath against
his collarbone through the thin material of his faded brown t-shirt.
He rested his head against the top of Duo's, tempted to kiss him one
more time but just accepting the moment of touch as things were difficult
enough already. "I think I kinda fell for you, Trowa Barton." The words were quiet against his chest and he could
feel his heart race. He lifted a hand to run his fingers down that
long rope of hair, trying not to imagine how it would feel loose around
their bodies – trying not to remember the few snatched moments
that they'd had. "Only kinda?" Duo lifted his head, blue eyes mischievous and a signature
smirk. "Yeah, kinda. Don't want you to get all big-headed thinking
that I'm all madly in love with you and shit." "So you're not?" "Maybe I am… just a matter of really sucky
timing." Trowa had nothing else to say to that so he just kissed
Duo's forehead and let him move away, the short distance between them
feeling like the gulf of a galaxy. "Suppose I should say goodbye to little dude since
that's the reason you're here and all." Catherine rose to her feet and smiled, her hand on Eli's
shoulder to stop him from moving. On closer inspection, Trowa could
see that his sister looked sad, in pain, and he wanted to shake his
head. He certainly didn't want his love life to hurt her again. "Hey," Duo said and then bent down to his
knees to be at Eli's level. Eli looked up at his mother who released her hand and
nodded. To that Eli moved forward and launched himself into Duo's
arms – the image of the man he loved and the little boy that
he considered his family seemed to create tight lump in Trowa's throat.
For a second, he felt he couldn't breathe but then Duo pushed back
on his heel, releasing the boy from the hug and put a hand on the
boy's shoulder. "So you gonna be good for your mom?" Eli nodded and looked back at Catherine who beamed at
him. Though Trowa did notice she looked slightly teary. He looked
away from the scene in front of him to see the ground crew doing final
checks on the shuttle and then returned his eyes back to his nephew
and Duo. "A mission?" "Yeah a mission." Eli nodded. "Sure." "Cool…because this is super top secret important
stuff. You gotta look after your Uncle for me. Get him to tell you
some of his war stories. See if he can persuade you that Heavyarms
was a better Gundam than Deathscythe. Think you can do that for me?" "Yeah." "Awesome." "When will you be back?" Duo sighed and deep blue eyes looked up at the green
of Trowa's and then returned to the intense looking boy. There was
something awfully similar about the look in their eyes. There was
no blood between Trowa and Eli but they were family. "A long time, little dude. I gotta go. I don't
want to, you know, but I gotta." "You promise you'll come back?" The little boy's lips were trembling and Catherine stepped
forward, placing her hand on Eli's small shoulder. "Eli –
that's enough. Duo has to go." "It's okay, Cathy. Yeah, I'll be back… you
can count on it." The braided man winked and then rose to his feet and
gave Catherine a hug. "You look after him for me, 'kay?" Catherine just accepted the hug and Trowa looked away
again. The inevitable was approaching and he felt uncomfortable. He
had never been overly emotional and this was hard. Duo stepped
away from Catherine and then returned his gaze to Trowa. He reached
out his hand, which seemed a little casual and strange, but Trowa
took it, holding long pale fingers, remembering how they felt against
his skin, and then Duo gave him the briefest of hugs before stepping
away. "See ya..." Trowa didn't have anything to say as Duo walked away,
the braid swinging behind him as he did up his flight suit and went
through the glass double doors to the tarmac. He suddenly felt Catherine's
hand on his forearm and he looked down at his sister. "Trowa… I can't watch you hurt again." His green eyes met her large eyes. She had tears in
her eyes. "You should go with him." "I can't. It's not safe." "Tro-wa," she said with a sigh, lengthen his
name unnecessarily with a certain weariness. "We are still being
protected by Quatre's men… they'll be ten Magunacs protecting
us. We'll be safe." "You're my family," he said simply, looking
down at his nephew. If Duo's leaving had caused hurt to Eli, he couldn't
imagine what his own would do. "You love him," she said quietly. Trowa blinked. He'd not entirely admitted it to himself
but, yes, in a world that had been turned upside down by Nabokov,
he had fallen in love with a man with fierce eyes, a killer smirk
and as much blood on his hands as himself. He had fallen in love with
Duo Maxwell – the broken little boy, the confident man and Shinigami.
Hook, line and sinker – he accepted each part. And he wanted
him. Catherine's loud voice awoke him from his reverie. "I won't watch you let him go. I won't let you
spend the rest of your life moping, Trowa Barton! Go after him!" His hesitation irritated Catherine. "Go!" "You and Eli…" "No goodbyes, little brother, just follow your
heart." Another moment of hesitation but he merely kissed Catherine
on her forehead, knelt down to kiss Eli, pushing aside the boy's brown
hair to repeat the action. "Look after your mom." It's all he could say as he rose back to his feet, not
looking back and running towards the tarmac. The pre-flight checks
had been done, the fuelling complete, though Duo was still standing
on the ground, seeming reluctant to climb up and into the shuttle.
He was gazing up into the blue sky, kicking at the side of the shuttle
for no reason and waiting for the courage to go inside. Trowa went through the large glass doors, ran across
the grey tarmac and stopped for a second at the stupidity of what
he was doing. A few fucks in an extreme situation. That was all it
had ever been with Quatre. With Heero. Maybe it was the same for Duo.
Maybe it didn't mean what he thought it meant. Maybe Duo's words about
"kinda" falling for him were just that – words. Duo
was well known for his large vocabulary and constant chatter. Then Duo turned and saw him. "Trowa…?" "I'm coming with you." "Huh?" He stepped the remaining distance between them. "I'm
coming with you." Duo blinked. His mouth opened but words didn't come out so Trowa took the opportunity to catch those lips in a passionate kiss. He could feel Duo's initial hesitancy but then he relaxed into it, Duo's tongue meeting his own and Trowa put all his feelings into that kiss. Duo pushed off – hands hard against his taut chest. "Jesus, Tro' – what about Eli? Catherine?
They're your family." "She told me to come." "You're serious?" "I'm always serious." Duo laughed. "You know I'm a bitch to live with,
just ask Heero. Plus this is gonna be really cramped." "I don't care." A hand was scratching the back of Duo's head, a gesture
of his awkwardness. "Fine! You come with me but I'm the pilot
and captain." "Okay – as long as though I go with you." "You're a kinda sappy guy, Barton," Duo smirked,
raising his head for another kiss, the slide of lips a mix of lust
and need. Trowa panted as their lips separated and let his forehead rest against Duo's, speaking softly, his breath ghosting across his skin. "Only with you." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: So we're done - after just over a year! I would
like to say thank you to those people who followed this story despite
its irregular update patterns. My muse deserted me on this one frequently
and it always seemed to get left behind. However, I always intended
to finish it and so I'm very happy to mark it as "complete".
I'd like to thank ELLE for her beta on this as it wasn't her OTP but
she still helped, chatted to me, and generally provided the moral
support that I needed to get this done. I'd also like to thank Amberly
for her encouragement - all those little supportive messages made
me determined for Duo and Trowa to get the happy ending they deserved.
I hope I did justice to your babies ;-P Thanks guys - couldn't have
done it without you two! Now lovely readers, those of you who follow Ready to
Fall - now Crossfire is complete, I will begin updating Fall very
soon so watch this space and thank you, as always, for reading.
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