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"Equinox"Written By: Miss Murdered Disclaimer: I don't own the GW characters - am
just borrowing to torment for my amusement Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Angst/Drama, m/m sex, angst, violence,
major character death, bad language Pairings: 2x5, broken 1x2, 4xR, past 3x5, 6x5
and 6x9 Summary: The Mars project, Equinox, has been taken over by an angry and grief stricken Zechs Merquise. To try and regain control, the Preventers have called in former Gundam pilots Duo Maxwell and Chang Wufei to negotiate but when they arrive on Mars, things appear far more complicated than they first thought. A/N: This is my fic for the Gundam Wing Big Bang
and has accompanying art done by Fast Puck and Nachte. I will post
links to the art on my profile when I have them. Thank you very much
to missAmberly for her beta on this! This fic is four parts and is
complete and I will update throughout the week.
"Equinox"
No Stone Unturned Duo sat in cockpit of the Odyssey, a cigarette between his fingers, and he leaned back fully in the pilot's chair, staring at the screen in front of him with his feet up on the console. Heero's face was on the screen, as was his toned torso as he was in his bed - a bed that Duo was very familiar with. He sighed, taking another drag. He'd refrained from smoking the entire fucking journey to Mars - he hadn't even packed any smokes, knowing that having them would be a temptation, so he'd had to do some bribery of some of Kent's men in the Equinox base. It was a courtesy to Wufei. One that he'd always given Heero, but now he didn't give a fuck. He needed it after... and after the whole shit they'd discussed. Something was wrong with Equinox. Duo knew it in his bones. "What did you find out about Quat?" Heero grunted and grabbed for a tablet, and Duo watched his perfect torso flex in the screen. He looked so fucking good. And he wondered whether he should mention that he and Wufei had just fucked. But Duo owed Heero nothing. They'd never had anything more than sex, and they never would. "He funded Equinox after the ESUN pulled funding." "When did they pull funding?" "Six years ago." "Any info on why Quat became involved?" Heero glared and shrugged his shoulders. "It says to 'aid the future colonisation of Mars to combat population and over-crowding'." "You believe it?" "No." "Me neither," Duo said, taking another deep drag and noticing Heero's eyes narrow at the cigarette. Always had been into that "my body is a temple bullshit". Duo remembered almost force feeding him a burger once. He snickered under his breath. "They have enough weapons for Zechs to take over the base, the colonisation projects been on hold for fuck knows how long and everyone's acting kinda shifty. Well, I think they're building weapons." "Mobile suits?" "Naw, Equinox doesn't seem big enough. They have labs..." Duo murmured, "something else, I figure. Guess we'll find out when we negotiate with Zechsy baby." There was a look on Heero's face that amused him at that comment and he chuckled. "Hey... you can't still hate the dude? He's been on Mars for fucking forever." Heero only rolled his eyes. "Be careful." "Didn't know you cared, babe." The look Heero gave him was one of contempt. The call disconnected, and he was left with the static fuzz of the screen. He was leaning back in the chair, staring at the ceiling of the Odyssey, at the wiring and the buttons and all the shit that made a shuttle when he was startled by the voice behind him, snapping to sit up and turning his head, his braid whipping against the panels. "Yuy find anything out?" Duo saw Wufei, his posture straight, the tight tank and the jeans covering his body, and he didn't look awkward, didn't look guilty for the rough sex they'd had hours before, and Duo turned back to the black screen, putting out his smoke on the dash. "Just some shit about funding for the future colonisation and Equinox providing a solution to the over-population issues." "Hmm," Wufei said, taking a seat beside Duo, that co-pilot's chair he had used throughout the journey. "Do you have another?" Duo could feel his eyebrows go up as he heard the question clearly. "Yeah... sure..." he said, reaching for the beat up pack of smokes and offering one to Wufei before taking one himself, pulling out a skull motif lighter. He offered to light Wufei's first before his own, watching how Wufei took a deep drag and looked stoically forward. "Trowa smoked." "Yeah. We used to share 'em on missions." They sat in silence for a while, Duo seeing that Wufei was deep in thought, as he himself was. The puzzle of Equinox, the confusion regarding their fuck and whether Wufei still blamed him for Trowa, the fact Zechs had gone batshit and taken over the base... it was all so fucking much to think of. "You think they're developing weapons?" Duo asked after some time, the haze of cigarette smoke filling the cockpit. "Yes," Wufei answered. They didn't speak anymore, both wrapped in thoughts about what the purpose of Equinox was and why the famous "Pacifist" Winner Enterprises was funding it. "You trust Quatre?" Duo asked, his voice thick. "No." Duo didn't answer as it was obvious. Neither did he. They had weapons, communicators to Kent, but they were stripped of them as soon as they arrived at Zechs location. Or the rebellion's location. Whatever. They'd slept fitfully, Duo barely getting any shut eye, but eventually he'd drifted into a sleep where mobile dolls reared their heads at every corner and the world was as violent and dark as it had always been. Kent briefed them on the area that had been designated as a "line" of defence. Duo expected more than some old equipment - computers, consoles, chairs -being used as a barrier, with men holding guns guarding it. It seemed quaint. And Duo was now thoroughly confused about Equinox. As surely, fuck, they could space walk around the surface of the red planet and enter through another door? Or had Zechs done something more? Duo didn't know, and when he wasn't sure of something, he didn't like it. "Be careful," Duo had said as he was patted down for weapons, "I bite." Wufei had made a "humf" noise at the indignity but said little. He had only become irate when his sword was removed from him but Duo had reached out to touch his former comrade, feeling the tense bicep under the material of a thin grey hoodie. It was the first touch since Wufei had fucked him hard against the wall, but it was enough to placate him. For a while. Duo didn't know what he expected. He had memorised the blue prints but the rebellion - Zechs' rebellion - had somehow commandeered most of the base and sprayed the walls with slogans in various languages. Though usually of a similar theme. TRUST NO ONE. THE TRUTH OF EQUINOX IS DEATH. It seemed a little melodramatic but Duo didn't blame the people. They didn't have a home, just like Duo never did, and they claimed a slice of their own through bad graffiti and fucking up the equipment in the place. He didn't blame them. It was as they were led through corridors, Duo trying to keep his bearings and failing, looking over to Wufei to figure out if he had too, that Duo first saw some of the labs and the hydroponic green houses. The labs were mostly empty, no one working there, and the green houses were full of life. Looking through one glass window, Duo saw fresh fruit and vegetables being grown, tomatoes hanging from contraptions that strung to the ceiling, irrigation systems being used to grow lettuces and things that Duo hadn't damn seen for years. A lot of stuff was scarce. And on Mars it was not. So why the fuck hadn't colonisation happened? They soon passed the labs and green houses and Duo took a moment to look at the guys leading them, his eyes scanning them. He knew Mars was not a fully working project but fuck, the people on Mars looked like they were doing better than many places on the earth and in the colonies. He glanced at Wufei whose eyes were at the ceiling panels and Duo quirked one eyebrow. Typical. The guy wasn't even paying attention. Or maybe he was. Duo had only had his cock up his ass last night. It didn't mean they were best buds and understood each other. They arrived at a door, a guy pulling at the handle with more force than Duo expected, and it slid open to reveal a room with one large window that overlooked a lab - a lab that had plants being looked over by men and women in white coats. And sat in a chair, looking very much like Duo remembered him, was Zechs Merquise. Or maybe not quite. As Zechs stood, rising to his feet, Duo took in a few things quickly, his eyes darting and scanning over his body. He was still damn tall, still had that long blond hair, though Duo wasn't going to talk about that - hey, even Wufei couldn't, as they both had longer hair than their war time length, and he still had that calculating expression that had always made Duo uncomfortable. But then as he walked over, Duo noted the limp, the weakness in his left leg and he noted the scars on his face, the pock-marks, and when he offered his hand, Duo noticed callouses and scars. "Maxwell," he offered and Duo took the hand, despite usually avoiding such formalities, as he was curious. Curious to feel the ridges of the guy's skin, the feel of those marks, and he kept contact longer than he would've. He was sure Zechs clocked that. He was Zechs fucking Merquise and there was no way of out-witting him. "Chang." Their hands broke apart and Duo felt the break of contact keenly as he watched the awkward touch between Wufei and Zechs. Supposed that's what happened when you'd fucked around once. Maybe he and Wufei would be like that soon. Fuck knew, but their gazes were fierce and their touch was brief. "You came," Zechs said, his own eyes taking in their appearance. Duo wondered what he saw. Whether he saw their burning latent feelings of hate, and something else fucked up between them, whether he saw that the post-war world had been unkind and messed up, whether he saw that they'd both pretty much screwed up the lives they could've had. Duo didn't know, he only answered with a shrug. "You made it so we had to." "I apologise... I needed people I could trust." On the word "trust", Zechs' eyes sought out Wufei's gaze and Duo noted that his dark eyes were looking at a point in the distance, firmly not meeting Zechs' cold harsh blue gaze. Seemed that Wufei really had problems with the past. Duo almost chuckled. He had a three foot braid. He wasn't one to talk. "You wanna tell us why we ended up dancing to your fuckin' tune?" Zechs levelled his eyes at Duo. "Yes. Follow me." Duo raised an eyebrow and cocked his head towards Wufei trying to get something from his "partner" in this shitty situation, but Wufei was focused on something above their heads and seemed unreadable. It was like being in the cell on the damn Lunar Base, alone in a dire situation as he lay there in suspended animation. Or maybe not. But Duo was feeling alone all of a sudden, and confused. They walked to another room, Duo feeling like they'd toured the entire Equinox base in their brief visit, and Zechs offered them refreshments and seats around a large metallic table. "I'll stand," Duo said stubbornly as he was sick of the pretences and having his chain jerked. He leant against the metallic wall, folded his arms across his chest and legs at his ankles. He lowered his eyes to his boots, only looking up to see Wufei take a seat at the table seemingly as far away from Zechs as possible. Huh. Still something there. Duo had never really known what had happened beyond some fling, but there seemed a lingering smell of hostility in the air, so Duo figured it hadn't ended well. Relationships never did. That's why Duo didn't have them. "You going to tell us why we're here, or do we have to be marched through another dozen rooms?" Duo asked, his tone sarcastic. Zechs gave a withering look in his direction and he took a seat, Duo noting how his move seemed awkward. "You came here because the truth about Equinox needs to be revealed." "The truth?" Wufei prompted. "That Equinox is developing chemical weapons so that the ESUN can wipe out the populations of unviable colonies." Duo had been looking at a speck of engine oil on his boot, but looked up at that, his eyes meeting Zechs' cool glare. "You... what?" "Equinox is the ESUN's dirty little secret. But not anymore." Duo was used to small confined spaces. He'd spent his childhood sleeping with a few dozen kids, finding spots on warehouse floors, and then he'd lived aboard the Sweepers where he'd find small nooks in the old shuttles to hide and carve out a small safe place. But now it was a long time since the streets, since the Sweepers, hell, even since the confines of a Gundam cockpit, but it still felt oddly comforting to be in the small room that had been transformed into living quarters. In the battle for Equinox, Zechs had given up the living areas in favour of claiming the labs and the green houses. It was a wise move but one that brought with it a minor complication - no sleeping quarters. And so Duo was sat on a low bunk in what would generously be called a broom closet. It probably had been a cleaning supplies closet, as Duo could see the chemical warning labels on the back of the door, some remains of the health and safety protocol long since forgotten. He held his head in his hands, stroking at his temples as shit... shit, what Zechs had said was heavy. He'd excused himself, taking a leak and a moment to compose his anger, and then decided to escape to be alone in the room he and Wufei had been given, directed there by one of Zechs' men. Duo didn't generally think people were inherently good or evil. He'd seen enough in his life to know there were shades of grey... hey, he was a shade of grey. As was Heero. As was Wufei. But this made him sick in a gut-deep, weary way. Maybe because it was calculated. Maybe because it was a solution. Maybe because it was fucking genocide. It made him sick, and Duo had almost felt like spewing the shitty meals that Kent had provided them with into the toilet bowl rather than digest the food produced by and for Equinox. For a base that was designed to create bones. The door opened, and unlike the swift swishes of the rooms in Kent's side of Equinox, it was wrenched open, the metal making a screech as it moved. Duo snorted. Needed oil or something. His engineering brain and need to tinker with things coming back to the forefront briefly. He looked up to see Wufei in the doorway, haloed by the bright light of the corridor, compared to the minimal lighting of the damn cupboard. Duo nodded, leant back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling of the cell like room as Wufei closed the door. His steps were light and Duo only looked at him when he placed some items on the bed before he sat down beside him. "Our weapons and comms?" Duo murmured, surprised to see the sword and the knives and the guns. "He trusts we aren't going to kill him in his sleep." "Huh." Duo didn't know what else to say. They should make contact with Kent, with Quatre and confirm negotiations were taking place but after the "reveal", he wasn't sure what to say. And how to not give away that he knew their dirty little secret. Duo felt used - controlled, like he was still a damn puppet, expected to take orders, and he had a sneaky feeling that he and Wufei were not meant to walk away from Equinox. He wondered if Quatre knew that. As even if he was cold enough to fund a project that used financial viability as a justification for genocide, he couldn't imagine him letting them walk into a death trap. Money and politics and "solutions" to the over expansion of the population was one thing. But Quatre wasn't someone to actually pull the gun and kill those who might get in his way. Or so Duo thought. "I don't want to believe it." Wufei's words broke an elongated silence and Duo chuckled, the sound entirely unpleasant. "I believe it all too well." There was a nod of head, and Duo sighed. "It makes sense. They can't increase the food supply to accommodate the mass increase of population. They ain't got the colonies or countries to put 'em in. And there ain't the jobs to keep the people employed so..." "Kill them," Wufei finished for him, bitterly. "Exactly. Or maybe not kill them in their terms. Just decrease the surplus population or something." Duo imagined it - those plush lined rooms in Sanc and Brussels, men in suits and women in neat dresses. Relena and Quatre, prim and perfect, the world's power couple, and the decisions made around shiny wooden tables. It wouldn't seem real there. In those rooms decorated by roses, with jugs of water and fruit laid out on glistening surfaces, these decisions were made and it was all damn impersonal. It wasn't. And that was before some of the mistakes happened in the lab. Some of the infections ripped through Equinox and killed workers. Killed Noin. Granted, Duo had only known Noin briefly. All those years ago aboard Peacemillion, but he'd respected her. And when Zechs had said... Duo hadn't been able to look when he'd spoken about her. About the virus that killed her. The catalyst. As until then Zechs had believed, just as many people did in Equinox, that the experiments and green houses and jobs they did were working towards something good. It was only when Noin's death was white-washed that Zechs discovered the truth. And what a truth. "You think that it'd work?" Duo asked idly, flicking his head to look at Wufei, seeing how he was sat on the bed, his legs folded underneath him, his pose relaxed. His eyes were closed, and Duo scanned his posture, his face, his entire form. Wufei was strong. Calm. His body held in a rigid pose, and Duo observed him for the first time truly since their angry sex. "What would work?" he asked, his eyes opening, dark and piercing. "That they'd put these biological strains into the colony systems, kill everybody, and nobody question it?" "There's been viruses before." "Yeah... tell me about it," he said as he remembered his own childhood. Blood being hacked out from raw throats and broken lungs. "But they didn't kill everyone." "No one survives... no one tells. History is written by the victors." He picked at his fingernail, finding some dirt underneath, and became interested in it for no other reason than giving him something to damn well do. And Duo could sense Wufei staring at him as he completed the mundane task. "What do you think he wants us to do?" Duo asked. "Get the information out. He has no means, since they cut his communication and control the shuttles and the hanger." Duo sighed. "They won't let us get that out alive." "Not easily, no." He looked up then, his blue eyes meeting those dark ones, and he saw the smirk on Wufei's face. "You got ideas?" "Zechs does. But right now, I suggest we make the call to Kent and pretend to have found out little and still be in negotiations." "You want me to lie?" Wufei's look was one of humorous contempt. "I think in the light of the breaches of morality here, one small indiscretion of your own personal motto is founded, is it not?" Duo scowled, then smiled in response. "Run, hide and sometimes lie, right?" He grabbed for the tablet that he'd use communicate back to Kent. "Time to dance with the devil." He felt dirty after speaking to Kent, and it was then Duo sought out the showers, finding out that the rebellion of Equinox used the quarantine chambers for that purpose, amused by the resourcefulness. He didn't take long, instructed by a guy with the same pock-marked skin that Zechs had that they had limited two minutes water cycle each, and Duo honoured that, not bothering with his hair and only scrubbing at his skin. Duo had lived in harsher conditions. It didn't bother him. As he showered, the conversation with Kent flooded back - the conversation that was being patched into Quatre, and he made his excuses. That Zechs was being hospitable. That his demands were not specified yet - they would meet later and discuss in greater detail. Duo bullshitted like a pro, the gnawing feeling in his chest that Kent saw through him, or hell, Quatre, but nothing he could do about that. Stepping out, Duo covered himself with a towel and started when he walked to grab where his clothes were, shocked to see Zechs there in the small area that was designated as a changing area. "You can get dressed. I won't look." "You can look. I don't care." Duo dropped his towel as Zechs could see his scars. His tattoos. Hell, he could see the bruises from where Wufei fucked him. It didn't matter to him. "You and Chang?" Zechs asked as Duo was pulling up his boxers. "Fucked. Once." "I thought I noticed some... tension." Duo snickered as he continued dressing, shimmying into jeans and doing them up, looking up at Zechs then. "What do you want? We're going to damn help you, you fuckin' know that. No need to be... well, so fuckin' you." "You still hold old grudges?" "Keeps the fire going," Duo replied. He grabbed for his t-shirt, shoving it over his head more violently than necessary and pulling his braid out so that the wet strand of thick hair thudded against his back. "You believe me, though." Duo couldn't tell whether it was a question or a statement, and he folded his arms across his chest in an old defensive position. "Yeah. We do. And if you get us the evidence, we'll get it out to the world. I don't give a shit who goes down in the ESUN for it. They can all rot for all I care." "Winner?" "He's not the kid I knew. None of us were. Not after Trowa." Zechs stood straight then, walking towards him and Duo noticed how pronounced the limp was. "You got infected." "Yes." "You gave it to her?" He knew the question was loaded and it stalled Zechs' stride. "And our unborn child," he said quietly before starting to walk again, leaving Duo with his still wet skin and damp clothes, watching him go. "Zechs, wait." The man stopped, his shoulders slumped, and Duo saw he was a defeated man. Duo had not really experienced love in his life - it had been fleeting moments of happiness. He'd felt love when Solo slept next to him in some leaking, cold warehouse, telling him he was a brat and making him feel like he had a family, or when Sister Helen had braided his hair and maybe, once - once, a long fucking time ago, with Heero, when they were young and glorious and heroes. "Yes?" "We're gonna get this out there. I know Heero will... she - " Duo then paused and corrected himself, "they won't have died for nothing." "Everyone dies for nothing, Maxwell." Duo didn't have a response, only watched him walk away, grabbing the remains of his clothing to walk back to the bunk he was sharing with Wufei. As he walked inside, Duo felt his eyes widen as he saw him shirtless, the large complex pattern of tattoos shown to their full extent without tank top or shirt. He was cross-legged, deep in a meditative state, and Duo knew he'd disturbed his peace as soon as he'd entered. Like he'd done before. He dropped the clothes to the bed, watching Wufei move to his feet, his body fluid in motion - like water, like ripples, and Duo could see each definition of his body, swallowing as he remembered the way Wufei had felt as he grabbed him, gripping him, fucked him. "Maxwell?" Duo blinked, scratched at the back of his head awkwardly for a moment and then composed himself. "He tell you she was pregnant?" Wufei nodded solemnly. "This is so fucked," Duo growled. He wanted to punch something, but he doubted it would help his current mood. "I thought we had peace. I thought we'd done this shit before. I thought people fuckin' learnt." "Everything repeats. Always does." Duo made a noise in the back of his throat. "Everything? So we bang again and pretend like it didn't happen?" "Would it make anything better?" Wufei countered. "Wouldn't make anything fuckin' worse," he sighed, his eyes looking up to see Wufei close, his footsteps damn silent so that it was almost a surprise when lips pressed to Duo's, softly this time. It remained soft for moments, the tentative brush until Duo grabbed for Wufei's shoulders feeling the latent power and strength in them as he pushed his hips forward aggressively, backing Wufei towards the small bunk. Wufei's hands found their way to Duo's skin, still a little damp from the shower, the t-shirt ending up on the floor this time so that he could eye the tattoos he'd not seen fully that first frenzied time. "This is never happening again," Duo said, his voice low as he stood briefly to remove his jeans, watching Wufei strip his own pants, them unceremoniously flung to the floor. "Agreed," was the answer, firm and resolute. Both naked, Duo crawled onto the bed, straddling Wufei and feeling a hand trace his side, feeling the ridges and scars that marked his body. "I hate this fuckin' world," Duo said quietly. Wufei nodded, solemnly. "I know." And Duo didn't say anything more, leaning down to kiss Wufei as hands grabbed at his still wet braid, the springs of the bed moaning in protest as two strong, lithe bodies ground together, two mouths met and two people tried to forget the world that was too damn fucked up for words.
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