|
" Everywhere I Look "Written By: Presser
Disclaimer : I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. This work of fiction is written and shared freely without any attempt to profit financially from it. Rating : R Pairings : 1x2 Warnings : Wistful romance, AU, after Endless Waltz, and departing quite a bit from canon direction Summary: Duo Maxwell is a young, upcoming artist with a hole in his heart. He hates himself for never confessing his love to Heero Yuy, a war-weary mecha pilot running from his past all the way to the Phobos Project—the first manned mission to Mars. Duo longs for the man he loves, but doesn’t know where he is. Can they find love in each other’s arms? And what of Heero’s mysterious collapse when he arrives on Earth to search for the one he loves?
"Everywhere I Look " 27 Heero stood in Duo’s bedroom just behind his lover
and watched him hang his jacket and tie in the closet. Duo turned
and raised his eyebrows over a half smile as he put out his hand.
When Heero realized he was waiting for him to give him his own coat
and tie, he quickly shrugged out of his jacket and gave it to Duo.
He reached to loosen his tie, but before he could slip it from his
neck, Duo dropped the jacket on the floor and put his arms around
Heero’s torso. Heero pulled Duo to his chest. They stood quietly
savoring the warmth of their embrace. “You know,” Duo said softly, “it feels
really good to have you here.” Heero leaned his cheek on top of Duo’s head and
closed his eyes. He made a low humming sound, then said, “Do
you remember what I said at the end of the party?” Duo cuddled closer and said, “No …” “It was something I’ve never said before.
And it was the best thing I think I’ve ever said.” Heero
raised his head as Duo looked up with a puzzled expression. He smiled
and said, “I said, ‘Let’s go home.’“ Duo
grinned. “I’ve never had a home, you know,” Heero said
wistfully, “not really. And of all the places I’d ever want
to think of as home, this place is the best one of all.” Duo’s
grin became a broad smile. Heero kissed him. Duo responded willingly. After a tender
moment, Heero broke away. Duo leaned up to kiss him again, but Heero
dropped his arms and stepped back. Duo put his hands on his hips and
displayed his best pouty face and puppy eyes. Heero returned a shy
grin and said, “Let’s sit and talk for a moment.” Duo
straightened. His expression became serious. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?” “Come on,” Heero said, taking his hand and
leading him from the bedroom. # They sat on the sofa and kicked off their shoes. Heero
lifted a foot and tucked it under a thigh; Duo turned and sat cross-legged
to face him. Heero leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on the
lips, then sat back. He inhaled and exhaled slowly before speaking
gently. “There are so many things I’m feeling, Duo,
so many things I want to say. And I will say them over the
days and weeks and years to come, over and over again.” He paused
and looked into the bright eyes across from him struggling to convey
hopefulness instead of anxiety and uncertainty. Duo’s neutral expression faltered. His voice was
low and hoarse as he said, “But we’re not going to be
together for long, are we?” “Yes we are,” Heero said, looking directly
into his lover’s eyes, “but not at first. The mission with
Wufei — it took me by surprise. I didn’t come to Earth looking
for anything like that.” He paused, then whispered, “I came
looking for you. If I hadn’t fainted at the spaceport
in Miami, I’d never have darkened the door of Preventers.”
He held Duo’s eyes, taking in the disappointment he saw there.
“Do you understand?” Duo nodded silently. Heero opened his mouth, but Duo
spoke first. “I understand,” he said, “but that doesn’t
make it any easier to let you go.” Heero tilted his head to the side a little. “Don’t
think of it as letting me go,” he said with a sad smile. “More
like … like loaning me to …” “To Preventers? To Wufei?” “To the mission.” When Heero saw Duo’s
eyes fall, he quickly said, “No, that’s not it, exactly.
I have something important I have to go and do. But it’s temporary.
I know where my place is now. It’s not running around the solar
system exploring or making things right or protecting —” “That’s not what’s bothers me. I know
the mission is important. And I’m so proud of you for wanting
to do it. I’m worried that —” Without warning Heero threw himself at Duo and kissed
him full on the lips. Duo fell backward. As the man he loved tumbled
onto him, he put out his arms and drew him into a tight embrace. Each
struggled for dominance, smiling playfully as their passions rose.
When Heero finally pushed up and sat back, he saw a curious smile
on Duo’s face under a raised eyebrow. “You really are a changed man,” Duo said. “What do you mean?” “The Heero I fought with in the war would never
—” “The Heero you fought with in the war wasn’t
in love with the most incredible man on two-a-half worlds,” Heero
said, recalling the words Joy said that triggered his decision to
be honest with himself and follow his emotions. As Duo blushed and looked down, Heero thought, I have to remember to share that whole story sometime. He took Duo’s hands and said, “This isn’t forever. In fact, it may not even be for long.” Duo looked up quickly. “Really?” Heero nodded. “Wufei has most of the facts already.
When I was in hospital in Miami, I gave him a way of looking at things
from a different angle that made the puzzle pieces fall into place
— at least, mostly. I think it’s the scientists who are
manipulating the military, not the other way around. I told you I
met Sarin on the shuttle from Luna. That can’t —” “I’ll never get used to him being anything
but Dr. J.” “I know. It still sounds weird when I say it, but
it makes sense. He made himself instantly recognizable when he stopped
Une from blowing the colonies away with his system- wide broadcast.
So now he’s Mr. Sarin. You should’ve seen him, Duo. Expensive
business suit, hair standing out two inches long like a goddamned
silver aura surrounding his head; no goggles, and his claw’s
gone.” “You’re kidding.” “He’s replaced it with an artificial hand.
I spent most of my waking hours with him every single day for years
of my life, and I didn’t recognize him till he said something
that —” Heero shuddered. “Seeing him really freaked you.” “You bet. Chills up the spine. But you know? We
had a conversation. He treated me almost like an equal.” Heero
looked over Duo’s shoulder and let his eyes defocus. After a
minute, he looked at his lover and said, “But I wasn’t,
I wasn’t an equal to him at all.” As he continued, his voice
rose and his face grew more contorted in anger with every word. “He
was polite, almost deferential. But knowing what I know now, I can
see he was manipulating me just like he used to. The only difference
is we were in first class on a shuttle from Luna instead of in his
fucking training center.” Duo’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
He leaned away from Heero. When Heero saw this, he said in a more
subdued tone, “I’m sorry. I guess I still have some issues
to deal with.” I’ll say, Duo thought. “Anyway, don’t you think it’s beyond
convenient that he was on the same shuttle with me? Those things are
packed these days, every seat filled with tourists on holiday now
that the fare to Luna is within reach of average people. His seat
assignment was right next to me, Duo. Right next to me.” Heero
realized his tone was becoming strident again. Duo leaned forward and started to speak, but Heero raised
both palms to stop him. “I know, I’ve got to learn to control
my anger,” he said gently. “You’re probably thinking
how not like the Heero you fought with I am. And you’re right.
When I saw you on HV, everything in me changed.” His eyes softened
and his mood became pensive. “Maybe I’m not the guy you’ve
been waiting for.” He looked over Duo’s shoulder and whispered,
“Maybe I never was.” Duo leaned forward and grabbed Heero’s wrists.
He pulled his lover toward him and said softly, “Hush. Maybe
I’m not the guy you left Mars to find, either. But I know my
heart, and it says I want you in my life.” Heero said hoarsely through a tiny smile, “I want
you, too.” “Then we’re going to work it out, aren’t
we? So you’ve got some anger to deal with. So what? Maybe I wake
up bitchy, or I leave the cap off the toothpaste or a trail of clothes
on the floor. Maybe —” Heero’s eyes lit up over a suggestive smile. “Shut up,” Duo said shooting back a snarky
grin. “Maybe later,” Heero said under his breath.
Duo lifted one eyebrow and started to speak, but Heero beat him to
it. “I didn’t just run into Janus Sarin, I’m sure of
it. He’s way too intelligent for it to be a coincidence —
not to mention he’s a grandmaster of intrigue. I told Wufei that
I wouldn’t be surprised if he engineered TAP just for the —” “TAP?” “That’s what we’re calling it: the Thinned
Air Project. I think he was there for just one reason: to give me
those anti-grav tabs as a part of his experiment. Still playing with
my — with people’s lives like they’re lab rats.”
Heero looked away. He drew breath and huffed it out. Duo sat thinking, a frown on his lips. Then he said,
“There’s another reason, maybe.” Heero looked back at him. “What? What else could
have motivated him to let me know he’s still active?” “Maybe,” Duo said slowly, thinking out loud,
“he wants you to know what he’s doing. Maybe he’s
doing a parody of all those old two-dimensional James Bond villains:
overeager for recognition of what an amazing genius he is and how
his master plan is going to change the Heero nodded slowly. “That’s more than possible.
During my training, he was always muttering about putting Treize Kushrenada
in his place. More than once he talked about wanting to see the look
on his face when he realized his precious OZ had been beaten by a
bunch Heero fell into contemplation. After a moment Duo said,
“If he’s anything like Professor G, then he’d do the
cardboard villain bit just to throw off anyone who —” “I don’t want to talk about this any more,”
Heero said earnestly. “I mean, I’ll tell you everything
you want to know about it, but later. After all, you promised to sign
Une’s NDA along with everyone else there tonight. But the important
thing right now, the most important thing of all, is I want you to
know I’m not joining Preventers.” Duo’s eyebrows shot up, but he kept his face neutral.
“Okay,” he said tentatively, “okay.” “There’s no way I’d do something that’s
certain to take me away from you on a regular basis, and for who knows
how long each time?” Both men sat still, staring into each other’s
eyes. Then they spoke over each other. “You’d do —” “That’s what —” “— that for —” “— I wanted you to —” “— me?” “— understand.” “That’s what I wanted you to understand,”
Heero repeated quietly. “You’d really do that for me?” Duo said again. “How could I do less for the man who’s already
taught me what it means to be alive?” Duo realized he was trembling. He looked down, grateful
to see his hands were clasped together in his lap to hide the fact.
He looked up and met Heero’s eyes, which seemed to be brimming
with the same feelings Duo felt surging through his veins. After a
long moment, he smiled a tiny smile and said, “I think you need
to kiss me again.” Duo uncrossed his legs as Heero pushed up
from the couch. They stood. Duo put his arms around Heero’s torso;
Heero wrapped his around Duo’s shoulders. As they kissed, Heero
lifted a hand to the back of Duo’s head and laced his fingers
through his lover’s thick hair. Duo leaned into his companion
and plunged into the kiss with all the passion spilling from his heart.
Their tongues struggled together, each parry and thrust enflaming
their desire for each other. Heero broke away to gasp for breath,
and Duo took the moment to gain advantage over him. He slid his arms
from under Heero’s, put his hands on the man’s shoulders,
and pushed. Heero tipped backward and fell to the couch with a soft
whump. Duo straddled him, knees to either side of his hips,
and lowered his butt to Heero’s thighs. He leaned down and took
the man’s mouth again with a soft growl. Heero let his head fall
to the back of the couch as Duo ravished his mouth. Without warning
Heero seized Duo’s waist and flipped him to one side. He put
his left foot on the floor and jammed his right knee into the fold
of the sofa. With one hand on the back of the couch and the other
gripping the cushion next to Duo’s ribs, he grinned lasciviously
and lowered himself to Duo’s chest. Duo’s eyelids fluttered
as he opened his mouth, hungry for more of the man he’d dreamed
of for years. Once again Heero broke for air. Once again Duo took
advantage of his lover, this time suddenly bringing his hands to Heero’s
ribs and tickling him mercilessly. Heero froze, utterly astonished
at the unexpected move, then broke into loud, raucous laughter. His
arms gave way. He collapsed onto Duo, then tried to escape as his
lover continued his assault. They rolled off the couch and fell to
the floor, Duo on top of Heero. Duo stopped his attack when he saw Heero wince with
genuine pain. “Oh, my god, did I —” “I’m okay. My shoulder hit the coffee table,
but it’s —” Duo scrambled off of Heero and grabbed his wrists. He
pulled him up. “Are you sure?” “I’m fine. Just a bump, that’s all.” They fell silent for a moment. Then Heero said, “Got
you to stop, though, didn’t it?” Duo smiled devilishly. “I can pick up where I left
off.” He raised his hands. Heero grabbed them before he could
resume his attack and laced their fingers together. “I have a
better idea.” Duo raised both eyebrows and lowered his chin. “Oh?” Heero lowered his eyelids to half over a seductive smile.
“How about we find out whether I’m put off by that trail
of clothes you mentioned?” Duo stretched his hands to loosen Heero’s grip
on them. As he reached to slowly unbutton his lover’s shirt,
he said in a low, husky voice, “Let’s both leave a trail
and see where it leads.” Heero closed his eyes and gave himself to the lust trilling
down his spine. Then he opened them and licked his lower lip as he
reached for Duo’s waist. He tugged his shirt from his pants,
slipped his fingers underneath, and began unclasping the man’s
pants. “Two trails are definitely going to be better than one.” “Ow.” “Oh, there’s more where that came from, a
lot more.” “Really?” Heero said, hot desire flushing
his face. “Show me.” Duo took his hand. They moved toward the bedroom a few
steps at a time, stopping to remove an article of clothing from one
or the other, leaving the promised trail of clothes that led to a
night neither would soon forget. ~ finis ~
|
