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"That Which Mends"Written By: SkyLark Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters. I just love playing with them. Pairings: 2x1x2, past 2xOC, 5xOC, 3x4 Warnings: Angst, Violence, Sap, Lemons/Limes, AU Archives: http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/SkyLark/gwSkyLark.htm
and http://www.mizunoamy.bravepages.com/skylark/skylarkfics.html Summary: Heero is a straight A student studying Psychology and finds his world turned upside down when he attends a Frat party.
"That Which Mends" [Yellow diamonds in the light Chapter 28
[Flashback]
The Preventer's hangout had been a resounding success in being a time for them to finally enjoy themselves and reconnect with what they had lost in the weeks following Meiran's death.
For hours, they talked, laughed and drank until closing time for their favorite watering hole and they had to call it a night. Outside, the buildings lining the streets were trimmed in glowing Christmas lights and the giant evergreen at the center of the busy square was decked out from the star on its top bough to its base.
A taxi pulled up to the sidewalk where the five bundled friends were standing huddled up together in the chilly, early-December air. Hugging the weapons expert and kissing her cheek, Quatre slurred, "G'nigh', Dove."
Giggling as she adjusted herself to stay upright in her leg braces, Anna held him just as tightly. "Good night, Tiger," she replied. She pecked his cheek as he pulled away and ruffled the hair at the top of his head as Trowa set upon her for a firm squeeze and a kiss for himself before he and his lover tumbled into the back of the taxi in their slightly inebriated states.
Barton closed the door behind them as he and his friends laughed. "Get where you're gettin' safe, guys," he smirked with a wave out the window as the vehicle pulled out into the street. "See ya Monday!" At that, the cab rolled away to merge with traffic while the agents left behind waved after them.
"Damn, I forgot how funny Q-ball is when he's had a few," Maxwell snickered as he faced his teammates. Stretching his arms over his braided head, he yawned widely. Noting a few drifting, white flakes, he blinked up at the dark sky. "No stars," he thought aloud. "Looks like we're in for a good snowfall tonight-"
Watching the new object of his attention saunter down the street, Agent Scythe announced distractedly, "I... uh... better get to my hotel room that I'm crashing in before it starts coming down." Quickly glancing back at his fellow Preventers, he waved. "'Night, guys." That said, he spun on his heels and hurried after the young man before he disappeared from sight.
Perfectly aware of what her former lover was up to, Anna's shoulders sagged. She shook her head with a frown and sighed deeply under her breath, "What am I going to do with him?" With a snort, she answered herself, "Just love him. Love him and let him be. That's all I can do."
She shivered when a cold breeze coursed through her. "Should have thought about a hat and gloves before I stepped out of my house earlier," she muttered with her breath hanging in the chilled air in a stream of vapor as she shoved her bare hands into the pockets of her purple, puffy down winter coat.
"Here," Wufei urged as he pulled her hair back to wrap his long, blue scarf around her exposed neck. Blinking widely, the redhead allowed him to lift the faux fur-trimmed hood of her coat up over her head and silently swooned as he handed a spare pair of black leather gloves to her. "Good thing I like to be prepared for anything," the Chinese agent smirked.
The redhead fought a blush and gave him a brilliant smile. Once she slipped the offered gloves onto her hands, she swooned all the more when he held an arm out to her. "And they say chivalry is dead," she chuckled as she slipped her arm through her partner's.
As they turned in the opposite direction that Maxwell had taken to head for the center of the square where they had parked, Downs's metal braces that flanked the full lengths of the sides of her legs clicked quietly with each step she took.
"This is the longest you've been able to go without your wheelchair. How are you holding up?" Wufei asked, careful to not to come across as overly concerned when he peered over at her.
Unable to hide her excitement, Anna locked eyes with him as she beamed, "Really good. My back isn't really feeling any strain yet."
No sooner had those words left her did she stumble in her next step enough that she had to lean heavily against the team leader to keep her balance. Snickering as he carefully helped her back onto her feet, she grinned sheepishly, "Of course, I'm still pretty buzzed, so this walking thing is a bit of a challenge."
Chang laughed and took his time so that she had her footing before he navigated them down the street again. Squeezing his arm between them tighter against her aide, the weapons expert said sincerely, "Thanks again for being my designated driver tonight. I really needed this and wouldn't have been able to make it on my own."
"I'm glad that you asked me," Wufei responded, his own lips curling up into a wider grin. "It's no trouble on my part." Winking, he added, "Watching you and the others get lit up is way more entertaining when I've had time to sober up, anyway." At the punch to the arm that his giggling company gave him, he laughed.
He kept quiet about how surprised he had been that she called him with the request and not Duo. There was a definite rift in their tight bond that would likely fade in time, but it was definitely a sore matter for the redhead as far as where it stood for now. There was no point in bringing up anything that might hurt her. Instead, Chang was soaking up their growing closeness and hoped to make a move soon while there was an still opportunity for him to do so... if he could just work up the nerve to make good on that. There had been ample chances for him over the last weeks, but like this situation, his nerves got the better of him.
Silently he realized there was one downside to agreeing to being designated driver- having to cut himself off before he was able to gulp down enough liquid courage to be able to say what he needed to say. The snow shower around them began to increase with thicker, heavier flakes. When they were rounding the corner of the block, Anna questioned, "How come you and I haven't hooked up yet?"
Freezing in the middle of his next step, Wufei snapped his head at the other agent with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "W-wha-?" he sputtered, his heart pounding in his ears.
Agent Fire paused and met his gaze once more as she shrugged, "You 'n me. You're the only guy on the team I haven't hooked up with and I've been wondering why that is." Her cheeks did blush when she heard herself and she ducked her head to stare downward. "Never mind, it was a stupid thing to mention," she brushed off.
Completely taken aback by her genuine curiosity over the matter, Wolf shook his head, insisting, "No, no. It's not stupid, Anna." Swallowing roughly, he asked timidly, "Are you... upset that we haven't been together like that?"
Removing her arm from his so she could take a few steps back, Downs looked to the side to hide her deepening blush as she laughed, "Damn buzz. I can never keep my mouth shut when I should."
With a deep breath, she pulled together what little courage she had right then to look on her teammate and admitted in a loud rush, "I'm falling for you, okay!?" Shooting her arms overhead, she didn't have a moment to take in the shock on the other Preventer's face when she went on, "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did! But you're not interested, which is fine, so can we- umph!"
The world was spinning on its axis for her again, only this time it wasn't due to the alcohol. Instead it was Wufei's lips that had cut her off by pressing hard against hers as he latched onto her. Wide-eyed for a breath, the weapons expert's reeling mind hurried to assess the fact the object of her affections was kissing her so that she could close her eyes and return the exchange. Grasping tightly onto one another, that kiss rapidly heated into a much more passionate one when their mouths opened and tongues explored.
Every unspoken word between them and every hidden emotion was resonated in that moment when nothing else in the world mattered. The pair remained engaged like that until the need for air broke them apart, panting and flushed.
Blue eyes blinking, Anna stammered, "O-oh..." A mischievous glint filled her eyes at the processing of that information. "Your place is a lot closer than mine is," she suggested with a purr in her voice. "How fast do you think you could get us there?" Perplexed, Wufei began, "Why do you ask-?" He was then cut off by another fiery kiss when the redhead clung onto him, making her intentions loud and clear. Gasping then losing himself in her, the team leader reciprocated what was being offered and threw all caution to the wind.
~ ~ ~ ~
Minutes later, Chang's front door was opened to him and Downs as they were locked in another deep kiss.
Getting their bearings enough to close the darkened house up, the breathless pair hastily shed their coats and winter gear onto the floor in their scramble for the stairs. Along the way, they got in every peck and nibble they could sneak in.
Once they reached the master bedroom, the first light was switched on just before they collapsed onto the queen-sized bed in a heap of linked limbs.
Biting her swollen bottom lip, Anna pushed herself up from lying back against the mattress beneath her soon-to-be lover and pulled off her green sweater while Wufei straddled her hips and sat up to remove his grey sweatshirt. As he descended upon his partner again to resume their deep kissing session to the tune of their sighs and moans, every fiber of his being was on fire in anticipation of what was about to come...
...then his ears picked up a soft, metallic click of the weapons expert's braces at her shifting beneath him at this same time that his right hand had reached the button and zipper of her jeans that he was trying to undo.
That had the same effect of ice water being dumped on the team leader and he shot upright with a sharp gasp and wide, panic-filled eyes. Fighting for his breath, he stared down at the stunned redhead and whispered, "Oh my God."
"This isn't right," Wufei muttered as it took every bit of self control he had to pull himself off of the almost naked Preventer underneath of him. "I don't want to hurt you," he explained, gesturing to her braces.
Frustrated, Fire brushed back her loose curls that had fallen over her eyes when she sat up fully and growled, "Just fucking hurt me, damn it! I need this! I've wanted it for what feels like forever now!" There was no question of how much she was longing for what they had been set upon. It was written all over her and in her blue eyes. And it was killing Chang to not take up her proposition, strip them both of their clothes and take her... except his conscience just couldn't let him go through with it now.
Wufei could see the protest that was about to come from the weapons expert and he wrapped his free arm around her waist to gently run his fingers over the long, angry scar along her back. "Please let me do the right thing here, Anna," he requested. "Besides not wanting to take advantage of you in the state you're in right now, I want our first time to be something we both remember as something we didn't just rush into." "First time?" his partner repeated. Tilting her head, she mused, "You mean... are you saying that you want this be a serious thing between us?"
Anna gulped and began to shrink away when he cupped the side of her face and told her quietly, "Love is not a strong enough word to describe what I feel for you. Hell, the right word that really says it doesn't exist because nothing that's out there can do it justice." Her eyes welling up, his teammate's jaw fell open as she held her breath.
Smirking, Chang went on, "So, I'll just have to leave it as a blank space until someone comes up with the right word to fill it." forcing down the lump in his own throat, his voice was thick emotion as he proclaimed in a whisper, "I blank you, Anna Downs."
An overwhelming mix of relief, excitement and disbelief coursed through the team leader as he sagged heavily as the weight that he had been holding finally lifted. Onyx eyes stinging, he grinned from ear-to-ear and leaned in so that they could seal their pact with another sound kiss.
Reluctantly pulling back, Wufei pressed their foreheads together again with that wide smile still in place. "I'll find you some clothes to sleep in," he said. " If I'm going to have to restrain myself and be a gentleman tonight, you take my bed and I'll sleep in one of the guest rooms."
"You realize this is a weird arrangement for me," Anna snickered as an eyebrow raised on her brow, "this whole crashing at a guy's house without having sex."
Chang chuckled, "Yea. But the waiting will make it something to look forward to when we can have that." His teammate nodded in agreement. He leaned in for another kiss and sighed when he forced himself to lean back again to say, "I'll go find those clothes..." Looking down at himself, he commented, "Then I'll need a cold shower before I can turn in."
Her head falling back, Anna laughed.
[End Flashback]
* * * *
Heero had listened so intently to Wufei's recanting how he and Anna had become the couple that they were presently, that he hadn't taken a single note or made one personal assessment. Shaking his head back to return to the world of the living, he murmured, "Wow. I'm with Anna. That's probably the most romantic sentiment I've ever heard."
Shrugging, Chang smiled, "She inspires that out of me. But that happens when you really love someone. You're just inspired to say, do and experience things you never thought you were capable of. Anna wasn't my first girlfriend, but she introduced me to a lot of firsts in many aspects in my life."
The intern realized that much the same could be said of him when it came to Duo. Never before did he ever find himself attracted enough to another person to throw out every rule he had ever set for himself. And as he had discussed with the braided agent, that one night of passion turned into quite possibly the best shift in his life... one that he never would have imagined for himself.
But getting back on track to the heart of the meeting, Yuy checked his watch and told his client, "Few are fortunate enough to find what two of you and Quatre and Trowa have. I'm glad that you were able to find each other, especially since your line of work puts you all in challenging situations to have to overcome."
Frowning, he warned, "But many times, that kind of companionship isn't enough when there are particularly dark times to cope with. And not having an outlet for those demons will eventually catch up with even the strongest of people."
That was as far as Heero was willing to push his friend into seeking the help that he really needed. Up until that, he had allowed Wufei to conduct their first sit down to keep him comfortable. Now that there was a trust between them as a patient and counselor, there needed to be some give in the other direction.
Chang bit his lip and made no attempt to respond at first. Then the psych major pushed a bit harder. "I know how it would kill you if you had another nightmare, or a waking spell that triggered something in you, and Anna got more than a bruised cheek from just being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said quietly.
At that, the color in the team leader's face drained and his eyes grew at the memory of his lover surprising him with a picnic lunch in which he had snuck up upon her with a pistol only weeks before. His instinct should have reminded him then that Downs had a spare key to his home, but something had snapped in his only partially alert mind at the time that made him assume someone had broken in.
If he had fired before he noticed who he was aiming the gun at...
Shuddering, Wufei nodded shallowly. For nearly a year, he had denied and covered up the struggles he was dealing with... or more to the point- not dealing with. Maybe it was time to admit that what he thought was working actually was not.
Yuy checked his watch and smiled, "Well, congratulations. You've made it through your first counseling session. We've been in here for over an hour now."
Agent Wolf blinked in surprise as he replied, "Really?" Dumbfounded, he murmured, "Huh. I guess that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." As the scholar snickered, he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "I'm not ready to bring up that night," he frowned deeply. "Not yet, at least. But I will agree that I need to at some point."
Wearing the stoic mask that he normally kept on his face, Heero was inwardly elated to hear that come from his friend. "Good," he grinned. "You know where to find me for whenever you are ready, then." He was given a small nod.
This was a huge step. And it was not going to be an easy thing going forward, neither one of them were about to hope otherwise, but there was progress in knowing that Chang would be moving on.
"How is your staying with Duo going?" the Preventer inquired as he climbed to his feet and stretched his arms behind his head.
Stopping himself in the middle of the note that he was writing, the student blinked up at the officer as he stammered, "W-wha, oh." He collected himself to shrug nonchalantly, "Fine. We're getting along well."
Wufei smirked, "Good. I was wondering how that arrangement was going since I don't know the last time Maxwell ever had anyone spend any extended period of time with him. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the first guest he ever had. A few of us were putting out bets as to how long you would last before you either looked for somewhere else to stay or the two of you killed each other."
The slightly awkwardness Yuy had over being asked about his living with Duo faded away at that and he laughed, "Well, I think it's safe to say whoever has us as making it through the whole week will be the likely winner. And let me guess, that would be Anna."
"No. She doesn't go in on bets involving Maxwell since she always bets in his favor, If she had her way, she'd have you moving in with him permanently," Chang answered, shaking his head. "Quatre said you would last the week. Trowa's already out since he put down that you'd be out in two days." Heero snickered and shook his own head.
His amused smile slipping, Wolf stated, "It was just a bet made in jest. Truth be told, everyone's hoping that Winner wins. We're all pulling for the two of you to make it."
Caught by surprise, Heero absorbed those words. Chang was not only saying that they hoped he and Duo would 'make it' through just the week. They were pulling for much more than that between them.
Anna had already clued him into her silent wishing for them to get together. Hell, she was the reason they were living together in the first place. But hearing that the rest of the team was keen for the same... it was somehow... endearing. Of course, it was also unrealistic.
"I hope no one's banking against those odds," the scholar heard himself comment. "They're going to be disappointed.
Chuckling, Wufei told him, "Never say never. For a long time, I was convinced Anna and I would never get together and we couldn't be happier with where we are now." He glanced over at the door and a wistful smile curled his lips again as he declared softly, "I'm going to marry her some day." Relieved to have the change in subject, Heero stood up and smirked, "You better." On his way to his cabinet, he asked, "When is the big move happening?" "Next weekend," the team leader informed. "We planned on announcing that today, that the last of Anna's paperwork was filed and a new renter for her place is lined up. I also have a surprise for her that day with her Dad and my family coming to help us settle in and spend the weekend at our place."
Securing the notes he had taken into Chang's previously empty folder, the intern peered over his shoulder, smiling, "She'll love that." Closing the drawer, he reassured, "Your secret's safe with me. Whatever's said in this room stays in this room."
The agent bowed his head with a sincere, "Thanks, Yuy. For... well... all of this."
Buried in their work, the rest of the team kept their focus on their monitors as they typed or kept on the phone calls that they were in the middle of when Wolf and Wing went to their desks. Out of respect for Chang's privacy and trying to not make a big deal about the session he had just been in, everyone carried on as through nothing had transpired earlier that morning.
However, there was quite the red mark on Maxwell's cheek that happened to be the length and width of a slender hand. Noting it, Wufei smirked and squeezed his lover's shoulder when he was about to walk past her. The corner of Anna's lip curled up at his touch, knowing that he was appreciative for her standing up for him.
Violet eyes flashed over to the scholar who fought the urge to laugh when he took in the mark on his roommate's face. The counselor didn't fault Downs in the slightest for the smack after she had been caught in the middle of an impossible situation that Maxwell had forced her into.
Still, he gave the braided agent a small grin of encouragement that told him there were no hard feelings on either his part or Wufei's for the intervention.
A wave of relief washed over Duo and he sighed quietly with a lopsided grin for his former transgression before he resumed his typing.
Once Quatre hung up the receiver of his phone, the pack leader called over to him, "Agent Rock?" "Yea?" the blonde replied, his eyes turning onto the Chinese young man across from him. Turning on his computer, Wufei informed, "Anna has extra concealer with her. Any chance you work your magic on Scythe to cover up that bruise on his face? It looks like hell." The tension in the air immediately dissipated as his counterparts fell into hysterics. Looking over his shoulder, he gave the glaring Scythe a satisfied smirk.
His violet eyes rolling, Duo's grumbling quickly died off. Snorting, his mouth stretched into a smile in spite of himself and he shrugged, "Alright. I had that coming. Now back to work, everyone." The laughter ebbed and the agents went back to their business of sorting through Howard's dirty plate customers so that they could conduct background checks on all of them for possible links to who might be behind the Gundanium or a connection to Thomas Klein.
Perched back in the chair of his desk, Heero reached for his water bottle and gave his Bonsai tree a long drink. He then proceeded to unlock his drawers and removed the files of classified information that had been entrusted to him.
Taking a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to open, he peeled back the folder of the top report and dove into the world of the Preventers.
TBC |
