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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" [Guess it's true, I'm not good at a one-night stand -Lyrics to 'Stay With Me' performed by Sam Smith]
Chapter 3 It was a very different morning when Heero woke up a little later than usual, even for it being a Sunday.
His head clear and his nausea long passed, the psychology major sat up in his bed to appraise its typically neat shape. The previous day's scents of alcohol and sex had been replaced with fresh, clean air blowing though the cracked window beside his desk. Not a book, dresser drawer or any part of his clothes were out of place as always...
...and the half of his bed at his right side was empty.
Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Yuy stretched and climbed out of bed to change into his jogging gear. Eager to get back to his routine, he forced away any and all thoughts of the braided agent that had captivated him the entire short time that they'd known each other.
No more distractions. Maybe there may have been a little bit of excitement and fun in their misadventure, but there was no room for those sorts of things if Heero wanted to obtain his early-set goals.
There was safety in predictability, rules and being on one's own. Why anyone tempted fate to step away from their comfort zone was beyond the young scholar.
He'd had enough of the alternative for the rest of his life.
* * * *
Wufei sighed quietly as he returned to the world after his long and much-needed sleep. Even before his onyx eyes fully opened, he unconsciously reached over hold onto Anna... only he gripped empty, cooled bedding where she should have been.
Blinking widely at that, the Chinese agent pushed himself up and searched his room to find no trace of his lover. With a small frown, he shifted himself so that he was sitting on the edge of his mattress when he peered through the large window overlooking the lake. Instantly spotting a familiar form sitting on his private dock, his lips curled up in a small smile.
Anna wore a gray sweatshirt that was almost twice her size that she hugged around herself as she continued to stare out to the water shimmering in the bright sunlight peeking through the partially clouded sky.
Broken from her thoughts at the sound of footsteps resonating on the wooden platform, she peered over her shoulder to watch Chang approaching with a steaming mug of tea in each hand. "'Morning," she grinned warmly.
"Good morning," the team leader replied in kind. Lowering himself beside her, he handed over the purple cup that he held onto specifically for her visits.
As she wrapped her hands around her mug, the redhead's smile grew with a sincere, "Thank you." Sipping from her drink, she sighed and subtly leaned against her dock companion. Gesturing to their long sleeved tops, she commented, "Should be one of the last mornings we'll need to break these out until next fall."
Humming an affirmative, her partner responded, "It has been warming up nicely these last few days. Next weekend I'll be able to break out the boat and canoes." Anna nodded.
The couple enjoyed their drinks in companionable silence, content to watch the swans and ducks floating on the lake as they remained lightly pressed up to each others' sides. "Thanks for staying," Wufei finally said as he peered over at the bomb specialist.
Nudging him, Downs giggled, "Well, it's pretty hard to run away when the sex is great, the view here is beautiful and the tea is prepared just the way I like it." The pair snickered in good humor over the sentiment, but neither missed the subtle hint at the truth of their little affair.
Wufei chewed on the inside of his cheek in thought before
he said quietly, "You know... I've been thinking that maybe we
make an adjustment to out arrangement." But those nerves took a dramatic turn to stunned relief
when Chang removed a small box from the pocket of his khaki shorts
with a slip of his mask to reveal the anxiety written on his face.
Heart hammering in her chest, the bomb specialist opened the lid to
the offering and gasped at the sight of the key inside. The Chinese agent laughed, "I know that. But we
balance each other in that way and many others" Raising an eyebrow,
he smirked, "And as for my being sure about this, when have you
ever known me to not think things through?" Unable to come up
with a single retort, the redhead grinned sheepishly. Anna's breath hitched in her throat at his pronouncement.
Her mouth curling up in a warm smile, she set her own mug aside and
leaned in to give her answer in the form of a sound kiss that quickly
deepened in return.
Stepping out onto the seventh floor designated strictly for the Preventers, Maxwell wove around the wall to find Trowa and Quatre at their linked desks. At his appearance, his teammates instantly stopped typing and turned their heads from their screens to watch him.
"Oh shit. What did you do?" Barton sighed deeply.
The braided agent snorted, "What? A guy can't stop in to say hello and check on how progress is coming along on a potential crisis to national security?"
Winner shook his head, "Not when that said guy is you on a Sunday. The only time you stop in on your down time is when you have a guilt complex over something you've done wrong." Frowning, he asked, "How bad is it? I'd like to get a head start on prepping human resources for a plan of attack to cover up whatever the fallout might be." Shaking his head, Duo waved a hand in the air. "It's nothing like that this time," he reassured flippantly. "Far as I can tell, everything's under control and it shouldn't come back to hurt us at all." His visible green eye narrowing, Trowa folded his arms across his chest. "You couldn't keep it in your pants for one night, huh?" he accused.
"No, but you just gave me a pretty good idea to what happened," the tall Preventer replied with a smug smirk as he folded his arms behind his head. "With you, it was a pretty easy assumption for me to make." He chuckled as his long-time friend's reddening face and the deep growl that resonated from him.
Winner wasn't terribly amused, his concerned frown deepening. "So who will I be writing a well-crafted letter of apology to this time?" he questioned, taking hold of his pen and pad of paper for the information in practiced readiness when dealing with the braided Preventer.
Rolling his violet eyes, Duo growled lowly, "Fuck you both." Ever the peacemaker, Quatre gave his braided teammate a small, apologetic smile and nodded firmly, "Alright. Enough poking fun. So you're sure that whatever happened last night doesn't need to be addressed?"
* * * *
Heero slowed himself to a stop when he reached the main road well beyond campus to wait for a few passing cars to clear the street before he could proceed. Using the brief moment to catch his breath, he ran the back of his hand over his damp brow when something very out of place caught his attention.
Slowly stepping back a few paces, he took himself out of the open and behind the thick brush that had begun to sprout fresh leaves and blossoms. His heart racing from more reasons than his run, he waited for several minutes after the roads were cleared before the car suddenly moved from its spot and crept onto the main stretch. As the vehicle drove passed him at a crawl, Heero had the frightening feeling as though whoever was behind those darkened windows was looking around in search of something... or someone. Sweat rolling down his tingling spine, he sucked in a breath and held it until he saw the black car rev up to the speed limit and disappear over the hill.
* * * *
Hours later...
"Damn it," Barton hissed under his breath as his fingers came up from his keyboard. "Another road block in the transcription." Rubbing his eyes, he sighed deeply, "It's one thing to have our hand on the data, but it's another to actually be able to crack its coding to make sense of it."
Peering up from his computer, his lover suggested, "Well, you've been going at it since early this morning. Why don't we call it for a night, grab a something to eat and get some sleep? Wufei and Anna will be back in the morning to give you a hand with the rest of the decryption."
A few feet away, Duo easily caught the basketball bouncing back at him after his long distance shot through the net. Frowning to himself, he silently wished that his friend would have managed to unveil whatever information had been stored on the chip he'd picked up. But, he wasn't about to press the matter. Not when Trowa was fighting to keep his eyes open the way he was.
The name of whoever had leaked the data would just have to wait until the 'techies' were all together again. In the meantime, he had somewhere else he needed to be.
Lowering the basketball into the rack standing by the indoor half-court, the braided agent walked up to his teammates and smirked, "You ought to take the advice, Tro. You look like you're about to fall over any second. Lady Une will just be happy we have what we have for now."
"Okay," Barton agreed quietly as his shoulders sagged. "I'll start closing up, then." Winner grinned in relief and set to saving his own work.
Maxwell took hold of his light, leather jacket and waved to the pair. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow whenever I finally get my butt out of bed," he said with a salute.
Standing up so that their eyes could lock, the blonde agent cautioned, "Just don't be too late. You know we'll be called into a team meeting as soon as Wufei briefs the Commander on our progress."
At that, Duo smirked over his shoulder, "Don't worry Quat. I've never missed a meeting and I don't plan on it now." Just before disappearing behind the elevator column, he called, "G'night."
Once the bell announcing the arrival and departure of the lift had sounded, Barton shut his computer down as he snorted, "Ten bucks says he's late."
* * * *
Locked away in his room, Heero still couldn't shake how off he felt in seeing that black car.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about a vehicle with tinted windows...
...but there was something odd about its being parked where there were literally nothing around that neck of the woods that a person would have been visiting. There were only tree covered hills and fields for miles around.
Everything was right and as it should have been.
Not about to give himself another moment to let his imagination continue on, Heero threw his white T-shirt off and changed into a simple pair of red boxers. Turning the overhead light off, he slipped under his blue bed comforter and forced his thoughts to go blank so that he could fall asleep in the need to wake up to his normal Monday school routine.
* * * *
A whole state away, a black car with tinted windows came to a stop at the top of a deserted bridge in a small, desolate town that had turned in for the night. A door opened and seconds later, long bag was tossed over the railing to splash and sink down into the deep river below.
"Duo?" the young woman murmured to herself as she stood on her tip toes to peek through the thin window in the front door. Her blue eyes confirming the presence of her teammate, she stepped back and unlatched the deadbolt lock.
Leaning against the doorframe when she opened her home, Downs folded her arms across her chest and snorted bitterly, "I'm surprised you're not out at some club. The night's still young for you."
His braided head slightly ducked, Maxwell revealed a bouquet of colorful flowers that he had hidden behind his back. "I just wanted to apologize for making you mad at me... again," he muttered.
Blinking widely at the gift, Anna's tough front of ire faded with the sagging of her shoulders and a deep sigh. "You know I can't stay mad at you for long, Duo," she commented with a shrug, "...just... disappointed."
The smile on her face grew as she accepted the flowers and said quietly, "Thanks for these." Stepping aside, she tilted her head in an invitation for her friend to enter and laughed when she was suddenly lifted off the ground and a kiss was held against her cheek.
Gently settling her back down, Duo groaned quietly, "Disappointing you is worse than making you mad. But you have every right feel that way after what I did."
"I just wish the hell you'd slow down for your sake," Anna told him as she closed the front door and led him to the living room. Gathering up an empty crystal vase, she stated, "More than putting yourself and others at risk on missions, you shouldn't keep up your 'hump everything that moves and fly by night' persona forever."
Holding a finger up, the braided young man corrected, "Hey, I no longer hump everything that moves. Remember, I swore off your kind after you ruined me for other women." The bomb expert snickered, "While I'm flattered by that, stop dodging the point I'm making here." Rounding the counter of her kitchen sink, she filled the container with water and arranged the vibrant buds as she went on, "Find a guy you're really into and stick with him for a while. You'll probably find out you like."
Maxwell plopped down onto her long couch, dismissed, "No thanks. You know settling down isn't my style. You grew out of our fun days, but I'm not about to give them up as easily." Folding his arms behind his braided head, he watched as his redheaded partner returned to the living room to set the vase at the center of her table and asked, "How is your boring, predictable life with Fei going anyway?"
Violet eyes growing, Duo sat upright and shifted his body towards her. "Really?" he managed. He lunged forward when his friend began to nod enthusiastically and hugged her tightly, ignoring how wet her spiraling hair was against him. "That's great," he smiled by her ear. "I know how much he means to you and all, so I'm happy for 'ya."
Pulling back, her long-time partner in crime laughed, "Better you than me. I'm not about to take a plunge like that with anybody." A sour expression coming over his face, he shook his head, "Next thing you know it'll be marriage... kids..." he hung his tongue out as though he tasted something foul.
"Well, I hope that's where we're heading eventually," Anna responded, a wistful smile coming over her. Slapping her associate's arm, she snapped, "And I'm still not giving up on you, either. Someday you're going to come across someone who changes everything for you, too."
His head falling back with his laughter, Maxwell advised, "Don't go holding your breath there. I like the life of a lone wolf." Climbing to his feet, he checked his watch. "And there's still time for me to head out for a prowl."
Blue eyes rolling, Downs stood up and crossed her arms
as she cautioned, "Team meeting tomorrow. Whatever you have to
get out of your system, don't overdo it so you can actually show up
on time for a change. If this case ends up shaping into a big thing,
we're all going to be under the microscope and that includes Lady
Une." Gently rubbing the top of her damp head, Maxwell winked. "No worries. I've got it under control," he gave as his usual answer to her sentiment that he had heard time and time again from her over the years that they had known each other. "Love you," he concluded in their usual salutation while spinning on his heels and moving from the room. "Love you, too," Anna returned with the same
affection in her voice. Well aware of the off campus residence, the blonde answering
the call frowned deeply, "Ok, hold on and take a breath. Are
you sure that he isn't just out for the night?" |
