"Three for Joy"

Written By: Waterliliylf

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. All rights remain with Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. No profit being made here.

Rating: R

Warnings: Romance, angst, sap, friendship

Pairings: 5x4 and (possible) 1x2. Copious references to past 3x4.

Summary: As far as Wufei is concerned, he and Quatre are a perfect example oftwo's company, so when Trowa moves back to Sanq will three be a crowd, or justpossibly, a joy to embrace?

Author's Note: Writing this story truly has been a joint effort. The original idea came from Standingontherooftops (as compensation for having broken her brain in a previous story) and she also suggested the personalities and pairings and gave huge amounts of positive feedback as it progressed. Kaeru Shisho gave me most of the plot, as well as many, many suggestions, edited many, many times, and then persuaded me it wasn't long enough so the whole process had to start again. All of this wonderful support meant that I was free to get on with the really fun business of actually writing and had massive amounts of fun.

Dedication: This story is affectionately dedicated to both the ladies mentioned above, without whom it would have been finished in half the time.

"Three for Joy"

Chapter 11

'He didn't mean it,' Wufei said at once. 'Quatre. He doesn't know what he's saying.'

As soon as the words were out, he knew it had been the wrong thing to do. He should have pretended he hadn't heard Trowa's comment, laughed it off as drunken babbling, ignored it entirely.

'He did.' Quatre sat on the edge of their bed, one hand over his heart. He looked like he wanted to cry. 'He meant it.'

It hadn't been just drunken babbling then; not when Quat was looking like that. Not when he was sensing Trowa's pain so very clearly. And he was still staring at him.

Oh, Gods.

'He's drunk,' Wufei said quietly, a desperate last-ditch attempt to hold back the tide. Of course Trowa was still in love with Quatre. He'd known it, really, all along. Just as he'd known how Quatre, however hard he tried to hide it, still felt about Trowa.

And now Trowa had admitted it.

This was it, then. He wouldn't make Quat choose between them. That would be far too cruel. He would do the honourable, decent thing, and bow out gracefully. Those two had always been meant to be together; yet another thing he'd known from the beginning.

He'd never, really, been meant to have Quatre. They'd been meant to sort themselves out; to get back together, to find one another again, and they would have if it hadn't been for Chang Wufei blundering in and complicating everything.

It was all his own fault, really.

Quatre nodded, finally turning to look at him. 'He's…better at hiding it when he's sober. It hurts, 'Fei.'

'Come here, love.' Wufei opened his arms and Quatre half fell into them, pressing close. Wufei just held him, stroking his hair, trying to imagine how Trowa had to feel, the pain of having lost Quat for so many years. Even worse, having lost Quat through something that had been his own fault.

'It's all right,' Wufei muttered. 'I know he loves you. It's all right. You don't have to worry about anything.'

Quat raised wondering blue eyes to his. 'What do you mean?'

'It's all right,' Wufei said again, although the words physically hurt. Of course it wasn't all right. It was good that Quat had never been able to read him. 'I'll move out, make it easy for you. It's not like I haven't always known.'

'You are planning….to give me away?'

'To give you back,' Wufei said shortly. He slid one hand under Quat's jaw, tilting his face back slightly. 'Listen, my darling. I love you. More than anything. But you two belong together. I've always known that.'

Quatre's chin flung up, challenge in his blue eyes. 'Are you deliberately trying to get rid of me?'

'Of course not.' Wufei kissed his mouth, very softly, wondering if it would be for the last time. Trowa certainly wouldn't want anyone else kissing him. 'But you heard what he said.' He slid one hand over Quatre's heart. 'You know how he feels. I am trying desperately to be noble and selfless about all of this.'

Quatre gave an inelegant little sound, midway between a snort and a sob. 'You're being a complete idiot, actually. I don't want to be given away, thank you very much. You haven't even asked me what I want. Do you realise that?'

'What,' Wufei asked hoarsely, 'do you want, Quat?'

'Well, you. Obviously. I can't believe you even have to ask.'

'But you still love him.' He closed his eyes, briefly, seeing a sudden vivid image of Quatre and Trowa outside that nightclub the week before; the way they'd looked at each other.

Quatre didn't say anything at all to that. Of course not. They'd always tried not to lie to each other.

Wufei sighed, taking Quat in his arms again, pressing the blond head against his shoulder so he wouldn't have to look into his eyes and see the pain in his eyes, etched into his beautiful face. He wouldn't make him choose. That would be too cruel. It was nobody's fault that Trowa had met him first and that Quatre had given him his heart.

'Please,' Quatre asked finally, voice muffled against Wufei's skin, 'can we talk about this?'

'No!' He hadn't meant to snap. 'Actually, we can't. What's the point?'

There was none. Quatre would cry, and try to find some sort of solution to benefit everyone, and that just didn't exist, and it would be agonising, watching him try to tear himself in two and please both of them.

'It's late, Quat,' he said a little more quietly. 'We're both exhausted. This isn't the best time. I just want to go to sleep.'

With Quatre, in their bed, for what would presumably be the last time. That was all he wanted.

'No.' Quatre's grip on his arm suddenly wasn't gentle at all. 'It's not all right. We can't just go to sleep and pretend this never happened.'

'Maybe I can,' Wufei flung at him. 'Maybe I can pretend this one last time, because it's all I'm going to get.'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'Even you aren't that damn clueless! What's there to understand? He said he wanted to be with you.'

'Us.'

'Us, you, whatever. I know which of us he meant.'

'Oh.' Quatre's confused expression suddenly cleared. 'No! It's not like that. 'Fei, I love you. Why can't you believe that? I love you, and I have no intention of ever leaving you.'

'You still love him,' Wufei said again.

'Yes.' Quatre met his gaze, this time. 'I do. I love both of you, actually. But I'm in your arms, in our bed. Doesn't that tell you anything at all?'

Wufei felt an absurd little lift of hope, felt something lighten inside him. 'Possession is nine tenths of the law?'

'Finders keepers,' Quatre agreed, and smiled. 'You're the one who found me, remember?'

'I never really thought I'd get to keep you for always,' Wufei confessed.

'Idiot,' Quatre said lovingly, and kissed him. 'Of course you get to keep me. Agreed? Now we've got that sorted out, don't you think we should talk about what Trowa said?'

'Not really,' Wufei muttered, feeling a sudden little prickle of resentment. He'd had those few short moments of utter bliss, realising Quatre wasn't planning to leave and now it was all back to Trowa again.

'But I think we need to talk about…'

'No!' Before he'd quite realised what he was doing, Wufei clamped one hand over his mouth. Bloody Trowa. 'We don't.' They did, of course. They would have to, eventually. He'd have to tell Quat what had happened between them. But not quite yet; not in this shining moment when he was starting to accept that Quatre was really his. He lifted his hand, and when Quatre opened his mouth to speak, to start talking about Trowa, most probably, he kissed him. There was nothing gentle about; none of the care he usually took. This was plunder, possession and if Quat didn't like it, too bloody bad.

And too bloody bad what Barton wanted as well. Wufei had spent the last few years in a haze of delight and wonder and bewilderment that Quatre had chosen to be with him, never quite daring to believe that it was real. Enough. He'd damn well had enough; he and Quatre belonged to each other, and that was real, and Trowa Barton wasn't getting him.

Trowa'd been right about one thing though, he thought dimly. Quatre wasn't anywhere near fragile, digging his fingers hard into Wufei's arms, hard enough to bruise, as he tried to pull free. Wufei just pressed him down to the mattress. Oh, he'd had fantasies of treating Trowa like this, predatory, but never his sweet adorable Quatre.

His sweet adorable Quatre was spitting mad when Wufei finally let him up for air, those beautiful lips bruised and swollen and scarlet.

'Wufei, stop it. If we can't have a rational, adult discussion about this, then I…'

In answer, Wufei kissed him again, sweetly enough that Quat began to relax in his arms, and then pressed kisses along his jawline, sucking at the hollow of his throat hard enough to leave a bruise; a badge of possession.

'You wanted to talk about what Trowa said, right? Fine! I'll tell you what he told me a few days ago. He said that I should fuck you into the damn mattress whenever you were being stubborn and that you'd love every minute of it. I'm starting to think that maybe he was right.'

'Don't you dare!'

'Why? What exactly are you going to do about it?'

'I'm sure Trowa can't be that deeply asleep,' Quatre hissed. 'Do you really want him to watch us together?'

Wufei's breath caught at that; he hoped Quat hadn't noticed. But the thought of Trowa, watching them, was…Wrong, he decided quickly. Very wrong. Not in the least exciting. Certainly not a turn on.

Trowa's eyes would change to that dark, clouded green, the way Wufei had seen them a couple of times. And of course, he wouldn't just want to watch. Or maybe he would; maybe he'd want to watch, and issue commands.

'Trowa is comatose,' he said crisply. 'But if he does wake up, I don't think he'll object.' That was probably the understatement of the century. He'd probably comment on their technique.

Join in.

The thought sent a current of pure desire rushing through him; the sudden flash of Quatre sprawled beneath the two of them.

'I am not making love to you while you're like this,' Quatre said obstinately, glaring up at him. 'It won't solve anything. You were quite right before; we're both too tired to discuss this sensibly right now. And I have to be up early in the morning. I have a meeting at eight. We can talk when I get home tomorrow night, when you're not in this ridiculous mood.'

That sent all thoughts of Trowa racing out of Wufei's head, replaced by a whole other set of problems. 'Oh, no! There's no damn way you're going to be in the office tomorrow. I bet you haven't slept properly for the last week and you need to take some time off before you kill yourself.'

That won him an especially vicious glare. For someone who was generally so sweet-tempered, Quatre Winner did not particularly like being ordered around. 'I most certainly am going into WEI!'

'No.' Wufei couldn't help a little grin at the look on his face, and then of something that Trowa had said. 'I'll lock you in and tie you up if I have to, but there's no way you're leaving this room.'

Quatre's breath caught; fury and challenge and just a tinge, Wufei thought, of excitement. Interesting.

'I rather think that's my decision, not yours,' he said coolly. 'I don't appreciate being spoken to like that. I have a business to run and I have appointments all day. I've already asked Rashid to collect me at seven.'

'And?'

'And he'll be expecting me. He'll want to know where I am, if I'm not downstairs waiting for him.'

Wufei shrugged. 'I'll tell him you're tired, and you've changed your mind about going to work. He'll believe me.'

'Don't be absurd, please,' Quatre said dismissively. 'I have plans made for tomorrow and I fully intend to carry them out. And now I intend to go to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow when I come home, but I am going to WEI in the morning.'

Wufei gave him a wolfish little smile. 'Not if you're tied to the bed, you aren't.'

'You wouldn't!'

'Try me,' Wufei said calmly. 'I'll gag you if necessary as well. And in the unlikely event that you manage to shout, and he does come up, he'll probably help me tie an extra few knots. He's been just as worried about you lately as we all have.'

'I know.' Quatre, brilliant strategist that he was, changed tactics abruptly; gazed appealingly up at him, blue eyes misty under his ludicrously long lashes. 'I'm so sorry. I promise, I'll be better in future. We'll work it out. I just need to be in the office for an hour tomorrow; that's all. I have to; I've been away for almost a week; there must be hundreds of things I need to sort out.'

'We are going to sort something out, yes,' Wufei agreed. 'We're going to sit down tomorrow and look at your schedule, and make some changes so you're not actually working 24\7.'

The shining blond head nodded eagerly. 'Yes. Of course. That's a wonderful idea. And we'll do it together. But first I really do need to go and…'

'No!' Wufei snapped. 'Haven't you listened to a single word I've said? You're not going anywhere near WEI for the next few days. For God's sake, you personally hired most of the management at your company. Why did you choose them if you can't trust them?'

'I do trust them! But I'm the one in charge. My father always approved every decision; he believed he needed to oversee everything. He said some things couldn't be delegated.'

'Well, maybe that worked for him, but WEI's a global corporation now. The people you hired can do their jobs perfectly well without you looking over their shoulders for every little thing, and I'm sure they'd be much happier to feel you trusted them. You physically can't do it all by yourself, and do all your charity work and have some sort of a life. You can't, Quat. It isn't fair to either of us.'

'But Father…'

'You want to be like him?' Wufei demanded. 'You've told me often enough what it was like growing up in your family. You never saw him. Is that what you want; a successful company but nothing else? Do you want to drive away everyone who's close to you because your work is more important than your friends? Than me?'

'No. No!'

His blue eyes were drenched with tears now; once Wufei would have been hating himself for making Quatre cry, taking him in his arms and promising anything to make him stop.

Not anymore.

'Right. So we are going to take a long look at your schedule, and make sure you actually get to leave the office sometimes. Yes?'

Quatre nodded obediently. 'Yes. But, 'Fei, it's never going to be a 9-5 job. I'm always going to have to travel, and there are time differences so sometimes I'll have to work at night or in the early mornings.'

'Fuck the time differences!' Wufei snapped and Quat actually flinched. Good. 'You're the CEO. It's about time people started accommodating you for a change, instead of you bending over backwards to suit them. I get that you have to travel sometimes; that there'll be the occasional all-nighter, or breakfast meeting. But they should be exceptions, Quat. Not every damn week. You are going to start giving people some responsibility, and taking a step back. Understood? That's not a question; it's an order.'

'No!' Quatre shook his head firmly. 'I don't know what's got into you but you don't get to order me around like that. Yes, I'll try to spend more time with you but not if you're going to treat me like a…'

'Quatre. Shut up.' Kissing him had been a most effective, and enjoyable, way to silence him before so Wufei did it again, tugging Quat into his arms, and tweaking the first button of his pyjama jacket and slid one hand inside, fingers reaching for a nipple, 'For once in your life, you'll damn well do as you're told.'

'Don't touch me!'

'No?' Wufei pinched gently, and felt the little piece of flesh swell at his touch. 'What are you going to do about it?'

The resultant struggle was utterly, totally enjoyable. Quatre was strong enough, but he'd never had any real training in hand-to-hand combat; Wufei could have subdued him easily in the first few seconds, but it was just too much fun having Quatre squirming and writhing underneath him until he was limp and panting and crimson with effort and fury.

So beautiful when he was angry, Wufei thought lovingly. Trowa Barton was not getting him. End of story. Quatre belonged to him; Trowa had had his chance and screwed it up royally.

Wufei reached out to touch one flushed cheek, and Quatre exploded, fighting in earnest this time. Wufei let him, dodging when necessary, until Quat almost landed a knee somewhere that would probably have caused serious damage.

'That's enough!' Wufei pinned Quat's arms down, and sat across him. 'Quatre, stop it. You're going to hurt one of us, and I'm not going to let that happen. Understand? I told you, I'll tie you up if I have to. I mean it.'

'You wouldn't!'

'Yes, I would,' Wufei said grimly. 'And don't even think about trying to call Trowa, because he'd help me.' And enjoy every second of it, no doubt. 'Now. I was in the middle of something.'

'You were not!' Quatre's glare intensified.

'Wasn't I? Really?' Not releasing Quat's hands, he bent down and kissed those tightly pressed lips, licking his mouth open and making the kiss wet and sloppy and bruisingly hard until Quatre moaned, and the tension started to leach out of his body.

'Oh, that's much better,' Wufei approved, lifting his head slightly.

Quat gave a little whimper of pure loss and need and tilted his face.

'Good boy. No more objections then?'

'Trowa.'

Damn, he'd utterly forgotten. 'He's unconscious, pretty much. He won't care.'

'But Duo said we had to watch him.'

'If he starts choking to death on his own vomit, I think we'll hear him. Any more arguments?'

'I don't exactly have a choice, do I?' The blond pouted up at him, the effect somewhat spoilt by the fact that his eyes were huge and dark with desire.

'Of course you do.' Wufei's lips drifted across the beautiful face, lightly as the first breath of Spring, dabbing the lightest, feathery kisses, then settled about his lobe and suckled gently. Quat's head fell further back, offering his slim white throat.

His, Wufei thought, nibbling tiny kisses along Quatre's jaw, then following the curve of his throat. All his. Always, and he was going to taste every delectable inch before finally fucking him and if Quatre objected then it was just too bad.

Quatre didn't seem to have a problem with any of it though, sighing and sweetly pliant as Wufei moved up and down his body, kissing hard enough to mark the pale skin on neck and throat, and then pressing lips to every knob of Quat's spine, licking a slow, languid trail down his back to the curves of his buttocks.

So beautiful. Utterly perfect, and moaning hungrily when Wufei flipped him back over and settled between his legs. There'd been enough foreplay, Wufei decided, fumbling under the pillow for lube and coating himself, before sliding one slippery finger into Quat.

'You're mine,' he gasped fiercely, entering the blond with one sharp, fast move. 'Mine.' He repeated it with every thrust, branding the words into both of them, branding his body into his lover.

~ * ~

Chapter 12

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