"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 12

It was bright when he woke up, memories slowly rising through the haze of sleep. Quatre had come home, and Trowa, and oh God, Quatre.

And Trowa.

Trowa was asleep across the room, having said…what he'd said.

Quatre was sitting up against the headboard, leafing through a book on his lap, and wearing an expression that didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be gently amused or vaguely enquiring or quite appallingly smug. Smugness seemed to be winning. There were marks blooming on his fair skin; places where Wufei had kissed or sucked or clutched the night before. He didn't seem to mind.

He hadn't seemed to mind any of it the night before either; he'd met and matched Wufei's passion during that first glorious, wild storm of love-making, and then lain in his arms and cried a little.

The second time had been, oh, so different. Quat had been the one to instigate that; the one to control it. After, they'd just held each other and talked drowsily, Wufei feeling impossibly cherished and adored and wanted and just a little sore because he wasn't really used to being the one underneath, to the sweet, slick glide of Quatre's body moving into his.

'Well.' Quat said brightly. 'Am I allowed to say anything this morning without you jumping down my throat?'

'Not yet.' Wufei lay back on his pillow, not quite ready to face the day. Not remotely ready. They were all right. That was the important thing.

After the dramas of the night, everything was extraordinarily peaceful. Trowa was a blanket-covered mound across the room, still asleep, and that somehow felt right too; Trowa in their room.

Everything, bizarrely, seemed to be fine. He couldn't remember the last time he'd just had time to lie in bed like this, with Quat, with neither of them fretting about appointments or assignments.

'I do hope you've noticed,' Quatre informed him, looking ridiculously pleased with himself, 'that I haven't dared to leave this room, as per your orders last night.'

'Good. About time you started doing what you were told.'

'I didn't exactly have a lot of choice,' Quat made a face at him. 'I don't think I'll be capable of walking anywhere for a week.'

Wufei made a face at him. 'You can't talk.'

Quatre's laughter pealed across the room, a faint sweet, blush stealing across his cheeks. 'You didn't seem to mind too much.'

'I don't think I did, no,' Wufei said, a little cautiously. He and Quatre were fine. They still had to work out how - where – whether - Trowa fit into their equation.

'So have you decided to keep me?'

'Probably. Assuming you behave yourself.'

Quatre laughed softly. 'And if I don't?'

'I'm sure I'll think of something. Actually, I'm definitely going to keep you. You need someone to look after you.'

'I have someone.' Quatre slanted him a shimmering little smile, and slid down his pile of pillows. 'Haven't I?'

'Always,' Wufei said softly, making it a vow because sometimes Quat was the one who needed reassurance.

'Always,' Quatre repeated solemnly, and then held up the little book Trowa had given him; the book of poems.

'Where on earth did you find this? It's beautiful.'

'Trowa gave it to me. I shouldn't even have it, really. It should be in a museum, or a library.'

'You're the perfect person to have it,' Quatre said firmly. 'Anyway, it was a present; you can't just give it away. He obviously went to a lot of effort to find it for you. And he must have spent a fortune on it.'

'Actually, no. He just happened to find it in a little antique shop the last time he was on L1.' As he spoke, he realised quite how ridiculous it was. Trowa wasn't the sort who browsed around antique shops. And any dealer with even a thimbleful of knowledge would have known at once what a treasure he had.

He would have worked it out, if he'd ever let himself think about it.

'He wanted you to have it,' Quatre said, watching him carefully.

Wufei took a deep breath, then nodded and reached over to touch the little book's worn cover. Quatre took his hand.

'Can you understand any of it?' Languages had never been Quat's thing, but he'd had a tutor for Mandarin, in recognition of the historical ties between their colonies.

'Some of it. Too many archaic characters. Do you think you could translate them into English?'

'Of course.' He'd already started working on one, but it would suit Trowa better; about two lonely warriors finding companionship on the battlefield. 'I'm such an idiot. I actually swallowed his stupid story about how he'd found it. I don't know if I even told him properly how grateful I am.'

'I'm sure he knows.'

'I kissed him,' Wufei said suddenly. He'd always meant to tell Quatre; he hadn't meant it to be quite so abrupt. 'While you were away.'

'Oh. To thank him for the book?'

'Not really. He was there, and he was annoying me and I just did it.'

There. He'd said it. Quat didn't explode, didn't cry, didn't even let go his hand. 'How was it?'

'Quat!'

''Fei! I don't know what you're sounding so shocked about. I'm not the one who kissed him, am I?'

'I'm sorry. Nothing else happened. Not really. Just… I let him hold me. I was so lonely and I was missing you, and I didn't know what was going to happen with us, and he was just…there. I'm sorry.'

'Oh, my love.' He suddenly had Quatre wrapped around him, little kisses scattering all over his face, light as falling flower petals.

'You're not angry with me?'

'I am exceedingly furious with myself, for going off and leaving you like that. I'm so sorry. I should never have left. I thought maybe we both needed some space, but I was wrong, wasn't I?' he asked dolefully. 'And, well, all those things you said to me about working too hard were perfectly right, but I didn't want to admit that, so I ran away instead.'

Wufei hugged him. 'It worked out all right. Anyway, you had to go. I know that. Your company…'

'Screw my company!' Quatre snapped and then looked so utterly shocked at himself that Wufei started to laugh.

'I didn't even think you knew that word.'

'Trowa's obviously corrupted me. Both of us, I think. So no, I'm not remotely angry with you.' He kissed Wufei again, just to prove it. 'Besides,' he produced one of his glimmeringly mischievous smiles, 'it wasn't exactly the first time for you two, was it?'

It took Wufei a moment to work through that. Then – 'Trowa said he never told you about that.'

Quatre sniffed. 'He didn't need to! I'm not quite that much of an idiot, thank you.'

'You never said anything.'

'Neither did you.' He said it a little defensively, and then flushed. 'I was….jealous, a little.'

'Of me?'

'Of you,' Quatre confirmed. 'Is it so very difficult to believe?'

'Yes, actually.' It made him think differently about a few things. Perhaps it wasn't all that difficult after all. 'You don't mind?'

The blond gave him a long, level look. 'Do I mind that you kissed someone years ago, before we'd ever even met? Not particularly.' That roguish little smile peeped out again. 'I did rather well out of it, actually. You certainly knew what you were doing, the first time you kissed me.'

'Quatre!'

'Yes, my love?'

Gods, he was utterly enchanting like this, those beautiful blue eyes sparkling. 'Stop being such a brat. Maybe I'll have to rethink keeping you. I could probably get a decent enough price for you on eBay.'

'But I'm not the one running around kissing other people,' Quat protested, all injured innocence. 'Honestly, between Trowa and Zechs and you and Trowa! It's just as well I didn't stay away for much longer. I think I need to keep a closer eye on the pair of you.'

There it was; Trowa again. Wufei slumped back on to his pillow and Quatre followed him down. Hard to be angry or resentful when he had Quat curled up on him, that soft blond hair tickling his chin.

'I love you,' Quatre breathed softly, and then spelled the words across his chest with one fingertip, murmuring them between kisses. 'You do know that, don't you?'

'Yes.'

He didn't say anything else; didn't say that Quat loved Trowa too, had admitted it. It didn't really hurt any more, to acknowledge something he'd always known. And there was something else there; he'd always thought Quatre and Trowa had that special connection but really it had been between the three of them, from the very beginning.

For a dizzy, dazzling moment, he imagined what it might be like; the three of them together.

Quatre pouted prettily at him. 'You'd better not be considering any more ridiculous notions about giving me away.'

'Absolutely not.'

'Well, good.'

Emboldened by the warmth of Quat's smile, Wufei took a deep breath and finally said it. 'So now we just have to sort out what we do about Trowa, don't we? When he wakes up.'

'He's awake, actually,' Trowa announced, voice muffled by blankets. 'Do you two never shut up? If I have to hear one more argument about which of you loves the other more, I swear, I'll throw up again.'

'Trowa!' Quatre was out of bed in a flash, flying across the room. Naked, naturally. Wufei shook his head, started to reach for a robe to throw him, and then didn't bother. Trowa had seen it all before.

'Are you all right?' Quatre was bending over him when Wufei crossed the room, dressing gown on and firmly tied at the waist. He was stroking Trowa's forehead gently, offering drinks, aspirin, doctors' visits.

'Just a wicked headache,' Trowa murmured, obviously basking in all the attention, and shooting a tiny smirk in Wufei's direction.

'Oh, you poor thing,' Quatre cooed. 'What can I get you to help? Does it hurt terribly?'

Wufei snorted; in his opinion, a self-inflicted hangover in no way deserved such sympathy.

'Yeah,' Trowa moaned. 'Kiss it better for me?'

Quatre, realising what he was about to do, jerked away, but Trowa had caught his wrist, pulling him down.

'Stop it, Tro.'

'Quat. Shh. Come here.' He had one hand on Quat's jawline, tilting his face. Quatre tried to pull free and then abruptly gave in, leaned into Trowa's touch, let him turn his face, opened his mouth for Trowa's kiss.

Wufei had expected to feel anger or jealousy; even desire of a sort, watching the two of them together. There was nothing like that. He'd seen them like this before, walking into a hangar when they weren't expecting it, standing at the foot of Sandrock.

He'd watched porn growing up. The straight sex vids that all the boys of his age watched, wanting it to mean something; to be affected the way other, normal boys were, and a few which weren't straight at all, which he'd surreptitiously ordered on-line, using false names and passwords and every imaginable safeguard to keep people from finding out.

Then, in the middle of a war, he'd seen Trowa kiss Quatre, and the universe had suddenly clicked into place, in a way it never had, furtively watching those seedy, sordid films. Those two belonged together; they still did, and he'd been a fool ever to think otherwise.

'There.' Trowa let him go and he stumbled backwards into Wufei's arms. 'I thought that might even things up a little bit, 'Fei, before you got bogged down in guilt for kissing me.'

Wufei shook his head, oddly uncaring. The universe was still spinning, albeit a little more dizzily than usual. He was the one holding Quatre, and couldn't really resent that Trowa was still holding one of his hands. It was oddly more painful that Trowa had let Zechs kiss him the night before. 'Oh, for that to happen, Quat and I would need to kiss Merquise, don't you think.'

'No fucking way are you going near him!' Trowa exploded.

'It's nothing to do with you whom I kiss, actually.'

'Oh, isn't it?' Trowa's expression darkened. 'We'll see about that.'

'You don't have any right to order me around,' Wufei objected, embarking on the most redundant, ridiculous argument of his life. It wasn't that he had the faintest desire to kiss Zechs, but that didn't mean that Trowa Barton could go around arbitrarily kissing people and then telling their boyfriends what to do.

'No one is kissing Merquise,' Quat said hotly. 'Gah! You two, you're so…' Lost for words, he suddenly twisted back against Wufei, burrowing into his arms.

'So what, baby?' Trowa asked.

'You're idiots!'

'Well.' Trowa, for once, sounded at a loss. 'Right. Glad that's cleared up.'

'Ooh!' His face emerged, flushed and cross, from the crook of Wufei's shoulder. 'Honestly! You say poor Duo's a fool for not noticing Heero. Well, neither of you can talk! You're worse!'

'Snarky little thing, isn't he?' Trowa observed, meeting Wufei's eyes over the tousled blond head between them. 'He gets like this when he either needs a sugar fix, or a good shag. Since you took care of the latter, I'm guessing he needs breakfast.'

Wufei nodded. 'Definitely. God knows when he last ate. He's never been much good at taking care of himself.'

'Don't talk about me like I'm not here!' Quatre snapped.

'We can see you're here.' Trowa commented, eyes drifting lazily over Quat's body. 'Hard to miss you when you're running around with no clothes on.'

'Oh!' Quatre gasped, flushing furiously and grabbing Trowa's blanket around him. Holding it carefully, toga-style, and trying not to trip over the extra fabric, he made his way across the room and dived back into bed, throwing himself under the duvet, before his head popped back out again.

'Well?' he demanded imperiously. 'What are you two waiting for? You promised me breakfast a minute ago.'

'Breakfast,' Wufei repeated dazedly. 'Of course. What would you like?'

'Surprise me.' Quatre made a little flapping movement with one hand. 'Go on. I'm starving.'

Somehow they found themselves on the other side of the door.

'Right.' Trowa propped himself against the wall. 'That went all right. Didn't it?'

'I think so,' Wufei said. It was odd, Trowa being the hesitant one, and then possibly not. He was the one, not Wufei, who was on the outside of the relationship. 'We should probably go and get him something to eat.'

Trowa nodded, and then looked very slightly self-conscious, not a look Wufei was used to seeing on him. 'I should probably go and get some clothes on first.'

'It's OK,' Wufei said softly, suddenly realising just why Trowa, wearing nothing but fitted black briefs, was keeping his back to the wall, and offered him one hand. It made him feel a sudden rush of tenderness for the other man, wanting to reassure him that a few physical scars didn't matter. That maybe he could start to forget the emotional ones, one day. 'Come on. He'll be utterly insufferable if we keep him waiting.'

Trowa, in return, offered a faint smile, taking his hand. 'Even more insufferable, you mean. Still, there are two of us, and you seem to be getting better at handling him, if last night was anything to go by.'

Wufei stopped short. 'We thought you were asleep!'

'I know. Don't worry, 'Fei. You did great. I did tell you that he likes being ordered around sometimes.'

'He seems to have forgotten it this morning.'

'Yeah. Time and a place, you know? Let him think he's in control for a bit. It'll make him happy.' Trowa looked at him as they walked into the kitchen. 'You know, you should probably ring someone at WEI before they start sending out search parties for him.'

Wufei looked at his watch; not yet seven o'clock. Too early for search parties. He went into the library and called Quat's PA and a couple of department heads, none of whom were in work yet, and left messages that Quatre was taking an unscheduled holiday for the next week, and was only to be contacted in the direst of dire emergencies.

Rashid was in, and more than happy with the news. Wufei had just dialled off when Duo called.

'Hey! Not too early, is it? I know you guys get up at dawn or whatever.'

'No, it's fine.' It was. Quatre was tucked up in bed, and he could hear Trowa moving around in the kitchen. All fine. 'Is everything all right?'

'Yeah. Heero had to go into work – some new development on his case – and then he had to go and see his old landlord about getting his deposit back.' He laughed. 'Not sure if that's going to happen, but he claims there was nothing in the rental agreement saying he couldn't have wild animals in the house, or put chemicals in the hot water tank. Or about poltergeists. Still, it means I actually get some time to myself. Just as well, really; he has scary levels of stamina and I needed a bit of a rest.'

'You could have just told him.'

Duo snorted at him. 'Yeah, right. Like I was even remotely interested in getting him to stop what he was doing. I'm not that much of a masochist. Still, it's kind of nice getting to chill for a couple of hours. I just wanted to check on Tro. And to say sorry for last night. I can't believe I forgot about Zechsy taking me out. Man, talk about awkward! Him and Heero were just glaring at each other, and you could tell they were desperate for swords or Gundams or something to have another bloody duel.'

Wufei grimaced. 'I can imagine.'

'Tro was brilliant; leapt straight into the breach, before they could start squaring off using Heero's garden tools, and whisked Zechs off somewhere. Is he OK?'

'He says his head aches but he's fine otherwise,' Wufei said, making a mental note to give him aspirin. 'We made him drink a glass of water last night, like you said, and he slept in our room so we could keep an eye on him.'

Duo, miraculously, was silent for a few seconds. 'Ah. This might be a bit out of line, but what the freaking hell is happening with you three?'

'I have no idea what you mean,' Wufei said stiffly.

'Well, you seem pretty blasé about the fact that you let him sleep in your bed. Actually, the fact that you let him sleep in your bed is kind of a give away too.'

'He did not sleep in our bed! And you told us to watch him.'

'Yeah, well, wherever he slept he must have been in your bedroom all night and, not so long ago, you were pissed off at him being in the same city as you. Now, spill. What's going on?'

'Nothing.' That was perfectly true. Nothing had – gone on. It hadn't.

'Right. Well, if you want to talk to someone about all that nothing of yours, I'm your friend and I'm here, OK?'

'All right,' Wufei admitted, surprising himself. 'There may be something.'

Something. There. He'd admitted it out loud; the something that had started during the war with a kiss by a campfire; no, before that. The first time he'd seen Trowa and Quatre together. Then that desperate kiss a few days ago, and the feeling of Trowa in his arms. The look on Quatre's face outside the club, that night; impossibly bereft as Trowa walked away from him. His expression the night before, tracing Trowa's back. The things Trowa had said.

'Oh, shit,' Duo moaned. 'You're not planning to do something godawful noble and self-sacrificing, are you? Like walking away from Quat?'

'No! I did….consider it,' he said carefully, 'but, no. No, I'm not. I don't really know what's happening. I don't know what it is.'

'Tro likes you,' Duo said at once. 'He always has. I know you think him and Quat have this whole star-crossed-lovers thing going on, but he's always had a bit of a thing for you. And since you stopped hating him, you sort of seemed to like him, actually. And you're always staring at his ass.'

'I am not!'

''Fei, you seriously are. Not that I blame you or anything. It's well worth staring at.'

'Quite,' Wufei acknowledged. It was making everything real, this conversation with his closest friend.

'You know, instead of beating yourself up over this whole thing, and I know that's what you're doing, maybe you should start thinking about how lucky you are. You've got two amazing guys who both think the sun shines out of your ass.'

'It's not that simple!'

'It damn well is! Especially if you factor in that they're both crazy about each other, and that one of them pretty much owns the entire universe and the other one is seriously smoking hot in bed. Not that I'm sure Quat doesn't excel in that particular area too but I can't actually speak from experience. You should be over the moon, not whining to me.'

'I was not whining,' Wufei said with dignity.

'Were too,' Duo said briskly. 'Listen, Chang. Head out of ass. Stop with the guilt tripping – God, it's like this crazy cosmic joke that Quat found the one person in the universe who's worse than he is at blaming himself for stuff. It's not like either of you is even Catholic! Now, stop hiding in your study or wherever you are and go and talk to them. Right? Or else you can just jump the pair of them. Speaking from very personal recent experience, that might work better.'

Jump them. Wufei swallowed, visualising Trowa in his tight briefs, and then Quatre, in nothing at all. 'Duo, is this …terribly weird?'

'Heh, don't ask me. I'm the guy who didn't even realise he had a boyfriend. Yeah, OK, maybe it's a bit weird, but who cares? You want to be happy, right? You want them to be happy? And that's all they want for you.'

'Yes.' He was smiling suddenly. So stupid; all of these complications weren't really anything to smile about.

'Well then. Who cares about anything else? Not like I never looked at Tro and thought he was, um, that he was a very intelligent and resourceful person.'

'I take it Heero's back?'

'Yep, just walked in the door. I'd better go. Call me later, right? A lot later. Oh, and just so you know, Quat is now officially my best friend, since Heero's got promoted, so you guys better treat him good. Tell Barton I said that.'

Trowa was chopping bananas, stopping every so often to stir a pot bubbling on the stove. In bright daylight, his back looked even worse, but the scars didn't take anything from his grace; the lean, spare beauty of him.

'What's for breakfast?'

'Banana porridge. You know, normal people buy those little sachets that you just put in the microwave. Not this organic, stone-ground Irish stuff that you actually have to cook.'

'It tastes much better though.' It was an excellent choice; bland and comforting and just sweet enough to tempt Quatre, but not so much as to give him a sugar rush. 'Can I do anything?'

'I think it's sorted.' Trowa turned around to smile at him and then back to his pot. God, the sheer rightness of it. Trowa Barton, practically naked, cooking porridge in their kitchen, with little motes of sunlight dancing around him. 'So, did you make your phone calls?'

'I left messages. They'll sort it out. Rashid seemed pleased.'

Trowa nodded. 'He's never liked me much. Bad influence and all that.'

'I can't imagine why,' Wufei said dryly, absurdly pleased when Trowa gave him another smile. 'Anyway, he's delighted Quatre's taking some time off. You might want to worry about Duo, though. I think he's planning to give us official orders on how to treat Quat.'

'I think Quat's more than capable of doing that himself,' Trowa said calmly, and then turned to look at Wufei. 'Duo said something last night; I guessed he had some idea what was going on.'

Wufei took the last few steps separating them. 'I'm not sure if I do, really. Trowa, what's actually happening?'

'Whatever you want,' Trowa said instantly.

'What are you saying; that it's all my decision? That isn't fair.'

'No.' Trowa put down the spoon he'd been using to stir the pot and moved the pot itself off the stove. 'That wasn't what I meant at all, love.'

Love.

Wufei gritted his teeth. Chang Wufei was not the sort of person to be distracted, unmanned, melted, by a little endearment. 'What, then?'

'I've told you what I want.'

'Actually, you haven't.'

'I've told you how I feel about you, that I want to be with you. With both of you. You're supposed to be the intelligent one. I'm sure you can work out by yourself what that means. All I meant was that I didn't want to rush you into anything until you're sure.'

'Well, I'm not!' It came out more forcibly than he'd meant. Lying in bed with Quatre beside him, hazily half-asleep, it had been very easy to imagine certain things. Trowa was so calm about the whole thing, about transforming his world. 'I don't even know what this is supposed to be, not really.'

'Of course you do.' Trowa looked at him, really looked, and his expression sobered. 'Oh. I thought…'

'It doesn't matter what you thought!' Wufei said wildly. 'This is impossible! You can't just come into our lives, and turn everything upside down, and say the sort of things you do, and then just expect everything to work out the way you want. Have you even thought about Quatre in all of this?'

Trowa eyed him narrowly, and then a slow, glorious smile spread over his face. 'Is that what you're worried about? God, you're utterly adorable when you're clueless. Don't you get that Quat sent us down here to sort this out between us?'

~ * ~

Chapter 13

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