"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 8

Duo heaved his rucksack over one shoulder and winced. 'Oof. This is heavier than I thought.' They'd set off together from the car park, the four of them, and then Duo had paused to adjust the straps on his pack, and have a drink, and the other two had obviously decided to go on ahead.

Wufei watched him stagger as he twisted both arms into the straps. 'I thought you'd bought all sorts of new lightweight camping equipment.'

'Oh, yeah. Heero's got all that stuff in his bag. This is just food.'

'The whole bag?' Wufei stared at the bulging pack. 'All we need is enough food for dinner tonight.'

'Lunch today.' Duo took a few experimental steps. 'Breakfast in the morning and something to eat on the way down tomorrow. Actually, Heero has most of that too. I've got all the snacky stuff. No point going camping without a tonne of junk food. It's OK. We'll probably have most of it eaten by the time we're halfway there anyway. So, what's the story with you and Tro?'

'What?'

'You're being unusually,' Duo paused, searching for a word, 'friendly with each other. I knew you were pissed when Quat asked him to move in, but you seem to be getting on OK.'

'We are,' Wufei said shortly.

'Oh. Well. That's good. Anyway, I thought you might like a bit of a break from each other. It'll be fun, right? The four of us heading out together. We don't do this sort of stuff enough.'

'We don't,' Wufei agreed. 'It was really nice of you to ask us along. I hope Trowa and I won't be in your way too much.'

Duo looked puzzled. 'Sorry, what?'

'If you and Heero want some time together, we don't exactly have to sit in each other's pockets for the whole trip.'

Duo shook his head, braid bouncing against his t-shirt. 'Sorry, 'Fei. I don't get you. Heero and I are practically together 24/7. Our offices are next door; he's still living at my place 'cause the exorcist said it would be better for him to leave his apartment empty for a few more days.'

'You mean exterminator, no? I thought he'd already fixed the cockroach problem.'

'Nope, exorcist. He had a poltergeist. He moved back home on Monday and stuff was jumping off the shelves all night, so he got this priest in to exorcise it. It was pretty cool, actually, but apparently the spirits of the dead are going to hang around for a bit longer, so he moved back in with me for a bit.'

'Very funny,' Wufei grinned at him. 'Duo, you can drop the act, though. I know. You don't have to keep pretending.'

Huge indigo eyes gazed at him. 'Know what?'

'About you two.'

'Know what about us two? OK, time to lighten the load a little bit more.' He slid a giant Toblerone out of a side pocket and broke it in half. 'Here you go. Lots of protein and iron in chocolate.

'That you're…you know.'

'Nope. Don't have a clue.' Head tilted slightly to one side, Duo regarded him quizzically. 'What are we?'

OK, Duo loved jokes but this one was going on for too long. 'A couple.'

'A couple of what?'

'A couple in the …..romantic sense.'

Duo snorted chocolate out through his nose. 'What? Chang, just in case it's escaped your notice, Heero's not into guys.' He shrugged. 'Yeah, it'd be great if he was, but he's not. End of story.'

'But…'

'Fuck but,' Duo said firmly, and then laughed. 'Oh, that sounds kinda pervy. Let it go, OK? Now, how's your blonder half?'

'Coming home on Monday.' Wufei smiled with pure pleasure – just ever so slightly laced with guilt.

'Yeah, I know. I was talking to him yesterday. He's missing you like hell. If you want my advice, you'll screw the stuffing out of him the minute you get him home, and when he's all shagged out and half-unconscious, make him swear to lighten up on the workload a bit. Get in writing if you can. In triplicate.'

Wufei lifted an eyebrow. 'Since when did you start handing out relationship advice?

Duo grinned. 'I have all kinds of unexpected talents.'

'I'm sure you do. Anyway, he gets in on Monday morning. I thought you might like to come for dinner that evening? I know he'll want to see you.'

Duo looked unflatteringly delighted to refuse. 'No can do. I've got a date. With Zechs Merquise,' he added proudly.

'That lunatic? Where's he going to take you; to the new ship he's building to blow up the planet?'

'Nope,' Duo said amiably. 'Some French place. I can't pronounce the name but Quat says it's good. Actually, Quat's the one who convinced me to go. You know he's into giving people second chances and all that. And just in case you haven't noticed, 'Fei, that lunatic, as you call him, is stunning. According to office gossip, Une deliberately ordered all his uniforms a size too small so she wouldn't have to give any of the female staff a raise this year, or most of the guys.'

'I do not believe that for one second.'

'Oh, puh-lease. She did it with Trowa as well.' He laughed. 'That woman would do anything to save money. No wonder she was pissed when he resigned. Anyway, back to Zechs, he's been stuck on a shuttle from Mars for months, and he's only been back in Sanque a few weeks, so he's got to be as horny as a load of alley cats in a sack lined with catmint.'

Wufei shook his head at the image that produced, and then at the image of his friend with the Lightning count.

'So anyway,' Duo mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate, 'we were talking about you and Trowa.'

'No, we weren't.'

'We were before. I know Quat wants the two of you to be friends, but I'm not sure how he'd feel about you staring at Tro's ass the whole way up here.'

'I was not. I was watching my footing on the track.'

Duo snorted. 'Right. Only if you were planning to plant your feet on his butt. So, is it just that you miss Kitty-Quat or have you got the hots for Tro?'

'No!'

'Huh. Right. Tell me to shag off if you want but I get that Tro's all hot and sexy, and you and Quat had a fight, and Tro flirts with anything that's got a pulse, but that's just how he is. You and Quat are great together. You don't want to mess that up.'

'I wouldn't,' Wufei promised, very seriously. 'Ever.'

'OK. Cool.' Duo looked a little embarrassed. 'Sorry. I didn't, you know, mean that I thought you'd ever do the dirt on Quat, but I think Tro has a bit of a thing for you. Even Heero picked up on it last Sunday, and he never notices that kind of stuff, so I thought I'd just put it out there, and see what happened. Heero said I should just leave you to sort it out, but I know you don't have a tonne of experience, and Tro has so…you don't mind me saying, do you?'

'It's all right. You're just worried about Quatre. You don't have to be. Now, in return you can listen to me. You have to do something about Heero.'

'Aw, not this crap again.' Duo stuffed his last triangle of chocolate into his mouth and set off up the track. 'I told you, the guy's not into me. Not into guys at all, period.'

'Just because he dated Relena for a very short period when he was sixteen doesn't mean he can't be gay,' Wufei stated, hurrying to catch up. 'He's never looked at another girl since then, as far as I know.'

'Yeah, well, that's what having your heart broken does for you,' Duo muttered.

'All his best friends are gay. He comes clubbing with us. He dances with you!'

'Yeah, so I won't have to dance with some loser trying to hit on me.'

'He's interested in you, Duo.'

'Oh, really?' Duo snapped. 'How come he's never done anything about it then, Chang? Like you said, we virtually spend every waking moment together, and actually he's had to share my bed for the last few days 'cause my couch has bedbugs. If he'd been even the tiniest bit interested, something would've happened by now. Drop it, OK? I just want to enjoy the hike. I thought we could maybe go up to the waterfall after we set up camp, have a swim, laze around a bit. That suit you?'

'Yes, fine.' For the rest of the hike, they talked determinedly about work, and a film Duo wanted to see, and a book they'd both read.

When they reached the little campsite, there were two tents already up, and Heero and Trowa were laying out lunch.

'What kept the pair of you?' Heero asked, looking up from a plate of sandwiches.

Duo swung his pack off and flopped down beside him, stealing food off his plate. 'Talking. Nice to know you were worried enough to come and check up on us. We could've have had an accident or something. Could've been dead and cold in a gully.'

Heero frowned at him. 'We could see you every so often when the trail twisted around. You were obviously perfectly fine. We thought we'd press on ahead and get the camp set up.'

'Yeah, thanks. We'll just dump our stuff and then decide what to do next. Lunch first, obviously, but then we can go for a wander or something. It might be nice to go to Quatre's waterfall, we were thinking.'

'I'd like that.' Heero gave him one of those rare smiles. 'Oh, talking of Quatre, Trowa wondered if we could meet them on Monday for dinner.'

'Can't,' Duo said through a mouthful of chicken. 'Other plans.'

'You don't have anything scheduled,' Heero objected.

'It's not work. It's a date. Zechs.' He threw the name out almost defiantly.

'You are not going out with him,' Heero said flatly. 'He's insane.'

'Yeah, I am. Jeez, can you guys not move on a bit? Even if he is a bit of a nutjob, he's a hot guy who's interested in me. That doesn't happen very often and I'm going to make the most of it.'

'He is hot,' Trowa agreed. 'Great bod. Great in the sack too; tonnes of stamina and very creative. You should have fun.'

'Cool,' Duo said blithely, over the spluttering of the other two. 'I didn't know you two'd ever hooked up.'

Trowa winked over at Wufei. 'It was damn cold in Antarctica. You know, sharing warmth is the best way to control body heat.'

'You slept with the man I was going to fight a duel with?' Heero demanded.

Trowa shrugged. 'I'd have asked you but you were already snuggled up with your Gundam. And there was no heating on that bloody base. Had to do something. I'll tell you another thing; the guy has some kind of built-in heating system. Duo, if you get with him, you'll never have to buy another electric blanket in your life.'

Heero glared at him, snapping his chicken leg in two. 'Well, Duo isn't going out with him.'

'Uh, Duo's here, in case you hadn't noticed,' Duo himself objected, 'and yes, he's pretty sure he is going out with the sexy prince. I want to find out what shampoo he uses for one thing. And it's none of your damn business who I go out with.'

'Yes, it is! Don't you think it hurts that you'd rather go out with anyone on Earth, even the person who tried to destroy it, than with me?'

'Huh?' Duo goggled at him. 'You want to go out with me? No way!'

'Of course I do! Everybody else in the entire universe knows I want to go out with you.'

'You're straight. You dated Relena!'

'I was her bodyguard, Duo. I had to go everywhere with her. We never dated; I took her to the cinema once because she said it was a special martial arts film and it was just some stupid romance.'

'No,' Duo denied stubbornly. 'That's not how it was. You were all upset after you resigned her job; you were heartbroken. I remember having to comfort you.'

'I wasn't heartbroken; you assumed I was and you were sorry for me. It was about the only time you'd ever been nice to me, and I liked it.'

'Whoa,' Duo yelled at him. 'You faked being upset over your fake fucking romance ending so I'd be nice to you?'

'It seemed logical at the time. I wasn't even sure if you'd liked me before then, but you started spending time with me and we did things together, and I thought maybe you were starting to like my company.'

'You didn't think of actually telling me any of this?'

'I would have. I wanted to. But you never seemed interested in me, that way, so I assumed you just wanted to keep me as a friend. I thought I'd made my interest in you obvious, and you were pretending not to notice. At least if I was your friend, I got to be with you.'

'Oh, fuck.' Duo moaned. 'So, all the stuff that went wrong with your apartment, that was your cunning plan to keep staying at my place. No way! Anyway, you couldn't have made all that stuff up. I mean, I saw those frogs in your kitchen. Hundreds of them, hopping around.'

'Do you have any idea how long it took to find them all?' Heero shouted back. 'Three days crawling around every pond in the city! I fell in and got soaked three times in three different parks and I got attacked by swans and one old lady set her poodles on me.'

'How was I supposed to know you made all that stuff up? What about the rabbits burrowing under the floorboards in your bedroom? Were they just part of your dumb fantasy world as well? I actually believed you!'

'Duo, I told you I was allergic to the water in my shower and you believed it!'

'Of course I did. You showed me the lotion the doctor prescribed for you. I helped you rub it in, you bastard!' He jumped to his feet, glaring. 'Even when I didn't like you much, Heero, I always trusted you. Sure, I thought some of the stuff was a bit weird, but so are you. I was stupid, huh? So, you've been laughing at me the whole time this has been going on; trying to see what I'd swallow, huh? How many other people are in on this little joke? Well, get this? I'm not an idiot, and I sure as hell don't believe this stupid story about you being attracted to me.'

'I am,' Heero said desperately. 'Duo, I wasn't trying to make a fool out of you. I swear. I'm the idiot. I never had the courage to tell you how I felt because I was scared you wouldn't want me to be your friend anymore. I thought if I hung around long enough, you might start to….get used to me and think maybe I'd be a good boyfriend. I swear, no one else knows about this.'

'Well,' Wufei interjected. 'Actually, most people think you've been dating for months. Duo, that's why no one ever asks you out. Everyone thinks you're taken. You practically live together, you spend all your time off together.'

Duo swung around. 'You … think that? God, I don't believe this!

'We thought you didn't want Une to find out, or maybe that you thought it was romantic.'

'So, we've been dating for months without me knowing, Yuy? You asshole.' He rounded on Heero, hands clenched into fists.

Trowa placed a hand on Wufei's shoulder. 'Entertaining though this is, I think we should probably leave at this point. They won't want witnesses for what happens next and you won't want to watch. Come on.'

Wufei stood up reluctantly and followed him. Duo was yelling about rabbits again. 'I don't know. Maybe we should stay, if they're going to fight. They might need us to step in if it gets serious.'

Trowa grinned. 'They aren't going to fight. Hey, Heero!' He raised his voice suddenly, swinging back to look at their friends. 'Look in the right pocket of my pack. You might find something useful. Where's this waterfall we're supposed to be going to?'

Wufei pointed. 'Up there. What's in your rucksack?'

'Condoms and lube.'

'What? Why would you bring something like that on a camping trip?'

'I believe in being prepared.' He winked. 'Could meet a cute park ranger or something. How far do we have to go?'

'About half an hour. And it's not actually a proper waterfall, more of a large trickle, but there's a pool under it where you can swim.'

They didn't talk much on the way up; the track was too steep and too narrow to walk side by side.

'Wow.' Trowa's eyes were wide, looking around. 'This is amazing.'

'Isn't it?' Wufei agreed, pleased he liked it. 'Quat and I found it a couple of years ago; we try to get up here as often as we can. He's convinced there are unicorns living in the woods.'

'Maybe he's right.' Trowa dumped his bag and dabbled one hand in the water. 'Maybe we could find one for him?'

'And do what with it?' Wufei asked, amused. 'Bring it home as a pet?'

'Or kill it and have the head mounted over the fireplace in his study?'

'He'd never talk to either of us again,' Wufei said. 'You know how soppy he gets about unicorns.'

'Yeah, he hasn't changed a whole lot since he was fifteen.' Trowa bent down to tug off his hiking boots, and then pulled his sweater over his head.

'Ah, what are you doing?' Wufei gave him one wild, greedy glance and then looked fixedly at the water.

'Stripping off so we can have wild outdoor sex in the hope of attracting some pervy unicorns,' Trowa said matter-of-factly, and then laughed. 'I was going to have a swim. I'm boiling after that climb up here. You going to join me?'

'I don't have anything to wear.' Wufei nevertheless gave the limpid, clear water a regretful look.

'You're wearing underwear, aren't you?' Trowa stripped down to very fitted black briefs and an equally body-hugging black t-shirt. 'Or you could just go skinny-dipping. Come on. I promise I won't look.'

'I think you've seen most of it,' Wufei acknowledged ruefully, and then gave in. After all, they'd been swimming together in the pool at home every day. There was no real difference. Except there was; there was all the difference in the world. They had the whole world to themselves, with just birdsong and the humming of bees and a slight breeze ruffling the leaves for company. And this place had always been special for him and Quatre. It was odd being here with Trowa instead; odd, and oddly right at the same time.

'Hey. A Gundam for your thoughts?' Trowa flicked water at him.

'Nothing really. Just enjoying being here.'

'With me?' Trowa's direct gaze was pure challenge.

'Yes, actually.'

'That's good.' Trowa swam a few strokes away, then back. 'I'm glad I'm an acceptable Quatre-substitute.'

'You're not. I mean, you're far too unlike him for that. I still like your company though.'

'Provided I behave myself?'

'You never behave yourself. Did you really sleep with Merquise?'

Trowa nodded, and then laughed at Wufei's expression. 'It was just sleep, really. He did get try to get a little bit handsy before he dropped off, but we were both exhausted and stressed as hell, and anyway Quat wouldn't have been too impressed if I'd got off with another blond. I just said that to try and get bloody Heero to do something. Thought maybe if he had to face the thought of Duo sleeping with someone else, he'd actually get the balls to react.'

'But the other night, you said you thought they were a couple.'

Trowa shrugged. 'At first, yeah. But maybe I know Duo better than you. If he and Heero'd been together, there's no way he would have kept it quiet. He'd have videos posted on YouTube.'

Wufei laughed. 'I think they've finally managed to work things out, though.'

'Well that, or they'll have killed each other. Nah, they'll be OK. They're both smarter than they look. So that's them sorted. What about us?'

'I thought we'd sorted out all that.'

'We sorted out that we're both attracted to each other.'

'Physically, yes.'

'You know it's more than that.'

'All right,' Wufei conceded, because it was perfectly true. Trowa was intelligent, worldly, funny. A challenge in all kinds of ways that Quatre wasn't, because Quat believed firmly in compromise and solutions and negotiations and Trowa didn't. He'd be an ongoing challenge in bed too, constantly pushing and teasing and wanting to be on top. In every sense. A million miles away from Quatre. 'There is also the issue of me having a boyfriend.'

'Bloody blonds. Always causing trouble.'

'I love him,' Wufei said softly. 'Trowa, I do. I'd never hurt him.'

'I know.' Trowa was suddenly behind him, arms wrapped firmly around him. 'I know. I've always known it. The problem is, I love you too. Both of you.'

~ * ~

Chapter 9

Back to Waterlilylf's Page

Back to GW Authors Index.