"Wish Upon a Star "

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: sap, angst, fluff, AU

Pairings: 3x4

Summary: When you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are, unless you're the heir to the Winner business empire. So when you do find a means of escape, how long can you hold on to the fantasy, and the man of your dreams, before reality takes over?

"Wish Upon a Star "

Research:

'It's OK,' Duo hung up the 'phone and gave Heero a reassuring smile. 'Trowa says Cat's fine and they're on their way back here.'

Heero let out the breath he'd obviously been holding. 'Cat's really all right? Did you talk to him?'

'If Tro says he's fine, then he's fine. Seriously.' Duo studied his companion's face, seeing nothing but concern for his friend. 'No way would he let anything happen to Cat on his watch. You really worry about him, don't you?'

Heero shrugged, then nodded. 'I do, yes. I know what his family's like, and Cat's never been very good at standing up for himself.'

'You've known him a long time, right?' Duo shelved the last couple of books he'd been stacking and sprawled on to one the beanbags by the counter. Heero was leaning against the wall, legs outstretched, with his computer on his lap.

'Since we were both seventeen. My stepfather does some consultancy work for the Winners; he got me a job there one summer and I met Quatre. His sister decided she approved of me, so I was allowed spend time with him.'

'His family seriously monitored his friendships?' Duo demanded. 'That sucks!'

'I know. In their defence, they were only trying to protect him. There are plenty of people who'd like to befriend Quatre for his family's money. I think most of his sisters still think he's a young child though.'

'Well, he's not.' Duo grinned crookedly. 'Bet they aren't going to approve of Tro.'

'I doubt they'd approve of any man Quatre got involved with, but I think Trowa is good for him. He'd never have opposed Iria like this a few weeks ago.'

'Maybe he's just starting to think for himself a little bit,' Duo guessed. 'Now that he's away from his family for a while, he can make his own opinions for a change.'

'You're very perceptive, aren't you?' Heero looked up from his screen, smiling. 'And probably right. It's the way he's been brought up, Duo. On L4, family is everything. He's had duty and responsibility drilled into him since he was born. I imagine it's hard to overcome that sort of conditioning.'

'Yeah.' Duo looked down at his lap. 'I guess. I wouldn't actually know, since I never had a family or anything. But I sort of like how it's so important in Cat's culture. Sure, some of it sucks but it must be kind of nice having all that support, knowing exactly where you fit in the world.'

'Perhaps. I wouldn't know. I don't have a family of my own either.'

'You have that stepfather guy, right?'

'I just call him that. He was an old college friend of my father's. My parents had named him as executor of their will because he was a lawyer. Then they were killed in a car crash when I was seven and Odin ended up taking custody of me.'

'God, Heero, that's awful.' Duo had never known his parents, never known anything about them and that had been bad enough, but it would probably be worse to have had a happy home, and then have it ripped apart. 'Was he OK to you?'

'I almost never saw him. I was away at school most of the time.' He hesitated. 'I know the Winners aren't perfect, but they've been very good to me. After I met Quatre, I used to spend all my holidays with them; I still visit whenever I can.' He smiled faintly. 'Of course, I've never actually told them I'm gay. They mightn't be quite so welcoming if they knew that.'

Damn. So he was gay. OK, it was hardly a revelation. They'd almost kissed for God's sake; would have if Hilde hadn't barged in.

Of course he was gay.

Gay and heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and just about perfect in every way except one and that wasn't even his fault.

It was Duo's own fault that he was involved with someone else.

'So…what happened to your family?' Heero asked diffidently. 'You don't have to talk about it, if you'd rather not.'

Duo shrugged. 'Not much to talk about. Never knew them. Got dumped on the front step of an orphanage when I was a baby and pretty much grew up there. I got fostered out a couple of times, but it never worked. When I was thirteen, the orphanage had a fire; everyone got out, but the building was destroyed. The City decided not to rebuild; the kids got farmed out to other institutions or foster homes. I ended up running off, spent a few years living on the street, used to hang around the shuttle port all the time doing odd jobs and stuff. Then this one guy I knew a bit offered to take me to Earth; said he'd give me a free trip if I worked my passage. Once we went into orbit, he made it clear just what he wanted me to do, and I spent the whole trip fighting him off or hiding in the galley. No way was I going back to L2 with him trying to ride my ass, so I bummed around Europe for a bit, ended up in Sanque, met Tro…I guess you know the rest.'

Heero shook his head, an oddly admiring look in those stunning eyes. 'That's amazing. I can't believe you went through all that.'

'You do what you have to, right?' He grinned suddenly. 'Look at me now. Dating someone like Zechs; going to all these society parties.'

'Do you enjoy them?'

'Well, not a lot,' Duo owned frankly. 'I thought they'd be way more fun than they really are. Most people seem to be there to show themselves off, you know, not to enjoy themselves or make friends. I guess it'll maybe be different when I know a few more of Zechs' friends.' He looked at Heero, head bent over his laptop. 'What are you doing anyway?'

'Trying to find who took that photograph of Quatre.'

Duo grinned. 'What, like you're hacking into a newspaper? You can do that?'

'They have abysmal security systems,' Heero said dismissively. 'It's odd; most photographs and articles carry the name of the artist or author. It says the person who wrote that piece about Quatre is a Miss Casey Wallis, but no one's taking credit for the picture.'

'I guess it had to have been someone who knew where they were going to be.' Duo thought about it. 'Who'd that have been? Us, Zechs, Cathy.'

'Who's Cathy?'

'Tro's sister. No way was it her. I suppose Cat told his sister where he was off to. Shit! Maybe it was her? You don't think that she's trying to stage a takeover to get the company for herself by disgracing Cat so she can swan in and be the boss?'

Heero laughed. 'Definitely not. She'd never do that to Quatre. She wouldn't disgrace the family by advertising something like that. Anyway, she almost certainly wouldn't get to be CEO in his place. It would probably be one of their other sisters' husbands, or a male cousin.'

'Oh. Suppose that's good, since it would suck for Cat to have his sister do a thing like that. Who else would've known?'

'Quatre's bodyguards; his PA. Possibly Iria's assistant. I can't imagine any of them would do this; they're all devoted to him.'

'Huh. I'm lost then. Maybe one of those assistants or something mentioned it to the wrong person?'

'Maybe.' Heero didn't sound all that convinced, tapping keys at the speed of light. 'Now, this is odd. Miss Wallis received a fairly large cash payment first thing this morning, apparently out of petty cash. That's rather an interesting coincidence, isn't it? Especially as she's on the newspaper payroll and normally receives payments into her bank account.'

'She was paying her source!' Duo said excitedly. 'This is seriously cool, Heero! I can't believe you just hacked into their records while you were sitting there and talking to me.'

Heero laughed, but looked like he was enjoying the admiration anyway. 'It wasn't that difficult. Let's see what more information we can find about the lady, shall we?'

'Yeah!' The shop bell rang. 'Oops! Customer!'

'Duo!' Ellie bounced into the shop. 'And Heero! Cool! Can we play chess again?'

'Ellie, wait a minute! I keep telling you not to run across the road like that!' Cathy followed her daughter through the door, trailing shopping bags. 'Hi, Duo.' She took in Heero, and a slow, speculative smile appeared on her mouth. It was creepy; just the way Hilde and Middie had looked when they'd first seen him. 'You must be Duo's new boyfriend. Lovely to meet you. I'm Cathy, Trowa's sister.'

'Uh, this isn't Zechs. This is Cat's friend Heero,' Duo said awkwardly. Damn why did every woman in the universe think one look at Heero and himself and think they were a couple?

'Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed…anyway it's nice to meet you, Heero. Duo, isn't Trowa here? I'm dying to meet this mysterious blond my baby brother's fallen for, and Tro said they were on their way back here when I called him earlier.'

'Yeah.' What the hell was what it all the assuming? 'He should be; I think maybe they got sidetracked.'

Cathy laughed. 'Possibly. Duo, would you mind watching Ellie for an hour or so? I have a hair appointment and she gets bored in the salon.'

'Sure.'

'Yay!' Ellie cheered, disappearing around the counter and rummaging for the chessboard. She was giggling when she popped back out, dropping the box at Heero's feet. 'My mum thought you were Duo's boyfriend! Hey! Maybe you could be! Don't you like him?'

'I like him very much,' Heero said earnestly. 'He's already got a boyfriend though.'

She shrugged. 'I heard my dad tell his new girlfriend that that won't last. So then you could ask Duo to be your boyfriend, right?'

'Ellie!' Duo snapped, not knowing where to look. Dear God, he didn't need children to match-make for him. Well, maybe he did, but it was still bloody embarrassing. 'What's your uncle always telling you about not asking personal questions?'

'But if I don't ask questions, I'll never know anything.'

'You don't need to know the answers to some questions. Haven't you got homework?'

'Later. Pleeeeeeeassse.'

Duo shook his head; Trowa's niece could give spaniel puppies lessons in how to give pleading looks. If she and Cat ever set their hearts on something, Tro would be toast in two seconds. Soggy, sap-covered toast.

'Chess is educational. And my Dad showed me two new moves yesterday when he was minding me. I bet I'll win today!' She was setting up the board without waiting for a response. 'Can I be White? Dad's taking me shopping next week to buy a new chessboard; a proper one with marble pieces that you can set up all the time. And maybe a new dress if I want. He's the best dad ever!'

'Is he, honey?' Duo sat down on the floor beside them. 'You know, Ellie, sometimes people say thngs and mean it, but maybe then they find out it can't happen. It's expensive to buy stuff like that.'

'Daddy promised!' Ellie jerked herself free and glared at him. 'He promised. He's going to take me and Casey out for lunch on Wednesday and then go shopping.

'Who's Casey, the new girlfriend?'

The little girl nodded enthusiastically. 'She's really nice. She helped babysit me yesterday when Daddy was in my house, and she made me lunch and she talked to me lots. I told her all about going to the funfair with you and Cat, and all about Cat helping me with my maths homework, and how I'd never met anyone from L4 before.'

Casey.

Shit.

Looking up, Duo saw the same awareness in Heero's eyes and gave his head a slight shake.

'She sounds cool. What does she do?'

'She writes stories for a grown up newspaper. That's how Daddy met her last month. He was taking the photos for a story she was making up.'

'That's a great job, isn't it? You liked her, huh?'

'Lots and lots! She was really interested in everything. Sometimes, adults aren't. But I told her all about going to the carnival with Uncle Trowa and Cat and how I got sick 'cause I ate too many onion rings and everything.' She bit her lip anxiously. 'You don't think she'd put that in a story, do you? 'Cause my mum would be really mad.'

'I think she sounds a nice lady who wouldn't do something mean like that,' Duo assured her. 'Listen, sweetie, I need to talk to Heero for a sec. Can you go upstairs and get a snack? Bring down some cookies or something for all of us?'

'Sure! Can I get the special chocolates from the secret place?'

'Knock yourself out.' Duo waited 'til she'd run upstairs and turned to face Heero. 'Oh, shit. Guess we know who told the press.'

'Possibly. Would she have known where they were going?'

'Dunno. She might've heard Trowa talking to Cat about it, or he might have just told her. Not like it was a secret. Oh, fuck! Tro's going to go through the roof. He hates Rob, that's Ellie's dad, like poison anyway. He'll want to swing for him.'

'Maybe we just shouldn't say anything.'

'He'll ferret it out. Better just to tell him and get it over with. Hell! I can't believe that asshole using his own daughter like that!'

'Poor Ellie.'

'Yeah. Listen, she doesn't need to know all of this crap.'

'Of course not.'

Duo's mind spun around in circles for the next hour. Maybe it would be better not to tell Tro. Except he'd just go on suspecting everyone else; Cat's family or even Heero and that wasn't fair on them. They waved a jubilant Ellie off, flushed with the joy of having beaten Heero to a stalemate, and decided not to mention anything to Cathy, just yet.

By closing time, there was still no sign of Trowa or Quatre, but Tro had sent a quick text to say they were on their way, after a slight detour. There'd been a few customers, but it was always fairly quiet on weekdays so they'd been able to spend most of the time talking or playing chess. Heero had thrashed Duo the first time; the second he'd pulled out a move Wufei had taught him and fought Heero to a checkmate. It had been one of the nicest afternoons Duo could remember in a long time.

Heero laughed when Duo showed him the message. 'A quick detour of three hours! Where do you suppose they went?'

'Tro knows some pretty out of the way places and it's been a nice afternoon. Um, sorry you ended up hanging around here all day. You could have been out having fun doing tourist stuff or something.'

'I've been having fun,' Heero said decisively. 'I don't know if you've got any plans for this evening, but we could maybe have dinner if you liked? If you're not doing anything else?'

'That'd be great!' Duo scooped up a bundle of coins from the till. 'I'll be about half an hour counting all this if you don't mind hanging on? We could go to Howie's again, or if you like there's a really nice pub a couple of streets away that does nice food.'

'That sounds perfect.' Heero thought for a minute. 'If you don't mind, I might take the car back to my hotel and get a taxi back. That way I can have a drink tonight.'

Fifteen minutes later, Duo rolled his eyes at someone knocking persistently at the door. There was always some idiot who couldn't read a 'We're Closed' sign. He pulled the blind aside to point out that closed meant closed, and saw Zechs on the other side of the door.

'Now, that's not very friendly, locking your door on me,' Zechs scolded affectionately and Duo, whose mind had happily been wandering around the beautiful blueness of Heero's eyes when he smiled, was instantly scarlet. 'Sweetheart, aren't you ready? I told you I'd pick you up at seven.'

'Oh!' Duo said blankly; he'd totally forgotten they had a date. Stupid. 'Zechs, I'm so sorry. I forgot all about it, what with everything that's been going on today. I don't think I can make it tonight.'

'Whatever's wrong?' The warm concern in Zechs' voice as he gave Duo a hug sent nasty little splinters of guilt rushing through him.

'Oh! Maybe you haven't seen it. Some stupid tabloid published a picture of Cat and Tro together, and Cat's in serious shit with his family.'

'Is that all?' Zechs sounded vaguely amused.

'It's not funny! He could be prosecuted for carrying on like that when he gets home.'

'Duo. Sweetheart.' Zechs gave him a quick kiss on the lips. 'I can't imagine what Quatre Winner would need to do to face any sort of criminal charges on L4, but it would take a lot more than being outed in a newspaper on the other side of the universe. It might actually do him a bit of good; make him grow a little backbone for a change. It's about time he stopped pandering to his family and told them the truth about what he wants his life to be.'

Duo pulled out of his arms. 'I think that should be his decision, not some reporter's, actually.'

'Now, darling, don't be cross with me. I didn't mean to sound harsh. I've known Quatre since he was a child, and it won't do him any harm to learn to assert himself a little bit. Now, do I need to take you home to change?'

'Zechs, I don't think I can go. Seriously, I want to see Trowa and he's due back really soon.'

'I'm sure Trowa is quite capable of sorting out his own affairs.'

'Yeah. That's not the point. He's my friend, and I'd like to talk to him.'

'Then you can call him on the way.'

Duo signed. 'Seriously, tonight's not great. It's just been a really long day, and I still have to finish up here, and I'm just not in the mood for getting all dressed up and going out. I'm sorry.'

'You're standing me up?' Zechs sounded unsure of whether he wanted to be amused or annoyed.

'It's not like that. Honest.' Duo twiddled the blind on the door, and then saw Tro's car pull up outside. 'Look, just give me a sec, OK? I need to have a quick word with Trowa.'

'Hey!' Duo swung the door open. 'What happened to you guys? You were due back ages ago.'

'We had to make a quick stop.' Trowa was grinning like a cat who'd just dined on a whole flock of chocolate-covered canaries, and Quatre was crimson. 'Well, maybe not all that quick. Hey, Zechs.'

'Trowa.' Zechs moved forward and gave Quatre a quick hug. 'All right? Your sister hasn't hauled you back home then?'

'Not for want of trying,' the little blond admitted. 'I'm not exactly her favourite person right now.'

'I can imagine. She needs to start realising you're not her tractable little brother any more though.'

'Tro,' Duo interrupted. 'There's something we need to talk about. I think it was Rob who took that picture. Ellie apparently told him and his new girlfriend, who's a journo, that you've got a new boyfriend from L4 and it looks like she told him about your little getaway.'

'What?' Trowa said blankly. 'No, she can't have. She didn't know where we were going.'

'We did mention it, actually,' Cat ventured. 'She probably overheard us.'

'Shit.' Trowa's expression darkened ominously. 'Cat, I'll be back in a bit. Duo, can you finish closing up here?'

'Trowa?' Cat darted after him. 'Where are you going?'

'To have a little chat with my ex-brother-in-law about invasion of privacy. Don't worry. I won't be long, and we'll go for dinner when I get back, OK?' He gave the blond a quick kiss on the cheek and was out the door, leaving Cat gaping after him.

'Relax, Cat. He's pissed, but he wouldn't really hurt Ellie's dad.'

'Who's Ellie?' Zechs wondered, not sounding terribly interested. 'Never mind. Duo, you can tell me on the way. Cat, sorry to run off like this, but we've got plans.'

'I'm not leaving Cat here by himself!'

'Oh, I'll be fine!' Quatre said instantly. 'Really. You two go off. I can finish closing up and I need to call Heero.'

Heero. Shit.

Duo swallowed. 'Um, I have to call him too, actually.'

'Heero?' Zechs asked. 'What on earth do you need to call him for?'

'He drove me back here after the bike ride, and then he hung around for most of the day. I totally forgot about us going out and then he asked me out for dinner.'

'Did he indeed? I think I'm starting to be jealous of my best friend.'

'You don't have to be.'

'I'm joking, sweet. Well, I'm a little envious that he got to spend most of the day with you but I get you for the evening and I mean to make the most of having you.'

 

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Chapter 27

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