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"Something Special"Written By: Yanagi Disclaimer: I don’t own the Gundam Boys.
I just borrowed them Rating: PG 13 Warnings: fluff, sap Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: Heero want's to get that something special
for Duo for Christmas. "Something Special"
Heero sighed, he wanted to get Duo something special this year. Christmas was special to all the pilots, but very special to Duo. This year had been a hard one, everything under the sun had gone wrong. They got evicted due to the building they were living in being condemned, then Wufei had gotten shot. That brought Quatre and Trowa down on them, which was not a bad thing in itself, but Quatre had a habit of ‘arranging things’ without considering costs. This had put Wufei in a bind as he was off work for four months, his sick leave and other benefits covered most of his expenses, but Quatre disregarded his budget in favor of 24/7 nursing care for three weeks. The bill made Wufei swear. Heero and Duo had had to help him, not that they minded, but it put a crimp in their budgets too. And they shared the task of actually, physically helping him between them. Duo had worried himself almost sick over that. Then, they’d been promoted. This was not a bad thing, in one way, but in the other it put them behind a desk. Their field days were over. They’d known that this was coming for some time, but it was still a blow. They were now training officers, tasked with keeping a bunch of new agents from getting themselves killed. Neither one of them liked the job. Wufei hated it too. So, Heero wanted to get Duo something extra special this year. The only problem was, he had no idea what. As well as the fact that Duo was an investigator of epic proportions; one shake of a box and he knew what was in it. This meant that, not only did he have to find the perfect present, he had to find the perfect hiding place. A soft ‘A-hem.’ brought his attention back to the present. “Yes?” Une knew about Heero’s problem, everyone in Preventer HQ did. “I heard you have a small problem.” “Several. Which one are we addressing?” Heero gave Une a small smile. “Ah! Well, I think I can solve two. One, you’re re-cleared for field work. We need you in the field worse than we need you training. We have people who don’t belong in the field, but who can train quite well. So, one problem solved. The other is, I believe, that you need a hiding place for Duo’s present. I’ll allow you to put it in my office, if it isn’t huge.” Heero blessed Une with one of his real smiles. “Thank you. I have no idea how big it’ll be as I haven’t found anything - yet. But I’ll make sure that it isn’t bigger than a filing cabinet.” Une goggled at him for a moment. Then Heero snickered. “Oh, you! You had me going for a moment.” She smiled back and left. Heero nodded to himself; one problem gone, another half taken care of. He still needed to find Duo’s present. He settled to work on a lesson plan to turn over to his replacement. Maybe the grunt work would clear his mind. He worked until quitting time and shut down his computer with a sigh. “That’s a huge sigh, man. What’s up?” Duo grinned at Heero from his lounge against the door frame. “Nothing. Just glad to get that over with. Good news, by the way.” Duo quirked one eyebrow at his partner. “We’re back in the field. Seems that there’s some things that only one of us can handle.” Duo let out a ‘Whoo-hoo!’ that had heads turning, smiling faces looking their way. “Yes!” He was happy to be back in the field again. Contrary to popular belief they didn’t spend all their time shooting or blowing things up. They actually spent more time investigating. Something that Duo loved. So, happily, they were back in the field. One thing to make Duo happy was done. Heero poked at his thoughts, still no idea. Duo noticed Heero’s distraction. “Man, I’m happy, why aren’t you? I mean, we’re back in the saddle. So ... what’s got your panties in a bunch?” “Nothing, really. Just ... what do you want for Christmas?” Heero gave up. He’d just get Duo what he asked for. “I wanted to surprise you with something really nice but ... no idea. Help?” Duo shrugged. “Don’t really want much. I’m just happy to know that everyone is healthy, safe and relatively happy. That’s enough for me. What do you want?” Heero smiled at Duo. “I want you to be happy.” Heero suddenly brightened. Duo gave him a suspicious look. “Now what’s that look for?” “Never you mind. Just ... an idea. And no snooping. Promise!” Heero poked Duo in the ribs, making him laugh. Duo nodded agreeably. “Alright, no snooping. I promise.” Duo couldn’t know that his simple remark brought back a memory of the Christmas during the first war. They’d all managed to get together in a safe house and Duo had been delighted. There hadn’t been much in the way of special foods, just a rather tired chicken, some from scratch stuffing and limp vegetables, but they’d shared. Heero remembered how Duo’s face had lit up at the simple, home made presents they’d shared. The next days were filled with secretive phone calls, blocked emails and hidden packages. Christmas dawned bright and clear, the snow fall had been welcome, but hadn’t made the streets slick. Duo wandered down the stairs, looking for caffeine, at a late, for him, 9am. Heero greeted him at the bottom of the stairs with a hot mug of coffee, fixed just the way he liked it. “Morning. Merry Christmas.” Duo kissed him on the cheek. “Morning to you too, early bird. And best wishes of the day.” He smiled at the twinkly Christmas tree he’d insisted on decorating himself. He knew Heero just didn’t deal well with the fiddly stuff, like getting the ornaments on just right. Heero had sat on the couch, watching, instead. “What are we doing first?” Duo slugged down his coffee, a second cup was really necessary today; the office party last night had gone on until after midnight. Exclamations of ‘Merry Christmas’ had been followed by excuses and a general exodus. So, sleeping late was mandatory, or so Duo insisted. Heero just poured more coffee and pushed the sugar bowl and cream pitcher in Duo’s general direction. “We’re going to do nothing. There’s that Christmas show marathon on, it’s starting in half an hour. Every show that you love is on, one after the other. We’re going to watch them all.” “Yay! Heero, you’re the best.” Duo had been nagging Heero about that for weeks. He loved Christmas shows, Heero couldn’t have cared less. But this year, they were all on in one 9:30 to 5:00pm marathon. A good way to distract Duo from snooping before time. Duo managed to drag himself away from the TV long enough to fix lunch. Heero helped and they ate a light lunch of turkey sandwiches, salad and spiced cider. “You’re not bitching about a light meal, so what’s up?” Duo eyed Heero with suspicion. Heero just shrugged. He looked at his watch and announced. “Another hour and I’ll tell you. Patience.” “Ok. But ... If this is just a put off, I’ll ...” Duo took a bite of his sandwich to keep from grumbling. Heero just smirked at him in what Duo said was an unnecessarily self satisfied manner. The hour passed while Duo wriggled with impatience, totally distracted from his shows. He looked at his watch then demanded, “Heero, time’s up. What the hell?” Heero smiled. “A little get together at Quatre’s house here in Sanq. I put out your suit, go shower.” Duo opened his mouth, closed it, then said, “Well. Who’s going to be there?” “That’s the surprise part. Go get dressed.” Heero grinned at Duo’s pout. “And don’t forget your presents.” That was one thing, Duo always made presents. He said it got him into the spirit of the season. He was very skilled with his hands and made things he knew his friends would like and use. Quatre usually got a knick-knack for his office. One time it had been a box that he still kept on his desk. Trowa got a knife, specially made just for him. Wufei got a variety of things, depending on Duo’s mood and Wufei’s interest of the moment. Duo had a rather short list of people he gave ‘special’ presents to, other’s on his list usually got a food basket or a bottle of wine. Heero had managed to catch all the ‘special’ presents before Duo could mail them out. Duo was totally unaware of this, but he still had the local special presents under the tree. Heero had passed the others off to Une to hide in her office. She’d been more than happy to, unaware that hers, as a local, was still under the tree at home. Duo washed and dressed as quickly as he could and still be presentable. The suit Heero had put out for him was his favorite. He hated anything he had to wear a tie with, so he was happy when Armani had brought back the collarless shirt. He happily draped the long scarf that Quatre had given him around his neck and hurried down the stairs. “Ok, I look ok?” Duo held out his arms and turned in place for Heero’s approval. “Yes, you look fine. You know I’d like the way you look, no matter what you wore.” Heero handed Duo his overcoat. “Put that on, it’s freezing out.” Duo inspected Heero with a smile. “We’re going twin? You look good.” Heero shrugged, “Best look I’ve got. That other suit? It’s for court. And, thank you.” Heero put on his own coat and went out the door heading for the garage and their SUV. Duo locked the door and followed him. He got in and belted up. “Ok, Quatre’s here we come. I just hope he didn’t plan one of those hideous cocktail parties. You know the one’s, everyone and his cat invited. Crowds of people I don’t know and don’t want to know. Weird finger foods, and sour wine. You wouldn’t do that to me, would you, Heero?” “No, no cocktail party. No weird food, or sour wine. Or that stuff that Une likes that tasted like a cork board.” Heero gave a dramatic shudder. He and Duo had both sneaked a couple of spoons of sugar into theirs, just so they could down it. Heero pulled up under the portico at Quatre’s house, Duo got out and gathered up the armful of presents. Heero handed the keys to the attendant and followed Duo inside. Quatre greeted them with a smile and a wave of the hand in the general direction of the dining room. “This way. Give the presents to Abdullah, Duo.” Duo handed the pile to Abdullah. “Not celebrating Christmas?” Abdullah just smiled. “No, as I’m Muslim, I work; so that my Christian friends don’t have to.” his grin widened, “Beside, it’s so nice to see people happy.” He took the presents and went away with them. That was when Quatre and Trowa opened the pocket doors to the dining room. “Merry Christmas, Duo.” Seated around the table were all the people that Duo missed most. Wufei, back from his assignment in China. Relena, taking a day off from her politicking. Noin, down from the moon, just for today. Une, smiling happily and several sweepers that Duo had a special place in his heart for. “Oh, man. Heero, you’re the best. All my friends, here together, safe. Even if it’s just for today. Thank you.” Duo hurried to the place Quatre pointed to at the foot of the table. They settled in to eat, drink and be merry. Together for Christmas, safe and warm, just as Duo wanted.
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