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"Worth the Risk"Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing nor any of
its characters. I only own the original characters. And nobody's paying
me to write this. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Angst, Lemon, Language, Violence Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, eventual 6x5. Summary: Wufei is instantly intrigued by the new
guy in town, but Zechs isn't making it easy on him. "Worth the Risk" Zechs sighed softly and curled more tightly around the warm body that was halfway draped on top of him as he awoke. It had been a long time since he'd had the simple pleasure of a solid presence next to him like that. He slit his eyes open and found Wufei watching him with a soft smile. “How long have you been awake?” Zechs asked. “Not too long.” He raised up to his elbows, eyes dropping to the crest about Zechs' neck. “Do you ever take it off?” “No.” Wufei smiled. “Family is very important to you, isn't it?” “Yes, even annoying, nitwit sisters.” He chuckled and peered up through his lashes at the blond. “Last night was wonderful.” Zechs smiled and tucked a lock of raven hair behind Wufei's ear. “I must say, you certainly back up all your talk.” He smirked. “Of course. I never make a claim I can't back up.” He glanced to the closed door when he heard movement down the hall and a muffled conversation. “I guess we should get up.” Zechs cupped his palm to Wufei's cheek and laid a soft kiss to his lips before releasing him. Wufei crossed to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants. “I'd offer you something to wear,” he said as he pulled the pants up to his hips and glanced over his shoulder, “but I don't think I have anything that would work.” Zechs chuckled. “How tall are you?” “Five feet, nine inches. You?” “Six- three.” Wufei watched the blond as he pulled his jeans over his slim hips. “I wouldn't mind you going around naked, personally, but I'd rather my guests didn't see what belongs to me.” A fine blond brow raised. “I belong to you, do I?” He crossed to Zechs, pulling him down for a heated kiss. “And I belong to you,” he declared when he pulled away. He graced the blond with a sultry smile before turning and leaving the room. “Damn,” Zechs muttered softly. “How the hell was he single?” He went to the kitchen, finding coffee already made and Duo and Trowa cooking breakfast. The braided man glanced to him with a grin. “So, you finally broke Fei's celibate streak, huh?” He felt heat rise to his cheeks. “Is there anything you five don't discuss?” “No,” they all answered in varying tones of amusement. He pursed his lips and looked to Quatre who sat at the table, sipping his tea and reading the paper as if all was normal. The dark bruises on his face glared starkly against his pale skin. “How are you feeling, Quatre?” He looked up to Zechs with a soft smile. “I'm all right.” Zechs shook his head. “You act like you get beat up all the time.” Quatre set the paper down and sighed. “No, but it wasn't my first scuffle. I've fought off guys trying to abduct me for ransom in the past. After the first attempt that was thwarted by my bodyguard, I got martial arts training. It was the only way I could convince my father to let me go anywhere without Rashid.” Wufei poured himself a cup of coffee. “What time are we meeting Une?” “Ten was the earliest she could see us.” “We should all go together,” Quatre said softly. Heero looking to him and, taking in his bruised face, nodded. “Yeah, you're right.” Wufei stole a piece of bacon from the plate Duo was laying it on. “We need to call the captain.” “I already did,” Trowa said. “What'd you tell him?” Wufei asked. He shrugged. “That we were working a big case with the FBI and would let him know when we would be back in the office.” Zechs' eyes widened. “You tell your boss what you're going to do? Shouldn't it be the other way around?” Wufei smirked. “We're the best in the department. O pretty much lets us have our run of things and only steps in if we need assistance. Besides, we've worked with the FBI before and the captain knows not to ask questions.” Trowa added as he shoveled eggs over into a bowl. Duo sat the plate of bacon and a plate of pancakes on the table while Trowa put the bowl of eggs next to them. Wufei grabbed plates from the cabinet and Heero leaned back to snatch silverware from a drawer. Zechs watched the group of friends who functioned more like family and felt a small pang of loneliness. It had been years since he had been near anything remotely close to a family. Quatre looked over to him with a small smile. “Would you mind getting me a glass of orange juice?” Zechs returned the smile. “Of course.” “Quatre,” Duo complained. “You can't ask royalty to perform some menial tasks.” “Why not?” Zechs asked as he got a glass from the cabinet the other blond pointed to and poured the requested juice. “I've had to fend for myself for years now. I'm far from pampered.” He set the glass on the table next to Quatre. “Thank you.” “It's the least I can do, especially considering that you were hurt because of me.” Quatre shook his head. “It isn't your fault.” Wufei sat and began fixing himself a plate. “You're going to have to tell us everything when we meet with Une, Zechs.” He sat next to the Asian and stared down at his plate with a slight frown. Tell them everything? Why couldn't the man just accept that there were things he couldn't talk about? He clenched a fist on the table. Of course, if they were going to stick by him, they had every right to know everything, didn't they? But confiding in someone was what got his father killed in the first place. Wufei laid his hand over the blond's fist. “You can trust me, Zechs.” He wet his lips. “I do, but do you really trust your friend with the FBI? Would you trust that, once they know the truth, they wouldn't try to exploit the knowledge for their own gain?” “Their own gain?” Duo asked. He nodded. “My Father confided in someone he thought to be a friend.” His eyes narrowed. “Tuberov wanted it for his own and plotted against us. In an effort to not let it fall into the wrong hands, my Father destroyed his and Tuberov killed him.” Wufei frowned. “Destroyed his what?” Blond brows drew together. “It is a secret passed down the Peacecraft lineage. It isn't necessary for you to know what it is. If Tuberov is smart, and I know he is, he hasn't told his men why they're after me.” “Zechs, I would never betray you.” He appraised the detective for a long moment, finding the same earnestness there he'd seen in Treize. He looked to the Asian's friends and found the same concern. He closed his eyes briefly. They were his friends, too; and even knowing that they would be personally at risk by being near him wasn't scaring them away. He looked back to Wufei. “You have to understand, in a thousand years, no one has been told this secret, except for Tuberov, and look what's happened? If you were me, how would you feel?” Wufei nodded. “I would definitely have my reservations with telling anyone else. I wish there was some way for me to prove to you that you could trust me, but the only way you'll ever really know that is by trying.” Zechs cleared his throat. “I'll make a deal with you. I'll tell you the whole truth, but it can't go any further. Your friend with the FBI absolutely must not know all the details.” Wufei thought it over for a second and decided it was better than nothing. “All right. We'll only tell her what you want her to know. Okay?” He nodded and took a slow breath. “There is a very small... I'm not even sure if it can be called a nation or country... but it lies to the north of Sanq. They were extreme pacifists who cared more for cultivating their land than they did for the other concerns of man. War was a foreign concept to them. They had no desire or ideas of expansion or conquest. Their only love was for their people and their farms.” He dropped his eyes to the table. “But while their fields flourished, their people dwindled. Children were few and far between, only one or two born every couple of years. “In desperation, their leader left their land, a thing unheard of, and traveled to Sanq to plead help from the king. He offered two things and asked for two in return.” Quatre leaned forward, enraptured by the story. “What things?” Zechs smiled slightly, raising his eyes to the other blond. “He offered his son as husband to the youngest princess who had no prospects. In return he asked for three of the children they conceived to return to his own land to strengthen their blood.” Duo frowned. “How could they ensure they'd have so many children, and what difference could that many even make?” “Multiple children pregnancies ran in the royal family line. The arrangement actually worked quite well before the royal bloodline weakened and the other strengthened; but by then both lands had prospered.” “What was the other thing he asked?” Wufei inquired. Zechs dropped his eyes again. “It was more of a promise... If the king swore to keep their arrangement a secret and bound their houses together, Sanq would be blessed with rich farmlands like she'd never seen.” There was a heavy silence and Zechs looked up, meeting Wufei's skeptical gaze. “And it was so. While other lands suffered famines and droughts, Sanq was never lacking.” “But how?” Wufei asked. He took a breath. “They have the power to... encourage vegetation to grow and rain to fall or cease.” He took in the incredulous stares he received, along with Quatre's wide-eyed curiosity and Duo's calculating gaze. The braided man tilted his head to the side. “If what you say is true, you have the same blood.” “Yes.” Heero's eyes narrowed, obviously not believing the prince. “What about Relena?” “Only one who tests capable of manipulating the agriculture is left with the royal family, the rest go to the other land. Those who can't are left in Sanq. She doesn't have the ability nor does she know it exists.” Wufei cleared his throat. “Zechs, I'm sorry, but this seems a little far-fetched to me. It's impossible for people to-” Zechs stood and crossed to the half-dead potted plant on Wufei's windowsill. He set it on the table and gently ran his fingertips up the stalk. The others eyes widened, Wufei standing slowly, as the blooms opened and the leaves expanded. Zechs stepped away and leaned his back to the counter as the others stared at the plant, now healthy and in full bloom. “You just...” Wufei shook his head, looking up from the plant to Zechs with a frown when he realized how pale the blond was. “Are you all right?” He rubbed a hand down his face, feeling a little dizzy and drained. “My father had only barely started teaching me when the palace was attacked. I haven't tried anything like that in years. I'll be fine.” Wufei gripped the blond's arm and sat him back at the table. It took him several minutes to formulate anything to say. “This is why Tuberov wants you?” He nodded. “In part. As I said, only one a generation was allowed to remain in Sanq and my father is dead.” “Why not just raid the other land?” He shook his head. “That's the main reason he wants me. Not just anyone can enter. It's warded and you have to have a key to get in.” “Key? Is there a wall around it?” He smiled in spite of himself. “No, there's a shield that you can't see. Anyone without the key would simply walk around it, never the wiser.” Wufei's eyes narrowed. “You have a key, don't you?” Zechs' hand subconsciously raised to grip his crest through his shirt. He saw Wufei glance down briefly and nodded. “And only I can use it.” Wufei sat back and exchanged glances with Heero and then Trowa. The auburn haired detective looked back to the plant in the center of the table. “What exactly are we going to tell Une?” Wufei rubbed his chin as he thought. “She trusts us. I think if we just tell her that Zechs is a prince hiding from an enemy of his family, she would help us protect him.” Trowa nodded. “Probably.” Zechs braced his elbows on the table and rested his forehead on his joined hands. “You're sure?” He peered at Wufei from just above his fingers. “I can't risk the secret getting out. My father died to protect it.” He raised his chin. “I would do the same.” Heero frowned slightly. “But there is one place you could go where you would be safe. Why not go there?” He smiled. “I have been there. They don't live as we do. I'm a creature of the new world. I like the technology age. I don't like missing Fringe and Lie to Me.” Duo chuckled softly. “Do they live like they're in the stone age?” “Not quite, but close enough.” His mirth faded. “I don't like the idea of living my life in a cage.” Wufei reached over and rubbed his thigh. “Then we'll make sure to stop Tuberov so you can be free.” Zechs covered his hand and brought it to his lips. “Now you know my deepest secret, I think it's only fair for you to share one with me.” Wufei chuckled. “Hm... I don't like greens.” Zechs grunted. “I'm being serious.” “So am I! Greens are vile.” “Wufei.” He laughed softly. “All right, all right.” His tone sobered and he dropped his eyes to the floor. “Three years ago I went under cover in a strip club to try and prove they were allowing in minors and providing them with drugs,” he said softly. Trowa pursed his lips and turned his back to pour himself some coffee while Quatre excused himself and Heero and Duo began rummaging through the refrigerator for something or other. Zechs tensed slightly and made to rise, but Wufei held him tightly. The blond swallowed. “Did you have to strip?” he whispered. “No, I tended the bar. I got close to the owner and realized that if anything was going on, he had no clue about it. The man hated drugs and he was actually a really nice guy.” He cleared his throat. “As soon as I was sure I could trust him, I told him the truth. When Kevin found out what we suspected, he did everything within his power to help me find the truth. It was because of him I was able to make the final arrests.” He took a breath. “We dated for... about five or six months, I guess.” He fell silent and Zechs gazed at the dark look on Wufei's face, pulling the Asian's hand to his chest. “What happened?” “Some friends of the stripper who got arrested came in one night and said he was looking for a job. Kevin took him to his office to talk about it... An hour after the man left the bartender went to ask Kevin a question and found him slumped over his desk, stabbed fourteen times. A note was left next to him that said it was what he got for associating with pigs.” Zechs gasped as the Asian smiled at him with no mirth. “See, I know what it's like to feel like you're the cause of someone's death. No, I wasn't in love with him, but I did care for him very much. It took me a long time to get over that.” “I'm sorry, Wufei.” He shook his head. “Danger comes with the job,” he said quietly. “I knew the risks when I signed up... but I expected danger toward me, not the others around me. I didn't handle Kevin's death well and almost walked away from the job.” He dropped his eyes. “I haven't been with anyone since him... until you.” Breakfast had turned cold on the table but no one seemed to notice. The morning passed rather quickly for Zechs and he climbed out of Trowa's SUV, staring up at the FBI building with mixed feelings. Hands gripped his shoulders and he looked first to Trowa and then to Wufei, who smiled encouragingly. “It'll be all right.” The blond returned the smile, albeit, rather weakly. “Yeah.” TBC...
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