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"Dirty Job"Written By: ExecutiveShrimp Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs
to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. Written for pleasure not
profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Violence, angst, Lemons, Limes Pairings: 1x2x1 Summary: Duo is a masterful pickpocket and skilled but small-time con artist who always chooses to play it safe. When his best friend owes the wrong people a lot of money, Duo get pulled into a high-stakes plot to rob thirty-something billionaire Heero Yuy. The only way to succeed and save his friend is to push his own boundaries and get way too involved.
"Dirty Job" Chapter Ten "Why is he here?" Duo hissed at Neil the first chance they had for a private conversation. Neil cast a look over his shoulder at The Bear, lumbering behind them, struck by the insufferable Floridian humidity and primed for a heatstroke in his black jeans and leather biker jacket. His bald head glistened with sweat and his face was reddened. "Make no mistake about it," The Russian answered in a hushed tone, "Tsubarov is keeping us both on a short leash. You didn't seriously expect he would let us flee the state without supervision, did you?" "We're not fleeing the state, we're following a lead." They both approached the clerk of the rental car service and adjourned their discussion as they paid, signed paperwork and were handed the keys of a Chevrolet. The Bear followed them as they headed for the parking lot. "In my line of work," Duo continued, assured the hulk of a man was out of earshot - and couldn't hear their hushed conversation over his labored breathing anyway, "being invisible is an asset. He is not exactly invisible. People have been paying attention to him ever since we got off the plane." "Did I not make myself clear? This was not my call. And it isn't yours either." Duo shot another look back at him. "We need to ditch him." "Oh, brilliant idea," Neil mocked. "Let's ditch the guy who was assigned to accompany us because we are considered a flight-risk. That won't send the wrong message at all." He confiscated the keys from Duo and seated himself behind the wheel. Begrudgingly, Duo climbed into the passenger seat. They waited for The Bear to catch up. "I thought sarcasm was my thing in this relationship." He motioned his finger between the two of them. "Two can play that game, sweetcakes." Silence settled between them when The Bear took a seat in the back. "It's fucking hot down here." "Strip out of your cow hide, you'll feel better," Duo snapped. "Oh, you'd like to see me strip, wouldn't you?" Before Duo could turn in his seat to sling an insult at the big bully, Neil ordered them both to shut up. He entered an address into the onboard navigation and steered out of the parking lot to follow the directions to their destination. The American looked around himself thoughtfully and resisted the urge to point to a big palm tree when he saw one, then later dozens lining the streets. It was his first time leaving his home town. Guys like him didn't get to go on vacation. For a street rat, life is a chore and it never ends. When he graduated from common beggar to exceptional conman, he had expected a few marginal improvements to his lifestyle, but life went from being a chore to being a job - 24/7, no sick-days allowed. Every person is either an accomplice, an enemy, a target, or a nuisance and all are equally exhausting and time-consuming to deal with. Palm trees - and the ocean which he could see in the distance between the hotel buildings crowding the shoreline - were nothing but a distraction. Duo needed to be focused, he couldn't wallow and feel sorry for himself that the first time seeing an exotic tree was only because he was still on the job. Always on the job. "... then take a left. After fifty yards, you have reached your destination," announced the navigational system in a smooth voice but with off-beat cadence. The car slowly rolled to a stop halfway down a wealthy suburban street. The homes were sprawling, sitting at the end of long driveways, three-car-garages tucked against their sides, tall windows overlooked landscaped gardens - not a blade of grass out of place. The house across the street was a white-stone villa with red roof tiles, golden-toned cherry wood windowsills and double front door. The driveway and the curb in front of the house were crowded with expensive cars. The front doors were open to people coming and going; two couples arrived and one couple left while Duo sat and studied the place. The couple that was leaving crossed the street and went into one of the homes - they were neighbors. "Well, shit," he proclaimed and sat back in defeat. "We need a costume-change." "Fuck, you are gay," muttered The Bear from the backseat. "What's going on? Looks like Voss is having a party," Neil interjected before the other two could get into another verbal altercation. "He's having a wake." Neil scoffed. "The woman that just left was wearing a flowery sundress." "Really? You're going to question the exact thing you hired me to do?" Duo fired back. "Alright, Mister Magician. Enlighten me." "Two out of three women we have seen wore black. The odds of two Floridian women wearing black on a sunny day like this are negligible. The neighbors were the only ones who didn't wear black because they probably just popped in for a brief moment to pay their respect and give some kind of pot roast meal." "As I understand it, the LBD is very popular. It could totally be a coincidence." Duo shot him an incredulous sideway glance. "LBD?" Neil smirked. "Okay, what about three? Would three women in black still be a coincidence?" Neil looked at the door, there was no one stepping out of the house. "A hundred bucks says the next women that comes out is wearing black. And then we are going to race to the nearest mall and get ourselves three black suits." "Deal." The threesome sat in the car, waiting. Duo lit up a cigarette and exchanged a smug look with the Russian. A few minutes later a man in a black suit stepped over the threshold and then paused, looking back. He extended his hand to his wife, who followed him, and both walked back to their car hand in hand. The woman was wearing a black skirt with a black silk button-up blouse. She was wiping away tears with an embroidered handkerchief, eliminating any possible doubt. Without a word Neil started the engine of the SUV and drove back downtown. The navigation gave him directions to the nearest mall. Duo looked out the window, grinning at his small victory. Once they found a suitable store, the two purchased elegant suits. Neil paid for Duo's to cover the bargain they had made, and since there wasn't a suit big enough to fit the huge stature of The Bear, it was the perfect excuse to ditch him in the car when they returned to the suburban neighborhood to inconspicuously join the grieving crowd. No one gave them a second look as they strode through the front door - only a sympathetic nod as it was assumed they knew the deceased. "You better fucking hope Voss isn't the one who kicked it," Duo mumbled softly to Neil as they strode through the house, bypassing a sobbing woman who could not be comforted by her husband. "He's fine." "You sure?" "Want to see the pictures of him grocery shopping from yesterday?" The Russian challenged. Duo did not respond, he had no choice but to trust Neil's intel. They moved into the main living room that served as a reception for the guests. The space was soberly decorated with bouquets of flowers bound with black ribbons and completed with cards expressing remorse and support. A selection of foods was spread out on the dining room table; deviled eggs, casseroles, cake and chips, but the room smelled of leather coming from the new couch. A young man played a melancholic song on the glossy, black piano, on top of which stood the framed picture of a middle-aged woman, prominently on display. A single, white rose lay at the base. Standing beside the piano was a tall and thin man, with handsome, chiseled features and perfectly styled, wavy blond hair. Guests approached him to shake his hand and give their condolences. "Let me guess..." Duo drawled, sizing him up. "Yup, that's him." Neil reached for a chip and dug it deep into the bowl of dip before popping it into his mouth. "Who is the dead chick, you think? His mom?" The American snorted. "His wife." The other quirked an eyebrow. Duo served himself a slice of cake - having more of a sweet tooth - to blend into the crowd. He took a bite and elaborated with his mouth full: "He married her. Recently. I'm guessing her death is not of natural causes." "You're shitting me." Neil studied the tall blond man, scrutinizing the pained grimace that contorted his pretty face as he kept dabbing a handkerchief to his eyes. "He seems appropriately torn up about it, what makes you say he killed her?" "It's all over the place," Duo said mysteriously and finished his cake with a preposterously big bite. "Don't make me ask for it and then chastise me for asking for it..." Neil grumbled and plucked the entire bowl of chips from the table and cradled it against his chest in one arm and continuously shuttled chips with dip to his mouth. "Okay." Duo grinned - he didn't mind showing off. "No family resemblance, but they are living together - lovers, the odds say. He's wearing a wedding band, so they were married, but only after knowing each other for a short while - six to nine months, tops. That couple right there," he nodded at a salt-and-pepper haired woman in a lounge chair in a corner, completely wrecked with bereavement, and the older man dutifully standing at her side, "parents of the deceased. Voss is respectful but comfortable with them, checking in on them and redirecting guests to them. That means he knows them. However, most people first introduce themselves to him before offering their condolences. He knew the woman long enough to be introduced to the direct family, but not long enough to have a chance to meet distant relatives, casual friends and colleagues. That probably means they did not know each other last Holiday season, so they met, at the earliest, nine months ago, but probably a little later than that." "Sure, I guess. But what makes you say he actually killed her?" Duo snorted. "First of all, I don't believe in coincidences. But if that's not enough for you, just look at him for starters. He looks upset, but any mediocre actor can sell grief to a crowd that is blinded with grief themselves. His eyes aren't red, nor welled-up. He keeps wiping them with the handkerchief to hide that he isn't actually shedding tears." Feeling gluttonous, he reached for another slice of cake. "Now look at the room. Really look at it, at the details." Neil rolled his eyes. "Fuck, don't quiz me on this shit, just tell me." "Well, this is an affluent neighborhood, this lady had some serious cash - by the look of her parents - trust fund cash probably. But all the flower arrangements are gifts, the food is cheap and the pianist is unskilled - the kind of guy who makes ten bucks an hour teaching chopsticks to seven year olds. Now that Voss is in charge of the money - that his loving wife left him - he is not going to spend another dime on her. In the meantime, since she died, he bought a new, Italian leather sofa," He nodded at the pristine white couch, "and the slight discolorations on the walls suggests pictures and paintings have been taken down and replaced with stuff of his own taste. He wasted no time getting rid of her." "Duo," the Russian started and then hastily swallowed a chip, "You really are worth your five million dollar cut." "Two and a half." "Please, J.J. is worth jack-shit to this operation. You are earning his share on behalf of him." He put the nearly empty bowl back on the table and wiped his hands on the pant legs of his new suit. "Let's go talk to this heartbroken widower." Duo pulled him back by his arm before he could storm towards the blond man. "Is it really the best strategy to just jump on him? Is that going to make him inclined to tell us what we need to know?" "Well, if what you told me is right, Goldilocks over there wacked his wife," Neil retorted in his hushed voice, "Seeing as he's here and not in jail, it's safe to say he got away with it. With a few calls to a couple more of my friends, I can find or fake evidence tying him to her death, rat him out to the police and have him locked up for the rest of his miserable life." Duo stared at him. "I think holding that over his head, is going to make him perfectly inclined to answer all our questions about Yuy." "It's scary how many friends you have." The Russian patted Duo's shoulder with a smirk and then made a beeline for their target. Duo followed one step behind and tried to ignore the wetness in his palms and the way his heart thundered in his chest. He watched as Voss extended a hand towards Neil and the shorter man shook his hand confidently, like he wasn't about to threaten him with life behind bars. "Hello. Thank you for coming," Voss said dutifully. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you before all of this. How did you know my beloved wife?" Neil's polite smile never faltered. He continued to shake Voss' hand as he replied: "I didn't know her at all. But my friend here," He nodded over his shoulder at his partner in crime; Duo resisted the urge to bolt out of the house, "knows all about you and what your relationship with your beloved wife was like." The color drained from Gable's face at the suggestion but he kept his features molded into something proper so as not to arouse suspicion. He pulled his hand free from Neil's tight grip and pocketed it in a way that showed his anxiety; he was well aware he had skeletons in his closet that could get him in trouble. If Duo had been wrong, Voss wouldn't be as intimidated as he was. "I think you ought to leave," Voss said in a low voice. Neil assured him: "You don't want us to leave. Not without first giving us incentive not to go directly to the police and have you arrested for murder." Of course they couldn't do that, they didn't have any evidence, yet, only Duo's 'mind-reading', but Voss didn't know that and he fell for Neil's bluff. "I need some fresh air." He hooked his index finger behind his tie and loosened it. "Let's talk outside." Neil nodded and waited as Voss excused himself to tell his in-laws that it was starting to get 'too much' for him and that he was going outside with his 'two friends' for a minute. The elderly couple showed nothing but understanding in response, unaware he was a snake. The tall, blond man motioned for Duo and Neil to follow him and he led them outside. He was stopped several times along the way, to receive the condolences of more family members, friends and neighbors. In a quiet tone, while waiting for Voss to finish shaking hands with a business associate of his wife, Neil asked Duo: "Have anything else to tell me that we could use?" "Along which lines?" "To somehow convince him we have proof of what he did." Duo paused before he answered, to give it some thought. "He didn't do it himself," he concluded. "He's too cowardly for that. Too anxious. He hired someone, but he would have made sure it would not be traced back to him during the course of a regular investigation. My guess is he never met the guy face-to-face, someone else brokered the deal. Since the wife was too young for death by natural causes, he didn't have someone poison her, that would not have been believable." He fell silent and waited for Voss to be preoccupied again with another guest before he continued. "The family doesn't suspect him of anything, so it either happened while he was out of town, or while she was out of town. In any case, he was nowhere around to be suspected of anything. I caught some people saying things like 'tragic', 'surreal' and 'it could happen to anybody', but no one said anything about 'unfair' or 'senseless', so the guy made it to look like a benign accident, not a crime." Neil nodded, listening intently while watching Voss like a hawk. "It worked - whoever he hired was a pro. A pro like that costs money and the police would get suspicious if Voss had spent any large sum in the time leading up to the woman's death, so I think he hasn't paid the guy yet - not in full at least - to protect them both from police scrutiny. He will pay him when things blow over; until that time, he has to live his life knowing a professional assassin is keeping an eye on him." The man shot him an incredulous side-way glance. "How can you possible know all this shit?" "I told you before: I don't know anything, I infer. I reveal my inferences bit by bit and read the reaction to know if my guesses are hot or cold." Neil nodded. "Okay. I think you should do the talking. Make sure your guesses are hot." Duo felt a misplaced sense of pride to have the Russian gang-member entrust him with the responsibility, but at the same time he felt terrified to know it was his job to intimidate Voss into spilling Yuy's secrets - should he even know any. Finally the three of them reached the back yard and they stood alone on the patio. Voss shut the double-doors behind them to make sure no one would overhear the conversation. "Are you two crazy?" He hissed at them. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" "Only for you," Duo interjected, waiting for Voss' focus to shift to him - he had been looking at Neil since the Russian had taken the lead before. "It's must be nerve-racking to be in your position. The slightest slip-up and the game could be over. Everybody is watching you: the family, the police and our mutual friend." Blue-grey eyes widened. Voss didn't ask who he was talking about - he filled in the blanks himself and assumed Duo meant the assassin he had gotten in bed with. The con-man couldn't help but give into the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. Bullseye. "You know him?" Voss wondered, a little in awe. "Like everyone else, we only know of him. That's why he's the best, right?" Voss swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "But we know the guy you used to get in touch with him," Duo continued and watched another jab land right where it hurt. "If we give him up to the police, he will sing like a bird and then it won't matter that you weren't even anywhere close to your wife when she had her little 'accident'." Hot! Hot! Hot! Voss was practically shrinking into himself. "The thing is... will the police get you in time to arrest you and put you behind bars before our mutual friend finds out your deal with him has gone sour?" Voss looked like he was about to be sick and Duo pushed through, ignoring a twinge of guilt, reminding himself this man had conned a woman into marrying him, only to get her killed to inherit her money. "I don't think he is going to bother to make it look like just an accident with you..." "What do you want from me?" The tall man pleaded. "Do you work for him or something? Does he want more money?" "We're not involved right now," Duo answered vaguely. "We are working on something else. Something you might be able to help us with. If you just give us what we want and you give our friend his payment in due time, everything will be okay. So we have a few questions for you and you'd better answer honestly, or I'd know." "What could I possibly help you with?" "Heero Yuy," Duo blurted for shock value and watched closely. His eyebrows twitched into a frown and he took a moment to digest the sound of the name. Then a flicker of horror. "Are you going to kill him?" He tried to mask the genuine concern in his voice. He cared for Yuy, certainly not more than he cared for himself but still, it was interesting to note. "We are not in that business. We have a different specialty." "You're going to rob him?" His tone of voice shifted and some of his cockiness returned to him. He straightened his shoulders and dropped one eyebrow in a quizzical expression. He doubted that it could even be done and he thought them ignorant for thinking they could pull it off. After giving himself some time to think it over, he actually scoffed at the idea. "We can and we will," Duo said, a little irked at Voss' disbelief, even though he had the same doubts when he was first pulled into the operation. Having someone, with knowledge on the subject, doubt that it could be done aroused his own concerns from the past and left him with a sick feeling. "You want the safe," the former prostitute concluded. Neil stepped forward. "You know about the safe?" He shrugged. "I figured he had a safe with cash in the house. Some evenings he'd excuse himself for a minute and then he'd come back with a wad of cash. He knows better than to keep it stuffed under his mattress..." He made a dismissive gesture and then added: "I would know, I checked." Duo raised his eyebrows at the affirmation that Voss had been intimate with Heero, at least intimate to an extent where he was allowed into the bedroom, unsupervised even, it appeared. "Do you have any idea where the safe is?" "Sure." Duo and Neil waited, but Voss did not elaborate; regaining some of his confidence, he felt secure enough to toy with them. "Where is it?" "I didn't say I know where it is. I said I had an idea." "Don't make us ask." Neil seethed. "Well, I imagine it's in the secret room." The American and the Russian shared a look. "Secret room?" They wondered in unison. "Yeah. Kind of like a panic room. But he uses it more like a second, secret office." "So where is this secret room?" Duo pressed. Voss threw his hands up. "I don't fucking know!" He was telling the truth. "All I know is sometimes he would disappear for a couple of hours and I couldn't find him anywhere in the house and then suddenly he would pop up somewhere." He looked around impatiently. "Since I can't help you, can I go back inside now? As you understand, it is important that I do not raise any suspicion." "Just because you don't know where the safe or the room is doesn't mean you can't help us," Duo interjected and stopped him from heading back into the house. "You can help us find it." "I'm not going back there to help you with your shit." "I don't need you to go back there. I need you to tell me everything you know about Yuy so I can get close to him, as close as you were. Then I will be able to find it." Voss sighed. He let his head hang and kept shaking his head. "I don't know anything that can help you find the safe." "Let me be the judge of that." He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his black slacks and looked off to the side with a crease between his eyebrows and a tight mouth. His jaw clenched and unclenched, like he was morally torn, but fear of repercussions overruled the inner debate and he nodded his consent, willing to answer whatever questions they would have. "You really care for him," Duo surmised. Voss objected: "I pity him, okay? You don't kick a dog when it's already down and fucking... whimpering at your feet." "You hurt his feelings." He sighed irritably. "I thought you were going to ask me questions..." "Did Yuy give you money to leave town?" "Yes." "Why?" "Why does any John pay his whore to leave?" Voss challenged. "Because they want you gone. They don't want you in their fucking lives anymore. They don't want to drive down the street and catch a glimpse of someone's face and think that might have been you. They pay you to leave, so they won't be haunted." "How could you possibly haunt a guy like Yuy? Was he afraid you would expose him, or extort him?" Voss snorted. "He was fucking in love with me! But I didn't love him... He accepted that and he wanted me to be happy, but he didn't want to ever run the risk that he would see me be happy with someone else. He gave me all the cash that he had in the safe at the time and he told me to leave." Duo was surprised by the confession; he had not expected Yuy to have opened up to anybody like that. But it seemed like he did and he got scorned - that would explain why he was such an aloof asshole most of the time. Duo quelled any sense of pity and questioned on: "Why didn't you love him?" "What kind of stupid question is that?" Duo did not respond to the insult and waited for his answer. "I don't know why I didn't fall in love with the guy. It's not like he didn't try... and wouldn't it have been easy..." he mused wistfully. "Just fall in love with him and live happily ever after. Fuck. I just never ended up feeling what he felt for me and that got his goddamn, traumatized feelings hurt, so our arrangement came to an end." "You would have stayed with him, if you could, if he hadn't ended it?" "Of course man. The guy bought me an apartment, a car, paid for all of my expenses, got me gifts. It was a sweet deal." He delved his fingers into his hair, reliving the frustration. "But the asshole had to fall in love with me. Had to fall in love with his whore. I told him the ground rules from the get-go: he could get anything he wanted from me for the right price, except love. I couldn't give him that. I told him and he agreed. He said he understood, and that he didn't want that kind of relationship anyway. And then a few months later I caught him looking at me all dreamy-eyed and I knew I was fucked." Duo reeled back, struck by the similarities with his failed relationship with WuFei; he understood Yuy's pain and felt sorry for him. When Duo and WuFei started dating, they had a similar arrangement: just sex and fun, but no love and no commitment. Duo had ended up violating that rule - not able to keep himself from falling for the other man - then everything fell apart. Now WuFei was with a woman - a woman who was pregnant with his child - and he was turning his life around. Duo had been witness to the same kind of happiness Yuy didn't want to see of Voss to protect himself. It all hit a little too close to home. When Duo fell silent, Neil stepped in. "Did you guys have sex?" Gable shot him an odd look. Apprehensively, he replied: "Yes. We were together for months after all." "Was he a top or bottom?" The blonde man let out a cackle. "What? That's what you gays call it, right? Top or bottom?" "Why do you even want to know?" Voss asked, not understanding Neil's choice line of questioning. "If he has to get close to him, he has to know what he likes, right?" The blonde shook his head but decided to answer anyway, although purposefully vague to confuse Neil: "We didn't have the kind of sexual interaction that would define either of us as 'top' or 'bottom'." Duo came to his senses and asked - his curiosity piqued for all the wrong reasons: "He's versatile?" "He doesn't have anal sex. Ever," Voss supplied. "He doesn't pitch and he doesn't receive. We jerked and sucked each other off, that was the extent of it." It wasn't necessarily unusual for a gay man to not be interested in anal sex, but he couldn't help but think there was more to it than sexual preference alone. Although it was somewhat interesting, Duo realized the information was entirely irrelevant, especially at the current stage of the operation. To save the line of question and steer it back to the right track, he inquired: "Was it the intent of the arrangement to include sex?" "No. He was very adamant in the beginning that he did not want to have sex. We would just... hang out. And later he'd take me places. Things evolved a little, but quickly stagnated in the making-out phase. In fact, I always got the feeling the blowjobs and the handjobs were for my benefit." Duo acknowledged the possibility that the billionaire was asexual - it had crossed his mind before - but it seemed more likely that he was simply uncomfortable with his sexuality. Other little revelations had hinted at that as well, like how uncomfortable he had gotten during the game of squash when Duo implied that he might not be gay. Yuy had been intimidated and self-conscious. Similarly, he had gotten disproportionally upset when Duo first mentioned sex to him at one of their earlier dinners. Something was going on there, but he would have to discover the specifics for himself. "What would you guys talk about?" "Nothing, in the beginning, he'd ignore me." A smile tugged at Duo's lips; at least Yuy ignoring him hadn't been personal. He felt relieved, for whatever reason - as if it mattered to him what the man thought of him, beyond what he needed him to think of him for the purpose of the job. "Then, I'd ask him about his business and stuff." The American nodded. "I bet he liked that. Showing off." "No, I don't think so. He was always very curt. So I started telling him shit, instead of asking about his life, and at some point during my ramblings I said something that clicked with him and it wasn't until then that he deemed me... worthy," Voss shook his head, unable to find the right words. "I guess I said something that made him realize I was capable of understanding him, so he knew there would be a point to a conversation. Before then, I think he thought there was no point to telling me things because I wouldn't get it anyway." "Intellectually?" "Emotionally." Recognizing they might have unearthed the key to get into Yuy's head, Duo eagerly questioned: "So what was it? What did you tell him?." Voss shrugged. "I don't remember. I told him so many things. I don't know what it was." "But it was something personal?" The man scratched his head and tried to remember. "I think it was the evening I was telling him about growing up and stuff." "Alright. Tell us," Duo insisted. Voss eyed them both warily. "I'm not going to tell you private shit about myself." "Do we need to remind you what we will make happen to you if you do not cooperate?" Neil jumped in, his voice dipping low. "Look, even if I told you everything about myself, it still wouldn't help. I told Heero a combination of truths, lies and everything in between. I don't remember what I said and if it was a lie or a true story that struck a chord with him." Duo eyed him suspiciously but even though it sounded like an excuse, he surmised that the man was telling them the truth, he wouldn't dare lie to them; he was twitchy in an impatient way, not in a nervous way - the kind of nerves one would feel when they feared being caught in a lie. "Is there anything you can think of that might help us?" Voss gave it an honest effort. He looked off to the side in thought. "I guess the best advice I can give you is: don't give into his bullshit rules and stipulations. He's pretty desperate for company but he doesn't want another lackey. He was very standoffish with me when I did his bidding - he would just give in to his urge to control everything. The best times were when I caught him off-guard and upset the order. He liked knowing that I wasn't afraid of him; it made him think that I wasn't just sucking up to him for his money." He shrugged and concluded: "He doesn't want to be your superior. He wants to be your equal, but you have to make that happen because he's just too damn used to being haughty and in charge." Duo nodded in understanding. Yuy's absolute control over everything had him assuming that the man needed to be in control, and that Duo had no choice but to obey his instructions if he wanted to get on his good side. Instead his control was a habit and a test of some sorts; whoever dared to break it was worthy, was of his level, was someone he could trust because they weren't out to just kiss his ass and hold out a hand to get paid in return. "Obviously, if I had managed to worm my way into his will I would have had him killed, not this woman. But he's just lonely, not stupid." Gable's voice trailed off and his words lost some of the sharpness. He was lying. He never loved Yuy, but he wouldn't have had him killed either. Duo wondered what side of himself Yuy had shown to get a weasel like Voss to respect and care for him, in his own demented way. "Why did you do this anyway? Go through the trouble of marrying someone and then having her killed for the inheritance," Duo challenged. "Yuy gave you money to start a new life." "I spent it all, okay? Living large and shit," Voss snapped. He folded his arms in front of his chest, betraying his discomfort - betraying his deception. "What really happened to the money?" He cursed under his breath at being caught in the lie. "Are you seriously some kind of fucking mindreader?" Duo kept his face unreadable. "Yeah, okay..." he started, irritated. He unfolded his hands to make uncoordinated, jerky gestures. "Heero gave me a shitload of money. So when I quit working for Ripley and moved down here, everyone and their grandmother in that tar pit of a city knew Heero had sent me off with some serious cash, and they all wanted a piece of it. Men in black ski masks would stand over my bed in the middle of the night, demanding a cut! And they kept coming back until there was nothing left. Left me beaten to a pulp every time too - left me for dead!" Duo noted Voss was visibly trembling, with both fear and rage. Even though he didn't deserve Yuy's money in the first place, he also didn't deserve to have it taken from him like that. "Can I go back inside now?" Gable asked urgently. Neil replied reactively: "No." The American touched his hand to Neil's shoulder, wordlessly telling him to stand down. "Yes. You can go." The blonde man sighed with relief and side-stepped them to head back into the house and rejoin the mourning crowd. "Wait, one thing," Duo called after him and asked as an afterthought: "Why doesn't he wear black?" "Something about his mother... and his brother," Voss said over his shoulder. "If anything you told us turns out to be bullshit, you better speak out now. Because you don't want us to tell our mutual friend that your word is worth shit," Neil reminded him. His fists clenched at his sides. He nodded once, then ripped open the door and went inside. Brother? Duo was baffled by the revelation. Turning to his Russian partner, he asked: "How come you never found out he had a brother?" "Excuse me, how is that my responsibility?" "You did the background check - you had him trailed for months!" Duo hissed. "I never found anything about a brother. There was a mother and a father, no other family. The mother died when Yuy was a kid - sick or something, who knows - and the father disappeared off the face of the Earth when his business went bankrupt. I don't know the how or why - it looks like he buried everything. If there is or ever was a brother, he buried every trace of that too," Neil said in defense of his research. "If?" Neil snorted. "You don't think you and Voss are the only guys capable of talking bullshit, do you? Who's to say Yuy didn't lie right back to him?" "He was in love with him." "So he says." Duo argued: "He was telling the truth. Need I remind you - I'm the mind-reader." "Just because he was being honest doesn't mean it holds any water. An egotistical guy like Gable can be wholeheartedly convinced that a freaking billionaire falls in love with a whore like him - and pass a lie-detector-test - but that doesn't make it true." Neil scrubbed his face with his hands. "Maybe it was a waste of time coming here after all." "What he told us can be of great help; I just have to figure out how to apply it." "But what if Yuy was just playing with him? The way Voss was playing with him? He didn't even want to be intimate with the guy." "That doesn't have to mean he didn't love him," Duo defended. "The guy obviously has issues, anything could be at the root of not wanting to have sex with Voss." Neil scoffed. "There was something between them. I believe it. Yuy loved him and Voss... maybe he loved Yuy back, in his own, fucked-up way." Neil shook his head at him, dismissing him as naïve. "I think there is a brother," Duo stated defiantly. "You're just pissed because you were secretly hoping he could draw us a map to the safe. You probably thought he had the code too." Neil scoffed and sputtered but couldn't provide a coherent rebuff. "You didn't seriously think it would be that easy, did you?" The Russian stared at him for a moment - trying to read him for a change - but Duo could always trust his features to be able to fool people. With a dry smirk plastered to his lips, he was unreadable. "To be honest," the older man started and then he let his words trail off as he second-guessed himself. "There's no going back now. Spill." "I wasn't expecting this job to grind to a halt like this. I thought we would have it all figured out by now and that it would merely be a case of waiting for him to make his withdrawal at the bank," Neil confessed. His face was a little flustered and his nostrils flared with each agitated intake of air. "We've been working for weeks... We've been waiting for weeks for you to get through to Yuy and it is starting to seem to me that it can't be done. I held out hope that Voss would be the solution, but he doesn't know shit. He was with him for months and even he didn't find out where that goddamn safe was, or why Yuy doesn't wear black, or why he doesn't like fucking. He was with him all that time and doesn't know anything." Duo held up his hands and gestured for him to calm down, lest they attract any attention. "Voss was with him for eight months and he still never knew the location of the safe," Neil reiterated in a more hushed tone. "How are you supposed to find it by the end of December?" "Voss wasn't looking for the safe," Duo pointed out. "And he's not me." Neil let out an exaggerated sigh. "Excuse me," Duo bit sarcastically, "but this was your plan. I'm just along for the fucking ride." "Your brother told me you were a mind reader and I thought he was fucking with me," the would-be General said, "But as it turns out, you really are a goddamn mind reader and you still have jack shit! What you did in there," he nodded back at the house, "was amazing, but it isn't enough with Yuy. So sue me for starting to second-guess this approach." "What other choice do we have?" Neil didn't need a moment to consider the answer, he had given this some thought previously: "Angelica knows the security-system inside out, she's been practicing ad nauseam all this time. She can get us into the house, we grab Yuy while he sleeps and we make him tell us where the damn safe is and what the code is. Just like what those guys did to Voss." Duo rolled his eyes at the blunt plan. "If you had any real faith that that would work, you would have never included me in this operation in the first place, let alone for the sum of five million dollars." He pointed an accusing finger at him. "You know damn well that won't work. Yuy would know better than to tell us anything; he would know that, as soon as he would tell us what we need to know, guys like you would get 'rid of him'," he sneered. "He'd clam up and wait for us to make the tiniest mistake - trigger some alarm Angelica missed - and the place would be surrounded by security." Neil clenched his jaws and gritted his teeth. His hands were balled into fists at his sides. He knew Duo was right and he hated it. "We need to stick to the plan," the American asserted. "It will work. You heard Voss - Yuy is desperate." "Yes, I heard Voss. I heard him say that Yuy is lonely, not stupid." "True, Yuy is not the kind of guy to make a mistake. But the art of my craft is that he won't know he is making a mistake. Not until it's too late." He could see Neil's inner conflict. He understood the disappointment at the set-back. Neil had - mistakenly - not prepared for it. Duo didn't see the trip as a waste. Even though Voss could not locate the hidden safe for them, the exchange they had was not worthless. For Duo to be able to read and manipulate a subject like Yuy, he had to fully understand him; he had to know every part of him. Creating this mental image of a target was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle - the more complicated the objective, the more puzzle pieces you needed. Every bit of information, regardless of how insignificant it seemed, was a piece to the puzzle and without even those tiny pieces, the image would never be complete. It was Duo's task to test where these new pieces fit and figure out how they could help him solve the rest of the puzzle. Stealing someone's wallet in a crowded diner was a puzzle even a toddler could solve - 10 pieces. A guy like Voss wasn't much more complicated. Discovering where a secretive, antisocial billionaire hid his vault was definitely more advanced. But Duo was confident that he was steadily assembling the image, and he still had over two months left to complete the job. This was not the time to doubt himself and he wasn't about to let Neil's concerns get to him either. If he lost his confidence, it would all fall apart. Con man is short for confidence man, after all. With their heads ducked between their shoulders they slithered through the crowd back to the front door. Thankfully, no one paid any attention to them, only Voss who watched them like a hawk as they left. The Bear was right where they had left him: in the air-conditioned SUV. He eyed them both with his cold, grey eyes as they seated themselves in the front, then focused on Duo. "So?" "So? It's none of your business, you're just here to keep an eye on me, right?" Duo bit. "I'm keeping an eye on this operation. For Tsubarov." He said the name authoritatively. "If this job is doomed to fail, he'd like to know as soon as possible." His lips twisted into a sly grin. "Nothing is doomed," Duo replied, scratching at his leg with his short nails. "Everything is going as planned." Neil gripped the steering wheel tightly. The Bear noticed. "Hmmm. Are mommy and daddy fighting?" "I better not be the mommy in this scenario-" Neil interrupted Duo's retort: "Stop it! Both of you!" The Bear sat back and muttered, "Sorry, dad," making sure Duo knew that he was 'the mommy'. Their flight home wasn't until late in the evening. They drove downtown where Neil dropped off The Bear and Duo before driving off to meet up with one of his many friends - the one who had found Voss for them. The American looked down at himself. It was late in the afternoon and he was dressed in a black suit, standing next to a hulk of a man with a shaved head showing off a grizzly bear tattoo, and surrounded by guys in shorts and girls in bikini-tops. He felt as out of place as he looked. "Shouldn't you go find a watering hole, or something? And go fishing for salmon?" "It's my job to keep an eye on you." "You really think I'm going to flee? And leave J.J. all alone in this mess?" He questioned with an arched eyebrow. "If I was capable of doing that, I would have done so a long time ago. Hell, I didn't even need to get myself involved in this shit-storm in the first place." The big man shrugged. As much as he hated it, Duo resorted to begging. "Can you please just leave me alone for a bit?" The Bear just stared at him. The answer was clear. With a grumble and a breathless curse Duo resigned to his fate of having a six-foot-five shadow for the remainder of the day. He started walking in a random direction, zigzagging through the crowd - moving further away from the beach where they all seemed to be coming from - and eventually found himself in a district of restaurants, bars and clubs. If possible, the people were even more scantily clad: guys in low-cut tank tops and girls in bodycon dresses so tight they looked painted on. He shook the jacket off his shoulders and casually discarded it in a trash bin as he passed by. Without missing a step he rolled up his sleeves and ran his hand through his hair to free his bangs from the gel that kept them slicked back. He was hungry - the snacks at the wake were all he had to eat for the day - but he didn't enjoy the thought of settling in one of the cafés with his unwanted "chaperone." He studied the street, looking for a way to ditch his trail - a tight group of people he could slip into or a tucked-away alley for him to disappear into. He attempted a couple of sly moves, but every time, an inconspicuous look over his shoulder confirmed that The Bear was still trailing him. Across the street a group of four men were purposefully walking somewhere. Their gait was quicker - they didn't meander like the rest - and they didn't stop to check out menus in front of restaurant patios; one of them bristled at whoever got in their way. At first glance, they looked like every other guy on the boulevard: muscled, not much clothes on them, sweaty, sporting sunglasses and bleached teeth. But one of them was wearing a bracelet of braided strings in the color of the rainbow; that made Duo look twice at the way one of them had his arms around the shoulder of another. The tips of his fingers would sometimes caress the exposed skin of his friend. The other two brushed shoulders way more often than necessary. Where are four gay guys going at happy hour? A gay bar. Duo smirked. He swiftly crossed the street, not caring that The Bear was able to follow him. He had a suspicion he would soon decide to leave him alone. He casually fell in step behind the four men, catching snippets of a familiar conversation. They were discussing the best clubs in town and that evolved into a battle of who had turned the best tricks where. Sure enough, they rounded a corner and headed straight for a hidden-away bar with a rainbow-flag canopy over the front door with the cheeky name "Cross Bones". The Bear was about to blindly follow him inside, so Duo pivoted on his heels and mocked: "Are you seriously gonna join me in there, big guy?" He purred the words to add insult to injury. "I'm sure they won't be able to keep their hands off a big bear like you." The tendons in his muscly arms stood out as he struggled to contain his anger. Duo could tell that he contemplated coming into the bar - just to spite Duo and foil his attempt to get of him - but the sight of two guys manhandling each other just beyond the entry stopped him dead in his tracks. With a huff, The Bear retreated. Duo slipped past the passionate lovers by the door and made a beeline for the bar where he conquered himself a barstool right in front of a bowl of beer nuts, which he claimed for himself. He ordered a drink and glared at the bartender when the man - dressed in a leather vest and a pirate eyepatch over his left eye - was about to scold him for hogging the nuts. As if beer nuts were the kind of nuts these guys came to the bar for anyway. As was always the case, it didn't take long for the tall American to attract attention. It was probably the hair; it made him seem more alluring and mysterious than he was. A man snuck between Duo and another man seated in the stool next to his; he purposefully leaned close to Duo as he made an act of getting the bartender to serve him a drink. He was handsome in that obvious, almost obnoxious, way: the V-shaped torso, the bulky shoulders, the superhero-jaw and a practiced smile that reminded Duo altogether too much of his own. He ordered a colorful, mixed drink. He didn't copy Duo's order of a simple beer because he wasn't the kind of guy who needed to break the ice in such a cheesy way while attempting to impress him with how similar they were. He was the kind of guy used to getting what he wanted; Duo wasn't exactly in the mood, yet still he felt like the man would once again not be denied. "Wedding or funeral?" Tall and leggy asked, nodding at Duo's somber suit amidst a sea of colorful, Miami-appropriate attire. "Funeral." Not a lie. "I'm sorry." "What would you have said if it had been a wedding?" He smirked. "The same." Duo nodded, sharing the bitter sentiment regarding the holy matrimony. "Did you know the person well?" "Not at all. I only went to strong-arm the widower into helping me pull a heist on a billionaire by threatening to expose the fact that he had his wife assassinated for the inheritance." The man let out a loud cackle at the preposterous answer, which Duo was sure he assumed to be a comical fabrication. Duo laughed along, only because of how ridiculous his reality sounded. He stopped when he was offered a hand and simply introduced himself as: "Duo." "Chase." Of course - Duo thought to himself - he had to be a Chase, or an Austin, or a Luke. One of those unoriginal but masculine names that sound both preppy and superior. A Chase, an Austin, or a Luke are that frat brother that got you in trouble; or your boss who was younger than you; or your ex-wife's new husband; or that neighbor that drives a nicer car than you. "Are you from out of town?" Chase inquired and took a casual sip from his drink. "How can you tell?" "You're very pale." He smiled. Duo was a little surprised at the observant remark, but then again, he was particularly pasty and didn't at all have that tanned, 'Miami-glow'. He stuck out like a sore thumb in the current crowd of gold-skinned men. "Where are you from?" "No place exciting," he replied mysteriously, not for the purpose of impressing him; he didn't want to give Chase any details. Even giving his first name seemed too personal. "Looking for some excitement then?" Chase leaned in a little closer. "What are you offering?" "Join me in the bathroom and find out." He promptly pushed off the bar and didn't wait for Duo to follow him, trusting that he would. He did - he stole a last handful of beer nuts and followed the wake Chase left in the crowd on his way to the restrooms. The restroom stall they ended up in was surprisingly clean, considering the type of establishment. The two men in the stall next to theirs made no attempt to keep quiet; they groaned like animals and the partition shook as one fucked the other against it. Chase pressed Duo against the solid, tiled wall and didn't ask for permission before he plundered his mouth. Duo let the big, muscled man overwhelm him as much as he felt comfortable with, given that he was a stranger. He enjoyed his demanding kiss and the way his strong hands kneaded his flesh. It relaxed him. "You wanna get fucked?" Chase boldly asked when he moved his lips from Duo's mouth to his ear and raked his teeth along the shell. "I don't bottom for tricks," The long-haired American stated in response. He identified as versatile and found either position equally pleasurable with the right partner - with WuFei he almost exclusively assumed the receptive role in sex - but he couldn't submit to a stranger for casual sex. It was too intimate and too vulnerable. If one of his one-time lovers were willing to put themselves in that position, Duo gladly accepted, but he would never return the favor. He needed to trust someone to be able to let them take control over him sexually. His partner's disappointment was evident in his pause; his fingers and mouth stilled momentarily. But then he decided to make the most of the encounter and ground their pelvises together. The friction got them both aroused very quickly. Even though sex in the restrooms was apparently condoned by the owner, they still experienced that rush of doing something unlawful and even though the men next to them made no secret of what was going on in the stall, they tried to be quiet: stifling their moans and whispering their desires to each other. Eventually, they parted long enough to unzip their pants and push them down to mid-thigh. Chase wrapped his thick fingers around Duo's shaft and Duo enveloped Chase's erection in his hand. They jerked each other off and exchanged feverish kisses in the meantime. Chase reached his climax first and his hand became less purposeful, so Duo took over and finished himself off, biting down on the wide shoulder in front of him as he spilled his release onto his hand. Without a word the Miami-man zipped up his pants and exited the stall. Duo wasn't even surprised and reached over to lock the door behind him to allow himself a moment of privacy. He heaved a sigh, remembering times when he didn't have to go to places like that for a cheap sexual thrill. Times when he came home from pickpocketing stockbrokers in the subway to find WuFei asleep in their bed at midday - naked - after a nightshift at the bar, and he always woke up willing. He knew he couldn't trust his memories. Everything seemed so much nicer now, whenever he looked back on those days with yearning. The happiness that he remembered had been fragile and only lasted briefly. But from this new, bitter point in his life, every memory was bathed in an illusion of contentment. And he liked that illusion much better than his reality - past, present, or future. Another sigh and then he was ready to pull up his pants and step out of the stall. He washed his hands in the sink and looked in the mirror as the two other men opened the door and came out, very pleased with themselves. They had their arms slung around each other as they left and Duo pitifully noted that even the sight of such a small measure of romantic intimacy left him envious. Yuy may be lonely and desperate, but so was Duo and as he regarded his pathetic reflection - thinner, paler and his eyes more dull than ever - he realized how dangerous it was that they had that in common. He went back into the bar and confiscated another bowl of beer nuts, munching down and feeling properly sorry for himself. He watched the TV that hung by the liquor shelves behind the bar. The sound was muted so he made little sense of what the program was about, but the moving images distracted him. He left a generous tip for the bartender - for not giving him any grief about making his way through an evening supply of nuts - and then headed outside. It was nearly time to meet up with Neil again, to go back to the airport. The Bear was gone. He had probably given up on his stake-out and had found a bar of his own for a snack and something to drink. Duo walked back to the drop-off point to find the two Russian men already there, waiting for him. They stood by the rented car, leaning back against it. Both had their arms crossed in front of their chest and finished the conversation they were having, in their native tongue, before acknowledging the American. "Let's go," Neil said. "Had fun with your friend?" Duo wondered once the three of them were in the car and sped towards the airport. "It was a productive meeting." "Anything I should know about?" Neil glanced at him sideways. "If it's about our current operation, I think transparency serves out goal best." He contemplated his options for a moment and then decided that lying, or not saying anything, would not benefit the working relationship. "My 'friend' will be keeping an eye on Voss for a while. He's gonna trail him and tap his phone line." "Why?" Duo blurted. "He's not going to be of any more help to us." "I still think this Voss-Yuy romance is bullshit," The man started in defense of himself, "But just in case you are right-" "I tend to be," Duo interjected smugly. "Just in case you are right," He repeated, holding up a finger, warning Duo to keep his mouth shut, "and Voss still has feelings for the guy, I want to be sure the little shit doesn't contact his old sugar daddy to give him a heads-up. Hell, he might even figure that if he warns Yuy that we're coming after him, he's gonna get a nice bonus out of it." Duo nodded reluctantly. The same thought had crossed his mind. It was a huge risk telling Voss about their plan, but it was the only way to get him to give up all the information he had. They had to ask him about Yuy and the safe. The fact that Voss got in bed with a professional assassin to solve his money problems provided them with some security, by being able to play it like they were associates of some sort, but it wasn't without risk. Duo didn't think Voss was bold enough to contact his former lover, especially after he told that story about the men coming after him for Yuy's money. The man didn't want to have anything to do with his old hometown or the people there, too afraid of attracting that same, unwanted attention. And, as Duo said, he tended to be right, but his inferences were not bulletproof. "You're not going to argue with me?" The tone of his voice rose in surprise. "No. It's a good idea." He stared up ahead. "Just out of curiosity... what is your 'friend' going to do if he catches Voss trying to reach out to Yuy?" "You know what he is going to do." "Yeah." Kill him. The Bear let out a low, dangerous laugh, amused by the thought of murder and mayhem. In silence they drove back to the airport, returned the car and boarded the plane. Duo sat squished in the tiny middle seat, between The Bear and Neil. The grizzly man, in the aisle seat, had fallen asleep, even on the short flight, with his thick, trunk-like leg extended out into the aisle, unbeknownst to how many people nearly tripped over him. Neil seemed to be staring out the window, but his gaze was actually focused on a speck on the acrylic pane, rather than the starry blackness beyond. Duo left him to his thoughts. He had his own concerns that preoccupied him. Voss was a horrible guy, but the idea that Neil would have his 'friend' kill him if he became a liability to the mission made him sick. He was in deeper than he had bargained for. Before, it was only J.J.'s life at stake - and his own to a certain extent - but everything was spiraling out of control as more and more people started to get involved. Seth Ripley. Voss Gable. How many people was Neil willing to kill, or have killed, to make this heist a success? The pressure was on Duo to make things happen before murdering more people would become convenient. Neil seemed like a decent guy, a normal guy, a guy he could have grown up with. He kept forgetting that the Russian was of a different league than mere street rats like himself. To be in the position to get promoted to general of Tsubarov's Russian mafia, he had to have some serious skeletons in his closet. A few hours later he was dropped off in front of his apartment building; he waved his hand dismissively when Neil needlessly reminded him that he had a date with Yuy tomorrow. All he wanted to think about was getting his 'beauty sleep'. He dragged his feet up the stairs to his floor - it felt like there were more steps to climb than usual. His feet were leaden by the time he reached the floor and he felt more exhausted still when he saw J.J. slumped by his apartment door. Again. At the sound of his big brother's shuffling feet, J.J. shot up from the floor and dusted himself off with a sloppy grin. "Let me guess-" "The transvestite let me in," J.J. interrupted. Duo sighed. "She's not a transvestite. She's transgender," He explained, as if he ever believed J.J. cared enough to remember that distinction. He unlocked his door and stepped inside, followed closely by J.J., who reeked of the same mixture of drugs and alcohol that he always did. "Where have you been at?" The younger one wondered, plopping down on the couch, like he owned the place. "Miami." Duo had told him where he was going before, but he had already forgotten. "See any hot babes? Or, you know, hot dudes?" He fished the remote out from between the couch cushions and started flipping through channels. Duo stripped out of his clothes, not worried about his modesty because the other wouldn't be able to tear his gaze away from the TV anyway. "Have you eaten?" J.J. wondered, pausing on a channel only because the actress starring in the movie was on the beach in a bikini. As soon as she wrapped herself up in a towel, he lost interest and moved on, speeding through all the news channels that followed. "I'm starving. I could really go for like... pizza... or kebab... or kebab-pizza." Dressed in sweatpants and a loose shirt Duo blocked the television. He put his hands on his hips and let out an exasperated sigh. "What are you doing here?" "Can't a little brother hang out with his big brother?" He blinked up at him innocently. "It's been a long day, J.J. I'm tired. I want to sleep." "You sure you wouldn't rather eat pizza first?" Dammit, Duo thought to himself. He was really craving food. Beer nuts didn't quite cut it. "Your treat?" "Uhmmm..." The long-haired man rolled his eyes at the other. Every week he gave part of the money that Yuy paid him to J.J. The money was supposed to be for expenses - his bills, food, new clothes - but he kept wasting all of the money of booze and drugs. The rest of it he saved up, under the floorboard. Neil never asked him about it, the Russian probably figured Duo refused the billionaire's payments to impress him, or maybe he simply didn't care about the weekly two-thousand dollars; as a soon-to-be general he probably wasn't shy on cash. Duo called to have two pizzas delivered and then seated himself on the couch, snatching the remote out of J.J.'s hand. When Duo settled on a channel that J.J. didn't care for, the younger man's eyes started to wander and quickly landed on the copy of Forbes - Yuy's cover issue - that was still on the coffee table. "You still have this?" He leaned forward to reach for the discarded magazine, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger and holding it up like dirty underwear. "Are you jerking off to it or something?" The only stains on the magazine were from coffee and beer . "No." "Just throw it out!" He got up and headed for the trash bin. "Don't!" Duo shot up and plucked the magazine out of J.J.'s fingers. His little brother stared at him incredulously. "Why the fuck not?" The black-haired one challenged, rightfully confused. "It's not what you think," he sneered as he threw the Forbes issue onto the kitchen table, cover-side up. Yuy's cold, blue eyes stared up at the ceiling like it accosted him. "I need to see him like this." "What - with his arms crossed and 'Forbes' emblazoned above his head?" "No. Like... Like..." He stared at the stoic face with the hint of a snarl in the tension of the upper lip and the slightly downturned corners of the mouth. "Like a two-dimensional, egotistical prick." "Why do you need this picture for that? Isn't that how you always see him?" "You don't get it," he scolded and then vainly tried to explain: "Doing what I do, it's important that when I come home I put everything into perspective. To be able to read him, I need to see every facet of him and that makes him... human... and I can't sleep at night thinking of him as a human being." The hazy look in J.J.'s eyes confirmed that he didn't understand. "Why would that be a problem? Of course he's a human, so what?" "We are going to fuck him over!" Duo screamed in response. "We are going to use his every little vulnerability against him. We are going to scratch at everything that is raw and hurts. We are going to betray him in the most revolting way. We-" He stopped himself and shook his head as he corrected himself: "Not 'we'. Me. I! I have to do those things to him. So he can't be a human being, okay?!" He slammed his fist onto the image. J.J. stared at him. Brown eyes moved up and down, taking in the way his big brother trembled and the way his jaw clenched. The ringing intercom interrupted them and without a word Duo stalked over to door and headed downstairs to get their pizzas. When he came back to the apartment, J.J. was standing exactly where he had left him, shocked and confused. He pushed one of the boxes into his chest, jostling him out of it. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, ya hear?" Without waiting for a response he fetched them both a beer. He dropped down onto the couch and turned up the volume of the television. He caught himself wondering if Yuy's brother was as much a pain in the ass as his was. He shouldn't be thinking like that. That was exactly the problem. He had to get into Yuy's head without the guy getting into his head. Can you figure out Heero's secrets? :P
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