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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 Nineteen As the entire crew was waiting for Heero to take some cash out of his safe, to reveal its location to the ever-watchful eye of the camera, Duo pretended that life outside of the mansion was the lie and that inside, with Heero, was the reality. That was such a nice illusion, that it was easy to let it bloom in his mind, until there were no empty and dark recesses left. He was at the estate almost every day of the week, the whole day. He'd first stop by the office downtown and - if Heero wasn't too busy - he'd stick around until after lunch. They'd have lunch in Heero's office, sitting across from each other at the man's desk. Heero wouldn't look at his papers once, or answer the phone when it would ring. After that, Calvin would drive Duo to the mansion, where he spent the day with the staff. If Gerry had a moment to spare, they would sit in the living room and just talk about anything. Duo had to be mindful not to say too much, but he was so caught up in his own lie, that there was barely ever a risk of a slip-up. Whenever Gerry was busy, or had the afternoon off, Duo would tag along with one of the other staffers, or seclude himself in the library behind Heero's home office, or go upstairs to the music room where he idly fiddled with the keys of the grand piano. It was hardly a challenge entertaining himself. If he was done with the peace and quiet of it all, he'd watch TV in the informal living room, or watch a movie in the home theatre. It was an easy life, one he could get used to far too easily as well. Nothing bested the moment Heero would come home from work. It wasn't uncommon for the man to take the afternoon off and then he'd be content joining Duo on his little "adventure" in the house. They'd spent one entire afternoon rearranging the locations of the paintings and getting different paintings from storage to display on the walls. They would have dinner together and spend the evenings on the couch, getting ever closer. Or they would go back up to the music room and Heero would give into Duo's pleads and show him how the piano was supposed to be played, drawing from the ivory keys the most delicate notes and stringing them together in a beautiful melody. They'd stay up long into the night and drink wine, or eggnog and - if he was tipsy and unguarded enough - Heero would laugh at something Duo said. Duo's attraction to the man was all-encompassing. It was silly, really - if he ever stepped back from himself far enough and long enough to see what a hopeless romantic he had been reduced to. Heero was such a calming presence; he silenced the ever-present white noise in Duo's head and his modest touches eased away the last bit of anxiety that would sometimes gnaw at the con-man. It wasn't lust. Lust, Duo could dismiss. Lust would leave him unscathed. Duo loved him, as unlikely and unwise as that was. The realization would only scare him once in a while, when he was back in his apartment for the night and sleep took a little too long to overcome him. He couldn't wait for their trip to New York. Duo was nothing but a thief, so he might as well steal that one final moment between the two of them, before everything would catch up with him. He caught himself wishing that he wouldn't have his own room in the tower this time around. Duo skipped on his weekly meetings with the crew. He didn't want them to remind him of his reality. All they did was stare at the footage from the damn camera anyway and Duo couldn't personally stand the sight of it, because it was such an invasion of Heero's privacy and only the prelude to what was the come in terms of his betrayal. Thankfully, when Heero sat behind his desk, or on the couch in the corner, he was out of view from the camera and that made Duo feel a little better. Christmas was coming too soon. With only two days left until he would fly out to New York with Heero, he knew he had to come clean to the rest of the crew and tell them that he'd be going away for a couple of days. He had to give them a head's up, so he wouldn't be accused of bailing and have to deal with the fall-out. He knew Neil and The Bear would object, but he hoped he had played his cards well and that the short notice would tie their hands from stopping him. So when he got a text from Neil, asking him to come meet him at the empty loft overlooking Corbeau Park, he heeded the invitation and took a cab. The door to the apartment was ajar and he could hear Angelica and Neil talking. He caught phrases like "we have to move quick", "do you have enough time?", "are you ready?" and "this is our best chance". As soon as Duo walked through the door, both became quiet and Duo could sense the tension in the air. The Bear lingered in the corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching him the way Duo would watch other people when he was trying to "read" them: distant, detached and calculating. It made him nervous but that was nothing new, The Bear always had that effect on him, because he could read the big man well enough to know he was all bottled up violence, inside an unstable, psychopathic personality. "J.J. isn't here?" Duo wondered, noting his little brother's absence while the other two were still looking at him with an expression that he couldn't quite place on a scale between expectant and apprehensive. "I sent him the same text I sent you, but..." He let his words trail off and made a dismissive gesture. Not surprised by his brother's disinterest, Duo approached the single desk in the open space, being which Neil was seated. Angelica sat on the corner, holding the tablet she had shown him two weeks before, after he had successfully planted the camera. "So, what's with the emergency meeting?" He recognized a hopeful sparkle in Angelica's eyes, whilst Neil's gaze he determined to be more urgent and distrusting. Duo realized that they must have spied the location of the safe, but he waited for them to speak. Neil motioned at Angelica. "Show him." The raven-haired woman nodded and twisted the tablet in her hands to show Duo the footage playing on the screen. The conman immediately identified the viewpoint of the camera, but as he focused on the movements on the screen, his heart sank into his stomach, where it lay like a heavy stone. Still, he knew he was being tested and that three pairs of watchful eyes were gauging his loyalty to their shared goal, so he carefully molded his features and feigned a sigh of relief. Nothing about his outward appearance belied how sick he felt, as he watched the screen. The door to the safe was wide open. As expected, it had been hidden behind one of the square panels in the wall facing the desk. It was even one of the panels Duo had tried to pry open during his earlier search and he was now left to assume that it needed to be pressed in an exact spot for it to be pressed open. What worried him most was not that they had discovered where the safe was hidden, it was the fact that money wasn't being taken out of the safe - money was being put into the safe. Heero stood by. The open duffel bag at his feet was obscene. Gerry worked in fluid motions to retrieve thick stacks of bills and place them onto the shelves of the vault. The two appeared to be talking. Heero's lips sometimes moved to form small words. Gerry had his back to the camera, but, at times, he would halt his progress on stuffing the vault with cash and he would make gestures with his hands, sometimes whilst still holding a stack. Whatever he was saying, it drew a modest, shy smile to Heero's lips and it made him nod in agreement. "Finally," Duo said, after taking a moment to reassure himself that his voice would not crack. Neil was pleased with the response the conman was presenting him. He bought into the lie and agreed: "Yes, finally." "I was hoping for a little more time between finding the safe and having to do the heist, though," Angelica expressed. She turned the tablet back to face her and continued to study the screen. Her eyes were wide and understandably greedy at the sight of all that money. Duo knew it was not a selfish greed. She didn't want the money for herself, she wanted it for her son. "What do you mean?" He thought to ask, when he realized he didn't understand what she was alluding at. "We have to move quickly now," Neil interjected. "He made the withdrawal ahead of schedule. If we wait until January to get in there, as we had planned, there's no telling how much he will have spent in the meantime. We have to move now." "Now?" "When he's in New York." Duo raised his eyebrows. His heart thundered uncomfortably in his chest. "That's two days from now! You can't be serious." "We have no choice, Duo. This is our chance. The money is there and the house will be abandoned. It's the perfect timing." "Except for the fact that we're not ready!" He argued and at the way Neil reeled back at his exclamation, Duo knew he had to compose himself if he didn't wish to set off any alarm bells. "It's not ideal," Angelica said, peeling her gaze away from the screen to give him a reassuring look, mistaking his panic to mean something it did not. "But we can manage. I can do this, trust me. I can get us in. I know the security system of the house and I know the safe." "It's not that I don't trust you..." He tried. "But I think it's too big of a risk to suddenly put a rush on this." "It's not going to get any less risky if we wait," Neil insisted. "This New York trip is probably the best we could ever hope for. Yuy will be gone for long enough for the house to be left completely unattended. Given that it's Christmas, there is no reason to suspect anyone will be working inside the house while he's away. There will only be the guards at the gates and they won't be a problem for us." "I think it's a mistake," Duo said with a shake of his head, although he couldn't cook up a valid follow-up to convince the others. The Bear spoke up: "With the way you are objecting, it seems like you don't want to go through with it at all." Duo twisted around to glare at him. "Shut your mouth, dog. Don't pretend to know what I want or do not want." The Bear grinned knowingly, but said no more. A shiver tickled its way down Duo's spine and it was a challenge not to let it show. He faced Neil again and was prepared to keep trying to convince him to stay the mission just a little longer, but as soon as he looked him in the eyes, he knew he was treading on thin ice. One wrong move and he'd be in deep trouble. He needed them to trust him. He had to be a part of this, not because he wanted to be, but because he had to be. He had to make sure the heist would go smoothly and he had to be there to protect J.J. With a painful clench of his heart, he knew he wouldn't be going to New York with Heero. He would stay behind. To rob him. Reality had caught up with him and it was a miserable reunion. "... So what's the plan?" He could tell his obedience was a relief to the would-be General. "We go in on Christmas eve. Yuy will be attending his event and it will be most likely that the entirety of the staff will be absent." Duo knew that to be the truth, Gerry told him he and his wife would be going away and the rest of the household staff would get the holiday off as well. The security detail would be traveling with Heero to New York, leaving the mansion mostly unoccupied. The aim of Heero's guards was always to protect the person, not the place and the house was deemed secure enough to leave relatively unprotected whenever the master was away. A detailed sweep of the place upon his return was enough to guarantee the billionaire's safety, so that was the protocol. He didn't reiterate this, but he had made the mistake of telling Neil this once or twice before, many weeks ago, before his loyalty became... murky. "The street along the West wall is pretty quiet and we have a blind spot for about thirty seconds every two minutes to get over the wall, as the camera's rotate," Angelica chimed in. "Once we're on the grounds, there's a route through the rose bushes that's out of view from any of the camera's. At the back door, I can plug into the security panel and override the system. That house is going to open up to me like a woman after a lobster dinner." "Thanks for the tip," Neil joked and the two shared a chuckle. Their moods were considerably elevated, now that the mission was in full swing. "And the safe?" Duo pressed. "I can crack the shell in ten minutes, after that, it's a matter of hacking into the circuit and letting my decoder program run to work-out the digital code and bypass the fingerprint scanner. The fastest time I clocked myself at was twenty-nine minutes. But it could take as long as an hour, depending on the software updates that have been installed and how often I have to step in manually." "We'll be in and out in no time," Neil added. "Well, what about the guards doing patrols?" "They don't," the Russian was quick to say. "I observed the place the entire time when you and Yuy went to New York. The only guards are the twosome at both gates and they stay put." "They put too much faith in the security system," Angelica said with a sly smile. "I see it all the time." "And we'll be working in the basement anyway, so we'll have all the peace and quiet we need." Neil chortled. "We can even turn the damn lights on; they won't see us." "It seems you have everything covered," Duo reluctantly agreed. Neil shot back: "You're not the only one who has been busy these past months." "But Duo has been the busiest bee of all," The Bear remarked, much to the conman's chagrin. Ignoring the brute, the long-haired man questioned: "So I guess the only thing I need to know is: when do we start?" "We'll go in quite early. At nine," the other man seemed to decide off the cuff, "Since it's Christmas Eve, we can trust the streets to be quiet in the evening and people won't be paying attention to anything going on outside of their own happy, little home. We'll be out by eleven, at the latest. That's still early enough to be able to brush off any suspicion if we're seen out and about. Getting caught lurking around at three is the morning is going to be more difficult to explain. Besides that, the change of the guards is at midnight, so the guards on duty will be on the home stretch of a ten hour shift. They'll be fucking zombies at that point." Duo was surprised he could hear anything that Neil was saying, over the rush of blood in his ears as his heart was pounding away. His heart was racing in a way it only ever did whenever he made a narrow escape out of the subway station when one of his targets caught on that he'd been fishing in their pocket and came chasing after him. But this wasn't a narrow escape - not yet. If anything, he felt like he was heading straight for the exact kind of trouble that he would never be able to walk away from. He half-listened to the Russian as he laid out their strategy and he did his best to nod along and absorb as much of the information as he could. At times, Angelica would add her two cents and Neil didn't even mind being interrupted, since he was in such good spirits. All the while, The Bear remained in the background, watching them. Duo could feel the man's cold gaze on his back and his body stiffened involuntarily. The Bear was difficult to read, as psychopaths typically are. But with the way his hairs stood on end at the back of his neck, Duo instinctually knew that while he had been able to shake Neil's suspicions, The Bear had not been fooled. Not because the big man had any way of knowing about Duo's inner conflict, but because he simply didn't want to trust him. The Bear wanted Duo to betray them, just so he could have the pleasure of punishing him for it, but he probably didn't need him to actually double-cross them; he'd use any excuse to exert his dominance and feed his bloodlust. In the moment, it dawned on Duo how naïve he had been. He had been so worried about everything else with regard to this mission, he had neglected the acute threat of The Bear. Tsubarov - for all his faults - was true to his word, if only because that is what a smart business man is and Tsubarov definitely fancied himself a businessman. The Russian gang leader rewards successes, because it brings new, unfortunate souls into the fold; lured by promises of a better life. If they pulled off this mission, Tsubarov wouldn't hang them after the fact out of spite. But The Bear was a feral animal, on a very, very long leash. Too long for Tsubarov to have any marked control over him. And Neil - whether the would-be General new it or not - had no significant power at all. Duo's heart suddenly stopped as he realized The Bear was likely to kill him and J.J. on the spot, as soon as the job was done. He waited out the rest of the meeting, paying less and less attention. Thankfully, his role in the heist itself was hardly an active one. Being the only one with first-hand knowledge of the lay-out of the house, he was only along as a guide to expedite the process. All he really had to do was get them from the back door in the kitchen, to the basement. So, along with his heart, his mind started to race too. At one point, Duo blurted: "Maybe J.J. shouldn't come along." Angelica and Neil looked up with frowns. "He doesn't really... have anything to do," Duo offered pathetically. But even as he tried to make his case, he doubted if J.J. staying behind would actually keep him safe. "He's coming with us," Neil said decisively, leaving no room for argument. "He's getting paid, so the least he can do is help shovel all that cash into a duffel." Second-guessing his own suggestion anyway, Duo simply nodded. It was probably for the best that J.J. would be tagging along, at least then he'd have an ally against The Bear. If he'd be lucky, Angelica and Neil would back him up as well if things head south, although he couldn't bank on that. They both had their own hide to consider - Angelica even had her son to think about. He was dismissed and told to go home and prepare and get J.J. up to speed. He'd be picked up on Christmas Eve at eight, at which point in time they would go over the final details. The other members of the crew didn't seem phased by the sudden rush after the slow burn of the past couple of months and Duo supposed it was because they had been waiting for this exact moment - awaiting it eagerly - whereas he had been dreading it. At home, he couldn't concentrate on anything. He slumped down into the lived-in cushions of his sofa and stared up ahead. An odd kind of disbelief washed over him. He had become so comfortable, lured into a false sense of security, that a naïve part of him thought that this moment would never come; that the mission would just drag on endlessly until all parties involved even forgot what the whole point of t was. Of course, Duo was the only one who had forgotten. The other's had been salivating to get their hands on that money. Knowing that there was no time left to waste, he went over to J.J.'s apartment to find him passed out. But at least the youngster had made it to the bed before losing consciousness. Duo let him sleep for a few more hours, deciding not to go to the estate until dinner time, and he spent that time cleaning up some of the apartment. Heero and Gerry will wonder why he didn't come to the house sooner and he'd have to make up a clever excuse. Just like he had to find an excuse about why he wouldn't be coming to New York after all. He found the task of decluttering and cleaning J.J.'s apartment leveling. It was a mundane chore that kept his mind occupied and prevented sudden moments of panic that were bubbling just below the surface of his outward façade of calm composure. J.J. slept through it all, even though Duo was noisily tossing empty bottles of liquor and crushed beer cans into trash bags and doing the dishes in the sink. It wasn't until he ripped the sheets off his little brother's sleeping form so they could be added to the pile of laundry that the black-haired youth startled awake. J.J. shot up in bed, keeping his eyes squeezed shut against the bright light. "Bro?" He wondered. "Yeah, it's me." Normally, he would have said something witty and crass, but Duo didn't feel like joking. "What time is it?" He checked his watch. "Six." "AM?" "Funny." J.J. rubbed his eyes before he finally opened them. "I'm hungry." "You can go get something to eat after you take a shower." The younger man dragged himself out of bed, groaning with every moment of his uncoordinated limbs. "By myself? You aren't coming with me?" "I have to go see Heero," he replied gruffly and his heart just sank that much further into the pit of his stomach as the name rolled off his tongue. "I can give you some cash, if you need." "Cool. Thanks." J.J. limped past him and headed into the bathroom, leaving the door open as he shamelessly took a piss first, before undressing and stepping into the shower. Duo fished some money out of the back pocket of his jeans and laid it on the kitchen counter. He walked back to the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, facing away from the naked youth in the shower, making a mess of the place as the shower curtain had been pulled down in some kind of drunken stupor earlier. "We found the safe." The gravity of the news didn't seem to register. "Okay." "Heero made his withdrawal from the bank," he continued. "It's all there; all the money we need." "Awesome." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to distract himself from an oncoming headache. "It means we'll be going in, J.J." The youngster paused, as it finally dawned on him what his big brother was telling him. "When?" His tone of voice was higher as he was excited by the prospect. "Two days from now." He dropped his head low. "Christmas Eve." Somehow, the fact they would be robbing him during the holiday made it even worse and saying it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Christmas was Heero's favorite holiday, if only because of something as simple of liking eggnog. Even that little happiness they would be stealing from him. He would never be able to enjoy his drink without remembering how he had been betrayed and violated. "But I have plans for Christmas Eve." Duo rolled his eyes. Did J.J. seriously think they would reschedule the heist because he had a previous engagement? The notion was so stupid, it was almost funny enough to bring a wry smile to his face. "Cancel them." "You don't get it, man. She's really hot." He chuckled humorlessly. "Cancel her." "Aww, man," J.J. whined, but he didn't protest further. The shower was turned off and a few minutes later he came strutting out of the bathroom with his hair still wet and his T-shirt clinging to his back. He headed for the kitchen and grabbed a can of beer from the fridge. He offered one to Duo and put it paid when the offer was declined with a wave of his hand. "I'm worried about The Bear," Duo blurted. He didn't think J.J. would have much wisdom to offer it, but he couldn't keep his concerns silent. J.J. first took another swig from his beer. "Why? Do you think he is going to steal our share?" Duo shook his head. "He doesn't give a shit about the money; he's in it for the thrill. But he's been bored for the past few months, I'm worried about how he plans to make this heist a fun 'climax' to this mission for him. If everything goes smoothly, that won't satisfy him. He wants someone to fail, so he can live out his fantasies of punishing us." J.J. snorted. "You're the one with the fantasies, bro. Tsubarov said that as long as we play our parts, we'll be fine." "Tsubarov won't be there. And he won't question The Bear's actions if he autocratically decides to murder us on the spot. As long as Tsubarov gets his money, he won't mourn our loss or concern himself with whether The Bear followed his instructions to the T." "I guess I'm just going to pretend to know what the fuck 'autocratically' means?" He laughed off his own lacking vocabulary. "You've been hanging around Richie Rich for too long. 'Autocratically'? What the Hell?" He continued to drink from the can. Actually, Duo's "education" was mostly reading stolen books and newspapers to kill time, while riding the subways and hanging out in parks all day to make his living picking pockets. Heero had nothing to do with that. But he didn't bother trying to explain himself. He noted that J.J. changed the subject; cleverly or accidentally, he couldn't really tell. The people closest to him were always the people he had the hardest time reading, because he wanted to badly to believe his little brother was just an innocent fool, not an agent abusing their relationship to the benefit of their mutual destruction. Duo left without saying much else and J.J. didn't care much about continuing the conversation either. The older of the two just felt like he had to get away, because the longer he stayed in the smelly apartment, watching J.J. sip his beer, the more unsettled he felt. However, he quickly found that he couldn't escape that feeling. He walked through the city and even went back to this usual bench outside the church, where he hadn't been in a long time. He couldn't find solace, nor peace of mind anywhere. For the first time in his life, he couldn't shake one question from his thoughts: Am I doing the right thing? He really never used to concern himself much with right and wrong; his sole focus had been surviving and the end had always justified the means. Matters weren't so uncomplicated anymore. He couldn't hide behind black-and-white thinking anymore. He had Heero to thank for that - a bittersweet notion. Of all people, he never thought a billionaire would cause him to rethink his perspective on life. It was late when he finally made his made to the estate. For the first time, he didn't even want to go, but he knew he had to, to avoid arousing suspicion. He didn't exchange a single word with the guard who guided him to the house, where Gerry was waiting for him at the door. In a single glance, Duo could tell Gerry was worried. The ever-polite butler skipped a proper greeting and instead said: "I was afraid you wouldn't be coming." He pointedly looked down at his silver wristwatch. It was long after Heero's scheduled dinner time. "I'm sorry," he said. He could tell Gerry was waiting for an explanation, but all he could offer him, with a sheepish shrug, was: "Life." A small smile tugged at the man's mouth, but he didn't yet seemed put at ease. Duo forced on a bright grin until the man mirrored his expression and was then told he could find Heero in the home office. "Where else?" Duo shot over his shoulder with a dry laugh and then he left Gerry behind at the door and trotted over to the office, not needing the butler to escort him. Walking through the house, he felt different now. It no longer felt like a home, since he had been rudely reminded of his purpose for even being there. He got the sense that the thick walls of the old mansion were leaning in on him and the paintings that he had grown to appreciate looked darker to him now; the warmth of the red hues of one was gone and it looked like blood on canvas and the calm blue of another had turned into a cold abyss. Everything was different, everything was tainted. He hated it. He steeled his nerves and opened the door to the office and paused at the sight of the businessman sitting hunched over at his desk, looking disheveled and unfocused. Heero looked up from the paperwork under his nose and his energy changed instantly. He straightened his back and with a blink of his eyes that tired glaze that dulled the blue of his irises was gone and he brightened. He pressed his lips into a thin line to hide the reactive smile to Duo's presence and he scorned: "You're late." Duo had trouble hiding his own smile as he could easily tell the man was toying with him. "Please forgive me?" "How could I possibly? I'm starving." The thought that Heero had broken with his strict schedule to wait for Duo to have dinner would have normally had a warming effect on the American's heart, but in that moment he felt cold and his smile faltered. Struggling to maintain his façade, he countered: "Tell me how to make it up to you." Heero rose from his seat and made quick work of stacking the folders on the desk in a neat pile before saying: "We'll start by having dinner." "Let me take you out to dinner," Duo suggested, giving in to the desire to escape the mansion, now that he no longer felt like he belonged there - or rather, was forced to accept that he never belonged to begin with. He was intruder and he didn't want to feel like one, instead, he preferred to take Heero out of his fortress and instead make him an intruder in Duo's world. It was selfish escapism, but Duo needed to do whatever he could to regain his footing, lest he'd stumble and fall on the home stretch, at which point everything would have been for nothing. Heero easily agreed, because he trusted him. Gerry met them in the foyer, where they waited for Calvin to bring the car from the parking spot at the front gate to the front door to come pick them up. "Heading out?" The butler wondered as he routinely helped his master into a cashmere overcoat. "Apparently," Heero replied and the look he shot Duo was one of uncharacteristic mischief that should have made Duo's heart flutter. But Duo's heart was still. "What of the dinner the chef prepared? He was just in the process of reheating everything. The table is already set." "Is your wife home?" The businessman inquired. Gerry was a little perplexed by the question. "Of course. She is packing for our trip." "Call her and let her come up to the house. She could probably use a break. And you as well." Gerry smiled and bowed his head in gratitude. Duo looked away from the kind exchange, forcing himself to detach. Heero would blame Gerry for introducing Duo into his life, encouraging him to give the street-rat the second chance that the billionaire had never given anybody else since getting played by Mister Fox. The butler opened the door to reveal the black town car had pulled up. Heero headed out first. Duo paused in the doorway and turned to face the elderly man. He knew he wouldn't be seeing Gerry again. He had to tell Heero that he wouldn't be coming to New York with him and he shouldn't come to the mansion tomorrow, or even the day after, to see Heero off. Gerry smiled at him, unaware of his inner conflict. He clamped a hand over Duo's shoulder and gave a squeeze that Duo could only describe as "fatherly" - even though he had nothing to compare that to. He could read in the man's eyes how happy he was that his master had Duo in his life. It wrecked Duo to think how guilty and wronged the butler would feel, once it would be obvious to everyone that the robbery could have only been an inside job. "Have a nice every, Ger," Duo said. "And merry Christmas." Gerry's brows flickered into a frown. He thanked him and returned the sentiment, but then said: "We'll be seeing each other again before Christmas. My wife and I aren't leaving until after master Yuy and you will have left for New York." "Oh, yeah, you're right," Duo lied. "I'll see ya." With a halfhearted wave he stepped away, letting Gerry's hand slip off his shoulder and he followed Heero, who had been waiting for him on the bottom one of three stone steps at the front door. Snow gently fell down in the courtyard, melting into the water of the fountain and gathering on the shoulders of Heero's coat and in his wild hair. Calvin opened the car door for his boss, knowing better than to bother extending the nicety to Duo. The two men slid into the back seat. The interior of the car was still cold, although hot air was blasting from the vents to heat it up. Duo pressed his hands between his thighs after buckling his seat belt, not just to keep them warm, but to keep Heero from reaching for them as well. He didn't want the man to feel how clammy his palm was and how his fingers trembled. "Where to?" Asked Calvin as he steered the car around the fountain and back through the opening at the front of the house. The long driveway stretched before them. "I don't know," Heero said. "Ask him." He nodded at the other passenger. Duo met Calvin's questioning gaze in the rear view mirror. "Do you know a good diner or something?" Duo asked. He knew plenty of diners himself, but they were all downtown, where they might be a risk of him running into someone had met or wronged in the past. "Yeah, there's a place a little bit up the highway where I usually have dinner. But it's not really..." His gaze darted to his employer. Duo knew what he meant. It wasn't the kind of fancy place Heero would normally go to. "It's fine, Calvin," Heero assured him. "Alright." The driver didn't question it beyond that and chauffeured them to the diner in silence. He black SUV with Heero's security detail trailed closely behind. The diner was completely unremarkable. Styled to mimic the era of the sixties in a cheap attempt to foster a sense of nostalgia and "the good old days". Retro stools at a long bar, decorated with a Christmas garland. Behind the bar, a window looked into the kitchen, where a single chef was leaning over the sill to talk to the single waitress. Red booths were lined along the windows overlooking the empty parking lot. There was a jukebox at the far end, but music played over the radio. Two men sat at the bar, three stools between them, one hunched over a cup of coffee, the other noisily scraping the last of his mashed potatoes off his plate and shoveling it into his mouth. One booth was occupied by a family of four - picture perfect - and no doubt the old Volvo station wagon packed to the brim with luggage, parked right outside the window where they were seated, was theirs. In another booth sat a love-struck couple, sitting next to each other, instead of across from each other. In front of them two plates and one milkshake. Every single person looked up when Duo and Heero stepped through the door. They were an odd couple to look at, made even odder still when three of the body guards joined them inside. One bodyguard seated himself at the bar, by the register, right across from the drafty entry, and the other two paired off together and chose the booth by the other door, leading to the restrooms, the kitchen and the emergency exit beyond. Duo picked a booth for him and Heero. The closest people to them were the couple, two booths over, whom he trusted to pay little attention to them. He sat down first and watched as Heero took off his coat, fumbled for a moment not knowing where to put it and then slid into the bench across from the long-haired man, folding his coat on the empty space next to him. Duo studied his sharply sculpted features as he appraised his surroundings. Before he had gotten to know Heero, he would have expected a look of disdain and disgust, but now, he wasn't surprised by the hint of childlike wonder and curiosity. "Ever been to a place like this before?" He asked, even though the answer was obvious. "No." "Why not?" "I guess it just never occurred to me." The waitress appeared at the table. "Something to drink?" She flashed them a smile to hide her exhaustion and how absolutely done she was with her work. She made an effort because she could tell by the looks of Heero that there was a good tip to be made. "We'll both have a coke," Duo said, before Heero would order something complicated or luxurious in his ignorance. "Alrighty. Have a look at the menu," she placed two paper menu's in front of them that would serve as placemats as well. "I'll be right back with your drinks and to take your order." "Thank you." Duo nodded at her and waited for her to be out of earshot before turning back to Heero. A smile forced it's way to his lips as he watched the man genuinely study the menu; a focused frown on his forehead like he had been given a riddle to solve. "See anything you like?" He jested. "It's all meat and carbs." Duo chuckled. "They serve it with a side of salad or veggies." "How do you know that?" Duo reached over the table and pointed out the small text at the bottom of the menu. Those menus were always the same. "Hn." The waitress returned too soon and Heero ended up following Duo's lead and ordering the same as him: a hamburger with fries. When she left, they both stared into their fizzy drinks. "Is this a date?" Heero asked out of the blue, pulling Duo from his musing. He frowned at the other, both amused and confused by the train of thought that must have been running through Heero's mind. "Why would you ask that?" "Something is different, but I can't put my finger on it. I thought maybe it's different because it's a date." "It could be a date," Duo conceded and again that easy smile formed on his lips that Heero had a way of causing with his unique innocence. "Although, I'd like to think that I would organize a better first date than this." He sheepishly glanced around himself. "Why? What's wrong with it?" Duo's heart melted and for a moment he wasn't the conman and Heero wasn't his target and he reveled in it. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Heero stared at him, then a blush creeping up to his cheekbones caused him to look away. "Well, I haven't dated much, so I don't really know what makes a good or bad date." "I haven't dated much either," Duo admitted. "But I imagine it's the company that makes it good or bad. In which case I trust it's going to be fine." "You do?" "Yeah." He grinned at him and took a sip from his coke, before joking: "I'm excellent company." Heero responded with that small, half-smile that Duo had come to treasure. His lips barely curled, but it made his blue eyes narrow and sparkle. Then he agreed: "Yes, you are." The lack of sarcasm was a punch in the gut to Duo. To distract himself, he dug into his food, only to end up staring at the man across from him anyway. The corners of Duo's eyes crinkled with amusement as he watched the businessman trying to eat his burger like a proper gentleman; with knife and fork. Only to end up making a bigger mess than Duo, using his hands - as God intended burgers to be eaten. Heero shot a sheepish look across the table and then he gave in and he mimicked the other's approach: he put the knife and fork down and reassembled the burger that had fallen apart in the process of him attention to cut into it, and he took it in his hands to take a bite. He ended up with sauce in either corner of his mouth and he seemed to notice and felt terrible self-conscious about it. Heero put the burger down and quickly grabbed his napkin to wipe his mouth clean. A chuckle escaped Duo and he shook his head at him. As soon as Heero put the napkin down again, he stole it from him and purposefully placed it out of the billionaire's reach. "Just embrace it, man." "Embrace what?" "Your inner beast." Duo smirked and then took a big bite from his burger, letting out an animalistic snarl as he devoured the meal. He knew he had sauce on his mouth and could feel something on his chin as well - more sauce, melted cheese or maybe just juice from the burger. He didn't care and laughed with a full mouth at Heero's shocked expression. He barely took the time to chew and swallow before encouraging him: "Come on, live a little." "Live a little and die a little sooner," Heero shot back, taking the greasy burger in his hands again, but he braved another bite anyway and pretended not to care about the spot of sauce on his upper lip as he continued to eat. Duo finished his burger first and popped one fry after another into his mouth. Somehow, he was content watching Heero. It was endearing to see him struggle with eating the last of the hamburger that was coming apart in his hands. Lettuce and tomatoes fell onto the plate. Once he managed to eat the last of it, he asked to have his napkin back, but Duo shook his head and instead grabbed the ketchup bottle and squirted a generous dollop on top of the man's fries and said with a grin: "You're not finished yet." "You're a bad influence on me." Duo was actually sure that he had had a positive influence on Heero, seeing him change over the past few more into a more approachable and sociable person - likewise, he was convinced it hadn't gone unnoticed to Heero himself. But all of that change would be undone in two days and leave him more bitter and reclusive than he ever was, so Duo didn't defend himself nor give witty comeback. Heero thumbed some sauce off his lips before starting in on his fries. He was going to miss him. It hit the conman like a ton of bricks how empty his life was without Heero. J.J. was a part of his life without actually being in his life all that much and - in all fairness - Duo didn't think the youngster had much of value to offer in his life anyway. They were brothers by choice, but not because Duo chose J.J., but because A.J. once chose Duo. They were not bound by blood or common interests, maybe not even by love. Did Duo love J.J.? The answer had always been such a quick and thoughtless "yes", but he wasn't sure anymore. He loved the boy J.J. used to be and he loved the idea that J.J. could still grow into the man that A.J. hoped he would be and that he had entrusted Duo to help him become. The reality of J.J., the selfish fool, was difficult to love and even just difficult to be around. J.J. was a disappointment to him and thus making Duo a disappointment to A.J. There was no joy to be found in spending time with him, unlike being with Heero. Did he love Heero? For the past few weeks he had been trying to convince himself that the answer was "no". But he wasn't convinced. Heero was the only genuinely kind person Duo had ever met with the sole exception of A.J. Since the death of A.J., J.J.'s fall from grace and the explosive end to his unruly relationship with WuFei, Duo couldn't remember anyone other than Heero who could make him smile, even without meaning to. So maybe he loved Heero and no longer loved J.J. As significant as that realization should be, it didn't matter; it changed nothing. Because letting those feelings guide his actions would still make Duo a selfish liar and the outcome of the situation wouldn't be any better. There was no right and wrong to choose from, only two wrongs. Simple math dictated that he should stick with the course J.J.'s blunder had set him on. J.J., Angelica, Neil... their actual lives depended on him. Still, several times he had to pinch his lips and swallow back down a confession that tasted like bile. "You're quiet," Heero noted when he was nearly done with his fries. Duo flashed him a grin that might have looked more wry than he intended. "Is that a complaint?" "No. It's just different." When Heero's plate was empty, Duo handed him back his napkin so he could clean himself up and they exchanged mirthful glances before Duo's mood inevitably turned sour again. It was getting late and Heero would probably want to head back soon and there wasn't much time left to stall. "I was thinking about the last time we were in New York," he lied as a way to lead into the conversation that needed to be had. A smile tugged at Heero's lips, at the memories and the possibilities for their next visit to the city. The way he cast his gaze down was almost bashful. For a moment, Duo's heart didn't beat and he couldn't breathe. Then, he let himself smile as well. He let himself, one more time. He, too, indulged in the oddly comforting memories of that trip and how it had brought them closer together. He remembered how nothing special even happened and how it somehow still felt special, because they were together and as true to themselves as they ever had been up to that point. Then he took a brief, selfish moment to fantasize about what it could have been like to spend Christmas in New York City with the man he had - at the very least - come to respect, admire and deeply care for. And maybe that, in and of itself, was love. With regret Duo pulled himself back into the here and now and dragged Heero with him: "Do you remember the game we played in the bar?" "Twenty questions," Heero said with a nod. His gaze met Duo's and it was as intense and intimate as it ever had been. "I still have one question left." "You do," the other conceded. "I'd like to ask it now." "Don't you want to get me drunk first?" Heero shot back with a bemused tone. "Last time, you didn't trust me to answer you truthfully while sober." "I trust you," Duo stated solemnly. "Good. I trust you." It was such an offhand, matter-of-fact admission, that one might almost miss how consequential it was. Duo swallowed. He felt sick and pretended to himself that it was the fault of the greasy burger and too many fries. With a quiet voice, so no one would overhear, he asked: "Do you love me?" It hung in the air for a while, purifying the smell of grease, coffee and something burning on the grill. Heero seemed perplexed, but then a realization dawned on him and the first thing he said was: "I'm sorry that you had to ask that." And he continued: "I'm sorry that I haven't made it apparent. Yes, I do. I do love you." His voice wasn't hushed like Duo's had been. He didn't care about anyone else at the diner overhearing; he wasn't ashamed. If Duo hadn't been such an excellent conman - in control of his reactions and the underlying emotions that drove them - he would have wept. However, as skilled as he was, he was still left at a loss for words at the heartfelt confession. Because in that moment, he knew: he loved him too. He contemplated whether he should tell him that. Whether he had the right to tell him. Whether it would only make his betrayal worse. In the silence that stretched between them, the chef scraped that burning thing off the iron of the grill, the man at the bar ordered another coffee and the two kids laughed at their dad putting fries in his mouth to make himself look like a walrus. "...I have to tell you something." It only came out as a whisper, so Duo cleared his throat afterward and repeated it. His tone alerted Heero to the serious nature of what he had to tell and Heero's concern and discomfort were readily apparent in the way he distracted himself with neatly folding the paper napkin, running his finger along the fold more than once to smooth it down and make it sharp and precise. Other than his shift in demeanor, he didn't acknowledge Duo and gave no encouragement for the man to continue, because - as socially stunted as he was - even Heero could tell that he didn't want to hear what Duo had to say. I was sent to infiltrate your household and find the location of your safe so we could steal from you. I only did it to save my little brother, who got himself in the deepest of trouble, with the worst of people. It was a job to me, at first, and I didn't care about "people like you", because I thought I was so damn smart and I was arrogant enough to believe that I had you all figured out. But I was wrong about you. I don't want to hurt you more than I already have, which is why I am finally telling you the truth. The truth is that I planned to rob you, but that doesn't change the truth that I love you. Instead, he said: "I can't come to New York. I'm sorry." Heero's eyebrows pinched together. "Why?" His voice sounded entirely different: small. "I need to be with my brother this year," he said; a truth, albeit an incomplete one. However, it just sounded like a lame excuse and Duo could tell that Heero was distrusting his reasons. His blue gaze darted off to the side in thought. The stoic man could do little to hide his inner turmoil and confusion from Duo's watchful eyes. "Is it because of what I just said?" Heero wondered - as Duo predicted he would - his gaze piercing. There was something intense yet pleading about them. "Was it not the answer you wanted?" "If it was the truth, it was the answer I wanted," he assured him. Another long silence. Both their gazes drifted off to opposite ends of the diner as they sank into the deep, dark wells of their own thoughts. The waitress dropped a coffee cup and cursed. It snapped them out of it and they looked at each other again. Duo succumbed to the overwhelming urge to apologize. There was so much he was apologizing for and Heero knew of very little. He would know more soon, but then this apology would be meaningless to him, just as everything else would be rendered meaningless by Duo's betrayal. "Maybe I shouldn't go to New York," Heero mused. Duo stiffened. A part of him wished Heero wouldn't go, so they would have no choice but to cancel the heist. But the other part of him knew that it wouldn't help anything, it would only postpone the inevitable. Every moment that this con lasted longer, would only make it harder on the both of them. Heero had to go. "No, you should go," he urged gently, trying to hide his ulterior motives. "That party is important." "I don't want to leave when this feels like a goodbye." Duo swallowed. "It's not a goodbye," he lied. His voice was strangled with emotion and he doubted if he still sounded convincing, but he soldiered on. "I'll be here when you get back. This isn't the end. I just need to spend Christmas with my brother, that's all." "You could invite him along, to New York," Heero suggested. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Heero. It's something between us." He studied the face before him and the myriad of hurtful emotions. He realized that he wasn't just disappointing and upsetting the man by backing out of their trip, but also inadvertently rubbing the loss of Heero's brother in his face, by bringing up the need to spend the holiday with his own. The man tightened his lips and narrowed his eyes to suppress all signs of his emotions. He reverted back into a version of himself that Duo realized he hadn't seen in a while. It was the version of him that was captured on the cover of that Forbes magazine: the heartless businessman. The façade was rather lame, now that Duo knew it was only a front. Heero was just a lonely man, behind cold barriers of stone. "I think we should go," the billionaire said. "I've had too much to eat; I don't feel good." He scooted out of the booth and slipped into his cashmere overcoat. The guards recognized the cue and got up from their seats as well. With resignation, Duo watched Heero avoid his eyes, before getting up himself. The Japanese man lay down a hundred dollar bill and when the waitress came to give him change, he told her that it was to cover the coffees for his guards as well and he told her to keep the change. Her eyes widened at the preposterously large tip, but she made no objections of course. She stood by the booth, a little shell-shocked and said a meek goodbye when Duo raised his hand in a wave as he passed her by. Calvin scrambled to open the door for his employer and then climbed behind the wheel. "Back to the house? Dropping Duo off at home on the way?" Heero only nodded. Duo and Calvin exchanged a look in the rear view mirror. The entire length of the drive, none of them spoke a single word. Duo pretended to gaze out the window, but in reality he was studying his reflection, wondering who this person was, staring back at him. He didn't like this man at all. After a few minutes, it became difficult to look into his own eyes and, eventually, he turned his head away and instead looked down into his lap, where his fingers idly flicked a fold in his jeans. He didn't look up again until he felt the car coming to a halt. He recognized their surroundings as the street he lived on. He couldn't leave it like this. He wanted to offer them both some kind of balm, that would soothe the hurt, if only for a little while. However, he didn't feel comfortable saying anything with Calvin right there and it wasn't right to ask the driver to wait outside in the cold, so he cheekily asked Heero to come escort him to his front door - since this was a date after all. Heero complies, but all his movements are stiff and jerky. There is an anger to him and Duo can tell that the anger is not directed at him, but directed inward. He can tell Heero is going over the past few months in his head, berating himself for every moment that he allowed his guard to come down, during which time Duo snuck more and more of himself into his fortress. Heero regretted allowing himself to be vulnerable and accessible. Duo knew that feeling of self-resentment was only going to get worse and he couldn't stand the thought of it. Although they wouldn't get their time together, Heero should get a few more days where those feelings wouldn't plague him yet. Duo purposefully let his shoulder bump into Heero's as the businessman accompanied him to the front door of the apartment building. It was still snowing and it would have been a picture perfect end to a first date, if the world had been different. At the door, Duo spun on his heels to face Heero, to find the man averting his gaze - shooting an uncertain look over his shoulder, across the street, where Calvin had parked the car. He looked like someone nervously checking a room for emergency exits. Snow gathered on his shoulders and in his hair. The delicate flecks that landed on his face instantly melted. Finally, Heero looked at him, confused at the long silence as Duo held off saying his goodbye. Duo wanted the coldness in those blue eyes to melt away as well. "I know what you're thinking," the long-haired man started and he added vaguely: "And I know what you are going to think." Heero just blinked at him. "I can't come to New York with you, but that doesn't mean I don't love you." He sucked in a breath. "I do love you. No matter what, I need you to believe that." He could only hope that hearing these words would give Heero some comfort in the end. The blue of Heero's eyes warmed and a quick, shy smile formed on his lips, but then his eyebrows furrowed anew, in confusion and concern. "Duo, if you are in some kind of trouble, you can tell me. I can help." Heero's feelings for him were genuine, but if Duo told him that he needed ten million dollars from him, everything would fall apart. Heero would realize Duo's intentions had been impure all along. The betrayal wouldn't be any less, nor would the resentment be. Duo couldn't risk screwing up everything and sentencing his little brother to death - and God know what would happen to Angelica, Neil and himself - on the off-chance that Heero would be so selfless as to voluntarily give millions of dollars to the man who has betrayed him in the most intimate way possible. Duo smiled wryly. The man might not be socially gifted, but even he could tell something was off. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing I can't handle." "But you are in trouble," he gleaned. "I won't be, soon," he promised him. Heero knew he had no choice but to believe him. He thought to ask: "Will I see you tomorrow? My flight isn't until the day after tomorrow." "I'm sorry, I can't. I'm-... otherwise engaged," he tried to laugh it off. It was tempting to spend one more day with Heero, but he needed that day to create at least some emotional distance and to focus on the task ahead of him. Honestly, he needed a day to wallow and feel selfishly sorry for himself before he could even function properly again. He needed to be alone. Duo said resolutely: "I'll see you when you get back from New York." The lie tasted so good on his tongue, that it was easy to keep telling it. "This isn't goodbye. I'll see you in a few days." Heero nodded, believing the lie, maybe if only because he desperately wanted to. "I-" He swallowed and cleared his throat, before chuckling at himself. "I love you, Heero. Do you believe me?" "I trust you," was the response. The billionaire looked shy about admitting that he believed someone truly loved him. Duo smiled in earnest. "Promise me you won't ever doubt it." "I promise." The eyebrows flickered into a slight frown again. He said again: "I trust you." Overwhelmed with emotions, Duo grabbed the man standing in front of him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He pressed his nose into the soft collar of Heero's coat and further tightened his arms around the lithe torso. He should let go, because Heero could probably feel him trembling, but he couldn't - he didn't want to. Heero returned the hug awkwardly and somehow that just made it that much more poignant for the conman. "I'll miss you," he whispered in his ear and to cover the slip-up he asked routinely: "When will you be back?" "The twenty-eighth." Eventually, Duo pulled back. "Weren't you going to Philadelphia, after New York?" "Philadelphia can wait." "So can I," Duo assured him. The longer Heero's trip would last, the longer it would be until he found out what had happened. "I can't," Heero said. "I'll be back the twenty-eighth." He left no room for further argument. Duo kissed him then, and knowing it would be the last time, he poured everything into the kiss. He had never kissed someone like that, with such desperation, need and desire. As a cynic, he should have been embarrassed about how cheesy he was being, but he didn't feel like a cynic in the moment. He felt like a hopeless romantic, at the point where the hopeless romantic realized that his story was a tragedy. When they parted, he joked lightheartedly: "Thanks for dinner." It was something he needed to do, to regain his composure and ground himself in reality. "You're welcome." "Next time, we'll do dinner and a movie. It'll be my treat." It was such a nice fantasy. He knew he'd be dreaming about it that night, before the dream would turn into a nightmare. Heero nodded and seemed more put at ease, now that Duo was making plans for the future. A future of them together. With a laugh Duo brushed the snow out of Heero's hair, letting his fingers rake through the soft, wild strands. "Get back in the car," he ordered lightly, "before you spend the entire time in New York with a case of the sniffles." Heero didn't reply, instead he leaned in for one last kiss - letting their lips meld together for only a second - then he turned around and headed back for the car and Calvin barely noticed in time to scramble out of the driver's seat to open the door for his boss. Heero never looked back once and for that, Duo was grateful, because he wasn't sure if he would be able to stand it. The car drove away. "Farewell."
Chapter 20 |
