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"Diary of a Protected Witness"Written By: Snowdragonct Disclaimer: Don’t own any part of Gundam
Wing or the characters, more’s the pity. This is for fun...no
profit involved. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU , yaoi, swearing (lots), some OOC
(probably), violence, drugs, sex, Pairings: 1X2X1, 3X4, 5XC, (past 2X3X2, 6X2) Summary: Ever wonder what was running through Duo's mind at certain points in"Witness Protection?" Here are snippets of his point of view...a companionfic, that will not rehash the entire plot, but offer a new perspective ofcertain events. A/N: This fits with chapters fifty six and fifty
seven of Witness. " Diary of a Protected Witness"
Wow. It was a totally weird feeling to be sworn in as a witness in a trial. I’d ended up at the defense table so many times in my juvenile days that I was almost drawn to that side of the courtroom. But Noventa tucked me in between Wufei and Heero while he went up to tell the judge he was ready to proceed, and a moment later, he called me to the stand. I hoped the trembling of my hands wasn’t obvious as I stood to go, and was grateful for the brief squeeze Heero gave one as I passed. For him, I could do this. And it was every bit as much for ‘Ro as it was for Zechs. I mean, Zechs was dead. And frankly, he’d probably have preferred it if I’d been able to kill off Khushrenada rather than put him away for life. But I was gonna do this the legal way, for myself and for Heero. There’d be no shadow over the new life we’d be able to start when the trial concluded. I kept an eye on my lover as I took the stand, warmed by the complete faith and support I saw in his eyes. He was my rock. And whoa—when had that happened? Trowa was supposed to be my anchor, wasn’t he? But somehow, I’d learned to lean upon Heero just as much. And my faith hadn’t been misplaced—he’d seen me through thick and thin. “Would you state your name for the court please?” “Duo Maxwell.” And so it began. I told them everything. I told them I was Zechs’ lover, and for how long, and that we’d made it exclusive. And then, I told them about the night he died. Funny, but I don’t really remember what I said, or how I phrased anything. It just rolled off my tongue—the whole story—right down to Khushrenada’s bullshit about it being a “matter of honor” when he pulled the trigger. I even managed to look the bastard in the eye when I quoted his final words to Zechs. Not that he cared. He looked back at me with nothing short of hatred in those steely eyes of his. He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed of what he’d done. No—not him; he felt completely justified in executing my lover. He believed Zechs had wronged him, and that his life was forfeit as a result. Hell, we weren’t even speakin’ the same language—Khushrenada and me. I think that’s when I stopped being intimidated by the sonofabitch. He was like a predator—one of the lions in Trowa’s circus. He’d take down anything he considered prey with no hesitation and no remorse. The bastard couldn’t even feel. I might’ve pitied him, if he was worth that much effort, but he wasn’t. Anyhow, Noventa moved in close while I was trying to regain my composure, and patted one of my hands. “You got him, Duo,” he whispered. “It’s all over now.” And just like that, he settled my nerves. Yes, it was all over. I’d said my peace in front of the jury—told everything just like it happened. The running and hiding were over; and hopefully, so was Khushrenada’s reign. The syndicate would have no mercy for a general who was careless enough to get caught. I almost wanted to smile, as Noventa continued asking rather trivial questions about how I recognized Khushrenada and Une at the penthouse. But he also made me talk about what I did and where I went after the murder, which brought back some pretty unpleasant memories. Talk about an emotional wringer! The end result was, when the judge said we’d continue the next day, I wanted to collapse to the floor and sleep for a fuckin’ week! I was beat—just plain worn out. I was aware of Heero and Noventa talking about how I’d done on the stand, but I told the D.A. I just wanted to crash somewhere. I guess I’d slung an arm over Chang’s shoulders at the time, and leaned against Heero the Rock—and that won me a sort of befuddled look from Noventa. “You really trust these two, don’t you?” he asked. “With my life,” I told him, trying not to yawn aloud. “Repeatedly.” Oh God, how I wanted to curl up in Heero’s arms right then. I felt safe and loved and exhausted beyond belief. Of course, I didn’t get to rest right away. First there was a little chit chat in Noventa’s office, where we kinda went over how I’d done and what I might have to face on cross-examination. Then Wufei went off to round up some food, and I got Noventa to agree we were both too tired to do any more trial preparation right then. He escorted ‘Ro and me to a lounge, where there was a couch I couldn’t wait to get better acquainted with—and finally I was alone with my lover. “Alone at last.” I loved the way Heero’s eyes lit up when I said that—and he rewarded me with a deliciously intense kiss and a wonderful massage of my shoulders. God, it was heavenly. Just feeling his strong hands working at my weary muscles made me want to melt. Of course, I also wanted to do other things—things I was far too weary to accomplish. And yet I was still tempted to lock the door and beg him to have his way with me. Maybe if he did all the work, I could at least feel him inside me—. “Listen, love. Much as I hate to bring up an unpleasant subject, we do need to talk about tomorrow.” Well, wasn’t that a fine way to rain on my parade? “Don’t wanna.” And I liked it even less when the unpleasant subject was the blonde bimbo from the hallway. Heero didn’t think I should mention her relationship to Zechs in my testimony. But of course, the minute he phrased it that way and I made a wry comment about Zechs having family in the police department, a big, fat light bulb went off over my head. Fucking shit! The reason Khushrenada thought Zechs had gone to the police was because one of his spies had seen him with her. The stupid bitch who’d nearly broken us up was also responsible for Zechs’ murder! Oh that was a fuckin’ bitter pill to swallow. I never liked irony very much—especially when I felt like I was the butt of its joke. And as Heero and I talked, there seemed to be one irony on top of another. Relena had gone to see Zechs out of curiosity, only to inadvertently set him up as a traitor to Oz. On top of that, she and Zechs had never planned to meet again; Zechs had told me they were too different. Had they not been seen that one time, he might never have ended up dead. Then Heero let slip that Relena was the one who’d been tipping Khushrenada’s people off to our whereabouts while we were in hiding! It just didn’t make sense that Zechs’ own sister would sabotage the case against his killer. At least, it didn’t until Yuy told me she’d been trying to hide the fact that she’d been to the penthouse, so no one would know she and Zechs were related—that the police chief’s daughter was half sister to the most notorious crime lord in the city. Heero promised me she’d get what was coming to her, though, and his word was good enough for me. Especially when he followed it up with a kiss that could’ve made me forget my own name. The man was just too good to me. And when I told him he was all I needed to keep me happy for the rest of my life, I thought he’d spontaneously combust, he blushed so hard. Then Chang showed up to ruin our cozy, intimate moment. And the only reason I didn’t bitch at him for that was ‘cause he brought dinner. And Quatre, Trowa and Catherine. We had a helluva night, the six of us, sharing Chinese food and fortune cookies. Tro’ an’ me taught the others how to spice up their fortunes by adding “in bed” to the end, and had a great time reading them out loud. It was kind of a sad commentary on how worn out I was when I was the first one to crash. I’d ended up stretched on the couch with my head on ‘Ro’s lap, and the next thing I knew, it was morning, and the others were long gone, and I had to get up and dress and get ready for my cross-examination. Well, shit.
tbc... |
