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"As Luck Would Have It"Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU/Action/Adventure/Romance, Angst,
sap, fluff, mild lemons, multiple partner sex, light (playful) BDSM
(in moderate amounts), mild languag, Bastardized Howard (but he gets
better), Relena-bitch (she gets marginally better by the end too),
RxOC, mention of 1xOC (very brief/drunken one nighter/wake up and
run type thing ^-^) Dominant pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5x2, 3x1, 2x4 Multiple
pairings: 1x2x5, 1x3x4, 2x3x4, 1x2x3x4x5 Summary: In a world of uncertainty a group of
teenage boy’s faces the challenges of their unique lives and
eventually discover their good fortune in each other. "As Luck Would Have It "
“Anyone still loyal to you?” he asked. “A few,” Howard replied. “But they don’t dare go against Katell. The one’s that have’re floating around in space somewhere,” he frowned. “How many of the original crew are left?” “`bout thirty last time I looked,” the man replied. “But there’re new faces every day now.” “Yeah, I noticed,” Duo sighed. “You’re boyfriends going to be any help?” Howard asked but Duo wasn’t up to trusting him with that information just yet so he shook his head. “I told’em to let me handle it,” he said, adding, “If I’m not back in three days they’ll come,” when the man looked at him skeptically. It wasn’t much of a lie but it appeared to pacify him for the moment. “So what’s the plan?” Howard asked as Duo crawled over to where Conner lay. “Same as always,” Duo grinned, relieving the man of his knives, one of which he tossed to Howard before leaning over the big man with another. “Get pissy about it,” he smiled just before cutting his throat. “Ooooh, that’ll piss’er off,” Howard chuckled, slipping the knife into his waistband as Duo pulled something small and black out of the back of his hair. Howard smiled looking very impressed “Hey,” he said hopefully, the old gleam shining in his tone. “Just once, huh?” “Dream on, old man,” Duo grinned, playing the old game where Howard made advances and he found creative ways to turn him down as he went to work on the cell door. Half an hour later they were crawling through a ventilation shaft that lead to the upper deck’s captain’s quarters which is where Howard said Katell had set up shop and was keeping the baby. Duo slowed at the sound of the woman’s voice. “…sure are a strange individual,” she was saying. “What’s so great about kids anyway? Now, I could show ya a few things...” CRASH! “God damn it!” the woman growled. Duo peeked out of the grating to see her standing by a chair covered in what looked and smelled like what used to be a bottle of cognac. Quatre stood by the bed; his cerulean eyes alight with an insanity that even scared Duo a little. Hiire was on the bed fast asleep behind him. “You crazy fuck!” Katell growled, brushing the broken bits of the glass decanter off her clothes. “Don’t touch me,” the blond boy said evenly. “No,” the woman contorted sarcastically. “All you want is the little ones inn’t it?” she sneered. “Waste of a beautiful body, if ya ask me,” she said absently, moving to the dresser to look for a change of shirt. Quatre sat on the bed in between her and the child watching her every move. Duo was so relieved he felt the urge to call to Hiiro and tell him the news. His worry for his husband and the other’s had never left his mind. Did they know of Quatre’s presence? Where were they? Had they managed to move into their positions? He had to trust that they had and he knew Hiiro would die before he let himself fail so he pressed on to that end. “I’ll handle her,” Duo told his unlikely partner. “But I need you to take Hiire and that blond boy to the aft cargo bay.” “Him?” Howard gaffed. “Duo,” he said reproachfully. “That guys a real psycho.” “She’ll go with him quietly,” Duo assured him with a secret little smile. “Yeah, but... I mean he’s got this thing for kids…” “Just trust me,” Duo grinned again then kicked the grating out of place. Katell jerked around from where she’d just slipped a new over shirt on, her pale green eyes wide with shock and hatred as Duo slipped into the room. “Get’em out of here, Howard!” the longhaired boy ordered, tossing a look at the startled Quatre that told him instantly he was to follow his lead without breaking his cover. The blond had the groggy child in his arms following Howard to the door before the fight with Katell even started. “You!” the taller woman barked; a silver blade already in her hand. Duo knew this woman well, she was probably the only other person in the Sweeper’s original crew that he considered a danger to himself in a one on one knife fight. “What the hell’d you do to Conner?!” she growled, circling him. “Tonsillectomy,” Duo grinned. “He didn’t make it,” he shrugged, making her eyes flare with fury. She lunged at him just about the same time the door slid open to reveal the three guards that were alerted by the action in the hall. Howard fell back, his own blade drawn as Quatre clutched Hiire to his chest, refusing to allow her to even look at the scene unfolding as he whispered constantly in her ear. “Shit,” Duo sighed, sounding as if he were a little disappointed then he drew a pistol from somewhere along his violated waist band and shot her in the head. A moment later one of the guards fell to the same fate and the other two took off running down the hall in an effort to alert the crew with Duo hot on their heals. “Go!” he barked over his shoulder tossing the gun to Quatre. Howard took a quick look at the gun, then the wild expression in Quatre’s eyes and turned to lead them in the opposite direction. Duo skidded to a halt around a corner in his pursuit just as his two quarries set off the alarms. The fact that they were now joined by a squad of five other sentries put his gears in reverse real quick and he was suddenly fleeing instead of pursuing as he rained shots behind him from the gun he’d stolen off the fallen guard back at Katell’s cabin. A quick turn to the left and a nimble dive put him right through a small door on the side of the wall that he knew to be a garbage chute that led to the lower level because he’d used it many times as a child to escape the crew or his angry benefactor. He rolled to his feet at the bottom, never breaking stride and headed straight for the aft cargo bay. His heart leapt when he rounded a corner to find himself at the back of a group of Sweepers that had apparently just cornered Quatre and Howard. He paused, that was Nate and Modeal at point. “Howard?” Nate, a huge, dark haired man with a very small IQ and talent for getting himself into situations where he was forced to relieve people of their appendages inquired. The slender man beside him lifted his gun to fire on the pair but found himself bounced off the wall by the big gorilla of a man. Duo saw Modeal, a black man that hung around because he felt he owed Howard a life dept, grin before he swept the remaining strangers off their feet and helped Nate convince them they should stay down. “Duo!” Modeal exclaimed, turning to face the longhaired boy. “Hey, Mo,” Duo grinned. “Nice to know you’re still on our side,” he smiled. “His side,” the dark man grinned, jerking his thumb at the smug looking Howard. “Works for me,” Duo replied, grateful for any help he could get at this point. Another group of not so friendly Sweepers suddenly forced them to move on. They picked up two others along the way that turned on their companions the moment they saw Howard. One was Michael, a tall blond man with shoulder length hair which he kept part of in a small, loose ponytail at the crown of his head, the build of a world renowned super model and the face of an angel. This divine visage along with the fact that he was a complete amnesiac had garnished him the title Arch Angel Michael when they’d found him floating around in a pod in G sector several years back. He was loyal to Howard and a good man at heart though he tended to zone out now and then, giving him even more credence to the idea of being a celestial being. The other was a young woman named What. Why she was named What was a long story best left for another time but the confusion of her name had started the moment she joined them. “Where to now?” Howard whispered, peering around a corner. “What?” Duo replied, lost in thought. “Yes?” the woman answered. “Don’t start that shit,” Duo groaned, knowing how she loved to play with the name. “This really your kid?” What asked, eyeing Hiire who appeared to be taking most of this in stride as long as Quatre had a hold of her. “Yeah, why?” Duo asked. “Thought you didn’t do girls,” What shrugged. “She’s adopted,” the longhaired boy explained. “So, she really is that Relena gal’s kid then,” What mused. Duo paused and looked at her. “It was in the paper,” she shrugged again. This conversation left Duo with an oddly disquieting feeling but he didn’t have time to deal with it just then. His heart sank when they finally gained entrance to the aft cargo bay to find nothing but cargo inside. The huge bay doors were still closed, the shield that retained the atmosphere had not been activated and there was no ship to escape on. “Where are they!?” Quatre growled saying the first words he’d spoken since the start. “They’ll be here!” Duo insisted, turning to fend off another attack from behind. More of the new Sweeper crew filed into the bay from another entrance along the opposite wall, taking up positions behind crates and barrels as they fought to regain control of their ship. The onslaught from behind forced them into the bay as well and they soon found themselves trapped and hoping for a miracle. “Take her,” Quatre told Michael who obeyed, gathering Hiire into his long arms. The man was at least twice the size of the slender blond boy but no less well proportioned and the child went to him happily. The moment she was out of his arms Quatre’s entire demeanor shifted to one of pure determination as he snatched the biggest gun among them off of Nate’s back and grabbed a chain that was secured to a hoist beside them kicking the control and raining a deadly storm of the exploding bullets down on the surrounding enemy cutting their numbers in half before releasing the chain and falling back to the ground where Nate conveniently caught him and set him back on his feet. They all stared at him in awe but he didn’t even seem to notice as he gathered Hiire back into his arms. Duo was… stunned… to say the least. He was still gawking blankly at the slender blond boy when the wall of the bay suddenly exploded, the atmospheric force field hissing to life as a gaping hole appeared to reveal an ebony winged, multicolored… four foot tall Gundam? “Antiquity!” Hiire cried out in a very clear, very loud voice, recognizing her favorite Christmas present. They hadn’t been able to keep it a secret from her since Hiiro and Trowa had built it in their garage and now it was being enlisted as a means to free her from her current situation. Everyone just kind of stared at the little Gundam for a long moment then, slowly and purposefully it holstered the beam cannon in its left hand on its back before the staff in its right hissed and spit green fire as a three foot long thermal scythe blade crackled to life. There were shouts of fear and discord among the Sweepers as it leapt from its perch spitting an angry pillar of fire around the sickle it held in its left hand while opening fire with the twin Gatling guns hidden in his breast plates right into the middle of the fray. Duo’s group just kept their heads down until the carnage was over. When they dared to look up again the bay was empty of anything moving save for the ship now lowering a docking tube down through the shield. Duo led his group out to meet his husband and two friends as they exited. Hiiro walked straight up, took Duo into his arms and kissed him even as his hand rose and placed a gun against Howard’s forehead. Quatre never slowed down, taking Hiire into to the lift with Trowa hot on his heals but the others went through a short but noisy moment where everyone cocked a gun and aimed it at a prospective target. “It wasn’t him,” Duo breathed, refusing to get too far from Hiiro’s hot lips but the Japanese boy refused to yield. “He helped us save her,” the longhaired boy went on. “They all did,” he explained then kissed his lover again, this time insisting that he use both arms to hold him which effectively disarmed the entire situation. It was really very odd how completely clumsy Howard had become all of a sudden. He’d stumbled twice hitting his head and wrenching his dislocated shoulder before they even got underway. Hiire had been fed, bathed and put to bed for a good long nap while the others all got acquainted and exchanged information. Once the story was all put together a lot of the disquiet among the oddly mismatched crew seemed to ebb. Of all the people of the Sweeper crew these few were the ones that Duo had always considered the closest thing to friends he’d ever known. That was good enough for the others save Hiiro who simply could not seem to warm up to Howard no matter what Duo said, hence the man’s inability to walk when he got too near the Japanese boy. “That little Gundam’s a pretty useful little toy,” Howard said after things grew quiet. “No,” Duo sighed, leaning back into Hiiro’s arms as he pulled Wufei a little closer to their side by the legs he had draped over his thighs. Their strange little cocoon had earned them some odd looks from the newcomers but he just really didn’t give shit right then. “What?” Hiiro asked irritably. “Yes?” What replied, grinning as Duo rolled his eyes at her. “He wants to sell Antiquity to the military,” Duo explained, ignoring the woman other than that while Hiiro reached for his gun. “Whoa!” Howard gasped, holding up his good arm defensively. “It was just an idea! No harm in making a ... OK! Ok, alright!” he chuckled nervously, staring down the barrel of Hiiro’s pistol. “Geez, it was just a thought,” he grumbled as Hiiro put the gun away and Duo laughed. They parted company with what remained of the Sweepers once they reached Earth. Duo had had to physically restrain Hiiro when Hiire decided to give Howard a big hug goodbye. “Bye bye Peepaw,” the little girl smiled, blowing him a kiss that almost got his head melted by the glare Hiiro was leveling on him but he managed to smile back, looking a little guiltily at Duo who was eyeing him suspiciously at having heard the endearment. “Be good and listen to yer mama over there,” Howard told her, winking at Duo as he tousled her curly head. “That’s Duo,” the girl corrected, making Duo smile smugly. “Mama’s in Rio,” she told him matter-of-factly adding, “I think,” in an imitation of her blood uncle that made the others all grin. “Hey, kid,” What interjected, bending down to her level. “Here,” she told her, slipping the necklace from around her neck and placing it on Hiire’s. Duo wasn’t really sure how he felt about this as the little pineapple charm was a symbol that meant she’d just been adopted as one of the crew but he didn’t say anything. Hiire admired it a moment then hugged her neck too before going to show it to Duo. As long as she wore this charm the child would be considered a member of the crew and therefore protected by the pact. Duo considered what was left of that crew and decided to allow her to keep it, feeling a little grateful that What had made the gesture. There were still members of the original crew who would undoubtedly be angry with him so it was a comforting thought that he had his own little army to call on in need. Life had pretty much returned to normal when Howard suddenly showed up at the daycare one day with a huge smile that slipped when Hiiro stood steadfast in his way, refusing to allow him entry. It was only upon Duo’s insistence that he’d managed to gain entry and speak his piece. Not surprisingly, the man hadn’t given up on the idea that Antiquity would be too good an opportunity to pass up though he made it very clear very quickly upon Hiiro’s vehement animosity that he had no intention of marketing a weapon. No, he wanted to market the design as a toy which was what it had been designed for in the first place. The weapons in Hiire’s version had been added as a means of rescuing her and even now remained inactive as Hiiro had programmed the little Gundam as her personal body guard. Even when none of them could be around to watch over her Antiquity was there keeping an ever vigilant eye. Howard had managed to leave them with all his limbs in working order though his head still hurt where he’d mysteriously tripped and hit it against a door jam. Duo wasn’t all that against the idea really and had agreed to speak with Hiiro and Trowa about it and let him know. At the time Howard had managed to acquire himself a large junk yard in the city where he and the remainder of his crew worked in scrap metal and spare parts. Hiire had caught sight of the man as he was leaving and came running over to jump into his arms and hug him tight going on about telling Peepaw (Howard blushed and tried not to meet Hiiro’s angry glare) about the picture she’d been drawing. Howard left the proud owner of a brightly colored crayon drawing of a violet eyed creature with a long brown tail and a really big knife that made Duo blush. He thought about the irony that Howard had somehow become the child’s estranged grandfather through it all, the fact that he was the closest thing that Duo had ever had to a father just made it all seem that much more unlikely. Well, lots of fathers-in-law didn’t get along with their sons-in-law right? He sighed, watching the anger fade from Hiiro’s eyes as the man vanished from sight. Given time, things might just work out alright after all.
~ * ~ tbc... |
