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"The Negotiator"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/Fantasy/Adventure, Angst, Fluff,
Sexual favors from a dragon? ^0^ (non graphic), Eventual Lemon, Mild
violence, My corky humor lol ^-^ Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM Beta’ed by the wonderful Mechante Fille *hugs*
You’re the best baby! ^__^ Summary: Duo Maxwell finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime when he is hired by the future king of Lagrange to aid in dealing with an encroaching Dragon. However, he quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems. Wizards, Dragons and magic abound in this epic tale of adventure and discovery when one young man finds himself between two worlds and suddenly the future depends solely on his skills as The Negotiator. View art work commissioned
by SkyLark and drawn by t_shirt for "The Negotiator" - Click
HERE "The Negotiator" Ch 11 ~ ”Why are we doing this again?” the dragon asked, staring numbly at the plate that hung from a branch of the nearest willow tree. They had had to move inland some way to find one but Duo was insistent it had to be a willow. The rat was unhappily trussed up and placed upon the makeshift silver plate where it grumbled inaudibly in the distance. “You’ll see,” Duo grinned, calling out in a soft hiss, “Say the words!” “I don’t want to!” the rat groused, attempting to gnaw on the braided rope that held him fast. Duo sighed and softly intoned, “Hiiro.” A burst of flame licked from between the dragons lips, reaching out to singe the rodent’s hairless tail and he suddenly began to stutter the strange sounds Duo had taught him to say. ”Nothing’s happening,” Hiiro pointed out “Just watch,” Duo grinned with relish as the forest around them slowly fell silent. The rat had finished his uttering and swung quietly in the eerie silence until something strange suddenly shifted in the undergrowth. “SAVE MEEEEEE!” it screamed and Duo pounced at the exact same moment something small and black burst from a bush. Hiiro was right behind him for a moment but the second his dragon eyes got a glimpse of ebony fur he squealed like a little girl and back stepped, almost taking down half the surrounding trees in his haste while Duo fought to be the first to arrive at the hysterically screaming rodent and shouted… “Meilan! It’s me! Calm down!” “I should have known it was you,” a thick, decadent purr sounded on the air as Duo jerked the rat, plate and all from the branch. Duo turned to smile at the small, sleek, black cat that now sat quietly on a stone at the edge of the clearing. “Who else knows your favorite food?” he grinned and the rat shuddered and fainted again. “Duo?” the cat sighed, sounding displeased. “Yes?” he replied, worrying over the sleeping rodent. “What… is that?” “Hm?” he hummed then looked up to find Hiiro crouched some fifty feet away hunkered down behind an outcropping of trees that were only half as large as he as he stared nervously back at the gathering. “What in the world…?” “Do not hiss in my ear,” the cat sniffed. “What is it doing here?” “He’s…” Duo blinked feeling odd about telling the forceful feline the truth. “We’re…” “Great Goddess, I leave you alone for five years and this is how I find you!?” “There have been some… developments,” Duo began. “As I can well see,” she sighed, jumping down and Duo started when Hiiro jumped and tried to squish himself between the tree trunks. “What’s the matter?” he called again, trying not to sound to amused. “Come out and…” “Do not call that beast to me,” Meilan scolded. “Whatever business you have with him is over. I am here now.” ”Like hell!”” Hiiro growled, moving cautiously out into the open. ”He came to me of his own free will…” “I will not have him take up company with a dragon!” the cat hissed and was suddenly engulfed in ferocious flames. “MEILAN!” Duo shouted unable to reach for the cat but when the flames died she merely stood in the smoldering remains and glared at the insubordinate reptile. “Leave us in peace, Spirit of the East,” she growled, crouching low. ”I would sooner die than leave him,” Hiiro returned. “That is an acceptable contingency,” she snarled. “STOP!” Duo roared, stepping between the two. “Please, Meilan,” he breathed, dropping to his knees in front of the cat. “You don’t understand… I… love him.” “Have you abandoned your senses?” she growled with wide, golden eyes. “Maybe,” he chuckled, looking fondly back at his overgrown mate. “But what’s done is done,” he sighed, turning back to her. “I love him… and I need your help.” Hiiro refused to come any closer than his fifty feet while Duo made a small camp. The rat was revived, thanked and rewarded, then sent on his way while Meilan and Duo got down to business. He explained the situation, skipping some of the finer details of his relationship with the dragon until he came to her part in the plan. “And you want to know if these two girls were taken by the Gypsies,” Meilan concluded. Duo nodded, glancing apologetically at his sulking mate. “It would help us…” he began, seeing her yellow eyes narrow at the mention of ‘us’ and amending, “…me… to find them. Hopefully unharmed but their parents and townsfolk deserve to know their fate.” “You have a kind heart,” she purred also glancing at Hiiro as she climbed into his lap and sniffed lightly at his mouth. Hiiro growled but didn’t come closer. “It is your most endearing quality,” she went on, daring to lick his chin and the dragon’s head rose to peer at them, her yellow eyes meeting his blue as she softly intoned, “And your greatest weakness.” ”Or perhaps his greatest strength,” the dragon countered, rising from the ground to cautiously approach. ”Come,” he encouraged his reluctant mate. ”We can accomplish our tasks without the aid of this insipid shadow.” “Please,” Duo sighed, not anxious to endure another confrontation. “She can see the shadows of the past. If the girls were ever among the Gypsies she’ll know. We need her help.” “That, added to my unwillingness to abandon him to the perverted whims and wiles of a dragon, would dictate your uselessness in the matter,” she stated haughtily. ”We shall leave the judgment of my necessity to Duo alone,” Hiiro grinned, letting his tongue slide slowly around Duo’s waist. “Stop,” the braided one giggled, slapping it fondly as it attempted to wriggle up his shirt until Meilan suddenly gasped… “Duo!?!” “What?!” he gaffed with cheeks of suddenly blazing red intensity as he eyes clearly shouted, ‘Oh, shit!’ ~ “…whatever possessed him to take up with a dragon of all things…” Duo sighed and rolled his eyes. The cat hadn’t stopped grumbling since they began the long walk to the carnival. Hiiro was unhappily ensconced in the sand down the beach a couple of miles while Meilan and Duo went to have a better look around. It was early evening; early enough that he knew he wouldn’t be approached about his ‘date’ with the stable girls for some time but late enough for the black cat to move about in the shadows unnoticed. They hadn’t brought anything of the girls with them to scent so she was reduced to sniffing out the impressions of the past. Duo knew the magic of the Sisterhood was as ancient as that of the dragons but he hadn’t known that the huge reptiles were so… sensitive to the presence of their furry counterparts. Then again, perhaps it was just Hiiro who was… he snickered internally… afraid of black cats. “Do not mistake him for a coward,” Meilan said quickly as she jumped up on the wheel of one of the wagons and turned yellow eyes upon him. Duo regarded her, wondering for the millionth time if she could read minds before she favored him with a small grin and added, “Were it not for his chivalry the Sisterhood would never have gained power over your Hiiro.” “Wait!” Duo barked but then she was gone and he was left with a great unease at having heard a creature other than himself utter his mate’s true name. He had known Meilan for many years. There had been a time when she was the only thing that stood between him and starvation. She taught him to forage and hunt, though he failed miserably when it came to killing for a meal. Instead, he gradually chose the life of a herbivore and cultivated his natural talent for animal speech. They had spent many nights together in the woods or wandering the towns and he had seen a multitude of strange things both wondrous and terrible during that time, but the idea that she and her sisters held the name of his beloved dragon sat heavy in his heart. He didn’t like it, not only because it gave them some power over him but he had, until that time, believed he was the only other creature alive that knew that name. The knowledge turned his mood sour and he spent the night sulkily spending his money at the games and food carts. “Quagmire of skanky stench,” came a graveled tone as old as time. He turned to smile at the harpy though his feet would not take him closer as he casually replied, “Good evening to you as well.” “Putrid filth returns reeking grimalkin fetor and fancies itself a conversationalist,” she garbled, shifting noisily on her decaying branch. Duo paused to consider then smiled and took a bite of his apple. “You mean the cat.” “Cat, it says,” she hissed. “Away, odorous stench.” “Is there anything in all this wretched world you actually admire?” he chuckled. Her deep, brown eyes glittered for a moment as she gently purred, “Methinks the stone around thy neck is worthy.” The comment stalled his thoughts for a moment as he wore the stone beneath his shirt and cloak but she was a harpy after all, and her eyes were a big part of her magic. Apparently, Hiiro hadn’t sealed all her talents away. “You like it?” he smiled, knowing she wouldn’t be happy when he continued. “Thank you, I made it with my own… odorous hands.” “I could forgive thee the smell if yee were to gift it to me,” she coxed hungrily but he merely chuckled. “Not in a million years, hag.” She cackled and flapped her huge wings with no more than a smug, “I can wait.” “Now you’re conversing with this rot?” Duo jumped hard at the sound of Meilan’s disapproval. “She’s fairly harmless,” he defended, letting the feline lead him away. “Hiiro…” “Was a fool to challenge the likes of a harpy,” she cut him off, not giving him time to retort. “Come, I have located your missing females.” Duo forgot the harpy in an instant and dumped the remainder of his apple in a bucket as he followed the cat to a likely shadow by a tent. “There,” she told him, looking toward the knife thrower he’d noticed the night before but he didn’t see anyone that matched the description of either of the girls. “Where…?” he began. “The target.” He looked closer and sure enough the clown standing perfectly still with both arms stretched out along the painted cross on the disk shaped wooden backdrop had the shapely form of a woman. “Shit!” “Calmly,” Meilan soothed. “Look closer.” He did as he was told and noted upon closer inspection that the clown was not tied and therefore participating of its own free will. “The other was not so lucky,” she told him after a time. He swallowed but looked down at her anyway, the unspoken message passing between them on a silent thread. “She is alive but well used,” the cat informed him. “It will take a good many spells to heal her soul but it can be done if you still wish to…” “Of course I do!” he snapped. She smiled softly and with great affection before leading him toward a wagon that was set some distance from the rest. It was open and contained any number of knifes and outlandish costumes but he was unimpressed and took a seat in the darkened forward compartment to wait. It wasn’t long before the wagon rocked and two female voices filled the small room. “…told you not to flinch.” “I’m sorry,” the second sighed. “It’s not like I mean to.” “Sit down,” the first commanded. “If the Manager sees that he’ll send you to the stables.” It grew very quiet for a time before she added, “I’m sure your cousin is all right. She has a strong spirit.” “It’s her body their trying to break.” “I don’t want to see you suffer the same fate,” the first softly intoned. “Kiya… please be patient. I think I’ve found a ship that will grant us passage…” “Shhh!” Kiya hissed. “I know,” the other soothed then went so quiet Duo had more than ample warning to catch the blade before it pierced his skull. “Who are you!?” the curly headed knife thrower demanded. “A question not easily answered by a dead man,” he grumbled, tossing the blade back at her. She never even flinched as it embedded itself in the wood beside her head. “It would seem,” he went on nonplussed, “That we have a common goal.” After some deliberation he finally made the fiery knife thrower, Catherine understand that he did indeed know Kiya’s village and had come to rescue her and her cousin. He refrained from mentioning the dragon for the time being, feeling that information was pushing the suspicious girl’s skepticism too far, but convinced them that this was the night of their deliverance. Kiya refused to leave without Alicia but with some coaxing from Catherine he finally managed to settle her fears by promising he would make sure she escaped. Catherine was obviously very fond of both the girls and didn’t seem to be able to get out of there fast enough once given the chance. She told him he would have about an hour before their absence was noticed and left him with a prayer for his success. The moment they faded into the night he turned on his heel, Meilan darting out of a shadow to trot in his wake as he headed down the beach. Ten minutes later he turned his face to the sky and called to his mate. He was more than a little shocked when Hiiro swooped down and plucked him from the sand. “Hiiro!? What the…?!” ”Why is she still here?” Hiiro grumbled, rising higher. Duo sighed but relented. “Because she’s my friend.” ”Did you find anything?” he asked, diving to land on a small cliff some distance down the beach. “Yes,” Duo replied and related their findings. “Catherine, the knife thrower, has taken Kiya to a ship that will grant them passage to Cross Haven. I gave them enough money to buy horses for the trip inland to Lagrange. We’ll have to free Alicia and any others before we deal with the Manager and his crew.” ”Consider it done,” Hiiro grinned, tucking him on his shoulders and taking to the sky. “Wait! Hiiro!” But the dragon was thrumming with energy and itching for a fight. Within a moment they were upon the small carnival and the gathered townsfolk screamed bloody murder running this way and that as the trees and open spaces suddenly burst into flame. “Stop!” Duo shouted helplessly. “The people!” ”Are unharmed,” Hiiro pointed out, doing a small roll that made Duo have to cling on to stay seated as another open area lit up in flame. The braided one was helpless to stop it and watched in wide wonder as his mate surgically extracted the towns folk from the Gypsies, herding them into the center of the carnival and making it very clear that anyone foolish enough to try and escape would meet with an untimely fate. During this systematic round up he also swooped down, snatching up entire wagons from the forest that Duo had been utterly unaware of and depositing them in the center of the circle. It took less than ten minutes and Duo had just taken a huge breath of relief when the dragon suddenly dove and used his thick tail to smash the cage of the harpy. “What’re you doing!?!” Duo cried as terror filled his gut. ”She has paid her debt,” Hiiro replied curtly but then his attention was on the harpy as she rose and attacked. He smothered her in flame but it merely pushed her back and she let loose a shrill cry as she dove for him again. Duo was jerked this way and that as his mate dodged and shot bursts of flame until the ancient creature finally seemed to tire of the struggle and turned, leaving a smoking trail behind her in the night sky. “Are you all right?” Duo panted, hopelessly out of breath and wishing he understood more about battle. ”Of course,” Hiiro sniffed smugly. ”You?” “Do you think we can go back up there and see if my stomach is lost on a cloud?” he chuckled. When they touched down the whole of the Gypsy camp fell to their knees, some begging openly for their lives while others simply trembled and wept. It was a big man with a tall, black hat that first noticed Duo’s presence and turned his attention to the youth. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded anxiously. “What fool would dare try and hold a harpy?” Duo asked, sliding to the ground. The man backed up when Hiiro raised high above Duo’s head and glared down on the assembly. “She gave herself…” he began but the words faltered when Hiiro’s mouth curled into a snarl. “It is against International law to harass immortals,” Duo commented. “I am unaware of such…” the man began again but Duo cut him off. “Slavery and kidnapping is also a crime,” he said. “I don’t understand…” A look from Duo prompted the dragon to rip the top off of one of the wagons he’d snatched from the forest, the man inside cowering at the sight of him as the half naked girl buried herself in the bedding. “My Lady,” Duo coaxed soothingly, offering the frightened girl his hand. “You have nothing to fear,” he assured her smiling softly. “You are free now.” She blinked at him then looked cautiously to the dragon behind him but his scaly face was alight with kind encouragement so she gathered the blanket around her and stepped out to join them. “Go and free your sisters,” Duo told her, jerking a big key ring off the Managers belt to hand her. Her eyes lit up and before he knew quite what was going on she’d hugged him hard and kissed his cheek and disappeared to do his bidding. There were five girls in all, two of which were working willingly for the Gypsies and chose to remain and face their fate with them. Alicia was as strong-willed as Catherine had claimed, showing little sign of trauma from her ordeal though she kept a good distance from Duo as well as the dragon. The other two were turned over to the authorities to be returned to their families and the Gypsy band was detained until a proper investigation could take place. Duo insisted that Alicia be allowed to accompany them and though she seemed reluctant to fly she accepted and they were on their way home by the dawn. The girl dozed off where she sat behind him on Hiiro’s back as they soared through the sky but the dragon didn’t stop until Duo also showed signs of eminent slumber. It was late afternoon by then so he found a likely place in a dense forest near a waterfall to set down and make camp for the night. “I think my clothes will fit you,” Duo was saying as he searched through his pack. “They might be more comfortable,” he reasoned, taking in the sheer, white gown she wore. She had spoken little since her rescue and retained her silence now as she sat on a stone near the stream and stared absently at the mottled surface of the rock. “You can take a bath if you like,” he offered, hoping the water might help cleanse her of her nightmares. Her breasts rose in a shuddering breath but she slipped from the stone and wandered toward the stream. Duo swallowed to think of what she must have endured when she thought nothing of dropping her dress in the cool grass and wandering into the water. He and Hiiro set about making camp, the dragon splintering a small, dead tree and setting the broken branches ablaze while Duo did his part in preparing a meal. He had little to offer other than onions, flatbread and a candied apple he’d saved from the carnival but set it all up in even shares. The sunset lit the sky with softened shades of amber and gold, pink fuchsia shards spearing the darkening sky before the girl slowly rose from the stream. She had taken the time to braid tiny tendrils of her long, richly brown hair and tie them at the crown of her head; her supple body shimmered as she moved slowly to where she had dropped her dress. Duo felt the odd disconnection in her as she bent to reclaim the garment gracefully draping it over her shoulders but not bothering to tie it as she walked smoothly toward them. He’d never actually seen breasts so openly displayed before but it was the distant light in her eyes that captured his attention. His hands slowed as she walked over the softly glowing grass and stopped mere feet in front of Hiiro. His jaw tensed when the dragon leaned his huge head forward to sniff at her hair, the action bringing a look of terrified rapture to her eyes as they slipped closed and Duo rose as an indignant crease folded upon his brow. Then suddenly and without warning the dragon’s tongue flicked out, smacking her lightly in the forehead with a flash of light and she crumbled like a rag doll to the ground. “Hiiro!?!” Duo gasped, rushing to her aid. ”What?” he jerked softly in mild surprise. “What did you do!?” his mate snapped, softly slapping the unconscious girl on the cheeks. ”She offered herself,” Hiiro replied in obvious confusion. “That doesn’t mean you have to accept!” Duo snapped, laying her on the soft grass. ”Accept?” Hiiro sniffed. ”I accept no one but you, least of all a female.” “Then what did you do!?” ”Helped her forget.” The guilt was instant and made him ill to think he’d even entertained the notion that the dragon was capable of anything diabolical. “I’m sorry,” he sighed contritely. “I guess there’s still a lot I don’t understand.” ”Trust in me,” the dragon smiled, letting the heat of his breath wash over Duo’s back. “Yes,” Duo smiled, turning to fondle his nose. They stood this way for some time before Hiiro questioned his need, ”Duo?” “I want to hold you,” he confessed, brushing his hand down the dragon’s fine facial scales. Hiiro leaned into the touch knowing full well his mate knew how badly he wanted to grant his wish. “Has there ever been a pair like us?” Hiiro sighed a bit of thunder into the air and replied, ”No.” “How can you be so sure?” Duo asked, wishing to hear that there had been and that they somehow found happiness. ”Because,” the dragon replied, wrapping him in the moist heat of his tongue, ”Until you, I had never met my equal.” Duo felt the sting of tears but refused to let them fall as he was laid in the cradle of the dragon’s claw. “What about her?” he asked absently as his clothes began to disappear. ”She will sleep till dawn,” Hiiro assured him before he stole his breath and fed him the passion of a dragon’s heart. Alicia woke to the sight of Hiiro giving Duo his morning bath and ended up with a massive case of the giggles and a ravenous appetite. When questioned she seemed to recall most of the past couple of months but the finer details were sketchy and distant, leaving her with a much improved state of mind. Hiiro had told his mate that it would take many more spells and enchantments to bring her back to the person she once was but the fog he had placed in her mind would help her function in the meantime. She babbled on about how brave and wonderful Duo was and how cleaver to have tamed a dragon. In her opinion it had been too long since the glorious days of the dragon riders and no amount of reasoning that Duo was not a knight would deter her views. Hiiro had somehow become a god in her eyes and she actually prayed to him at one point to look after Kiya on her journey home. Duo filled her in on the happenings in Lagrange but though she seemed happy at the prospect of world peace, her capacity for politics went no further than the dynamics of her own township, a place she was eager to return to until they set down in a field adjacent to the small village and were welcomed with sticks and stones and the angry resonance of public outcry. “Demon!” “Go back to whatever hell you came from!” “What gives?!” Duo shouted, sliding to the ground with the frightened Alicia right behind him. “Alicia!?!” a woman cried and the onslaught of flying stones ceased. “Mother!” the girl returned, rushing forward into her arms but when Duo attempted to advance he was cut off by protective men and harsh attitudes. “What…?” “Where’s Kiya!?” Brawn shouted, brandishing the sword he had offered to Duo clumsily in the air. “She chose to journey back on her own…” “Liar!” “Has he eater her!?” “NO!” Alicia cried only to be shushed by her emotional mother. “Or worse!” Brawn sniffed. “Where have you been?” Marken demanded. The girl blanched and Duo felt his anger rise at the idea she would be made to confess it like this but she steeled her shoulders and quietly replied, “The Gypsies…” “He sold her to the Gypsies!?!” Brawn roared, stepping forward but he faltered when Hiiro sat up and growled a warning. “Of course not!” Duo snapped. “Lies!” “We trusted you!” “And now we find you’re in league with that demon!” “He is not a demon!” Duo growled but a quick glance back at his estranged mate made him second guess his statement. “Hasn’t Lord Chang sent word of the alliance…?” “He is a fool!” Markin spat. “His ambitions have doomed us all!” “Go back to hell!” someone shouted and the hail of stones began again. “Wait! You don’t understand!” Duo yelled but there was suddenly a wall of dragon wing between him and the irate villagers. ”They will learn,” Hiiro soothed, coaxing him to mount. Duo sighed but acquiesced to his mate’s greater sense of propriety and they headed back to the den to regroup. “Mindless simpletons!” Duo spat, tossing his bag on the stone floor. ”They believed I had committed atrocities against their daughters,” the dragon reminded him. ”It will take time to heal those wounds. Alicia…” “Alicia shouldn’t have to!” Duo growled, flopping into his pile of furs. “After all she’s been through they have to question her like that?!” ”Fear is a formidable enemy,” Hiiro soothed. “I just can’t believe they did that to her.” ”Then believe in me,” the dragon smiled, coming to curl his huge body around him. One corner of Duo’s mouth twitched up and before he could force it back down the other had joined it. “Is that your solution to everything?” he chuckled, brushing his hand fondly down the dragon’s deep blue scales. ”No,” Hiiro smiled, moving in to nuzzle his chest as he quietly suggested, ”But perhaps it could be yours.” “You know I believe in you,” Duo scolded affectionately. “It’s them I have little faith in.” ”We will teach them,” the dragon purred and Duo sighed deeply as the warmth of his roving tongue washed his cares away. “We should inform Wufei of our return,” he sighed softly, arching back under the lavish attention. ”Tomorrow,” Hiiro thrummed as Duo gasped softly and gave into the dragon’s desire.
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