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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 17 One day ran into the next, Hiiro’s visits to the lower halls and libraries were difficult as they often included some sort of experimental magic that sometimes left the dragon worn and fatigued but the wonders of Oasis brought them more joy than they could have possibly imagined. Such were the riches that lay in the enchanted valley that not one of its inhabitants lusted after fortune or fame. Each individual respected the other be they man, woman or child and all were provided for by one another in a way that made the outsiders wish they could remain forever. It was like living in a dream, each day more beautiful than the next until they had lost all sense of time and drifted lazily from sunrise to sunset until the moment of Duo’s suddenly enlightenment. He had been returning from the kitchens where he had gone to fetch a late night snack when he happened upon Quatre and Trowa emerging from a stair. His first instinct was to greet them but the soft tone of the jade’s voice bade him wait. Then his words came clear and Duo backed into a shadow in the hope that they would pass on by undisturbed. “…deserve a moment for yourself,” Trowa was saying in a voice as sweet as mulled wine. “I’m sorry I’ve been so tired lately,” Quatre sighed, letting the jade take him into his scaly arms. “It’s hardly fair to you.” “I know you’re tired,” Trowa purred, lifting his mate’s pale chin so that the blonde’s pink lips hovered temptingly beneath his own scaly mouth. “But let me comfort you tonight.” “Trowa,” Quatre breathed and all at once the jade shimmered a soft forest green, his body shifting and changing as their lips met, flesh to flesh until human arms tightly embraced the trembling blond and Trowa’s emerald form had become an auburn haired man that hungrily devoured the willing mouth of his lover. Duo watched, unable to reconcile the meaning of this event for a moment before his chest lit in a burning rage. The couple had no time to react when he stepped out, the knife from his arm sheath singing free. Trowa growled but it lacked any real power in his altered state and Duo summarily slammed him against the wall with one arm while pinning the startled Quatre to the other with the knife at his throat and demanding… “Change him back!” “I can’t!” Quatre winced. “You changed Trowa!” Duo growled, slamming the transformed jade against the wall to make his point. “You lied to us!” he sneered and Quatre suddenly went pale when his eyes burst into incandescent light. “I’m different!” Trowa hissed, pulling vainly at the fist around his throat. “Duo! Please! It only works with me!” “Why?!” Duo snapped, moving the blade a little closer to Quatre’s throat. “Because,” Quatre rasped desperately, “He was born in the Transient Sea!” Duo dropped them both as if he’d been burned and backed away. “You’re lying,” he accused on an icy thread. “Nothing lives in those waters.” “I can’t explain it,” Quatre panted. “But his origin makes it possible for the transfiguration charm to work without damaging his body. However, the spell… exacts a heavy toll.” “Why didn’t you tell us?” Duo demanded. “Do you honestly think he would hesitate?” Quatre asked gently. “Duo, Trowa isn’t like other dragons, his composition is special.” Duo looked at the young man that now stood where the jade should be and noted the crystal shards in his eyes. “Even if your blue survived his body would never be the same.” Duo’s mouth dropped open then closed again as the information began to sink in. No, Hiiro would not hesitate but it could cost him in incomprehensible ways. “Will he be able to change back and forth like you?” Duo asked hesitantly. “I’m not even sure it will work once,” Quatre replied. “He could die in the effort.” Duo groaned in frustration knowing full well there was no way he could keep this from his mate but he understood why the couple hadn’t told them before and offered a dejected, “I’m sorry.” “It’s all right,” Quatre smiled, stepping forward to lay a soothing hand on his shoulder. “We were going to give you the option soon anyway. I just wanted to wait until all other avenues had been thoroughly explored.” “Thank you,” Duo whispered distantly, letting them guide him back toward his room. “You may want to kill me again before it’s over,” the blond chuckled. “Why?” “It means another trip through the desert,” Trowa smiled. “We must travel to Metonia Isle.” Hiiro had not been thrilled to learn of the details of the option but had predictably insisted they try. Duo’s need to distance himself during the trek across the sands concerned him more than the possibility of failure but he hadn’t pressed the subject, allowing his reluctant mate the space he seemed to need to cope with coming events. Duo joined him only at night and shied when Hiiro attempted anything more than holding him tight. He spent his days on horseback chatting with Rashid or Quatre and Hiiro did his best to understand how hard all this was for him. However, his lover’s absence had made it possible for Wufei to coax Meilan into the back of Hiiro’s wagon more often than not, leaving the man-dragon irritated and wary. He wished very much by the time the desert sands shifted to beach that the siabrie that had made their trip so peaceful would have taken the cat and buried her in a dune somewhere for a couple of thousand years. Not only did she reek of feline pheromones but she flaunted her changeling abilities continuously, making damn sure Hiiro knew she was getting plenty of what Duo was unable to give. As much as he wanted to turn back time and laze on the lake shore with Duo by his side, he was grateful when sea birds announced their arrival and welcomed the oddity of walking as an equal among men to the inelegant company of a cat. “We’ll need to secure a ship quickly,” Quatre was saying while Duo gave the horses instructions to return to Oasis. “Metonia is a fair distance outside the common trade routes,” Rashid commented. “It won’t be easy to convince a captain to take us.” “We’ll need an alibi,” Trowa reasoned, transforming as he touched the ground. Quatre caught him in his arms, wrapping the long, green cloak his lover wore when in human form around him as he melted into his embrace and smiled, “Gold will suffice.” “Duo?” Hiiro said softly, tentatively touching his hands to his lover’s shoulders and Duo turned away from gazing out at the sea to smile for him. “You shouldn’t wander,” the braided one told him. “Malden might have men watching the ports.” “Are you all right?” Hiiro asked, daring to caress his cheek in a way that often brought sadness to those beautiful amethyst eyes lately but Duo managed a smile and leaned into the touch. “Meriy!” Quatre sang, calling their attention to the horse and rider fast approaching. “We’re in luck,” the captain smiled, dismounting. “The Tallgeese is manned by a surly lot, “he grinned. “Word is they’ll take anyone anywhere for a price.” “Let’s hope their captain isn’t the curious type,” Quatre replied, leading the group toward town. * It had taken them several hours, four bars and a cat house to finally get a lead on where they might find members of the Tallgeese crew and Quatre’s patience was wearing thin until they finally stumbled across a seedy looking tavern where they were introduced to a man that claimed to sail with the ship. “Where did you say you were headed?” “Metonia,” Quatre spoke very clearly once more for the pretentious sailor. “That’s a two week trip even with favorable winds,” Otto snickered skeptically but led the group toward the private dining room in the back of the Whale’s Belly Pub. “We were just gathering provisions for the trek west,” he explained and grinned openly down the loose blouse of one of the establishment’s dames as she squeezed by in the narrow hall he was taking them into. “I doubt the captain will be quick to alter our plans,” he reasoned as she made a point of smiling wantonly for each of them as she passed, lingering when it came time to wriggle around Hiiro until Duo’s violet eyes narrowed and he flashed a bit of a silver blade that convinced her she should be elsewhere. “I doubt what she had in mind was assassination,” Hiiro chuckled quietly while their guide continued to chatter on. Duo’s eyes took on a stern light that stole his mate’s humor away before he warned, “There is no quicker way to visit heaven’s door than the underestimation of a woman.” A door at the end of the dark hall opened, suddenly spilling light into the corridor and ending the softly spoken conversation as they followed their friends inside the private dining room. It was small but adequate for the number of patrons and visitors, the long scrubbed table hosting a striking young man with waist length, white hair and piercing, ice blue eyes filled the center of the floor and Duo moved protectively closer to his mate’s back when several pairs of curious eyes settled on him. Otto moved swiftly at his captain’s apparent disapproval of being disturbed, leaning down to whisper the nature of the visit in his ear. The man listened, regarding the group with mild interest, his appraising gaze moving from one to another until they came to rest on Hiiro. Duo’s brow knit within the shadows of his hood when the man’s cool eyes slowly traveled his mate’s impressive humanoid form but when they came back up to meet the disapproval in Hiiro’s stern eyes he seemed to dismiss him without further regard. “I’m afraid I cannot help you,” he sighed, turning his attention back to the young lady he had been nibbling on when they arrived. “We can make it more than worth your while,” Quatre replied in a tone that made it clear he was tired of the game. The man laughed, turning from the lady’s delicate neck. “I can think of no sum of money they would encourage me to take my ship and crew into the Transient Sea this time of year.” Loosing his patience the blond wizard stepped forward, the sing of steel filling the air as both his friends and the sailors drew their blades but everyone suddenly jumped back, shielding their eyes when Quatre slammed his open palm down on the table and a brilliant golden light filled the room. His ocean blue eyes never left those of the captain but the man’s gaze quickly fell as the table began to shimmer and shake the spot where the young wizard’s hand touched it shifting from coarse wood grain to the smooth texture of metal and spreading outward. A slow smile spread on the blond man’s face as he watched the table change from raw wood to solid gold right before his eyes until Quatre suddenly caught his gaze and stated firmly… “Name your price.” “Its solid gold!” one of the sailors gasped, happily inspecting Quatre’s handy work. “Mother’s Eyes, Captain Zechs! It is real?” another exclaimed, rubbing his hands over the shiny surface but the man with the captain’s ring held his jubilation though a good deal of it danced in his eyes. “You will be well compensated,” Quatre told him, upping the deal with a hand full of fist sized gems he carelessly scattered from a bag across the table. The captain caught a large ruby before it could fall into his lap, his female companion’s eyes lighting with hungry delight as she dove on another of the gems but he merely brought the ruby to gaze upon it thoughtfully. It held his attention for only a moment before his eyes shifted suddenly and landed squarely on Hiiro’s face. “A month at sea is hard on any man,” he smiled, setting the ruby in his lady’s hand. “You would have me abandon my current endeavor to traipse across the ocean to an uninhabited isle with no comfort save the cold caress of money?” Quatre’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the insinuation that Hiiro should be a part of the deal but it was Duo who replied. “Surely we can come to some reasonable understanding,” he purred, dropping his hood as he moved smoothly around his mate. Hiiro made a grab for him but couldn’t quite get a grip without fracturing the delicate spell. The magic was old, he knew well and felt its effects more acutely than anyone else in the room but it was the captain who took the brunt of the intoxicating enchantment. “Do tell,” Zechs smiled eagerly, abandoning his date to rise and sit on the table where he scooted across and smoothly dropped to the floor in front of the delicate looking, violet eyed creature. “You’re obviously a man of integrity,” Duo smiled shyly as Wufei’s jaw bounced off the floor. “Of course,” the man smiled and Hiiro growled deep in his chest earning him a warning glance from his mate when the man dared to rest a hand on the small of his back. “I’m afraid this is all my fault,” Duo sighed theatrically and suddenly there were two men offering him and their captain a chair and mug of wine. Quatre stepped back casually, putting himself in between Hiiro and his mate in an effort to remind him to trust Duo’s judgment but he could feel the heat radiating off the dragon even from eight inches away. “Thank you,” Duo sighed, setting his drink on the exorbitant table. “You see, I simply must reach Metonia before the black moon rises or…” “It’s all right,” the captain smiled, patting his knee and Quatre side stepped when Hiiro almost moved around him. “How could we, as gentlemen,” Zechs smiled, indicating his eager men, “possibly abandon one such as you in your hour of need?” Duo’s face lit happily. “Then… you’ll take us?” “For you,” Zechs grinned going so far as to take his hand and kiss it gently before smiling his vow of, “Anything.” * “We needed a ship.” “Quatre could have handled him!” Hiiro snarled under his breath as he jogged to keep up with his agitated lover on the dock. “Quatre was about to turn him into a charm bracelet,” Duo sighed impatiently. “That pompous peacock would be more useful as a frilly chain,” the man-dragon retorted. “Duo!” “Yeah?” “Captain Zechs has requested your company in his cabin!” Wufei smirked where he stood on the gangplank with Meilan in his arms. “If he lays one finger on you I’m going to…” Hiiro growled but Duo cut him short. “You’ll do nothing of the sort,” he informed his irritated mate. “This will be much easier if he is amiable toward us.” “Friendly isn’t what he’s got in mind!” Hiiro snapped. “Why can’t you just fucking trust me!?” Duo yelled, clamming up when his outburst drew the attention of a couple of the sailors on board ship. “Look,” he said more calmly. “We all have a roll to play in this. If playing the party favor at Zechs’ side for a couple of weeks gets us…” “I belong at your side!” Hiiro hissed and Duo gaped at him. “Nothing is worth losing you!” the man-dragon went on. “I don’t care what else happens!” he growled, taking Duo by the arms to grip him tightly as his mate’s violet eyes grew round and wide. “What’s so damned important in Metonia!?” he rasped. “It’s not like we can’t postpone the summit! They can wait! They can all go to hell if it means...!” Hiiro’s words ended abruptly when Duo’s palm firmly met with his cheek. He was still reeling from the shock when Duo snatched him up by the front of his shirt and snarled in his face, “How dare you!” Hiiro’s eyes rolled and rattled around a bit before they came to gaze unfocused and stunned on his mate’s blazing amethyst eyes. “Listen to yourself!” Duo hissed, shaking him roughly as he snarled, “What is your name!?” “H…Hiiro,” the dragon replied dazedly, his eyes drifting thoughtfully as if trying to pull together some long forgotten puzzle as his mate and lover glared intensely and demanded… “Don’t you ever forget who you are!” Hiiro fell to one knee when he was released, his whirling mind allowing him only a glance at where Duo was quickly walking away and up the gangplank as he tried to recall his mission and the glorious days when the wind was his ally and the sky his domain. Duo spent the first few days aboard ship in the company of Zechs despite his friends’ concern. Hiiro became more and more withdrawn, his anger with the fair haired captain mixing thickly with the distain over his own inability to believe in Duo’s promises of forever until no one on either side dared approach him. He spent a good deal of time alone gazing out at the open sky, trying to recall what it had felt like to be a master of something so infinite but his human mind just couldn’t grasp the scope of it, leaving him frustrated and frightened. Zechs open disapproval of the scene on the docks hadn’t helped much, leaving the crew with the impression that Hiiro was trying to force himself on the braided beauty and Duo’s silence on the matter in his effort to coerce the young captain hadn’t made it any easier. It had all come to a head when the man-dragon overheard two of the crew bantering about his mate late one evening as he sat in the rigging and quietly watched the black sea. “Well, it isn’t fair right, mate?” Muller, a cocky young man out to make his fortune in the world was saying. “I mean, here the captain’s got his but what are we left with?” “You weren’t complaining last I took you down in the hold,” Alex laughed gruffly, dodging a tack hammer hurled his way. “Like you could compare to that,” Muller snipped. “Aye,” Alex chuckled. “Can’t argue with you there. He’s found himself a fine bed warmer in that one.” “A moronic assumption,” Hiiro growled low, startling the two men with the odd tremor in his tone. “What the hell’re you doing up there?!” Alex grumbled, backing away nervously when Hiiro slipped smoothly to the deck. “Duo is nobody’s whore,” Hiiro evenly intoned and Muller exhibited his lack of intelligence by replying… “Not that you wouldn’t have a go, eh, mate?” Men scrambled from all over the ship at the sound of splintering wood and hysterical cries. By the time Duo surfaced from Zechs’ cabin with the captain fast behind, several of the men that had thought to bring the rampaging Hiiro under restraint had found the task an impossible challenge. “Stop it!” Duo shouted, ducking when a man went sailing by and crashed into the stairs that flanked Zechs’ cabin. “Stop!” he growled again, storming forward, the back of the chair in Hiiro’s hand smashing against his raised forearm before he prepared to duck the oncoming fist but the blow stalled in mid air. “What the hell are you doing!?!” Duo snapped angrily while the crew of the Tallgeese fell back to lick their many cuts and bruises. “Duo,” Zechs calmly soothed, reaching to lay his hands on Duo’s shoulders but Hiiro’s sudden roar knocked him back a full two feet. It was an inarticulate sound that no human throat should have been able to make and startled both Zechs and Duo to a point of stunned silence until the intention of his sudden advance became clear to his mate and Duo stepped in between his lover and the captain just in time to prolong the man’s continued health. “Stop!” Duo demanded in a plea that stole the edge off the man-dragon’s rage. “Shit!” he gasped, unable to hold him back, his desperation growing frantic when he heard Zechs sword sing from its sheath. “What the hell’s gotten into you!?” “He chucked Muller overboard!” Alex screeched. “What?!” Duo gasped. “We gotta go back!” “Of all the stupid…!” “They’ve named you his whore!” Hiiro cut his mate off and for the first time Duo saw the pain and frustration in Hiiro’s eyes. While Duo stood dumbstruck staring at Hiiro, Zechs turned his attention to Alex and demanded, “Is what he said true?” “We only said what a fine catch he would be!” Alex defended, nursing his broken arm. Zechs smiled. “Well, you can’t fault them there,” he reasoned to Duo but the braided one was still staring poignantly into Hiiro’s stormy blue eyes. “I think what we have here is an unfortunate misunderstanding.” “Yes,” Duo agreed and Hiiro shied when his eyes turned to stone. “I would not have thought that the word of drunken sailors would out weigh my own.” “Duo!” Hiiro pleaded but he was too late to grip his mate’s arm before he turned and slipped back inside Zechs’ cabin. The captain dared offer him a sheepish grin before following uncertainly and Hiiro was left with nothing but the heated glares of the crew to keep him company as Otto called for the ship to be turned so they could search for their lost crew member. * “Is this the only place you can find refuge?” Trowa grunted, hauling himself into the crows nest beside his mutated brother but Hiiro seemed immune to anything even remotely humorous. “Why has he abandoned me?” he asked no one in particular. Trowa sighed wishing, not for the first time, that he didn’t have to remain in human form during their journey as he looked up to the brilliant stars above. “I think he’s just doing the only thing he believes he can.” “Holing up with that tramp?” Hiiro snorted. “You don’t honestly believe he’s sleeping with him?” “No,” Hiiro sighed. “Of course not, it’s just,” his voice grew soft as he turned to look at the endless sky and confessed, “I miss him.” “He doesn’t understand,” Trowa comforted. “He’s human…” “No he’s not.” Trowa sighed. “All right, he’s not exactly human but he’s certainly not a dragon, you can’t expect him to understand the pain it causes us when our loved ones are away.” “Zechs will betray us,” Hiiro said softly and Trowa nodded. “I’m glad you’ve still enough of yourself left to have felt his deception.” He paused a moment as if uncertain if he should speak his next observation. “Are you also aware of his growing feelings for your mate?” Hiiro swallowed hard but nodded, letting his eyes fall to the deck below where Duo was coming out of Zechs’ cabin to join Wufei. “Whatever he has planned I believe it is his intention to keep Duo by his side,” Trowa went on. Hiiro snorted a bark of a laugh before he replied, “Whatever his intentions, Duo will do exactly as he pleases.” “Yes,” Trowa smiled, adding with smug satisfaction, “And what pleases him… is you.”
tbc... |
