Gundam Wing: Genesis Part 3
Quatre was rubbing his temples as Duo walked into his office late that evening and collapsed with a heavy sigh into a free chair. They shared a look of exhaustion. Duo yawned. "I hate having a bodyguard! It's not like I can't take care of myself..."
Quatre nodded his agreement. "Yeah, but Sally insists. And they don't know who we are, you know that."
Duo's nodded reply suggested that, as much as he was aware of that fact, he was disgusted by the whole process, anyway.
The blond sat up a little straighter as he remembered something. "Say Duo, I think I might have something for you to look at..."
The braided boy was up in an instant. "What? More data on the hacker? Another message from Preventer headquarters..."
"No. Just watch." Quatre hit play and the lights in the office dimmed as a projection filled the far white wall.
Quatre watched his friend's expression carefully as the tape played- Duo's eyes were bugging out of his head, a small smile playing over his lips that lit his entire face as Heero turned and stalked back at the Princess, anger making him look more like an attacking shark than anything else. As the quiet words registered, Quatre smiled as well. Duo was close to tears, but he had never looked so happy before, the blond was certain, in his entire life.
The tape ended, and there was a long moment of silence. Duo finally broke it. "Where'd you get that recording?"
Quatre smirked at him. "One of the surveillance cameras- Trowa and I thought you'd appreciate it."
Duo was out of his seat in a flash, and he glomped onto the blond in a crushing hug. "Thanks, Quatre! You guys are the best!"
The blond simply laughed as he watched his friend bolt from the room, no doubt in search of his silently dashing Japanese lover. Trowa emerged from the shadows, startling the blond, who had been unaware of his presence. "That went well. We'd better warn their bodyguards, though. Something tells me the two of them would be angry if they... got close, and a bodyguard came running in on them."
Quatre's grin matched Trowa's. "I think you're right. Damn- that was a good way to end an awful day!"
~*~
Heero was just finishing his stretches as he felt a set of arms snaking around him stealthily from behind. He began to turn in shock- there were very few people who had the skill to sneak up on him successfully...
The arms tightened around him, holding him in place, but he relaxed as a familiar, beloved voice whispered in his ear, "I love you, too, Heero. I can't believe you said that to Relena!"
The Japanese man relaxed back into Duo's embrace. "What did I say?"
Lips moved on the skin below his ear, causing him to gasp in shock and pleasure, and he was bathed in hot breath as the voice came back- "I'd never tell you to go to Hell, love... No, I want you right here, like this..."
Heero moaned outright as those lips moved over his neck again, parting to let a tongue dance over his skin, and strong hands began to knead their way down his body. "God, Duo..."
The braided man gave a low laugh. "I'm just starting, lover..." He bit down gently on Heero's shoulder, soothing the bite with light flicks of his tongue. "I want to show you just how much I love you..."
The mouth moved to the other side of his neck, and Heero struggled against the arms holding him, needing to turn around and touch the man who was slowly driving him mad with desire. He moaned incredulously as the arms tightened and he found that he was completely immobile. He was at Duo's mercy... and the thought really turned him on!
As the hot mouth slowly worked its way up his throat to the hollow behind his ear, a hand began stroking over his chest, unerringly finding his nipples and teasing them until they were hard and hyper-sensitive against even the soft cotton of his shirt. Heero gave up fighting altogether and let his head loll back onto Duo's shoulder behind him and into loose, shining locks of hair, inadvertently giving the other man better access to him. He could feel Duo's soft laugh vibrating against him. "Do you have any idea what I want to do to you, Heero?"
The Japanese man gasped as nimble fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and sliding underneath it onto his bare skin. "Do anything, but don't stop! God..."
He groaned as Duo's hands suddenly latched onto his hips and he felt the braided man grinding into him from behind, his obvious hardness rubbing suggestively against Heero's backside. The hands traveled around his front and slid down over his stomach, until Duo could drag them slowly up again, fingers digging gently over his abdomen and sending tendrils of anticipatory pleasure running through him. "Duo, please..."
The hands were toying with his belt buckle and he gasped out loud. The teasing voice came back again- "Please what, Heero?"
Fingers slipped under the waistband of his pants, and Heero couldn't contain the groan of need that escaped him. "Please... take me... please..."
Duo gave another low, sexy laugh, this one full of promise and heat. "Oh, I fully intend to, Heero. I will..."
His arms loosened just enough that the Japanese man was finally mobile again, and Heero spun around faster than he had ever moved before, capturing those lips in a searing kiss. He only felt his passion increasing as Duo whimpered into him and simply allowed him to dominate the contact, tasting, nibbling, licking, sucking...
"Nnnn, Duo..." he groaned as his pants were opened with lightning speed and a hand slid inside to stroke him. He didn't realize that Duo had been steadily manoeuvring them towards their bed until it met the back of his knees and he toppled back onto the softness of the mattress, his lover's lithe, warm body following a mere second later and covering him sensuously. His shirt was pressed back off his shoulders and Duo's hands splayed across the breadth of his chest as the braided man kissed him forcefully, lips and tongue demanding and teasing. Heero almost felt delirious with the sensation.
Duo began to kiss his way across the broad expanse of Heero's chest, smiling against the warm skin as hands worked their way into his hair, pressing his mouth closer to golden flesh as he painted his way down the writhing body with his tongue. By the time he began pulling Heero's trousers and boxers down and off, the Japanese man was positively mewling under Duo's touch, eyes closed and an expression of utter and complete bliss on his face.
Duo's own hardness was almost painful, and he reached for the lube even as he licked his lips in anticipation of tasting his lover- he knew that neither of them would last long. He delicately licked the bead of pre-cum from the end of Heero's straining erection, smiling devilishly again as the Japanese's hips jerked. Smearing his fingers with the slippery lubricant, he gave in to temptation-
Heero cried out as Duo bypassed his eager cock completely and began licking and kissing his balls, screaming his lover's name out as Duo began to suck gently on the sensitive flesh. At the same time, he felt gentle fingers probing at his entrance, and it sent an incredible jolt of eagerness through him- it was rare that he allowed his lover to do this, but the rarity of it only made it more tantalizingly enjoyable.
Duo finally gave in to Heero's pleading moans and engulfed his entire length as he pressed another finger up into the man's body. He was always careful not to hurt his lover, no matter how much the delay was killing him with deliberate, succulent slowness. His fingers unerringly found the spot deep inside of Heero and manipulated it until the other man was senseless with pleasure, pressing himself back onto the invading digits, pleading in breathless grunts and whispers for the invasion he could no longer do without.
Heero moaned as he felt the fingers in him stretching him incredibly, but groaned soon after as he felt something else pressing at him between the stretching fingers, slick and hot and all of the sudden seeming far too large...
Duo hissed in ecstasy as he slowly slid into his lover's body, easing himself in as much as he wanted nothing more than to pound into the other man. "Duo! Oh God- more, please- do it..."
Heero's words evaporated his control in under a second and he thrust hard, burying himself completely in the tight, hot recesses of the Japanese's body. Both men cried out as Duo pulled almost all the way out only to thrust back again harder, impaling his lover as fire took the place of blood in his veins.
Heero's eyes rolled back into his head as his lover took him and filled him- it felt so good, so complete, so perfect... He panted out Duo's name as he began meeting each thrust with one of his own, mating him.
Duo felt Heero matching his movements and shivered with the effort of holding back- his lover was making the most incredibly erotic sounds, legs wrapping around his waist as if to force him even further in. He wrapped a hand around Heero's erection and began pumping in time with his thrusts, pumping harder as Heero moaned wildly, no longer capable of even forming rational words.
The Japanese man looked up- Duo's face was bathed in a sheen of sweat, hair tumbling loose around them, eyes closed as he panted, muscles flexing sexily and sinuously all along his magnificent body as he moved... "Oohhhh... Shit, Heero!" The violet eyes flew open as Duo gave another thrust and Heero felt it happening- their eyes locked as Duo came-
Heero watched ecstasy blooming over his lover's face and was undone by it. With a scream of his own, he came, spurting himself onto their chests in a thunderous climax.
The two moaned as Duo's strength gave out and he sank down onto the bed, into Heero's waiting arms, his entire body shivering in the aftermath of their lovemaking. The Japanese man held him close, smiling into sweat-streaked hair as they both regained their breath.
Duo made a move as though to pull himself from his lover's body, but Heero's hands fell to his rear and flexed, holding him in his place. "No- not yet, please."
Duo didn't fight it, allowing Heero to claim his lips in a soft, passionate kiss. They broke apart slowly, and violet eyes opened to smile down into shining blue. "I love you, Heero."
The hands flexed again, drawing a light whimper from the long-haired man. "I think we've established that, Duo," came the droll reply.
Duo merely laughed, but grew serious again quickly. "I mean it, Heero. I'm sorry for doubting you for a second."
The Japanese man smiled into his lover's eyes. "I was the one who left, Duo. I told you that I would forget you- I practically tore your heart out. Don't apologize to me, please!"
Duo gently eased himself from Heero's body, and smiled as he brushed errant locks of hair from the man's face with gentle fingers. "Then don't apologize to me, either, okay?" He kissed Heero's forehead gently.
Heero wrapped his arms around the American and pulled him down gently against him. Seconds later, he made a little face. "We're going to be all sticky."
Duo giggled. "Then we'll take a shower, koibito."
Heero grunted, an amused, fond smile gracing his face as the long-haired man settled against him. "To get clean, baka!"
"Mmm hmm," Duo murmured. He turned his head and gave Heero a gentle kiss. "Eventually. Love you..."
Heero kissed him back and relaxed back into the pillows. "Good night, Duo. Sweet dreams."
~*~
Sirius glared at the shuttle as it taxied away- his first plan had been to sneak onto the Preventer shuttle that brought Chancellor Peacecraft back to Earth, but whoever that Chinese kid was...
Probably one of Winner's 'close friends'- translation, a Gundam Pilot. Getting onboard that research facility was going to be impossible, and he knew it.
There had to be another way of getting what he wanted, but what could it be?
His eyes narrowed as he thought of Madeleine. She had contacted her snitch, but the man had confirmed his worst fears- the new security chief was one Heero Yuy. His main back-ups were two others, one of whom was on the scientific team- Duo Maxwell and Trowa Barton. It hadn't taken much digging to find out just who they were.
He was on a suicide mission.
Sirius turned back, in his role as a tourist, to walk back to the Palace of the Sank Kingdom. If he couldn't get there to get the information, he'd have to find a way of making them bring it to him.
~*~
Quatre Winner was having a very hard time remaining cordial as he stared across his desk at the Preventer chief of operations, Lieutenant Fierzen. "I assure you that I am well aware of the potential security risks, but this is my facility and my project. I will not relinquish my rights as its administrator!"
Fierzen gave a lazy smile that made Heero, standing off to the right with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face, want to smack him halfway to the Kuiper Belt. "That it was, Mr. Winner, but this is now a government operation, under my control until Colonel Po and Lt. Colonel Chang return. You may continue to smile for the cameras, sir, but you are no longer in control here."
That did it for Quatre- he stood and leaned across the desk menacingly- Heero was suddenly reminded of the Quatre Winner who had piloted the Wing Zero. "Listen to me very carefully, Lieutenant. The only reason you are here is to increase our perimeter security and shuttle monitoring. My colleagues and I are more capable than you could ever wish to be at security and self defense, and we don't need the likes of you, having the gall to come in to my very own office and thinking to give me orders! Get this straight, Fierzen- you can patrol and huff as much as you want outside my station, but this is my station on the inside, and your arrogance is not welcome here."
Braver men had wilted under Quatre's normally beneficent stare before. Fierzen had absolutely no doubt in his mind that this Mr. Winner meant every word he said, and his eyes strayed to the Security Chief, standing with his back to the wall a few meters away and glaring at him as though he was some disgusting type of insect he'd like to crush beneath his heel. He'd met two others the day before as well, one with outrageously long hair, the other tall, with long bangs that partially obscured his face. All four of them- they were a little scary. He wondered just what would bring them together. He stopped the thought quickly- he was certain that he didn't want to know.
Fierzen collected what was left of his composure and stared across at a quietly seething Quatre Winner. "Until Colonel Po gets here, then. I'll expect your people to follow our directions on the perimeter, though, and I will not tolerate interference in my operations."
Quatre gave a dangerous smile that made Heero push off from the wall, ready to restrain his comrade if it became necessary. "Get out of my office before I..." he was growling.
Heero bodily lifted the Lieutenant out of his place and forced him towards the door, his eyes cold and angry as he firmly escorted the man away. "If I can offer one piece of advice- I'd stay away from Quatre if I were you. The rest of us, as well." He let the door slide closed.
The blond was on his feet already, stabbing at his vidphone angrily, and Heero made no move to stop him- he had gotten in Quatre's way once, when he had been in this sort of mood... both the Vayeate and the Mercurius had bought it that day.
Lady Une's face came up with a calm, professional air. "What can I do for you, Quatre?" she asked, visibly trying not to react to the expression on the blond's face.
Quatre leaned in close. "Your Preventer Lieutenant had the gall to come in here and tell me that I had to give over control of Genesis to him! I agreed to have Preventer back-up to assuage the government's fears that my security was inadequate, which we both know is complete bullshit, but I will not put up with..."
Une interrupted, "Po and Chang will be there in a few hours and will discipline him properly, I assure you. Yes, I do know that you don't need any help, really, but this isn't between you and me- I've got a whole chamber full of Senators to mollify, Winner! I'm going to need some co-operation from you here!"
The blond let his chin fall towards his chest. "I'm sorry- it's not fair to yell at you about this- what I'd really like to do is find that Lieutenant and..."
"Quatre..." Heero's voice growled from the background in warning.
The blond started over again. "I just want this to be completely clear between us, Lady Une. If the five of us can't protect Genesis, than nothing else will and all of us know it. Your people are to conform to our security plans and augment our forces. That is their only role here, or else they can go home."
Une smiled wearily. "Understood, Quatre. By the way, due to the security problem, we've moved Genesis up in the committee- you will be presenting in a week and a half, instead of a month."
The blond nodded. "Noted. Winner out." He cut the connection and slumped into his chair.
Heero was there in under a second, rubbing the small blond's shoulders gently and frowning at the tension he felt there. "Do you want me to call Duo and Trowa in here?"
Quatre let the words float for a minute before he finally opened his eyes again. "Yeah- we need to do some serious planning. One and a half weeks..."
The other two pilots were there in under three minutes.
Quatre frowned at the table. "Here's the big problem- the Front will have someone there, either as an official or unofficial observer. We have to take it for granted that anything we say at that hearing will be public knowledge within fifteen minutes of the presentation."
Duo folded his hands calmly. "I think it's time we put our cards on the table. Cat, you didn't tell them everything yesterday about the Independence Front."
Heero's eyes pivoted to rest on the blond man, who sighed deeply. "I couldn't say it all I front of Preventers, even if one of them was Wufei. We've traced several large purchases of titanium to a set of accounts that, I believe, belong to this Dumoulin person. In other words, to the Independence Front. There's only one reason anyone would need that much- they're building mobile suits, and I mean a lot of them."
Heero's eyes flared angrily. "Why didn't you share this info with the Preventers? Isn't that what they're there for?"
Quatre had the grace to blush very slightly. "We have no solid proof, Heero. There was no way of passing the information without making it look like a witch hunt at that time."
Duo added, "It took us three months to even form a weak case against Madeleine Dumoulin. Being who we are, it would have looked really bad if we passed the information to the Preventers."
Heero rounded on his lover, eyes still glaring accusingly. "You! Why didn't you of all people tell me?! Tell someone! I thought you trusted me..."
Duo shrank back reflexively from Heero's anger, as Trowa sat up a little straighter, that being the only sign of his alarm. "I do trust you, Heero, but the decision was not mine to make. Please..."
"Oh, shut up, idiot! I thought you were accepting me back..." His arms flew up as he abruptly stood, knocking over his chair in his haste. Duo shrank lower in his seat, his fingers beginning to show signs of shaking- "But you obviously don't trust me- none of you do, and Wufei..."
He spun to face his lover and lowered himself until he was leaning on his hands, braced against the arms of Duo's chair. "First the Relena thing and now this..."
"That's enough, Yuy," Trowa growled out in cold warning. His tone broke through the blind rage forming in Heero's mind as strong hands came down on his shoulders and he was roughly pulled from his position. He was breathing hard to calm himself down- he looked over-
Duo was sitting up straight again, but he could not miss the shaking the other pilot was trying desperately to hide. He felt a cold pit opening in his stomach as he realized what he had been doing- the Soldier wasn't as deeply buried inside of him as he had imagined... "Oh, God..."
Trowa stood behind Heero's seat in an obvious statement- another move like that would not be accepted. His own hands shook. "Duo..."
The braided man shook his head, plastering a smile over his face. "Later, Yuy. But let me say this- despite what you seem to think and believe about me, I wasn't hiding information from anyone of my own volition! Now is not the time to discuss this- we can talk about who screwed who over at some time when we're not trying to decide how to keep Genesis from becoming the next generation of Gundams!"
Trowa was the one to break the silence that followed those words. "Why don't we develop them?"
The other three pilots turned to him with shock clearly written on their faces. He calmly continued, "It's going to happen eventually- we'll be better off if we can counter it force for force. We might even be able to prevent Dumoulin from toppling Relena's government this way."
Quatre frowned in concentration. "He has a point- Dumoulin will have the information very soon, if it's really her after it. I just don't like the idea..."
Trowa countered, "Neither do I, love."
They turned to the other pair- Duo's nervous shaking was fading quickly, they could see. "If we do this, the Mars project will probably be dismantled, you know," Duo warned.
Quatre nodded. "I realize that, Duo. I just don't see that we have much choice."
"Do we at least tell Wuffy this time?"
Quatre looked to Trowa, who looked back and nodded. Heero felt a wave of shame as he realized that the same sort of decision making process was probably behind the situation he had been close to hitting Duo over just a few minutes before.
The blond replied, "We'll tell him everything, I promise."
~*~
"You sneaky, underhanded son of a bitch."
Quatre didn't bother looking offended- Wufei and Sally had every right to feel like they had been used. He calmly faced them. "I didn't mean to betray our friendship, and I'm sorry for it, but I decided not to tell you and it will be my fault now if something happens..."
Sally snorted. "You're doing it again, Winner. You will have helped, but in truth we should have found that out ourselves a long time ago."
Wufei simply glared at his friend.
Quatre sighed. "Trowa brought up an interesting idea, though. As you're now no doubt thinking, Madeleine Dumoulin will know what there is to know within minutes of our committee presentation, and she'll use it. What if we use it first?"
Sally blinked. "Don't tell me what you're thinking..."
Trowa nodded. "We're against the clock at this point, Sally. Who will develop the next generation of gundams, us or them?"
She pinched the bridge of her nose as she realized that all five of these ex-pilots were for this plan, even her Fei. "We'll be breaking our own laws..."
Duo replied to that, "You've been a criminal before- Hell, we all have! Don't you remember how much fun it was?"
She shot him a look. "That was then, Maxwell, not now."
Wufei squeezed her hand gently to get her attention. "Couldn't Lady Une petition Chancellor Peacecraft for an Executive Order of sorts to make it legal? It's not as though we don't have external circumstances forcing our hand..."
Sally nodded. "She could- doubtful that Relena would consent, but she could try. Let me ask," she said, turning to Quatre again, "How fast could we get it done, if we had to?"
The blond sat back, doing a quick calculation. "Given that Winner Enterprises controls the Earth Sphere's gundanium supply, as well... What would you say, Duo?"
The braided man had been lost in his calculations, as well. "How many? It'll take us at least a month to finish even one..."
Quatre gave them all a bright smile quite suddenly, so much so that they were momentarily afraid that the strain had become too much for the small blond. "A month is too long, besides, you forgot our secret weapon."
Duo looked confused. "And that would be..."
The blond answered. "Rashid and the Manguanacs."
~*~
Lady Une was startled as the doors to her room opened and three figures walked in- she had a gun in her hand in seconds, aimed at them- "Who the hell are you?"
She was thoroughly surprised when Sally's voice answered her back, "Hi, Une. Sorry to wake you, but we need to talk." She could now make them out- Sally Po, of course, accompanied by... Quatre and... Heero?
She reached for her lamp and turned it on, blinking and wincing as the brightness of the light stung her eyes. "There had better be a damned good reason for this..."
Quatre cut her off sharply, "I need your permission to rebuild the gundams, Lady."
She stared at him quite openly. "Am I going mad, or did I just hear you say..."
Heero interrupted, "Gundams. Re-build. Now."
Une shook her head- she knew this wasn't a dream or a hallucination. "I suppose you have a good reason for marching into my room and making such an outrageous request?"
Sally nodded. "You'd best get dressed, Ma'am. We'll wait outside. This cannot wait."
~*~
Trowa and Wufei watched Duo carefully as they worked- they had pulled up the plans for all five gundams an hour before, and Duo, needing something to do to work off his nervous energy, suggested beginning the task of updating them. He had been terribly quiet, and it wasn't a good sign.
Wufei scowled at his computer screen. Trowa had told him- he knew what Yuy had done earlier and how Duo had reacted. It sickened him to think of a man who had laughed in Death's face, literally, unable to disguise his fear of his lover. And he knew that if he had been there...
No- he couldn't have. Duo would have jumped in front of the bullet, he was certain of that.
The silence was driving him crazy, though, and he decided quite suddenly that he wasn't going to take it any longer. "Are you going to talk to him about it, Maxwell?"
To his credit, Duo never stopped or even paused in his work. "We have a mission, Wufei. Leave it be."
"Hn- that's usually Heero's line," Trowa remarked drolly.
Duo finally stopped. "What do you want me to say to him? That I'm angry? He knows that! That I'm hurt? He knows that, too. What am I supposed to say?"
Wufei scowled at the long-haired man. "He needs to have better control, Duo! He can control if when he's on a mission, why not with you?"
Duo's eyes flared. "He has controlled it, Chang! And he loves me..."
"He does love you," Wufei agreed, backing off in shock at the sound of Duo's voice as the other called him 'Chang', "but that doesn't mean that he can lose control and take out his feelings on you. What would have happened if Trowa and Quatre hadn't been there?"
Duo didn't back down or flinch. "It's between us, Wufei. I'm more than capable of dealing with any physical threat, as you well know."
Trowa slammed his hand down on the metal table. "Shut up- both of you! We don't have the time for this! Duo, I won't interfere if you think you can handle it, but I'm telling you now that we, your friends, will not let Heero beat up on you- he'll die if he tries it, friend or no friend. As for you, Chang, give the man some space!"
The other two turned back to their computers in shocked silence.
Trowa continued in a calm tone of voice, "I don't think he'd do it, okay? He has changed. After all- the old Heero would have hit first and lectured later."
Duo stopped what he was doing and looked over at the other two. "Look, I appreciate all your concern, but I have to handle this. It's my love life... and I'm not the same, either. I won't just let it happen again. Please let me do this my way."
Wufei stopped typing and stared down at the keyboard. "I understand, Duo. I will honour your request."
"So will I," Trowa added.
They fell silent again as all three turned back to their work. The only sound in the room was the clattering of keyboards.
~*~
She even wears a pink bathrobe! What an obnoxious colour! Heero couldn't help the disgusted look on his face- he hadn't wanted to be present when Une went to speak with Relena. And he definitely never wanted to see her in her pyjamas!
Relena looked shell-shocked, to say the least. She turned questioning eyes on Quatre. "You should have told us, Quatre. We might have avoided this if you had."
The blond bit his lip. "I know- that's what Duo said when I made the decision and I should have listened, but I didn't. The point, now, is doing something to counter the threat."
Relena frowned, "But the Mars Project..."
Une rolled her eyes. "Relena, please! Look beyond that! If WEI information is correct, your biggest opponents are building an army of mobile suits right now and will build gundams as soon as they have the right information. They aren't planning on throwing a garden party!"
Chancellor Peacecraft clasped her hands together tightly. "What is it you want me to do?"
Sally answered, "We need to build weapons capable of counteracting the threat, Ma'am. We want to re-build the gundams."
Relena nodded, eyes glued to her table top. It was logical- they had the materials, advance time, and pilots. Dumoulin could make preparations, but she wouldn't be able to build until Genesis became public knowledge, since WEI effectively blocked any gundanium sales in the entire Earth Sphere. But to do that... "Illegal... it would have to be completely black. Even if I make it legal in this case only, no one can get wind of this. And who will do it..."
Quatre replied, "The Manguanac Corps is ready to begin work as soon as I get plans to them- the Sweepers will assist them as much as possible, and you know that Howard will keep it quiet. All we need is an Executive Order."
The Chancellor looked up and stared each of them in the eyes, finishing on Heero. She gulped. "The Order will be signed and in effect by dawn. Don't fail!"
She got four solemn nods. "We won't."
~*~
Five pilots, one Sweeper, one Manguanac and two Preventer chiefs sat around a table in a secure conference room.
Une gave each person at the table a long look. "From this point on, any communications between us at this table go through the custom system. Anything else will be considered as compromised. Plans, diagnostics, any of those type things must be hand delivered to another member of the team- none of what is going on goes over the normal communications nets! You all know the meaning of security- I expect you to make sure that there are no leaks."
Minutes after the meeting with Relena, they had sent a coded message back to the Research Facility. Duo had dropped his work and dragged Wufei with him to juice up a custom set of communicators for them all to use. It wasn't perfect, but it was the sort of system that was virtually impossible to break... or would at least take one hell of a long time to compromise.
Une pinned Quatre with a stare. "I expect any information you get to come straight to me, no matter the time of day!" He nodded mutely.
She continued, "Also, no one apart from us here and Relena is to know about what is going on! I don't care if your scientists could beef up the new gundams- they are not to know! Until we find out who the leak is, everyone is a suspect."
Heero's low voice added, "The Genesis discs are going to remain locked up until the Presentation- Duo, both you and Quatre will have to be there to get them out, or else security protocols will wipe the disks."
The braided man nodded solemnly, not meeting his lover's eyes.
Une stood. "I have to be back on Earth in a few hours, so this is it, people." She gave each a measuring look and nodded to herself as she turned and left the room, in search of her shuttle. If anyone was capable of pulling this off, it would be this bunch. It looked like she was just going to have to trust them yet again.
~*~
Heero followed Duo silently as the braided man headed back to their quarters- no one had slept in well over a day, and it had been agreed that they should all rest while they could. The pilots hated the feeling of having the past re-opened, but embraced it. Fighting against it would get them nowhere, and training dictated that they all get some sleep.
Heero knew that sleep would not come, though, until he apologized.
Duo was ominously silent as he let his hair loose and began brushing it mechanically, his mind obviously anywhere but on its task. Heero moved to take the brush from his hands and smoothly took up the task, the cold feeling in his stomach only getting worse as Duo sat ramrod straight in his chair, not reacting at all to something that usually made him melt like butter.
"Promise me something, Heero," he asked out of the blue.
The Japanese man jumped at the sound of his lover's voice, but he smoothly asked, "What, love?"
Duo's eyes remained locked in the mirror. "That you won't get in my way if you lose it again."
Heero flinched, but he fought off his own feelings- he didn't like the empty, hollow sound of his lover's voice at all! "What do you mean by that?" he asked, hoping that he didn't sound as concerned as he was.
Duo reached up and took the brush from him, finally turning to look him in the eyes. "I can't let you go and I refuse to fight you, Heero. But I'm not going through that again- I'm shooting myself the next time."
Heero froze in shock and sudden fear. He had no doubt that Duo was serious. But that Duo would go that far... "I... I don't know if I can, Duo."
Stormy violet eyes clashed with Heero's clouded blue. "I've made my decision. Remember- life is cheap, especially ours? Well, so be it."
Heero felt something break inside of him and he sank down next to the angry man in the chair. "Please- you can't say that and mean it..."
Duo ran his fingers gently through Heero's hair. "Don't make me do it, okay? I don't want to threaten you."
Tears worked their way from Heero's eyes and he wrapped his arms around Duo's waist, holding him tight. "I swear it, Duo! Never again! I'll never, ever, ever..." He buried his face in the long-haired man's side, breath hitching in his throat.
It hurt Duo to see his lover like that. All the same, he had thought long and hard about the right way to force Heero's hand, to make him take control. Threatening Heero was useless- the Japanese pilot was not one to give in to threats, but to threaten himself... It was the one thing he could think of.
He threaded his fingers in Heero's hair and gently eased the other man back, staring down into a tear-streaked face as if searching for something there. After a long moment, he let himself give a soft, loving smile. "I love you, Heero."
The arms around him tightened, and Duo suddenly found himself sitting in Heero's lap on the floor, staring deep into cobalt blue eyes. "Never, ever ... Don't leave me behind! I swear it to you, Duo- I will never..." He couldn't finish his sentence.
Duo wrapped his arms around Heero's neck and kissed him soundly, softly, every gesture and touch proclaiming his forgiveness.
The Japanese man stood with his lover cradled in his arms and moved to the bed, settling both of them onto it gently and burying his face in Duo's still loose hair. The American cradled him close and rubbed his back. "We should sleep now, Hee-chan..."
Heero looked up and smiled into Duo's face. "I love you, Duo."
Duo smiled back and kissed Heero's forehead. "I know. Sleep now."
Heero waited until he was certain Duo was asleep before he propped himself up on his elbows and simply looked down onto his lover's face. He kissed slack lips gently and whispered against them, "My life is cheap, but never yours. I love you."
Exhaustion finally claimed him, and Heero Yuy sank down onto the bed, nestled in his lover's arms.
TBC...
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