Author: PlaidDragon
Pairings: 1x2, 4x3, 3x2x3
Warnings: Yaoi, Wufei abuse, purposeful OOC, angst, humor, lime
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its original characters do not belong to me.
Starting Over
The auburn-haired youth stirred slightly, and moaned quietly, pawing at the oxygen tube. The nurse jumped up to call the doctor, then attempted to soothe the boy.
He was half-awake by the time the doctor got there. He struggled a bit and managed to pull loose his IV, but relaxed again into sleep once she'd replaced it. She checked his vital signs and was relieved to find them near normal. She stroked his hair gently, smiling. Finally, she would have good news for his partner when he called.
~*~
"Duo," asked the doctor, "How do you feel?"
"Like crap..." he mumbled. "Where..?" He began to cough. It hurt and he curled up, hugging himself against the pain.
"It's all right," she said with a relieved sigh. "It should only hurt for a little while longer. You're in the infirmary. You took a nasty hit on your last mission, but you're going to be fine."
He looked up at her in bewilderment. "Mission? I don't understand..."
"Duo... Do you recognize me?"
He looked at her for a long moment, his expression becoming increasingly confused. "Um... No," he whispered. "Should I?"
"Oh, dear," she said quietly. She palmed her phone. "Hello, Wufei, this is Sally Po. Actually, that's why I'm calling. He's just woken up."
Duo looked around the room as the doctor spoke softly into the phone. /What the hell is going on? I'm supposed to know her. She called me by name... I think. Duo? Is that my name?/ In spite of the soreness and pain in his chest, he pushed himself up to sit. /I don't know! I don't know who I am!/ He grabbed the doctor's arm. "Who am I?" he cried. "What's wrong with me?"
Patiently, she slipped her arm around his shoulders. "It's just a little amnesia. You had a concussion. Just relax," she said brightly, giving him a squeeze. "You'll be fine in a few days."
The phone squawked. She put it to her ear again. "Sorry, Wufei. Maybe you should come down. Is Heero back yet? Ah. All right. I'll be expecting you."
She closed the phone and looked down at the teenager leaning against her, trembling. "That was Wufei; he and Trowa are on their way."
Wide violet eyes met hers; she'd never seen Duo look so scared. "Who is that?"
"They're your friends," she said gently. "Chang Wufei and Trowa Barton." She looked for any sign of recognition, but found none. "It'll be all right," she reassured the frightened teenager. "Amnesia is common after a head injury. It'll go away."
~*~
Duo paused in the entry hall, looking around curiously. "We live here? Isn't this kind of... opulent?" One of Quatre's smaller estates, their currant safe house still boasted ample room for the pilots, Howard's techs, the repair facility and the Gundams.
"Quatre's the heir to a lot more than this," said Wufei shortly.
Damn it. Duo should have stayed under Sally Po's care. His memory wasn't showing any signs of coming back. The last thing they needed now was the idiot Maxwell running loose with no memory. However, Sally Po, in her estimable medical (and, he suspected darkly, female) wisdom, thought he would do better in familiar surroundings with familiar people. Wufei snorted to himself. What good it would do since he didn't remember any of those familiar things, he couldn't imagine.
"When will I meet him?" Duo asked.
Wufei sighed. Trowa had vanished as soon as they arrived, leaving him to keep an eye on Duo. Of course he understood that Trowa missed Quatre enormously, but with Heero away on a mission, Wufei had hoped for a little help with this situation.
"He's at the family compound on business right now. He'll be back when he's finished." Finished. What an apt choice of words.
Duo turned to smile radiantly at him. "And Heero?"
"He's on a mission."
Duo nodded as if he understood. "I'm really looking forward to meeting them. Maybe I'll remember them." He caught Wufei's baleful glance. "Oh, I'm sorry! That didn't come out right," he said contritely with an oddly charming little smile.
And there was exactly the reason for Wufei's present bad mood. He just wasn't comfortable with this wildly out-of-character "sweet" Duo Maxwell.
Duo had chosen to wear his butt-length auburn hair loose since regaining consciousness; it swirled and flowed like a cascade of silk, drawing the eye in a totally different way than his usual neat braid. He was... pretty, now, and almost feminine with his hair down like that. He seemed fragile also... In the same eerie way his personality seemed softer, more subdued. He was too nice now, too polite, too unassuming, too bloody damn sweet to be real. It was like talking to a doll...
"This is so weird; not remembering. I don't know whether to be scared or mad or... or just curl up in a corner and cry!" sweet as candy Duo cried breathlessly.
"That'll be the day," Wufei muttered under his breath. "Come on, I'll show you your room."
In the room he shared with Heero, Duo looked out the window to the garden. "Oh, this is beautiful! Flowers and trees... And birds!" he laughed. "Oh, and Trowa!" He stepped out onto the balcony to wave and call to Trowa.
"He's really cute," he said thoughtfully when he came back inside. "Such lovely sleepy green eyes." Wufei's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wufei, have Trowa and I ever... You know..."
"Ever what?"
"Um... Have we ever been... a couple..?"
Wufei stared at him. "No! I mean, no; Trowa and Quatre are... are... together," he fumbled.
"Oh." Duo looked out the window again. Trowa drifted about the garden, probably daydreaming of his charming blond angel. "He seems awfully lonely right now."
Wufei blinked and began to sweat. /This is not good./
~*~
Back in his own room, Wufei contemplated just hopping on his bike and taking off for a few days. Too many weird and probably bad things were happening all at once.
First, Heero disappeared on that damn mystery mission and was out of touch for almost a week. Then, Duo got hurt, nearly killed, actually, during his own mission.
And Quatre received that astonishing summons from his eldest sister and flew home to a crisis of his own.
Wufei had the uncomfortable sensation of waiting for the other shoe to drop for he and Trowa.
He took a shower and a hot soak, relaxing with music from the land of his Clan, and began to feel better. It's only a string of coincidences, he told himself. That's what the word means, after all. Nothing weird or portentous about it, just simple coincidence...
Heero was back in touch now, and up to speed on Duo's condition, though still out on another mission. Duo was fully recovered physically, which was a relief to all of them (especially Heero, since he couldn't be there), and this odd personality glitch was only temporary.
Wufei was sure that Quatre's problem would be resolved eventually; after all, the gentle youth was the most diplomatic of the group and no stranger to political wrangling.
All of which meant that he was worrying for no reason. /Relax, Chang,/ he told himself with a faint smile, /the worst that could happen is that Trowa will take off to visit Catherine and the circus, and be gone when Quatre gets back. And hell, Quatre knows where to find him./ His smile widened to a grin. /He's got him lo-jacked!/
~*~
He strolled onto his balcony, still humming to himself, admiring the peaceful garden, confident that all was right with the world, or would be as soon as Duo's memory returned. Which it was bound to do; Sally Po said so.
He looked down to find Trowa sprawled out on the soft heather, Duo straddling his hips, the two of them engaged in a liplock more appropriate to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"Aaaaaiiiiiii!!!!!"
/Noooo!!!!! Not while I'M responsible!/ He clutched at the railing, swaying.
"Maxwell!!!" he bellowed. "Get the fuck off him!!!" /Oh, fine choice of words, Chang!/
Duo looked up, startled, then waved happily and returned to removing Trowa's clothing. Trowa's bemused expression certainly didn't convey any sense of outrage on his part. And he made no effort to stop Duo pulling his shirt off.
"Stop that!!!" Wufei shrieked. "Damn it!!! Trowa!!!"
He spun away and ran back inside, leaping down the stairs and out the terrace doors, galloping across the grass toward the pair, now half-naked and wrapped in a passionate embrace. He grabbed a handful of Duo's long hair and yanked.
"Quit it!!!" he screamed. "Quatre will kill you both!!!" /And me for letting it happen!/ And Heero... Ohmygod!!! /We'll all be dead!/
Duo fell backwards, knocking Wufei off his feet and onto the two of them. Arms and legs flailed; tender body parts were poked, pinched and leaned upon; three voices exploded in curses and cries. When they finally untangled themselves, Wufei bounced to his feet angrily.
"Maxwell, you barbaric slut! Don't you have any sense at all?! He's Quatre's lover, and Quatre is the most jealous man alive!" He rounded on Trowa, who was catching his breath after taking an elbow in the ribs. "And you! I thought you loved Quatre! He's gone five days and you start canoodling with the red-haired Whore of Babylon! At least Duo's got some kind of lame-ass excuse!"
"Oi!" cried Duo, feelings hurt. "I was only being friendly! He's lonely!"
"Crawling down his throat and into his pants does not constitute being friendly!" Wufei screamed. "You don't have amnesia; you've lost your fuckin' mind!"
"Wufei," began Trowa quietly. "Duo was only being kind. I admitted to being lonely for Quatre and he wanted to cheer me up. I really don't think Quatre would mind..."
Wufei stared at him, his mouth hanging open in shock. He shook his head. Nothing happened. He whacked the side of his head. Nope, still nothing. Duo had wrapped himself in hurt indignation, pouting prettily. Trowa regarded him with his usual off-duty expression of bemused innocence from his single visible emerald eye.
Wufei opened his mouth. He closed it again. He couldn't think of a thing to say. Well, nothing that would mean anything to the pair before him.
"Okay," he sighed. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Just keep me out of it." He turned away, trudging back into the house.
/Oh, they are so dead.../ "But it's not my fault!" he muttered aloud.
~*~
"Oh, hi, Quatre," Wufei said brightly into the phone, mentally crossing his fingers that the lovely blond wouldn't ask any direct questions. "How are things going there?"
Quatre's sigh came from the bottom of his boots. "This is a mess... I still can't believe it... We're still negotiating. How is Duo feeling?"
Wufei looked out his window at Trowa and Duo on top of a stone table, going at it like a pair of minks in heat. He looked around the room. Where the hell was that box...? "Um... He seems to be fine, physically. His memory still hasn't come back."
"Oh, dear! Isn't Sally worried?"
"She says it'll just take time." Trowa had Duo pinned down now, licking the delicate skin under his arms. Duo giggled hysterically. "Heero's still out on a mission; maybe something will happen when he gets back." /Yep, a double murder.../ "So, nothing's been decided..?" He looked under the table, then spotted the box of tissues on top of the console. /How the hell did it get up there?/
"No..." Suddenly Quatre gave a miserable wail. "I just don't understand this whole mess! I can't believe my father would do this to me! I mean, yes, we didn't see eye to eye those last years. If he'd done it then, as a punishment or a condition of allowing me to be a Gundam pilot, I might understand. I still wouldn't like it, but at least it would have some logic! But he did this when I was just a child!" His voice sank to a trembling whisper. "I just don't get it..."
Poor Quatre... It probably was a shock to discover that he was supposed to be getting married next month, to a woman he'd never met. But arranged marriages weren't that uncommon in Quatre's part of the world, even now.
Hell, his family had arranged Wufei's marriage. He met his bride for the first time when her maid lifted the veil after the ceremony. He never even thought about trying to get out of it; it was a matter of honor and duty to his Clan. Still, he'd at least had advance warning. Quatre knew nothing about it until Iria called.
"Is Trowa around?" Quatre sighed.
That snapped Wufei back to the all-too-complicated present. "Uh... I think he and Duo are doing some stuff together..." he hedged. Sure enough, another glance told him that they were still at it. This time Duo was attempting to swallow Trowa's cock. Wufei reached absently for the box of tissues. "Duo seems to like hanging around him right now."
"Oh, that's good. Trowa's a very kind person. Oh, not that you aren't!" Quatre amended hastily. "It's only that you and Duo... seem to rub each other the wrong way... No offense..."
"None taken..." He tilted his head back, a wad of tissues absorbing the blood. "So, when do you expect to be back?"
"Oh god, I don't know! Neither of us will budge, so it may be a while."
/Great. Just fuckin' great./
"Maybe if you took a break?" he suggested hopefully. "You know, give everyone a chance to step back, cool down and get a fresh perspective?"
"I would like to get out of here... Oh, I miss Trowa so damn much!"
"And I know he misses you!" Wufei replied heartily.
"Are you okay, Wufei? You sound strange."
"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine. Just a little hay fever." He flopped onto the bed, head hanging back off the edge. It seemed to help the nosebleeds.
"I believe I will ask for some time." Quatre sighed dreamily. "I miss cuddling with Trowa. And the sex too, of course!" he laughed "Thanks for the suggestion, Wufei. I'll be back soon. Bye!"
"Yeah," said Wufei slowly to the dead line. "See you soon..."
Maybe he could get Duo out of the way for a few days... Take him somewhere... Chain him in the basement...
/Crap. Why me?!/
~*~
"Wufei!"
He looked around at that call. One of Howard's techs was running headlong down the path from the hanger.
"Wufei! We got trouble!"
/Again?! Dear god, what now...?/
"Yeah?" he muttered in resignation. "OZ has us surrounded?"
"Worse! Quatre's coming up the drive and Wing Zero just landed!"
"Oh." His motorcycle sat a hundred meters away, gassed and ready to go. He could hop on and take off. He cast a longing look at it, then sighed, and squared his shoulders. "Okay. I'll... I'll handle it..."
The tech nodded in relief. "Thanks, Wufei. Hey, good luck. Sorry."
"Yeah." He turned away, then looked over his shoulder. "It might be a good idea to disarm Wing and Sandrock. Just in case."
~*~
Trowa relaxed on the sofa, Duo curled on his lap, arms wrapped lightly around his neck, mouth tracing a delicious path from his eyelids to the hollow of his throat. Trowa wasn't precisely drowsing, but his mind was wandering in a way he seldom had time for as he petted Duo's back.
This alternate version of Duo was certainly interesting, and he couldn't make any claim to stress the past few days, but he still wondered when Quatre would be home. He missed his pretty blond angel even more after Duo's fierce and determined overtures. He could certainly see why Heero was so deeply in love with the braided pilot. Duo definitely put all of himself into his pleasures. He would have made a good courtesan.
But it wasn't right, of course, to take advantage of Duo's generosity. How many times had he called him "Quatre" during sex? More than a few, he thought. That wasn't kind. Damn, he missed Quatre.
"Trowa..."
He opened his eyes.
Duo's violet gaze regarded him happily.
"Yes, Duo?"
"Thank you for being such good company."
"You're welcome. You're very good company yourself."
"I hope Quatre comes back soon so that you can be really happy again."
Trowa smiled, barely. Oh, very interesting, and very sweet, too. And he wondered how Heero would react to Duo's sweetness.
~*~
Heero walked through the French doors from the garden.
Quatre came in from the hall.
They both stopped. They both stared. Both jaws dropped.
"Trowa!" snarled Heero.
"Duo!" cried Quatre.
"What the hell is going on here?!" they yelled as one voice.
~*~
Wufei peeked into the room where the shouting was going on. Trowa and Duo were back to back, being harangued by Heero and Quatre, respectively. No one was listening to anyone.
"Guys!" he yelled. "Hey, guys! Can we discuss this quietly?"
"Goddammit, Trowa! How could you take advantage of his condition?!"
"Duo, how could you do this to me?!"
"With your past!"
"I thought you were my friend!"
"Damn it!"
Tempers boiled over. Fists were clenched. Punches were thrown.
Trowa and Duo collapsed into an untidy sprawl on the floor between Heero and Quatre.
"Oh, shit!" gasped Wufei. He started toward them.
The two volatile pilots stared at their respective lovers, unconscious on the floor. They looked at each other.
"Look what you did to my --" they shouted in unison.
"- Duo!"
"- Trowa!"
"Guys!" Wufei jumped between them.
Tempers boiled over. Fists were clenched. Punches were thrown. Again.
Wufei joined Trowa and Duo on the floor.
~*~
Heero and Quatre stared at the unconscious bodies on the floor.
"K'so," said Heero softly.
"Oh," whispered Quatre.
"Ummm..." said both of the young men.
"This is not good."
"Not good at all..."
"I didn't mean to hit Wufei..."
"Neither did I..."
"I was aiming at you..."
"Same here..."
"He's going to kill us..."
"He sure is..."
They looked at each other.
"Quatre..."
"Heero..."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too."
"What do we do now?"
"Pray?"
~*~
It took ten minutes of smelling salts and fanning with a magazine before Duo and Trowa began come around. Wufei was still out cold, and Heero was becoming concerned.
Trowa opened his eyes and immediately rubbed his jaw. "What... happened..?"
"Oh, Trowa!" cried Quatre, hugging him. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what-!"
Duo took a deep breath, blinked, then glared at Heero. "What was that for?! Are you guys nuts?!" He swiped his hair away from his face.
Heero was taken aback. "Duo, you recognize me?"
"Of course, I recognize you! You're not wearing a disguise!" He tossed his head, flipping his hair over his shoulder.
Quatre gaped at him. "But... You had amnesia!"
Trowa sat up a bit unsteadily. "Yes. You didn't remember any of us."
"Oh, please!" Duo snorted. "Play that game with someone else! What is with this hair?!" he snarled, becoming tangled in the long loose strands. He noticed Wufei prone on the sofa. "Hey! What's wrong with Wu-man?"
Heero and Quatre looked at each other.
"Ummm..."
"Hn..."
"It's kind of a long story," began Quatre, blushing.
"Yes," agreed Heero quickly.
"Very long," added Trowa with a glance at the others.
"And?" snapped Duo impatiently, still fighting with his hair.
"Ummm..."
"Hn..."
"We really should try to get Wufei to wake up," interjected Trowa. "He's been out a long time."
Duo eyed them all suspiciously. "I wanna know who the fuck hit me! And why is my hair down?!"
The three traded looks. Finally, Quatre said faintly, "Um, that would be me..."
Duo stared open-mouthed, forgetting about his hair. "You! What the hell for?!"
Again the three pilots traded guilty looks.
Before anyone could reply, a moan came from the boy on the sofa. Heero and Quatre leapt to his side, both apologizing. Duo crawled across the floor (he was still too wobbly to stand) to ask, "Oi, Wu-man, are you okay?"
"Maxwell," he grumbled. "Don't call me that..." Then his eyes flew open and he tried to sit up.
"Hey, hey! Take it easy! You've been out for a while, man! You might have a concussion." Duo pushed him flat again.
"You're back!" Wufei yelled. "Your memory's back!"
Duo goggled at him. "Wufei! You mean I really did have amnesia?!" He grabbed the Chinese pilot's arm. "What the hell is going on?!" he demanded frantically. "What did I do to deserve being punched out?"
Wufei sat up carefully. "Ask Trowa," he muttered, rubbing his jaw and glaring at the ashen pilot.
The young Frenchman blanched even more as four sets of eyes focused on him. "It was my fault..." he said miserably. "Duo isn't to blame at all."
"Huh?!"
"Oh..."
"Trowa..."
"I'm sorry, Quatre," he whispered. "I am a disgusting human being. I betrayed your trust and our love." Quatre's lower lip trembled. "I'm sorry, Duo. I took advantage of your illness for my own purposes." Duo stared at him, no more enlightened than when he first awakened. "I'm sorry, Heero. I trespassed. I deserve whatever punishment you give me." Heero frowned.
"This is not making anything clear. What did you do, Trowa?"
"I... I slept with Duo."
"YOU WHAT?!?!?!" screamed Duo, scrambling to his feet. "Shitshitshit!" He grabbed a chair and looked wildly at Heero. "He couldn't have! Heero, I swear I couldn't forget something like that!"
Quatre's face crumpled into tears. "Trowa," he breathed. "Oh, Trowa..."
Heero stared at him. He looked at Wufei, who glared right back at him.
"Don't start with me, Yuy!" he snarled. "It's not my fault they're a pair of nutcases!"
"Oh, ohhh..." moaned Duo, sinking to his knees once again and hiding his face. "Wu-man, please tell me this is a joke! Please!"
"Sorry, Maxwell," said Wufei, getting shakily to his feet. "And don't call me Wu-man! Now, if you lunatics don't mind I'm getting the hell out of this asylum." He pointed to Trowa and Duo. "You two have made me crazy for days." He waved at Heero and Quatre. "And you two cold cocked me! I've had it with all of you!"
"Wufei," began Heero, but the Chinese youth waved it away.
"I'll be back when I damn well feel like it." He rubbed his temples, making a snake trail toward the door. "Oh, my head... Buncha damned idiots," he muttered darkly.
"Shit..." moaned Duo again. "Heero... Heero, you believe me, don't you?" he begged plaintively.
Heero glared at Trowa as he lifted Duo onto the sofa, and gave him what passed (from Heero Yuy) as a reassuring smile.
Quatre's eyes widened as an even more hideous thought hit him. "This didn't... You didn't..." He caught his breath. "Not in our bed!" he cried.
Trowa emitted a strangled gasp. "Oh, little one! Of course not! Never!"
Heero's glare returned, along with the muscle tic in his cheek. "In OUR bed?!" he growled ominously. Duo hiccuped and grabbed Heero's shoulder, looking about to faint again.
"No!" yelled Trowa. "We... we never actually made it upstairs..." he admitted faintly. /Oh, I am just so dead. Hacked to pieces, shot full of holes, trampled underfoot and left for the crows to eat dead, burned and buried. Shit./
"Just how far did you actually make it?" Heero snarled.
Trowa closed his eyes miserably. "...."
"I didn't hear you!"
"Um... That sofa..."
Duo shrieked, rocketing off the tainted furniture. He collapsed on the hearth, curling into a ball, trembling like a leaf in a santana. Heero scrambled after him to gather him into his arms, any anger he might have felt toward his lover gone as Duo clung to him, hyperventilating.
Quatre looked at the sofa. He looked at Trowa. He looked at the sofa again. "It will have to be burned," he said in a strangely calm voice.
"Heero, I didn't mean to! I don't remember!" Duo gasped.
Quatre drew himself up regally. "The sofa will be burned," he pronounced again. "Trowa."
"Yes, little one?" whispered Trowa.
"Upstairs. Now."
"Yes, sir," he replied meekly.
"Heero," whimpered Duo faintly. "My head hurts... I don't feel good..." Heero patted his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he inquired of Quatre, who was obviously in field command mode.
"Taking charge," he replied grimly, and followed Trowa out of the room.
Heero stared after him until Duo plucked at his shirt. "Heero, are you mad at me?" he asked plaintively.
He looked down, startled. "No, baby, I'm not mad at you. Let's go upstairs. You should lie down."
"Yeah... I have such a headache... Can I have an ice pack?" he whined.
"Sure, baby. I'll get you some aspirin too."
"You're a great guy, Heero, no matter what anyone says."
"Hn."
~*~
Wufei sat on his bike, phone at his ear, listening to the ringing on the other end of the line. Finally, someone picked up.
"Doctor Po, please. Tell her it's Chang Wufei. Thank you."
"Wufei! Hello! How are things going? Is Duo any better?"
"Duo is just dandy," he sneered before he could stop himself. "Sorry, Doctor. Duo's memory has come back, but there was a bit of a problem." He rubbed his face where he'd been hit. /Dammit, it's probably black and blue by now./
"What sort of problem?" she asked warily. These were Gundam pilots, after all.
"Um... May I tell you about it in person?"
"Of course, Wufei," she smiled. "When would you like to get together?"
"Now?"
"All right. Come to the clinic. I'll have tea waiting."
"Some ice also, please. And your imaging machine."
"Wufei?"
He sighed. "I just want to know nothing's broken."
"Wufei!"
"I'll tell you all about it when I get there. Twenty minutes. Thanks, Doctor."
~*~
"Quatre, are you all right?" asked Heero when the blond appeared in the kitchen.
"I'm fine, Heero, why do you ask?" He opened the refrigerator and took out a soda.
Heero looked at Sandrock's pilot. "You went into command mode."
Quatre nodded thoughtfully. "So I did."
"Are you still angry with Trowa?"
"You know, Heero, I don't ever remember you being so curious."
"I don't ever remember you coldcocking my lover."
"Touché." He took a drink of soda. "No, I'm not still angry with Trowa. We discussed the... the incident. I've decided that Trowa will return to the compound with me when I go back to finish the negotiations. My future 'bride' might as well know the real reason I don't want to marry her. Trowa wasn't trying to sneak something past me; he was just... lonely. And apparently Duo was quite different under the influence of the amnesia." He looked at Heero thoughtfully. "I'm kind of sorry I missed that. I've never thought of Duo as sweet."
Heero snorted. "He's always seemed sweet to me."
Quatre smiled. "You love him."
~*~
"They're crazy, every single one of them."
"Does that mean you won't go back?"
"Of course not. It means I'm not baby sitting Maxwell again. I'll go back in a couple of days. Unless you'd prefer I left sooner..?"
"Don't be silly, Wufei. I'm enjoying this."
"So am I..."
OWARI
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