Author's Note: Sorry for the huge delay. Between working on Witness, having a life from Hell, and being a bit unwell, I've seriously fallen behind on this. Here's hoping I can make the updates more consistent again! Thanks to all who have waited patiently and stuck with this story.
The Academy Part 8
Roadblocks
Trowa was still in a rare mood when he and Heero sprinted across the campus later that afternoon, heading for obstacle class. Not only had he gotten to enjoy his former teammate's company throughout demolitions, but they were about to rejoin their lovers for the remainder of the day.
"Slow it down, Barton," Heero chided him as they neared the bleachers. "Don't want to burn up all your energy before obstacles."
The former circus performer grinned widely, slowing to a jog. "I've got plenty left," he assured the Japanese boy. "After finding out there's a canine unit here--I just can't wait to tell Quatre!"
But there was no opportunity for chit-chat as they arrived where the rest of the cadets were gathering. It was the first time virtually the entire second-year class at the Academy was together in one place, since obstacles were required training for cadets at all skill levels. And since they were all in one place, the divisions were almost painfully obvious.
Heero and Trowa slipped up beside Duo and Quatre, nodding greetings to Jase, Austin and others from boot camp, as well as Rev and Cooper. On the opposite side of the bleachers, Reginald Darlian and his crew were clustered together in a clear display of solidarity. Of course, there were other small groups--obvious bands of friends--but the two main factions were quite apparent.
In fact, they were obvious enough to attract the attention of the instructors, when they arrived. Lieutenants Li and Wolfe were in charge of the class, and showed up flanked by two corporals to assist them.
"First things first," Lieutenant Wolfe called out after a quick assessment of the situation. "I want you boys lined up alphabetically...left to right."
It took a few moments for all the cadets to sort themselves out. And naturally Duo ended up next to Cooper, and not far from Austin, while Quatre and Heero were at the end.
The lieutenant scanned the line with a satisfied smirk. "Does anyone know why you're lined up this way?"
"Alphabet discrimination?" Duo guessed. "People whose names start with A always get stuck going first, sir."
"Not even close," grinned the officer, unfazed by the wisecrack.
"Because we're a team, sir!" Reginald sang out clearly.
Duo rolled his eyes and glanced down the line at Quatre, meeting an amused gaze.
Lieutenant Wolfe gave a nod. "And how does lining you up this way promote teamwork?"
"We can't stay in our pre-formed groups," Quatre volunteered. "It forces us to meet new people."
Duo shot him a scathing look and rubbed at the end of his nose significantly. Brown noser!
Quatre waited until the lieutenant looked away from him and surreptitiously stuck his tongue out at Duo in a lightning fast reply.
"Exactly. And next time we may line up by height, or alphabetically by first names, or any way I choose--because I will not watch you boys cluster in little groups of three or four friends. You will learn to rely on everyone at this academy as a teammate. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir!" came the chorus of replies...some more enthusiastic than others.
"All right then--Archer, lead the group in five laps around the outside of the course. Everyone stay in line and stay close!"
They set off at a steady run, with Rev setting a pace that was fast, but not grueling. Having been at the Academy the year before, he knew the drill, and knew that too quick a pace would burn them all out and cause the line to straggle.
Lieutenant Wolfe looked aside at his partner, shaking his head dubiously. "I give it a week before every cadet here knows exactly who came in through Peacecraft," he sighed.
The other man nodded. "It's not really the kind of secret that can be kept--not when they made the decision to put the boot camp kids into the second-year class. Maybe if they were coming in as freshmen..."
"I don't know what Merquise was thinking."
"It wasn't his call, really. It was up to the whole Board of Directors. And you know how well bureaucrats function--especially in large groups."
Wolfe chuckled wryly. "They should prohibit bureaucrats from having anything to do with military training."
His partner chuckled. "I'm with you on that one!"
They went back to watching their cadets run, scribbling an occasional comment on the clipboard Li was carrying, and making some tentative plans for the training regimen.
When the boys were back in their lineup, Wolfe explained the course, using the most basic loop for their first venture. The way the course was designed, obstacles could be included or bypassed, depending on the level of training. Courses could be run in pairs, groups, or singly. And while the shortest run could be completed in a matter of minutes, there were obstacles on the advanced side that required planning and teamwork if they were to be beaten at all.
Captain Chang had been the designer, after all.
The first run through obstacles was done in alphabetical order, just like the boys were lined up. It was simple enough--a dash through tires, a quick scramble under barbed wire, scaling a short wall, and running across a rope bridge, followed by a sprint to the finish.
It was essentially child's play compared to some of the courses Chang had made the boot camp boys run, and they exchanged smug glances as the first boy ran the obstacles.
Lieutenant Li made notes as each cadet took a turn, while Wolfe shouted out encouragement or criticism, depending on how the runner was handling the course.
After the first run-through, both men looked pleased, though they made it a point to tone it down in front of the boys.
"Not bad for a bunch of kids soft from summer break," Wolfe said, stalking the line with a vague smirk on his lips.
Duo exchanged a look with Austin and mouthed the words "summer break" with a skeptical look. He hardly considered the month off as an entire summer break--not that he'd ever had one anyway, living the life he had before boot camp.
Austin grinned back, but caught Wolfe's keen eye. "Something amusing, Pritchard?"
"Uh--no sir."
"How about you, Maxwell?"
Duo eyed him defiantly. "Just wondering when we'll graduate from the 'kiddy course,' sir."
Murmurs went up and down the line at his cheeky reply; but Lieutenant Wolfe refused to be baited. Instead he laughed aloud. "You'll move up to more difficult courses when you can do this one faster than Captain Chang's time."
Well, shit.
"What's our time to beat, sir?" Reginald called from his place in line, his tone almost as defiant as Duo's.
The lieutenant eyed his cadets appraisingly. "Got a bunch of hotshots, do I?" He gave a curt nod. "Fine. We'll run the course in pairs--make it into a race. Maybe the extra competition will spur you kids to move like you haven't got lead in your asses! If more than two of you can beat Chang's average time, we'll move up to tougher courses next class." He gestured to the first and last cadets in line. "Archer and Yuy--you two take your marks."
They lined up side by side, Heero sparing an over the shoulder glance at Duo to chide him for making waves. But then as the start signal was given, the Japanese boy was all business, focused on beating not only Rev, but also whatever Wufei's time had been. And he did notice the lieutenant hadn't bothered to tell them what their target time was.
Nonetheless, when he dashed across the finish line several feet ahead of Rev, Lieutenant Wolfe gave him a nod of approval. "Better!" he called out, clicking off his stopwatch and holding it out for Lieutenant Li to note the time. "Next up--Barton and Winner."
Duo smirked as he watched his two friends square off at the starting line. While he expected Trowa to win on a straightforward speed course like this, he wondered if the athletic boy might hold back to let his lover make a good showing.
But when the start came, all bets were off, and it was clear both boys were trying to win. Regardless of being lovers, they had a competitive spirit that wouldn't be denied.
The two lieutenants exchanged glances as well, knowing enough about the boot camp boys to realize that the two cadets weren't holding back, despite their relationship. They crossed the line within inches of each other, though as predicted, Trowa edged Quatre out--barely.
"Good race," Quatre said, slapping his partner on the shoulder as they walked back to the line.
Wolfe made a gesture with the clipboard. "See that, boys? Good sportsmanship matters, too--especially here. Some day you might be in combat together, and it'd be nice to know you can rely on a teammate to watch your back regardless of any competitive training." He called up the next pair, and sent them sprinting off to complete the course.
Duo sighed deeply, his gaze roaming towards Reginald. There was just no way he could picture the arrogant jock watching his back. Frankly, he didn't intend to ever turn his back on the boy he despised so much.
But he couldn't help watching as Reginald went up against another football player in his run through the course.
In spite of his size, Reggie was damned graceful. Even Duo had to admit it--at least to himself. The boy danced through the tires with effortless speed, and slid under the barbed wire so smoothly he didn't lose a moment. His powerful arms pulled him through that obstacle in record time, and he scaled the wall in a few swift movements. Then he was balancing across the rope bridge and sprinting to the finish with impressive speed.
"Excellent!" called out Lieutenant Wolfe. He gave the boy a slap on the back as he jogged past. "Best time so far."
Duo rolled his eyes, biting his tongue to keep from sticking it out as Reggie looked imperiously at him on the way past.
All too soon Duo and Austin were lined up to race, exchanging good-natured smirks.
"Try to keep up, runt," Austin teased.
"Watch my smoke," came the quick retort.
And then they were off, both trying to show the supercilious jocks what a couple of juvenile delinquents could do.
Duo hadn't forgotten to tuck in his braid; it was becoming second nature to keep it out of harm's way during training. He flew through the tires, harking back to the days of dodging cops and other enemies on L2, and slipped under the barbed wire like a snake slithering through grass. When he came up on the other side, he concentrated on scrambling over the wall in record time, hoping that his balance on the rope bridge might gain him time over Reggie's impressive score.
He did, indeed, dash lightly across the bridge and when his feet hit the dirt again, he ran as if his life depended on it. There was no way he was going to let a bunch of swaggering jocks make him look bad!
"Maxwell--how the hell--?" Lieutenant Wolfe looked at his stopwatch in disbelief, and then just grinned and shook his head, turning back to the lineup. "Okay, kids--looks like you'll get to move up to the bigger course next class. Five of you made or beat Chang's score." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Maxwell edged out Darlian by two-tenths of a second. Yuy was third, and Winner and Barton qualified as well."
Austin and Duo exchanged high-fives as they headed back to their places in line.
Reginald scowled darkly in Duo's direction as he passed, and the braided boy smiled triumphantly, once again resisting the urge to flip him the finger. He just felt too damned good about finally gaining a victory against the arrogant jock to spoil it by acting childish.
"Sir?" Reginald spoke up firmly. "Permission to make another run?"
The lieutenant eyed him for a long moment, and then shook his head. "No need, Darlian. You did well enough."
"But, sir--" The sidelong glance Reggie threw at Duo said it all.
"No, Darlian. We're moving on to PT. I want everyone in position for pushups--now!"
The boys obediently dropped to the ground, and for the remainder of the class their instructors worked them on upper body strength, preparing them for the more strenuous climbs some of the advanced obstacles would require.
~*~
When class ended, the group dispersed, back into the smaller cliques they'd started in, and headed back to their dorms for showers before dinner.
"Nice job, Duo!" Jase said warmly, sauntering along between the braided boy and Austin. "Way to show 'em what an L2 brat can do!"
Duo grinned back at him. "Colony pride, baby."
"Nothing to do with that," Trowa chided from his other side. "You just didn't want to be beaten by a big-shot jock."
"Too true," Duo admitted. "Too true."
Heero shook his head, though he was smiling slightly. "Duo, you need to just relax. There's no reason for you to compete with Reginald."
"Sure there is. He bugs me." Duo narrowed his eyes. "And you want to beat him too, Yuy. I could see it in your face when he talked about astrophysics. Tell me you weren't gloating even a little bit that you got in when he didn't."
"I wasn't."
"Psh--yeah, right."
Heero shrugged. "Maybe a little." He flashed a rather grim look at Duo. "I'll admit to having a slight competitive streak. And, by the way, you beat my obstacle course time, too."
"Oh yeah." Duo glanced aside at Heero, wondering if his lover was perturbed at having been beaten. "Not mad about that, are you?"
"I'm only mad at myself--not you. I expected you to do your best, and you did."
"Are you saying you didn't?"
"I'm saying I need to try harder next time," Heero replied noncommittally. "To beat both you and Darlian."
"Sore loser," muttered Duo, bumping his shoulder into Heero's teasingly as they walked. "Make it up to you later," he added in a hopeful whisper.
"Friday," Heero said firmly. "You bet your ass you will."
Duo grinned widely, looking forward to his Friday night date with his lover. And yeah, he was pretty sure his ass was going to be very involved.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" Quatre asked, as they paused in the quadrangle before heading for their individual dorms. "Library again, after dinner?"
"Sounds good to me," Duo shrugged. "You in, Yuy?"
"Sure."
Duo headed off with Rev and Austin, while Jase waited for Trowa.
The auburn-haired boy dawdled a moment, looking rather shyly at Quatre. "Y'wanna use the shower at my dorm?" he offered. "I wanted to tell you about someone I met earlier today."
Quatre glanced at Heero. "See you at dinner?"
"Sure," Heero shrugged, knowing that Trowa wanted to talk about Fox Endicott and the canine unit. "Later!"
Quatre fell in between Jase and Trowa, heading for Saturn. "So--who'd you meet?" he asked curiously, knowing his lover didn't generally make friends at the drop of a hat.
"Fox Endicott...and Triton, his ordnance dog."
The blonde chuckled warmly, eyes alight. "You found a dog? Here?" He shook his head. "Why does that not surprise me?"
Trowa ducked his head, smiling shyly as he explained how the dog had been running from its handler when they encountered it. "And he's a border collie," he concluded, eyes shining with happiness. "Come to find out there are three of them. And Fox gets to help with the training. He said we can come to the kennels on Friday, if you want to."
"Of course I do," Quatre asserted, a little overwhelmed by one of the longest speeches Trowa had ever made. But then, he knew how much his friend loved animals. "I suppose this will lead to you wanting to get into the canine program--"
Trowa hesitated, frowning a little. "I--I don't know. I came for the mobile suit training--but if I could work with the dogs on the side a bit, I guess I might want to."
"You know you want to," Quatre teased.
"You think they'll let you?" Jase piped up from Quatre's other side. "I mean, mobile suit studies are pretty intense from all I've heard. You might not have time for both."
"I know that," Trowa admitted. "And piloting definitely comes first." He gave a small shrug. "Won't hurt to at least find out about the dogs, though. Will it?"
"Certainly not," Quatre assured him. "Honestly, if that kid Fox can find the time, I'll bet you will, too."
"Yeah--Fox seems pretty cool," Trowa added. "His dad's the supply sergeant, I think he said."
Quatre nodded, feeling vaguely jealous. But just as quickly, he quelled that feeling. Obviously Trowa was taken with the dog--not the boy he'd met. And he'd said nothing to indicate otherwise. There was no reason for the blonde to imagine a threat where none existed.
But he was kind of glad he'd get to meet Fox on Friday--just to calm his fears.
He knew Duo would laugh at the very notion--that Quatre Winner was insecure about keeping his lover interested. The braided boy would be positively hysterical with amusement at the thought.
And yet, the doubt was there. No matter how famous his name was, and how much money his family controlled, Quatre had his own share of insecurities. Lots of them.
For one thing, he'd often hesitated to make new friends, worried that they were only interested in associating with him because of his social standing. And for another, there was the pressure to live up to the reputation. While he joked about it with Duo, citing the weight the Winner name carried over Darlian's, he simultaneously worried that he might somehow fall short of the obligation it carried.
Standing up to his father about going to the Academy had been Quatre's first serious rebellion, and he knew deep down that without the backing of his teammates, he'd never have been able to see it through.
He'd managed to dodge a bullet when it came to revealing his relationship with Trowa. But he thought his father knew--or at least suspected. And if the Winner patriarch decided to disown his son for being gay, Quatre wasn't sure what he'd do.
While his place at the Academy was not dependent on his family's reputation, he still felt like the name was a sort of shield--a guarantee against failure. Without it, he'd have only his own skills and strengths to rely on. And he wasn't at all certain he wanted to find out if they were enough.
"Quat--? You okay?"
He realized they were at the steps to the dorm, and Jase had gone on ahead, leaving him alone with Trowa--who was looking very worried.
"Oh--yes. Just thinking."
"About what?" asked the green-eyed boy gently, looking searchingly at his lover.
"Things. My family." Quatre looked up cautiously. "Us."
Trowa winced a little at the last word. "Second thoughts?" he asked quietly.
"No! Oh no! Not at all!" Quatre blurted hastily, reaching out to grab Trowa's hand without thinking. "I was just--you know--worrying a little about facing my dad some day."
Trowa shook his head slightly. "How'd you get from us talking about dogs, to--that?"
Quatre managed a wan smile. "I'm not really sure. Just--my mind took a little detour. I guess I was hoping a guy with a dog wouldn't steal you from me."
This time the auburn-haired boy looked shocked. "Steal me? God, Quat--no way in Hell!" He frowned deeply. "How'd you--why would you think--?"
Quatre laughed, shaking his head and pulling Trowa towards the door. "Forget about it," he urged. "Let's get cleaned up and head for the mess hall. I must be lightheaded from hunger or something."
Trowa simply sighed and followed his lover, wondering how the beautiful blonde boy could possibly think anyone else would turn his head. Did Quatre not realize how wonderful he was?
But then--maybe not. Maybe he didn't--any more than a part-time circus clown could fathom why a guy with Quatre's brains, money and beauty would want to be with him.
But apparently he did, and Trowa wasn't about to take that for granted. He decided as he followed Quatre down the hallway that he'd find a way to show the gorgeous blonde how very grateful he was for their relationship.
Both boys were too distracted to realize their little hand-holding moment at the dorm entrance had been witnessed.
Two boys, one of whom already had a grudge against Quatre Winner while the other had motives of his own, were surreptitiously watching from between two dorms.
"See? I told you."
"So what's your point? Winner's gay? As disgusting as that is, it's got nothing to do with the meeting tomorrow night."
"But it does! Don't you wonder where he met someone like Barton?"
"How should I know? Maybe Barton's another one of the elite rich."
"Barton's about as far from being elite and rich as the L2 street trash he and Winner hang around with. I'm tellin' you, they met at boot camp. You do a little snooping; have your spy in the bursar's office check and you'll see I'm not bullshitting you. Barton's fees were paid by the Peacecraft Foundation...just like Winner's. And Maxwell's."
A wary look was exchanged. "You better be right, or you know what'll happen."
"Yeah, I know," came the rather somber reply. "I've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain."
"What have you got to gain?"
The boy shrugged. "I get to stay here, and as a bonus, I get rid of the competition."
"Competition for what?"
"Heero Yuy."
The two plotters slipped away, one heading for supper, and the other back to his friends to share the newest information about the identities of the kids from Camp Peacecraft.
~*~
"I'm tellin' ya, Quat--the secret to infiltration is blending in--" Duo said in as loud a whisper as he dared.
Quatre shook his head stubbornly. "Lieutenant Gervais said stealth was the best approach."
The boys were in the library, once again clustered in study groups as they reviewed the material from their latest classes.
"Stealth sounds good to me," Trowa inserted, backing Quatre to the hilt. "Honestly, you want to be invisible."
"What better place to hide than in plain sight?" Duo countered. "Seriously. I read ahead in the book, and there's a whole chapter on making yourself inconspicuous by going along with the crowd."
Heero shook his head. "I disagree. How would you accomplish a mission if you had to stay in formation?"
"I'm not talkin' about completing a mission. I'm talking about getting in the door," Duo riposted. "Once you're in, you can slip off to take care of business."
"That's more like undercover work than infiltration."
"No. Undercover work would mean staying in whatever role you used to get in for a longer period of time."
The four boys from Team Wing had ended up debating infiltration techniques as they chose topics for term papers that had already been assigned.
As Duo put it, they were tossed into the deep end right off the bat--given a workload and level of material that didn't allow for laziness or procrastination.
On the other hand, it made for some lively debates, as each boy had a slightly different take on the subject. Quatre was all for "knowing thine enemy," while Duo went a step further and suggested emulating them; Trowa liked the idea of remaining inconspicuous, while Heero had to quell his impulse to grab the bull by the horns and make a full frontal assault, and force himself to consider more subtle approaches.
"You don't actually have to be invisible--if you can bypass the security systems and erase all records of your presence," he pointed out.
"Ah, the technical approach!" Duo teased. "So you'd hack their systems and disable security? Not very subtle."
"Maybe my topic isn't subtlety," Heero shrugged. "Maybe it's effectiveness."
"Mine would work, too," Duo huffed, giving his lover a mock glare.
"But when you snuck into the dog kennels, that was out and out stealth," Quatre reminded him. "If we're to adopt your newest method, you'd have had to dress up in a dog suit and stroll right in."
Duo chuckled in spite of himself. "Not exactly what I'm talking about, Quat. Too extreme. But if I had the uniform of a dog handler, it'd be a piece of cake to pretend to be one. Or, heck, I could pretend to be someone assigned to pick up shit; I guarantee you none of the handlers would think twice. They'd be too glad to get out of the messy job themselves."
"Your way calls for some acting ability," Heero noted.
Duo nodded earnestly. "Just call me The Chameleon."
"So you've definitely chosen hiding in plain sight as your topic?" Quatre asked.
"I think so," replied the braided boy. "It worked well enough on the streets."
A vague frown crossed Heero's face at his lover's casual reference to L2 and his tough beginnings, and his hand dropped under the table to land gently on Duo's knee.
Duo didn't even flinch, having seen the slight dip of Heero's shoulder as he reached. "'S okay, 'Ro. Old history. I'm on top of the world now."
Quatre caught the little exchange and smiled brightly. "That reminds me...I sort of have a favor to ask."
"Whatever it is, Quat, you know you've got it," Duo grinned back.
"I want the four of us to go out to dinner this Saturday night."
Duo grimaced, trying to figure out a way to tell Quatre he didn't have any money to his name, save the little bit left over from his trip to L2.
"So long as we go Dutch," Heero replied absently, leafing ahead in his textbook to find the next set of study questions.
Quatre's glance flicked to Duo, and he immediately read the discomfort there. "Uh--I really wanted it to be my treat, Heero," he said quickly. "Kind of a gift from me to the team."
"Quat, you can't," Duo objected. "You already gave us those nice pictures."
"Those were for our graduation," Quatre argued patiently. "This would just be to celebrate our reunion here."
Trowa was scowling at his book, looking almost as uncomfortable as Duo. "You don't need to buy us stuff, Quatre. We're happy just being here."
"And I'd be happy eating something other than mess hall food just this once," Quatre pleaded, frustrated that his puppy eyes wouldn't work unless his lover looked up at him.
When there was no reply, he gave a frustrated huff. "Just think about it--okay?"
Three heads nodded agreement, and they went back to their studies, dropping the little tangent. But that didn't keep Quatre from continuing to think about it, even as they switched to studying calculus.
He hadn't really expected his friends to immediately agree to his idea. He knew neither Duo nor Trowa had much money--which was exactly why he hadn't told them where he wanted to take them to dinner. The five-star restaurant he'd located on line was far out of their price range, even if they'd had the normal resources of seventeen-year-olds.
But if he'd learned one thing by being born a Winner, it was that there was always a way to get what you wanted. If it couldn't be bought, it had to be won--and Quatre had a plan for winning his chance to spoil his friends just a little bit.
His lips curved in a rather devious smile as the phrase "divide and conquer" came to mind. Not that there was any malice in his plan--he had only the best of intentions. But he was going to treat his former teammates to a nice meal if it was the last thing he did!
"Quat--?"
He looked up to find Duo staring at him with a slightly worried expression on his face. "That's a kind of--scary--smile. What are you thinking about?"
Quatre blinked his wide blue eyes, letting his lips go slack. "Oh nothing, really. I just--enjoy calculus. Really."
Duo gave him a fishy look, obviously doubting the lame excuse. But then he just shook his head. "You're a puzzling guy sometimes, Quat. You know that?"
"Psh--you should talk," came a snide comment from Trowa, who had been surreptitiously watching the rather devious look on Quatre's face himself.
"Actually, none of you should be talking!" came a stern voice from behind them.
Heads jerked around to fix startled looks on Lieutenant Catalonia, the head librarian. She, in turn, crossed her arms and scowled, lowering rather distinctive, spiky eyebrows.
Duo gave her an appealing look that didn't even garner a response. "We can't even whisper?"
"This is a place to study, cadets--not socialize!"
"Sorry ma'am," Quatre said quickly, jumping to his friends' defense. "We were discussing term papers, until I sort of got off on a tangent. Won't happen again."
Her expression softened at his conciliatory tone. "Well, try to keep your voices down," she cautioned. "If you become loud enough to disrupt other students, you'll go on report to Captain Chang and be banned from the library for whatever amount of time I deem appropriate. Understood?"
All the boys at the table nodded gravely, watching as she stalked away.
"Get a load of those eyebrows--" Duo breathed in a slightly horrified whisper. "Creepy."
Quatre snorted with laughter, hastily covering his mouth and nose to muffle the noise, and Heero glared in warning. "Maxwell--stop clowning around."
"I'm not," Duo protested in a vehement whisper. "She's scary-lookin'."
"Just because she fell for Quatre's charm instead of yours--" Trowa teased, winking over at his boyfriend.
"She fell for the apology," Duo grumbled in response. "I don't think even Quat's puppy-dog eyes put a dent in her armor. She's one cold fish!"
Quatre gave him a conspiratorial smile. "Give it time, Duo. We can wear her down," he predicted, batting his eyes teasingly.
It was Duo's turn to muffle a laugh; but when Heero's elbow poked him in the ribs--hard--he jumped guiltily and fell silent, glaring at his lover.
"Focus!" Heero hissed sternly. "Or I'll make you spend Friday night studying, instead of enjoying yourself."
Duo gave him a sidelong look. "I might like that--if I were studying anatomy--as in yours."
Heero just shook his head, hiding a faint smirk by turning back to his homework. "Baka."
"Yeah, but your baka," came the smug murmur of a reply.
~*~
The boys stayed at their studies until the library was closing for the night, and then headed back to the dorms as a group. They went first to Heero and Quatre's dorm, dropping those two off, and then Trowa, Rev, and Jase turned aside to head for Saturn, with Austin tagging along to finish making weekend plans with Jase. That left Duo on his own as he headed for Mercury, his mind occupied by the mathematics review Quatre had helped him with, as well as an upcoming project in demolitions.
His attention was pulled back to the here and now as he noticed Reginald Darlian approaching along the sidewalk, headed in the opposite direction.
"Fuck!" he muttered, half-tempted to cut across the grass to avoid the smug jock. But his pride wouldn't let him give ground, and he kept his pace steady and firm.
He had his temper in check as he drew even with the other boy, until Reggie stopped in the middle of the walkway, arms crossed belligerently. "Hey, Maxwell--I know what you are," he said contemptuously.
Indigo eyes narrowed in response. "What I am, Darlian?" He didn't think his sexual orientation would bother that many people, even if it became public knowledge; but he briefly wondered how the football star had figured it out.
"Yeah--an L2 juvenile delinquent piece of street trash."
Duo's jaw dropped, and then he glared hotly. "I dunno where you got your information, asshole. But it's a little out of date. My record's as clean as yours."
"Sure--now that it's been whitewashed." Reggie shook his head. "You don't belong here, Maxwell--you belong back in the gutter you came from."
"An' I suppose you intend to see to it that's where I end up?" Duo sneered.
"I don't have to do a damned thing," came the snide reply. "You'll show your true colors soon enough--"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll either flunk out, or screw up and get expelled," shrugged the other boy. "It's inevitable. A bunch of criminals and punks can't possibly have what it takes to make it through this training program. That will become quite obvious as the material gets more challenging."
"The only one likely to get expelled is someone who goes against the very rules Major Merquise laid out in his speech the other day," Duo pointed out. "As I recall, he forbade harassing anyone who came here through Peacecraft."
Reggie held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "I'm not harassing you, Maxwell. I'm just letting you know--you're not fooling anyone. Hanging around with Yuy, Winner--guys like that. It doesn't hide what you are, and where you're from." He leaned in closer, eyes intent. "Go on home before you drag them down with you."
"Fuck you," Duo said firmly, without hesitation. "I'm here to stay, Darlian. And you better fuckin' get used to it! I earned my place here as much as you did, and I'm going to prove it by kicking your ass in each and every subject there is to learn!"
Reggie snorted skeptically. "The day you can beat me--"
"As I recall, that's exactly what I did in obstacles today," Duo retorted.
The football star flushed at the reminder, his expression going dark. "Enjoy it while you can," he cautioned. "That'll be the last victory you taste."
"That a threat?" Duo asked, his tone dangerous.
"A promise."
Duo shook his head. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Darlian." He cocked his head slightly, fixing a calculating look on the other boy. "You mess with me, and you'll lose."
"Gonna run crying to Merquise?" taunted Reggie. "Tell him someone doesn't agree with his rule book?"
Duo smiled icily. "Hell, no. I fight my own battles, Reg. I'll bring it right to your doorstep if you cross me...or any of the other Peacecraft kids for that matter...assuming you can even find out who they are." It had occurred to him that when Reggie mentioned Heero and Quatre, he didn't seem to associate them with Camp Peacecraft. It was entirely possible that so far his was the only name compromised...and he meant to keep it that way.
"We'll find out," Reggie promised. "It'll be obvious when the first quarter exam scores are posted."
"Man--you're really clueless, aren't you?" Duo said pityingly. He decided right then that there was no point in continuing the posturing. "So long, Darlian. See you in obstacles." He gave a jaunty wave of his hand and turned away, walking briskly across the quad to his dorm before the other boy could try to prolong the encounter. "Stupid, macho ass."
TBC...
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