Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 2 Reign ❯ In Plain Sight ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter Fourteen: In Plain Sight

"Ouch."

"What?"

My eyes opened instantly at Duo's voice, and I jumped again, blinking up at him in utter confusion.

After staring at me a long moment in his own confusion, he smirked, then turned and walked off.

Where the fuck am I?

It took me a long moment for anything to come back to me-and at first it was only the memory of Duo gesturing for me to follow him as Wufei disappeared. That didn't explain why I hurt all over…or why I wasn't in my own bed.

"Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"Oh, so you did drink too much last night," he noted helpfully, "And here I thought I was the only one full of shit."

"What?"

He laughed.

"Duo, be nice." Selena muttered from somewhere beyond him.

I sat up in an instant, blinking at the woman and her cut lip as things rushed at me. It didn't take too long for me to remember that Duo had been beating her…except…

"Good morning, Heero." Selena said sweetly, moving behind Duo with her hands on his hips, "I hope that couch wasn't too bad. I told Duo to move you to a room."

Duo gave her the kind of look that lovers exchange, but didn't reply.

She giggled.

…but he'd been beating her, hadn't he? My mind wasn't gathering things correctly. Facts were obscured and the pounding of my head made it all that much harder to think straight.

"Where's…Relena?" I asked finally.

"Probably taking a shower." Duo was fixing food and already showered, Selena was still wearing a t-shirt and sweat-pants.

"What time is it?"

"It's six-thirty A.M. on Monday, September eighteenth." Duo announced in an amused-announcer tone, "It looks like the weather today will be foggy with a chance of rain."

Selena had started giggling.

"But this evenings forecast…" he looped his arm around Selena's waist, moving down to be in her face as he pulled her to him, "It's gonna get hot."

Selena giggled harder, kissing him a moment before blushing and looking to me. She shoved him off and got something out of the fridge as he went back to cooking, then came around and offered me a water bottle.

"Thanks." I muttered, staring at her in amazement as she sat next to me on the couch and curled into one corner. I didn't know what to say to either of them, though I was now seeing a huge bruise in the middle of Duo's back. "Did…I…do that?" I asked, aware that we fought, but also aware that he didn't seem to hold a grudge.

"What?" Selena asked, turning to look, then snort, "No, I did that."

"Oh."

"Oh," she agreed, "That should mean that…what? He wasn't beating me? Oh, Heero, it's great that you've realized the truth."

I gave her a level look, which she returned easily.

"What are you two mumbling about?" Duo asked curiously, turning to look at us.

"Nothing, Mike." Selena put the matter off entirely, "You were right, though. It's foggy today with a chance of showers…though technically, it's gonna get kinda cold tonight."

"Outside, maybe," he noted.

Selena flashed me a grin.

I sighed, sitting right in my seat and running my hands over my face.

"Drink your water." Selena ordered, "Relena will probably want to argue this morning."

Relena herself hadn't been able to accept that Duo had beat Selena, and then there'd been the fact that he and I had actually fought. It hadn't been any small exchange of blows, either. We'd been forced apart. We'd broken from that and fought again. It had all been very dramatic. The fact that I was drunk hadn't meant shit to Duo, either. Hadn't meant anything to Relena, come to think of it.

I rubbed my eye tiredly.

"Heero," Selena muttered, pointing to the water bottle.

I sighed, cracking the thing open and focusing on the news. It was going on about increased gang activity in Newport, which set my teeth on edge. If they were broadcasting syndicate bull-shit…

"Can I kill him?" Duo asked suddenly, causing me to jump.

"No." Selena replied shortly, as if this was an argument they'd had.

"But…" Duo muttered.

"No," Selena repeated.

I focused on Duo a long moment before realizing he was watching the television with narrowed eyes. I looked back myself, trying to figure out who he wanted to kill. The screen had flashed to a pre-recorded blip from a reporter on the field. The camera was panning over a line of syndicate pains in my ass-and focused on Nathan Prow. He was by no means a leader of the Newport syndicate, but he definitely was a high ranker.

"Should I ask?" I asked Selena.

"He's the one that ordered the hit on her." Duo's voice was an evil purr, as if it pleased him to talk about it-to think about this person.

Selena shrugged at me, "He'd never do something so stupid as to open himself up to the Cheshire Cat."

The name caught me. I'd nearly forgotten about Duo's street-name from Deniel.

"He sent six men after her," Duo informed me quietly, "Six fuckers broke into her hotel room one morning while she was in the shower."

"Thank god you were there." I noted quietly, not sure what to make of this.

"No," Duo countered, "I wasn't there that time. She had to run."

I focused on Selena sharply, but only received a shrug.

"She found me two days later," Duo explained, finally looking at me, "I killed them then."

The way he said it was cold, like he'd used to say such things-like I'd used to say them.

"Assassin?" I asked, not sure what to think or if I really wanted to know.

"Once or twice," he confessed, his tone still distant, "I enjoy high funds-courtesy of Jesse. When I thought I'd dipped a bit I'd make up for it."

"Fallon?" Selena asked him, "Leader of Jaded?"

"The one and only," Duo smirked at her.

"You took a job for him?"

"Yeah," Duo muttered, meeting her eyes, "I did."

"I thought the two of you..."

"You know who I am?" I cut her off, shocked.

She blinked at me in amazement.

"Heero, she knows I'm the cat. Stay with us." Duo gave me a level look.

I frowned at him. I'd been hoping I'd cut all ties with that particular past.

"I thought the two of you refused to do gang hits." Selena added finally, looking between us.

"It's sorta funny," Duo muttered, leaning over to brush her cheek with a finger as he walked back toward the kitchen, "I wasn't actually doing any work. I was low on cash and Heero found a way to make me some money and keep me around. They didn't like that I lived up in space."

"And we didn't like that you had to work two jobs to get here for a week long visit." I added snidely, "We didn't like that you couldn't pay your own cell phone bill. We didn't like that you didn't pay your rent to make the trip…we didn't like that you bitched out to an asshole to keep an apartment." I ignored Selena, who was blinking at me, "You were in a bad situation-and I'm starting to wonder if maybe it'd have been better just to leave you there."

This comment, which I hadn't intended to make, was met with silence. I was considering a way to apologize when the spatula Duo was holding slammed against the pan he had in front of him, "You can leave now, Heero." he stated coldly, "I'm sure you want to go talk to your wife."

I rose slowly to my feet, narrowing my eyes at his back, "Of course," I muttered politely, turning to Selena again, "If you'll excuse me?"

She blinked some more, not responding.

I bowed as if she'd agreed and moved formally from the room, pulling the door lightly shut behind myself and leaning against it after it had clicked.

"What the fuck was that?" I heard Selena ask as footsteps moved around the room.

"That was him letting me know that he doesn't like what I've become." Duo replied coldly, "He'd rather I be the way I was."

I didn't understand why he sounded so disgusted by that.

"He'd rather I go to mass every Sunday," Duo added, sounding disgusted, "He'd rather be able to berate me for being a good boy than deal with me being a man. He wanted me like this and now he doesn't know how to deal with it."

Wanted him like this? No. I'd wanted my friend back, the guy who made everything fun.

"He doesn't realize that this was the way I was all along," there was a snort, "Maybe he liked me better when I acted normal. Do you think that's what I should do, Nira? You want to see how well I can act?"

Selena didn't respond.

I straightened silently, starting down the hall.

"I'm beginning to wonder if I should have come back at all."

I stopped, realizing he knew that I hadn't walked away yet.

"Where would you like to go, Nira? The world is at our feet."

"Fuck you," I muttered, not sure if he could hear me as I slammed my key into the door to my apartment...

And Relena was waiting for me.

-

Good morning and welcome to another episode of the Royal Circus. When last we left you, the queen was enraged by her king and knight's behavior. The knight himself showed traces of evil in his nature. The entire court writhed with contention over the knight's behavior, and the lady of a lower level had just informed the court that she herself would bare an heir to her husband.

I yawned as I scribbled the ridiculous lines into a journal I'd started keeping, embellishing the plot with small details I'd picked up along the way. I didn't normally write anything like this, but hearing Relena screeching at Heero had put me in a mood. Miguel was watching news quietly on the couch in the living room, and I was trying to figure out what his issue was. He hadn't said much to me after I'd snapped at him about breakfast. Normally I let him choose, but I didn't feel like having his suggestion of quesadillas. I'd never been overly fond of cheese and tortilla, and while I could stomach it with other stuff in it, I did not feel like eating it. He'd gotten petulant when I'd given up arguing with him and made myself some eggs. He'd watched me go sit down in front of the television before making himself some eggs and sitting to watch with me.

I was not in a good mood this morning, however, and his snuggling had irritated me. I'd let him know that, so really, it was more that than the breakfast thing that had him all upset.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Duo announced in a loud enough tone to blot out Relena's shouting. I heard Miguel jump and Duo started laughing harder as the front door slammed behind him.

"What are you doing?" Miguel asked warily.

"I came to talk about stepping up our relationship," Duo muttered sincerely. I could tell he'd sat next to Miguel on the couch. "I honestly think it's time we moved things up."

"I suppose I should have said good morning," Miguel noted sarcastically.

"Really, Miguelito," Duo purred-and by the sound of it, he'd kissed Miguel's knuckles, "I think we've been avoiding things too much."

I grinned, rising to my feet and moving to the door from the bed. Duo was a lot of things, and sometimes he was just fun. This seemed to be one of those instances that had become so very rare.

"Duo…" Miguel started, an odd note in his voice, "Really…shit!" there was a thud and I reached the door, watching as Duo died laughing where he was sitting. I hadn't made any noise, but he turned to me like I had, bouncing off the couch and up to me.

For one heart-stopping moment he was going to kiss me, and that changed at the last instant to him moving his lips so close to my face that had I actually moved, he would have kissed me.

"Tcch." I snapped, hitting him in the stomach.

He laughed, pressing his forehead to mine and studying my eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" Miguel snapped. His tone implied that I'd missed something and that he was expecting something.

"I came to step up our relationship," Duo purred to me, studying my eyes with an obvious evil cast to them, "I didn't just mean you, Miguel."

"Duo, could ya cool it, please?" I demanded.

He sniggered, bouncing away from me and going to the fridge, pouring himself some orange juice as Miguel watched me. He seemed like he wanted me to do or say something about Duo's intrusion, but for all that he was being a pain in the ass, he was still amusing me.

"You can have those if you want. I think they're cold now." I indicated my half-eaten plate of eggs.

"You poisoning me?" he asked happily, eating like nothing.

"Nah, just a sedative," I replied easily, grinning as he paused in his eating as I took the orange juice from him and started drinking it, "I just want a little fun before you wake up."

"You're into sado-mas, aren't you?" Miguel asked him curiously.

I laughed, but Duo's evil laughter made me pause, and Miguel for that matter.

"You're funny," Duo noted, polishing off the plate, turning to look at me and take his glass from me, "They never bring me orange juice."

"It helps to order it," I informed him, taking my ordering forms from the fridge and making a note to put some in his apartment, "You want anything, lover?" I called.

"Just the orange juice," Duo replied.

I laughed, smacking him and looking to Miguel.

Miguel rolled his eyes in obvious irritation before shrugging.

I scribbled a few more things down-it had been an age since I'd had anything oriental, and I loved the food of my heritage. Miguel wasn't fond of it, but he'd proven today that he could deal. "What do you want?" I added to Duo.

"To make a date," he explained, "Lunch today. I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"All right."

"But we were going to…" Miguel started, then stopped as both Duo and I looked at him.

"Where were we going?" I asked, frowning at him, "You hadn't informed me of this plan yet."

"I made a plan for the two of us to go out with Quatre today for lunch," Miguel explained.

"Oh," I started, frowning and looking to Duo, "So we can meet at…one?"

"Fuck Quatre," Duo muttered with a shrug, "He'll cope. I really need a friend to talk to."

"He said one," Miguel muttered, "You can…"

"I will make you my bitch," Duo snapped suddenly at him.

Miguel's jaw dropped and he looked to me incredulously.

I was laughing, though, so it wasn't like this did him a damn bit of good.

"Fei?" Miguel asked me.

"You're alone an awful lot during the day to be fucking with me," Duo added, studying him curiously.

"Duo, stop," I muttered, grabbing his arm.

"He said he'd meet you at one," Miguel added darkly.

"And I asked him before you did so he gets to make a decision."

Miguel was just blinking at him.

"Is that all right, Duo?" I asked finally, "You don't mind meeting at one?"

"No," he muttered, looking from Miguel to me, "It's not all right."

I frowned at him.

"Deal with it," Miguel suggested.

"Yeah, I will," Duo replied, moving around the counter and up to my fiancé.

"Duo," I started, moving after him, "It's only a half hour…Miguel made plans…"

Duo, however, had stopped directly in front of Miguel, "Yeah, he did make plans." Duo agreed without looking to me, "I'm glad to know that a friend who really needs you has to wait a half hour because you're bitching-out."

Miguel actually smirked at him.

"Hey!" I protested, realizing the insult in that from both of them.

Duo snorted, turning to meet my eyes, "Hay's for steers and queers, and evidently you ain't got no horns." he shoved past Miguel.

"Don't be a bitch, Duo," Miguel muttered darkly.

I, however, was in a state of disbelief. Duo was calling me a queer? He'd seduced some newspaper reporter, he had a girl living with him who he fucked all the time, and god only knew who else he fucked with during his days, and he was calling me a queer?

When Duo had Miguel by the throat, I realized I should probably be alarmed, "Do you want to fight, Miguel? Would you pit yourself against me?"

Miguel snarled at him, wrapping his hands around Duo's wrist, but was smart enough not to reply.

"Duo, come on…" I muttered, moving forward and grabbing his wrist myself.

Duo snorted slightly, letting my fiancé go and meeting my eyes, "I'd treat you better if you were my bitch."

I punched him in the side, realizing that I really was about to get pissed at him.

He laughed, catching my right wrist with his right hand and grabbing my left with his own left, pinning my crossed arms to my hips as he studied my eyes, "Let your man take care of himself. He relies on you too much. He wouldn't be starting shit with me if he didn't know you'd intercede."

"Chinga tu madre…" Miguel hissed at him.

Duo's eyes moved from me to Miguel almost pointedly.

"Pinci…" Miguel started, turning and pacing away from me.

"Fuck your mother, Miguel," Duo purred after him, then laughed, "Fuck, I think I will. Your dad's been gone for years and your…" I clamped my hand over Duo's mouth since he'd let me go.

Miguel had turned on us both, his eyes blazing as he stared at Duo.

"Miraina is a fine woman," Duo added, moving my hands aside, "And you know what they say…oldie but goodie…"

"Duo!" I snapped.

He laughed as Miguel started for him, "And your sister," his expression was of lecherous appreciation as he looked my fiancé over, "And you, for that matter…" he glanced to me, "Imagine fucking the lot of them…"

Miguel went to deck him, but I caught his fist before he could manage it, "Just stop reacting," I ordered Miguel, fighting against his tense muscles.

Duo laughed, leaning in and kissing me lightly by the lips before looking to Miguel without pulling away from me-I was a bit preoccupied with stopping the fight Duo was working on, so I didn't reply, react, or in any way respond, but it had the effect Duo wanted. Miguel tried to force me to let him go and get at Duo.

"Remember, Miguel," Duo purred over my shoulder when I'd successfully restrained the guy, "Wufei is stronger than you." he made a clicking sound in my ear with his mouth before running a hand up my side.

By the time I'd turned to smack him, he was hovering in the front door to my apartment, moments later, the door shut.

"Can you do something about him?" Miguel shouted, gesturing toward the door.

I recoiled from him completely, my heart suddenly in my throat.

"He runs all over you! All of you!" he was still shouting and moving toward me again, "He's trying to sabotage our relationship and no one's doing a thing about it!"

"He's only fucking with you," I muttered, not meeting his eyes and moving around him.

"Don't run off!" he snapped, grabbing my upper arm so I turned to face him again, "Don't fucking run off!"

I stared at him in amazement. He knew I didn't like shouting and here he was shouting at me like it'd make some kind of difference? I was done discussing the topic, because until we knew more about Duo, we couldn't do anything to stave him off. I couldn't find those little loops in which to deal with my old friend because my fiancé tweaked every time I spent more than twenty minutes with him alone.

"And all you do is look at me," he breathed, his expression changing to disgusted, "You want him and I'm in your way."

"Don't even start, Miguel," I snapped at him, moving into the bedroom and slamming the door after me. He'd tried this approach to making me fight with him before. Why he wanted me to shout and yell at him was beyond me, and how he thought to manage it was something else entirely. Words could hurt if I let them. If he really got me to that point, I'd be beyond shouting. The only person I could really shout at was Duo.

How did that work?

I slammed into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it and running water over my face. Why was my life the difficult one? Duo had lost the person he loved most and he was fine-just a little out of whack. He should be in all forms of hell and yet…

Maybe he was.

I ran water over my head with my hands, allowing my anger to dissipate. Miguel would seethe over this shit for hours, but I wasn't going to let it get to me. I couldn't afford to snap right now, not with Heero pressing us to hurry up our training. Trowa was working me just as hard as the recruits, and Quatre was dancing me in double time to figure Duo out. I couldn't let Duo's bullshit tear me down.

It was Duo, after all, and if there was anyone in the world that I could really rely on, it was Duo…

Even if he was being a bastard.

-

"Do you enjoy fucking people's lives up?" Selena asked me in irritation as I came back into the apartment. She was glowering at me something fierce, and I had this distinct feeling she'd been saving this up for a few hours.

"Generally," I agreed, moving past her and into my bedroom, dropping my ruby ring onto the dresser. I studied the thing a long moment before knocking it to the floor with a casual swipe and turning to my closet. It took me only a moment to get out of my official uniform jacket and into the less noticeable one I preferred to wear. The royal insignia embroidered on the back of the other was a bit conspicuous, after all.

I hit the kitchen then, laughing victoriously as I pulled out a pint of orange juice.

"If you wanted some," Selena muttered, "Why didn't you tell me…or do it yourself?"

"Because everyone wants orange juice," I replied, giving her a curious look before grabbing a glass from the cupboard, "I shouldn't have to ask…I mean, honestly. I'm fairly certain the others have it constantly."

"And since you've never asked for it…" she agreed.

"Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean I'm going to cater to your bullshit," I informed her, kissing her forehead as I spotted the letters to Wufei in a neat pile against the wall and grabbed them, tucking them into my pocket.

"I'm in a bad mood?" she snapped at me, "What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped as I started to walk off, grabbing my arm, "You pissed Miguel off royally…"

"Good! Jesus, I was beginning to think I'd have to fuckin' make out with Wufei in front of him before I could make him snap." I sniggered to myself, downing the glass and checking my watch before heading to the door again.

"Why do you want to fuck with everyone else's lives?" she asked me quietly.

I stopped in the door to turn and look at her, glancing to the windows a moment before meeting her eyes again, "Because my life was fucked up."

"Duo!" she called as I moved from the room, shaking my head. I didn't feel like putting up with her at the moment, though, so I took the shortest route by cutting across the hall and into Heero's apartment. I hadn't expected anyone to be there, and when I broke into the living room to find Heero brooding on the couch, I stopped to blink at him.

He met my eyes, not seeming very startled that I'd just used his house as a short cut, "What are you doing?"

"Wufei and I are going for lunch," I explained, "What are you doing?"

"Taking the rest of the day off."

"Ah…hey, I'm sorry about this morning."

He blinked at me.

"I really don't plan to run off. I was just irritated."

"I figured."

"I'm sorry." I said again, frowning at him. It wasn't too much for me to ask for acknowledgement was it?

"I'll think about it."

"Heero," I muttered in protest, crossing the room to straddle his lap as he stared at me in amazement, "You have to understand…Selena and I fight all the time. She slapped me last night…so we fought again. She's over it. I didn't mean to throw her against the dresser, and I didn't let it land on her." I nuzzled his throat, wondering if I could use pure guile on him.

"Duo, don't." he instructed, pushing my face away, then pushing at my stomach.

I laughed, pressing against him as I realized what I was doing. There really was nothing more fun than fucking with straight guys who know you can do whatever the fuck you want, "Come on, Ro," I purred at him, keeping my mouth just far enough back from his skin that he didn't panic, "The lord forgives all sin…"

"You know, Duo," he returned, forcing himself to stop acting, "I don't find that argument particularly persuasive."

"Hm…" I muttered, considering things a moment and pulling out a knife, meeting his eyes.

"You're the fuckin' devil," he snapped at me, catching my wrist before I could use the blade.

I sniggered, leaning in closer than he liked and nibbling his ear a little, "The devil fucks us all."

I was expecting to be on my ass after that, and when nothing happened, I sat back to meet Heero's eyes.

He had a considerate look on his face as he looked me over, taking the knife from my hand and grabbing my wrist, "You know I like it better when I do it."

I stared at him in amazement, yanking at my arm when he went to press the blade to it.

"Come on, Duo…you'll like it," he added, leaning up like he'd kiss me.

I stared at him in amazement, not quite sure that he was really doing and saying what I thought he was.

He re-caught my wrist and pulled up a bandage from one of my own wounds, "And no one will know…" he added quietly.

I hissed at the thrill of pain, pleasure, and shock when he really did cut me with the knife, catching my breath and studying his eyes.

One thing about Heero was how very dominant he was. He was an alpha male.

My chest was heaving as he leaned forward and kissed on my throat, sinking his teeth into the soft skin before chuckling and moving up to my ear, "Still taste like peaches…" he noted, pulling the flat of my blade along my arm and ripping at the bandage he'd peeled up.

I jumped off his lap, turned on and really ready for anything he might want to do-well, had he been serious in his actions.

He laughed evilly, rising to his feet and offering me the hilt of the blade, "Stop fucking with me."

I stared at him.

He stepped to be in my face, studying my eyes closely, "I can make your world hell, Maxwell. I can make you tremble at my touch if I decide I want to. Stop fucking with me."

I rubbed my face with a slightly shaking hand, pressing the bandage back in place. It bothered me that I knew this was true. Not only could he fuck me over royally, he'd have fun doing it. It was right up his alley, even if he had suppressed that bit of his nature.

"Now, Duo," he purred, leaning up to my ear without touching me, "I want you to think long and hard on this one: my friends, my family. You got that? I'm sure I don't actually have to threaten you."

I stepped away from him, not bothering to say anything or meet his eyes as a knock came at the door.

"Yeah?" he called easily, returning the distance between us to a normal length.

"Have you seen…oh, there you are." Wufei pushed into the room and noticed me, smiling slightly before frowning at Heero, "What did you do?"

"I gave him a bit of an object lesson," Heero replied with a shrug, winking at me.

"I take it you told them about this morning's misadventure?" I asked Wufei, trying to ignore Heero and the way he was watching me.

"No. I didn't say anything."

"Miguel was bitching about it to Selena when I walked by your room," Heero explained, moving close to me and grabbing my forearm where he'd just cut me and squeezing, "All right?"

I bit my lip without letting Wufei see it, trying to ignore the sensation, "Fine!" I snapped, pulling away from him and glaring at him, "Christ…"

Wufei blinked between us, then nodded at me toward the door, "Shall we?"

"Yeah," I replied, moving to follow him before glaring back at Heero, "I think I should warn you that there are things I don't do to you because they're too far."

Heero smirked slightly at me.

"If you want to play this game, I will play it. Respect only goes so far."

His grin was completely evil and I slammed the door. I didn't want to take the time to make my point be known. I didn't want to mess up what we had. It had held true so far, but there is a line that you don't cross.

"What was that all about?" Wufei asked curiously, turning toward the doors to the front of the palace.

"I guess he's in a mood," I replied, trying not to be moody.

Wufei studied me a moment, then linked arms with me and leaned against me, "Oh well. He'll get over it."

"Yeah," I muttered, glancing back toward his apartment as Wufei's hand wrapped around the new cut, "Really."

He chuckled slightly, tightening his grip, which made me hiss, "What?" he asked, looking to me curiously.

"Nothing." I replied as the pleasure played along my senses-it was making it hard to focus. I was feeling a bit dizzy with it.

"You okay?" he asked, letting go to study me.

I took a steadying breath and flashed him my most charming grin with a wink, offering my arm again, "You have no idea."