Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Slight Shinigami ❯ Lessons Learnt ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Don't Slight Shinigami
By KCgal

Disclaimer: *takes deep breath* Blablablablablabladon'towndon'tsueblablabla
Warnings: Dirty dancing? Lol. Nothing major in this one that hasn't happened before.
Pairings: 1x2, slight 3+4
Authors Note: There are lemons in this story - but if you want to read them, you'll have to visit this story at another location (But please take the time to review!):
Media Miner - http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/src.php?auth=59449
Sweetly Sour - http://sweetlysour.net/onsite_recs.htm

Yes, Solodarity is spelt like that for a reason, and a fairly obvious one I should say. Oh, one cameo, because I couldn't think of anyone at the time :P. *flashes V-sign* Hope you like! It's finally DONE! And... I'm eternally sorry that I coped out on the lemon at the end. It was going to happen, but it didn't, because I've totally decided I suck at lemons. I tried, but it was crap, so I got rid of it. sorry. x_X
Thankyou shouts to: All the fabo readers and reviewers (especially those on MMO, because nobody seems to review there *sweatdrop*) - I decided it might be annoying if I go through you all again, but you know who you are! Thanks for the support, even through these massive non-update periods… you guys rule! Thanks particularly to Shadowess, Sonny and Nitid who have got my DSS posted/listed, and to Joe Marley & BombayKoneko who harassed me to get this part up. You did help. ;)

4: Lessons Learnt

"Anoooo Heero, don't get huffy! Honest, I didn't lie once! You just assumed. And I was in the 'profession' once. Stop scowling at me!" Duo whined, looking petulant. Heero just looked at him. It was all a little surreal for the Japanese pilot, who was still trying to process that the pretty little boy that he'd been playing with for the last month and a half was one of the most powerful entities on the down-side. It was a hard, to say the least, to associate the wild, dangerous man that Wufei described to him with the person sitting next to him and giving him puppy-dog looks. And it wasn't helping that his chest was doing summersaults and yelling that this information meant shit-all to him, and that he was still Duo no matter what.

"Where are you taking us onna?" Wufei suddenly said into the silence, shooting distrusting looks at Hilde, who was currently driving.

"Solodarity, I'm assuming?" The dark-haired girl told him, cocking an inquiring eyebrow at Duo in the rear-view mirror. Duo just nodded.

"A club? Why the fuck are we going to a club?" Wufei spluttered. Duo rolled his eyes.

"Hey! It's not just a 'club'! You've obviously never been there." He protested. "Anyway, we're going there so I can check up on Cat, and I'm thinking you might like to know a little more about me."
"You're taking us to your base?" Trowa asked, a little incredulous.

"Bah!" Duo said, waving a hand dismissively. "You guys owe a life-debt anyway. And beside, who said that Sol's is our base? Hmmm?" He waggled a finger at them. "It's one of our places, sure, but I'll be wanting a bit more of a formal agreement before I waltz you guys into my base. I'm not a complete idiot, you know."

"Shin, we're almost there." Hilde said, cutting over Wufei, who was about to set off into another rant. He glared at her, but she just smirked. The car turned into a large (and quite full) car park and then down the little lane at the end to the front door, which was lit with no more then a couple of street lights. There were, however, a mass of people waiting in guide-lines to get past the two huge men stationed at the door, and another younger man who was obviously choosing who was admitted and who was turned away. A heavy beat could be easily heard coming from the building, only slightly muted. Hilde finally shut off the engine just meters from the door, and Duo was out before anyone else could move. He walked up the side of the teeming line and waved cheerily at the three men.

"Boss!" One of the bouncers called, unclipping the barrier to let him through.

"Welcome back!" The other said, and the third man offered a smile, before going back to his job.

"Hey Denny! How's the missus? She pop the kid yet?" Duo asked the first man, who smiled widely.

"Yep! I'm a father. We called him Jason… was Suzi's pa's name, y'know?" Denny enthused. Duo clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's great! You come by the office at the end of the night, all right? I've got something for you." Duo told him, and Denny nodded. The second bouncer tapped Duo on the shoulder and gestured back behind them.

"These people with you boss?" He asked, pointing to Heero, Trowa and Wufei, who were standing and looking around at the crowd from beside the ropes.

"Oh yeah… and see you get 'em put on the list, too, kay? They're free to come and go." Denny nodded, and the other man went to let them in. Hilde came at the end, before disappearing quickly inside. Duo just motioned them to follow, and pushed open the door.

"Welcome, my friends, to Solodarity."

Heero's first impression of the place was that it was large. Very large. The main floor was on the first level, lit by vibrant roaming, flashing lights, highlighting spots of writing bodies. Nearby the entrance, where they were standing was a fluro-lit bar, where a number of extravagantly dressed people were serving their customers. A little further on were a few tables, surrounded by bar stools, and a number of large couches. Scattered around the dance floor area were raised daises, each holding a couple of dancers each, while a larger dais on one side of the room housed the DJ and a few more dancers. The main thing that drew his eye however was the massive hulking form which stood against the far wall, spanning the entire four levels of the club.

His eyes widened slightly as he recognised it for what it was - a Gundam. The ancient robot, obviously a husk that someone had cleaned up very well, seemed to be now doubling as a centrepiece and dance floor, with people dancing on its outstretched hands, the cock-pit entrance, and every other available flat surface. The roaming lights flashed off the metal of the machine and the sparkling bodies of the dancers, making it seem like the Gudam was almost alive.

"She's a beauty, ain't she?!" Duo exclaimed, and Heero turned to see the braided one standing beside him, voice raised to be heard over the music. "We call her Deathscythe Hell." He grinned manically, before moving off into the crowd. Heero followed, having a hard time moving through the mass of people, whereas Duo seemed to just glide through easily, the people parting like a wave in front of him and then falling back equally quickly. He was aware of Wufei behind him, obviously having the same trouble, as he heard brief flashes of Wufei's unique selection of expletives, even over the music. He assumed Trowa was following too, although the tall boy was his usual silent self.

It took Heero a moment to realise that Duo was actually only making his way to the bar, much to the Japanese boy's annoyance. Duo's answers in the car had been less then satisfactory, and in his slightly befuddled mind frame, he hadn't been able to ask the right questions anyway. What Heero wanted right now was somewhere to sit down and seriously chew out the other boy until he felt happy with the situation again. Right now, he felt like things were spinning… had spun, out of his control. Heero liked control. But he liked himself being in control. Not his suddenly not-so-innocent-and-unassuming-as-he-first-looked little pet.

Scowling thoroughly at this train of thought, Heero nearly didn't notice in time that Duo had stopped, and that a young woman had appeared in front of them. Wufei managed to stop himself running into Heero in a rather undignified manner, and came to stand beside his friend, glaring at both Duo and the newcomer. Trowa stood on the other side, face unreadable.

Giving the woman a customary once-over, Heero could tell she was more then just a normal clubber out for a good time. She had that sort of authorative stance that came with the ability to handle oneself, and it seemed she was here to make a report.

"Ah! Sally. Just who I was looking for." Duo said cheerfully, not sounding surprised by her sudden appearance at all. Beside him, Heero heard distinct huffy mutterings about 'another onna' from Wufei, which were tuned out immediately. "So how's my little bro?" Duo continued. Trowa perked up at the mention of what was obviously Quatre, immediately putting his whole attention on the woman. Sally eyed the three boys briefly before turning back to Duo and answering.

"He should be fine. Nothing serious, fairly clean wound. He'll need to keep off it for some time, and get some good rest so that his body can recover the blood lost." She said seriously. Duo nodded gratefully.

"Thank God for that then. Although I think I'll have to have a little talk with our Q-man about that soft-streak of his…" Duo said, half to himself. Sally tutted, but smiled.

"You know that's his charm Duo." The braided boy laughed at that, nodding in acquiesce.

"Mm-hmm. It's not like I could stop him anyway. "

Wufei had been gazing at Sally through their entire conversation with narrowed eyes.

"You entrust your medical needs to this… this… woman?" He finally said, casting a contemptuous look on Sally, then Duo. Heero rolled his eyes slightly at his friend's predictability and rather large chauvinist streak.

"Oh shut up Fei-kins. Sal's the best out there! Aint that right old girl?" Duo rebuked, slapping her on the back easily. Sally swayed slightly, but remained firm in her stance, and giving Wufei her own contemptuous glance. The young man bristled, his face reddening at the implied insult, and for once not even registering the mangle that Duo had made of his name, so occupied with this… female as he was.

"And you, mister…?" Sally began, waiting expectantly for someone to introduce the impertinent youth to her.

"Chang. Chang Wufei." Wufei supplied, his voice hard.

"So you, Chang Wufei, think that just because I am female I cannot handle the job I'm given?" She said, eyes daring him to respond.

"It's not a woman's place to.."

"What, you think I should be barefoot and in the kitchen, is that it? Hhmmm?" She interrupted him. Duo threw his hands in the air, turning away from the arguing pair to look at Heero and Trowa.

"I give up. When a rock meets an unmovable force… honestly. Tro - if you can manage to pry those two apart for any length of time, Sal can take you up to see Cat." He winked slyly. " Cuz I know that's what you're here for. And I have a feeling Hee-chan and I still have a fair amount of catching up to do." Heero gave him a glare, which Duo rolled his eyes at. "C'mon then sour-puss."

Duo took off again, heading down the length of the bar where it was slightly easier to move around. They were just passing the end corner of the bar, when a man looked at Duo in passing, then did a double take and stood up, catching both Heero's and Duo's attention.

"Gene!" Duo exclaimed with a grin.

"Ahh! Duo. Finally back again. And you've brought your toy-boy…I was wondering what you were doing in that club back there." The tall red-head said with an easy grin. He knocked fists with Duo, before pulling the smaller boy into a hug. "He better have taken good care of you." The man said, giving Heero a long look. Heero suddenly realised where he recognized the man from. The guy had approached Duo and he in a club a few weeks ago, looking more then slightly menacing, making overtones at Duo before eventually disappearing. He glared at the red-head, who was just releasing the grinning Duo.

"Lay off 'im Gene. Although I'm touched at your concern." Although the tone was sarcastic, Heero could detect definite thanks underlying the words. Gene winked at the both of them.

"Gotta look after my own interests, ne?" He said laughingly and clapped Duo on the back. "So, you gonna introduce me or what?" Duo rolled his eyes and leaned back on the bar top.

"Gene, this is Heero, as you damn well already know." He snorted out derisively, before looking at Heero and nodding at Gene. "This is Gene Starwind. He's head up in the Outlaws. Old time ally of the Scythes." Gene extended a hand easily, and Heero only hesitated a moment before taking it. He had a firm grip and a dry hand, pulling Heero forward slightly to speak in a lowered voice.

"Sorry bout that time… just had to make sure the kid hadn't dug himself a hole that he couldn't get outta." Gene said, almost conspiritavely.

"Hey! I resent that." Duo pouted. Gene let go of his hand and stepped back again, and Heero looked him over again as the other two men began to talk animatedly. The Outlaws. Yes. They too were a well-known group, partly due to their public alliance with Scythes, which added considerably to their own rightly-won fame. Heero was pulled from his mental data-banks as Duo farewelled Gene cheerfully and plunged back into the crowd, leaving Heero to either quickly follow or loose the boy completely in the crowd. With no more then a perfunctory nod in Gene's general direction, he dove after the flickering braid.

The pair of them wove their way through the crowd, and a never-ending steam of people seemed to mill around them. Heero pondered the thought that Duo was just walking them around so he could meet and greet all of the people who were in his club. At one point, the braided man grabbed what seemed to be a random girl, twirling her around and doing a few flashy moves as she laughed and clung to him. Heero stood, watching and feeling oddly misplaced while being jostled by the multiple of writhing bodies around them.

"God, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see you again!" The girl said, her face rosy.

"Ah Cathy, you knew I'd be back! Just took some time."
"I missed you!" She wailed playfully, and he pinched her cheek.

"You know I was pining for you too sweetie, but I'm here to stay now!" Laughing, she hugged him again.

"Come round when you have some time, okay? Triton would love to see you again(1)." Releasing her, Duo nodded.

"Sure thing sweetie. You take care now!" He told her, before simply moving off again. They somehow arrived at some stairs, and Heero was lead upwards through heat and noise and sweaty bodies until they abruptly came to a staircase with no-one on it. Following as Duo climbed up them, Heero realised that there was a fourth level, on only one side of the club, closed off in darkness so that it became invisible from below. The one entrance to the level was at the end of the staircase they were on, and Duo fished out the key from seemingly nowhere to unlock the sturdy looking door.

The first thing Heero noticed about the room the door led to was that it seemed to block out the extreme noise generated from the club, and once the door was shut, it was almost eerily quiet after having been amongst such loudness for a period of time.

"You want a drink or something?" Duo offered as they entered the room, motioning over to the cabinets along one side of the wall that obviously housed a large collection of alcohol. Heero merely shook his head slightly in return. Duo sighed and shrugged.

"No, I suppose not. Take a seat." The long-haired boy said, ignoring the plush armchairs in the center of the room, and the almost comically cliché high-back swizzle chair seated behind a mahogany desk. There weren't any other token study complements, as there had been in Zechs' place, the rest of the area taken up by a rather nice billiards table. The wall opposite the cabinets was made up of large glass panels set in steel, looking out into the club, obviously tinted on the other side as part of this room's concealment. Where the glass left off into neat plaster were several islands, to which Duo promptly approached and sat on. He turned his back on the silent scene below, and waited somewhat resignedly for Heero's demands.

"Talk." Was Heero's simple directive as he selected a chair and settled into it.

"About what exactly? You know the basics now, so… what? Gimmie a clue here Heero."

"You said you had been a whore." Duo blinked. That really wasn't the thing he'd imagined would be foremost in Heero's mind. However, if that's what he wanted to hear… Heero's coldly expectant look prompted him to elaborate on the statement.

"Yah. Before Solo. Since I was 10. Gotta eat somehow, right? People are too wary around here to get very far with pick-pocketin'. Solo saved me. He picked me up one night, and I became a kept boy. Just like with you… there was never any money between us. I loved 'im, and I think he mighta loved me too." Duo sighed sadly. "Then, somewhere along the line I went from being his 'fuck-toy' to 'lover' and then, in the end, his second. That's where I got my name from… Solo's Duo, y'know? I used ta be just 'Kid', or whatever the johns wanted to call me. But then, I got a name, and a home, and… friends. And then Solo had to go and get himself killed. Fuck. I think that was the worst day of my whole life. This place," Duo paused and looked out the window down to the writhing bodies and flashing lights. "this place was totalled in the fight. Nearly killed me, loosing both him and Dexy. That's what Sol used to be called… before - 'The Dex'. He made it for me, because I love to dance. That, and we needed someplace. We were just getting a name for ourselves, so we had a certain image to project… and Dexy was born."

"And you rebuilt it."

"Yeah. It wasn't even a decision, just something that needed doin'." There was silence for some moments, and Duo continued to stare down at the writhing mass below them. Finally, Heero moved restlessly, and spoke again.

"Why you?" Duo snorted, turning around to face Heero and grinning briefly.

"Hell if I know. I was a fuckin' wreck after Solo canned it. Wouldn't have known if the world had bloody exploded under me… I just assumed it would go to Walker. He was Solo's real second. But Hilde comes to me, and she just tells me that they'd taken a vote, and they wanted me. Me! Fuck, I can tell you, I didn't know what was going on. I mighta been good with my knives, and quick with a gun, but I was still the youngest guy in the group. But that's what they wanted, and they got it." He paused, looking contemplative. "Walker left after that. Not that I blame the guy, and there's no real animosity between us or nothing. We just stay away from each other, you know?

"Walker. You mean the Leos' Walker." Heero half stated, a little surprised. Duo did indeed have connections. While not large, the Leos were a quite well known group that operated on the other side of the S-boundry, near top-side. The braided boy nodded.

"One and the same. So, what else do you wanna know?" He asked. Heero looked at him, considering the beautiful youth and rolling the question he'd been wanting to ask all night around in his head.

"Shinigami was leading the Scythes well before I found you. What were you doing that night?" He finally asked, and Duo smiled slightly. This was more along the lines of the expected.

"Aa. I was wondering when you'd get around to that one." He said, getting up from his perch and moving back into the room to flop into one of the chairs opposite Heero, slinging one long leg over the armrest. Heero merely raised an eyebrow, waiting. "It took months to get everything organised once I got 'elected'." Duo made little quotation marks in the air with his fingers as he said the word, rolling his eyes. "And all through it, Solo was lurking at the back of my head. I managed to get us back on our feet, get Solodarity fixed up and even to build a little bit of a rep for myself, and for the Scythes." Heero snorted, refraining from commenting on Duo's gross under-exaggeration of his 'little rep'. Duo glared at him playfully, but continued. "I didn't have time to really deal, yanno? Solo was like, the centre of my universe for a long time. While I could focus on the Scythes, I could stave it off, but when things started to settle, I was left with all this… stuff. I called Hilde up, told her I was going to disappear for a couple of weeks, that I'd tell her as soon as I knew where I'd be staying.

"I wanted to remember him, so I went back to the place where we'd first met. The docks, where you picked me up. Christ, that must be my lucky spot or something. But I wasn't planning on picking anyone up that night… just reminiscing. It's easier to reminiss when everybody thinks you're a no-one, that's why I was done up like a doll looking for tricks. But then you stopped, with your gorgeous eyes and sexy smirk, and I thought 'what the hell'. So I went with you. And I'm glad I did." There was another pause.

"I guess my question is - what next?" Duo said, his voice neutral. The options were obvious, and he didn't bother stating them. He was leaving the decision up to Heero. With more time to put thought into the matter, Duo had obviously come to the decision that it was worth it (whatever 'it' was), and they could manage to make a feasible agreement between them

Heero nodded to himself, studying the boy flung hap-hazardly over the chair before him. A boy he'd thought he'd known the extent of, only hours before hand. But Duo had always been too different to be just a pet, and he should have known that his attention would never have been kept if Duo was exactly what he seemed to be. So the question was, now, whether this newly revealed version was worth the trouble that would undoubtedly come with his newly revealed position.

Tactically, this was basically a no-brainer. An alliance - hell, even a favourable association with such a big player as the Scythes would bring Wing up to the next level, something the group had been looking to achieve for a while now.

The other important factor in the decision took far more consideration however. At face value, that too seemed an easy decision. Duo had impressed the fact that he didn't - hadn't - lied in his time with Heero. Which meant that the affection that had grown between them was genuine. And that Duo did not have the usual prerogative of a pet with Heero and yet still remained with his group meant that he did it for a personal reason - especially considering he'd stayed longer then the originally planed 'vacation'.

Duo was gorgeous, both inside and out, and Heero was still sure that he was the best pet he'd ever had. And even if he wouldn't be a 'pet' anymore, Heero wanted him around. There was still that little part of him that was jumping up and down in his mind, yelling that he didn't just want him around anymore, it had become a matter of need, and that it wasn't just a short-termed thing. The problem was, however, if they did continue their… involvement, hazarded the rocky area of a relationship where one person could not be tossed away easily, and things went too piss between them, all hell would fly. It was risky, the odds were horrible and the stakes quite high. Heero smirked. He liked risky.

In the end, he told himself in the back of his head, it was simple. Duo - with the added bonus of the Scythes - was worth it. And the little voice whispered (it had calmed since the decision had surfaced) that he was worth everything.

These thoughts made his smirk fall into a brief, genuine smile, something that Duo had been watching, waiting, for. In return, he rendered one of his own, a flush of relief that he tried his best to ignore rushing over him.

"How long will the papers take?" Heero asked, his lips still slightly quirked at the edges. A cheeky spark had lit Duo's eyes as he constructed his reply.

"Oh, I'm sure we can have a consummate deal in a couple of days."

"Mmm… really? That long. I was hoping we might… consummate it now." Duo's eyes twinkled again, his face falling into a seductive leer and the heavy-lidded, bedroom-eyed gaze he fixed Heero with sent a jolt straight to Heero's groin. The body that had been all authority and business since he'd burst through the doors of Relena's sickening apartment had disappeared again, being replaced by the sinuous, cheeky and more then welcome countenance of Duo-the-pet, and the longhaired boy rose and swayed the few steps between them. He lent down, pink tongue flickering out to take a long lick down the line of Heero's jaw, briefly dipping into his ear before husky words were whispered, Duo's lips brushing against his ear he was so close.

"I'm sure that can be arranged…"

And when they had collapsed, spent, in a mess of sweaty but sated limbs, Duo wrapped his arms around Heero's waist, snuggling his head under the other boy's chin and began to purr.

~Owari~

1) Triton is not the same person as Trowa here, k? So don't worry, he's not some strange split-personality.

aside note - I really wanted to work it in somewhere about Duo's bike, but it never eventuated. But I'm going to tell it to you anyway, because I like it. >_< Duo's motorbike is called Deathscythe (Aren't I original?!), and is made from the parts of the original Gundam that was in Dex and got trashed in the fight. That's why the second Gundam is Deathscythe Hell. :)