Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Shinigami's Lover 2 ❯ Crucible ( Chapter 8 )

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

Kracken

Disclaimer:I don't own this and I don't make any money off of it.
Warnings:Male/Male sex, Language, Violence, NCS flashbacks.


Shinigami's Lover II
Sequel to Into The Fire


Crucible

"I'm surprised," Kit said as she approached noisily.

Duo glanced over his shoulder and then studied his computer screen again with a frown, "That I didn't go home with a break down?"

"That you didn't take a day off when it was offered to you," Kit chuckled.

Duo smiled then. "Your forget, I've never had a job. I haven't learned to hate it yet."

"You will," Kit predicted and then added, "Thanks for helping me back there. I owe you."

Duo shrugged, trying not to show that he knew that it had been a set up and that he was furious about it. The person he most wanted to question, before he confronted either Sally or Kit, was Heero. "They didn't have a chance," he said derisively, "They weren't very well trained. It wasn't really dangerous at all."

Kit gave him a look. "Well, Mr. Maxwell you're not only being completely immodest, but you're telling me that I was so bad that I couldn't handle incompetent bad guys."

Duo studied her. She didn't look insulted, but he wasn't sure. "I think that there's probably a way to say things so that you don't feel insulted," he finally said, "but I didn't exactly grow up in a place known for it's social graces. Being bad gets you killed where I came from and people don't lie about something like that. You let those men trap you in an alley and you didn't know if I had called for help or not. They disarmed you and they were going to kill you. Trying to lie about it-"

Kit held up her small hands and a puff of air through her bangs in exasperation. "All right! All right! I get the picture. I stink and you think telling me that I don't stink will get me killed from having over confidence in my abilities?"

Duo nodded.

"Okay, well, ever consider that you don't know the whole story?" Kit wondered. When Duo didn't say anything Kit went on impatiently, "You came in AFTER I had been disarmed. You can't make assumptions about what happened. There may have been a very good reason that those men were able to disarm me."

"I suppose," Duo replied, staying closed lipped.

"Well, until you really see me in action, don't dismiss me as incompetent," Kit warned. She nodded to the computer. "Go ahead and work, if that's what you want, but you do have permission to leave for the day if you decide a seventeen year old boy AUGHT to be upset about an incident like that."

Duo couldn't help a tight smile, his eyes remembering darker days, "I know that you mean well, but don't... Heero, Wu Fei, and me... we're not children, Kit. We never were."

Kit became contrite at once. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I think I'm being funny when I'm just being stupid. You smile so much. It's easy to forget what you went through."

Duo was smiling, but the smile wasn't reaching his eyes. "The only thing that's stupid is that I have to learn to be a normal, functioning adult when I've been having to make life and death decisions like an adult since I was first thrown on the streets of L2. Life can be strange."

"I guess that I AM a baby next to you, " Kit conceded as she half turned away, but then she added quickly, "Hang in there, Duo, no matter what gets thrown at you. I think you'll be a credit to the Preventers if you decide to become an agent. A lot of people will benefit from your experience."

"That's what I want," Duo replied as he took another stack of work from his to do box. "I want to be useful for something besides destroying things."

Kit smiled, "I remember hearing Agent Yuy say the same thing to Sally once," she said and then left Duo to his work.

Duo thought about that, imagining Heero saying it with his determined, stern expression. Duo chuckled. Just when he had begun to think that he and Heero would be forever seeing things differently, he was shown that they were more alike than he had imagined.

Duo did find that he was nervous for the remainder of the day, even after taking his medication. Once or twice, when there had been a loud noise from somewhere in the large room, he had jumped and tensed for an attack. Soda had growled and risen each time, ears cocked forward and alert, ready for a command.

One of the lessons that Duo had learned in the institute was to avoid people when he wasn't feeling stable. Duo kept to himself, skipped lunch, and was bone weary when Heero came to collect him at the end of the day.

"Duo," Heero called well in advance of his approach.

Duo turned and stretched, smiling at his lover and managing to ignore a frowning Wu Fei, who was trailing behind him, as he rose and hooked an arm around Heero's waist.. He relished Heero's warmth and scent for a moment as he gave the man a strong hug, and then bent to gather up his pack. When he started to pick up some files to take home, Heero gently pried them out of his hands and put them back down.

"I leave my work at headquarters and so do you," Heero said sternly.

"That won't get you ahead, Yuy," Duo pointed out jokingly. "A career man works twenty- four-seven. I bet Wu Fei has some files stashed in his bag, don't you Fei?"

"Fei isn't even close to proper, Maxwell," Wu Fei growled, but then nodded. "I like to go over cases at home where it is quieter and I can do research in peace."

"Married to his job," Duo said as he led the way to the elevator. "He'll be climbing the ladder and leaving Heero Yuy, partner, behind in no time."

"No, I will not," Wu Fei corrected. When Duo looked back over his shoulder in surprise, Wu Fei explained irritably. "I've already turned down promotions. I wish to remain a field agent, not become a desk supervisor."

"You can do that?" Duo wondered as they entered the elevator and rose several levels to the parking garage.

"Yuy's done it as well," Wu Fei commented. "Neither of us wants to leave the field and Sally isn't eager to lose us there."

Duo thought about that, about the way that they all still fought the good fight even after all they had been through. Duo had tried to deny it, but it was in his blood and bone as well. Flexing his skills in that alley had made him feel the adrenalin rush of the soldier and he was realizing now that he had missed that.

"Tired?" Heero wondered.

"Who would have thought that pushing papers could be so hard?" Duo sighed.

They exited at the garage and went to Wu Fei's car. Strapping Soda into the front seat, Duo then climbed into the backseat with Heero and leaned against him, closing his eyes. "Home, James," Duo joked.

Heero held Duo carefully and murmured in his ear, "This is nice. Go ahead and sleep. I'll wake you when we get home."

"This is stupid," Duo whispered. "I feel like a little kid."

Surprisingly Wu Fei said rather gently, "You've been out of things for years. Dealing with social situations, and the stress of that altercation in the alley, has obviously been very hard on your nerves."

Duo yawned, but replied suspiciously, "If your point is that, 'if I can't handle today, then I should reconsider my career.' you might as well save your breath. I've heard enough of that from you Wu Fei. Get over it. Unless Sally kicks me out, I'm going to stick with it."

"Sleep," Heero growled.

"Yes, sir, Agent Yuy," Duo snickered and found that it wasn't very hard at all to trust Heero to protect him and to drift into dreams.