Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Child's Love ❯ Making Up the Rules ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimers: Don't own. Don't profit. Don't sue. Don't flame.

A/N: Thanks again to Duo-chan and Arith-san for all the help they gave me on last chapter! I couldn't have gotten very far with Hilde, in German, without it. Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter! It was really nice to wake up every morning for about four days in a row to new reviews. Loveliness. Last thing, I received a note about Hilde being really OOC in my fic. Well, actually, everyone is OOC, even Trowa, in this fic. It takes place five years after the wars end. I know that I am not the same person I was five years ago, why would the boys stay the same?

Dedication: To Angel, who rereads the whole story every time I get a new chapter out; craziness does not negate love! To Jade-sissy, WELCOME BACK! To Arith, must I say why? Isn't my undying affection enough? To Duo-chan, who is just the bestest!

Summary of last chapter: Duo, Mike, and Hilde show up for dinner at Quatre and Trowa's house for dinner and a little 'conversation'. Heero goes to pick up Allilon from Zechs and Noin's house and ends up staying for dinner. Quatre and Hilde exchange harsh words about meddling in other people's affairs, while Trowa, Mike, and Duo watch from the hall. Things are patched up between Duo's friends, and they enjoy the rest of the evening as a group. Heero and the Merquises have a talk about the situation between Allilon and Duo, and Noin comes up with the perfect solution to solve everything. Heero takes Allilon home to sleep, and has a mini-talk with the little boy about how he feels about Duo.

Symbols: /blah/ - thoughts
*blah* - emphasized words
*~*~*~* - major scene change or POV change
*~~~~~* - minor scene change

Making Up the Rules


Sunlight spilt from the thin, gauzy looking curtains in Heero's room, bathing his face and body in a warm, golden light, making his sleeping countenance resemble that of a slumbering angel. Slowly, his eyes started to flutter, and he moved over to avoid the sunlight shining directly in his eyes, and to let the lovely silence lull him back into sleep. However, that was wishful thinking.

"UNCLE HEERO!" Allilon yelled before jumping on the large king sized bed in the middle of the Japanese man's room, narrowly avoiding damage to *vital* areas. "WAKE UP! I wanna go to school today!"

"Allilon? What time is it?" Heero muttered under his breath as he rolled back over to look at the clock on his nightstand. The crystal display told him it was seven AM, and that he had an hour and a half to get them both ready for the trip to Allilon's school. "So, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked, removing his body from the warmth that the blankets offered.

"PIZZA!"

"Pizza? For breakfast?" Heero raised an eyebrow at the boy who was perched on the edge of his bed.

"Yes! It's good!"

"Allilon, I don't know if we *have* any pizza. How about something else? Eggs? Cold cereal?"

"PIZZA!" the child cried happily, emphasizing his point by jumping up and down on the bed.

"Okay. I'll see if we have any," Heero said, sighing, before getting out of bed, putting on his robe, and walking downstairs to find out if he had any pizza to appease his little cheerful monster trailing behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room's bathroom, wondering if Heero was still at home at 10am on a day he didn't have to work. His hair was perfect for the first time since the disastrous night of Cathy and Auda's engagement party. In his own humble opinion, he was hot with a capital H-O-T. He took a deep breath, left the bathroom, and dialed Heero's house number.

He got no answer, and he felt his heart sink into his stomach. /Ok, Duo, if he's not at home, where is he? Work? Quatre's? Lu and Zechs's? Out?/ He thought over his options carefully, and decided that calling Preventer's HQ would be his best guess. Before he could start dialing again, the vidphone rang.

Duo looked at the number, and saw that it was coming from the lobby. /Hmmm, wonder what it is,/ he thought, hitting the accept-call button and watching as the screen showed him a slightly perturbed Heero.

"Heya, lover boy. I was just thinking about you," Duo said cheerfully, winking at the chocolate-haired man.

"Good morning, Duo. Would you like to go to breakfast?" Heero asked, taking in, and appreciating, the wonderful sight that graced the screen before him.

Duo blinked a few times, trying to thoroughly process all that had happened in the week and a half since he had arrived on Earth. /Heero's human now, taking care of a little kid, responds to almost everything I say, and FUCK ME if he isn't leering through the screen./

"Duo?" Heero asked, his face showing a little worry at the way the American just seemed to go blank on him.

"Yeah, sure, 'Ro. Where are you?"

"Downstairs in the lobby."

"Ok, I'll be down in a few," he said, smiling brightly. The screen went blank and the search for his shoes began.

*~~~~~~~*

Good to his word, Duo was down in the hotel's lobby within two minutes time, looking around for his delicious lover. He found him not far from the main doors, eyes roaming wildly about the whole area, trying to find any possible threat.

"Old habits die hard, ne, Hee-chan?" Duo whispered into the other's ear as he snuck up beside him. He stifled a snicker as Heero started and glared at him.

"It would appear so," he said, what else he was going to say dying as he took a good look at the man beside him. /God, he looks so...Perfectly fuckable./

Duo waited patiently for the glazed look in Heero's eyes to dissipate, but after five minutes, he figured he had better intervene, or he would never eat. "Earth to Heero Yuy. Yuy, this is command calling. Are you there?" he said in a nasally tone.

Heero shook his chocolate-coloured head and regained his composure. "Yes, are you ready for breakfast?"

"Does a man in the desert need water?" Duo asked, grinning before he snatched up his lover's hand, dragging him out of the hotel's lobby and into the bright, warm, and perfect Parisian morning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour and a half later, Duo was polishing off his large meal, while Heero sat, drinking from his cup of coffee as he listened to Duo explain what happened between their blond friend and the black-haired German girl.

"And then, Hilde came up behind Q in the pool, picked him up, and threw him in the deep end," Duo said, laughing merrily at the memory. "You should have seen him. He was sputtering, hair streaming water, and the look he gave her would have made anyone within their right mind scared. Of course, no one ever said Hill was in her right mind."

Heero couldn't help but laugh, although a considerable amount lower than his companion, as he tried to imagine the mostly pristine CEO of WEI soaking wet and giving a death glared to a civilian. "What did she do then?"

"Stuck her tongue out, blew a kiss, got out of the pool, and ran over to where Mike and Trowa were entering. I could tell that Q was thinking over how much damage he could do to Mike if he resisted too much, but the look that Trowa was giving made him stop..." Duo stopped, a pensive looking stealing across his face.

"Is there something wrong?" Heero asked, wondering what the other was thinking about that made him stop talking.

"Just thinking. You know, I've always wondered how you and Tro could be so expressive, even when not doing anything to your face."

Heero shrugged in response, finishing off his coffee and signaling for the waiter to fill his cup back up. "Just lucky, I suppose."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Duo said, snickering into his own cup. "So, what did you and the monster do last night?"

Heero sighed at the slightly bitter tone in Duo's voice. /I suppose now is the best time to tell him about Lucrezia's plan,/ he thought. "Ah, well, Allilon and I were 'invited' to stay for dinner with Zechs and Noin," he started.

"You mean Lu *made* you stay. I doubt she gave you much choice," Duo said, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Aa. She wanted to talk to me about you and Allilon." Heero stopped to gauge Duo's reaction, but all the American did was raise an eyebrow and wave a hand for him to continue. "Well, she gave me an idea on how to improve relations between you both."

"You make it sound like we're warring countries. I have nothing against Allilon, you know that. I just feel guilty because he hates me," Duo said, feeling older than his twenty-one, or so, years.

"I... I don't think he hates you, Duo. He's... just confused, as am I," Heero said, looking anywhere but at the face of the man sitting across from him.

"Wha? Why are you confused?"

"I... I don't want to lose either of you. Allilon is important to me for many reasons, as are you, but if this doesn't end, I will have to..."

"Give one of us up? Me, more than likely," Duo said miserably. Heero started to say something, but Duo raised a hand to silence him. "Look, Heero, I wouldn't blame you. You've got a responsibility to the kid. That's very commendable. Save the world, save the girl, and when the girl dies, you raise her kid. It's all good. I think I'd do the same thing if it was Hilde's kid we were talking about. And if you chose me over Allilon, I don't think I could respect you anymore. So, do what you gotta do."

"Well, if you would stop rambling and listen to me, baka, you'd know that Lucrezia, Zechs and I came up with a plan that would work to make Allilon like you again," Heero said, smiling affectionately at his lover.

"Oh? Well, spill, cuz I'm all ears," Duo quipped.

"Really? I thought you were all mouth," Heero replied.

Duo's response was to blink, shake his head, blink, and start laughing. "Oh, 'Ro, that was a good one. So? Spill it?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

/I can't believe I'm doing this,/ Duo swore as he waited for any sign of the brown-haired child he'd been requested to escort home. /The kid is *so* gonna freak when he sees me here. What the hell was Heero thinking? What the hell was *I* thinking when I agreed? Hello, my name is Duo Maxwell, and I'm a masochist./ A hand was placed on his shoulder, and Duo spun around, ready to kill whomever touched him.

"Jumpy much?" Noin asked, her amusement written all over her face and her blue eyes twinkling merrily.

"Suicidal much?" he shot back, irritated that he had let his guard down so much while thinking.

"Aww, don't be like that Duo." She removed her hand from his shoulder and stood beside him, looking at the front door of the tiny school building. "So what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Allilon so I can start the torture that you and Heero planned," he said, looking at the door as if it had betrayed him as well.

"So he's starting it already? That was fast. I'm surprised you agreed so readily. I thought that you would have run for the hills after Heero mentioned it. Although, you were," she lowered her voice a little, "a Gundam pilot, so a child shouldn't pose *that* much of a problem."

"Mariemaia."

"True... But she had Barton spurring her on and filling her head with a lot of crap. Treize-sama never would have stood for what she was doing."

"Yeah, I guess. So, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting to take Joshua home. I have today off, so I'm going to take him to the zoo. What are you going to do with Allilon?" Noin gave him a supportive smile.

"I have no fucking idea. The park?"

"Sounds like fun. Why isn't Heero here?"

"The traitor, formerly known as Yuy, took me to breakfast, laid this deal on me with no way to escape, and then got called into Preventers HQ by Une. I think you all set this up," Duo said sourly.

"Don't be like that. You could have easily said no and walked away from this whole thing, but you didn't. So stop complaining. Heero is a package deal now. Buy one; get an adorable, but bratty, clone for free. Ah, and speak of the devils... I mean, angels."

"MOMMY!" the little black-haired boy cried, running full-tilt until he smacked into the woman's legs. "Alli busted his lip on the playground today. It bled, and it was red and icky."

"Is he ok?" Duo asked, but running into the building before Joshua could reply. He found the little brown-haired boy in a classroom scowling as a woman cleaned a medium sized cut on his pink upper lip.

"Well, Allilon, you're lucky that I could fix this so easily," she said, standing. "It might bleed again if you pick at it. I'll tell Mr. Yuy about it when he comes and picks you up. Now, go get your jacket and shoes from your cubbie."

"Um, excuse me, Miss, but Mr. Yuy couldn't make it to pick up Allilon," Duo said, walking fully into the room. The red-haired woman spun at the new voice, green eyes wide with surprise.

"And who might you be?" she asked in a not-too-polite-but-not-rude-either tone of voice.

"I'm a friend of Mr. Yuy. Duo Maxwell," he said, holding out his hand. The woman tentatively took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Well, I'm Ms. Sparrow, Allilon's teacher. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." He flashed her one of his famous grins, and hoped to hell that she wouldn't ask what his relation was to Heero, or Allilon for that matter. /Why yes, I'm Heero's male lover, and Allilon there hates me for all the child is worth. That's my relation,/ he though sourly, but keeping his smile intact.

"Mr. Maxswell?" Allilon asked, shoes in one hand and his jacket in the other.

"Heya, Alli-kun!"

"Where's Uncle Heero?"

"He had to go to work, so I'm here to play with you until he can come home. That sound ok with you?" Duo asked, moving over to the boy to help him with his belongings. The little boy said nothing, but let Duo help with no resistance, running out of the classroom when he had everything. Duo stood up, scratched his head, and waved to the teacher. "Well, thanks, and um, bye."

"Goodbye, Mr. Maxwell. Have a good day."

"Yeah, you too," he said, leaving the school building as quickly as he could. He was surprised to see Allilon and Joshua chasing each other around the yard in front of the building, and he saw Noin watching them carefully from beside the door. "I thought you were taking Joshie to the zoo."

"Well, I thought that I would take pity on you on your first day and we could all do something together," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Okay..." he said, watching the boys run around some. "Hey, Lu?"

"Yes, Duo?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, and you owe me."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heero sat at his desk at Preventers Headquarters, going over reports that weren't due until the following day. He had come there after he received the call from Une to 'come in for the day'. He reminded himself to thank her for that.

He knew that he was walking a thin line between lying to his lover and having help set it up, but Heero was starting to feel guilty about the whole situation. He stopped typing, and looked at the screen, the words seeming to make no sense, even though the man read, and wrote, ten different languages. Sighing, he moved a hand to the coffee cup on his left, only to find it missing.

"Looking for this, Yuy?" asked a familiar voice. Looking up, Heero saw Zechs standing next to his desk, ice blue eyes taunting him, as he placed the mug back on the desk.

"Don't mess with me, Zechs," Heero growled dangerously.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today, Heero?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes," Zechs replied, sitting on the edge of Heero's desk. "I thought you had today off. Why are you here?"

"Setting the plan into motion."

"Ahhhh, strike quickly and fewer casualties?"

"Aa. Although, I don't know who would die first. Duo, from suicide, or Allilon, from Duo's hands."

Zechs tried really hard not to laugh at the mental picture of Duo trying not to pull his long braid out, strand by strand, while Allilon stood there screaming at him. "It's a toss up, really," he said, stifling a few snickers.

"Aa."

"So, how did you ever get Une to help you with this little problem?" the blond asked. He was rewarded by a death glare from his friend. "Don't look at me like that, Heero. It doesn't work, and besides, you would *have* to have Une's help to come in today. Otherwise, Duo would never had agreed to watching your little terror."

"Allilon is only a terror because he's an only child and spoiled," Heero replied stonily.

"So what are you going to do? Knock Duo up so he can have a little brother or sister?" A lesser man would have been stone cold dead from the look that Heero gave Zechs, but the blond just laughed and patted the Japanese man on the back. Heero said nothing, and after a few moments, Zechs regained his composure. "Sorry. I couldn't resist the urge," he said sheepishly.

"Your sense of humour is almost as bad as Duo's. And just as unwanted at this time."

"Ouch. Something is wrong. Afraid that they will really kill each other?" Zechs looked at the other man, seeing the worried expression. "Look, Heero, Duo's a big boy, and a damn fine man. I think he knows how to restrain himself. Besides, Hilde, Quatre, Lu, and Sally are all here to help if he needs it." He paused, letting the logic of his statement sink into the former Gundam pilot's head. "So, did you tell him about the rules yet?"

"Hai."

"How did he take them?"

"Surprisingly well, although, I don't think he knows what he's gotten himself into," Heero said, shuffling the papers that were sitting idly on his desk.

TBC...

Review, please? Before the muses try to EAT me this time....