Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 80 ( Chapter 80 )

Please see previous chapters for notes, disclaimers etc.

"Chimaera"

By ShenLong.

Chapter 80

When Heero finally let Duo up for air he was aware that his own cheeks were wet but he didn't give a damn. It felt so good to have his lover in his arms again. Eagerly Heero's hands swept all over Duo, just as Duo's were checking over his body, reassuring themselves that their partner was indeed safe and in one piece. "God, I've missed you, Duo," Heero murmured as he once more took his lover's lips in a torrid kiss.

"Awww... That's so sweet," murmured Quatre from the top of the steps where he stood with Trowa, the taller man's arms wrapped around Quatre's waist as they watched the touching homecoming scene before them.

"I'm surprised that they haven't suffocated yet," muttered Wufei as he appeared beside the pair.

"Don't be like that, Wufei," scolded Quatre. "They've obviously missed each other."

"Of that I am only too well aware," replied the Chinese man. "You have not had to spend the past week with Yuy and listen to the continuous references to Maxwell."

"No, I haven't; but I have spent the last week with Duo."

"Point taken and conceded. You have my complete sympathy, out of the two I think I may have gotten the better end of the deal."

"You will come in and stay for dinner, won't you, Wufei?" asked Trowa.

"Thank you that would be most welcome." Wufei looked at the tall man and then blinked. His face scrunched up a little as he studied the Latin closely. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"Long story. I'll tell you over dinner," replied Trowa.

"You didn't get into a fight of some sort..." Wufei stopped as he spotted the fading bruises on Quatre's shins. The little blonde was wearing a pair of shorts so his legs were quite visible.

Quatre noticed where Wufei's eyes had gone. "It's not quite what you're thinking, Wufei. It is all related though and we will explain over dinner.

"I'm not sure I really want to know," replied Wufei with a frown. "What you two get up to together is really none of my business; you are after all, a married couple."

"WUFEI!" admonished Quatre as his face reddened. "It's nothing like that at all."

"Ahh, Chang Wufei does have a gutter to put his mind in after all," commented Trowa keeping his face neutral.

"I, what?!" spluttered Wufei as he realized that the tables had been turned on him.

"Let's go inside, it looks like those two could be a few minutes yet and it's getting hot out here," said Quatre as he tactfully diverted the subject; or so he thought.

"Getting a little hot for you is it, mon chéri?" said Trowa softly as he nuzzled Quatre's neck and thrust his groin against his husband.

"Oh, please," grumbled Wufei as he rolled his eyes and pushed past the pair into the house. Wasn't it bad enough that he had to watch the pair by the car without the other two starting?!

***

"It's good to have you back, Heero. Tro and Quat, well, they were great and all, but I really missed you," said Duo softly as he snuggled closer to his lover, still standing outside by the car.

"I missed you too, Duo. I don't want to go away from you again on an assignment if I can help it," replied Heero as he stroked a hand over Duo's belly. "How's sunshine? Been behaving yourself for your mother?"

Duo chuckled. "Since when has this baby ever taken any notice of you… or me?"

Heero suddenly pulled slightly away and stared intently at Duo. He raised a hand and turned Duo's chin a little. "What happened?" he asked in a low tone as he saw the fading bruise on Duo's jaw.

"Before you go getting all protective of me, Heero; no, Quatre didn't clock me and neither did Trowa. It's a long story and if you want to come on inside I'll tell you all about it over dinner." Duo turned and taking Heero's hand began to lead his lover towards the front door. "If you think this is bad, you wait till you get a look at Trowa and Quatre's wounds."

"Wounds?" Heero echoed. "Duo, just what the hell has been going on here whilst I was away?"

"All will be revealed over dinner, Heero; trust me, okay?"

Heero gave a grunt but didn't press the issue any further. He had a feeling it was going to be quite an interesting explanation all round.

***

The five sat around the small table happily eating the stew that Trowa had made for their dinner. With Duo's confession about 'wounds', Heero had made sure to take a closer look at both Quatre and Trowa. What he saw made him look twice. Although the bruising was fading, Heero could tell it must have been rather spectacular when it first happened. It looked like the three of them had been involved in an all out brawl and despite Duo's reassurances to the contrary; Heero couldn't shake the bristling of anger that manifested in his gut. If either of the other two were responsible for Duo's bruising then friends or not, Heero wouldn't be held accountable for his actions of retaliation.

A scratching and whining sound came from the back door. "Shit! I forgot about Miracle," said Duo and abruptly stood up, scraping his chair back as he did so and went to move, only to be stopped by Heero's hand to his arm. Duo turned to look at his lover.

"Who or what is Miracle?"

"Oh, ummm... Yeah. Errr... Heero, I need to tell you something," began Duo and sat back down again. "Miracle, well, she's a...."

"...dog?" finished Heero as the puppy bounded inside, Quatre having gotten up and let the animal in whilst Duo was otherwise occupied.

"Errr... Yeah."

The little pup scampered inside her tail wagging so fast that her entire rear end was wriggling and swaying with the movement. She gave an excited yap and bounded straight to Duo. The pregnant man leaned over slightly and scooped the pup up, bringing her to sit on his knees. Miracle proceeded to plant her paws on Duo's belly and do her very best to lick his nose.

"Maxwell, that's disgusting," said Wufei from across the table.

"Actually that's not disgusting, that's a pup and her name is Miracle," Trowa dead panned and went on to explain the circumstances of how Quatre and Duo had found the little animal.

"You went off the estate?" growled Heero softly.

"We only went for a drive to the beach, Heero." Duo ruffled the dog's ears nervously.

"You know it's too risky for you to go off the estate in your condition, Duo."

"I was bored shitless. You want to try staying here all the time staring at the same scenery. It was only a drive out and no one was around, we checked before leaving the car to take a walk," huffed Duo in his defense.

"Anyone could have been around and seen you. What the hell do you think would happen then, Duo?" Heero couldn't help himself, he was annoyed that Duo should put himself and their baby at risk of discovery.

"Nothing happened, Heero. There wasn't a soul around and we didn't go far from the car," said Quatre as he tried to defend Duo.

Heero turned and faced the blonde, his blue eyes blazing. "You should have had more sense than to take a pregnant man off the estate and run the risk of him being discovered. Hell, who's to say that someone didn't notice you? "

"I already told you, there wasn't anyone around," snapped Duo.

"No one that you know about. There could be anyone hiding in the dunes..."

Miracle sat on Duo's knees listening to the conversation going on around her. She didn't understand any of it of course but she could smell the anger in the air, scent that her master was getting upset; and she didn't like it.

"Don't be so paranoid, Heero," snarled Duo. He really was fed up to the back teeth of having everyone fuss over him.

Heero reached across to put his hand on Duo's arm. "I'm not being... Ow! Fuck! The little shit bit me!" yelped Heero.

Miracle watched as the new man spoke in a dark tone to her master and when he reached across to grab him she couldn't allow that. She might only be a little pup but this man had rescued her, fed and looked after her and no way was she going to sit there and let her master get hurt. She moved fast and sank her puppy teeth into the flesh of the hand that was reaching across. She didn't bite too hard, not really having the strength in her jaws to do much damage, but it was a warning. Miracle sat back down, gazing at Heero and growling softly.

Not daring to even giggle, Duo did his level best to keep the smile from his face, a glance at Trowa and Quatre told him that they were also trying hard not to show any mirth at Heero's expense.

"I'd say you have a pretty good guard dog there, Maxwell." It was Wufei that broke the silence.

Duo had to hide his face, lest he lose it completely. Miracle still growled softly at Heero who was holding his hand and staring in disbelief.

"Is your hand okay, Heero?" Quatre's compassion overruled his desire to snicker at the turn of events.

"I'll live," replied Heero as he studied the small puncture wound on his hand.

"From the looks of things I'd say that pup has a very protective streak in it," stated Wufei. "You want to be careful, Yuy."

"Nani?"

"It might not let you anywhere near Maxwell." Wufei couldn't resist teasing the Japanese man, or Maxwell for that matter. After all the taunts and practical jokes he'd suffered at the hands of Maxwell over the years it was nice to be able to get his own back, and Wufei wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like this. "Think about it, if it bit you simply for trying to put your hand on Maxwell's arm what's it going to do when you try to hug him? Or kiss him? Or..."

Duo's face visibly paled and he came out of his mirth with a jolt. "Miracle wouldn't do that. She's simply protecting me from what she thought was an attack on me. You'll see. She will be fine with Heero in a minute once she knows he's not going to hurt me. Won't you, girl?" Duo stroked the pup's ears and Miracle stopped her growling. She kept her eyes trained on Heero though.

"What Duo said is right," said Trowa in his wise voice. "The pup recognizes Duo as her master and will protect him from anything she deems is a threat to him, dogs are like that; very faithful."

"Then let's see if she's willing to accept Yuy," replied Wufei with a neutral face.

"She will accept him," snapped Duo. "He's my partner and she's going to have to learn to share. Are you really okay, Heero? I'm sorry about that, I didn't know she would bite, she hasn't shown any aggressiveness at all since we saved her. Please forgive her and make friends, I know she will be just as protective of you as she is of me and I really like her, she's a sweet thing..."

"Duo..."

"She would have drowned out there if we hadn't come along at the right moment..."

"Duo...!"

"She didn't really mean to bite you..."

"Duo!!!"

"Please say I can keep her, Heero... I'll clean up after her and make sure she's trained..."

"DUO!"

"Yes, Heero?" Duo turned his best sorrowful eyes towards his lover.

"You can keep her."

"I can? Wow! Thanks, Heero." Duo dropped the pup to the floor and grabbed his lover in a bear hug. "I promise to look after her properly and all..."

Miracle looked up from her new position on the floor and turned her head first one way and then the other. She was now really confused. The scents had changed from anger to calm and her master was 'attacking' the other man. She really didn't know what to make of it all, whether to growl or wag her tail.

"Here, Heero. Say a proper hello to Miracle," said Duo as he broke the embrace and scooped the pup up. "Miracle, this is Heero; he's my partner and also your master so you'd better get used to the idea of obeying him as well as me. Heero, this is Miracle."

Heero looked at his lover and then to the little dog. Two pairs of puppy eyes gazed back at him. Heero sighed and gave in, usually he could managed to steel himself against Duo's puppy eyes but in this case there was no way he could resist two sets of pleading eyes. Tentatively Heero reached out a hand towards the pup. "Hey, Miracle," he said softly, making sure to keep his tone low and soothing.

The pup still wasn't too sure about this new man but she couldn't scent any fear, only trust coming from her master so that must mean that this new guy was okay. Miracle decided to give Heero the benefit of the doubt for now, but if he tried to hurt her master again...

Heero gently ran his hand over the pup's head, caressing her ears but watching for any signs that the pup might turn on him.

Miracle also gave a little puppy sigh, the caresses felt really nice and grudgingly she turned her head a little and slipped her tongue out to give Heero a lick to the hand.

"There you go! See, I told you, Wuffers, that Miracle would be okay with Heero," said Duo smugly and then deposited the pup into Heero's arms and sat down again.

"Until the next time he tries to put a hand on you," huffed Wufei.

Trowa shook his head and nudged Quatre, nodding towards Heero. Quatre averted his eyes from Wufei to Heero and smiled. Heero had sat down again and now Miracle was curled in his arms quite happily enjoying the attention that Heero was giving her. It looked like Heero was also enraptured.

"Don't spoil her too much," teased Duo as he watched his lover with the pup.

Heero shot him a glare, a little embarrassed at being caught out. The pup really was a sweet thing and Heero could see how the dog would give Duo something to occupy his time whilst his pregnancy continued. With a last pat to the head, Heero put the dog down.

Trowa stood up and cleared away the dirty dishes, Quatre assisting him. Duo fetched Miracle's bowl from outside and fed the little dog,. Wufei passed comment on how the pup's wolfing down of her food reminded him of Duo's feeding habits, a comment that got him the finger in return. With dinner out of the way, the five adjourned to the lounge room with coffee and tea; and a small bowl of Crunchie ice cream for Duo. Trowa, much to Duo's surprise had refused Duo's offer to share his ice cream, but Duo wasn't about to ask twice, if Trowa didn't want any then Duo wasn't going to push the issue, it meant more for him that way.

Sitting comfortably in the lounge it was Heero who asked the question that the three had been dreading.

"So, what's with all the bruises?"

Trowa blushed, Quatre averted his eyes and Duo suddenly found the ice cream very interesting.

"Will someone please tell me what happened? Or do I have to add to the bruises to find out?" Heero stared specifically at Trowa.

Trowa swallowed nervously. "Well, you know the baby seat that you and Duo bought?"

"Hai?"

"We thought we would have a go at putting it into the car."

"Speaking of cars, Heero," Duo tried to change the subject a little, not that this subject was probably any better but at least it would give them a bit of breathing space. Duo really wasn't all that pleased about admitting defeat to a baby seat in front of Wufei. "Quatre has very generously loaned us a sedan to use."

"Nani?"

"The baby seat isn't designed for a pick up, that's how Trowa got hurt, trying to fit it to the pick up when it's not supposed to go in one. Quatre had a sedan sitting around doing nothing and has very kindly leant it to use to use until we can either buy one of our own or we don't need it any more," Duo began to run off at the mouth.

"Whoa," said Heero and raised a hand to stop Duo's babbling. "You said Trowa got hurt trying to fit the baby seat into the pick up?"

"Errr... Yeah." It seemed that Duo's plan to distract Heero wasn't working.

"What happened?" Heero directed his question to Trowa then turned back to Duo adding quickly., "We will come back to the 'Quatre and sedan' bit in a minute."

"I tried to fit it as Duo said, only the damn thing didn't want to cooperate. I sort of got hit in the eye by the restraining strap that came loose." Trowa raised a hand to the healing flesh.

"Okay, so that would explain your eye, but what about Duo's jaw and the bruising on Quatre's legs?"

"When Quatre gave us the sedan we thought we would have a go at fitting it into that. It didn't work," trailed off Duo.

"What do you mean, it didn't work?" asked Heero.

"Have you seen how many straps and buckles there are on that thing, Heero? I'm surprised that one of us wasn't killed trying to install it!" huffed Duo.

"The straps were either too long or too short, the bolts didn't want to secure properly and then the bolt came loose and I tried to catch it. The webbing ripped through my hands though and burnt them," said Quatre quietly.

"Then it hit me in the jaw and bounced off to connect with Trowa's eye again," finished Duo.

"I can tell you it hurt more the second time too," Trowa stated.

"Hn. That doesn't explain the bruising to Quatre's legs though," said Heero.

"I got those when I tried to return the evil spawn of Satan back to the nursery," sniffed Quatre.

"Evil spawn of Satan?" Heero raised an amused eyebrow.

"That thing you call a baby seat! It tripped me up on the stairs and tried to kill me." Quatre snuggled deeper into Trowa's embrace, his husband soothing him.

Wufei couldn't help himself. He began to laugh; loudly.

Three faces turned and scowled at him.

"It isn't funny, Wufei," huffed the blonde.

"No, you're right, it isn't funny... It's damn hilarious!" Wufei went off into a series of snickers. "I can't believe that three trained soldiers and former Gundam pilots have been defeated by a child's seat."

Heero was doing his best not to join in with Wufei; the whole thing was a little ridiculous.

"Why on earth didn't you use the instructions?" asked the Chinese man when he'd managed to get his laughter back under control.

"Couldn't find them," replied Quatre.

"Yeah, where did you put those instructions, Heero?" Duo asked and turned to face his partner.

"Errr..." Heero racked his brain trying to remember what he'd done with them. "Ummm..."

"You don't know, do you?"

"I thought I had put them away in the bedroom, you know, in the filing cabinet."

"Nope, not there, I checked," replied Duo.

"Then..."

"You've lost them, haven't you?" Duo rounded on his lover.

"No, I haven't lost them."

"Then where are they?"

"Ummm... I've merely misplaced them."

"Great! Now how the fuck are we supposed to fit the damn thing?!" snapped Duo.

"Oh, come on, Duo. Surely it can't be that hard?"

"Wanna bet?"

"I'll have a go in a minute when I've finished my coffee," soothed Heero.

"Good luck and don't ask me for any help." Duo folded his arms across his chest. Heero looked across at Trowa and Quatre.

"Nuh uh. No way, Heero," Trowa shook his head.

"I hope you have your Preventer riot gear you can put on, you're gonna need it," stated Quatre.

"What a bunch of weaklings, frightened of a baby seat," snorted Wufei.

"You haven't had a run in with it, Wuffy," Duo defended himself. "You'll see what I mean when you try it. Just make sure you have your last will and testament written out first."

"This is ridiculous," said Heero. "How hard can it be to fit a baby seat?" He stood up. "Where is the thing?"

"In the nursery, plotting its action against its next victim," said Quatre.

"Nice knowing you," added Trowa.

"Ah, shit! I knew it, this baby is going to grow up with only one parent and not two," stated Duo.

"I don't believe you all." Heero shook his head and rolled his eyes in frustration. "I'll go get it and you'll see. This thing will be installed in minutes." Heero set off for the nursery and the baby seat.

"This I have to see," snickered Duo.

The remaining four ex pilots and one pup headed out to the garage where the sedan sat and prepared to watch the baby seat be tamed.

Or would it?

~ * ~

tbc.....

Authors Note: For those of you that are wondering why you can't leave a review without signing in, It's not me, I haven't changed anything on my profile. Media Miner has decided to change their rules so that everyone that wishes to leave a review on a fic must sign in to do so. Apparently this is to stop all the spamming that has been going on. I apologize to those of you who wish to review but cant, that's the reason why. Check Media Miner's main page for full information. Regards, Shen ^_^