Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Stakes and Gundams ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Still the same.

After careful consideration (and several reviews) I have decided that I will be pairing a certain braided pilot with a certain one-eyed carpenter. As to what happened to Xander, sorry, you'll have to live with the suspense for a while. Need to make the unveiling dramatic after all. And while he's picked up some nifty abilities, as one does when they have lived several centuries, he is not all powerful or anything.

 

Chapter 2

 

Duo let Heero help him up the stairs even though he probably could have made it on his own. Any excuse to be close to him, even if it hurt. He knew he'd blown their chance years ago and he still regretted it. But at least Heero was happy with Relena now and Heero's happiness was all he wanted. It would be torture to stand as his best man in eight months but he would do it because Heero had asked him too.

 

“Maybe you should have stayed longer.” Heero's concerned voice broke him from his thoughts.

 

“Huh?” He blinked, when had they reached his door?

 

“Are you sure you're alright?” Duo smiled at his best friend.

 

“I'm fine Hee-chan, just thinking.”

 

“Don't try to think too hard.” Heero's sense of humour had improved since the war, sort of. He opened the door and helped Duo get comfortable on the couch.

“Are you sure…”

 

“Yes! You need to get going or you'll be late for that party thing. I'll be fine, Trowa will be here in a few hours.” Duo smiled and plumped his pillow up a bit.

“Thanks for bringing me home.”

 

“Always.” Duo's smile widened at the soft comment. It was true, ever since the war and even engaged to Relena, Heero was always there when he needed him.

“I'll be back tomorrow.”

 

“You can tell me about the party. Say hi to Relena for me.” Heero nodded and left. Duo waited until he would be well out of earshot.

“That better be you Alex.” He had his hand on his gun just in case.

 

“It's me.” Alex materialised in the far corner.

 

“You followed me home from the hospital.” It wasn't a question but Alex still nodded in answer.

“How do I know that I can trust you?”

 

“What do your instincts tell you?” Alex made himself comfortable in the chair opposite Duo's couch, apparently unafraid of the gun Duo held but had yet to aim. Duo studied him carefully, remembering what he had felt that first day, protectiveness not danger. Surprisingly his instinctive reaction to the older man was not fear or distrust and he found that very odd. He hadn't felt this comfortable this quickly with someone since meeting his fellow pilots. He slowly lowered the gun and relaxed back into the pillow.

 

Xander hid his smile, nice to know that little spell actually worked for him. Even after everything mixing him and most magic was still a bad idea. That spell however was one of the few that didn't backfire. It was pretty simple really, designed to make the target relax and trust you as if they'd know you for years. It was usually used for more nefarious purposes than those he held though. It was a favourite of assassins so it was only fair that he use it to help the target of said assassins. It also made getting answers out of someone a lot easier, why keep secrets from someone you trust?

 

“So, thought up any reasons for someone to want you dead?” He kept his tone light and casual, not wanting to cause the kid to become suspicious or anything.

 

“Maybe someone from the war.” Duo answered, shrugging.

 

“You fought in the war?” Xander reinforced the spell as much as he could, knowing the question would probably raise some mental alarms.

 

“Yeah, me and Deathscythe.” Xander stared at the kid in shock. He was a Gundam Pilot? Yeah, that made the list of possible employers a lot longer. He saw Duo blink and frown and realised he was somehow throwing the spell off. The kid was definitely not your every day run of the mill human. Hoping he'd learnt enough he made direct eye contact and slipped into the kids' thoughts easily. This was a skill he'd perfected centuries ago with Willow's help, since in some way it was similar to the telepathy spell she often used to help coordinate them during a fight. It would be so much easier if it let him read minds but no, that would make his life to easy. Instead he could blur memories, sometimes even erase them completely depending o the targets mental strength but he also had to know what memories he was looking for, he couldn't just do it randomly or anything. He found all the memories dealing with himself and began to blur them; assuming Duo would have too many defences for him to wipe them completely. So it was too his complete and utter disbelief that Duo's mind offered no resistance. He finished quickly and puled out gently moving quickly to catch the gun as it slipped from suddenly lax fingers. A sometimes helpful but sometimes annoying side effect of his ability was that his `victim' would always pass out for several hours. He figured it was the brains way of dealing with his interference. He made sure Duo was lying comfortably and covered him with a blanket, pausing to watch him sleep for a few minutes. Looking at him like this you would never think he had so much blood on his hands. Seemingly of its own violation he found his hand gently pushing a stray strand of chestnut hair off the boys face. Xander shook himself, now was so not the time. He needed to search the apartment and get out before Duo woke up. He really didn't want the kid picking up his presence again.

 

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“He get home safely?”

 

“Yeah, he sensed me again so we had a nice chat while he was under the influence of a trust spell and then I wiped his memories of me. I left him sleeping it off on his couch.” Xander told his `boss' as he threw himself down on the couch.

“Did you know that he's a Gundam Pilot?” There was a certain sense satisfaction to be gained from seeing Angel choking on his blood.

 

“Are you serious?” He choked out.

 

“Deadly. I'd say we may know the reason he's been targeted but if that's the case, why no attempts on the other four?”

 

“He lives alone doesn't he? It could be a case of easiest target first.”

 

“Maybe. Still doesn't tell us how he can sense me or why his mind had no defence at all against my little talent.”

 

“Spike's been annoying me, I'll get him to research it.”

 

“Cruel, very cruel.” Xander stated.

 

“Of course.” Xander grinned, surprisingly he got on better now with Angel than he had before the soul and the demon merged. The vampire was certainly more relaxed and easy going these days but he was a lot more protective of those he saw as his. Xander had long ago gotten used to the fact that he fit into that category.

 

“So, how do you plan to proceed? Can't do your usual stick like glue to the target routine unless you want to be erasing his memory 24/7.”

 

“I'll set up shot in the apartment next door, I noticed it's empty. As far as he'll be aware I'm just his friendly new neighbour. Following him around the city once he's up and about won't be too hard; I can use the crowds to hide.”

 

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Tanned hands roamed over his skin as a mouth plundered his. He moaned, arching up desperate for more contact. He felt the kiss break and then warm breath against his ear.

 

“Duo.” A warm, male voice whispered huskily.

 

Duo bolted upright, staring wildly around the room, heart racing. He winced as his body complained about the sudden movement.

 

“Duo?” He turned to see Trowa standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Are you all right? You've been asleep for over four hours. I tried to wake you earlier but…” Trowa handed him a glass of water and Duo drank eagerly.

 

“I'm fine, just a weird dream. Probably the meds.” Trowa nodded and let Duo drift off into his thoughts. He hadn't had a dream like that in a while and usually it was Heero not some stranger. He shook of the slight feeling of familiarity the voice had caused. He didn't recognise it.

 

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His hands teased and caressed their way across the smooth skin below him even as his tongue plundered a very willing mouth. He bit back a moan as the lithe figure arched up into him, increasing their contact. He pulled away from the kiss and leant down to whisper.

 

“Duo.”

 

Xander stared up at the ceiling, trying to calm his heart rate. Okay, where the hell had that come from? Sure the kid was cute but there was a huge gap between them age wise. He'd feel too much like he was repeating history, except that getting horizontal wouldn't turn him into a murdering maniac bent on ending the world. Maybe it was just simple lust, when was the last time he'd had sex? When he came up blank he put the dream down to that. Still didn't help him get back to sleep though.

 

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Duo opened the door and smiled at the stranger. He was a bit older than Duo with shaggy dark brown hair and a single warm chocolate brown eye, the other being covered by an eye patch. Dressed in well fitting worn blur jeans and a white t-shirt he looked utterly harmless. The strangers' smile was warm and genuine as he held out his hand.

 

“Hi! My name's Xander, I just moved in next door so I thought I'd introduce myself.”

 

“Duo, pleasure to meet you.” Duo reached out and grasped his hand in welcome.

 

TBC…