Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 2 Reign ❯ Enter the Storm ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three: Enter the Storm

"Minnie empires." I informed them, "You know exactly how it is. You lived in Deniel." that was to Heero and Relena, "The only thing that really changes is the form of the territory. Jesse runs things from the comfort of his suburban home and rules the area with an iron fist." I thought a second, seeing as they hadn't been swayed yet, "Jun," I said for example, "The down-town district is his. Likewise, Marionette runs the clubbing district. They don't have to be large to have control, and they don't have to be large to make money. They use the money to buy the drugs to sell to the people to make more money for more drugs and a bit of profit on the side." I looked my brethren over, "You know this."

"That is true," Trowa agreed, all courtesy, "But the fact that they are miniature empires does not tell us their military strength."

"Military?" I spat at him, trying to control my sarcasm only because it was Tro, "Please. They rule with dumb-asses with guns. Their people's only training is in bar-fights." I looked them all over, "I've been to the seediest cities this planet has to offer and that does not change. True, there are many previously trained soldiers who…like us, had nothing to do when the wars ended and everything went to the Geneva, but mostly the people who go into those things are people from the street who are either intimidated by the syndicates or they just had no where to go. If we come into these places with fully trained men at our back…hell, partially trained men at our back, they'll have no choice but to fold." I focused on Relena, "If you called to your soldiers from the previous wars, they'd come."

"I can't just…send out a call like that, Duo." she muttered, seeming almost offended, "I'm not leading this campaign."

"It's only to clean up your country," I agreed off-handedly, turning to focus on Wufei, "Not worth her notice." I added quietly, gesturing almost dismissively with one hand.

"Duo…" she started, frowning at me. She paused, however, at the sound of raised voices in the hall and a scuffle.

The door slammed open, rebounding as it hit the wall.

"You can't just go in…"

I was on my feet in an instant with my gun aimed…at Selena.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" she shrieked at me, moving at me faster than the others could react, kicking at my leg. I grabbed her by the waist and threw her down, kicking the chairs beside me out of the way as I re-holstered my gun and the room erupted into a confused babble.

Selena was having none of that, knocking my legs out from under me and moving to pin me. She was considerably lighter than me, however, so it wasn't much of a task to pin her to the floor, which I did, sitting high on her thighs with my feet on her biceps, smirking down at her.

"God damn it, Michael!" she shrieked again.

"You're either incredibly fucking stupid," I informed her, "Or clinically insane."

Heero wasn't the only one with his gun aimed at her head. He was, however, the first person she noticed. Her eyes went huge as she focused on his gun, then looked around and saw the others with them as well.

"Who the hell is this?" Quatre demanded, moving up beside her, kicking a steel-toed boot toward her arm. I moved my foot instantly so the blow didn't land, pinning her down again before she realized she was free.

"You're heavy, fucker." she snapped at me.

"So you've mentioned." I replied easily, "Never really seems to bother you. How the hell did you get in here?"

Quatre was studying me now.

"I walked in." she replied, giving me a look.

"How many did you kill?" I demanded.

"I wouldn't kill anyone!" she squealed at me in protest, "I only broke one of their legs…and an arm…and maybe a nose…"

"Hm, so you came in and started swinging?"

"No, I came in and started running, then got knocked over." she snapped, trying to surprise me with a sudden burst of movement, glaring at me when I didn't budge, "I threw a few punches before one of them asked me where I was going."

"What did you tell them?" I demanded, highly amused.

"That I wanted to see Michael Ocean."

I started laughing.

"Don't laugh at me!" she squeaked.

"Duo…maybe you should get off of her," Trowa suggested delicately.

"Why?" I asked him blankly.

Selena hit my leg as best she could from her angle, "What the hell do they know you by here?"

"By my name, actually." I replied easily, smirking at her.

"Tailor Johnson?" she demanded.

"Duo Maxwell." I informed her, rolling my eyes.

She blinked, startled.

"How did you find me if my name is such a shock to you?"

"Because most people on the premise have been informed that if a man named Tailor Johnson showed up, that he was immediately to be escorted to me." Heero replied easily, "Get off of her."

"Heero," I returned, meeting his eyes, "Do you know what she'd do to me if I got off of her?"

Her eyes flashed as she met mine.

I smirked at her, "But then again," I rolled to the side, drawing my knife and placing it against her throat as she lunged at me and then shied off from the sharp edge.

"Um…who is she?" Quatre asked slowly.

"She was a little freak accident I like to call entertainment." I replied, narrowing my eyes at her, "She was a bit upset with me since I didn't bother to tell her I was leaving when I came here."

"That's not my only problem, jackass."

I smirked at her.

"No, her name." Quatre muttered, "I figured the rest."

Trowa sniggered slightly.

"Selena Raoul." I replied easily.

She glared still more at me before she settled back, sitting on her feet as she pouted at me, "You make absolutely no sense."

"You've said that one several times as well." I noted, tucking my knife back into its sheathe without looking away from her, "How the fuck did you find me?"

"I looked. I asked questions. I shouldn't need to remind you that you leave quite the impression on people."

"Good point." I muttered, grinning slightly and rising to my feet, offering her a hand up.

She accepted that…and kneed me in the balls.

I couldn't quite hear what she was shouting at me, seeing as my ears were ringing and I was curled into a ball on the floor, but evidently it was enough to upset my brethren. Heero finally moved forward, forcing her from over me as Quatre moved up to my side, touching my shoulder, "You all right?"

"Fuck you." I replied easily.

"He's fine." Heero muttered darkly at me, "Get off the floor, dumb-ass."

I kicked out at him, happy to feel his shin give under the blow and his grunt of pain.

"So…" Wufei muttered finally, "You want something to drink?"

"I'm not leaving until he talks to…oh," Selena shouted the first bit, and when she realized what Wufei had said to her, she fell very quiet. I knew she was embarrassed, "I'd like that."

"What would you like?" he asked politely, pretending she'd made no outburst.

"Um…what do you have?"

"You're in the royal palace of Sanq and you're asking for choices?" I demanded of her, sitting up slowly, "You really are stupid."

"Fuck you." she snapped at me.

"Okay, let's go to my rooms."

"Your equipment working?" she snapped.

"I'd imagine." I replied, rising gingerly to my feet to glare at her, "Did you have to do that?"

"Yes." she replied primly, turning her nose up at me, "I'm upset with you."

"Oh, what the fuck ever! I didn't kill your god-damned brother, bitch, what the fuck is your issue?"

Everyone fell silent at that.

"I'm not talking to you." she muttered back.

"Okay…so…you can leave then. I'm talking to you."

She glared at me.

"She likes Pepsi, Wufei." I added. He was looking nervously between us, "No ice."

He blinked at me.

"I could have told him that!" Selena declared.

"But you didn't, did you? Christ," I muttered, looking back to Wufei as he moved to the doors, "Get me a fuckin' vodka while you're at it."

"Um, Duo…" Relena started delicately.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She fell silent.

"Don't treat our queen like that!" Selena shrieked, moving at me again.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted back at her, throwing her onto the table before she could hit me, her eyes went wide when she slid a few feet across the disgustingly large and smooth surface, then she jumped at me again…

And Trowa was there, catching her as I moved to retaliate, barely managing to avoid him.

"Thank you, Trowa," Heero muttered in a relieved tone, looking over the scattered notes before leaning against the table with his knuckles and thinking, shaking his head after a moment to look at me.

"What?" I challenged.

"I am going to kick your ass," he informed me, starting to rise up.

"You?" Selena demanded, then laughed, "As if!"

I had to grin at that.

"Both of you knock it off." Quatre said in the level tone that caught my attention. He wasn't actually angry, he was annoyed, but not angry. He also wasn't challenging me. His eyes were on Selena.

I settled back into stance, crossing my arms to glare at the woman.

"Can we talk like normal people, please?" Quatre added to her.

"Depends on your definition of normal." I replied.

"You can just hold your piece." he muttered, pointing at me a moment before focusing on Selena again, "What exactly has you so pissed off at Duo?"

Her cheeks flushed and she glanced at me before looking away from everyone and shaking her head.

Trowa moved back from her, narrowing his eyes at me.

Oh, I'd laughed.

I laughed more, biting a knuckle to keep from informing them all that I'd had her handcuffed to the bed and left the key just out of her reach before I left. I had covered her, though, so it wasn't like she'd been too embarrassed when the hotel management found her.

"I see." Trowa muttered, looking to her as she completely avoided his eyes, "It's like that. Well…we won't press for details, but I will have to ask you to stop fighting before I have you escorted off the premise."

"Fine." she said, meeting his eyes before looking around at everyone and blushing again as she met Relena's eyes, "I'm sorry, your Majesty. I didn't intend to interrupt."

"It's fine, Miss Raoul. Any friend of Duo's is a friend of mine."

"We're not exactly friends." I informed the queen, "She's more in the way of a distraction."

"From what?" Heero snapped, still annoyed with me.

"From Keith." she replied.

"Who?" Heero asked blankly.

"Ace." I replied, meeting his eyes.

They widened as he focused on me completely.

I studied Heero a moment, "She misdirected me several times over the past two years…and every now and then she'll pop in just for a fuck."

"Michael!" she squeaked in protest.

I laughed, meeting her eyes again, "Oh honestly, they all know me."

She looked them all over again before narrowing her eyes at me.

"Yes, I am the ex-Gundam pilot." I informed her, "Yes, I do have a position in the government, and no, I'm not intending to go far any time soon."

Her eyes flicked over everyone again and she straightened.

"Here." Wufei muttered, pressing a glass into my hands before moving to her and handing her a can of Pepsi, "Please, have a seat." he added pointedly to us all.

He wanted us to be polite…to Selena?

I blinked at him.

"Why don't you help pick up the notes you scattered, Duo?" he demanded.

-

I couldn't believe the lady. She acted toward Duo like a sixteen year old having a fight with her boyfriend, but to everyone else she was sweetness and light. She was actually a rather intelligent woman. How she'd come across Duo was still an oddity, and if the way he was acting toward her-like she was an ex-seduction who wouldn't leave you alone-said anything, I had no idea why she'd bothered…

Well, that wasn't completely true.

Duo was very good at what he did.

I felt a pang as I thought back to the auburn haired angel who'd giggled as she informed me that Duo didn't realize what he was doing when he did it.

"So let's go." Duo said suddenly, sitting up and kicking his chair out from behind him.

We all blinked at him as he watched Selena expectantly.

"Can't you wait?" she snapped at him.

"I can wait, I just don't want to." he replied, turning and starting for the door.

Selena sighed an extremely irritated sigh before rising to her feet and meeting our eyes again, "Please excuse me." she muttered, then actually ran after Duo as he disappeared into the hall.

"Um…someone…explain that one to me?" Quatre asked, blinking at the closed door.

"Duo is an excellent lover," I explained before I really thought about it-and then thought about it as Miguel frowned at me.

"Hold up," Jacob spoke-up before Miguel could say anything, rising slightly to his feet as he gestured for Miguel to remain quiet, "You've fucked him?"

I snorted, "I wish."

Again, the phrase passed my lips before I thought about it.

"Fuck you," Miguel snapped, starting to rise to his feet.

"Don't even start your bullshit," I muttered, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to me, "You know I had a crush on him since I was sixteen."

That also was not thought out and got me a look.

I sighed in exasperation, yanking at Miguel again.

He sighed himself, plopping back down in his chair to frown at me.

"I love you." I informed him in Chinese, studying his eyes, "I wear your ring," I added, flashing my hand at him, "So would you not freak on me, please?"

"Um…" he was thinking.

"He asked you not to freak on him," Heero supplied, giving me a look.

"I got that bit," Miguel snapped, giving Heero a look, "What did he say before that?"

"That he wears your ring." Heero muttered, sighing slightly.

Miguel gave him a look, then looked back to me, "You know that hurts my feelings." he muttered in Spanish, "I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

"I'm sorry," I muttered, leaning up to kiss him.

"I'm going to cancel that meeting," Relena muttered darkly, sitting back in her seat and pulling out her cell-phone, "I can tell we aren't getting anything done today."

"I dunno," Jacob muttered, "Duo said that he thought the security around the palace was fine. You have to imagine he checked it out."

"That's true," Trowa muttered, ignoring that Miguel and I were still kissing, "He really would have checked the place out thoroughly before he came in."

"The fact that he was able to sneak onto the grounds and into Wufei's room leaves something to be desired, though." Relena replied, resting her phone on the table, "I mean, really. How much training did he have?"

"Relena, we aren't exactly normal." Heero said in heavy exasperation, "Our training wasn't something just anyone could get. We were trained to seek and destroy. You have to think about this a moment. Duo's been hopscotching around the world tailing the lunatic. He's fine-tuned his skills."

Relena sighed heavily, then nodded, "I'm canceling anyway." she decided, "I have no idea how long he'll be."

"I don't think you should worry about it." Heero muttered before closing her phone, "Duo's reliable."

She snorted sarcastically, pulling her phone from him and raising it to her ear.

-

"What's going on?" Duo demanded as he moved back into the room, looking us all over, "I thought we had a meeting in ten minutes?"

Relena was staring at him.

Heero, who'd been sitting with his head propped against his hand and his hand on the table, studied Duo a moment before focusing on the table, "Relena thought you'd be late."

"So?" he returned, "Duh, you know I show up when I need to."

"She canceled it and wouldn't listen to me." Heero replied, "Talk to her about it."

"I showed up to your fuckin' wedding, didn't I?" Duo snapped at her, completely irritated, "I'd think you'd learn you can rely on me."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Shit, Relena," he muttered, moving into the room again, "If you don't trust me, how are you ever going to feel safe? Just because I'm not there immediately doesn't mean I won't show up."

"I take it your equipment works fine?" Jacob asked curiously.

Duo flicked him a vaguely annoyed glance, "She hasn't ruined me yet." he muttered, then focusing on Relena again, "If you keep treating shit like this, I'm not going to take this job very seriously. I live up to people's expectations of me. I suggest you set the bar a bit higher."

"Where is she?" Wufei demanded before Relena could reply.

"In my room," Duo snapped as if that should be obvious, "Really, Fei. Where else would she be?"

"Oh, I don't know…there's only an entire palace around us. I thought for a moment you might have been a gentleman and showed her the gardens."

Duo's snort more than stated he wasn't noting Wufei's sarcasm, "Why the fuck should I?"

"Duo, you're really close to pissing me off," I informed him, "I'd rather not get pissed at you."

He focused on me, his eyes annoyed, "What?"

"You've been an asshole to that poor girl since she showed up and now you're dismissing her like a casual fuck."

"She is a casual fuck, Quatre." he snapped, staring at me in amazement, "Honestly, I told you she pops in whenever she wants laid. That's why she followed me here."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

He shook his head at me, looking back to Relena, "You could have called me and told me you canceled the shit."

"You were busy." she returned, obviously upset with him.

Duo was dumbfounded by this, very obviously, running one hand through his hair and gesturing like he'd say something before pausing and looking around at us all again.

"Wow, he's speechless," Trowa noted, "Impressive."

Duo's eyes narrowed at the guy.

"On the bright side," Wufei muttered, rising from his chair to studying Duo, "We could go into town?"

Duo instantly lost his irritation, "You want to?"

"Yeah," Wufei replied, smiling around at all of us before moving back to Miguel and kissing him, "We'll be back in a few hours."

"Don't let him get you drunk," Miguel replied, grinning, then looked at Duo, "And if you seduce him I'll have something to say to you."

"I do threesomes now," Duo replied easily.

Miguel started to laugh.

-

"Excuse me?"

I looked up to the door to my apartments, which was open, blinking at Duo's friend, "Oh, hi." I muttered, rising to my feet, "How can I help you?"

She frowned slightly at me, "Where is…" she thought a second, "Duo?"

"He went into town with Wufei." I explained, moving across the room to stand by her, "They'll be gone several hours, I imagine."

"Oh." she looked crestfallen, and on closer inspection I could see bruises on her throat, "Well…" she turned to start back to the stairs.

"Visit with me?" I offered quickly. I didn't want her to feel like we all saw her as a passing thing. Obviously Duo knew her and I had a feeling she'd hang around a while. "I've only been talking to official jackasses lately. It'd be nice to talk to someone normal."

She giggled slightly, "I'm not exactly normal, Mr. Barton."

I laughed, "Call me Trowa." I muttered, gesturing for her to follow me, "My fiancé is Hilde," I added so she knew I wasn't trying to seduce her, "My daughter is running around here somewhere. Her name is Alex."

"You have a daughter?" she asked keenly, looking around the room a moment.

"The only thing to come out of a misspent youth." I agreed, smiling slightly.

"How old is she?"

"Eight, nearly nine."

"You're kidding," she muttered, obviously startled.

"I told you, a misspent youth."

She grinned at me, "I'm sure she's very pretty."

I studied her eyes a moment, wondering what exactly she meant by that before nodding.

"You have a fiancé?" she added, following me into the kitchen.

"Yeah, Hilde Shbleiker. She's at a meeting right now or I'd introduce you."

She nodded and smiled.

"Apa?" Alex asked, coming into the kitchen and eyeing the woman warily in confusion.

"Oh! You're one of the little girls Michael has a picture of in his wallet!" Selena exclaimed.

"This is Alexia," I explained, then blinked at her, "Michael?"

Selena blushed, "Sorry, I've only known him as Michael."

"Who?" Alex asked, blinking up at me.

"Tio Duo." I replied.

Alex giggled, "Michael? Tio doesn't look like a Michael…"

Selena laughed and shrugged, "He does to me."

"This is Selena," I told Alex, wondering how much I could get away with telling her, "She's a friend of your uncle."

"Uncle?" Selena asked.

"The four of them are the closest thing to brothers that I've ever had," I replied with a shrug, "Both Alex and Lea call them all uncles…and Relena is their aunt."

Selena smiled at that, then tilted her head, "Lea?"

"Marlea Winner," Alex supplied, happy to be of service, "She's Uncle Quatre's daughter. She's the same age as me and we're in the same class at school. She gets mad at me for talking too much sometimes, but she won't sit by anyone else."

Selena giggled, "That is a pickle, isn't it?"

Alex giggled and nodded, "I told her she could sit by Tommy, but she gets all embarrassed."

"Tommy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Alex started giggling as she focused on me, glancing at Selena a moment, "Can I go over to Quatre's?"

"Who is Tommy?" I demanded.

She giggled harder, turning and running to the door, "I'll be back in an hour!"

"Alex!" I called after her, hearing the door shut before starting to laugh.

"Boy troubles, at her age?" Selena giggled, "How cute. She's incredibly adorable, Mr…Trowa."

"Mr. Trowa?" I asked her.

She made a slight face, giggling a little, "Sure, why not?" she focused past me and stared at the door a moment before meeting my eyes, "I can't wait to have a daughter of my own.

"Duo will take some warming to the matter," I muttered, offering a can of soda from the package beside the fridge, "He was very in love with Kayla."

"Kayla?" she asked, her eyes instantly changing.

I stared at her a long moment, startled, "His fiancé."

Selena blanched slightly and I realized Duo hadn't been honest with her at all.

"I'm going to stop there." I added, "That's Duo's story to tell."

She nodded again, rising to her feet with a troubled expression, "I'm going to go lie down," she muttered, gesturing with the soda, "Thank you for this."

"Duo's kitchen should be stalked shortly." I muttered as she moved away, "You can leave a note on the counter asking them to leave some sodas out for you."

"Thank you." she muttered again, then disappeared completely.

When the front door to my apartments shut, I frowned at the now empty doorway.

It was time someone had a talk with Duo.

-

E/N: Thank you for the review, Akira! And I'm sorry to everyone for the slow updates. I'll try to be better in the future.