Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 2 Reign ❯ Issues ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six: Issues

"Come back any time, Jesse." Relena muttered warmly to the guy as we all stood on the steps leading up to the extraordinary complex of the palace behind us. Since Duo had driven Jesse up, he was driving Jesse home. This was causing Heero some fairly obvious anxiety. He'd begged Quatre, Wufei, Miguel and I to go with Duo to be sure he came back, because he couldn't very well leave, even if it was only for a day. Like-wise, Wufei and I oversaw our recruits and couldn't take a sudden day off. Miguel would have been of no use in making Duo do anything, and Quatre flat-out refused. He, like myself, trusted Duo to come back. I couldn't speak for anyone else, though.

"I'll be honored." Jesse returned, moving forward to hug Relena. "I had a great time."

She smiled more at him as he turned and exchanged salutations with the rest of us. Alex and Lea were standing forlornly in front of Q and I, watching Jesse with huge eyes. They'd begged him to stay just one more night, but he'd had to refuse.

He had an empire to run, after all.

It was such an odd thought to think of Jesse as an enemy. I'd never considered him such, and the fact that we may have to shut him down in the next few years made me sad. This vision of him standing at the bottom of the steps in front of Duo and Duo's car with the large fountain for the center of the driveway behind him seemed surreal

"I'll call you when we get home." Jesse muttered, pointing to Relena.

"All right." she muttered happily.

"Shall we?" Duo muttered, flashing a grin at everyone, "I want to get back soon."

"How soon?" Selena asked, moving forward.

"A.M." Duo replied easily, "As soon A.M. as I can make it."

"That's a lot of driving. Are you sure you don't want me to drive some?"

He snorted almost derisively at her, "Have I ever had you drive?"

"We've only took a trip once." she reminded him.

Duo gave me a look, "We'll see."

"He's not Heero." I agreed with a smirk to her, "He's willing to give up control once and a while."

"Hey, now." Heero muttered.

"Heero probably really loves his job," I added as if I hadn't heard Heero with a wink, "He's always given orders. This is just the natural…" I choked out a laugh as he smacked me upside the head.

Selena giggled, "I see what you mean."

Heero drew himself up as she giggled even harder.

"Let's go." Duo muttered, tapping the hood of his car, "I'd rather not make them worry any more about me than they have to."

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked happily, "We're glad you're leaving."

Duo flipped him off.

"Sorry." Quatre reassured him with a laugh, " I believe you'll be back in the morning. Be safe."

Duo smiled at him, then slid into his car. Selena had already glided into the backseat, so Jesse waved once more to us all before climbing in as well.

I hadn't realized Selena had been intending to go with him.

When Duo disappeared out of sight down the road and through the front gate, I had to wonder if anyone else had the same feeling as me. It was as slightly foreboding sensation with some deja vu mixed in.

"I don't like this." Heero informed us, turning back to the building, "How hard would it have been for one of you to go with him?"

"Fairly hard." I replied, "Because we all have jobs."

That got me a dirty look.

I smirked at the guy with a wink, "It's about time we got the girls to school, don't you think, Q?"

"I do." Quatre agreed easily.

Heero snorted and walked off.

"Come on you guys," Fei muttered to us as Heero and Relena reentered the building, "Don't be so hard on him."

"Why? Because we're gonna flick worlds of shit on him when Duo shows up by noon tomorrow?" Quatre asked sweetly.

Wufei frowned, "You don't know that."

"But we do," I muttered, studying his eyes, "You know we do. Duo said he'd be back."

The way Wufei avoided my eyes told me louder than words that in Wufei's mind, it was no longer that simple.

-

Michael sighed.

"Why so melancholy, Sir knight?" I muttered pleasantly to him, glancing over at him. He'd let me drive as we hit the first rest stop. I'd figured he was going to sleep, seeing as he'd woken up at six in the morning and it was nearing three in the morning now.

"I'm just relaxing." he replied just as easily, "I've been high strung lately."

"I noticed." I muttered to him with a grin.

He flashed one back at me.

One thing that I'd loved about Mike since we first met was his willingness to listen to chatter. I could blather mindlessly to him for hours, before or after sex. He didn't care. He'd listen. Not only would he listen, but he remembered.

I did that now, watching him relax back further to sleep. Those were the times he'd always seemed the happiest-when I'd talked him to sleep. He wouldn't toss and turn or wake up in the middle of the night. He'd sink deeply into sleep and stay that way until I did something to wake him up or until morning.

Hearing that he'd had a fiancé explained some of his mannerisms to me. I'd never been able to figure him out in the slightest. Neither he nor Keith had ever explained to me why…Duo…wanted Keith dead. And after a few months of that, I'd realized that Duo would not tell me. It was just the way it was and I'd accepted that. Mike wanted Ace dead and had the skills to do it. If he hadn't, Ace would never have come to me and asked for my help.

"So what?" Mike asked sleepily, "Trowa talks too much."

I blinked, remembering that I'd been chattering, "Um…I lost my…"

Mike's eyes opened and he studied me a long moment, "What's the matter?"

I thought I was going to shit my pants. He'd never actually looked concerned when he'd asked me what was the matter before…

"Its just…Mr. Trowa's so open with me…"

"Mr. Trowa?" he asked me sarcastically, a hint of his old-self filtering into it.

I smiled slightly, "He asked me to call him Trowa, and I'd nearly called him Mr. Barton."

"That last name doesn't fit him." Duo noted.

"Duo?" I muttered, trying out his new name-his real name, probably for the first time.

"Hm?" he muttered, switching position on his chair so he was facing the window.

"Who is Kayla?"

He stopped, well, that wasn't completely correct. He hadn't been doing anything…but he stopped all the same, raising his head to look at me. His eyes were unreadable as glass.

I looked back to the road quickly, "I was talking to Trowa," I explained, uncomfortable now, "He said…he told me that…well, I told him that…"

"Pull over." he snapped.

My heart stopped as I glanced at him, "No, you're tired…just go…go back to sleep, I'll…"

"Pull the fucking car over now, Nira."

I wanted to cry at his tone, though the addition of my nickname made me wonder. That tone generally meant the end of our time together, but he wouldn't call me the pet name if he wanted me to leave.

"Now."

I bit my lip as I slowed and pulled off the highway.

"Trowa talks too much." he snapped as he slid out of the car and moved around the front of it, pulling the door open to glare at me, "What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded irritably, "I'm fuckin' driving."

"Are you just going to leave me here?" I demanded. It's what he'd done before. He'd pulled off in the middle of a city, then. He'd even given me money. There was no ATM nearby, and we were in the middle of farm-fields.

He stared at me in amazement for a long moment before, "Get out of my seat now!"

I bit my lip harder as I climbed out and he slid in, slamming the door and buckling-and waiting.

I blinked at him and he rolled down the window, "What the fuck are you doing, dumb-ass?" he snapped, "Get in unless you want me to leave you here."

I realized that the passenger door hadn't actually been shut.

He was shaking his head in obvious irritation as I climbed in-he started pulling away before I even had the door shut. I buckled quickly, watching him accelerate at an alarming rate as he drove down the shoulder before cutting across three lanes of traffic into the empty fast lane.

Our little trip had just been cut short.

-

I blinked at the sound in the hall, grabbing my gun and moving across the room to pull my apartment door open…to find that Trowa had done exactly the same thing.

Duo was there, bearing down on Trowa-he actually threw Trowa a few feet up the hall as Selena squeaked after him. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but it seemed that Duo knew. She continued her high-pitched protest as Hilde came into the hall to see what was going on, her jaw dropping.

Duo hadn't been content to just throw Trowa, he'd kicked him as well, and Trowa was in obvious shock as he dragged himself back to his feet and limped away, favoring his right leg as he obviously started thinking.

Unprovoked attacks from someone you considered a brother had a tendency to make you freeze.

"Duo, no!" Hilde cried, moving into the hall and at Duo's back when he moved forward again.

Duo threw Hilde.

She gasped as she hit the wall.

Trowa was suddenly pissed instead of shocked, getting over his pain and launching at Duo.

"What's going on?" Jacob demanded, moving up behind me. He'd been in his room.

"Michael, please…" Selena wailed as he threw Trowa yet again.

He wasn't saying anything. Duo hadn't made a single noise…

"Quatre, do something!" Jacob shouted at me, shoving me into the hall.

And that was when I became a threat.

I aimed my gun at Duo as his brown eyes locked on mine. The presence of my gun not only made me the superior threat, but also made me someone to be wary of-someone who needed a plan of attack.

Trowa was gasping for breath off to one side.

"Don't make me arrest you." I breathed, holding my gun steady.

"I'd like to see you try," his voice was dripping with malice, and I'd nearly say hatred. His eyes were slightly glassy and he only seemed to be noticing me as he straightened to his full height.

Okay, that pissed me off.

I actually threw my gun at him.

It smacked him in the forehead before flying off to the side, which dazed him enough, evidently, that he realized what he was doing. He looked around the hall, noticing Trowa first as he massaged his forehead, then focusing on Hilde and stopping completely.

She was glaring at him with accusing eyes.

I had to wonder what Heero thought as he and Wufei came down the stairs to that. Hilde against one wall and Trowa gasping on the ground near her-Duo was obviously the center of the storm, and Selena had sank to her knees a few feet behind him. Jacob was standing just outside our door, and I was directly in front of Duo. He hadn't changed stance enough to make it look like we hadn't been facing off.

And then Heero noticed my gun.

-

You could hear the shouts throughout the royal wing.

Trowa was curled up in the corner of my couch and Quatre was sitting warily in the chair across the way. Selena had left us as soon as she realized that we really could handle Duo. I assumed she was in her room and left it at that. Hilde had stayed downstairs since Alex and Lea were sleeping in her apartment, and Jacob was standing by the window, staring out at the night.

The shouting wouldn't stop.

I closed my eyes, massaging my temples. We'd left the doors open to both the royal suite and my apartments, because everyone was assuming that Duo might flip out again.

Trowa was in pain.

"Just take something," Miguel pleaded with the guy, "Ibu at least."

"Not right now," Trowa muttered through clenched teeth, "I feel like I'm going to puke."

"What in the nine-hells set him off?" I demanded.

"I don't know." Trowa confessed, still sounding pained, "He just came in and threw me to the ground-fuckin' kicked me too."

"So what have you done?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"No…I'm thinking out loud." I reassured him.

"What?"

"He doesn't think the same way anymore, Trowa." I muttered, lifting my head to meet his eyes, "He doesn't respond to things the same way."

"Well, he's bi now for one. And a slut, according to Selena."

I blinked at him, wondering about that. "Tro…" I muttered, thinking, "Does Selena ever come to talk to you?"

"She did that first day. She holes up in his apartment, though, so I go and talk to her instead."

Quatre had his eyes wide as he studied me.

"She is awfully pretty." Miguel noted to me suddenly.

"I'd noticed that myself." I agreed, looking from my fiancé to my friend, "I wonder how she kisses."

Trowa blinked at me blankly.

"And with those hips," Miguel added suggestively.

"Duo never was one to keep the untalented."

Trowa looked across the room to Quatre. In his eyes I could see surprise, as if he hadn't ever thought of the female like this.

"She's got the body of a goddess." Quatre admitted, also studying Trowa.

"If you guys are trying to be subtle or something," Tro muttered, "I might remind you that pain takes an edge off the sharpest of minds."

"Trowa," I asked sincerely, meeting his eyes, "If you found out Hilde was cheating with Duo, what would you do?"

"Turn a blind eye." Trowa muttered with a wince.

"Hm…" Quatre said quietly, "Just think about how he acted toward Heero about Kayla."

"What?" Trowa asked blankly.

"Have you…" I couldn't ask him if he'd cheated on Hilde. We'd made ourselves perfectly clear and in pain or not, he wasn't that stupid.

His eyes widened in shock as his thoughts caught up to our words, "No!"

"Are you sure? I mean…even a kiss?"

"No!" he shouted, "I said no and I mean no, god damn it!"

I glanced to Miguel, who had stopped his pacing. He asked Trowa something in Spanish, and Trowa replied. My own Spanish, while better than it had been, wasn't up to a conversation between brothers.

I did hear `no' repeated in several different sentences though.

"So…" I muttered, rising to my feet, "You don't mind if I go talk to her?"

Trowa focused on me, blinking at me. He didn't say anything to me as I left the room with Quatre on my heels.

.

"Selena?" Wufei asked quietly as he pushed into Duo's apartment.

Selena was staring at the muted television, and as soon as Fei spoke, she un-muted it.

"Selena, can we talk?" Wufei asked, moving to sit in the armchair next to her. I made my way across to the far side of the couch.

Her eyes moved to me a moment, then to Wufei, "I tried to make him stop."

"I saw." I reassured her, "Sometimes Duo requires special handling."

"Would you have shot him?" she asked me, suddenly blinking at me.

"Let me see," I muttered, thinking about that, "I had a loaded pistol in my hand and a man mauling a fellow-officer…and I threw it at him."

She frowned at me.

"Is that what happened?" Wufei asked, amusement trickling into his tone.

I shook my head at him, "Stay on topic."

"That is the topic." Selena reminded me.

I gave her a look.

Wufei shook his head, focusing on her again, "Okay, then. If you tried to stop him, you know what started him. What was his issue? Why did he just attack Trowa?"

Her eyes went distant and her lip trembled slightly, "He talks too much."

"I see," I muttered, rolling my eyes, "Makes perfect sense now…" I stood and started from the room.

"Have you and Trowa…done anything?" Wufei asked quietly, carefully, "What I mean is…"

"Cheat?" Selena asked in amusement.

"Well…" Wufei muttered, suspending judgment obviously from his tone.

"Duo said it himself. Trowa would rather slit his own throat than lead me on."

"Leading you on implies a relationship." I reminded her.

"I haven't fucked Trowa," she snapped, "I never even thought about it until just now…"

"Duo just attacked him!" I nearly shouted at her.

Wufei flinched.

I blinked at him.

"Because he talks too much!" Selena shouted back, rising to her feet.

I blinked at her, trying to piece that together.

Wufei rose to his feet and started for me, his expression upset.

"What do you mean, he talks too much?" I demanded of her, "What the fuck did you tell Duo?"

"I asked him who Kayla is!" she snapped back, her voice rising in pitch, "And then explained that Trowa had commented on her to me!"

Wufei froze, turning his head back to her, "You don't know about Kayla?"

"How the fuck would I know?" she shrieked, "No one tells me anything! And the moment someone does, Mike freaks out on them!"

I rubbed my nose a moment, then met eyes with Wufei.

"So that's…what that was about?" he asked quietly.

"I shouldn't have said anything," she muttered in a voice full of something like self-pity, "Nothing I ever do makes Michael happy why do I even bother!" she disappeared down the hall, slamming one of the doors behind her.

"I guess that subject-matter is closed," Wufei noted, blinking at me.

"And we may want to go tell Heero before he rips his throat up."

"I'm not going in there." Wufei muttered, "I'll go tell Trowa."

I blinked after him, wondering. I'd always known Wufei had issues, but they'd never actually added up to anything I could put my finger on.

He didn't like to hear men shouting.

We'd known that several different ways, but we'd all figured it was our manner, not our tone. But his flinching and the way he'd acted, not only now but also in previous fights where Heero shouted (and Heero shouted a lot), was starting to make the issue several times clearer. I knew it wasn't anything to worry about, because Wufei had dealt with us all shouting for years now. He avoided it as much as he possibly could.

It was just something to take note of.

I walked into Heero's apartment to see him hovering over Duo, who was basically bent backwards over a chest of drawers against one wall.

"Um…"

Heero took a few ragged breaths, turning to me instantly.

Duo's eyes, though, were amused-which explained the sudden doubling of Heero's shouted frustration over the past few minutes.

Duo tilted his head slightly, eyeing me curiously.

"Heero, I thought I'd inform you why Jackass just attacked Trowa."

"He talks too much." Duo replied easily.

I could tell by Heero's frustrated intake of breath that this was the only explanation Duo was giving.

"You can not control who she talks to!" Heero shouted.

"I'm not trying to control who she talks to!" Duo shouted back.

I sighed, "Actually, it's an entirely different matter altogether, Ro."

Heero blinked at me, "I thought it was fairly straight-forward."

"It is, but Duo's not thinking about phrasing. One of his downfalls of late." I studied Duo a long moment, shaking my head at him, "Why can't she know about Kayla?"

Heero blinked, turning to Duo as well.

Duo shoved Heero hard so he stumbled and fell on his ass before approaching me with obvious anger and intimidation in his manner.

I watched his approach, deciding to trust him. He wouldn't hurt me. Not like he had Trowa. It was Duo. Duo…

I couldn't help my eyes widening as he moved within a half-foot of me.

He stopped, blinking at me.

I allowed myself a nervously shaking breath that was mostly feigned as I stared directly back into his eyes.

His jaw clenched and he turned his back on me-storming out of the room.

-

My hip was throbbing, my chest was sore, my back was aching and I figured I'd strained a few muscles. The fact that everything had happened so fast had me wondering how Duo'd managed to completely kick my ass.

I moved into Heero's kitchen slowly-and smacked the said former-pilot upside the head as I passed him, "Fucker."

"You're the one who should keep your mouth shut." Duo replied, his tone annoyed.

"Why the fuck do you insist on picking on me?" I snapped back at him, wondering where everyone else was. As far as I could tell, we were the only ones in the apartment.

"I'm not picking on you," Duo snapped back, "You're challenging me."

"How?" I snapped, trying not to let my voice rise, "How the hell have I challenged you?"

He stared at me in amazement.

"You come back and after my initial urge to tear your balls out, I'm actually happy to see you. Despite Heero's obvious anxiety that you might take off again at any given moment, I decided to trust you. I talk to your girl so she feels at least a little welcome in our group…and since we're on the topic, I might want to add…why the fuck doesn't she know about Kayla?"

"It's none of her fucking business, that's why!" Duo shouted back at me, on his feet.

I stared at him in amazement, not able to really get my mind around that. "Is that what you mean, or do you mean you don't want to deal with her knowing that your fiancé was murdered?" I asked darkly, "Do you not want to deal with the grief that will undoubtedly cause her?"

He took a deep steadying breath, turning away from me and shaking his head.

"I argued with Heero for a straight fucking hour about you taking Jesse home alone." I informed him quietly, "When Wufei was on the verge of panicking and following you, I settled him down…because I trusted you. And you repay me by attacking me with no warning what-so-ever without ever once telling me that you didn't want us to talk to…to…Nira about Kayla."

The sound of the two women's names together made him flinch obviously.

"Nira…" I mused, "She really thought that was all her fault when…it's all your god damn issues. I feel bad that she's so attached to you. She deserves better."

Duo didn't even look in my direction as I started to get my own breakfast.