Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Timing ❯ Attempt #2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be...

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As it turned out, the mission took over two weeks to complete, so Heero had plenty of time to reflect (when he wasn't dodging bullets, that is) and plan his next move regarding Operation Court Duo (he thought the name was very catchy) - OCD for short.

Since Attempt #1 was a complete failure - except for the narrow escape from death by cake - he was obviously going to have to come up with a more structured plan, one possibly requiring a pie chart. In his mind this was no different than capturing an enemy, all you had to do was find a weakness and exploit it. Unfortunately, Duo seemed to have no known weakness that he could think of . Heero started to get flushed at this particular train of though - it was one of the things he loved the most about the braided pilot.

Maybe he should think more along the terms of attracting prey than bringing down an enemy. All you need then is the proper bait...

Attempt #2

"I can't believe you got him to go, Kat. What did you threaten him with?" Trowa's voice was incredulous - well, it was if you were paying attention, close attention.

"I didn't have to threaten him," Quatre lowered his voice to an awed whisper. "He volunteered to go. It was actually his idea!"

Trowa looked skeptical, "It's got to be because of a mission. Our Heero would never plan a trip to a dance club, especially not one like this." He gestured to the bright, flashing lights and scantilly clad, sparkling bodies writhing on the dance floor. "I could have sworn that he once claimed to have severe allergic reactions to glitter."

"Oh, that's just because Relena keeps putting it in all the love notes she sends to him. One time some of it exploded out of one of the letters right into his face, leaving him practically blind for three days. I'm not sure what he said to her, but she didn't come around for weeks after that." Quatre explained, remembering how hard Duo laughed when it first happened, but also remembering how quickly that laughter turned to anger when he realized that 01's eyesight had been compromised. Relena was probably lucky that Heero had gotten to her first.

"If he is here for a mission I hope it doesn't require him to blend in with the crowd, because he sucks at it. If he glares at that girl any harder she might have a nervous breakdown." Trowa pointed out an overly sparkly girl wearing next to nothing who just happen to be one of the many people currently plastered up against Duo.

"Maybe he just wants to dance with her, but doesn't know how to ask." Quatre suggested. "Heero should really ask Duo to help him out. I'm sure Duo wouldn't mind sharing. He never seems to get attached to any of his admirers."

Trowa just shrugged in reply, his mind haven taken a turn to more important things like the very shiny, very tight, purple pants that 04 was currently wearing. He had the urge to take them out for a test drive on the dance floor. So he did.

********

For what felt like the 1,000th time that evening, Heero cursed Dr. J. While he was tinkering around with Heero's genetic makeup, why didn't he throw in the power to ignite things with his gaze while he was at it? There couldn't have been that much more work involved, could there?

As Heero lamented his lack of pyrokinesis, the girl who deserved a good case of spontaneous combustion (in Heero's opinion), slithered even closer (if it was possible) to HIS Duo. So far this evening was not going according to plan. Ok, granted Duo did seem quite delighted and enthusiastic at the prospect of going out dancing - after checking Heero's temperature (what a nice gesture!) to make sure he was ok for even suggesting such an undertaking. And also granted, Heero did enjoy helping Duo pick out something to wear. Watching 02 shimmying into tight outfit after tight outfit was one of the most, ahem, inspirational things Heero had ever witnessed. However, once they actually got inside of the club, the very second Duo walked inside, he was swamped with well wishers and hangers-on. Heero couldn't even get 2 minutes alone with the other pilot. How was he supposed to inform Duo that he was going to be his back-up for life? Apparently he wasn't the only person with a Duo fixation. Too bad for everyone else that Heero wasn't a sharing kind of guy.

After several minutes of mounting frustration where Heero realized that his glare only kept people at bay if they could see it, he stomped off in search of a drink, never noticing the pleading look of desperation aimed at his back by one small braided pilot. By the time he got back with two drinks - one for Duo, of course, it wasn't his fault that he had groupies -Duo had already been sucked onto the dance floor by his admirers.

Heero had decided to be patient - at first. He had a nice view of Duo's graceful form putting all the other dancers on the floor to shame, so he wasn't in too much of a rush to intervene. He swiftly lost said patience when everyone in the entire club seemed to decide that it would be ok for them to rub themselves all over Duo's person. Most of the dancers weren't too obvious about it, but one sequin covered nightmare of a girl was going way over the line. Heero was just biding his time until the right moment presented itself to take care of her.

Heero took notice as the spangled monster skipped off the floor to get a drink. Actually, a moment very much like this one ought to be just fine...

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Trowa Barton was a fairly simple kind of guy. He mostly kept to himself and preferred to observe the actions of others rather than participate in them. Over time, this caused him to become far more observant than anyone else he knew. This is the only reason that he noticed the commotion on the other side of the club before his sharp-eyed Arabian lover did. That, and the fact that he was taller than nearly everyone else in the room.

"Heads up." Trowa whispered into 04's ear. "I don't think we're going to want to miss this."

"Huh?" Quatre jerked his head up, narrowly missing Trowa's jaw, "What? Where?"

"This way." Trowa grabbed the blonde's hand and dragged him to a spot with a good view of the spectacle in progress.

"I had no idea that civilians were so flexible!" Quatre exclaimed after a moment.

"I don't think she's in that position because she wants to be." Trowa murmured.

"Why would someone do that to a poor, innocent support pillar? It'll never be the same again, that's for sure."

03 and 04 tilted their heads.

"That's not coming out again without a doctor." Trowa observed.

"Hey, isn't that the same girl that was dancing with Duo earlier? The one we thought Heero liked?" Quatre looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder how he's taking this?"

"He looks fine to me. " Trowa pointed him out to Quatre. Heero was looking off to the side and seemed to be whistling. "He actually seems more relaxed now than he's been all evening."

"You know, it might just be a front, he doesn't show his emotions very well. I feel kind of bad for him, I mean the only girl that he liked here turned out to be some freaky pervert." Quatre's eyes teared up in sympathy.

They both watched as Duo bounced up to Heero and slung an arm around his shoulder, causing the Japanese boy to jump.

"I had better go save Heero from Duo." Quatre said. "The last thing he needs right now is to have to deal with a manic Duo, poor thing."

Observant as ever, Trowa tried to stop him. "Actually, Quatre, I don't know if that's such a good idea..." But it was too late, the blonde had vanished.

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Finally his moment had come! Getting the sparkle monster out of the way had actually broken up the crowd around Duo, now all he had to do was pull Duo over to a quiet spot to talk.

"Duo..." Heero began.

"Holy crap, Heero! Who would have guessed that this was that kind of club, eh?" Duo bounced up and down, thrilled by the fact that everyone had finally found something else to occupy themselves with and left him with some breathing room.

"Well, actually..."

"Hey, is that drink for me?" Duo pointed to the full drink in Heero's hand. "Thanks, all that dancing really makes a body thirsty." Duo tossed it back in one go. "Come on out to the dance floor, man. Lets have some fun before the harpies descend on us again, ok?" He started to push the other boy onto the dance floor.

Heero shivered a little at the thought of dancing with Duo, maybe everyone would leave the braided boy alone if he was dancing with him. He could protect him... No wait, there was something he needed to say first, right? He dug his feet in, halting their progress towards the dancing masses. "Duo wait, I... There's something I've got to tell..."

Heero halted as crowd of people surged up against them, pushing them together. He could feel Duo's breath on his cheek, causing his brain to short-circuit. All he could think of was getting closer to the other pilot, the rest of the crowd faded away from his consciousness. For the first time in his life, no missions dominated his thoughts, nothing else mattered except the boy in his arms and the hands on his a... wait a minute. If Duo's hands were braced against his chest then whose hands were...? Well, fuck. Heero's blissful moment shattered as he spun around to defend the virtue of his... well, virtue.

"Nice reflexes, 01!" Duo whistled admiringly. "That guy's going to need a machine to help him piss for at least a month. Come on, let's go tear up the floor together!"

"Ok... I mean wait! We can go dance in just a minute, but I just need to..."

"Duo! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere. I absolutely have to talk to you right now. Come with me!" Quatre looked over his shoulder and gave Heero a conspiratorial wink as he dragged Duo away.

Heero blinked for a moment and then lunged after Quatre, only to be stopped by Trowa.

"Easy there, tiger. Can't have you messing up our brilliant tactician, now can we? Don't worry, you'll get another chance." Trowa looked at 01 for a moment to make sure the light of sanity had returned to his eyes, then bowed and walked off.

Ok, Heero thought, so what if Attempt #2 was also a smashing failure? He was just going to have to be more clever next time. He promised himself that before he started Attempt #3, 04 was going to become very closely acquainted with super glue, duct tape, and that old chair in the basement. His OCD was far from finished.

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That's the end of chapter 2. I feel so bad for poor Quatre, he seems to be the butt of all of my jokes. I really do love him, honest! He's just such an easy target...