Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Betrayal ❯ Lock In ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

Pairings: a brief OC+4/4xOC, OCxOC, 2+4+2, 1x2x1, 3+4+3, eventually 3x4.

Category: set after the war about AC 200, betrayal, romance; OOC; maybe lemon probably lime; Angst; yaoi

Warnings: Cheating, language, lies, lust, good dreams, friends.

Spoilers: Not really any I mention Quatre's dad dying, but that should not be a surprise.

Rating: R

Author's Note: I have to thank Mookie from the bottom of my heart for beta reading for me. I don't know what else to say, I'm just super happy to have help. Please do not read if any of this will offend you. So I hope everyone that reads this chapter will enjoy. Duo makes his entrance.

Author: Benji Coyle

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Betrayal

Quatre stood in front of his office door punching in the security code and waited for the retinal scanner to confirm his identity; he and Rashid were the only two who had access into the office.

"Well, I was obviously right in not trusting him. Or was it my lack of faith that led to this?" Quatre said aloud, playing devil's advocate.

He walked into his office and let the door close behind him. He started to walk towards the desk but changed his mind halfway there, and he began to look around the room trying to find a place that would make it all better. Quatre could have been standing there for hours or minutes when Rashid entered the office and tried to get his attention.

"Master Quatre, it has been done." Rashid told him after he had been acknowledged.

"Good. I want you to get rid all the furnishings and cancel the wedding," Quatre said in a cold voice.

"Quatre?" Rashid asked.

"I want everything that will remind me of him out of the house, and anything that might have been soiled. As for now, I want to be alone." Quatre continued to speak in an icy tone.

"Yes, sir. Would you like to be informed when it has been completed?" Rashid asked, somewhat taken aback by Quatre's coldness.

Quatre just nodded his head and Rashid left soon after. Quatre continued on his quest to look for a place to make it all go away.

An hour or so later Quatre finally decided he needed a punching bag to relieve the tension. Quatre dialed Rashid's number on the phone and waited for him to pick up.

"Rashid here," he heard once the line had been answered.

"Rashid, I want a punching bag installed in my office now," Quatre said flatly.

"Yes, Master Quatre," Rashid answered and the phone went dead.

Twenty minutes later Rashid and Abdul were in Quatre's office setting up a punching bag in the corner near the bookshelves. While they worked Quatre sat on his window seat and watched them coolly; normally he would have offered to help out, but this had not been a normal day.

"Will you need anything else? A change of clothes or something to eat?" Rashid asked, trying to be supportive for Quatre.

Quatre shook his head and the two left hesitantly. Moments went by before Quatre got up and headed to the bathroom, stripped out of his week old clothes, and hopped into a much-needed shower. As the warm water fell on his naked body he forced himself not to think of anything, and he began to rub himself raw with a washcloth.

Once he had finished he took a clean towel from the towel rack and began to dry himself off. When he was dry he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom to the closet that held spare changes of clothing.

In the closet he kept at least three suits at all times for emergency purposes, and he had also stashed a multitude of shorts, sweats, and T-shirts in the closet because Ryan had not liked them. Quatre grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, quickly pulled them on and threw the towel back into the bathroom, and then began to pace around the room eyeing the punching bag as he wrapped his hands in tape. As he closed in on the punching bag he began to think all of the unpleasant thoughts he would not let himself think earlier.

'Maybe this was my fault' *right, upper cut, hook, jab, thrust, dodge* 'Maybe I wasn't there for him enough.' *jab, jab, jab, hook* 'I had this office built so I could spend more time with him.' *jab, jab, jab* 'What a joke' *upper cut, right, dodge, dodge, jab* 'If that was true why do I have a fold out couch...' *jab, jab, jab* 'a change of clothes.' *upper cut, hook, jab, thrust, dodge* 'Not just a change of clothes, several weeks' worth of clothing.' *jab, jab, jab* '...and how many hours did I spend locked away in here while he was alone?' *upper cut, right, dodge, dodge, jab* 'he probably wasn't alone, Quatre.' *right, upper cut, hook, jab, thrust, dodge* 'Face it you neglected him; of course he would go for someone else' *jab, jab, jab* '...but did it have to be a woman' *jab, jab, jab* 'I never let him in my office' * jab, hook, right, dodge, jab, jab, dodge, hook, jab, dodge* 'More proof that I didn't trust him.' *jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab* 'That I drove him away.' *right, upper cut, hook, jab, thrust, dodge* 'How could I have not seen the signs?' *right, upper cut, hook, jab, jab, jab, hook, right, dodge, upper cut, right, dodge* 'Do I want to work this out?' *right, upper cut, hook, jab, jab, jab* 'Does he want to work this out with me?' *upper cut, right, jab, hook* 'I truly did love him.' *hook, hook, jab* 'Do I still love him?' *jab*

"I don't! I don't know!" Quatre said aloud and fell to the floor letting out an anguished sob as he curled into a ball and began to rock back and forth, desperately trying to comfort himself while he allowed himself to feel the pain of a broken heart.

This had not been the first broken heart Quatre had suffered; he'd lost his father during the Eve War, and when that happened he felt as if his heart had been torn to shreds. During the war Quatre also had somewhat of an unrequited love for Trowa Barton. Trowa was like some Grecian god that Quatre begged to worship, and at one point he had thought he stood a chance with Trowa. However, after the Eve War, when Trowa had come into his hospital room and told him that he was going back to Cathy and the circus, he felt his heart sink into his stomach and shatter into a million pieces. It was the Mariemeia Incident, though, that had completely shattered all hope of Trowa ever caring for him. Throughout the entire affair Trowa had completely ignored him, like there had never even been a friendship between the two them to begin with. When he'd met Ryan, he finally felt that he could begin to pick up the pieces of his heart and put them back together again, and then this happened.

Quatre lay on the floor in the fetal position, and just before sleep claimed him he thought, 'maybe I've broken it too many times; it just doesn't hurt as bad as I remember.'

Days passed and Quatre still refused to leave his office. Rashid would come by and check on him every day, to bring him food offerings and words of encouragement along with updates on their progression of carrying out Quatre's wishes.

Quatre had canceled all of his meetings and given his vice president instructions on how to handle operations while he took an extended leave of absence from the company.

Rashid grew increasingly worried about Quatre's lack of interest in the real world. After a solid week of Quatre's adamant refusal to leave his office or eat, Rashid began to get frantic.

It was the eighth day of Quatre's self-imprisonment and there was still no end in sight. Rashid had spent countless hours over the past week trying to talk him out of his confinement. Day after day of talking himself blue in the face, only for Quatre to give him some trivial yet reasonable answer as to why he did not have to leave his office.

On the eighth day, however, something had changed - the locks. When Rashid brought Quatre his breakfast and to inform him that the house had been cleared and the wedding had been taken care of; he could not get into the room. Apparently Quatre had rewired the security system and now he was the sole person able to get into the office. Panic set in and Rashid banged on the door until there was an answer.

"Yes, Rashid, what is it?" Quatre's voice rang through an intercom now located outside of his office.

"Are you alright, Master Quatre?" Rashid's somewhat panic stricken voice called back.

"I'm fine Rashid; I just grew tired of the interruptions. I'm sorry if I worried you," Quatre stated in a bored drawl.

"Interruptions?" Rashid asked somewhat winded.

"Yes. I want time to think alone, and I can't do that with you coming in my office all of the time," Quatre said in a bitter tone that he almost instantly regretted.

Now that stung Rashid deeply; he knew Quatre was going through a hard time and needed time alone, but could he not also see there were many people that cared about him deeply?

"Sorry, master," Rashid said into the intercom in a dejected voice and slowly walked away with the tray of food.

Inside the office Quatre once again began to berate himself "Damn it, Quatre could you be more of a prick? All he did was care about your wellbeing, and you treat him like he's the lowest life form on earth. Don't you realize that he has family that he could be spending time with? But no, he cares for you too much and is taking care of your selfish ass. No wonder Trowa left me! God damn it, I meant Ryan cheated on me. And who said self loathing couldn't be fun." And then he went back to beating the hell out of the punching bag.

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Meanwhile downstairs in the kitchen, Rashid tried to explain away Quatre's actions. 'He's just upset. It's hard for him to cope with Ryan's actions,' he told himself, but he did feel just a tad guilty in thinking that he was glad to see Ryan leave. He was suddenly jarred out of his musings by the ringing of the vid-phone.

"Yo, man what's up Q! I mean Rashid," came the energetic greeting from the ex-Gundam pilot 02, also known as Duo Maxwell to his friends.

"Hello Master Duo. It has been awhile," Rashid answered, relieved to see a friendly face.

"So, ah, where is Quatre? I just received this message saying the wedding's been canceled. I've been trying to get a hold of him for awhile now, and he's not at the office or answering his private line. What's happened?" Duo asked, cutting to the chase.

"Some unexpected problems have come up, and for everyone involved we thought it would be best if we canceled the wedding," Rashid replied, giving the standard PR response.

"Cut the crap; did you forget who your talkin' to? I'm not the press, and I don't care about anyone's interest but Quatre's. Now dish," Duo said, not impressed with the attempt of a brush off.

"Of course, Master Duo." Rashid hesitated for a moment.

"And cut out this 'master' shit; just call me Duo. I believe we have discussed this before," Duo responded with a remarkable grin.

"It's been a rough few weeks, Duo. First Master Quatre was called away on urgent business to earth, to close on a hostile take over, and then we got back and..." Rashid trailed off.

"What when you got back?" Duo asked, taking the bait.

"I don't know how to say this. Master Quatre found Ryan...well..." Rashid continued and was interrupted by Duo.

"Is Ryan alright? What happened?" Duo's worried voice interrupted.

"Ryan is fine, at least I believe he is. No, Quatre found out he'd been having an affair." Rashid hurried through this part of the conversation, not wanting to dwell on the memory.

"Shit...that bastard. So how has Quatre been taking this?" Duo asked, at first with rage and then ending on a concerned note.

"Truth be told, he's locked himself in his office and refuses to see anyone. Even me," Rashid confessed in shame.

"Do you want reinforcements? I can be there tomorrow. Heero probably can't make it for a week or so, and I can check on the others," Duo said trying to help out.

"Normally I'd refuse such an offer, but he's starting to scare me," Rashid confessed.

"See you tomorrow then." With that, Duo severed the connection.

"Hopefully this will be just what Master Quatre needs," Rashid told himself out loud.

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The next afternoon around three, Quatre lay on the fold out bed staring at the ceiling when someone began to rap insistently on the door. He flicked the intercom switch and said in a peevish voice, "Go away. I'm trying to sleep."

"Aw, Quatre, buddy is that any way for a host to treat his company? Come, come, I've come to expect better from you," came an artificially wounded voice in response.

"Duo?" Quatre questioned.

"The one and only," was the cheery reply.

"What are you doing here?" Quatre asked testily.

"I've come to visit my best friend, and this is the welcome I get." Duo feigned a hurt voice.

"Sorry, Duo, I'm not really in the mood for company; maybe some other time," Quatre said, trying to ignore him.

"Ouch. After a comment like that, I would usually excuse myself and go to one of the guest rooms, but you seem to be running short on furniture at the moment, so I thought you could come out and buy me a bed," Duo said.

"If you want to stay, go buy yourself a bed. Have Rashid give you one of my cards." Quatre started getting bored.

"Nope. No way; how will I know if I pick out the right thing? I mean, what if I picked out an art deco bedroom set when you wanted to go neo-classical? I'd just be mortified beyond belief, if I were to make such a serious blunder," Duo continued to try to interject some levity.

"Honestly, Duo, I could care less what you choose. Now please could you leave me alone?" Quatre said, trying to get away.

"Not until you go shopping with me," Duo quipped back.

"No chance," Quatre continued to protest.

"Fine. I'll just camp out in front of your office door."

"Suit yourself." Quatre replied.

And so that is just what Duo did. He set up a makeshift bed in the hallway and held a one-way conversation with the intercom. He also began the arduous task of picking the lock. The next morning rolled around and Rashid brought up breakfast.

"Hey, Quatre, you awake yet? Rashid brought up breakfast. Want some?" Duo asked.

"No," was Quatre's reply.

"Come on, it's really good," Duo continued to speak.

"Not hungry," came Quatre's stubborn reply.

"At least have something to drink." Duo coaxed.

"I have water, thank you." Quatre was just as stubborn.

"But you'll starve to death," Duo persisted.

"It takes humans weeks of not eating to starve to death. I don't think that's something I have to worry about yet," Quatre ground out, beginning to get irritated.

"Well, what about the bathroom? People need to go to the bathroom," Duo said, not knowing when to give up.

"I have one in here."

"What about human interaction?" Duo continued.

"I'm talking to you now aren't I?" Quatre retorted back.

"I mean face to face," Duo pushed on.

"No thanks." Quatre answered.

"What about that shopping trip? You know, your hall is not that comfortable," Duo kept on.

"Then go shopping," Quatre said, reaching his limits.

"Not without you," Duo persisted.

"I'm tired. Goodbye," Quatre said finally turning off his end of the intercom.

After forty-nine hours of endless chatter Quatre's office door opened.

"Ha, ha, now I've got you!" Duo announced, falling into the room in triumph.

"Bravo. Now what?" Quatre drawled.

"Aren't you impressed? I've picked your insidious contraption, and in forty-nine hours, I might add," Duo said, still lying on the floor in mock exhaustion.

"What else would you expect from an ex-Gundam pilot?" Quatre stated resignedly.

"Man, you're grumpy." Duo said, starting to get up from the floor and looking at Quatre for the first time. His mouth hit the floor. Quatre sat on the bed, clean-shaven and dressed in clean clothes.

"Quatre you're...you're...you're..." Duo began to stutter.

"Clean? Well yes I prefer it," Quatre said in a skeptical tone.

"How?" Duo asked in awe.

"I told you I have a bathroom. I also keep several changes of clothes in here," was Quatre's annoyed response.

"Man. I was expecting you to be covered in filth, bawling your eyes out, seconds away from suicide," Duo said, standing on his knees in front of Quatre.

"Do you really think so little of me?" Quatre asked in a shocked voice.

"No, it's just I know how you can get sometimes," Duo said in his defense.

"I suppose. So after you destroyed my priceless security system, now what?"

"Shopping," Duo said.

"No," Quatre retorted.

"You have a bed in here and you've made me sleep on the floor for the past two nights. Unfair!" Duo said, trying to make Quatre feel guilty.

"I did no such thing. That was all your choice." It appeared Duo's exploits were not working.

"Well, don't you want to get out of this luxurious office and get out into the real world?" Duo asked, still not letting sleeping dogs lie.

"Since you put it that way, no, but you can still go." Quatre continued unfazed.

"I'm not going until you come with me."

"Fine. I guess we'll stay." Quatre said lying back down on his bed. Duo climbed up next to him and began to imitate Quatre.

"So what are we looking at?" he asked, sounding bored.

"The ceiling. I thought you'd be smart enough to figure that out," Quatre replied dryly.

"Damn, you're bitchy," Duo said, not one to be refined.

"Well, you chose to come in here," Quatre said plainly.

"True. Want to talk about it?" Duo thought a change of tactics was in order.

"Nope." Quatre said.

A minute later. "Now do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope" was the reply again.

A minute later. "Now?"

"Nope."

Another minute later. "Now?"

"What will it take for you to stop?" Quatre became aware of the futility of resisting.

"Shopping!" Duo cheered.

"So my choices are stay here and have you ask me the same question; or go shopping with you and hope you forget about it." Quatre went over his options out loud.

"Yep," Duo answered the rhetorical question.

"Shopping it is," Quatre said shaking his head and sitting up.

"Yea, I win!" Duo bounced up from the bed and grabbed Quatre by the hand to lead him out of the office.

"Bully for you." Quatre said as he was pulled along. He stepped outside his office for the first time in ten days with an intent to go somewhere. Once they reached the lower level Rashid was there to greet them.

"Hello Master Quatre, Duo; it's a pleasure to see you out and about. What can I do for you?" Rashid said in greeting.

"We need a car; we're going shopping," Duo said before Quatre could say something he'd regret later.

"Would you want me to drive you?" Rashid knew this and did not push the issue, but pretended to go along with his usual routine.

"No, I'll drive," Duo said, pulling Quatre out the door once he had received the keys from Rashid.

TBC

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