Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Secrets ❯ Hidden Secrets 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I do own any original characters that manage to work their way into this though.
Warnings: slightly AU, Endless Waltz doesn't happen, Yaoi, Angst, and anything else would ruin it….^_~

"I'm getting to old for this." Duo Maxwell moaned as he and his comrades dragged themselves into the safe house. They were just getting back from a barely successful mission.

There had been far too many complications and wrong information, resulting in not only a failed mission, but also serious physical injury to the ex-pilots. The young men were all far too exhausted to want to even think about it.

"You're hardly even eighteen baka." Wu Fei snapped at the braided male.

Duo just smirked and continued walking upstairs to the bedrooms, planning on finding his bed and passing out. This was the groups' first time in this safe house, so no one has claimed their rooms yet. Duo planned on being first.

Quatre just shook his head as Duo made his way upstairs, probably wants to check everything out before we all go to bed, and made his way to the kitchen. Some tea and hot chocolate will help sooth everyone so we can sleep easier. Trowa followed him into the kitchen, knowing what the blond was thinking, and he wanted to see if he could help.

Wu Fei was there, sitting on one of the stools at the bar. There was already a kettle on the stove, heating the water.

"Thank you Wu Fei." Quatre said softly, smiling slightly. Wu Fei nodded his acknowledgment.

Quatre went to check the water while Trowa headed toward the barstools. As he sat two seats from Wu Fei, the perfect vantage point to watch his golden Koi, Heero entered the kitchen, his scowl deepening as he took in who all were present. Or rather, who wasn't.

"Where's Duo?" he asked in monotone. The others frowned at not only Heero's question, but also the monotone voice he was using. Heero had been getting steadily better about putting more expression in his tone, and had given up the dead monotone, only using it when in the presence of an enemy, or on the occasional unexpected situation.

"I saw him go upstairs. He probably wants a shower before bed."

"Kuso!"

Raising an eyebrow, Wu Fei asked, "What's wrong Heero?"

"The baka's going to assume he and I are rooming together since there are only three bed rooms."

"And neither of you have bothered to tell him you're both together." Quatre accused both Heero and Wu Fei. Wu Fei raised an eyebrow and Heero just "Hned." Trowa and I haven't said anything. But then, we're not trying to hide it either.

"I don't hear any water running, so Duo has probably already gone to bed." Trowa said. Not that I blame him. His part was solo, and not too clear to begin with. With all the mishaps the rest of us had, I can't really imagine how he got out of there in one piece. I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd passed out once we lost any tails. There was certainly enough room where he was sitting in the back…. Quatre fell asleep leaning against me in the middle seats, and Wu Fei played look out in the front while Heero drove. I'm not really sure what he was doing back there. He was quiet, and that's all I cared about at that point. I did see Wu Fei glance back at him a few times, maybe he knows. "So you can either room with Duo like you used to, or the two of you can use the same bedroom like you've been doing." Trowa continued.

"I don't see what the problem is. It's not like the two of you haven't shared the same bed before. Or are you afraid Duo may have a problem with your relationship?"

Both gave a slight wince at that, but did not comment out loud.

At first, when we got together, we didn't really care if anybody knew, Duo included. *chuckles* He was even part of the mission when it happened, though he wasn't there. We didn't consciously try to keep it from him, but we didn't try to make it known either. Perhaps now we know why…. Duo was almost always a moron, and wouldn't behave as maturely or stably as one should during a war; I know he has to be capable of being serious or he'd wouldn't have been a pilot. But he was never serious in front of us. His lunatic behavior was what caused most of the strife and distance between us. I couldn't stand being in the same room as him, and didn't pay attention to where he went after the war.

Of course we're nervous about what he'll think. Until this Preventer's mission, we've not seen him for almost two years. The fact that we both have…feelings for him kept us up all night the night before we all meet up for this mission from hell. Huh, maybe that's why our resident Shin no Kami came out alive and whole…if silent. He didn't sleep in the car, but he was so still and silent. I couldn't see his eyes under his bangs, and if I didn't know better I'd think he was in a light meditative trance. He responded the few times he had to, but the rest of the trip was like he wasn't even there.

Nothing was said, as Wu Fei had gone introspective, and Heero looked to be in deep thought too as he made his way towards the seat next to his boyfriend. We've not seen him since the end of the war. Yet we did keep our relationship from him when we got together during the war. Duo just seemed to disappear shortly after the celebration at the end, though it turns out that none of the four of us really tried to find him until a few months ago. Dorothy had mentioned him in passing to Wu Fei, which some how led us into a conversation about him that same night. We discovered that we both have mixed feelings about him. He seemed at times to be two different people, excluding Shin no Kami. I truly don't believe any of us ever saw his "face." He was normally an annoying, cheerful baka who would be serious only when he deemed necessary. But there were times when he…seemed different, felt different. I could only catch a few glimpses of him like that. Usually when he didn't know anyone was around. His eyes…his eyes looked…older, more melancholy than those of the others combined. Wu Fei confessed to having seen similar glimpses as well. This mysterious, withdrawn Duo is who snagged the both of us. We spoke to Trowa and Quatre later that week. They had not heard from Duo nor tried to get in touch with him. Neither could re-call ever seeing a withdrawn Duo, though Quatre did admit to feeling something unusual from Duo when he caught Duo by surprise once, but it was gone just as quickly. He acts like such a jester all the time that we paid no mind to those odd moments. But now that I have thought about it, I wonder if it was all just that, an act.

Nothing more was said as the kettle whistled, signaling that the water was ready. Quatre went to get the tea and hot chocolate mix while Trowa moved for the cups. As Wu Fei and Heero were pulled out of their musings, Heero got up and left, muttering something about getting Duo.

Heero left the kitchen for the living room, which happened to be the next room from the kitchen. The house may be two stories, but it was still relatively small. It did not even have a den. Though the room sizes, the garage, and the soundproof basement did make up for that. Though one more bedroom wouldn't hurt. Heero growled in his mind. There was a hallway leading from the living room to the garage, with a bathroom and hall closet on the way. The entrance to the basement was actually a trap-door type in the floor of the hall closet.

He grabbed his and Wu Fei's bags on his way to the stairs. Heero mentally sighed. He's going to find out sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. Unlike his usual controlled monotone voice, Heero had very little control over the emotion or tone of his mental voice. His emotions were very obvious in it. While he was working to use more emotion into his vocal voice, he was also learning how to control his emotions in his mental one. Heero thought he heard laughter in the back of his mind; he growled at the chuckling as he reached the top of the stairs. Four feet from the stairs and to the right was the first twin bedroom, and a bathroom across the hall from it. The second twin room was right next to the bathroom. At the end of the hall was the door to the master bedroom, which had it's own private bathroom that occupied the area across from the second twin room.

Other than the hall light, none of the lights upstairs were on. Heero looked into the first room, found it empty and moved onto the next one. The bathroom was open and empty, as was the next room. Heero frowned, but decided to place his and Wu Fei's things in the second room before moving onto the master bedroom. The door is closed, so Heero knocked sharply twice, and waited for a response. After about two minutes he tried again, then listened for running water. When he heard none, he tried the door-knob. The odds of the enemy having found them were non-existent; the thought that Duo had indeed been seriously injured during the mission, and had been able to keep it hidden from him, Wu Fei and I both checked, though discreetly, was a very disturbing thought. He could also just be asleep, the thought was whispered in the back of his mind, but he paid it little attention. So it was with great anxiety, and more than a little trepidation and worry, that he turned the door knob.

To be continued….