Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mall Rats ❯ A Little Preventer Justice ( One-Shot )

Mall Rats, or A Little Preventer Justice

Sequel to Juvenile Delinquent Pilots With Combat Skills

Warnings: fluffyness. Implied 1+2 yaoi and implied threesome 3+4+5, but no 2+4. You'll see.

Setting: Sometime after the war and Endless Waltz. Disclaimers: Gundam Wing characters belong to Mixx Entertainment, Koichi Tokita, the SOTSU Agency, Sunrise, Kodansha and anyone I may have forgotten, not to me. I make no money off of this.

Other Info: This is the final counter fic, awarded to Bryony, my 10,000th visitor who wanted a non-romantic Quatre / Duo story at the mall. I couldn't resist adding their significant others at the very end, tho', it just ended the story so well. And finally ended it! Sorry for taking two and a half months to finish it.

Last Other Info: I've slipped in three different anime characters, from Ranma, Oh My Goddess and Pokemon. They should be fairly obvious. :) KC

Duo gasped at the multitude of wonders before him. Shoe stories, book stores, novelty shops, restaurants, food courts, concert areas, clothing stores galore, jewelry shops, and all sorts of stores selling things he'd never ever seen before. "Wow, look at this place!" he breathed, eyes wide open. "It's huge! It must have everything!"

Quatre smiled at his friend. "Almost. It even has an amusement park on the other side. Still," he pulled out his goggles from inside his vest. "All I really need is a new pair of goggles."

Duo glanced at the chipped and scratched plastic as one lens bent outward from its frame. "Geez, buddy, what'd you do, use 'em for target practice?"

Quatre shook his head and placed them back in their pocket. "Nope, they just wear out on me, so I have to come here every few months or so. I'm surprised you wanted to come with me, though. I'll just be here for a quick stop."

The braided pilot grinned and shook his head. "Not quite. His quiet tallness said you need some 'r and r', so we're spending the day. Besides," he patted his wallet, "Heero said I could blow half my paycheck!" My very first one! he thought.

Quatre stared at his companion. "Trowa said...? But why couldn't they come with me then?"

"Q, you know they're on that quick survey trip. Don't worry, Heero said they'd all be here later," he said with a wink.

Quatre grinned to match Duo and nodded. "Okay! Where to first?"

"That big toy store!" Duo pointed at the shop across from them.

Quatre sweatdropped, but followed anyway. Duo literally bounded into the store, but once inside, he seemed to go into shock. Millions of bright colors assaulted his eyes as wild music played over the sound system. Robot dogs and cats barked in little demonstration pens.

Quatre gently put an arm around Duo's shoulders and guided him to one corner. "We'll start here and work our way around, okay?"

Duo nodded dumbly. Quatre wandered with him, quickly past the pink aisles, a tad slower through the puzzles and games, and even slower as they came into the action figures aisle. To the blonde's surprise, Duo bypassed most of everything until they stopped in front of a large shelf of plush animals on clearance. The braided pilot's face lit up in sheer delight as he reached forward and plucked up a small white cat with wings on the back, all but hidden behind the rest of the dolls. The eyes were mismatched, one green, one blue, but the rest of it was white, save for the pink nose and paws.

"I remember this," he whispered. "I had one just like it back at the orphanage. There were a bunch of toys in a trunk, and after chores we could play with 'em. Except I liked this one so much I'd sneak back in and take him to bed."

"He's cute," Quatre smiled, noting the funny look on the furry face.

"His name was No Pride," Duo continued. "I think it was supposed to be a lesson on virtue, but considering he usually got stuck in the back of the trunk..." He held it close and carried it with him as they went through the rest of the store, but the only other thing he picked up was a deck of playing cards.

"I can't believe that little guy was on clearance," Quatre commented as they left the store.

Duo twirled his plastic bag. "Well, I guess some people don't know what they're missing. So, any shops you wanna hit? I've never been in a mall before, so..."

"You've never been in a mall?" Quatre gasped, stopping so fast Duo nearly stumbled forward. "Not once?"

Duo shook his head. "All we had on L2 were small markets. And I didn't exactly do any shopping."

A slow smile crept over the blonde's face. "Then I think I know a few stores here you might like."

The braided pilot followed Quatre as he led him past several women's clothing stores and into another wing of the mall, turning right.

"How can anyone stand those dolls?" Duo asked.

"Huh?" Quatre turned and looked into a store window behind them. "The mannequins?"

"Yeah. They look weird. Like they might start moving."

Quatre smiled. "Y'know, I used to worry about that, too. I'd always get scared when we passed them, and I wouldn't take my eyes off of 'em."

"How'd you get over that?" Duo asked.

Quatre's smile twitched. "I turned seven."

Duo stuck his tongue out. "You're getting as bad as Wufei, you know that?"

The blonde chuckled and kept walking. "C'mon, it's right here."

"What is?" Duo followed him around a corner and into a dark doorway. Strange neon colors glowed in straight lines that he realized were shelves and walls. "Cool..." He lightly tapped the nearest items, little plastic stars beneath a black light. "They're not hot."

"I remember you liked that glow in the dark skull we had for Halloween," Quatre said. "These are a little less...morbid."

The braided pilot turned to reply, but his eyes opened wide as he laughed. "Quatre, you're glowing!"

"What?" He glanced down at himself and sighed. The white and violet threads in his vest had turned the same iridescent color as the stars, as had his shoelaces and even his hair. "Well, so are you."

Duo raised his arms and found that some of the patches on his Preventer's jacket picked up a light glow, along with the tie around his braid. "Mm, I'd better tell Une about that."

"You're sounding more like Heero every day."

"Hah, laugh now," Duo grinned, "but just wait 'till we have to fight in a nightclub."

"No, you mean we'd fight," Quatre said with a knowing smirk. "You'd be dancing in the middle of the floor."

"Damn straight. Do you think Heero'd mind having our bedroom walls covered in stars?"

His companion folded his arms and leaned against the wall, between two hanging glow in the dark pink beads. "It's better than your Lia Sparks poster idea."

"Hey, that was a good idea," Duo said. "She's my favorite singer."

"She's also a double D and wears skimpy clothes."

The American smiled broadly. "Oh, yeah...did you see that blue tank she wore? Clear blue flexi-plastic, awesome stuff. And the same for her skirt...man, any clearer and I'd finally know if she was a real blonde or not."

Quatre smacked his friend's shoulder. "Duo! You have a boyfriend, how could you think of doing that to Heero?"

"You're right," Duo looked down at the floor. He looked back up immediately. "Actually, I should've made sure the shredder wasn't on. I can't believe he did that to my posters."

"I don't blame him. I'd have done the same thing."

Duo gave a short, sharp laugh. "You mean you did do the same thing."

"Huh?"

"With Trowa's little porn stash in his desk."

Quatre blushed while he glared. "Who told you that?"

Duo picked up two bags of stars and headed to the cashier, who could only be seen by her glowing mask, tiara and gloves. "Wufei talks to the janitors, remember? You didn't burn 'em enough. They recognized some of the charred scraps. 'Teen Blonde Bondage' magazine ring a bell?"

"Duo!"

"And 'Asian Boy Fantasy', if I remember right."

Quatre sputtered.

"Honestly, Q', you an' Heero are such prudes." Depositing his stars in the toy bag, Duo led his blushing friend out. "Ooh, speaking of fantasies, look."

Quatre caught sight of the next store and flinched. "When I said there were stores you'd like, I didn't necessarily mean--"

"Come on, I wanna check 'em out." Duo walked right into the store labeled Goddess Toys, ignoring the lacy negligees in the front display and heading for the more sinister toys he'd noticed. He bypassed the whips and ran his fingers over a long length of chain. "Mm, wonder if Heero'd let me chain him up..."

"Chains pinch," Quatre said without thinking. When Duo didn't answer, he looked over and blushed when he saw Duo grinning at him.

"Gotcha, playboy." Duo pointed at the padded cuffs on a shelf. "How about those?"

Quatre cleared his throat and looked around before answering. "Um, Wufei says the ones without padding cut off circulation. The uh...cotton ones...those don't feel bad."

Duo bit back his laugh. "And any tips on blindfolds?"

Quatre had turned pink to match his shirt. "Velvet or silk eyeshades. Bandanas...they slip, and the knots give me--er...can cause a headache."

Duo eased up on his friend and browsed quietly for a few minutes, but he ended up only with the cuffs, an eyeshade, and as an afterthought, a lace up corset. "Never would'a thought you'd be such a wildboy, Q."

"Let's just go."

"And don't forget your complimentary riding crop," the cashier, a tall lady with white hair and bronze skin, smiled, slipping the thin rod in the plastic bag. "Free with any purchase over forty dollars."

"I dunno if Heero'd let me use that..." Duo sighed.

"Maybe he'll use it on you," Quatre said. "All done?"

"Yup. Now where to?"

"Let's just keep going down this way. The repair shop's further along."

"Sure, we--wow, a book store!"

Quatre hid his surprise as they went in. Duo passed the humor and comics and stopped in front of the military section. "Aw, perfect!"

"I didn't know you liked this," Quatre said.

"I don't, it's boring as hell," Duo said. "But Heero really digs it." He held up a book titled Field Medicine. "You should see him study this stuff. He turns into a real Japanese scholar. He'll love this one."

"So he can learn how to properly set his own leg?"

Duo winced. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Quatre glanced around at the shelf behind them and smiled. "Ooh, I've been looking for this one." He picked up a thick novel and examined the front cover.

"A Thousand Cats in the Cathedral?" Duo read. "I didn't know you liked fantasy."

"It's my favorite author," Quatre said. "Allison Benster writes a lot of good stories." He held it by his side before Duo could see the back.

Spotting another copy, Duo picked it up and turned it over. "A tale of magic and fantasy, full of political intrigue," he started to read.

"Don't read it out loud!" the blonde gasped.

"One lone assassin struggles to find justice for his family, brutally murdered by a doomsday cult. With flashing green eyes--" he smirked, "--and midnight hair, Neko discovers the real plot behind their deaths and the greater threat to the entire country. Only one person can help him, Katrina, a blonde innocent kidnapped into the Emperor's harem, but can Neko overcome his suspicion and trust her before his paranoia costs him his life?" Duo couldn't stop laughing. "Q', are you serious?"

"It's a good book," Quatre said.

"And you shredded Trowa's stuff? I oughtta let 'em see the soft core stuff you read."

"I don't want to talk about it," he huffed.

Duo laughed while he looked around the store again. "Look, they have posters here. Think they'll have a Lia--?"

"We're leaving," Quatre said, grabbing Duo's hand and tugging him to the cash register.

"But Q--"

"No arguments," the blonde said as he put the two books on the counter. "The last thing I need is a psychotic Heero after me for letting you buy another Sparks poster."

"Can I at least get a 'Japanese Boy Fantasy' magazine?"

The panda working the register pretended that he hadn't heard that last part.

"From what I've heard, Trowa can give you subscription information."

Duo cackled all the way out the store. Five seconds later, another outlet caught his attention. "Hey, look, Q, they got bean bags chairs!"

Quatre followed his look and winced at the tie dye colors swirling around the inside of The Acid Flashback. "Ugh. You sure you wanna go in there? You might get lost in all those colors."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, s'cool."

Quatre looked around for some kind of escape and found it a few shops down. "Tell you what. I'll meet you over there in the weapons shop, okay? It'll take them awhile to grind out some new goggles anyway."

Duo noted the shop and nodded. "Sure, see ya in a few."

The blonde gave a sigh of relief and walked into the Team Cutlery Shop, not noticing that he was the youngest person in the store, and placed his goggles on the counter. "I need a new set custom."

A teen with purple hair and a nameplate reading "James" picked them up and examined them. "Geez, you really ran these through a wringer. Double strength glass?"

"Triple polymer," Quatre said. "With reinforced steel frames."

"I'm guessing the plastic is special flexi-processed."

"Yup. How soon can I get a new pair?"

"I could have another set in...maybe three hours, if you want it today. It'd be an extra five hundred, though."

Quatre beamed and pulled out his wallet. "That's okay. I'll be back in a few hours, then." As they moved over to the register, though, he stopped and nodded at a curved sword hanging on the wall. "Is that new? I haven't seen it before."

James grinned and nodded. "Oh yes, we got it yesterday from a private collector. Twelfth century, at least. It even has blood script along the edge."

"May I see it?"

James brought the sword down and lay it on the counter, gently pulling it from the display holder so Quatre could grasp the hilt.

"I didn't know you bought from collectors," Quatre said, giving the blade a small wave. "Mm, it's really well balanced. How much is it?" Wufei would love this.

"Seven thousand."

"And all profit?' Quatre asked as he raised the hilt to reveal a slip of paper engraved with a fancy "R" eased through the leather grip. "No wonder nothing stays in this store long if Romefeller keeps 'donating'."

"Six thousand?" James asked, an innocent look on his face.

"Sold," Quatre smiled.

"Hey, Quatre, look what I got!"

Everyone in the store turned and watched the braided pilot enter clutching a blue and purple swirled bean bag against his body. He leaned against the counter and sighed. "Man, talk about a bitch maneuvering this thing around. So, what'cha getting?"

"A sword and my goggles," Quatre said, turning back to James. "Would you mind if we left the bean bag here with the sword?"

"Not a problem."

Duo reluctantly handed his prize over and waited for Quatre to finish. "So, now where to?" he asked when they left.

"Well, the goggles won't be done until four, so I guess we could go to the amusement park."

"Cool!"

*****

A few hours later, Heero came through the front doors while Trowa had to pull Wufei with him.

"Did they say where we could meet them?" Heero asked.

Trowa shook his head. "Duo just said he'd keep Quatre here for awhile."

Wufei flinched at the crowds roaming the hall, with wailing children or wailing adults. "Do we have to go in? Couldn't we just call on Quatre's phone?"

"If I have to put up with the mall, so do you," Trowa said, dragging Wufei another step.

"It's a good idea," Heero said as he fished his own handheld phone from his Preventer's jacket. "What's his I.D. number?"

"Nineteen sixty-nine seventeen," Wufei said, trying to tug out of Trowa's grip. "Don't forget the dial code."

"I remember." Heero leaned against the wall while he waited. "It's ringing--Quatre, it's Heero, where--?" He stopped, and the other two stopped bickering to look at him. "You're what? Speak up, I can't--" His eyes widened. "Again? Dammit, what did Duo talk you into this--"

"Are they are in trouble?" Trowa and Wufei asked at once.

Heero put his hand up to shush them. "Dammit, Quatre, speak up...hiding?"

From across the line, he heard a voice suspiciously like Duo's scream "Run for it, Q,'" a heavier voice yelling "there they are, catch them," and the connection cut off.

Heero folded the phone again and put it back in his jacket. "Wufei, get your handcuffs out."

"What? Why?" Trowa asked, watching his lover pull out his regulation handcuffs.

"We have to rescue them from prison again, don't we?" Wufei asked. He tried to keep a straight face, but the laughter slowly rose out of him until he his shoulders shook. "Ah, those two..."

"Should've known better than to let them go out alone," Trowa said. "It's not funny."

"Wait, it sounds like they're coming," Heero said, stepping back into the crowd.

Sure enough, farther down the hall came the sound of loud footsteps and maniacal laughter. Packages flew up into the air as the disturbance came through the throngs of shoppers, and Wufei jumped up on a bench to better see what was coming towards them. The sight nearly made him fall off laughing.

Duo and Quatre were not just running down the hall, they were roller blading on the tile and zipping past the shoppers, just barely keeping out of reach of the dozen or so police trailing after them. Both of them wobbled on their blades, unused to wheels on their feet, but their shorter height made it easier to slip under extended arms and bags while the security had to barrel through. In fact, Duo and Quatre did far less damage than the not-so-graceful cops.

"Now," Heero said. The three uniformed Preventers stepped out in front of their lovers and waited.

Duo and Quatre shrieked in shock and twisted their skates around, falling on their sides and sliding to a stop at their comrade's boots. Heero and Wufei made a show of hauling them up by their shoulders and holding them still. Behind them, the mall police came a halt, most of them leaning over and breathing hard.

"What's going on?" Trowa asked.

"Those two," the first officer said, tipping his head at the Preventers, "were jumping in and out of the ferris wheel cars and climbing around the bars. And then they took off on the roller coaster and jumped off before we could get them."

"And then they led us all over the damn mall in those skates," another said. "I haven't seen such wild stunts since those old Extreme Sports reruns."

A third officer nodded. "Yeah, those slides off the stair rails were awesome," he said, nodding at Duo.

"Don't forget the spins that other kid did," the second officer said.

"We see," Trowa nodded, and Heero and Wufei proceeded to handcuff their lovers. "We'll take them off your hands and see they get their punishment."

Grumbling about losing their prey, the officers backed away and turned around, still catching their breath and asking each other if they'd "seen that one flip" or "watched that blonde kid skate backwards around the display stands."

Heero and Wufei took their prisoners outside, followed by Trowa.

"You guys didn't have to do that," Duo said, turning to face Heero. "We would've lost them soon."

"And then your faces would've been all over the local news," he said. "This was the only way to get you out of there without any problem."

Duo smirked. "What were they gonna do, put us in mall jail?"

"Oh, I forgot our things in the weapons shop," Quatre said. "Can we go back?"

"No," Trowa answered.

"We can call and ask them to ship it over," Wufei whispered.

"But I got you a new sword, twelfth century, and--"

Wufei turned and looked at Trowa. "Are you sure we can't go back for their things?"

"Both of you, cut it out," the taller boy said. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

Quatre smiled. "I guess that means the cuffs aren't coming off."

"You guessed right."

Duo grinned and laughed. "But Q', I thought you said handcuffs kink?" He turned back to Heero. "That reminds me, I got us a few toys today."

"Toys?" Heero raised one eyebrow as Duo whispered in his ear, but his eyes widened when he drew back. "You're serious?"

"Yup."

Heero looked back at the mall entrance. "Maybe one of us could go back..."

"Heero, not you, too!"

End