Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Silent Series ❯ Silent Men ( Chapter 1 )

Author's notes and Warnings: Hello and welcome! This story has been in my computer a very long time now and I just didn't have the inspiration to continue… Um, I guess you can tell that's no longer the case since I'm writing again! *sweatdrops* I'm also currently busy with 2 stories in the Fushigi Yuugi and Weiss Kreuz fandoms… Updates may take longer than my usual few weeks… Gomen, ne?

The story is set in AC 201 and will contain quite a bit of flashbacks. I'll let you know when that comes up. Lots of bad language, limes, lemons (later chapters), angst, sadness, sap, fluff, etc.

Pairing: Eventually Heero x Duo, Trowa x Quatre, Wufei x Relena (I apologize to Sally fans, I'm one myself. I just had this idea and I had to write it. I promise to do another Wufei x Sally fic when I can.)

There will be no Relena bashing since in my story, she' pretty cool… Give her a chance, okay? Onegaishimasu.

Thanks to Hitari-chan for betaing and Xellas M. for thinking that this little insanity of mine is worth posting. ((((HUGS))))

Last but not least, I own them not…

The Silent Series - Chapter one: Silent Men

By Moonraven

"You have GOT to be shitting me!" Duo did his best Heero Yuy's Glare `o Death and actually felt sorry for the small blond that was on the receiving end of it. Well, ALMOST sorry. If Quatre wasn't kidding, then he really deserved it.

"Well…" Quatre frowned and bit his lips while trying to think of something that might appease his friend.

"You said she wasn't coming. She had some kind of a breakdown and had to recuperate on some remote colony, you said!" Duo towered over the smaller young man who tried his best not to cower. After all, Shinigami had grown to be a good foot taller than him.

"Well, that's what everyone else thinks. Heero wanted only us to know so that there would be less risk."

"Then HEERO could just keep her the hell away!" Duo snarled. "What the hell is he thinking risking her precious neck like that?" He made a face to go with his question and it was very clear to everyone that her neck certainly wasn't precious to him.

"Duo..." Quatre frowned and tentatively reached out to his friend, who batted his hand away irritably. "It really isn't my fault." He peered at Duo from underneath his long lashes and soft blond bangs knowing that no one could be mad at that look for very long.

"The hell it isn't!" Duo, however, was very determined to stay angry for a very long time. "You didn't have to invite her!"

"Duo! How could I not?" Quatre's distressed blue eyes flashed with rising temper as he tried to reason with his long time friend. "Aside from the fact that she's a fucking princess, Duo, and this is an intergalactic trade conference, she's also the damn Minister of Foreign Policies. Her duties include trade policies with the colonies! She has to be invited!"

Duo blinked at Quatre. Rarely did he ever hear such words from Quatre's mouth. Maybe he should just shut up now…NOT!

"It could have gotten lost in the mail!" Duo knew he was being unreasonable. This was AC 201; they didn't have `mail' like the olden days.

"Easy, Duo." Trowa walked past him with his usual `nothing-could-faze-me' air and continued his installation of the new security sensors around the room. He squatted next to Quatre's oak desk and fiddled with loose wires under one of the drawers. "Just stay away from her."

"Easy for YOU to say, she doesn't seem to think it necessary to bother you as much as me!" Duo mumbled, his violet eyes darkened momentarily with painful memories. "I swear that woman has a Duo magnet or something."

"She likes you." Quatre said softly and braced himself for what he knew was coming.

"Are you freaking nuts?!?" Duo yelled. "If she fucking liked me so much she would never have…fuck this, I don't need this shit." She would never have taken Heero away, he wanted to say. But it was no good thinking that way. If Heero didn't want to go, he wouldn't have gone.

"We'll have Miss Noin put you on leave for that day, so you wouldn't have to be here." Quatre suggested quickly.

Trowa gave him an inscrutable look but remained silent as he continued his work. The blond only wanted to help after all. Even if Quatre could feel Duo's distress, he just didn't understand what all this meant to Duo.

"You received death threats and you want me to take a vacation. Some guy tried to blow up your last meeting and you don't want me here…" Duo gave Quatre a blank look. "Am I...like, helping the enemy in some way?"

"No!" Quatre eyes widen in shock. "I didn't mean it that way."

"I see. I'm just not as good at WATCHING you like…oh, I don't know, maybe Trowa here, so I can just take a day off?"

Trowa narrowed his eyes at Duo though the braided young man could only see one of them. Duo used to get frustrated with his friends for not revealing their feelings to each other, and then the incident with Heero happened. Now he didn't push it though he wasn't sure that what they were doing was better than what had happened between Heero and himself. But then again, anything is better than losing your best friend. After 3 years, Duo could still feel the aching emptiness in the pit of his stomach. After all this time, he still couldn't forget the man that had left him… he couldn't forget Heero Yuy.

"Not at all!" Quatre protested again, and then blushed when he realized what Duo was saying. He glanced sideways at his longtime love and bit his lips.

"Stop teasing him." Trowa said quietly to Duo as he got up and started to put his tools away. As he stepped past Duo, he gave the man a meaningful look that clearly said `lay off the subject'. Duo looked over to the flustered blond again. Yep, hope was surely better than broken promises or a door slammed in your face.

"Fine." Duo said finally and threw up his hands. "I want the day off but I'll be here. I could always run and hide, ne, if I'm off duty." His smile was back in place and he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Put me on the guest list, Quat. It's time for me to live it up!" He laughed, spun on his heels and left the room, leaving his two friends to stare blankly at the closed door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I don't like it." Heero told the former Queen of the world as he watched her swivel in front of the mirror.

Relena paused from admiring her new gown and turned her attention to the head of her security detail who happened to be her ONLY security during this function. She gave him an exasperated frown before turning back to the full length mirror and look at her reflection again. The young woman in the glass tilted her head to the side as Relena scrutinized her but she smiled back amiably. The strapless navy blue gown hugged her shapely curves and the daring split on the side showed off Relena's long, toned leg perfectly. Her blond hair was cut to shoulder length and dyed dark brown. It made her look much younger than her 21 years and now bounced energetically as she turned her head while studying her reflection.

"But you said it was flattering!" Relena couldn't believe Heero had changed his mind about her dress. He was never this fickle.

"I meant the conference." Heero narrowed his eyes at the Minister of Foreign Policies and princess of the Sanq Kingdom.

"Oh, that." Relena dismissed it with a small wave of her hand. "Hush, Heero, we've been over this. It'll be fine." She stepped behind the large wooden partition and started removing her dress. "You are such a worry wart." She added, knowing that he hated to be called that. She smiled at what she knew was coming.

"Quatre is foolish enough to insist on going through with this, you should not do the same."

"Heero." Relena said as she pulled on her jeans. "You really must lighten up or you'll die of old age before you hit 25." She came out from behind the partition dressed in blue jeans and a pink short sleeved blouse. "We've gone over this so many time and I'm not changing my mind. Quatre is important to me and I know he is to you too though you'd never admit it. I know you want to be here to make sure that he's safe. So do I. So here we are and that is that." She came to a stop in front of her bodyguard and best friend and looked at him triumphantly.

"Someone is trying to kill him. Bringing you here goes against all logic." He muttered stubbornly.

"Oh, Heero!" Relena shoved him playfully. "I have death threats, Quatre has death threats, and half the people that are attending have death threats, could you imagine what the security will be like? Not only that, since they're trying to kill HIM, I'd say I'm pretty safe." She winked at him but Heero still looked unconvinced. Relena rolled her eyes. "Besides, no one knows we're coming except Quatre and his security detail. Everybody else thinks I'm on XL2390 recovering from fatigue, remember?"

Heero remembered. They had also taken extra precaution and changed Relena's appearance and wardrobe. A change that Relena apparently liked more than she should. Currently, they are registered as a couple in a quaint, out of the way hotel where no dignitaries ever appeared. With Relena's new haircut and sunglasses, no one recognized her.

Heero, on the other hand should have been much more difficult to move around incognito. The infamous Wing Zero pilot was renown but for some reason, people just did't pay attention to him. They know he was there, but if asked at a later time, they would not have been able to describe him.

"Please, Heero." She pressed her hands on his chest and looked up imploringly at him. "I need this. I haven't had this much fun since..." Relena scrunched her face trying to think of the last time she had fun. "Since the rumor about you and I being lovers."

Heero winced visibly at the reminder. That was two years ago.

"Nobody will know I'm around until my presentation, I promise!" She stood in front of him with her hands clasped tightly over her chest, blinking up at him imploringly. Heero gave in like she knew he would.

"While I'm going over the details with Trowa and his team, you are NOT to leave this room." Heero said sternly, repeating the conversations they had many times in the past few days.

"I understand." She nodded vigorously. She had no intention of doing anything of the sort but she had to convince him other wise. "So when are you leaving?"

Heero narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "Not until my replacement arrives."

Relena was taken aback. "Replacement? What replacement?" She stared blankly at him.

Heero gave her a smirk and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think I was going to leave you alone, did you?"

"But…but…" Relena blinked rapidly as her brain tried to come up with something. "NO ONE is supposed to know I'm here!" And since nothing came up, she resorted to whining.

"Correction." Heero smirked. "No one I don't trust is supposed to know you're here."

Relena flinched inwardly and mentally ticked off possible culprits: that would include Ex-Gundam pilots, her brother, Noin, Sally, Une… Relena bit her lips and glanced up at Heero. He was looking at her with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Figured it out yet?" He asked.

"No!" She said shortly.

"Good, you always liked surprises."

Relena worried her lower lip ceaselessly as she paced back and forth in front of the window. Heero had moved to the writing desk that was pushed up against the far wall and started typing on his laptop. The former queen of the world frowned unhappily at the young man, then seeing that he had chosen to ignore her, stamped her feet.

"Heero! Who is it?" She asked, her hands on her hips. "Oh please tell me it's NOT Milliardo! This is going to suck a puddle of goo!"

Heero rolled his eyes at her expression. She had picked that one up a year ago from none other than Duo Maxwell. He had never told her that Duo was referring to seeing her, but then she didn't need to know that. Funny thing is, Relena actually liked Duo a whole lot.

"No. It's not Zechs." Heero said mildly as he continued to work on his plan.

Relena waited for him to tell her who it was but Heero gave no indication that he would continue.

"So…when do you expect this person?" Relena asked, her arms crossed, foot tapping irritably.

Heero checked his watch and said, "Sooner than you think." He turned to her and his expression softened. Relena had changed these past couple of years. She had made it her mission to make Heero less tense and more `emotional'. She had told him that if one of them didn't lighten up they would both die of cardiac arrest from stress and tension. In effect, Relena was reminding him more of Duo everyday; a fact that Heero was finding more unnerving than he had ever thought possible. What was the point of staying away from Duo if he could not forget the young man?

The knock on the door had Relena running to it to beat Heero. That didn't work…whatever made her think she could beat Superman anyway?

Heero smirked at her as he pulled the door open and let the man on the other side in.

Relena groaned inwardly as Wufei Chang stepped into the room. Of all the Gundam pilots, he and Trowa are the least talkative…er…present company excluded. She didn't know much about him at all except that he kept talking about justice and that he had owned a dragon. Well, that last information may not have been correct, her source was very vague about the details.

Heero nodded to the man and the man nodded back. Relena whimpered softly as the thought of a very dull and silent afternoon flashed across her mind.

"Relena." Wufei said quietly. Funny, she thought, that was a `hello', a `how are you' and a `you better behave' rolled neatly into one word.

"Wufei." She tried multiple messages too, unfortunately she didn't attend the same communication class as these two men and Wufei promptly ignored her and turned to Heero. Relena silently fumed.

Wufei moved into the room carrying his duffle bag and he placed it on the floor by his feet. He looked around the room, surveying it and Relena recognized the motion immediately. Relena sighed, once a soldier, always a soldier. Her brother had said that to her once…she hadn't believed him but these two were determined to convince her otherwise.

"Thanks for coming." Heero said quietly and Wufei shrugged elegantly. The man was wearing snug fitting black trousers and soft, comfortable looking shoes. His white sleeveless top had oriental style buttons straight down the middle. He looked exotic and very serious. His black hair was longer than she had remembered and it was tied back in a severe ponytail at the back of his head. His strong toned arms looked powerful, though they weren't muscle bound like some vain characters pumping irons all day… All in all, he looked very capable of keeping her safe.

"I was almost done on the new L5 anyway. Besides, I'd heard about what happened to Quatre's last meeting. I wanted to be here as well." Wufei assured Heero quietly. He turned to look at Relena. "She looks different."

Duh! Relena almost blurted out but held it back just in time.

"It's more than just looks." Heero warned him and Relena frowned at her bodyguard. Er, the old one. "Relena has developed a sense of adventure and mischief, as well. I suggest you be on guard."

"Excuse me." Relena put her hands on her hips. "I'm standing right here."

Wufei gave her a once over and Relena felt chills run down her spine. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but it made her look away abruptly as she felt very aware of the onyx eyes appraising her.

Wufei made no comment and went back to discussing various security details with Heero. Relena sighed and plopped herself down on the large sofa and watched them with resignation. Her plans of an afternoon excursion around the city had just flown out the windows and she was not a happy princess.

Unless… Relena smiled to herself. While the men were busy with ways to keep her and Quatre safe, Relena was busy with ideas of her own.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Quatre watched the door close behind Duo with a resounding thud and sighed. He turned his attention back to the tall man next to him and his heart wrenched painfully in his chest. Trowa was still staring after Duo with an indescribable expression on his face. Quatre turned away and walked back to his desk and made a show of examining the work that Trowa had been doing. He didn't want Trowa to see the pained expression he was sure was plastered across his face.

Quatre was thankful that he had found a way to control his ability to read people's feelings. During the war, it was both a blessing and a curse. The pain he had felt around him nearly crippled him at times and it wasn't until a year after the war that someone had shown him how to block out these feelings.

Not that it had helped much in terms of Trowa. Trowa had always been difficult to read and he could only glimpse into the tall young man's heart at the rarest of moments. As far as Trowa was concerned, Quatre had a suspicion that it was the other way around. There were times when Quatre could have sworn - were he the type to swear - that Trowa knew exactly what Quatre was thinking or feeling. Which made what happened between Trowa and Duo even more of a betrayal than he would have thought possible.

But it wasn't possible. Trowa couldn't be an empath as well. So Trowa really didn't know Quatre's feelings… And Quatre was too afraid to find out that Trowa really DID care for Duo that he refused to reach out to read Trowa's feelings.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he forced a smile and turned to face Trowa.

"You really did a great job. I can't even tell where you've hid the sensors."

Trowa watched him silently for a few seconds then said, "It's hardly a good job if you don't know where the panic button is."

Panic button?

Trowa came to stand next to Quatre and the blond felt his heart skip a beat. "The sensors are around the room but I installed a button here…" He reached under the desk drawer and indicated that Quatre should do the same. "In case you need us and we're not here."

Quatre reached under the desk and his hand brushed Trowa's briefly as the taller man guided him to the button. Quatre swallowed and tried to keep the heat from rising to his face. "Press it gently and we'll know you're in need." Trowa told him quietly.

"I see. Thank you." His voice was breathless and he moved away from Trowa quickly. Heavyarms' ex-pilot straightened up silently as he watched Quatre move away.

"Not that you'll be anywhere without one of us but just in case." Trowa continued to watch his friend. "I've outfitted your private quarters as well and I'd like to show you that as soon as you're available."

Quatre felt more heat rising to his face and he hastily look down at his shoes. "Of course. Um…I should be done with these papers soon…so…okay." Quatre blinked at the idiotic sentence he'd just uttered and wondered how the heck he had become the spokesperson for so many causes.

Trowa nodded and settled himself by the door. He spoke briefly into the communicator attached to the lapel of his khakis Preventer uniform and nodded when he seemed satisfied with what he'd heard. He leaned back comfortably against the wall and waited for Quatre to resume his work.

Quatre had no choice but to do just that and hope that whatever he was signing wasn't TOO important because he sure as hell couldn't concentrate with Trowa staring at him like that.

TBC…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Arigatou, minna! If you like the story, please be kind enough to let me know. If you don't like it for some reason, I'd be most grateful if you'd tell me what it was that you didn't like.

Thanks again!