Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Theories of Revolution and Affairs of the Heart ❯ Double Edged Dubiety ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

It had been almost two months since he had last seen Pilot 02, and Zechs Merquise knew the wait was almost over. He had schemed and planned and very soon it was all going to come to fruition. He had set a trap to lure the Gundam pilots into an OZ base. Once they were in, he definitely had plans to talk to Duo Maxwell up close and personal. The 'trap' was already in place, and the false intelligence had been sent. To anyone who knew about the plan, it looked like a simple, yet elegant trap for the Gundam pilots. If anyone realized that Lieutenant Zechs had ulterior motives, they were keeping very quiet about it.

*****

Within the cockpit of Wing, Heero looked over the mission parameters again. "Alright, we're looking for signs that OZ is building new mobile suits based on Tallgeese. We destroy any suits or intelligence that we find, and blow the base to cover our retreat. The Gundams will be left hidden on the outskirts, since we're going in quietly. Duo and I will set the demolitions. Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, you will look for the suits."

"Got it," Duo responded over the link, saluting at Heero. "Let's go!" Inwardly, however, his mind was churning. 'If there's a Tallgeese, there's a Zechs. Maybe I'll run into him...' He turned off the video link and scowled. No use in thinking about THAT. It was still dangerous and a liability, and if Heero saw or found out... 'But it would be fun!' He snorted. "Forget it, Maxwell," he muttered to himself. "It's not happening."

Trowa saw Duo's frown before the video box disappeared. 'What's with him?' He acknowledged Heero's command with a nod. Smiling slightly, he looked at Quatre's face on the screen. 'At least he's better. A few weeks of rest got him all fixed up.' He turned off his own video link before Quatre or any of the others saw his blush. 'I can't think about that. There's no chance.'

"Sure thing, Heero." Quatre smiled sunnily, glad to be back into action, then thumbed off the video. He also noticed Duo's frown, and as he wondered about it, the guard's conversation from when he'd been captured flashed through his mind. 'Could Duo really be hoping to see Zechs? And that would explain why Heero's sticking close to him. Hmmm, this will bear further watching.'

Wufei nodded curtly at Heero, only vaguely wondering why Duo was frowning and why Heero looked more tense than usual. Well, it was none of his business. "Quatre, you take the lead in the search for the suits once we're in. Trowa and I will back you up until you find something. Okay?"

Quatre signaled his affirmative, and noted Trowa did the same. He was glad that his last run-in with OZ hadn't diminished his usefulness in the rest of the pilots' eyes. Then he turned his mind to the mission, noting they were nearing the base. As agreed, they landed to hide the Gundams. Close enough for a good get away, but not so close that OZ should stumble across them by accident. All the pilots gathered together briefly, then broke into their two teams to sneak into the base. Quatre cast one last worried look at Duo's tense back as he and Heero left. He had a bad feeling about this.

*****

Duo shot Heero discreet glances as they walked, worrying his bottom lip. He was torn: he wanted to see Zechs more than anything, and he wanted Zechs NOT to be there so badly that it hurt. 'But he probably will be there. This is about Tallgeese, after all.' He looked at Heero again, taking in the stress and slight worry on his face. 'This is BAD. Hopefully, if Zechs is there, I won't run into him... but I WANT to run into him, dammit!'

Heero hadn't forgotten how Duo had said that the man was beautiful. It could be a moot point. Duo had been making an effort at being friendly and getting along lately, though neither of them had made any move to resume their aborted relationship. He might not even want to see Zechs, or might not care what happened to him. 'Or he could be hoping to see him.' Heero squashed that traitorous part of his mind and scowled. He needed to concentrate.

"Heero!" Duo's voice broke into his train of thought. "Guards!" He pulled Heero behind some bushes and pointed. "Luckily, they didn't see us," he whispered. "What should we do now? They're not going anywhere anytime soon, from the looks of it."

Heero focused on the guards, and wordlessly pulled a silenced gun out of his spandex. "They are between us and the objective, so we eliminate them." With that he neatly picked off the guards with clean shots so quickly that they couldn't raise an alarm. "Let's go." Heero moved quickly to the downed guards and pulled a body out of direct line of sight.

Duo blinked, then sighed. Typical Heero. He ran forward, pulled another body out of the line of sight, waited for Heero to hide the third, then they ran in. "Where are we setting the explosives?" he said quietly as they ran.

"On the main generator in the lower level. It should set off a chain reaction that takes down the entire base."

"Gotcha." Duo raised his gun and picked off a guard that ran out of a nearby door. He found a stairway and ran down it, knowing that Heero would follow. Upon reaching the bottom and killing two more guards, they slowed down, looking for the generator. Duo's communicator beeped, and Quatre's voice came through. "Third room on the right of the main area, guys. Watch out for guards."

Heero was already moving to the door, motioning for Duo to cover him. He kicked down the door and shot the engineer unlucky enough to be present. Checking the generator, he raised the reaction rate to ensure that the explosion would be larger, then turned to Duo. "Looks like we'll need two charges. Set for remote detonation."

Duo nodded and set to work, Heero standing at the door, keeping watch. After about 10 minutes, he stood up and gave Heero the thumbs-up. "All set." He flipped a switch on his communicator and spoke into it quietly. "The explosives are set. Did you find anything, you guys?"

Quatre's voice answered a moment later. "Nothing yet. It's almost as if they knew we were coming and cleared everything out."

"Creepy. Well, that's OZ for ya." Duo rolled his eyes. "We're done, so where and when do you wanna meet? It's your call. Just try to keep the meeting point in the base for later finalization."

"Give us another..." there was a pause as if conferring, "hour and a half. That should allow us to cover the rest of the base just in case. You guys can check down there. How about we meet in the hangar?"

"You got it. Over and out." Duo pushed a button and stuffed the communicator back in a pocket. "You heard him, Heero. We should split up and search this level out. I'll take the left, you stay in the right. Okay?"

Heero froze in a moment of indecision. He didn't want Duo on his own, but there was no way he could justify them sticking together. He would have to swallow his own fear. And have to test his trust in Duo. He spoke reluctantly. "Alright."

"Okay. See you at the hangar in 90 minutes!" Duo said cheerfully before running out of the room, gun in hand.

Heero watched Duo leave with a faintly sinking feeling before he turned and went the opposite direction. This was like that odd metaphor of getting thrown from a horse...if you didn't get right back on, you probably never would. And damn it if that didn't have more connotations than he really wanted to think about.

Zechs watched the security monitors and smiled. This was going beautifully so far. They'd spotted three of the Gundam pilots in the upper level. 02 wasn't among them, so Zechs checked the cameras for the lower level. He caught sight of the golem going one way, and the braid disappearing in the other. Perfect. He grinned and pressed a button to close a blast door, sealing Heero out of that section of the base. Now the golem couldn't follow even if he wanted to.

Turning off the cameras, Zechs hurried to the lower level. He already knew where he was going to station himself. The lounge was brand new, and hadn't been opened to use yet. And soft new couches seemed just the place to have a little talk with 02. Zechs laughed as he slipped into the room, locking it behind him to give Duo a bit of a challenge. He had to ensure he actually looked inside. Then he settled onto a couch in one corner and took off his mask, setting it aside, and waited patiently, despite the excitement racing through his veins at the idea of seeing Duo again.

Duo entered his allotted corridor and grimaced. Over a dozen doors greeted him. "Oh, bloody lovely. I get to check every single one," he muttered, going to the first door and opening it. A guard stared back at him as he peered in. Duo shot the guard without really thinking, and saw that the room was nothing but a control room. He sighed.

The next few rooms proved to be empty. He found some Pisces blueprints in a later room, but it wasn't anything they didn't already know. Just for safety, though, he took them anyway, stuffing them in his bag. Another empty room. Another guard. Blah blah blah. He was really bored. Checking his watch, he saw that he had an entire hour left to go. "Perfect. Just PEACHY."

Finally, he found something interesting. A locked door. "Hello, what's this?" he muttered, pulling out a lock pick and beginning to work on the lock.

Zechs was jerked back to earth from his fantasies when he heard the quiet clicks coming from the lock. His momentary annoyance was instantly washed away as he realized that it had to be Duo. Seeing the real thing had to be better than his fantasies, no matter how improbable the activity in the fantasy. Zechs carefully wiped the huge grin off his face and settled for a sultry smile instead.

Duo got the lock open and took out his gun, ready to shoot if anyone was inside. He opened the door, and seeing a person on the couch, he aimed and had the trigger back halfway before he realized it was... Zechs?! He released the trigger and blinked.

"I'm so glad you decided not to shoot me. I wasn't so sure what my welcome would be after our last encounter... Duo." The name rolled off his lips in a husky tone.

After blinking again, Duo smirked and shut the door. The gun disappeared into a pocket in his pants. "So you found out my name. Good research. You get a biscuit."

"I was hoping for something a bit more... substantial." Zechs answered lazily, ignoring the implication as he let his eyes slowly and deliberately explore Duo from head to toe before returning to his face. "I must say that black suits you... though I can't say the same for the cut," Zechs said with one raised brow.

Duo looked down. "What do you mean?"

"You're hardly a priest." Zechs smiled in memory of the last time he'd seen Duo.

"Oh, that. Long story, but you're right, I'm not a priest. It's more in honor of someone else," Duo said, looking away. He hoped Zechs would catch the hint and not press the issue, or ask more about it.

Zechs nodded his head at the unspoken limit and changed the subject. "Have you been enjoying your tour of the facilities?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "No. I'm bored as all hell. This mission sucks. It's almost like they sent us here for nothin', but I wouldn't know, I haven't seen the whole place."

"You're not missing much. The base is rather... spartan." Zechs barely concealed his smirk.

"I gathered." Duo made his way to a chair and collapsed in it, stretching out. "So, what's your mask off for, anyway?"

Zechs shrugged elegantly, setting his hair rippling. "I don't live in it permanently. Nor did I ever intend to."

Duo shrugged. "True." He twirled his braid around his arm as if it were a snake. "Why are you down here? It seems a little out of the action, especially for a commander."

Zechs rose and crossed over to Duo without answering. He rested his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned forward, keeping his eyes on Duo's, then going still at the wariness he saw there. 'Patience, Merquise... patience.'

"I figured that was why," Duo said, returning Zechs' intense gaze. "But..." He sighed. "My... golem," he said, avoiding the use of Heero's name, "was a little more than jealous when he walked in on us before. I don't want to hurt him..." The reluctance was there, but it was obvious that he wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

Zechs gave him another long look, then raised one hand and gently cupped Duo's cheek, lightly caressing the skin with his thumb. "I understand. It must be a tempestuous relationship with your golem. Full of ups and downs."

Duo absently unraveled his braid from his arm, unable to keep the small smile off his face at Zechs' gentle touch. "Oh trust me, it is. But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Well..." Zechs paused as if considering the wisdom of his words, absently tracing the thumb closer to Duo's bottom lip. "You seem to worry about him in this... low point. Who worries about you?"

"He does, that's who," Duo retorted rudely, trying to ignore Zechs' touches and failing. He did his best not to let it show, nonetheless.

Zechs chuckled. "Really. You don't act like someone who's being taken care of."

"Who says I'm getting taken care of? He just worries." Duo frowned. Zechs was touching on a lot of his doubts, and pushing a few buttons in the process.

"Ah... I'm beginning to understand." Zechs leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Duo's forehead to smooth away the frown.

Duo snorted. "You don't understand jack shit. You're just tryin' to get me to melt into putty in your hands by makin' me think that you're listening. For your information, you sound like a friggin' guidance counselor."

Zechs laughed and straightened. "Not my intention, certainly." He turned away, making a point of trailing his fingers lightly across Duo's cheek in the process. "I don't want to give you flashbacks of school."

'I'm clearly going to have to up the ante. What to do?' His eyes landed on the mask, and he smiled slightly as he sashayed over to it, picking it up. 'Let's see how he reacts to me apparently giving up.'

"Well, as much fun as this has been, I do have responsibilities. Perhaps we can continue this conversation later in your cell... where I can assure you you'll feel less accountable." Zechs purposely made his voice brisk.

Duo rose up out of the chair, stalking over and snatching the mask out of Zechs' hands. "What? Can't take a little criticism, Merquise? Giving up already just cause I hurt your feelings?" he said mockingly, darting backwards with the mask, getting out of Zechs' arm span and immediate range of possible attack.

Zechs swallowed his smirk, fighting to keep his face neutral. "I don't make a point of seducing the unwilling. You did make yourself rather clear." Zechs shrugged as if it really wasn't all that much of a loss.

"Hey, did I ever say I was unwilling?" Duo snapped, still holding the mask. "I'm allowed to have doubts without being unwilling!"

"It amounts to the same thing." Zechs answered uninterestedly and stepped forward. "Now, if you'll just give me back the mask..."

Duo made up his mind in an instant. He tossed the mask over his shoulder and bounded forward, pulling Zechs' head down and pressing their lips together.

Zechs instantly took advantage, wrapping his arms around Duo, and kissed him back with the passion he'd just repressed. Pulling away just enough to look at him and free his lips, Zechs had to ask, cursing his breathless voice, "Does this mean you want this? I meant what I said about doubts."

"As I said," Duo said, grinning. "I'm allowed to have doubts without being unwilling. Besides, what Hee-- what my golem doesn't know can't hurt him."

Zechs lost his inner battle with his finer instincts at the sight of that grin and the feel of the lithe body against his. Without a word, Zechs captured his mouth for another kiss, moving them toward the couch. His hands roamed widely, offering teasing caresses at dozens of places without lingering. When he felt the couch against the back of his knees, he forced himself to come up for air and focus on Duo.

Duo took this opportunity and pushed Zechs onto the couch. He knelt and pushed Zechs' knees apart, revealing the telltale bulge. Smirking slightly, he poked it. "Should I take care of this?" he asked nonchalantly.

Zechs couldn't keep his hips from twitching closer. His throat was suddenly dry, so he only nodded, his gaze locked intently on the boy kneeling before him.

Winking up at Zechs, Duo used one hand to pull down the zipper on Zechs' pants, while pulling out his hair band with the other. He was surprised to see that Zechs had no underwear on, though it gave him much easier access. Ignoring the newly exposed flesh for a moment, he reached back and combed his fingers through his hair, unraveling the braid. "Do you go commando often, or were you expecting me?" he said sweetly.

Zechs eyes locked on the unraveling braid, his fingers reaching out to touch the hair. He answered absently, "Oh, I was definitely expecting you."

"I'm flattered," Duo said before leaning forward and darting his tongue out to lap up the small droplet of moisture that had already made its way out of Zechs.

Zechs gasped, and he fisted his hands into the chestnut mass even as his hips bucked upwards. "I'm... I'm the one who should be flattered, I think."

"Oh? You flatter yourself by not wearing underwear?" Duo pushed one hand under Zech's waistband, reaching down. Taking only the tip of Zechs' cock into his mouth, his hand found its target and began to gently roll Zechs' balls against each other. "So maybe you didn't need your ego to be soothed last time."

Zechs' laugh was cut off abruptly at the sensations that arced through him at Duo's touch. "I... I meant flattered that you would consider... this."

Duo extracted his hand from Zechs' pants, and pulled back, looking up at him. "Nothin' there to consider, gorgeous," he said, grinning. With that comment, he leaned forward and engulfed Zechs to the hilt, preparing his throat muscles and taking him in the extra inch to make it a deep throat.

The only response was a groan ripped from Zechs' throat as he tossed his head back. His hands tightened in Duo's hair, then relaxed. He made no effort to control the situation, and he didn't want to.

Duo clenched his lips around Zechs tightly, caressing Zechs' cock with his tongue. He didn't move his head at all; rather, he just continued to have an identity crisis and appear to think that he was sucking on a lollypop. Though they both knew that he didn't think it was a lollypop at all. Duo knew that his lack of head movement would drive Zechs crazy. He just wanted to see how long Zechs could hold out.

The longer Duo was still, the more Zechs' head tossed back and forth where it rested on the couch. His fingers wove patterns in Duo's hair, until he finally couldn't handle it anymore. "Please..."

That was what he'd been waiting for. The begging. He laughed, sending intentional vibrations through Zechs, before finally beginning to move his head up and down, continuing his licks with fervor.

Zechs' moan was a mixture of relief and pleasure. Duo was talented, something his tingling nerve endings could definitely attest to. He could sense his control slipping, and was almost beyond caring, but he wanted more from this encounter. Reluctantly, he tightened his grip in Duo's hair and pulled him away.

Duo grinned. "What seems to be the problem, sir?"

Focusing on that grinning face, Zechs had an urge to wipe the smile away, so he did it the only way he knew how. He urged Duo up onto his lap, and kissed his lips briefly before moving to his ear, and murmuring softly, "Do I still have permission?"

Duo shivered and blushed deeply at the mere mention of it, but wiggled in Zechs' lap, intentionally brushing against his now-neglected erection. "You bet."

Zechs gasped through his smile. Continuing to nibble at Duo's ear, his hands worked quickly through Duo's layers of clothing to reveal his bare chest. When the skin was bared, he nibbled his way down the neck, unable to resist pausing to suckle on one particularly entrancing patch of skin. It would probably leave a mark, but Zechs was beyond caring.

"Hey!" Duo half-protested. "Are you TRYING to get me in trouble?" As payback, he leaned forward and made a mark of his own on Zechs' neck, making sure it was high enough not to be covered by the OZ uniform's collar.

Zechs chuckled. "Only fair, I suppose." He pushed the opened shirts off Duo's shoulders and continued his nibbling on Duo's chest. He bent his head to mouth one nipple, the fall of his hair brushing the other.

"Don't... tease..." Duo forced out, throwing his head back.

"Tease?" Zechs asked, looking up with a smirk, his hands working their way up Duo's thighs. "It's only teasing if I don't intend to deliver."

Duo nodded slightly. "True." He gasped as he felt Zechs' hands on his thighs. A small moan erupted from his throat as he tried to keep from writhing around too much.

The hands continued their path upwards, finding the answering bulge in Duo's trousers. Zechs was suddenly aware of the cloth as an abhorrent barrier, an ache pulsed within him that he knew would only be eased by the touch of skin on skin. His fingers started to move almost feverishly to open the pants, only stilling when one hand reached inside and wrapped around Duo's cock. He stroked it once, then removed his hand. "Too many clothes."

"Then do something about it," Duo growled, his back arching with Zechs' touch.

Zechs lifted Duo away from him, encouraging him to stand, then stood himself. He made short work of his own jacket and shirt, then turned to Duo. He reached to remove the rest of Duo's clothes, but ended up cursing as the pants became tangled on Duo's boots. He looked up from where he was kneeling at Duo's feet, and while momentarily distracted by the view of Duo's cock right at eye level, he managed to speak. "Help me."

Duo laughed. "How hard can it be? They're just boots..." He leaned down and unclasped the buttons on the boots, kicking them off and stepping out of the pants, pushing them to the side with a flick of his foot.

Zechs rose quickly, staring, admiring Duo's form. "You're beautiful." He pulled Duo into his arms, moaning softly as they came chest to chest, and for a few of their rapid heartbeats, he simply held, and felt. Then he bent his head to Duo's nipples again, nipping with his teeth, then soothing with his tongue.

"There's a first for... every compliment," Duo said between heavy breaths, running his fingers through Zechs' hair. "So are you."

Zechs smiled and kissed his way down Duo's chest, lightly tracing muscles with his tongue, until he was kneeling again. His tongue flirted briefly with Duo's navel before engaging in a series of kisses along the line of his hip. His hands slipped around to caress Duo's rear, centering in feather light touches at the entrance to Duo's body. Zechs glanced up with the question in his eyes while he teasingly placed a kiss on the very tip of Duo's cock.

Duo grinned. "What are you asking for?" He reached down and pointed at his cock. "This?" Then he pointed to his rear. "Or this?"

Zechs chuckled. "Just making sure. You're still too coherent, you know." He ran his tongue along the underside of Duo's cock from base to head as he reached blindly for his coat, rummaging in the pocket for a moment. Zechs continued licking with teasingly irregularity. Then the fingers returned to their former place, but this time slick as they ran in gentle circles.

"Nnnnngh!" Duo cried, clenching his fists. "Come ON, Zechs... please!"

"As you wish." Zechs grinned and slid one finger inside, gently stretching.

The sensation was new, but not because he'd never had a finger in there. That was far from the case, and also untrue. It was only new because it was a new finger. Certainly very different from Heero's, but Duo wasn't quite sure why. Then his thoughts dissolved as his world slimmed down to Zechs and his ministrations. He cried out wordlessly, trying to push Zechs' finger further in.

Zechs obliged and added a second finger, then a third when Duo seemed ready. With his free hand, he struggled to push the last of his own clothes away, with limited success. He and Duo seemed to be passing their urgency back and forth, and now Zechs had definitely caught the fever. He needed both hands to rid himself of the last of the clothing, but he wasn't about to take his hand away from Duo, not when he was moving so beautifully on it. 'I didn't expect this to be an exercise in frustration.'

Duo noticed Zechs' plight, and used one of his remaining shreds of self-control and common sense to force himself to stop wallowing in pure pleasure for a moment and help Zechs remove the rest of his clothing.

Zechs smiled, glad to finally be free of the restrictive garments, and eased Duo back onto the couch. With his free hand, he made sure his cock was well lubed, then removed his fingers and leaned over Duo. "Duo?"

"Hmm?" Duo moaned, knowing what was to come. He looked up at Zechs, winking. "Go right ahead... if that's what you're asking... come on! Just FUCK ME!"

Zechs suited action to Duo's words and entered him with slow deliberateness. He didn't stop until he was buried fully, and couldn't help but moan. "Oh, gods..."

Duo moaned deep in his throat as Zechs entered him. He wanted to just rock forward and get Zechs to go faster, but decided not to. His mind wasn't entirely gone yet, so once Zechs was fully seated in him, he clenched his muscles tightly around Zechs' cock, releasing only to clench again. He smirked up at Zechs.

A startled groan rumbled in Zechs' chest, and he looked down at Duo with narrowed eyes. Then he began to move, still keeping the pace deliberately slow. 'He is not the only one who knows how to drive someone crazy.'

'Why isn't he going faster?' Duo finally gave in to his instincts and rocked forward. 'Fine! If he won't fuck me, I'll ride him!' But his plan was foiled as Zechs grabbed his hips and pushed back, stilling his movements as he was shoved back into the couch and held there. The thrusts remained excruciatingly slow, and none of them were coming even close to his prostate. Duo moaned. "Come ON..."

"Oh, surely not yet." Zechs smirked down at him with a breathless chuckle.

Duo gritted his teeth. "Bastard," he growled, obviously not believing his accusation for a second. "How would you like it... if I did this... to YOU?"

"I would expect... to be well... rewarded." To emphasize his point, Zechs changed the angle of his thrust enough to brush Duo's prostate.

"AAAAH!" Duo cried, throwing his head back. "GODS, Zechs, just FUCK me already!"

"Your wish is my command." The sudden strength and speed of Zechs' thrusts pushed Duo into the couch. Zechs knew they were both near the edge now, and reached for Duo's cock with one of his last few coherent thoughts, pumping him forcefully.

Duo moaned helplessly, unable and unwilling to do anything else but be shoved into the couch cushions with Zechs' force. He realized that Zechs' grip on his hips would surely leave bruises. Furthermore, he didn't care. He reached up blindly and caressed any skin that his hands brushed against. "Zechs, I'm going to... ZECHS!" One of his hands joined Zechs' on his cock. That did it. He screamed with reckless abandon, spiraling into ecstasy, releasing violently all over himself and Zechs.

The contraction of Duo's muscles around him as he came triggered his own climax, and Zechs cried out, "DUO!" He thrust one last time, emptying himself as he collapsed. He knew he should move his weight off of Duo, but couldn't seem to find the strength to move.

"Duo? Duo, where are you?" Wufei's voice snarled from across the room. Duo's eyes shot open, but to his relief, Wufei was nowhere to be seen. It took him a moment to realize that the voice was coming from the communicator on his abandoned pants.

Zechs mumbled something against his neck, seemed to realize it wasn't coherent, and reluctantly lifted himself. He had regained enough of his balance to be amused. "It seems you're being paged."

Duo made frantic "shut up" motions with his hands. "He can hear you, you idiot!" he hissed. Getting up, he walked over to his pants and picked up the communicator. "Hey, Wu, am I late or somethin'?"

Zechs flopped back on the couch, grinning, shaking with silent laughter.

"You're a good half hour late, Maxwell! Where are you?!" Wufei yelled.

Duo winked at Zechs. "Sorry about that. I'll be right there," he said, avoiding Wufei's question completely. He pushed a button to end the connection.

Zechs rose and tossed Duo's shirts to him while he retrieved his own pants and donned them. He was riding on an emotional high and desperately wanted that feeling to remain, even as he knew it couldn't. He could enjoy the moment, though. And he certainly intended to do so while he dressed, letting his eyes take their fill of Duo while he had the chance. "Your friends are rather impatient."

"You don't know the half of it," Duo said, pulling on his white shirt. "Trust me." He postponed the addition of his black shirt in favor of running over to Zechs, standing up on his tip-toes, and kissing him deeply.

"Mmmmm," Zechs pulled him close, returning the kiss. "Scary thing is I think I do."

Duo cuddled his head against Zechs' chest, wrapping his arms tightly around the older man's waist. "What do you mean by that?"

Zechs hugged Duo and looked down at the chestnut head while he thought about his answer. 'What DID I mean by that?' After a moment, he spoke slowly, "I... I'm not sure. There has to be some reason that I take such risks for you."

"More like reasoning, and less of an actual reason," Duo said dryly. "Did you get a lecture last time too?"

"Yes. Treize was... concerned... that I was letting my defenses down."

Duo sighed. "Well, you got off easy. You didn't have a jealous golem to deal with." He nuzzled his nose against Zechs' warm skin. "I should probably go."

"Probably." Zechs pressed a kiss to Duo's hair, not showing any signs of letting go. "Is your golem that much of a problem? I... I truly did not mean to cause you more trouble."

"No, don't worry about it. He's a problem, but nothing I can't deal with." Duo smiled. "His bark's worse than his bite." Pressing his lips together tightly out of Zechs' line of sight, Duo thought to himself, 'And I don't know what to do about him, either.'

Zechs was about to speak when Duo's communicator beeped again. This time he recognized the voice, it was the golem. "Duo, where the hell ARE you? It's time to leave!"

"COMING, Hee-chan," Duo said in his best you're-annoying-me tone, pushing the button again to turn it off. He disentangled himself from Zechs' arms and quickly put on his other shirt, his pants, and his boots. "Well," he said, neglecting to braid his hair, deciding that he had no time to do so.

Zechs silently pulled on the rest of his own clothing, then stood and watched. "Until the next time our paths cross." Then he mentally cursed himself. 'It's not just that I want to see him again.' The thought of not seeing him again was painful. 'But you shouldn't let on about it.'

Duo smiled. "Let's hope it's soon, hmm?" He tipped his head to the side. "Scratch that. It WILL be soon, if I have anything to do with it. Oh, and I'd get out of here. Once we're gone, this place is blowing up, fireworks-like." With that remark, he opened the door and ran out in a cascade of flying chestnut hair.

****


"I knew I shouldn't have let him out of my sight. He's too irresponsible to be left unattended." Heero growled, clearly pissed. "He's probably--" Heero cut off that train of thought with an audible grind of his teeth.

Quatre winced. Heero appeared to be trying to pace a hole in the floor of the hangar. "I'm sure there's a good reason he's late."

"Oh, I'm sure." The sarcasm dripped from Heero's tone.

Wufei blinked. He was getting the distinct feeling that everybody else knew something that he didn't. Using his better judgment, however, he decided not to ask.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Duo's voice sounded out behind them. "Let's get outta here!"

Heero whirled to face him, and froze. All the signs were there, his fears confirmed. Duo's hair hung loose from its normal braid, his face was flushed, and above his collar... Heero took a deep breath. Yes, that was a hickey. Oh, he'd found Zechs all right. And it looked like he'd had a good time, too. His jealousy nearly drowned him. "Are you sure you're ready to go?"

Quatre gaped at the sight of Duo, any thoughts of what he'd been up to erased by seeing the hair loose. He'd never guessed there was so much of it. Then Heero's snide remark caught his attention and he looked back and forth between the two, catching Wufei's confusion in the process. ' What's going on? Surely Duo wouldn't have? Oh, he didn't...'

Wufei blinked. Maxwell had a lot more hair than he'd thought. He also looked like he'd just... Wufei resisted the urge to blush, and also resisted the urge to smack Duo, though he wasn't quite sure why he wanted to do the latter. And why was Heero so pissed? He looked back and forth between everyone, confusion written all over his face.

Trowa took in the situation. Heero was pissed and possibly jealous. Duo was unbraided, flushed, and had apparently just come back from having sex. Quatre was trying to figure out what was going on and what he could do about it. Wufei was just plain confused.

"Yup! All ready to go!" Duo pulled the remote out of his pocket. "We just leave, push this baby, and the place goes up in hellfire!" He kept the grin on his face, but was inwardly worrying. 'I've gotta stall until Zechs leaves, cause once we leave, one of them will push the button for sure, if I don't. And if I don't, Heero really will kill me.'

Heero ground his teeth at the lack of response. But this wasn't the time or the place to deal with it. A small voice whispered inside him, 'There might never be a time or place for this,' but he ignored it. Instead, he jerked his head to indicate they were leaving for their Gundams, and led the way. His irritation was clear in the steadily rising body count, as he imagined each guard to be Zechs, but none of the other pilots appeared to dare say anything about it, though Quatre kept casting him worried looks.

Quatre shook his head as they left. He wished he had the courage to ask Heero to stop killing guards, but he really didn't want to face that rage. A rage that Duo had seemed oblivious to. 'I thought they were a couple. Have they broken up? And was it before or after this... situation?'

Wufei finally decided to ask about what was going on. He walked up next to Duo and whispered in his ear, "What did you do to make Heero so mad?"

Duo grinned and whispered back, "Oh, he's just jealous cause I fucked Zechs Marquise instead of him."

Wufei blushed deeply, forcing out a quiet "Oh" before going back to where he'd been walking next to Trowa.

The sound of Tallgeese taking off almost made Duo audibly sigh in relief. 'Good, he got out.' He looked at the other pilots nervously. 'Though they won't be nearly as happy that he got away, I'm sure.'

All the others turned to look at the disappearing Tallgeese. Quatre, who didn't approve of killing your enemies unless there was no other course, didn't appear concerned. Heero, however, looked much angrier, and focused a look on Duo that made it clear he KNEW. He snatched the detonator from Duo and blew the base with one angry jab of his finger. "No reason to wait any longer, neh, Duo?"

"Wait? For what?" Duo blinked, doing his best to look confused.

Heero merely gave him a look which said he didn't believe a word of it and stalked to his Gundam, oblivious to the chaos of the brilliantly exploding base and his fellow pilots.

Duo rolled his eyes and ran over to Deathscythe, hopping in and closing the cockpit. The other three pilots followed suit with their respective Gundams. Before the others had even taken a step, though, Wing rose up, changed into bird mode, and shot away in a brilliant flash of light.

"Well, let's just go, then," Trowa said, looking curiously at the disappearing Wing. "Apparently, he doesn't want to wait up for us."

Duo snorted over the comm link. "Good thinking, genius."

***

From a safe vantage point with Tallgeese, Zechs watched the continuing destruction of the base, noted the Gundams lift from the woods and leave. His eyes watched the black form of Deathscythe. He was a soldier, yet he was allowing himself the weakness of caring for the enemy. 'But I can't think of you as the enemy, Duo. You're something much more special than that... much more. And if you don't come find me, I will find you.'


~OWARI~