Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ War Story ❯ Chapter 18
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Vinyl-Koneko 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.04.2003 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.2K | Visits: 387 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.04.2003 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.2K | Visits: 387 | Status: Completed
+ Title: War Story - Part 18
+ Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+ Rating: R
+ Couplings: 1xR, 1x2, 3x4
+ Warnings: AU, WWII era, minor het, yaoi, historical fiction, drama, no Wufei
+ Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
+ Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, well, let's just say the 1xR and 2xH fans wouldn't be so happy...
+ Comments: // Written //, *emphasis*, 'thought', [ flashback ]. Heero POV. This story was written solely for the 1x2 AU Novella 25,000 Word Fic Challenge. Inspiration hit watching PBS on a lonely Saturday night and wouldn't let me rest until it was done. ^_^
+ Summary: The year is 1942. Heero Yuy, a pilot for the United States Air Force, gets send to command a squadron in London. There he meets a literature student by the name of Duo Maxwell, and he learns sometimes it takes another person to figure out everything about yourself.
*~**~*
A week and a half later brought about another raid, and by this time Heero had been officially permitted to fly again, even though he thought he was capable right when he got out of the hospital. Heero wasn't one to sit around idle for periods of time without getting frustrated, and Quatre was glad for the distraction Duo caused because otherwise he would have been dealing with most of the major's worries.
Heero didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that the squadron was only half the size it started at. It made it easier to keep track of everybody, and being a survivor meant that their piloting skills were somewhat higher than their not-so-fortunate peers' had been. They did not let it go to their heads, though, and they worked as a team.
This particular raid was a definite success for their side. No lives were lost from Eagle Squadron, and all of the bombers had been destroyed. Tiebald found himself in a sticky situation being targeted by three separate Nazi gunners, and help came when Dix managed to knock out two of them, leaving the last one for Tiebald to manage. Dix received several whoops and cheers when he returned to the ground. It had taken some time, but it seemed that Eagle Eight had finally earned the respect he deserved from the squadron.
"Congratulations," Heero announced through the hangar's intercom to make sure every one of the men could hear his words. "It seems like the hard part is over. I just heard that American forces are moving through Europe and that Hitler is centralizing his forces to protect his own interests. If the intelligence is correct, that should have been the last of the raids." He paused, looking for the right thing to say. "It's been difficult, but you have made it. It's been…an honor to be your commander."
Heero shook his head when Lieutenant Tiebald procured a bottle of champagne from his cockpit, pulling off the cork and passing the bottle around for the men to drink out of. Heero left, not feeling like it was his place to celebrate with the other pilots. It wasn't his homeland that he had fought so hard to protect, and he would not feel fully relieved until the war had officially ended.
He found his thoughts wandering to Duo, like they tended to since he had met the slightly younger man. Heero found himself embarrassed with the knowledge that he had never been intimate with anyone before, and as much as he really wanted to give Duo everything, his own inexperience brought an extreme level of self-consciousness that he never thought he had.
Three days prior they ended up at Duo's cozy flat, things getting heavy on the sofa, and Heero had been rather enjoying himself. But then the longhaired man's hand snuck into his pants for a brief grope and the near panic returned. The shyness was unwarranted, too. It wasn't like any part of him was horribly disfigured. He had some scars, the most recent from his crash, but it wasn't like he was missing a testicle or anything.
Heero snorted at the idea. 'Although that certainly would put the icing on the cake.'
He briefly stopped at a street vendor, purchasing a cup of coffee. Heero let the warm, bitter liquid sit in his mouth, savoring the flavor, before he swallowed. 'They definitely didn't make coffee here like they do back at home,' he contemplated. That thought brought a scowl to his face. He certainly wasn't home sick. His family hadn't been terribly close, and all Relena ever talked about was the latest gossip. 'At least Duo's intelligent enough to realize that there's more to the world than what everybody else is doing.' He watched the steam rise from the cup in his hand. With Duo, he realized, he felt more at home than he had at what was supposed to be his home.
'I never would have imagined that this is what would happen to me by volunteering for the position. Quatre was right. It does almost seem like a romance novel.' He looked around at the old brick buildings that surrounded him, each one containing a deeper history than his own country. 'Maybe this is why Shakespeare was drawn here. Something happens to a person here. It's like a catalyst.'
Down the street about half a block was a familiar building that Heero had been to before. He was only half surprised that it was his subconscious destination. He stopped at the entrance, looking up at the window he knew was Duo's. The curtains were drawn, but behind them he could see that the lights were on and every now and then a shadow was cast on the fabric.
Heero opened the door to the apartment building, cautiously entering. He still wasn't sure what had brought him to Duo's apartment, but he allowed his body to make the movements for him. He walked up the three flights of stairs, hand precariously balanced on the smooth surface of the wooden railing. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, overriding the sound of the traffic outside and a dog barking somewhere.
He reached Duo's door, hand hovering over it as if he were about to knock but couldn't decide if he should or not. Heero laughed at himself quietly. 'You've flown in countless battles, risking your life for other people over and over again, and you can't even knock on a door.'
His brain screamed for him to turn around and head back to the base, but his body told him otherwise. In the end, his body won, and Heero found himself quickly rapping on the wood of the door. After a few seconds of waiting, it opened a crack - an indigo eye peeking out to see who it was. Heero saw a smile form on Duo's face as he opened his door the rest of the way.
"Heero!" he greeted enthusiastically. "What are you doing here? We didn't have plans tonight that I forgot about, did we?"
The Japanese-American shook his head silently, crossing the threshold to grasp Duo's face firmly in between his hands, forcing a needy kiss on the other man's lips. When he broke, he was panting slightly, and Duo's face was flushed. "Can I come in?"
Duo nodded, allowing Heero to enter and locking the door behind him.
*~**~*
End Part 18
+ Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+ Rating: R
+ Couplings: 1xR, 1x2, 3x4
+ Warnings: AU, WWII era, minor het, yaoi, historical fiction, drama, no Wufei
+ Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
+ Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, well, let's just say the 1xR and 2xH fans wouldn't be so happy...
+ Comments: // Written //, *emphasis*, 'thought', [ flashback ]. Heero POV. This story was written solely for the 1x2 AU Novella 25,000 Word Fic Challenge. Inspiration hit watching PBS on a lonely Saturday night and wouldn't let me rest until it was done. ^_^
+ Summary: The year is 1942. Heero Yuy, a pilot for the United States Air Force, gets send to command a squadron in London. There he meets a literature student by the name of Duo Maxwell, and he learns sometimes it takes another person to figure out everything about yourself.
*~**~*
A week and a half later brought about another raid, and by this time Heero had been officially permitted to fly again, even though he thought he was capable right when he got out of the hospital. Heero wasn't one to sit around idle for periods of time without getting frustrated, and Quatre was glad for the distraction Duo caused because otherwise he would have been dealing with most of the major's worries.
Heero didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that the squadron was only half the size it started at. It made it easier to keep track of everybody, and being a survivor meant that their piloting skills were somewhat higher than their not-so-fortunate peers' had been. They did not let it go to their heads, though, and they worked as a team.
This particular raid was a definite success for their side. No lives were lost from Eagle Squadron, and all of the bombers had been destroyed. Tiebald found himself in a sticky situation being targeted by three separate Nazi gunners, and help came when Dix managed to knock out two of them, leaving the last one for Tiebald to manage. Dix received several whoops and cheers when he returned to the ground. It had taken some time, but it seemed that Eagle Eight had finally earned the respect he deserved from the squadron.
"Congratulations," Heero announced through the hangar's intercom to make sure every one of the men could hear his words. "It seems like the hard part is over. I just heard that American forces are moving through Europe and that Hitler is centralizing his forces to protect his own interests. If the intelligence is correct, that should have been the last of the raids." He paused, looking for the right thing to say. "It's been difficult, but you have made it. It's been…an honor to be your commander."
Heero shook his head when Lieutenant Tiebald procured a bottle of champagne from his cockpit, pulling off the cork and passing the bottle around for the men to drink out of. Heero left, not feeling like it was his place to celebrate with the other pilots. It wasn't his homeland that he had fought so hard to protect, and he would not feel fully relieved until the war had officially ended.
He found his thoughts wandering to Duo, like they tended to since he had met the slightly younger man. Heero found himself embarrassed with the knowledge that he had never been intimate with anyone before, and as much as he really wanted to give Duo everything, his own inexperience brought an extreme level of self-consciousness that he never thought he had.
Three days prior they ended up at Duo's cozy flat, things getting heavy on the sofa, and Heero had been rather enjoying himself. But then the longhaired man's hand snuck into his pants for a brief grope and the near panic returned. The shyness was unwarranted, too. It wasn't like any part of him was horribly disfigured. He had some scars, the most recent from his crash, but it wasn't like he was missing a testicle or anything.
Heero snorted at the idea. 'Although that certainly would put the icing on the cake.'
He briefly stopped at a street vendor, purchasing a cup of coffee. Heero let the warm, bitter liquid sit in his mouth, savoring the flavor, before he swallowed. 'They definitely didn't make coffee here like they do back at home,' he contemplated. That thought brought a scowl to his face. He certainly wasn't home sick. His family hadn't been terribly close, and all Relena ever talked about was the latest gossip. 'At least Duo's intelligent enough to realize that there's more to the world than what everybody else is doing.' He watched the steam rise from the cup in his hand. With Duo, he realized, he felt more at home than he had at what was supposed to be his home.
'I never would have imagined that this is what would happen to me by volunteering for the position. Quatre was right. It does almost seem like a romance novel.' He looked around at the old brick buildings that surrounded him, each one containing a deeper history than his own country. 'Maybe this is why Shakespeare was drawn here. Something happens to a person here. It's like a catalyst.'
Down the street about half a block was a familiar building that Heero had been to before. He was only half surprised that it was his subconscious destination. He stopped at the entrance, looking up at the window he knew was Duo's. The curtains were drawn, but behind them he could see that the lights were on and every now and then a shadow was cast on the fabric.
Heero opened the door to the apartment building, cautiously entering. He still wasn't sure what had brought him to Duo's apartment, but he allowed his body to make the movements for him. He walked up the three flights of stairs, hand precariously balanced on the smooth surface of the wooden railing. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, overriding the sound of the traffic outside and a dog barking somewhere.
He reached Duo's door, hand hovering over it as if he were about to knock but couldn't decide if he should or not. Heero laughed at himself quietly. 'You've flown in countless battles, risking your life for other people over and over again, and you can't even knock on a door.'
His brain screamed for him to turn around and head back to the base, but his body told him otherwise. In the end, his body won, and Heero found himself quickly rapping on the wood of the door. After a few seconds of waiting, it opened a crack - an indigo eye peeking out to see who it was. Heero saw a smile form on Duo's face as he opened his door the rest of the way.
"Heero!" he greeted enthusiastically. "What are you doing here? We didn't have plans tonight that I forgot about, did we?"
The Japanese-American shook his head silently, crossing the threshold to grasp Duo's face firmly in between his hands, forcing a needy kiss on the other man's lips. When he broke, he was panting slightly, and Duo's face was flushed. "Can I come in?"
Duo nodded, allowing Heero to enter and locking the door behind him.
*~**~*
End Part 18