Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Wings ❯ Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Duo glanced up from the paper in his hand to the reception desk he'd managed to find against all odds of probability. Schools, unlike military bases, did not lay out for efficient activity. Also unlike military bases, a school gave him an excuse to raid the local department stores and actually buy himself a wardrobe, which now trailed behind him in a likewise new suitcase. He imagined he would leave them both behind by the time this next mission was out. Pity. He rather liked some of the button down shirts he found.

"Hi." He smiled and slid the paper over the counter to the man on the other side. "I hope I'm in the right place."

The nondescript individual behind the desk didn't even glance up. He took the paper and began entering data to a computer provided for exactly that purpose. "You're a transfer student?" He asked.

"Yup."

More typing. "Just sign at the bottom here—" Point.

Duo signed.

"Here's your keycard, you're ground floor in the back, just down that hall there. Don't use the fire exit unless there's a fire or you'll be fined."

"Cool, thanks." He only got a grunt in reply. With a shrug, Duo grabbed his suitcase and dragged it along behind him. The stream of students in and around the building was almost constant. Hive-like. Duo fielded a few friendly waves as he walked through the lobby.

A small gaggle of girls abandoned their couches to follow him. "Hey you're new, right? Let me help you with that?" A slim brunette grabbed the duffle slung over his shoulder before Duo could protest. He managed to stifle the urge to snarl at her. Letting the wolf out here was a dangerous thing.

"What room are you in?" a blonde asked, snatching the keycard out of his fingers. She whistled lowly. "g-seven" She said with a shake of her head. The other girls groaned.

The brunette sighed, "Your roommate's not very friendly. Maybe you can change rooms; you'll have to talk to the Resident Coordinator, though."

Duo knew full well who his roommate was and took the keycard back with a tolerating smile. "I think I can handle him. Do you know where I get my schedule of classes?" In fact, he already had that too, but it seemed like a reasonable new student question.

"Oh sure," The blonde behind him piped up, "You're not familiar with campus yet, we can take you around if you like."

Giggles. Duo found his door. It was wrenched open before he even slid the card. He met glaring Prussian eyes with a steady raised eyebrow. The girl who took Duo's keycard suddenly found her shoes very interesting but the brunette with his duffle made a frustrated sound.

"Really, Heero, is that any way to treat your new roommate?" Then to Duo said, "I told you he wasn't very friendly. I'm going to go talk to the RC, I'm sure Josh will be glad to have you…"

Duo let her babble on. He extended his hand for the sake of their audience. "Duo Maxwell."

Heero was unhappy. Duo understood the sentiment. He hadn't exactly left Trowa with smiles and balloons in Australia and Heero had to deal with Alpha's volatile temper. He wondered how much Trowa had told the Perfect Soldier about his brief stay there. Packfem hadn't been in contact since that brief note weeks ago about the Mobile Dolls. Duo was afraid the tactician hadn't been able to exploit his intel at all.

Odds were good he hadn't informed Heero of anything yet. Surely he would have contacted Duo too. So all the restrained violent boy before him knew was he bailed in the Outback over what was probably a personal disagreement without offering anything to their mission. No, Duo really couldn't blame him for being angry, but if he wanted to avoid a scene he didn't have much of a choice. He shook Duo's hand. The contact was brief and firm. "Heero Yuy." He stepped back slightly and held the door.

Duo grinned and wheeled his bag to the foot of the empty bed. Before well-meaning-brunette could invade the space as well, Heero held his hand out for the duffle. She frowned but passed it along. Heero tossed it carelessly in Duo's direction.

The brunette started; "Hey, careful--"

Duo plucked the bag out of the air as if off a shelf and dug a water bottle out before dropping it on the mattress. "So." He said with a grin. "Someone mentioned a tour?"

"Oh!" Blonde waved and blushed. "I'm free for the rest of the day if you are."

"Sure." The girls sighed. Duo glanced at his roommate, "Coming?"

Brunette sniffed. The wolf bristled at the careless rejection but Duo tried not to let it show. Heero seemed to catch it anyway. He gave a stiff nod and turned to grab a coat. Duo herded the girls down the hall ahead of him with a smile a little more sincere than before. He had no illusions Heero's agreement was to annoy Brunette, but it made him smile nonetheless.

"I don't think I caught your names." He began.

"Of course, how rude of us."  Brunette extended her hand as if she expected Duo to kiss it. "I'm Christine Bourdeux, biology third year."

Duo shook her hand rather than kiss it. His loyalty sat with Heero before any of these girls, as tenuous as that connection was. Christine's grip was pliant, Duo was happy to let it go.

Blonde smiled and didn't offer her hand. "I'm Laura," She nudged the third girl closer to Duo, "And this is Shanead."

"Nice tah meetcha." The Scythe pilot beamed. Laura giggled but Shanead only looked at her feet and blushed. Duo caught movement along the side of his vision, Heero joined their group in silence and as far away from Christine as he could manage. He could understand the sentiment, only twenty minutes in Brunette's company and Duo already wanted to drop the girl around the next corner.

"So," He looked to Blonde, "Where first?"

Christine interjected with; "Oh, you absolutely need to see the theatre first." She ignored Duo's level look if she even noticed it. "It's the largest one in the country, you know?"

Duo didn't know, and now that she was warming to her topic, he was beginning to care less and less. He glanced over to Heero but the man gave him a raised eyebrow that clearly declared this was his own dammed fault. No help from that corner, then.

Shanead trailed behind their little group and only offered a shy smile whenever Duo glanced at her. Brunette was off on a role about the theatre so he half-turned to whisper; “Is she always like this?”

Shanead's shy smile broadened a little and she nodded.

Duo rolled his eyes. The girl leaned forward a little, “She likes knowing more then everyone.” She whispered. Her accent was lightly European. They shared a smile.

The theatre was nice, Duo had to admit. He'd never been to a theatre before so he could only nod vaguely at Christine's gushing praise for the building. For a bio student she seemed awfully in love with the place. They made a round of the campus, hitting the library and eventually, food.

Duo interrupted the tour to drag everyone into a sandwich shop for some grub. He scanned the tables and picked one near the center of the room. Heero chose a seat opposite him; between them they could see all exits. The girls chattered around the packmale and Duo knew better than to try to include him in conversation- Heero didn't do small talk. Duo frowned at the title his wolf gave the other pilot, thrown back into conflict with such a simple thought. Submitting to the creature's thoughts inside of him had created quite a mess with Alpha, Duo wasn't sure he was ready to get back up on that horse.

--//--

The basketball court was a great release, and for whatever reason Heero had opted to come along to the pick up game Duo found. Girls peppered the stands, Christine, Laura, and Shanead among them, cheering for their favored guys. Duo was soaked under the sun but with the full moon tonight, his wolf loved the heat and exertion. He grinned a feral grin at the boy covering him. Perhaps a little more toothy than necessary.

The ball bounced in his direction. Duo grabbed and spun around his cover, jumping for the shot. It hit the rim and the other team caught the rebound. Duo sprinted down the length of the court, easily the fastest on deck, and made a nuisance of himself until a teammate snagged the ball again. The ten-second whistle blew. The ball passed to Duo, “Hey, Heero!” He bounced the ball under his cover's arm.

Packmale snagged the basketball, and with a yell heaved it against the ground as he lunged for the basket. The ball bounced off the backboard and Heero met it mid-air for a perfect dunk. They won the match 101 to 100 with no time to spare. Duo laughed. The girls went wild. He sent them a wave and said to Packmale, “Wave back or something, they're cheering for you, superstar.”

“Hn.” Was all the reply he received.

With a shrug Duo grabbed the wayward ball and spun it on his finger until Christine blinded him with a flash from her phone. “You were awesome!” She gushed, shoving her phone into Laura's hands, “Take a picture of us!” Duo posed for several photos between Christine and Laura when he noticed Heero wasn't around to eye him disapprovingly.

“Where'd Heero go?”

“Oh who cares about him—“

“I do.” Duo stared, all humor gone. To the side he saw Shanead incline her head beyond the stands. He handed her the ball with a thank you and jogged off in the direction she indicated.

He found Heero chilling on a bench with the bay stretching behind him, postcard material if he ever saw it. “So this is where you ran off to. This was a good idea to blend in at a school. Kids our age are supposed to be in school, right?”

“You stand out.”

Duo leaned against the iron railing and let his attention wander over the military ship in the bay, his and Heero's next target. “You know, you would blend in more if you weren't so standoffish. Why can you relax and have a bit of fun while you're here?”

“Hn.”

“Alright Mister Machine, I know why you're here anyway. What do you say we play a little game. First one to destroy that ship wins?”

Heero narrowed his eyes. “You were given the same mission?”

Duo smiled back, “I was told to collaborate with you.”

“I can handle it on my own.”

“I know you can, Perfect Soldier—hmm?“

The clamor of voices behind him distracted Duo from his thought, he turned in time to see a girl about their age step out of a violently pink limo. Whispers whipped through the students. Someone took a photo.

“Hey that's…?” Duo trailed off. The girl was clearly here for a purpose and it didn't involve him.

Heero stood up from the bench in a tightly controlled movement. “Relena Darlian.”

She smiled and called, “Heero! I wanted to see you again.”

The whispers quickly evolved into texting. Duo groaned, so much for blending in. “Heero how on earth did she find you?”

“She is persistent.”

“Kinda strange for someone you're trying to kill.”

“Hn.”

Yeah, you could say that again. Relena approached. Duo reclined against the iron rail and tried to become invisible. It wouldn't have mattered, Relena didn't even spare him a glance.

“How have you been, Heero?”

He stared at her. Beyond, the crowd of students was getting thicker as word got around that Relena Darlian really was here

“Heero why won't you speak to me?”

“I am going to kill you.” He finally said.

She brought her chin up, “Well, here I am. Why haven't you?”

Duo couldn't stand it, “I'm sorry, do you want to die?”

She glanced at him, “No, of course not.”

Duo made and openhanded gesture toward her, did she not see the conflict there?

The students were getting bolder, this conversation wasn't going to be private for very much longer. Heero abruptly turned away. Duo got hot on his heels.

“Wait, Heero!”

Heero didn't wait. Duo didn't look back.

--//--

They escaped into the dorm rooms without too much trouble. The students were more interested in Relena then them and Relena wasn't desperate enough to run after them… yet.

Duo closed the door behind him and leaned on it, “That girl is trouble.” The sound of a duffle bag zipper got his attention. “What's going on?”

“I'm attacking tonight. We can't afford to stay here any longer.”

“Ah...” That was technically correct but Duo's wolf was practically popping out of his skin, the full moon was tonight he couldn't go jumping around in a suit. He hissed at himself, hadn't he known this was going to happen? “No.” He finally said.

“Why not.”

“Because you need my help and I'm not going tonight.”

“I don't need your help with anything.”

“Bullshit, I got an order to help you which means someone higher than your humble opinion thinks you need help.”

“Not from you.”

“Oh yeah? You didn't pull it off too well down in Australia a few weeks ago. I don't want to have to bail you out a second time.”

That stopped him cold. “You were in Australia?”

“Trowa pulled me in to save your sorry ass which didn't look too keen on another fight last time I saw it. You were colorful from head to toe.”

“I thought it was Four…”

Oh that stung. Alpha hadn't even told him who helped. Leaving had been a good choice. “I'm sorry, you thought Quatre rigged the EMP in the server room or snuck back in to retrieve it because I'm a little confused on how either of those is his area of expertise.”

“Regardless, I'm going tonight.”

“No, you're not.”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Because I'm not going to let a packmate run off and get his fool self killed if there's anything I can do… about… it. Heero? What's wrong?”

The Wing pilot staggered backwards as if punched. "Packmate?" He whispered.

"Shit! Friend. I'm not letting a friend go off and kill themselves--forget you ever heard that." Duo rubbed his face. "Shit..."

Heero's legs hit the bed and he sat down hard. “You consider me pack?"

Duo's back dragged against the door as he sat. "Yeah, I guess I have for a while—wait." He stood up again, "Why are you familiar with the term?" Then the obvious struck him like a ton of bricks between the eyeballs. "Ohhh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph! You too?!"

Heero pitched forward onto his hands and knees. By the time he hit the carpet he was no longer human. Duo knelt in front of a wolf, brown from ears to tail with Prussian eyes he could read like a book. With a sigh he pulled his creature forward and let the transformation ripple over his skin.

They inspected each other; wolf and wolfkin until by mutual consent they dropped the animals and let the human come forward again. They lay shoulder to shoulder on the carpet. Duo propped himself up on one side and, playing with the end of his braid, looked down at Heero. "So now what?"

Heero caught his hand and pulled it, drawing Duo closer. "No you convince me not to go off and get my fool self killed." He murmured. They kissed.

"Wait."

Heero ignored him and they kissed again.

Duo tried to pull away. "Heero, wait."

"I'd rather not." The Wing pilot followed Duo's movement and rolled to pin him to the carpet. He licked his neck.

"Aw, fuck it." Duo stopped fighting and pulled at Heero's shirt.

It was different this time. With Quatre there had been so much desire to dominate that Duo found it impossible to contain. With Trowa there had been such a need to submit that he lost a full day just recovering. With Heero it was neither of those. The wolf in him didn't urge anything and while his vision began to bleed into the purples when Heero laved on a nipple Duo felt entirely within his own control.

It was strange to be doing this… voluntarily.

They had a friendly tussle while Duo wrestled with himself, just as conflicted now that he wasn't under the wolf's overpowering instincts as he had been in the past with no choice in the matter.

Heero put an effective stop to the thinking when he fastened his mouth to Duo's straining erection. Duo decided he was ok with being gay if it always felt this good. He couldn't suppress a thrust upward but Heero simply swallowed him down and dragged his teeth on the pull back. Duo shook.

He rolled them over, kissed Heero thoroughly, and spread the legs below him. Heero accepted submission with the same easy grace he slaughtered soldiers; empowered by the act rather than diminished by it. Duo rocked against his entrance until the stretch admitted him and he shuddered again. He surged like the tide, gaining ground in slow degrees until his thrusts were long and full, raking Heero's prostate with every twitch. The Wing pilot groaned. It wasn't a quiet sound. He grabbed Duo's thighs with more claw then pad. Duo jerked and thrust hard.

It forced a bark of sound from the man under him, “Again.” Heero's grip tightened to painful. Duo adjusted for leverage and pounded, unafraid of breaking anything fragile as he had been with packfem. Heero's nails drew blood and each stroke made him call out. The pitch was changing.

Every muscle in the body under Duo seized without warning. Duo's vision flashed ultraviolet—Heero was a stain of gold the middle—and his climax tore from him not unlike the way Alpha had forced his human form out of the wolf. He jerked twice and his vision bled back into the normal range of color. Duo was left shaking, sweat soaked, and not at all sure who had really submitted to whom.

They were both out of breath. Duo eased himself down to the carpet beside the packmale. And put one arm up against his forehead. "Why does this always end up sexual?"

Unexpectedly, Heero answered, "Affirmation of bonds. Reassurance. Comfort. Rank decisions. Territory. It varies." Then... "Who else have you...?"

Duo looked away. "Packfem--"

"Quatre?" Heero questioned.

Duo nodded, "And Alpha."

Heero tensed. "Alpha... Trowa?" he paused, "I didn't realize they were also pack."

"Well they're... not wolf." He looked back at Heero, "Packfem's a raptor of some kind and Alpha is a tiger."

“A tiger?”

“Yeah he calls the pack a pard instead.”

“Tigers are not social.”

Duo shrugged.

“Neither are birds of prey…?”

“Packfem told me there are some social raptors.”

“But tigers?”

“I wasn't exactly in a position to question it.”

“Hn.”

“Wait you spent, what, two weeks with Alpha and he didn't tell you he's a shifter?”

“I didn't tell him either.”

“How on earth did you two get away with that? There had to be a full moon some time while you were out there before Alpha called me in.”

“Why does the full moon mean anything?”

Duo propped himself up on one arm, “You're not forced to shift on the full moon?”

“No.”

“Well shit, I pulled the lucky straw, didn't I?”

“That is a very inconvenient variable.”

“You're telling me.”

“We better get going.” Heero stood and made for his duffle bag. He rooted around for a towel.

“We're not attacking that ship tonight, Heero.”

“No. If your shift is a compulsion you need to be out of the city before dinner.”

Duo didn't exactly trust Heero's sudden acceptance of terms, but they cleaned up and headed to the school commons for a large meal that the basketball game had been demanding for a while now. Sated, they took only themselves out on a long jog through the center of the school.

The edge of the campus bordered acres of untamed land, perfect for expanding in the future, and even more convenient for the pilots. They jogged straight into the wild, angled vaguely toward loose forest in the distance, and in a dip between rolls of land they slipped into their feral selves.

Heero's transformation was much smoother than Duo's but he was getting used to the short end of the stick and caught his packmate with a few beats of his wings. His cross necklace bounced against his chest.

Heero picked their direction but neither one of them led the other. They loped along for miles and as the sun began sinking in earnest Duo became more anxious. He could see the moon, high and distant, pregnant with light. It sliced the sunset's last rays through the trees into alternating gold and blue shafts. Duo picked up his pace to a longer trot and investigated anything his nose seemed to be interested in. Heero continued his more sedate loping speed, clearly unaffected by the lunar calendar.

Duo jumped into a quicksilver puddle of light and leapt up into the sky, flexing the muscles over his chest for lift. He left Heero far behind on the ground, reveling in the feeling of the wind under his wings. He soared. It was too bad packfem wasn't here to enjoy it.

He rolled to the left, banked downward where Heero should have been, and scanned the spaces between the trees. He couldn't see the packmale. Duo doubled back on their trail and saw nothing. Concerned, he dropped from the air and let his nose find the track. He searched in concentric circles until, far to the east, he struck across it. Duo loped in the direction his nose told him with growing concern. Either Heero had lost his sense of direction, or the pilot was well on his way back to campus.

Duo growled and took to the air in a rush. He knew the man had acquiesced too easily. He just wanted him out of the way while he took on the ship himself. Didn't that just figure. Was that any way to treat a packmate, Heero?

He spotted the wolf at a dead run as they both crossed from loose forest to rolling hills. Duo folded his wings tightly and pulled himself down through the air at blistering speed. Heero's brown speck quickly became much too close for comfort. Duo flexed his wings out with a snap. He extended all claws. He snarled at the shape just below him. Something elemental burst from his chest at the moment of impact that sent Heero sprawling through the grass. Duo landed hard on all fours and stalked, wings out and wide while he snarled.

Heero was on his feet, lunging, faster than any natural creature. They jawed at each other violently. Spit flew in every direction. Their muzzles pinched and tore under gleaming teeth. Blood began to flow.

Again something primal pushed from Duo's chest and he pressed his advantage through the shock of wind, turning Heero to the side, standing over him, and gripping the wolf's neck between his jaws.

The fur under his tongue rippled away to fragile human skin. Duo pulled back immediately. It took him several seconds to calm enough for his own wolf to retreat. Human again. Complicated.

“What the hell do you think you're trying to pull? We're not hitting that ship tonight and we're done here.” Heero wouldn't meet his eyes. They walked in silence back to campus and while the late hour didn't seem to have an effect on the student activity, they weren't bothered all the way back to the dorms.