Chapter 15 / 37
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
Morning came, as it had a habit of doing. Duo woke up snuggled with Zechs, and the two of them only managed to disengage when Quatre's voice came over the intercom and threatened to feed their breakfast to the birds. Duo extricated himself with a reluctant sigh.
"Y'know, Zechs, I was never a morning person, but you're really making it that much harder to get up in the mornings."
Zechs, his mind in the gutter, just smirked and bit his tongue instead of making one of the six or seven comments he immediately came up with in response, all of which were guaranteed to make Duo blush. "Ah. Yes, well, at least I'm good for something."
"Eh, we can't all be good at everything. Like me. Maybe if ya stick around I'll rub off on ya."
Zechs squinted at Duo, trying to judge if he was toying with him or not. A pair of violet eyes blinked at him innocently. "What?" Zechs merely shook his head as he stood up.
Duo prodded at the very visible mark Zechs had given him on his throat the night before as he examined it in the mirror. "You totally did this on purpose."
"Absolutely. The first of many, I should hope."
That drew the desired blush from Duo, who hurried about his business of braiding his hair. Zechs simply smirked as he unwound the bandages from his arm and slowly tested it. It still ached and was a bit stiff, but by and large seemed to be better. // I'm sure half of the pain is simply from disuse. Shouldn't take much to get it good as new. Guess I don't need to mess with these annoying bandages anymore. //
"Oh, hey, your arm's workin'? Good deal. That'll make you a much more effective slave." Duo quipped with a grin as he straightened his collar, thankful that the love bite was easy enough to hide.
"So sure you could be dominant over me, are you?" Zechs asked with a smirk, toying with the end of Duo's braid.
"Behave...we have to get to breakfast before Quatre has a fit."
"I'll take that as a no."
Duo stuck out his tongue before bouncing out the door. "Yeah, yeah, hurry up. The God of Death hungers."
~ * ^ * ~
Breakfast started out good, and then circled the drain rapidly. Not long after Zechs and Duo had sat down and greeted Quatre, Wufei showed up.
Wufei froze in his tracks, staring at Zechs before flipping his dark velvet gaze to Quatre. "So our prisoner eats meals with us too?"
Quatre flushed and gave Wufei a placating smile. "Relax, Fei...a lot's happened since you were gone on the last mission. Even if he's still technically a prisoner, he's been a model one and has earned a few privileges. After all, that's only fair."
That seemed to calm the Chinese pilot enough for Wufei to take his own seat, but he kept a wary eye on Zechs the entire time.
Duo couldn"t help but grin. // Quatre, you're more cunning than we give you credit for. Playing off his sense of justice...nice. //
As if Wufei's tenseness wasn't enough of a problem, things got much worse abruptly when the door opened and Heero walked in.
Zechs stiffened in his chair at the sight of his long-time dueling rival. Heero took one good look at Zechs and immediately drew his gun on him.
Duo was on his feet a moment later, a stormy glare on his face and his own gun aimed at Heero. "Welcome home, Heero. Put the damn gun down."
Heero switched the target of his shot to Duo, his dark eyes eyeing the American warily, his face impassive as a stone but his eyes narrowing in anger. His gaze flicked briefly to Zechs.
'If you think you're going to shoot him, you better pray you're a good enough fucking shot to take me out first. I'm about sick of no one trusting my judgment. You all call me an idiot and seem to think I'm incapable of making intelligent decisions. Well, guess what. I'm still alive and in one piece, so maybe...JUST maybe...I know what the hell I'm doing. If you're going to shoot Zechs you'll have to do it over my dead body. Go ahead, try your luck. It's a good day to die."
Heero's eyes narrowed further. Quatre stared in alarm as he saw Heero's finger tense on the trigger, depressing it the slightest bit. Duo was on a likewise hair trigger. Wufei was gripping the arms of his chair tightly, his eyes darting about as he tried to figure the best route to get over the table and stop either of them from getting killed. For one very long, tense moment it seemed as though this conflict would end in bloodshed.
Heero lowered his gun, and then put it away without a word. His gaze turned to Zechs.
Zechs nodded slightly to Heero. "And a good morning to you as well. I formally resigned from OZ and am no longer your enemy...though I wouldn't mind the occasional duel."
Heero seemed to weigh this information before nodding again and taking his seat. "Fine." He proceeded to go about eating his breakfast with his typical efficiency, effectively ignoring everyone at the table.
Duo had sat back down as well, though he left his gun sitting next to his plate within easy reach and kept his eyes on Heero. Just because Heero had backed down didn't mean he wouldn't try something when Duo's guard was down.
Zechs eyed Duo in silent amazement, although he was careful to keep his expression neutral. // He was willing to risk his life for me... // His gaze slowly flicked over to eye the Perfect Soldier. // I'll have to watch myself around that one. //
A moment later, all heads turned to regard the door as they opened, admitting Trowa. Trowa's visible eye widened and his hand jerked automatically towards his belt, but Duo was armed and up before he could complete the move. Heero immediately jerked his gun out and pointed it back at Duo. Duo produced a second firearm and kept one on either of his two fellow pilots, the battle-light gleaming in his eyes and a huge grin on his face.
"Well hi there, Trowa. Don't even try it."
Trowa looked at Zechs, then Duo and Heero. He then glanced at Quatre. Quatre was frowning in horrified distress. "I suppose it's good to be back...though I wouldn't mind an explanation."
"Duo is going to shoot us if we try to shoot Zechs. Zechs claims to have resigned from OZ and they're treating him like a guest instead of a captive." Heero stated bluntly.
Quatre finally burst. "Guys, STOP it! I don't want to see anyone get hurt."
"Then stay out of this, Quatre."
Quatre frowned at Heero, and then actually glared. "This is MY house. I will NOT tolerate this kind of behavior!"
"It'd be more effective if you pulled a gun, too," Wufei muttered. With the way this morning seemed to be going, he half expected it. He knew Quatre stayed armed just as the rest of them did, even though he'd never personally seen the blonde pull a gun out of nowhere. // Where does Heero keep that gun of his, anyway? //
Trowa slowly unfroze and lifted his hands in a gesture that was half peace-offering, half surrender. Duo eyed Heero for a long and wary moment.
"I think you've let your role of prison guard turn into prisoner guardian," Heero growled to Duo, slowly lowering his firearm. When Duo was convinced Heero really wasn't going to fire, the braided teen retook his seat. Zechs could see Duo's knuckles were white and the faintest quiver shook his arms.
"Well, I can't very well let you shoot an unarmed guy that's done nothing to harm us for the entire time he's been here."
Trowa slowly sat down and looked at Duo. "He's been our enemy for a long time, Duo. The problems he's caused us are innumerable, and he would have killed us as soon as looked at us several times."
"Yeah, well...things change. People change."
"People don't change," Heero stated abruptly.
"Y'know, I'm not gonna put up with this shit right now. Zechs, c'mon. Let's go back to the room."
Zechs could detect the slight note of strain in Duo's voice and he stood up. He nodded and after thanking Quatre for breakfast, he made his way out of the room. Duo was right behind him, though the braided teen kept his guns in his hands and didn't say a word the entire way back to their room.