Chapter 18 / 37
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
Duo felt tremendously better when he made his way down to the saferoom. He had left the door unlocked on purpose, but he wasn't terribly surprised to find Zechs still in the room. He paused to admire the sight - Zechs was reclined lazily in an armchair, wearing a simple light gray pair of sweat pants. His long platinum blonde tresses were draped over the back of the cushion. He had a book in hand, although he had stopped paying attention to it the moment Duo walked in.
The braided teen gave Zechs a half-cocked grin and sat down on the footrest. "Hey. We need to talk. And by we need to talk, I mean I need to talk and I need you to listen to me and really get what I'm sayin'."
Zechs nodded and sat up straighter, flipping a loose scrap of paper into his book to mark his place and setting it down. "Alright. You have my undivided attention."
Duo was playing with the end of his braid nervously and seemed to be looking for a place to start. "First, I have to apologize for...how I acted earlier. Now, I've got a lot of issues. I can't help it, it's who I am. A lot of bad shit went on in my life and I'll admit it, it fucked me up pretty good. That's why I get so nervous and jumpy and...run away. I told you once it wasn't personal, and I meant it. It's not you I'm afraid of. I have no reason to believe, in fact, you'd do anything to hurt me intentionally or otherwise. But I have the issues regardless. If you can accept that, be patient with me, and take it easy on me...don't push me...then I'm willing to give a relationship a try. Because I..." Duo was silent for a moment before looking Zechs right in the eyes, his voice softer. "Because I really do care about you. I... think I could even fall in love with you."
Zechs smiled and caught Duo's hand in his own, lifting it to his lips and giving it a soft kiss. "I'll give you all the time you need."
Duo blushed and fidgeted a bit. "Er...I'm not really...given to this sort of serious emotional sorta talking...it's kinda not my thing? So...er...message delivered, don't forget it, but we can talk about something else now."
The platinum blonde chuckled. "Fair enough. Has Mr. Yuy staked out the hallway in an effort to shuffle me loose of the mortal coil?"
Duo scowled. "Meh, I haven't seen him all day. Or Trowa, for that matter. Wufei's burying himself in Q's library last I saw...he's still trying to figure out the proper scientific explanation for whatever that thing in the sky was that day I got you out of that OZ base. He refuses to accept that it's the remains of a magical portal to Dragon Land and that it's something you guys...er...your former guys...dreamt up."
Zechs arched an eyebrow. "I would have thought Wufei of all people, considering his obvious heritage, would be more willing to accept the presence of a dragon and some sort of mysticism. Scientific explanation, eh?..."
Duo snickered. "Don't mention his reading glasses; he gets bent out of shape. I got my ass kicked good one time when I teased him a bit too much. Don't mess with him hand-to-hand. He's an absolute animal."
"Ah...and here I assumed you'd be fair at melee combat, considering..."
Duo blinked. "I am. I can street fight with the best of them. But Fei's on a whole 'nother level, man. He knows like...kung-fu and jujitsu and twenty-seven other dangerous words."
"I'll keep it in mind. Sometime, perhaps, I'll have to have you show me YOUR moves."
Duo scoffed and flashed Zechs a wide grin. "Pfft, please. You can't handle this."
Zechs abruptly leaned forward and gave Duo a rakish grin, his voice a sultry purr. "Mm, but I would so like to..."
The braided teen eeped and leaned backwards. "Hey, didn't we just have this talk abo--ack!" Duo leaned a bit too far and overbalanced, ending up flat on his back with the footrest skidding across the room in the opposite direction. "Ow..."
Zechs blinked, and then burst out laughing. Duo gave him a dark look, but accepted the hand Zechs offered to help him back up. Zechs did pull him up...and then right into his lap. Duo made a small 'hmph' noise and folded his arms.
"Oh, if you think I'm going to warm up to you now..."
With a chuckle, the platinum blonde leaned forward and brushed his lips across Duo's cheek. "Oh, calm down, I didn't knock you over on purpose. Besides...I figured the kissing and the snuggling fell in the realm of things I was allowed to do."
Duo paused to consider that. "Well...yeah. But no more biting."
Zechs smirked and hooked his arms around the younger teen's waist. "Ah, but it showed up so well..."
"Yeah, that's my point exactly! I'm not a huge fan of awkward explanations. And while I'm not ashamed of any relationship that we have or that might develop, you've gotta understand it just would NOT be cool to have to deal with the guys if they knew."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right..." Zechs said with a slight grin. Duo felt Zechs' hands doing something behind him and he turned to look just as the other teen snapped the band off his braid, loosing it.
"Hey!"
Zechs caught Duo's hand before he could save the braid from beginning to unravel. "Leave it. I enjoy it loose." Duo flushed a bit at that but didn't resist when Zechs finished unweaving his hair. He had to admit, he rather liked the way those long and slender fingers threaded through his luxurious chestnut tresses... At the sound of the soft sigh that escaped Duo, Zechs knew he had his opening and pulled the boy in for a kiss.
Duo didn't resist, simply curled his arms around his neck and snuggled up against him contentedly. He shifted around in Zechs' lap so one leg was on either side of the older teen and he could press his body more tightly against him, the firm line of contact sending a delightful shiver down his spine. Duo was more than happy to submit when he felt Zechs' tongue trail against his lips. // Damn he's good... //
~ * ^ * ~
Heero glared at his computer screen. He supposed he should be happy that the readouts showed Wing Zero in flawless condition...but all it meant was that he had nothing to do. No mission, no repairs to do.
He spared Epyon a glance, lost in thought. // Zechs... I don't trust you. And I don't know why Duo trusts you either. Something's not right here. People don't change. You're the enemy. I'm supposed to kill you. //
Heero picked up his laptop and began typing rapidly. He hacked into OZ's database but found nothing new. What little he found seemed to coincide with Zechs' story of resignation, but Heero remained suspicious. On a whim, he pulled up the security feeds for Quatre's estate. A slight frown crossed his face as he stared at the image in the saferoom. Duo and Zechs both appeared to be sleeping.
With a soft sigh, Heero moved to click off his computer. The tiniest flicker of the screen caught his trained eye, and he moved his hand away from the power button. // Am I seeing things?...No. There. It did it again... // A few more command lines confirmed his suspicion. // The camera has been fed a loop... what's going on here... //
Heero's fingers moved rapidly across the keys as he dismantled the subtly hidden video loop and brought the cameras back to live feed. His cobalt eyes widened significantly at the sight that greeted him - Duo sitting in Zechs' lap as the two of them kissed each other hungrily.
The Perfect Soldier's glare darkened. He watched for another moment before pressing the record button. When he felt he had enough, he flipped off his computer and stalked from the hangar.
~ * ^ * ~
"Trowa."
Trowa glanced up as Heero entered the room. His hand snapped out automatically to catch the disk Heero slung at him. "What is this?" he asked as he pressed it into his laptop.
"I figured out what's going on around here."
Trowa's eyes widened as he took a good look at the tape.
"Zechs has seduced him. Duo has been compromised. Whatever is going on here, Duo's been blinded to it...or is in league with him."
Trowa frowned as he glanced at the tape again before nodding slowly. "Then we have to stop this before Zechs gets Treize whatever he's after. This whole thing did seem too convenient."
Heero nodded, finishing loading his handgun with a satisfying 'click'. He put it back in his belt. "We need to take care of Zechs...and find out just how much Duo's betrayed."
"I'm assuming you'll take Duo alive, on the off chance that he's innocent in this matter," Trowa stated with a slight frown. Even if Duo HAD betrayed the lot of them, he couldn't say he wanted to see him dead.
Heero headed for the door, though he paused at Trowa's remark. "If it's feasible."