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"Going the Distance"Written By: Clara Barton Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. The following
is an intellectual exercise with no intention of profit. That said,
these characterizations, words, and situations are mine. Please ask
before reprinting. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Angst, language, violence, sex, AU Pairings: 1x2x3 Summary: Duo Maxwell has just signed on to join Team Gundam Wing, an upstart League of Legends team looking to win the World Championships. Duo Maxwell, the first openly gay professional gamer. Duo Maxwell, the guy hated by almost all of Reddit. Duo Maxwell, the guy whose own brother hates him. Duo Maxwell, the guy who really just wants to find a team that doesn't hate him. A/N: This fic is an AU that has the boys playing
professional League of Legends. I'm going to try my best to not get
bogged down too much in game terminology or things like that, but,
well, I WILL reference the game and try to explain as much as I can,
as I go. I'm also way too lazy to make up "new" teams for
the league, so I will be using existing teams and players, with the
exceptions of Team Gundam Wing, Zodiac Gaming, and the Valkyries.
So… I will be referencing real people and real teams. "Going the Distance" Chapter Nineteen "Okay, boot camp is over. Tomorrow is the first game of the Summer split and you've spent the last two weeks glued to your computers and today we are leaving this house and doing something fun." Relena was standing in the doorway to the game room with her hands on her hips and a fierce expression on her face. Duo couldn't decide if her pink hair, hello kitty headband and Strawberry Shortcake t-shirt made her look more or less threatening. "Get up!" She shouted. More threatening. Everyone backed away from their computers, even Quatre, though he glared at Relena. "We were just about to try - " Relena held up her hand. "I don't care. Try it later. If you haven't figured out how to win your games this weekend by now, another day of practice isn't going to help." "Yes it will," Quatre argued and rolled his eyes. "Probably," Relena agreed. "But I haven't heard any of you complain about not having pizza for dinner." Duo arched an eyebrow and exchanged a confused look with Meilin, who shrugged back at him. "And?" Trowa asked. "And you people always want pizza. You bitch and moan if we go a single week without ordering pizza and we haven't had any pizza in two weeks and no one has said a word! You all are so focused on the game that you have forgotten how to be human beings." Duo fought to keep a straight face, but then Heero laughed and quickly turned it into a cough. It set off both Duo and Trowa. Relena's glare intensified. "All of you get shoes on your feet and meet me outside right now," Relena snapped. Even Sally, who had started to sit in on all of their practices and take notes or offer criticism, obeyed. "Any chance we can just get Quatre to fuck her so the insanity stops?" Meilin muttered to Duo as they climbed the stairs to fetch their shoes. Duo snorted. "You'd probably have to have a three hour conversation with Quatre explaining that girls who aren't psychotic bitches can like him too." Meilin arched an eyebrow and then her jaw dropped open. "Shut up. Quatre hooked up with Dorothy Catalonia?!" Duo scowled. "How did you even make that connection? There are plenty of psychotic bitches in the world." Meilin smirked. "He's the cutest little gamer nerd there ever was, Duo. He's not going to venture out into the big scary world to find a psychotic bitch when Dorothy will just come to him and eat him alive." When they had all assembled outside Relena ushered them into the van. "We're going to Ultrazone." Duo frowned. He had no idea what that was, but Trowa, in the back of the van with Heero, groaned. "Jesus, not again," he muttered. "What the hell is Ultrazone?" Duo asked him. "Your worst nightmare," Heero said. Duo turned to Quatre, who had his head buried in his hands. "Relena, we need to practice - we can't just go to Ultrazone and let you murder all of us for five hours like last time." Duo arched an eyebrow, as did Meilin, and they turned to look at Relena's gleeful face. "We can," she said, "and we will. You all need to have fun, you need to stretch your damn legs and you need to accept the fact that this is happening. We are going to Ultrazone and yes, I will spend the next five hours murdering all of you." "I still don't understand where we're going," Duo pointed out. "Laser tag," Sally said with a sigh. Duo turned to Relena, shocked and delighted. "Seriously?" She nodded and grinned at his excitement. Duo turned to the rest of the team. "What the fuck is wrong with all of you? Laser tag is the best thing to ever happen - why the hell aren't you more excited?" Trowa made a patronizing sound and reached out to pat Duo's head. "Just look at him, so full of hope and joy," he said and turned to Heero. "Remember when we were like that?" Heero nodded. "It's so sad to see him like this, knowing that he's going to be curled up in a fetal position crying in just a few hours." Duo scowled at them. "She's going to completely destroy you," Trowa said and glanced towards Relena. "She's going to take everything you hold dear and taunt you with it as she shoots you over and over and over again." "I think you guys are a little -" "You don't understand," Quatre said and he sighed and leaned back, looking resigned. "You haven't been there. You haven't see what she's like." Duo turned back to Relena. "I have no idea what they are talking about," she said, shrugged, and turned back in her seat and turned up the radio volume. As it turned out, no one was exaggerating Relena's brutality. She was like Rambo - in fact, she was a registered club member and her name was RamboBarbie. She was unstoppable, coming in first in every game by a margin so big it was laughable and terrifying. After three hours of running around the two story warehouse in the dark, everyone was sweaty and tired and maybe Relena was the absolute worst opponent to ever face because she did taunt each and every one of them mercilessly, but it was still a lot of fun. It was great to be out of the house, great to not listen to Heero and Meilin bicker, great not to have to constantly nudge Trowa's focus back on his own lane whenever anything went wrong in the bottom lane, great to not worry about his own performance. They were in the middle of their sixth game of the day and Duo was trying his damnedest to beat Relena - he had come in second to her every single game and he had promised himself he wouldn't let her win yet another game. Of course, it was almost like telling himself he was going to single handedly defeat the Koreans in League of Legends - it was impossible. At one point he came around a corner, his gun up and ready to fire and spotted her glowing pink hair just a second before Relena started to fire - But then someone shoved him back, taking the hits for him, and Duo looked up in surprise to see that Heero had pushed him out of the way and taken Relena's shots to his back instead. "You saved me." Heero smirked, his face an ethereal blue from the lighting. "I'll take laser shots for you any day, Duo." Duo chuckled. "My hero," he quipped, then realized it was practically a pun. He also realized that Heero was still pressing him against a wall, even though Relena had already moved on to find other victims and they were behind a wall, out of sight and Duo could try to blame it on the adrenaline but really, he did it because he was stupid. He curved his left hand around the back of Heero's neck and pulled him close and kissed him. Heero froze for a second, his body and lips stiff, but then he leaned in, opened his mouth and caressed Duo's lips with his tongue. Duo moaned and opened his mouth, tasted Heero and fucking hell he had wanted to do this every day since Rio, since that first night with him and Trowa. They pulled away, breathless and wide eyed, when the siren signalling the end of the game went off. "I don't think you beat Relena," Heero told him. "I don't think I care," Duo admitted and Heero smirked. They made their way out of the room, shrugged off their vests and replaced their guns and stepped out into the bright light of the arcade and Duo wondered what the hell he had just done. -o- They stopped to get pizza on their way back to the house, and even though Meilin teased Heero by offering to chew up his food for him, the atmosphere was relaxed. They were all drained, all a little smelly after hours of sweating, but when they got home that night Relena insisted they all watch a movie together before going to bed. She at least allowed them the chance to change - giving them fifteen minutes to put on pajamas and prepare themselves, in her words, mentally and physically, for the sheer amazingness of Free Willy 2. Duo tried to ask why the sequel and not the first one, but Quatre caught his eye and shook his head, a warning in his expression, and after the afternoon of Relena's dominance in laser tag, Duo had to admit it was better to just trust the others on some things and let it go. He changed into the All-Star t-shirt he'd been given in Rio and a pair of basketball shorts before heading back downstairs. He had to smirk when he saw that Meilin and Sally were sharing a couch, with Relena and Quatre on another, and Heero and Trowa in their usual spots on the third couch, leaving just enough room for him to sit between them. He climbed onto the couch and folded his legs under him and settled back, his knees just barely touching Heero and Trowa's thighs and he knew he didn't imagine either of them shifting closer. But Relena started the movie and as much as Duo was aware of their skin against his he focused on the movie, which he hadn't seen in years, not since Solo had bought it for Christmas one year when they were still kids, saying that he had seen it in the movie theatre with their Mom before Duo was born. He remembered Solo wanting to be a marine biologist - remembered him looking it up and trying to figure out how he could do it and being so determined to save killer whales until they had been moved to another foster home and he had seemingly given up that dream, had stopped talking about any dreams of future careers until years later when he decided to become a pro-gamer. Duo had never really thought about that before, had never considered the reality that Solo had been fixated on being a marine biologist and then had given up that and all plans for his future for years. When the movie ended it was almost midnight. "Van leaves at ten in the morning," Relena told them and shot Quatre a stern look. "Everyone had better be awake and ready to go." Quatre glared at her. "Baby bird, let's get in one last game tonight," Meilin said and got up from her couch, walking out of the room, confident that Heero would follow. Heero scowled after her, but sighed and got up. The others drifted out of the room as well. "Feel like playing one?" Duo asked Trowa, who nodded and stood up. He held out a hand and pulled Duo up from the couch. He didn't immediately let go, however, and Duo looked down to Trowa's tan fingers wrapped around his wrist. "I thought you didn't want a secret relationship," Trowa said, his voice soft and Duo looked up, into his eyes. "I don't," he repeated. "Then what happened today?" Duo sighed. "Today I was stupid. I'm sorry." He should probably apologize to Heero as well, now that he thought about it. He couldn't just go around kissing him - either of them - no matter how much he wanted to. "Why don't you come running with Heero and I tomorrow morning?" Duo arched an eyebrow. He vividly remembered the day, months ago, when Wufei had tried to invite himself along on Heero and Trowa's daily run and Heero had bluntly told him they didn't like company. "Are you sure?" Trowa nodded. "It's Heero's favorite part of the day - the only chance we get to just be us and not have to worry about all of this," he gestured to the house. Duo had known, on some level, that the others felt the same kind of pressure he felt, the same stress and need to succeed and desire for vindication. But he hadn't really thought it got to anyone else as much as it got to him. "What's your favorite part of the day?" Duo had to ask. Trowa smirked. "Not hauling my ass out of bed at eight in the morning," he muttered and Duo laughed. He wished Trowa hadn't blown off the question, but he assumed it meant the answer was too personal, probably something to do with just him and Heero, and he didn't want to pry. "Shall we?" Trowa gestured towards the game room, finally letting go of Duo's arm. Duo nodded and followed him into the room. Heero and Meilin were already in a game, and Duo chuckled at the way Meilin was already taunting him, just minutes into the game, and Heero responded by diving in and getting first blood, the first kill of the game, all on his own. "Oh! Spread those wings and fly, baby bird!" Meilin shouted excitedly. Duo looked over at Trowa, who was looking at Heero with a fond smirk. "They're going to do fine tomorrow," Duo assured him. Trowa nodded. "I know. Meilin's exactly what he needs." "Maybe in the game," Duo said and arched an eyebrow at Trowa's tone, at how he sounded a little lost. Trowa looked at him. "You're more than his support, Trowa. You know that." Trowa didn't respond, however, just sat down in his chair and logged onto the game and Duo was forced to drop the issue. But it tugged at him, the knowledge that Trowa felt uneasy, felt unnecessary for Heero, and even after the game ended and Trowa went upstairs to join Heero in bed and Duo climbed into his own bed alone he continued to think about it, to think about the way Trowa had looked proud but sad. -o- Relena was in the kitchen the next morning when they returned from their run, already dressed and eating breakfast and she arched an eyebrow at them when they walked in, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. Heero opened the refrigerator and passed bottles of water back to Trowa and Duo before taking one for himself. "Have a good run?" Relena asked. Heero shrugged, Trowa nodded, and Duo gulped down water. He wasn't entirely sure what he had been expecting from their run - he'd seen Heero and Trowa's naked bodies, after all, had seen them every morning after their runs and they were always sweating and breathing heavily and maybe that should have been a clue. Still, five miles was more than he had been expecting, and it was only because he was a stubborn idiot and didn't want to look weak in front of them that he managed to straggle along for the last two miles, every step feeling like it would surely be his last. Duo hadn't been surprised that neither Heero nor Trowa was chatty, had actually been grateful after the first mile that they didn't talk at all while they ran, and maybe it would have been nice to stop and talk at some point of the run, but Duo had been surprisingly comfortable with the silence. It didn't feel awkward, it didn't even feel like there were things they needed to talk about, even though there probably were. It felt like the three of them were just existing, just pushing their bodies and focused on themselves but Duo had also felt included, had felt like part of them. Heero and Trowa left the kitchen to go shower but Duo decided to eat breakfast first, making himself a bowl of cereal and joining Relena. "So..." He looked up from a spoonful of cereal to meet her questioning blue eyes. "What?" "Duo. You went running with Trowa and Heero." "Yeah?" "Heero bit Wufei's head off the one time he tried to invite himself along." Duo shrugged. "I didn't invite myself. Trowa invited me." "Is there something you need to tell me?" Duo scowled. Shit. Was he that transparent? "No?" "Duo. It's okay. Remember, I'm here for you. A little bromance never hurt anyone. I'm happy for you. Really. You, Trowa and Heero make a cute couple." She was teasing, was just messing with him and she knew he'd been attracted to the two of them since day one but she had no idea what had transpired. He rolled his eyes and forced a smirk. "Obviously we're a cute couple. I'm involved." She shook her head. "Speaking of cute couples, when are you going to tell Quatre you're madly in love with him?" "When you get MVP for the Summer Split," she muttered. "Challenge accepted." Of course, seeing as how Solo had won it every single split since he had been a rookie, it would be nearly impossible, but all the same. Relena arched an eyebrow. "Okay, fine. If you win the MVP I'll tell him." "And if I don't?" She smirked. "I've always wondered what you would look like with short hair." "No." She crossed her arms. "I'm not cutting my hair, Relena." "Then you'd better get MVP, Duo." Their standoff was interrupted by Meilin, who walked into the kitchen already dressed in her TGW shirt, jacket and track pants and Duo had to grin. "You look so much more badass in that then you did in the ZG gear." "I look badass in everything, Duo," she pointed out. "God I wish you were a gay man," he said. "I know you do," she said and patted his hand. "I know you do." -o- It was strange not seeing Wufei sitting in the holding room reading a philosophy book. And as comforting as it was to see Trowa stretched out on the couch napping and Heero playing his usual custom game to warm-up, it was strange looking over at Wufei's normal chair and seeing it empty. Meilin was doing yoga, and had somehow convinced Quatre to do it with her, and the two of them were in the middle of the sunbird pose when the knock to signal their game came. Quatre awkwardly fell over and then stood up and Meilin smirked at him. "Okay," he said and shoved his hair back and grinned at the rest of them. "This is it. The first game of our road to World's. Let's go out there and win." It was, as far as Quatre pep talks went, short and sweet, but Duo figured they were all too full of nerves, too excited and anxious, to be in the mood for anything longer or deeper. Reddit had, of course, had plenty to say about the game today. TGW would play against Cloud 9, and there were enough people who thought Cloud 9 should have gone to the All-Stars, could have won, that TGW fans had started flame wars on Reddit. And of course, there were plenty of questions about Trowa's ability to win the top lane, about Heero and Meilin's synergy, and the team stability as a whole. It felt like they all walked out of the stage with as much to prove today, game one of the Summer Split, as they had during the Spring Playoffs to go to All-Stars. "You ready to show the League how amazing you are in top lane?" Duo asked Trowa as they sat down. "I'm ready to try not to look like a useless moron," Trowa countered. Duo looked at him and noticed that Trowa was rubbing his hands together, using the hand warmers and Duo realized he had never seen Trowa do that before, had never seen him fidget. "Hey." He waited until Trowa looked over at him. "This is just like our Solo Queue games, Tro. Except we don't have to carry a team of randoms. We can do this. It's Smash Brothers time." Trowa's lips twitched. Last week they had stayed up after practice to play Solo Queue, as usual, and Duo had picked Jax and Trowa had played Alistar, and both champions had attacks that smashed their opponents, and someone on the other team had called them the Smash Brothers after they had aced the enemy team. "Just don't die to a minion this time," Trowa muttered and Duo laughed. They had gotten cocky, that game, and Duo had tried to end the game himself, only to be killed by a minion just as he destroyed the enemy Nexus, and Trowa had laughed out loud and teased him about it every day since. "I'll try not to," Duo promised him. Trowa smirked and stretched his fingers out before laying them down on the keyboard and that was something Duo was used to seeing - Trowa prepared and ready to play and he was relieved. ~ * ~ |
