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"Just Dancing"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: language, smut, slight violence Pairings: 3xS, others Summary: Trowa has a mission, and it requires asking Sally Po to be his partner. Of course, this undercover op isn't the kind that sends them to a distant colony to track down weapons smugglers. It's the kind where he needs a girlfriend to take to an ex-lover's wedding.
"Just Dancing" Chapter 5 Trowa woke up to pounding. Pounding in his skull as he lifted it, and- pounding on the door of the hotel room. Trowa looked around cautiously, his head and stomach protesting as he moved. The sheets and comforter were a tangled mess, wrapped around his legs and Sally's, leaving both of their bodies exposed to the sunlight streaming through the window. "What the hell is going on?" Sally muttered, rolling over onto her back and tugging at the sheets. The movement further jostled Trowa, and he wasn't at all able to appreciate the sight of Sally's toned body before she covered herself up and rolled onto her side. "I have no idea." But the pounding wasn't stopping, and Trowa reluctantly and carefully dragged himself out of the bed. He stumbled a few steps before catching himself against the wall and closing his eyes while he focused all of his attention on not vomiting. More pounding. "Hold on!" he shouted, irritated and fairly confident he was experiencing the worst hangover he had had in years. He should have drank more water last night, as Sally had suggested. Trowa finally managed to force his stomach into some semblance of peace, and he opened his eyes so that he could look for his clothes. Gingerly, he picked up his trousers and pulled them on, breathing deeply and evenly as he did so and wishing to hell he was still in bed, curled around Sally and sleeping this off. Instead, he was up, was pulling trousers on and making his way to the door of the hotel and very resentfully opening it. Duo stood in front of him, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, his hair loose around his shoulders and his face- He was a mess. Trowa had seen Duo like this before, when Duo had been called into Une's office after dicey missions, when Duo had been called to give testimony in the trial that had resulted in one of the most prolific and horrific L3 crime bosses being sentenced to life in prison, when Duo had been contacted by a middle-aged couple on L2 who thought they might be his parents. "Duo." "Trowa. I- Can I come in?" He stood to one side, leaning heavily against the door. "Look, can we just- Holy shit. Uh, hey, Sally." Trowa turned to see Duo staring at Sally, still in bed, and still naked except for the sheet wrapped around her. "Morning, Duo." She sounded and looked annoyed. "I, uh, wow. So you two really are… Right. Sure. Yeah." Duo laughed, and then scrubbed his face with his hands. "Of course. Yeah. Well. I just- I should go. This is-" Trowa caught Duo's wrist as the other man moved back towards the door. "Duo, what's going on?" Duo looked from their hands to Trowa's face, his throat working and his eyes full. "Give me a minute to get dressed and I'll go get some breakfast for us, Trowa." Sally started to move to the edge of the bed, still clutching the sheets against her. "While you two… do your thing." Duo eased himself free from Trowa's grip and moved to sit in the armchair next to the couch. Trowa closed the door to the bedroom so that Sally could have some privacy, and he sat down on the couch. A moment later, Sally came out of the bedroom and thrust a cup of water in one of Trowa's hands and two white pills into his other. "Acetaminophen. You should have taken some last night." "I was a little distracted." Her expression softened, and as Trowa drank the water, he noticed that she was wearing his shirt, tucked into the jeans she had worn yesterday for their trip to La Rochelle. "Nice shirt." She rolled her eyes at him, and then looked over at Duo. "Can I get you anything?" Duo shook his head. "No, no, I'm- I'm fine. Thanks. I- Sorry. Yeah." Sally rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath before walking out of the hotel room, leaving Duo and Trowa alone together for the first time in three years. "I… Sorry. You look like shit." "You don't look much better," he assured Duo, and then instantly regretted it. Duo was startled into a laugh. "Thanks. That's what every groom wants to hear on his wedding day." "What do you want to hear? What- Why are you here ?" Duo stretched his legs in front of him and smoothed his palms over his thighs, the nervous gesture so very familiar to Trowa. "I- I just… 'Ro isn't… He's not good at comforting me, you know? I tell him I'm freaked the fuck out, and his response is to tell me his car has a full tank of gas and we could be at seven different airports in less than three hours." Trowa had to laugh, and he instantly regretted it. "So you came to me? For what? A reminder that you made the right choice? The chance to finally tell me off for what I did to you?" Duo shrugged. "Maybe? I just- I don't know. 'Ro gave me the bullshit about the tank of gas and I feel like I'm crawling out of my fucking skin, and I just- I just wanted to see you. I needed to see you." Trowa very carefully did not look at Duo's face as he said that. It was bad enough to remember what Duo looked like when he said those words. "Here I am," he made a gesture at himself. "Yeah, what the fuck is wrong with you?" "I'm hungover. From celebrating your nuptials." Duo sighed. "Trowa-" "Duo, what do you want me to say? What do you need me to say? That you made the right choice? That Wufei loves you? That you've never looked happier? What do you want from me?" "I want you to tell me why I wasn't enough for you." Trowa did look at Duo now, at Duo's too-bright eyes and his not-quite-steady mouth and his clenched fists. "Duo-" "You- What did I do wrong, Tro? What was it about me that- I wasn't good enough, was I? And now- now I'm about to make such a big fucking mistake, aren't I? Because you couldn't put up with me for six fucking years before it was too much, and there's no way that Wufei will be able to- Why wasn't I enough, Tro?" He felt like Duo had stabbed him with a knife, had gutted him from nape to groin. The bile curdling in his throat was suddenly almost choking him as he looked into Duo's eyes and saw the genuine despair there. "It wasn't- Duo, it wasn't you. It was never about you. You- you were enough, Duo. You were so much more than I ever deserved, than I ever thought I would have, and I- I fucked it up because of me, Duo, not because of you." "And her?" Duo jerked his head towards the bedroom where Sally had been moments before. "She's… what, just right? Just enough to keep you from-" "Duo, it's not like that. It's-" It was impossible to even begin to explain what was going on between Sally and him. And as much as he knew he would owe Duo apologies for the rest of his life - especially now, especially after hearing Duo ask him why wasn't I enough in that heartbroken voice - Trowa didn't want to talk to him about Sally. "It wasn't about you, Duo," he repeated lamely. Duo nodded stiffly, and looked away from Trowa. "Yeah. Sure. Right. Well, I should- I should go." And once again, Trowa reached out for Duo and stopped him from walking out. Twice in one morning, when he hadn't even managed it once all those years ago. The irony was bitter on Trowa's tongue as he realized how different things might now be, if all he had done was to reach out for Duo that night. "Wufei worships you, Duo. And he's a hell of a lot smarter than me. He knows what a good thing you are, and he's not going to fuck it up. He loves you." "So did you. Or at least, that's what you said," Duo reminded him. "I did love you. I do love you. But that- that doesn't mean it was right, what we had." Duo looked mutinous, looked ready to start a fight, and Trowa held up a hand to placate him. "What you have now, with Wufei, is so much better, Duo. The way you two look at each other- The world could crumble into ashes and it wouldn't fucking matter." Duo rolled his eyes. "Jesus, Trowa, of course that would matter. What the fuck does that even mean?" And this, Trowa thought with a fond smirk, was the reason why Duo despised Valentine's Day, why he didn't get grand romantic gestures, why he was afraid Wufei would do to him what Trowa had. "Wufei isn't going to cheat on you, Duo. Just because I did- Look, I'm a very unique kind of asshole, as you used to say. It's not going to happen again." Duo sighed. "Yeah, but what if- what if he gets tired of me or-" "Duo, I don't think it's possible to get tired of you. You- you're amazing, Duo Maxwell. And you deserve someone who knows it and wants to spend the rest of his life making the mistake of cramming your office full of Valentine's Day shit." Duo's lips twitched. "I can't fucking believe that was him. I used to think it was you, you know? Getting back at me or some shit." "I might be stupid, but I'm not enough of an idiot to do that." Duo sighed. "Yeah, that's what 'Ro said too. Look, I- What happened with us-" "Duo, I want you to be happy." Duo bit the corner of his lower lip and shrugged. "I want that for you too, Tro. I really do. Are you- Things with Sally are… good? Better than us?" "Different than us," Trowa said cautiously. He still wasn't sure what things were with Sally, what he wanted them to be - what she wanted them to be. Duo blew out a long breath, the air ruffling his bangs. "Okay. I should probably head home, before Heero starts thinking I took off." "Without his fully-gassed getaway car?" Duo smirked. "How do you think I got here? Wufei's got our car." Trowa chuckled, imagining Heero's face as he tried to figure out what to say about Duo making a getaway from his own wedding with Heero's assistance. "You don't look like shit," Trowa said as Duo started to open the door. Duo arched an eyebrow at him. "You do. Make sure you shower and drink some coffee - I don't want you looking ready to puke in all the wedding photos." "Do you want me there? I can stay here." Duo shook his head. "No. No, I'd really like you to be there, Tro. With me." "Then I'll be there." Duo offered him a smile, corners faltering a little, and let himself out of the room. Trowa eased himself onto the couch, stretching out and closing his eyes and praying Sally came back with food and coffee soon. Or a way to euthanize him. Anything , at this point, to make his body stop hurting. Of course, if she did euthanize him, it would more or less ruin all of his plans to convince her to turn this into more than a fake-date, one-night stand. -o- The End ~ * ~
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