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"On the Wings of an Eagle"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, male/male pairings, language Pairings: several Summary: When Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell pay Quatre Winner a visit, he coerces them into archeological site destruction and matchmaking A/N: My deepest thanks go to the kindness of Snowdragon and WaterLily for editing and encouraging me to complete this. Sequel to For a Lark "On the Wings of an Eagle " Chapter Twelve And If I Leave I Will Return Home I got into my first choice of colleges. Accepted. I understood that correctly on the tenth read-through of the email. Accepted. And I had another attachment telling me they wanted me so much, I was being offered a full scholarship to attend. Accepted. Full Scholarship. What a way to wake up. "So?" Duo entered the room. He'd given me a few minutes of privacy, to read the news, digest it, and find a way to tell him what it meant to us. "I-I..." I swallowed and let the smile take over my face like it wanted. "I got in. I'll be studying to be a shuttle engineer." Duo flung himself into my arms, crushed me with his legs wrapped around my waist, made me certain he was as thrilled as I was. "I'll be your test pilot whenever you need one," he promised. Now that was trust. "So, I guess we'll go to Sanc." I couldn't believe it yet. "Long time no see," he said. "It'll be cool to see how it's changed since the war." I got into my first choice school, paid for, and I had a red-hot lover, who I adored, in my arms. I'd never been happier. Things had never been so perfect. He cuddled around me more. "You know, I liked being manhandled in front of those uptight, alpha Asians." He hadn't forgotten. "Usually it's me claiming you and sometimes I wonder if I go a little overboard." "You? Extravagant?" "Ha, ha. Yeah, me, Mr. Outgoing." "You're not flamboyant about us, though," I said. He never flaunted his sexuality or pawed me in public. "I'm no flamer, no. But you're every bit the pilot they are, the fighter they are, the tough guy. You're also a hunk and a fantastic lover." Aw, geez... He laughed at my blushing over his compliments. "All I'm saying is if you wanna show some affection and," his hands moved over my back, down my sides, and past my drawstring pants to correctly locate my erection, "some aggression and claim over me, go right ahead." "Rub it in?" I wondered if there wasn't a little "see what you're missing, Yuy?" in what he was saying. "That a kinky new way to ask if I'll bottom for you?" Okay. I liked that a whole lot better than where my mind had taken me. "Would you?" "How about later tonight in order to give my saddle-sores longer to heal and I'll treat you to--?" "Anything," I said with a sigh. Anything Duo did would be great. "You got it, college-boy." I'd take his loving anytime, but then I wanted to know what he had in mind for a job in the big city-state of Sanc. (o) Winner insisted on a celebratory luncheon, all for me, so that afternoon Yuy and Chang were dragged back with an official changing of the guard and the assurance that "nothing ever happens, except at night." Oh yes, the "raid" the night before was discussed. "I could have tracked the vehicle further had," Chang said, looking accusingly at Rashid, "your men," who in turn looked like he might object had he not been responsible for destroying the evidence purposely, "not trampled the area." "My apologies. They were so very excited, I'm afraid," was all Rashid could spit out with a straight face. He exited stage right grinning from ear to ear. Chang was not done. "They tried to drag it away—" "The site? Isn't that rather large and impossible to--?" Duo asked with a deliciously innocent expression. "Not the site, you dolt! The plundered treasure!" "Did they leave any of it behind?" Duo asked. "No," Chang said, his face souring so that it resembled a balled up sheet of paper, while Duo and I exchanged "thank God" expressions, recalling the "Made in China" marking on the damaged piece. "They got away with it all then even destroyed the cave they'd looted." Yuy growled and brandished an evil-looking handgun that couldn't possibly be Preventers-issued, unless they, too, were developing a small army. "We will be prepared for them tonight." And the deadly glimmer from Yuy's eyes made me shudder; the way he sighted an imaginary enemy along the gun's barrel made my blood run cold. Either my body was sending out "fear" signals, or I was coming down with a cold. I thought about those poor thugs, the ones Duo saw the Maguanacs talking to near the Oasis. If they were thinking they'd drive to the site, pick up a few boxes, and drive away tonight, God help them! Yuy and Chang would reduce them to grease spots. I knew then that Duo and I would have another loads'o'fun night ahead of us. My perfect day over so soon. Note to self: enjoy every good moment to the fullest, because it always seems like something is prepared to come along and leave it gutted at your feet. Winner must have thought along a similar, panic-laden "m'aidez" vein, because he spiked their drinks and fed them over-rich food. Duo, who has no resistance when it comes to spectacular layouts of food at his finger tips, stuffed himself to the sleep-it-off stage, too. What this meant was we got a late start getting Yuy and Chang ready to return to the site. While they went to replenish their Spartan camp and grudgingly collect a few more supplies from Winner's store like more blankets and, I noticed, underwear and jackets, I plucked Duo to the side. If ever a plan needed to pull a Deus ex machina out of nowhere to fix this mess before someone got killed, it was now—and it was me, I guessed. Duo understood the mounting danger and a game gone awry. He listened to my end game proposal, improved it within his area of expertise, and agreed it would work. Next, we had to get Rashid on board. Duo rounded him up and we outlined our dilemma. "Yuy's got something planned, which means it's going to get a lot more dangerous out there," I warned Rashid. "I feared it would come to this," he said solemnly. "If you have an operation in process," I said, "you and your corps better prepare to bail." "Yeah, he and Chang are going to be packing, and I'm talking weaponry. So, if you can keep 'em on the run, 'Tro an' I'll blow up the place and call it 'mission over and out'." Rashid nodded. "I agree. Master Winner has achieved his goal, I understand, inasmuch as it can be accomplished." "In as much—yeah." I smiled and then we briefly formulated a new plan of action. (o) Yuy and Chang would get back to the site of Winner's dig in time to find that the place had already been looted, or was in the last steps of being looted by a gang of twenty hoodlums. Plenty, Rashid had thought, to give them a challenge and a chase-- and less able to do permanent harm, after he'd replaced Yuy and Chang's ammunition with blanks, at some cost to his personal safety. Duo and I were at the site, setting charges to blow it up, something I hadn't done in years and, I discovered, something which thrilled my lover more than it should. "My pulse is up here," Duo said, grabbing at his throat. "Just make sure you keep your pulse," I said with a pointed cautionary note to it. I fumbled with the packaging on the C-4 composition, labeled "Plastico SP300" from Italy. "I'm doing this right, aren't I? I don't want to make a mistake with this shit." "Don't worry," he told me right off. "This is a relatively new, very stable product with improved plasticizers to decrease the sensitivity. I don't touch the volatile stuff anymore." He checked over the explosives and fuse I'd placed, and nodded. "Haven't lost your touch, love," he assured me before moving on to set his next charge. We heard feet racing toward us—not boots, Maguanac slipper-clad feet—so I stepped out to intercept the runner. "Yo!" "Yuy and Chang," the poor man huffed out, breathing heavily. "They have tracked down and caught all the robbers and are heading back to here to look things over." "Rashid's holding the robbers, then? Everyone okay?" Duo asked. "Yes, yes! All okay, but you must go, go fast!" "You too," Duo told him and showed him the direction to take. "You'll have time to safely get behind that ridge. This place blows in thirty seconds." "The humvee is there. I'll be okay!" he said, but he was running full tilt to clear the area. We hadn't time to both light the fuse and make it to the car. We ran to the car. As I cranked the engine, Duo pulled a grenade from his pocket, grinned as he pulled the pin, and threw it in the direction of the largest explosive dump. "Whooooeeee!" Duo crowed all the way to the gully, that place again, which was low with a hill between us and the site. I could hear the explosions and see flashes of light. Duo was twisted around screaming and whooping it up. He really liked blowing things up, I guessed. Bits of wood and rock rained down on the roof of the Jeep. Duo looked up at the dented roof. "Maguanacs get humvees? We shoulda too." "Yes." We could have used an armored vehicle with flare/smoke launchers, modified turret shield, and a full-sized bed. "Let's get that drink at the Oasis this time," I suggested. Duo agreed. "An overdue celebration." I wasn't sure about celebrating yet. I was still working on the calming my nerves and forgetting part.
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