"Rip Current"

Written By: yaruna

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing isn't mine! I'm not pretending they are, I simply love messing around with the lovable characters. Any similarity to existing works is purely coincidental.

Rating: R

Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Romance…? Alternate Universe

Warning:Probably some OOCness. Kind of bastard Heero in the first chapters. Some swearing. Won't pass the Bechdel test. Somewhat cliché, I think. Hmmz… what more… oh yeah, I'm a bit of a sadist, people will get hurt… sorry about that

Summary: Feelings are running high on the shorelines. Duo has arrived on the shores of Sanc Island and is making new friends, and enemies, among the locals as they surf their way towards the big competition. AU

A/N:I live for feedback

Sit back, and let the waves take you for a ride.

"Rip Current"

Chapter 11: Swells

 

The next couple of weeks were dreamy in a way I never could have expected when coming to Sanc.

Heero managed to convince me to go surfing together with them during the day more. I went out during some nights as well, but Heero always joined now. To keep an eye on me he said, not that he minded. During the day, I still stayed away from any paddle battles, but I went in a little more aggressively than I liked, trying to get over, or at least decrease, my fear of a repeat performance happening. I would not be the cause of any more deaths.

After the surfing we typically had dinner together. The money I earned from working at Howard's was enough to buy the guys a smaller dinner once in a while, which went a long way towards making me feel a little better about myself. I ate at the Safe house every evening before I went back to my shed.

I hadn't slept in Heero's bed again. When I stopped being under the control of my hormones, I'd figured out I wanted to get to know him better before we got any heavy stuff going. It was difficult to keep my hands off of him, and I noticed exactly the same tendency in him. We had spoken about it, and we'd agreed it was better to wait a bit. For every evening that went by it was harder and harder to make myself leave and go back to the small, dark shed I used as my sleeping place.

The bell from the door sounded and I stopped my musings and the shelf refill as I looked up in the mirror to see who it was.

'Howard?' I asked in surprise, and walked around the shelf to come face to face with him. He never used the front entrance.

'You got this yesterday, kid,' he said and put an envelope into my hand. I turned it over and saw it was sent from the Pro League and I smiled; my money from the last contest had finally arrived. I'd be able to get it to the organizer of Gundams in time.

'Thanks, old man,' I said, having taken to calling him that anytime he called me kid. I was about as much of a kid that he was an old man. It never bothered him. I was more bothered by constantly being called kid.

'The door at the back isn't opening again,' he said, without me needing to ask, and I groaned. It was the third time this week it had jammed. 'But I wanted to talk to you anyways. I got a call just now, and I need to go off into the city today. Could you take the shop until I get back?'

'Sure,' I answered immediately, with a spare thought towards missing surfing with the guys that evening. They'd live without my company. 'Howie, do you think I can get a few days off when Gundams are on?'

He looked at me incredulously, and I felt my spirits drop. Even if I had the money to enter, it didn't make any difference if I couldn't take time off.

'We're closing during Gundams,' he said off-handedly and I raised an eyebrow before grinning widely. 'You're on Sanc, kid. You forget surfing is a national sport here, and Gundams is the finals.'

It was very hard to forget actually; the locals kept reminding me about it. There were only two qualifiers left, the first of which was running this weekend, and it seemed as though every local surfer that still had a chance were doing their best to qualify. Except for Heero and Quatre, of course. I had yet to figure out why.

'I'll be back around five,' Howard said and went out again.

I finished refilling the shelves before I repacked the check into a new envelope with my registration for Gundams, and put it in the mail right outside of the shop. It was a slow day and I even got some time to fix the jammed door in the back before everyone started to get off work.

I had only been in the shop once before when regular office hours ended. By five the shop was crowded, making me wonder how Howard did it by himself. The milk someone had spilled had to wait until after the rush had calmed down. When I was swabbing the floor the bell rang again to announce a new arrival. I looked into the mirror and groaned when I saw who it was.

Alex and Mueller.

'It's the Pro!' Mueller said loudly when he saw me and I frowned. It wasn't so much what he said, as how he said it. But I'd promised Howard no fights, and I wasn't going to go back on that, so I retreated to behind the counter, leaned my elbows on it, and watched them walk through the aisles.

'The one that's afraid to surf?' Alex said after a minute or so of silence. It might have been a decent line if it had come immediately, but it didn't have the same punch when he'd apparently needed to think about it.

'Yup, that's the one,' Mueller answered and they came up to the counter.

'I checked the pro rankings yesterday,' I said, possibly with a bit of an arrogant edge, but I didn't care. Wufei and I had gone over the different scenarios that would let him have a continued chance of qualifying for Gundams. I'd glanced at the Pro rankings while we'd been at it.

I looked straight into Alex's eyes. 'I'm still higher than you, despite hiatus.'

He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, making my hairs stand on edge. His fists were clenched, and his knuckles were white. I would have taken a step back if it didn't make me feel like a coward. And that it would make them smile smugly, thinking they'd won.

'Current rankings don't matter. I'll squash you at the Rift.'

'You will try,' I answered calmly, and managed to avoid flinching when Mueller's hand slammed onto the counter.

'We both will crush you. You're not even half the surfer we are.'

'You're not even qualified.' The words came out of me before I had time to stop them. I knew I shouldn't be provoking them, but my mouth always had been the thing got me into trouble.

Mueller drew back his arm, presumably to punch me, and I started ducking at the same time as Alex pushed him back.

'Rift Wars, Maxwell!' Alex said and pushed Mueller out of the shop without buying anything. I took a deep breath in relief, slumping onto the counter, thankful I wouldn't have to explain yet another fight to Howard.

I shouldn't have been so quick in letting myself believe it was over. About an hour later, Mueller came back in, with a bat in his hand. His eyes were narrowed and immediately sought me out. He smirked and stepped through the door.

'There are security cameras,' I warned him.

'See if I care,' he said and swung the bat against the shelf with beer. The glass shattered and beer rushed out over the floor. I hit the alarm button before I jumped over the counter and ran at him. When he aimed the bat at me I skidded to a stop on the wet floor. I didn't have any wish to get beaten, but I wasn't about to let him destroy the store either.

'I'll smash your skull in!' he said, and I held my hands up.

'What of the Rift Wars?'

'It'll be a win by default when you don't show,' he said and put his weight behind another swing against the shelves. For once, my previous life on the streets proved valuable, and I moved in to grab a hold of the base of the bat, above his hand. He tried to push me back, but I held my ground.

'I'm not letting you break Howard's store.'

'You're nothing compared to Alex anyway!' he said and kicked my knee hard, making it turn oddly and I crumbled to the ground. I still held on to the bat, so I used the force of going down to pull him towards me before I pushed against the bat so its handle hit him hard in his groin.

He dropped the bat and curled in on himself. I stumbled to my feet and limped over to the counter so I could catch my breath.

The door slammed open and I looked up, expecting the police, but it was Heero. I wondered whether I should tell him to get the hell away or if I should be relieved that he was here. I settled on feeling relieved. Two against one was better odds.

'What the...?' he said, taking the scene in for a moment before he moved directly to me.

Sirens could be heard coming closer and Mueller gingerly got up to his feet. He stopped straightening himself while he was still standing halfway bent over. He raised his head to look at me.

'You're not getting away, fag!' he said, and Heero's shoulders tensed up. As did mine. Did Mueller know? Or was he only using the word as a common curse?

'I think you're the one not getting away,' I told him calmly. A lot calmer than I felt. 'I told you there are security cameras, didn't I?'

'Fucking fag!' he said, and half-limped, half-ran out of the store.

I let myself slump back against the counter. Heero placed himself in front of me, put his hands on my arms, and looked into my eyes worriedly.

'Are you hurt?'

'No,' I said and flexed my knee. It didn't hurt quite as much anymore and I was sure it had only been a hard hit, without actually damaging anything. 'He got me on my knee, but I think it'll just bruise.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah. What are you doing here anyways? You're never here on Fridays,' I said and tilted my head up to kiss him after a quick glance at the door to ensure we were alone.

'You didn't show up, and I got worried. For good reason apparently,' he said and threw a pointed look towards the mess on the floor.

'Shit, I have to clean up before Howie gets back.'

'Too late,' Heero said, looking towards the door and Howard was walking towards it together with two policemen, making me groan. It's not like it would have been possible for me to hide it from Howard anyways, but a little time to clean up would have been nice.

It ended up being hours before we left. The police wanted statements, and the videos from the altercation. Then we cleaned everything up, and I helped Howard do the final calculations of the day before closing up.

Heero gave me a ride back, and shot glances at me out of the corner of his eye. I sat in silence and picked at small glass pieces from broken beer bottles in my hands. I was annoyed. Annoyed at having let Mueller come in and mess everything up.

'What's wrong?' he finally asked and I shrugged.

'If I'd shut up earlier, Mueller wouldn't have come back and tried to wreck the place,' I said and Heero laughed.

'You need to get over yourself, Duo,' he said in amusement, and I frowned. 'Not everything is your fault. Mueller is an ass, he would have found some reason anyways.'

'Yeah, maybe you're right,' I said. Maybe he was right, but even then, I didn't think Mueller would have gone after the shop as much as he would have gone after me.

'I know I'm right,' he said and I gave him a soft laugh, letting it go. It didn't help regretting it. It had happened, and with any luck, Mueller was about to spend some time in jail for destruction of property and assault.

'I can get off here,' I said and he frowned but stopped the truck.

'Duo,' he said slowly and I looked at him, knowing already what he was going to say. He'd never driven me to the shed before. 'We're at Willow's Point. There's nothing here.'

'I know,' I answered, leaned forwards to capture his lips in a kiss before I got out of the truck. 'Thanks for the help, 'Ro. See you tomorrow after the qualifiers. Right?'

'Right,' he answered with a confused glance my way.

I limped off towards the shed. I didn't climb inside until I heard him drive off. It took a good five minutes. Heero didn't need to know how I lived. I didn't want him to feel forced into offering help. Hell, I didn't need help. It was a perfectly decent place to sleep.

Heero had said I should stop blaming myself, but I've always had a tendency of kicking myself, even for things that aren't obviously my fault. In my eyes, this was an obvious case of "Duo makes a mistake", and thus, I felt guilty about it.

I sat down on my makeshift bed out of sand and blankets and leaned my head in my hands. Everything had been going along nicely, and then Alex and Mueller had to go and show up.

'Damn!' I said and hit my hand against the sand, feeling incredibly unsatisfied at the way the sand moved for my fist. I turned to slam it against the wall instead. The pain that shot up through my arm didn't exactly help, but it gave me something to focus my anger on rather than Alex and Mueller.

I lay down on the bed, poking at my scratched hand, and found another piece of glass in it. I grabbed a hold of it and pulled it out. I put it away in a pocket in my backpack. It wouldn't be very nice if I were to step on it in the morning so I wanted to make sure it was out of the way before I lay back down to sleep.

It was impossible. I kept twisting and turning, trying to find some comfortable position, trying to stop thinking, but sleep wasn't coming for me. I got up from the bed, fully intending to go surfing when my eyes landed on the box in the corner that I'd put there almost a month ago.

If I went out to surf, Zero would tip Heero off, and he'd know I couldn't let it go. He'd try to help, because that's what he does, but I wasn't ready for him to help me let it go yet. I wanted to be angry for a while. It would be better in the morning, once I'd had time to work through it. I'd always used surfing before, as a way to take my mind off of things and in lieu of that I wasn't sure what I'd do.

So I did the only thing that I could do except thinking in the small shed. I started to read the letters, and I was amazed.

There wasn't a single letter in there that didn't contain words of support. I spent all night reading them. They were of various lengths, and some were riddled with errors where others were so eloquent I didn't understand half of the words, but I read them all with rapt attention. There was one letter in particular that caught my attention, because it mentioned the Sanc legends, wanting me to surf against them in Gundams, and I knew I'd have to show the guys. They were the Sanc legends after all.

After I put the last letter down, I realized G had probably filtered them through already, to get rid of any hate mail. It didn't matter though, it had lifted my spirits, and I ran off to work with the normal spring in my step.

It was weird, entering the shop, and having it look as usual. The only thing that indicated that anything had happened the previous day was a small dent on the shelf with the beer.

'You need a phone, kid,' Howard called from the back room and I went to join him and check what he was doing up already. He was carrying two cases of beer up the stairs from the basement and I realized I'd never refilled the shelf yesterday. I ran down and grabbed one case from him.

'I never needed one.'

'If you'd had one, I could've called and told you not to come in today. Now, you came all this way for nothing,' he said and I stopped in the middle of the stairs as my blood ran cold. Was he firing me?

I turned to look at him. 'Howie?'

'You got a double shift yesterday, kid. I ain't got the money to pay you overtime. Go watch the competitions.'

'Really?' I asked, pleasantly surprised, and kept walking up the stairs. He laughed at me.

I placed the case of beer on the counter. 'I can help -'

'Go! See you Monday, kid.'

'See ya, old man,' I said, abandoning the beer and ran the half-hour back to the beach.

The first heat had already started when I got there, and I looked at the board where I saw that Wufei wouldn't surf until the fourth heat. Trowa was also entered in the contest and his first heat would be the one just after Wufei's. Mueller's name was on the board as well, but not even he would be able to blow my good mood away.

I walked across the beach until I saw Trowa, Quatre and Wufei. Zero sat next to Quatre, pushing up sand with his slowly moving tail. Quatre pointed towards the contestants in the water and Wufei nodded.

'Hey, guys,' I said when it seemed as though they had stopped talking and Quatre turned to me with a wide smile.

'I thought you were working,' he said and I flopped down next to Zero in the sand.

'So did I, until Howie told me I wasn't.'

'I still can't get over that Boss actually lets you call him Howie,' Trowa said in plain amusement.

'That's why he told him he couldn't work anymore,' Wufei said flatly and I threw some sand on his leg. Half of it landed on Quatre making him exclaim an indignant 'Hey!'

'Or, I helped him out for hours yesterday and he thought I could use some time off to watch your sorry ass fall over in the waves,' I said and Quatre pushed at my shoulder while chuckling.

'Hey, I've trained him, he won't fall on his ass nearly as much as he did,' he said, and I laughed.

'I apologize humbly,' I said, grinning widely.

'You should,' he said and turned to Wufei with playfully narrowed eyes. 'Just don't fall on your sorry ass in there.'

'Thanks, Quatre,' Wufei said with a roll of his eyes and continued to wax his board.

Wufei was a lot more relaxed this time around. Last time he had been pacing, but this time he sat calmly, watching the waves as he moved his hand on his board. It was a good sign.

I looked at the surfers, but more often than not, my eyes strayed towards the jet-skis where Heero was. He had all his focus on the waters, and I couldn't help but think that he looked incredible out there. His biceps flexed as he adjusted the strength of his grip on the handles and accelerator according to how the water flowed. His wet hair clung to his face, and the wetsuit hugged his body tightly, not leaving much for the imagination.

'Duo, you'll miss Wufei's ass falling into the water if you keep watching Heero's,' Trowa said into my ear and I blushed hotly as both he and Quatre laughed at me.

It did make me turn away from Heero and watch as Wufei and the two others in his heat paddled out towards the lineup.

Wufei held back for almost five minutes before he caught his first wave, making Quatre a little antsy, but he did great. The wave was about eight feet, and he moved on top of it casually, his aggressiveness having simmered down. I could see some of Quatre's fluidity in the moves.

'Damn, Q', you've done a great job,' I told him and he shook his head.

'Wufei's a surprisingly good listener, once he gets over his hurt pride,' Quatre said, before he got up to join Trowa at the check-in. 'I'll be back in five.'

'I'll be here,' I said, but when Wufei came back before Quatre, I began to wonder where he'd gotten to, so I told Wufei much the same that Quatre had said to me, and went in search of the missing blond. Zero trotted behind me.

Quatre wasn't very hard to find. He stood opposite to an older guy. Quatre's brows were wrinkled and his lips were set in a thin line, obviously not very happy about his current position. As I got closer, I understood why. It was his father, and they were arguing.

'Leave him alone!' Quatre said in a tight voice, his hands clenched at his sides.

'He is your boyfriend then?' his father asked, and his voice reminded me of a growling animal.

'What if he is? Would it matter? All I ever do is disappoint you anyways.'

'You don't use your abilities.'

'I don't want to! I don't want to become a pro surfer that has absolutely no time to spend with his family,' Quatre said, and it was apparent it was a line he'd used many time before, both on his voice and his father's nonexistent reaction to it.

'I want the best for you,' Zayeed said, and even I couldn't avoid rolling my eyes.

'Then you'd let me live my life, with whomever I wish and doing whatever I wish,' Quatre said, exasperated.

'No son of mine is going to...'

'Then disown me! I've had enough of you,' Quatre said and took a step forward, passed his father.

'You always were a disappointment,' the ex-pro said and walked off.

I wanted to rush up and hit him, but then I saw the desolate and broken look on Quatre's face, which made me go to him instead and wrap him in my arms. He buried his head against my neck and he was shaking. I didn't know if it was in sadness or in anger.

'Q'...' I said softly and stroked his back. 'He's not worth it. If he doesn't know how to appreciate his own son, no matter what, he's not worth it.'

'I spent... all my childhood on trying to make him proud,' Quatre said, his words muffled slightly against my neck. 'He was my hero.'

'I know,' I said, but I didn't know. Not really. I'd never had a father, but I'd had a hero in Solo, and I couldn't even imagine what it would have felt like if he'd left me willingly. What it would have felt like if he'd disagreed with my choice of potential partners. It wouldn't have been nice.

'He just... I don't know why I can't get over it,' he said and drew a deep breath before he pushed himself away from me. He drew his thumbs over his eyes to get rid of any wetness.

'However much of an ass he is, he's still your father,' I said and Quatre forced a chuckle.

'You're so articulate,' he said and smiled without conviction.

Trowa headed up from the water then, and I immediately caught his eyes and nodded for him to come over. He took one look at Quatre, and somehow he knew, dropped his surfboard into the sand, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, for once not caring who might see.

'We're leaving,' he said to me, and I nodded and watched as they left.

They didn't come back for the entire day, so Trowa defaulted on his next heat. Wufei did a lot better. He made his way to the semifinals, where he finally plunged onto his ass. Of course I didn't laugh until after he'd surfaced again. To be honest, I thought his best points should have been higher than the other guy's. It's always a matter of judgment, however. There are several judges that are able to see the moves from more angles than I. Even though I liked Wufei's better, I'd only seen both his and his competitor's moves from the front. The judges were in better positions to make that call. Besides, I was biased.

Wufei joined me at the beach to watch the finals and I congratulated him on the great score. And his continued chance of qualifying to Gundams, which was what mattered to him. He wasn't many points away from qualifying, I was sure he'd get it during the next qualifiers.

Once everything was finished, Heero joined us as well and I put my arm around his shoulders, stroking his shoulder discreetly with my thumb

'I knew you were a pansy,' someone said behind me and I tensed up, flinching away from Heero. Heero's hand settled in the small of my back as I turned around to face the speaker, but I stepped away from the touch. Mueller stood a couple of steps away from us with a sneer on his face.

'Ignore him,' Heero said into my ear, trying to get me to leave, but I couldn't.

'Don't take your last place out on me,' I told him and he narrowed his eyes.

'You're not even competing.'

'It's not a Pro-registered event,' I answered flatly and felt Heero put his hand on my shoulder instead, still trying to get me to leave it alone. Zero pressed against my leg, growling slightly. Heero didn't tell him to stop.

'You won't win against Alex anyways. No poof ever would,' he said.

'He'll have a hard time if he doesn't do better than his rankings indicate,' I said, and Mueller took a step forward just as Wufei stepped in between us.

'Let's go,' Heero said and I nodded and we walked up the beach. Wufei soon joined us, obviously having managed to get away from Mueller without any bloodshed.

'Hey, hang on here for a bit,' I said as I remembered the letter I wanted to show the guys. I held out my backpack for Heero to take and he accepted with a slightly raised eyebrow. 'I'll just go and fetch something, I'll be back in a moment.'

I ran to the shed and crawled in through the window. The letters had scattered, probably from the wind, and I spread them out to try and find the one I wanted when I smelled smoke behind me and heard the angry roar of sudden fire from the outside.

I took a big step to get to the window and flinched back as flames roared up and licked towards my face. The fire was already covering the wall, and at least a few feet out on the grass, giving me no chance of getting out through that window.

'Hey!' I cried out and banged on the boarded up door, hoping that someone was close enough to hear me.

I kicked at it, and threw myself at it, but it wouldn't budge, and the black smoke was gathering thickly against the roof, making me cough.

'Hey!' I cried again. 'Help!'

The sound of laughter reached my ears and I understood.

'Mueller, you ass! I'll kill you!'

'You'll have to get out first,' he called back and I yelled in frustration, ending in an uncontrollable cough.

I kicked hard against the door again but it didn't move an inch. How could I have let myself get caught without a way out?

Maybe I really did need a phone.

~ * ~

Chapter 12

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