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"That Which Mends"Written By: SkyLark Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters. I just love playing with them. Pairings: 2x1x2, past 2xOC, 5xOC, 3x4 Warnings: Angst, Violence, Sap, Lemons/Limes, AU Archives: http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/SkyLark/gwSkyLark.htm
and http://www.mizunoamy.bravepages.com/skylark/skylarkfics.html Summary: Heero is a straight A student studying Psychology and finds his world turned upside down when he attends a Frat party.
"That Which Mends" [Oh baby, oh baby, oh, we both feel the same -Lyrics to 'Nirvana'- performed by Sam Smith] Chapter 21
[Flashback]
Duo sighed deeply as felt himself becoming alert at the end of the long, deep sleep he had fallen into. Rubbing his closed eyes, he groaned at the initial aches of protest in his body at being brought to life again. A touch of a headache would be coming on, he could already tell. But then, that was to be expected after the night he'd had.
Beside him, a soft grunt filled the air as the warm, naked body that was draped against his own shifted. "Shit," his companion hissed, her voice crackling with slumber. "I have to get moving."
His arm draped around the lithe waist of his overnight guest dropping away as she pushed herself up from his bed, Maxwell blinked his violet eyes open. He contented himself to watch her smooth, bare backside in the dimmed sunlight that managed to peek through his drawn bedroom blinds.
A waterfall of red curls was brushed back behind her shoulders to cover her ample butt cheeks before she bent down to find her hair clip amongst the article of clothes strewn about the floor.
"What's the rush?" he asked with a purr, genuinely perplexed as he lifted his head enough to check the time on the alarm clock on his nightstand beside him. "It's just past eleven in the morning. That's early for a Sunday."
Righting herself when she found her hairpiece, Anna twisted her long locks back into a loose ponytail and secured it with the thick clip at the base so to dress it up as she replied, "Normally speaking, yes. But Meiran and I are meeting up for lunch and some shopping in about thirty minutes."
When she turned to face her friend with benefits in all her nude glory, her breaks, naval, clitoris hood and labial piercings caught the sunlight to flash in her movement. "Much as I'd love to stick around for round five in a row, we'll have to try to beat our record another time," she giggled.
"You have officially ruined me for other women, Annie," Scythe snickered, folding his arms behind his head when he was able to break them away from his loose hair that was covering the bed around him while making no move to adjust the sheets so that they could cover him.
Downs slipped into her bikini-cut lace underwear as she snorted, "Yea, but you prefer guys more anyway, so that's not going to change our little arrangement here from being anything more than an occasional wrestle between the sheets now and then." Tilting her head as she reached for her matching lilac bra, she shrugged, "Not that I want this to be more than that. Neither one of us wants anything serious right now, so this works out just fine by me."
Crawling across the bed until he was kneeling at its edge before her, Duo hooked his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his lean chest. "Good, 'cause you and your badass accessories are sexy as hell to play with." He emphasized the sentiment by reaching up to take hold of her nipple barbells and gave them a twist.
She was cut off with a deep kiss from her best friend that caught her by surprise. Wide blue eyes closing, she willingly joined in on a spar of their tongues as she latched onto her lover with a deep moan when a hand dipped between her legs to rub between her thighs and the other hand grabbed hard onto a breast.
Whimpering, Downs' head fell back as she began to grind into his touch. Her breath panting, she bit down on her lip to force herself to pull her senses back together and pulled away, shaking her head. "Alright. Enough," she insisted with a breathless giggle, swatting the other agent with her bra. Quickly putting the undergarment on, she announced decisively, "No means no."
Maxwell wiggled his eyebrows as he smiled wickedly, "Or, in our case, some other time."
"Yea, yea, yea," the redhead huffed in put-on annoyance, though they both knew that he was right. Pulling together her outfit, she made fast work of getting into her jean shorts, emerald green tank and tan sandals. Just as she was about to move for the door, she paused and bit her lip as she looked back to her partner.
Closing the distance between them again with a tight hug, Downs resigned herself to stealing another sound kiss. "I'll call you later," she promised with a sweet smile on her face and a wink of her eye. "We'll grab dinner later and you can crash at my place tonight so you don't have to be alone." She remembered. 'Of course she remembered,' Maxwell chided to himself. She wasn't the type to forget something like... that.
There was a time when he couldn't have given a shit if he'd ever find someone who went out of their way to take care of him the way Downs did. Now that he had that in his life, their friendship was one of the few things he had ever cherished in his life. And he couldn't image going without it now.
Normally one to never let it show how he was effected emotionally, Maxwell couldn't help biting his lip as his eyes began to sting. "Thank you, Anna," he breathed, his voice thick. "I love you." "I love you, too," the weapons expert smiled, fully knowing the boundaries that came with that word 'love' when it concerned them. She gave him a firm squeeze when he turned to rest the side of his face against her chest and kissed the top of his head.
When they broke away, Scythe slapped his best friend on her rump ."You better get going before you're late," he suggested. "Tell Meiran I said hello."
Darting for the door, Anna winked over her shoulder with another wave. "Will do," she responded brightly. "See you later, Duo."
Maxwell waved her off until she spun away and disappeared from his sight. Flopping back onto his bed, he sighed deeply and stared up at the ceiling... doing everything in his power to not remember what day it was.
[End Flashback]
* * * *
Never before had Heero played the game Cards Against Humanity. And within a few rounds of his first experience with it, he highly doubted that it could have ever been as entertaining as it was with any other group of people.
Their laughter calming down, the Preventers gave Quatre time to choose his favorite answer to 'Damn. Another school trip ruined by...'. The public relations expert wiped away a tear of mirth and held up his pick of card, announcing, "I have to go with 'The Rapture.'" "Yes!" Duo cheered, pumping a fist in the air as his teammates snickered and shook their heads in amusement. Holding out a hand for the black question card, he smirked, "Pay up, buddy!" Adding the physical point to his short stack of other won hands, he chuckled, "The master pulls off another one." Everyone each drew a new white answer card to replace the ones they had thrown down in hopes of being chosen. Reading the fresh addition to his already colorful deck, Heero couldn't help his jaw dropping and murmured in disbelief, "Oh... my... God." His friends' heads fell back as they howled with laughter again.
At his left Anna giggled to him, "Yea, we warned you that there's no such thing as political correctness or decency with this game."
"Which is exactly why we picked this one for the icebreaker," Trowa grinned across the round table. "For someone who's always so serious, you need a few rounds of this to loosen up."
Shuffling his hand to go over his responses again, Wufei snorted, "I would just like to go on record, yet again, to make it known that I do not condone any of this and you're all poor examples of stand up citizens." A couple handfuls of chips were hurled at him and he ducked his head, laughing.
Duo smiled wickedly, "Yea, and it's your model behavior that has you in the lead right now." The team leader brushed off a couple of chips from the top of his head with a coy smile.
As the next one to play, Trowa selected a random question card and read aloud, "Betchya can't have just one!'" To her cohorts, who were already choking back their enjoyment and anticipation, she challenged, "I expect greatness from all of you for this one. Don't let me down!"
Instantly, white answer cards were falling face down before him as he chortled, "Holy shit! You guys were prepared. I can't wait to see what you've all got."
He stopped himself short when he looked up from his cards to see that his friends were staring at him, their eyes wide and bodies frozen in mid-swig from a beverage, bite of a snack or reaching for another card.
Clearing her throat, Anna winked at him, suggesting kindly, "Wing, why don't you just shut down that beautiful mind of yours for a while and just enjoy the game?" Her comrades chuckled, but like her, made no move to poke fun at him.
"Oh... sorry," Heero grinned sheepishly. Quickly making his selection, he turned it face down and added it to the others as he said, "The rest of you can suck it. That's the winner." He was rewarded with a boisterous round of laughter from his friends, including Quatre choking on his soda that he had been drinking at that moment.
Anna managed to pull herself together enough to declare, "I don't care what else happens from this point on, hearing Heero Yuy tell us to 'Suck it' was the highlight of the night!" heads nodded and voices rose to back the sentiment.
Over the hooting and snickers from the others, Duo fought for air as he managed, "Fuck you, whoever put that down!"
The cackling only grew with every card Agent Barton continued to put down. ".. 'Ethnic Cleansing! 'A Plunger to the Face! ' 'A homoerotic subplot ' and A death ray!”
Wiping his face with his hands to the tune of his teammates' booming hysterics, Trowa caught his own breath and sighed, "Damn those are all good. But, there is one stand out just because it's so wrong." In saying that, he lifted the answer card, deeming, "Betchya can't have just one ethnic cleansing!"
"Ha!" Heero boasted as he rose onto his feet and reached across the table to collect his question card as the agents around him fell apart all over again. "Told you I had this one," he smirked.
Maxwell dried his eyes, praising, "Not bad, newbie." When his former one-night-engagement returned to his chair, he nudged him. "You're starting getting the hang of this letting go and having fun bit."
Nodding, Yuy met his violet gaze and admitted, "It... definitely serves a purpose." Leaning up against his other side, Downs giggled as she cautioned, "Whoa, careful there, Heero. If you have too much of a good time now, you'll just be hooked on spending more time like this with us."
A sobering feeling washed over the intern at that. Lowering his deck, he acknowledged aloud to her, "I'm starting to realize that wouldn't be such a bad thing... if my being around is alright with the rest of you." The redhead blinked widely, as did all of the faces around the table.
Speaking up first, Wufei sniggered "You mean to tell me that getting covered in confetti and glitter wasn't enough to tell you you're one of us now?"
Winner smirked, "He's right. We wouldn't have invited you if it wasn't alright. Now that we know you're up for it, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop whenever we get together." Again, the officers nodded in agreement with pleased smiles curling their mouths.
Heero grinned back, feeling oddly at ease over the official proclamation. At times, the lines between what was real and what was being put on when it came to how 'in' he was with the Preventers got blurred. But it was a relief to know that their camaraderie was not an act.
It had been a very long time since he was accepted so unconditionally by a group... actually, it was probably the first time he ever felt so welcomed by others.
Trying to not show his profound excitement over the prospect, he nodded firmly, "Good. I'd like that." Those smiles on him grew. "You might want to hold off on saying that until we're finished with this game," Maxwell commented with a taunting grin as he reached for the next question card now that his turn was up. "Oh shit! This is going to be good," he laughed and read, " 'Holy' blank 'Batman!"
Anna cracked her knuckles, smirking, "Oh we're all about to seal our fates for going to hell now."
Grunting, Yuy raised an eyebrow at her. "Just now?" he barked with a snort, rousing up another fit of laughs from his friends that he joined in on.
* * * *
At the end of game night, the tight band of agents worked together in cleaning up before they would extend their salutations and part ways for the evening. Out of respect for Barton's sobriety, no one had so much as a drop of alcohol and so everyone was fit for driving back to their own residences that late hour.
The moment she had a shot at getting Duo alone, Anna pounced. Grabbing him by the wrist, she tugged him into the nearby hallway away from the rest of the group. Caught by surprise, Scythe's violet eyes blinked widely as he was spun around to face the redhead. "Holy crap," he murmured, winded, "I forgot you're a lot stronger than you look. What's going on?"
"Just making sure you're not going to make me look bad when Heero moves into your place tomorrow," Downs replied. Crossing her arms, she frowned deeply, "I should think that you'd manage curbing your night life for a little over a week for his sake."
Glaring at her, Maxwell huffed, "Well, you were the one who volunteered me for this. It'd almost serve you right." Anna returned the glare with a far more fiery one of her own as she snapped under her breath, "I mean it, Duo. Heero's a good guy and you could stand to slow down for a little while and enjoy some regular company as opposed to another random hookup. You can be mad at me all you want, but don't take it out on him when I'm just looking out for the both of you."
Beaming, Downs launched herself at him to throw her arms tightly around his neck. Chuckling deeply, Duo closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her thin waist. "We're in this together, right?" he asked quietly, another reminder of the pact that they had made when they first met in the lobby on their first day as Preventers.
"Damn right," Anna answered by his ear without hesitating.
With a kiss to her temple, Maxwell released his best friend and rubbed the top of her head. "But you're still a brat," he smirked.
Giggling, the redhead made no move to deny his remark and hooked an arm into the one he held out to her. Linked like that, they returned to the living room.
Back in the kitchen, Heero let out a long puff of air as he put away the dishrag he had used to clean off the dishes. Patting his abdomen, he chuckled, "I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard it made me sore like this."
"A few more hangouts like this and your muscles will get used to it," Barton grinned, closing the refrigerator after securing the meal's leftovers.
It was then that Yuy paid attention to the handful of notes and other items stuck to the appliance's door to note a familiar round, green magnet amongst the bunch. It in white, bold letters it spelled out the slogan, "Bending Like The Willow'. His cobalt eyes growing, the scholar smiled widely, "You called them."
Trowa followed his line of sight to pick out the magnet that had drawn his attention. "Oh yea. I was meaning to bring that up to you," Agent Night nodded, a small smile on his face. "I had my first session with the owner, David, yesterday after work. "You were right... it's a really cool program. I think I'm going to be sticking to it."
Actually seeing the results of one of his sessions and the positive effect it'd had, Heero smiled sincerely, "That's great to hear. I'm glad you're giving it a shot."
"Me, too," Night nodded. "Thanks again for bringing it up to me. I can pretty safely say it's going to help me a lot since there are a lot of exercises I can do here at home, too." He snickered, "Quatre's particularly happy to see me being more proactive in treating myself, too."
Winner entered the kitchen, asking, "What are you saying about me?" Looking to the intern as he neared his lover, he grinned, "Whatever he's telling you, it's not true."
Shaking is head in amusement, Barton wrapped an arm around his life partner and kissed his temple. "It's only good things, love. Only good things," he promised.
"Oh," the Arabian replied, blinking up at his soul mate. Meeting the counselor's gaze once more, he smiled, "In that case, every word of it's true." Yuy laughed, keeping any comments exchanged between him and the undercover agent between them.
With a slap to Trowa's side, Rock informed, "Wufei, Anna and Duo are going to be heading out soon, so we should see them out." The tall Preventer nodded, moving to follow him out into the living room.
A hand reaching up automatically to cover his mouth when it opened to a wide yawn, Heero checked his watch. "I should be getting back to my dorm, too," he acknowledged aloud. "I still have some last minute packing to do in the morning before I report into work."
Back in the living room, at the same time that their hosts and counselor were stepping out of the kitchen, Wufei emerged from the dining room and moved for his girlfriend. Slipping an arm around her hip, he leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss that she gladly returned. "Ready to go?" he questioned.
Downs smirked, "Right as rain. Just wanted to have a head start out of here."
"That little shit," Duo cursed under his breath when he noted that he would be leaving along with Heero on his own. Through the bay living room window, he caught the flash of headlights pulling away from the driveway and growled to himself.
Coming up just behind him, Heero asked, "Something wrong?"
"I might as well walk with you, then," Yuy nodded, just as Maxwell had feared.
Small talk with the intern wasn't exactly something that came easily for Scythe. Not that he didn't like the guy... quite the opposite in fact. And that was the real problem. He'd never had to keep a line of communication open with a former flame before. Anna was an exception to that rule since she understood they would never be more than what they were.
But with Heero, it was very different. It was uncomfortable. And for the life of him, Duo couldn't explain why.
The pair stepped out side-by-side while Maxwell searched for something, anything, to say so that he wouldn't feel so awkward when Heero suddenly probed quietly, "So... how did it go with your meeting earlier?"
"No need to rough anyone up?" Heero snickered, but there was an underlying anxiousness in his tone.
Fast to deflect that suggestion, the intern responded, "Anna was checking her phone a lot and I'm sure the others were wondering how you were even through they kept it to themselves while you were away."
His eyes warming at that, Maxwell was once again touched by how much the redhead concerned herself with his well being. And yet again, he forgave her for her meddlesome ways.
But, he was also not about to be fooled by how quick Yuy had been to dodge his own worry. The corner of his lip curling up, he decided not to give his one-night stand a hard time since their situation was obviously just as weird to him.
Subconsciously recognizing the front of his car, Duo stopped. Relieved that they had managed to make their walk as smooth as possible, he turned towards the intern and questioned, "So, what's the game plan for tomorrow?"
Wing stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants as he came to a halt and replied, "I have a couple of mid-term tests in the morning before I'm to report in at headquarters." He snorted, "Since you're not exactly a morning person, I figured I'd just have my bag in the car and follow you to your place at the end of our shift rather than stopping over early and waking you up."
Grinning, Scythe sniggered, "Thanks for taking that into consideration." With a firm nod, he stated, "That works for me."
For a few breaths, the pair simply stood there smiling at each other. Catching himself staring into the psych major's deep blue eyes, Duo shook his head back to clear it and cleared his throat once more. "I, uh, better get going," he said, gesturing to his black vehicle. "I'll see you tomorrow." "Yeah," Heero nodded, blinking as though waking from his own drift off. "See you later." At that, they slid into the driver seats of their cars and drove off in opposite directions when they pulled out of the long driveway.
Back at the house, an almost invisible narrow gap in the drapes covering the large living room window sealed. Quatre backed away from the couch he and his life partner had been leaning against to spy on their friends, sighing, "Why, in the name of Allah, can't they figure out what's going on like the rest of us?"
Trowa grinned, "I don't know. And if they're anything like Wufei and Anna, it's going to take them a long while before they do. Plus, we are talking about Duo Maxwell, here."
Rolling his eyes, Winner groaned, "Yea. I know. That guy would need a billboard to spell it out for him." Smirking to the other agent, he commented, "In the meantime, the rest of us will just have to to enjoy the show while they sort things out."
Barton returned the smile, snorting, "Took you long enough to join in on the party, love. I've already got the popcorn ready and the chairs reclined back."
TBC |
