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"Bona Fide"Written By: ExecutiveShrimp Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs
to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. Written for pleasure not
profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Romance, drama, family Pairings: 1x2x1 Summary: Heero is being deported. Duo suggests (or proposes, if you will) marriage, to get Heero a Green Card. All they have to do is convince Immigration that their love is 'bona fide'. The problem is… they hate each other. Bona Fide is part of the GWCU: The Gundam Wing Cinematic Universe A GWCU fanfiction based on The Proposal (2009) This series of stories places our two (or more) favorite Gundam Wing characters in movie "universes". Not following the original story of the movies, but borrowing their worlds, events and/or premises. For a comprehensive introduction to the concept of the GWCU - as well as an up-to-date list of movie adaptations that are completed, in progress or planned - view my profile page.
"Bona Fide" PART TWO "Are you admitting to fucking fraud right now?" Enmar asked. "No, hold up." Nick physically inserted himself between Enmar and Duo. "The real question is: it was your goddamn idea?" "I was going to get fired!" "That's better than going to jail." "Shut up, Enmar," bit Nick. "What are you doing, man?" He asked Duo. "Why would you risk jail for a job you hate and a guy you hate even more?" Duo looked off to the side and shrugged. "Because… Because now he owes me," he stated and he felt a determination arise. "Now the most respected art curator on the East coast owes me. My work is going up on those walls. And any wall in Manhattan that I fancy." "Is that really how you want to do this? Isn't that a cheap way to reach your dreams?" "No, I've earned this!" Duo argued, although the remark didn't leave him unaffected. He pushed past his friends before they could say any more that would cause him to doubt his newfound resolve. "I have to go to work." With long strides he distanced himself from them and headed for the gallery. A few steps removed from the front door, he fished the keys out of his pocket and then he let himself in. The building was unlit and quiet, but he knew he would find Heero already upstairs in his office. The man was the first in and the last out, every day. Honestly, it irked him a little thinking back to how Mulls had questioned the man's loyalty to the gallery the previous night. Heero was an asshole, but everything he did was in service of the gallery. Duo took the stairs up to the office and sure enough the lights in a single space were on. He knocked softly on the glass door that was ajar and let himself in. Heero didn't look up from the screen, or say good morning. The assistant placed the coffee in front of him, noticing the paperwork on the desk like it was any other day at work. Normally, Duo would wordlessly excuse himself and go to his little desk just outside Heero's office, but now he sat down across from the man, crossed his legs and intertwined his fingers in his lap. He waited patiently for the curator to acknowledge him. It took a full minute before the Japanese man peeled his gaze away from the computer and looked at Duo. He didn't say anything. He reached for his coffee and took a sip. "It's lukewarm, at best." Recounting all of yesterday for his friends had caused a bit of a delay. "Let's be honest, it's frigid. Like you." He could have sworn he saw some twinkle of amusement in the blue eyes before they narrowed at him. "You put on your big boy pants this morning." "Well, I'm pretty sure you're not going to fire me now. Since I'm saving your ass." Heero put the coffee down and folded his hands on top of his desk. Duo rarely got Heero's undivided attention and whenever he did, it was always intimidating. This time was no exception. "What do you want, Duo?" "I googled the penalty for marriage fraud last night. It's up to five years in prison and two hundred thousand dollars in fines." "So you've changed your mind." He shook his head. "So the rewards should be in proportion to the risk." "I was right. You do want something." Duo straightened up in his seat. "I'll marry you. We convinced Mulls and Kinney, I'll help you convince the USCIS and everyone else. When your Green Card is secured, we'll file for divorce. I'll sign whatever pre-nup you want ahead. In return, for the duration of our marriage, I will not be your assistant; I get to use the studio upstairs and you'll feature me as an artist at the gallery. You will also use your connections to get me the exposure I need to get my work out there." Heero snorted. "You want to completely discredit my reputation and be known yourself as the kind of artist who sleeps his way to the top?" "I'll help you convince the USCIS that our marriage is real," Duo reiterated, "and you'll convince the critics that you fell in love with my work before you fell in love with me." "But I don't love you. Nor your work." It was a direct stab in Duo's heart. Heero had never said anything about his art, this was the first feedback he had gotten and it stung. He hated Heero, but he could not deny that his opinion had value in the world of art. "And I don't love you. Nobody has to know the truth." Heero stared into him uncomfortably long. Finally, he said: "Okay. I agree to your terms." Duo thought he would be relieved. After all, he was going to get everything he wanted. Yet, he felt a tension in his stomach, building like a crescendo. And he had no idea when it would finally stop and he could feel at peace again. Of course Mulls had a lawyer on retainer for the gallery, who could get them a meeting with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service on short notice, namely: the very next Monday. It was merely to officially apply for the marriage Green Card, so neither of them thought much of it. Duo and Heero spent the weekend working; fixing the 'blunders' Duo had made. Duo thought he could get out of working the weekend by reminding Heero of their agreement: that he would not work as his assistant anymore. But Heero had him beat by pointing out that he negotiated not to work as his assistant during their marriage and, until then, the terms did not apply. It seemed like nothing had changed, so it was easy to forget that, in fact, everything had changed. That Monday morning, at what was supposed to be an innocuous filling out of forms at the Immigrations office, they ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder in a crammed office, waiting for a USCIS Officer Chang to come see them. "Something's wrong," Duo whispered and he nervously looked around himself. He shifted in his seat restlessly. The chair creaked. Heero glared at him. "Please, by all means, act more incriminating." Duo stared and then – since his brain didn't supply a witty retort – he stuck his tongue out at him. The Japanese man rolled his eyes and looked up ahead at the name sign on the front of the desk. A polished plate of metal, a beacon amidst a sea of clutter. Stacks of papers were like tall waves about to crash. "I am marrying a child," he muttered to himself. Duo frowned. "Wait. How old are you?" He snapped his mouth shut when the door suddenly burst open and a handsome Asian man returned to his office, carrying even more papers. "Did I keep you waiting long?" He asked. His black eyes never met them as he searched for an empty space to put down the paperwork. "Oh, no. No need to apologize." Suddenly, Chang looked at Duo sharply. "I wasn't going to." Oh God, it's like Heero's brother from another mother, Duo thought to himself. Chang decided to settle one stack on top of another. Now that his hands were free, WuFei Chang shook their hands to formally exchange introductions. Then he seated himself behind his desk and he wiggled his mouse to awaken his computer. "You are getting married." "Yes," the two answered in unison. "Cute." He mimicked a smile for them. "Tell me, Mister… uh… Mister Maxwell… do you think you'd do well in prison?" Duo swallowed and resisted the urge to readjust in his chair. "No, not particularly." "Agreed." This time, it was Chang and Yuy who spoke as one. Chang continued: "Then why are you committing fraud?" "I'm not." "So, you expect me to believe that in one week, we constituted that your boss violated his Visa reapplication, hence we denied his application and called his employer to inform him of this termination, and you proposed? Or… I'm sorry… Maybe you proposed?" He looked at Heero. "I don't mean to assume. Although that would seem very desperate." "I proposed," Duo stated and it was a bit of a relief that he could at least say something that was the truth while under such scrutiny. "And you've made us very desperate. We weren't going to rush the wedding, but you leave us little choice." "Yes, rush indeed. If you don't marry within thirty days of when his Visa application was denied, your boss is going to have the leave the country for the time being anyway." "Fiancé," Duo corrected him. WuFei smirked. "Right. But that rush shouldn't be too much of a problem, correct? I mean, if this engagement is bona fide, as we call it here, surely you've already given some thought to how and where? And what about the guest list? Who's coming?" He bombarded them with questions to try and throw them off; try to bait them into blurting contradictory answers. Heero could always be trusted to keep his cool and Duo, surprisingly, managed as well. "Have you told your families the happy news?" A crack in Duo's armor appeared and he could tell WuFei was aware of it. Duo hadn't even considered that his family would get involved in this and the thought of taking the scam to that level made him feel sick. Realizing his partner in crime was down for the count, Heero stepped up. "We are going to tell his family this weekend. It was always supposed to be a surprise." "Okay." WuFei made a note. "And what about your family? Going to surprise them too?" "I don't have any family," Heero said. Duo looked at him, hoping he was successful at masking his surprise at the monotonous statement. "No family at all?" WuFei questioned. "My last remaining relative passed away last week. It was the reason for my unplanned trip to Japan." Surprise blended into sympathy, until the thought occurred to him that Heero might be lying. To save himself from having to humiliate himself in front of his family with this scam wedding, like Duo would now have to. "My condolences." "Thank you." "It doesn't change the situation with regards to your Visa." "I'm well aware. But we are not here to plead for my Visa application. We're here for our marriage and my Green Card. We were told we only had to come in to fill out some forms at this point in the process. So if you don't mind, I have an appointment," Heero said coolly. "Fine. Yeah, we're done for now," WuFei conceded and he handed them some forms. "You can fill out these. Your marriage license and Green Card application, and hand them in at the desk. My assistant – a lovely lady whom I will not be marrying-" Duo glowered. "- will call you with a date and time for your interview. And I suggest you don't schedule any appointments after that." He shook both their hands as a formality and concluded: "Because after that interview, you will be on the first flight back to Japan and you… will go to prison." He finished with a self-pleased grin and politely showed them the door. Duo hoped the blood didn't drain from his face quickly enough for WuFei to see how pale he got. He followed Heero outside. They filled out the forms, handed them in as instructed and then Duo rushed to get out of the building, as it felt like the walls were closing in on him. Out on the street, he sucked in deep breaths of air. Manhattan air was far from fresh, but it beat the stifling atmosphere in that office. "This really isn't the time or place to freak out," Heero said, standing by, completely unconcerned. "Was that true? What you said about your family? Or are you just trying to get out of the circus I'm going to have to go through with my family now?" Heero held his gaze for a moment. One eyebrow tensed up with the mere suggestion of a frown. "Yes, it's true. Why do you think I'd lie about that? Don't you think that is one of the first things he is going to look into?" Duo took another deep breath and nodded. "Okay… Sorry." Heero's lips were nothing but a taut line. He glared at Duo for a moment before deciding they should hail a taxi and get back to the gallery. "Who died?" Duo asked, before Heero could make it to the curb. His question was barely audible over the noise of traffic and pedestrians, but Heero had heard him and he tensed up. "My grandfather," he said over his shoulder and then took one more step and raised his hand to draw the attention of a taxi crawling their way. "Were you two close?" The Japanese man looked at him with clear reluctance to be forthcoming. "You might as well tell me now. We have to know as much as possible about each other by the time we have that interview." Heero nodded. "He raised me. After my parents died when I was ten." There it was again, sympathy. Sympathy for the devil. There was also guilt for having doubted his integrity before. "I'm sorry." "Hn." The taxi came to a halt and Heero got in without a word. "Could you scoot?" Duo asked, but the man shut the door on him. Grumbling, he walked around the car, mindful of the traffic. A bike messenger zooming by nearly clipped him as he was about to climb into the vehicle. Once he was seated, the car rolled away from the curb. Duo waited three blocks before he gave into his curiosity. "So… How old are you?" "I'm thirty-three." "No shit." He thought for a moment. That was older than he expected, but seven years his senior wasn't so bad that it would be unbelievable. Not at all. In fact, his mom was seven years older than his dad. That was an odd coincidence and the realization grounded him. Duo looked out the window and chewed on his bottom lip. His parents. He was going to have to introduce Heero to them as his fiancé, when his entire family only knew Heero as his asshole boss. "Aren't you going to ask how old I am?" "I know how old you are. You are my employee." Duo wagged his finger at him. "Nono. None of that shit. I'm your fiancé." He caught the cabbie looking at them in the rear view mirror and glared at the nosy man until he redirected his judgmental look elsewhere. "So I guess I should book a flight for us, huh? Can I use your credit card and get us first class?" "Where, exactly, would we be flying off to? You are not getting a honeymoon out of this." The American twisted in his seat to face his boss. "I'm not going to tell my parents over the phone." Heero only slightly cocked his head to look at him from the corner of his eyes. "Are we talking about the same thing?" "You told that asshat we are going to tell my parents this week. So we should get out there and tell them." "Out there? I thought you said they live in Manhattan." "No. My family is in Montana." "You're from Montana?" He questioned, turning fully and emoting some semblance of confusion. "Maybe if you bothered to ever actually listen when I speak... Montana," Duo over-enunciated. "We have to go to Montana?" "Yeah," he said. Duh. "Do they even know you're gay?" Duo sat back in the seat and fidgeted. "They have a theoretical understanding of it." "What does that mean?" "It means-…" He thought for a moment. "It means I came out before I left for college and… it never came up again. I don't go home that often. My boss doesn't give me any time off," he said glibly. "Your boss didn't know you couldn't just see your family in Manhattan every weekend." "My boss would know if he listened. And cared." Heero sighed and Duo caught the cabbie sneaking looks at them again. Everyone was quiet for the next ten blocks, as the car crawled through the morning traffic, back to the gallery down town. Duo was jostled out of his thoughtful trance when he felt something prod his elbow. He looked over and noticed Heero holding his black credit card out to him. He awkwardly accepted it. "Business class," Heero instructed without regarding him. "Clear my schedule for the end of the week. We'll fly out on Wednesday and get back Saturday morning. We can't miss the fundraiser on Sunday." "Okay," he said weakly, feeling sick with dread already.
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