Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters. I make no monetary profit off this story.

Other credits: Songs are credited at the end of the story. (Please note, the location was changed by the archivist.) Recognition should go to the late Mitch Hedburg for a couple of his wonderful one-liners used. In chapters 7, 11, 12, 15, 17, and 18, dialog from the anime was incorporated directly into the storyline. Acknowledgment goes to someone else for the 'cats are gay', 'knowing color names is gay', and other gay jokes sailing around the internet. And the New Age affirmations are not mine, but may seen and heard everywhere, even in the GW universe.

Warnings: AU, shounen-ai, yaoi in later chapters, some language, drugs (NC-17+)

Band of Steel
by Kaeru Shisho

"Again."

"But we have been over that ending three times now. We have it nailed."

The blond, blue-eyed boy shot a glance towards the bass player, silently imploring the other boy to come to his defense. He must want to take a break, too, right? Please?

Trowa said nothing and hid his expression behind a shock of long bangs. He shifted his bass guitar to ease his grip, but otherwise did not acknowledge that the argument required his input.

Quatre felt both disappointed and angered, muttering "coward" beneath his breath.

"Not yet, my rhythm was imperfect. I was off the beat," the half-Japanese boy insisted with an angry scowl.

"I agree," the Chinese boy said, folding his drumsticks back like a pair of katanas. "Until we are disciplined musicians, we have no business inflicting our music on the paying public."

"Okay," Quatre said, sighing, "but if I don't get a break soon, my fingers are going to freeze up and that will be the end of the keyboard contribution."

Heero nodded in the bass player's direction, giving him the cue to begin setting the rhythm. On the next downbeat, Wufei set a highlight with a crash of cymbals, and Heero fingered his final riff of the song.

Quatre's fingers flew over the tabs and keys, changing voices mid riff from flute to bells. He worried about Heero. As lead guitar, he set excruciatingly high standards for himself and the rest of the band. Quatre knew how Heero felt. He wanted to be the best. He wanted to win the Sanc Kingdom Battle of the Bands, and there wasn't much time left to prepare. What worried him most, though, was the singing. The keyboardist knew he had the clearest enunciation and the finest voice, but sitting behind the wall of synthesizer and keyboards made him hard to see, and audiences liked to see their lead singers perform as well as hear and understand them. He envied the guitarists who could stand and be seen at times.

Wufei pealed off the final roll and crashes as the squeal of guitar rose and fell, the bass ended, and the cords faded away. The faint tickling of bells and scent of patchouli signaled the arrival of their manager to the practice room.

"Perfect! That was perfect," the man said.

Quatre, cheered by the support, smiled and said, "I thought so an hour ago."

He liked their Zechs, who was four years older, already graduated from college, and beginning post-graduate courses next fall. At first, the band had asked him to be their lead singer, but Zechs had said he could only do that wearing a mask; he suffered from intractable stage fright. His suave, outgoing, and persuasive personality, not to mention his strikingly handsome features, contributed to Zechs' perfect fit as the band's manager and sometimes sound engineer. He also owned the estate which housed them and had his signature on the papers assigning him to be their guardian.

"It wasn't fit to listen to an hour ago," Wufei said, "but it is passable now."

Heero nodded with a nasal, "Hn."

Trowa's concurrence was a nod. He didn't even grunt as loudly as the Japanese boy.

Zechs smiled and toyed with the clear crystal hanging from his earring. "Good, because we need to hurry if we are going to make it to the club in time."

"Club! We're not performing tonight!" Quatre was absolutely certain they had no engagements this weekend.

"No, but there is someone else who is. His act doesn't begin until ten, but it's a two hour drive away and I want dinner." Zechs checked his watch, tapping it to set a timer. "If we leave now --

"Who." Heero didn't ask the question, he demanded an answer to the obvious unstated question hanging in the air like an eagle about to strike.

"I think you should see him first, but his act goes under the name Shinigami."

Heero sniffed and Wufei snorted indignantly.

"Never heard of him." Trowa said, speaking for them all, which was extraordinary. He rarely expressed any opinion.

Nevertheless, the four young men turned off the amps, locked up their instruments, and shut down the power on their way out the door to Zechs' minivan. Quatre sat up front beside Zechs, the designated driver. He knew the others wanted more details before seeing this "Shinigami," and he could be pretty good at teasing out information from reticent speakers. He could empathize well.

"Trowa is right. I've never heard of him either. Is his band better than ours?"

"His band? I don't know, but he is."

Quatre made a face. "He is not in a band then?"

"He is, but the band's not here. Just him and a sound technician that plays synthesizer to back him up."

"What's the band's name? Maybe we've heard of that."

"Not likely."

"What's the damn secret, Zechs?" Heero's limit reached on an empty stomach. He had had enough evasiveness.

"No secret!" Zechs chuckled and turned into a fast food takeout line, vegetarian only.

All five placed their orders, let Zechs pay, and waited until they had eaten and were on the road again before trying a new tactic. This time, Wufei was in the front passenger seat. Quatre hoped the two men's competitiveness would rile Zechs a little and get him to reveal more. He envied how the other boy could stand up to anyone, and wished he could be more assertive like Wufei Chang.

"Where's this singer's band, Zechs?"

"I honestly don't know."

"This is stupid." Heero snarled from the back.

Quatre knew Heero was mad because his vegi-burger with sprouts had waxy white cheese instead of waxy, tasteless yellow-colored cheese. Heero couldn't have actually tasted the difference. It was the principle. Quatre bit his lip to contain a giggle.

"This is a waste of our time and you know it," Wufei said, challengingly. "If we knew the whole story, we wouldn't have agreed to come along, and you are a controlling man. I wouldn't put it past you to have engineered this entire escapade just to make us take that 'necessary break' you keep harping about."

"Done?" Zechs asked. He smiled at Wufei and Quatre just knew that was only to irritate him more.

"I am when you concede to this deceit."

"I am not making this up on the pretense of making you take a break, although, that's a good point, too."

"Then why not tell us what we need to know before seeing this... Shinigami singer?" Wufei carefully ennuciated the foreign word.

"The God of Death."

"What was that, Yuy?" Zechs asked.

Heero glared in the rear view mirror. "Shinigami is a Japanese word meaning the God of Death."

"Oh, dear," Quatre said.

He couldn't help but think the singer must be terribly egotistical to go by a name like that. His other team mates, well, barring the silent Trowa, were bad enough to be around at times. Another swollen ego to butt heads with, they did not need.

Zechs was laughing. "Well, that's interesting."

"If you don't slow down, I will drive," Wufei snapped.

Zechs slowed the car. "You don't know where to go."

"I would take us home by any way possible. Heero could navigate."

"Your inner knowing is your only true compass," Zechs canted.

This nugget of wisdom was greeted by moans then silence reigned for a few miles.

"Where'd you say he was from?" Trowa asked. He didn't press. He asked as if he had missed the other conversations and just thought of the question.

"His band is the hottest thing on L2. Called the Sweepers. That's all I know," Zechs said. "But it's him that's playing tonight. It's him that we are seeing."

He shoved in a CD, cranked up the volume, and ended any further discussion, which was a good thing because most of talk turned to whining and moaning that everything out of L2 was practically garbage. Now Quatre understood why Zechs delayed telling them until they were on the highway and committed to going. Arrogant and trashy. Oh, my.

Quatre was surprised at the crowd. Zechs wasn't, apparently, because he had ordered tickets beforehand. He passed by the line of young people, decked out in an array of clothing from average to deviant -- black, ripped, nearly naked, pierced, and almost beautiful -- ignoring whistles and angry complaints as he pushed to the front of the box office window.

"I have tickets waiting for 'will call'." He flashed a dazzling smile and an ID.

Quatre held back a laugh. As if the Prince of the Sanc Kingdom needed to show an ID! Of course, the privileged position of prince no longer held power, since the government of the Federation of City States had been established, but he and his sister were all that was left of the royalty, and people loved royalty, beautiful royalty. And what beauties they were!

Relena's sweet but serious demeanor and her dedicated role in the student government of her high school endeared her to her public. For that reason, she had transferred to a school overseas. Quatre wondered when she would be returning.

The line moved and Quatre followed along deep in thought. Poor, Zechs. Always in the public eye. The scandal-hungry paparazzi hounded the platinum-haired, towering young man when he was in town, which he rarely was for that reason. Relena and Zechs' faces were as familiar as the ones on the paper money, not that you saw much of that any more. Plastic held sovereignty over all in the realm.

"Quatre!"

"I'm coming!" Quatre shouted, dashing to keep up with his band mates, who had disappeared into the throngs waiting to be admitted.

Advance ticket holders were being admitted. Prince Zechs, naturally, could be first, if he liked, and he did. Locating their seats was easy -- front and center. Between them and the raised stage was a roped off area for dancing, Quatre assumed, although he hadn't seen many similar venues. For a rock band member, his wealth of experiences was slim; he hadn't been clubbing at all.

After that, it took another hour to fill the hall to near capacity, and an hour more to patiently sit through a forgettable local opening act before the lights dimmed. Quatre sucked in his breath as an oppressive air of expectancy surrounded him, threatening to overwhelm his sensitive nature. He held his breath, the anticipation unbearable, and then just as he thought he might burst, the curtain rose again, revealing a dark-haired girl standing at a simple, outdated synthesizer. Outpoured the distinctive pounding of a well-known hip-hop number, flooding the airwaves with BEAT, and driving the audience to shouting and clapping in synch. He eased the air from his lungs, relaxing with the release of tension around him.

"Gods, not this garbage. Really, Zechs, you know we hate this," Wufei groaned.

Wufei was loud enough to be heard over the rising noise and around Heero, whose body blocked Wufei from Quatre's sight. Quatre could feel Heero bristling in agreement. On his left, Trowa loosened up, moving to the beat.

"L2, music of the streets," Trowa said.

Quatre looked over and met his smile, shyly. "I like the dancing best."

"Me, too," Trowa said, his tone mild.

He winked at Quatre in a shared moment of camaraderie before centering his attention on the stage. With an effort, Quatre withdrew his eyes from the other boy and followed his gaze. The spotlight moved, as if searching for the enigmatic star of the show.

One minute nothing, the next -- there he was!

Dancing. Loose, tan pants, slung low on his gyrating hips, sloppy red shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves, bare feet slapping on the hardwood floor, keeping time with the music, and the longest, past-the-ass braid Quatre had ever seen. He traded grins with his equally pleased band mate.

"Dude's good," Trowa said.

"He looks fifteen at most," Quatre noted.

Not that he and the rest of the band looked their ages. Trowa nodded and turned back to the show. The dancer started to sing, or rap, his poem to the crowd.

"It's not where you're from...
It's where you're at..."

His diction was flawless; what he had to say was bleak. He spoke to the darkness inside everyone.

"Before it all comes together,
things fall apart..."

Quatre felt from the encouraging and enthusiastic shouts and reactions from his audience that the words struck to the core of how they felt.

"Just chalk it up and add it to the elevation...!"

"Hip hop," Wufei said with a sniff, making it sound like an insult.

"Rap!" Quatre snapped in return. "The music is rap; Hip hop is a way of life."

Wufei leaned around Heero, his eyes glittering and his tone cutting. "As I said, hip hop."

Heero, seated between the two feuding boys, pushed them both back in their chairs with a hissed "Shut up!" filled with lethal intent.

The next number was another of the same genre, but sassier and funnier, but from the look on Heero's face, Quatre would have guessed the performer was insulting him personally. He was happy Wufei was out of his line of sight. Zechs met his gaze over the heads of the other two boys with a sly smile, and with a shimmer of silver, turned his head back to the performer. Trowa smiled in wry amusement, and bumped shoulders, causing Quatre to grin in return, pleased to have someone to share in the fun.

The music altered unexpectedly, throbbing to a traditional rock and roll beat. The singer launched into a raunchy cover of several songs back-to-back, all the time dancing and swinging that long, brown, braid. His voice soared powerfully over the synthesizer, demonstrating a phenomenal range of highs and lows. And could he emote!

Dancing youth crowded into the limited space to bounce and writhe with The God of Death. Shinigami had every right to be proud of himself, Quatre thought. He was exciting. Lusty.

The music faded at the end of a song, and the braided singer spun and faced the audience, grinning rakishly, and bowing slightly in recognition of their support. "Be back in ten," he said in a low sexy voice that caused Quatre to blush. "Don't go away."

"Like I could," he whispered back.

He was thankful for the momentary darkness in the hall, while he recovered his composure. That guy oozed magnetism, pulling everyone in the crowd into his musical universe while he was on stage, and holding him under the illusion that he was their god. Bow down, heathens all!

Wufei stood. "Well, thank you, Zechs. I think we've all had enough for the evening."

Heero grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back into his seat. "Sit."

"W-what! Y-you..." Wufei stuttered, unable to fathom that Heero could host an opinion of the singer in defiance of own. "... like that noise and blur on stage? I thought you were a musician who appreciated the better things in life."

Quatre was taken aback by the ferocity in his band mate's tone. Not that Heero needed or would appreciate his words, but Quatre felt driven to come to the defense of both Heero and the performer.

"He's electrifying, Wufei! Can't you tell how his performance affects the crowd here? I wish I could deliver lyrics like that."

"He's right," Heero said.

"He is what the band needs," Zechs affirmed. "Sex appeal, talent, allure."

"Sex appeal?" Wufei's lip curled into a smirk. "I wouldn't know."

"That is your shortcoming, Chang," Zechs said with a long, slow sigh. "People come to be entertained, not just to hear the music. Give them both and you win the prize."

"He's very appealing," Quatre put in. "That braid -- do you think it's real?"

"Sex with a braid."

Everyone turned to stare at Trowa, who had spoken. He held up a flyer and waved it. "A reviewer said that."

Wufei's face scrunched up into a frown. "I don't find boys appealing, Barton. You might, or might not, but I don't. If his second half is as coarse as his first, I don't care what the rest of you think -- I won't consider him worthy of carrying our equipment."

"I doubt he'd want to join our band anyway," Quatre said.

Saddened by Wufei's unwarranted prejudice against the boy from L2, he didn't want to get his hopes up. What would this engaging personality gain by joining their band? It wasn't as if he needed them. No, Quatre didn't think this boy would give up his success just so he could become some mythical, magical bean elevating them to stardom.

"He's not traveling with his band," Heero said. "He might want a change."

"He probably wants a ticket off L2," Wufei said. He looked pleased to have discovered another way to criticize the singer, leaving Quatre mystified as to why his friend was so adamantly negative. "You know, the natives can't come planet-side without a solid job and place to live, and once they lose that *snap* back they go."

"That's unjustified!" Quatre blurted out. "We are all from the colonies. If it weren't for Zechs and his...compassion, we'd never have been provided for and given this chance. Don't disparage another for wanting the same opportunity, if, in fact, he actually does!"

Wufei's chin elevated and his face cracked a smile, "Gods, you are in love with the street rat. Your kind is so easily seduced it just slays me."

Quatre felt the heat from shouting continue to rise, coloring his neck and face all the way to his scalp. "My kind -- ?! That's not true -- any of it! I'm not easy. I'm in love with a boy, but not that one, not somebody I don't even know! Oh!"

Quatre slammed a hand over his mouth. Trowa's feet shifted. Heero's glare shot from one face to another, ending with Wufei. Zechs coughed discretely.

"Well, now that we've cleared that up. How about we sit back and enjoy the second half of his set?"

Quatre sank lower into his hard-backed seat. He had just succumbed to Wufei's malicious remarks, out-ed himself to his band mates, and intimated he had a lover. Mortified about summed up how he felt. All he didn't reveal was who he had fallen for. Wouldn't that have been the end-all revelation of the evening, he thought to himself. It certainly would have meant an end to the band.

He closed his eyes and wished himself capable of falling in love with the pretty girl his sisters' had chosen for him to date. He'd be married, in charge of a worldwide company, and faraway on colony L4. Instead he was a child, gay, single, in love with a member of his own struggling band -- who had said, maybe, twelve words to him -- and living off the benevolence of the ex-Prince of Sanc. It would take a miracle to make his life better. He was, however, an optimist who whole-heartedly believed in miracles.

He remained huddled in on himself as the lights dimmed, flickered as a warning for the show to begin. Quatre ignored his friends sitting around him. He blocked out all empathic lines of communication. He didn't want to know how they were feeling about him. All he wanted was to enjoy the entertainment.

As if the entertainment couldn't get any more strident or wilder, the lighting flashed in alternating colors, washing the stage in a kaleidoscope of changing hues, and signaling the return of Shinigami. The music ratcheted up as the dancer exploded onto the stage. His costume had changed. His loose khakis were replaced with daringly ripped black jeans clinging tenuously to the dancer's hips. He was wearing no underwear, Quatre could tell. The shirt's bright color warranted wearing it a few more seconds, before the dancer ripped it off and flung it to the stage floor, revealing a clingy, skimpy black tank and very toned shoulders and arms and chest and everything Quatre could see.

Sex with a braid, no --

"Shit."

Quatre straightened but he couldn't tell whether Heero or Trowa or both had finished his thought. Both band mates were staring, mesmerized, by the dancer, enthralled to the voice that was tearing into a rocker without consideration for his vocal cords. One song blended disharmoniously with the next, until he broke into a falsetto for a cover of Darkness' "Hazel Eyes" that made Quatre's skin break out with goose bumps.

Thinking about eyes, made him remember the statistics he'd looked up one day. Only two percent of humans have truly green eyes, making them the rarest color to have. He rubbed his arms, shivering with a sudden frisson only an infatuation could arouse. Only when the nearest green eye widened in question, did Quatre realize he'd been staring brazenly at his band mate and missing the escalating show on stage.

Shinigami danced in a fevered madness, the techno music deafening. As he spun and circled, a hand loosened the tie restraining his braid in its tight configuration, freeing the strands to fly and fly and fly like ribbons on a May pole, becoming just as phallic a fertility symbol. The hair tips licked the floor, untamed like the feral dancer who wailed and screamed the lyrics to earsplitting intensities.

Quatre wondered where that slim body hid the reserves. The expenditure of energy had to be tremendous. He thought of Medusa. The sweat-soaked hair whipped into ropes that slapped against the singer's back. Or whips. What must it feel like to be whipped bloody by your own hair? Shinigami fiercely ripped out a lung to surpass the thunderous roar of the song's finale. He collapsed on one knee, his sides heaving, hands flattened on the floor, arms spread, shaking to support his weight. Sweat joined hair to puddle at his feet and hands, forming a complete circle around his body.

The roar from the mosh pit was deafening as the music that had driven it. The audience was on its feet shouting a rhythmic "Encore! Encore!" more out of habit and respect than out of any hope that the poor kid could belt out one last note. Still, the pleading continued, the people, beseeching their god for one last attempt at spiritual enrichment.

He struggled to stand one more time. The small, black-haired keyboard player flicked a switch, setting a steady, throbbing beat, and then she stalked off stage. Shinigami was alone, head down, pulling energy from the air, the beat, the souls charged with expectation.

Quatre felt a rush of cooler air and noticed a dark gap where Heero had been clapping moments before. He looked around, even down. Wufei was looking under his seat, but possibly he was looking for his dignity amongst the detritus, Quatre thought. An elbow nudged his ribs and Trowa cocked his head toward the front.

To Quatre's disbelief, he spotted Heero pushing through the mosh pit. Okay, Heero slamdancing in the pit was unreal, and, on second glance, Quatre saw that he wasn't grooving but he was shoving his way to the stage. Before he made it, however, Shinigami bowed elegantly to his fans, threw them a kiss and wearily walked off, stage right. What had Heero wanted to tell the performer, Quatre wondered? He was about to go drag his band member back, when the lights softened to a warm, glow, painting the stage in honeyed hues.

Shinigami was back. With only the thrumming drum beat to back him, he was going to sing. As he stood, counting out the beats, preparing himself, he looked amazing, like a living, breathing effigy, shining with sweat, awash in molten gold, cinnamon tresses draped over and around his shoulders and tumbling in loose waves to his ankles. He parted his lips. His soft voice was raw, throaty and sexy.

"I am alone,
But adored
By a hundred thousand more..."

Is he more like a primitive idol or an insect encased in amber, forever trapped, Quatre wondered? He turned slightly to his left when he thought he heard Trowa made a choking sound.

"Yeah, like...that's like our signature song," Trowa said.

Quatre nodded, "We only cover it. It's not ours. He has every right to do Dandy Warhol's 'The Last High.'"

"And I have known love
Like a whore
From at least ten thousand more..."

When he started the chorus, the entire audience joined in on the "Hi-ii-igh;" at least, Quatre did, and it wasn't his part. He had sung the lead with his band, but hearing the self-proclaimed God of Death, charging the lyrics with pain, slowly extracted from his gut, Quatre knew he'd never sing it again. Not now. Not after hearing it sung by the husky voice of a god.

Heero had not moved away from his hard-fought position at the edge of the stage. Anyone daring to push or nudge him was subjected to his assassin's death glare. Shinigami had nothing over him when it came to murderous stares. When Quatre caught sight of him, he started, jerking his arms out, ready to vault over the rope to get to Heero. He felt strong feelings from Heero, mixed, confused. Hate and love were both strong and often confused. Quatre took one step, but a firm grip on his shoulder kept him in place.

"Stay back."

"But, what if..." Quatre blinked at his green-eyed friend and cleared his suddenly taut throat. "Er... ah... I won't let Heero hurt that beautiful boy!"

"He won't." Trowa closed his eyes, concealing his inner thoughts, before looking away. He didn't know about the sensitive young man's empathic abilities, or he wouldn't have bothered trying.

"When you were the last high
High-igh-igh
Igh-igh-igh
Igh-igh"

Once the singing had begun, Quatre had forgotten to block the feelings around him. He rode the wave of excitement along with the audience of fans. Lulled into the rising and falling of the moods to match that of the emotive singer, the sensitive boy jumped when stung by a nearby counter emotion. Jealousy? Quatre wondered if he'd read that feeling correctly. Had he made Trowa jealous over Heero? No, he'd called attention several times to the striking singer, and how he moved him. It wasn't love, though! He had to correct that impression.

"I mean, it could get him into trouble and that would be bad for the band. I have no personnel interest, other than that."

Quatre bobbed his head, putting on his stern face to underscore his lack of interest in either the singer or Heero, beyond the welfare of the band. Beside him the silent boy shrugged indifferently. He offered no remarks to comfort or relieve his anxious friend. Uncertain what more he could say, Quatre turned his focus back to the performance. He envied Wufei's directness right then. He wished he could be bolder. He sighed, resigned to appear pathetic and weak again. Shinigami was in no way weak.

The long-haired boy was bending over, grazing the fingertips of fans pressed close to the stage, while continuing to sing. His raspy voice grew hoarser with each verse. He sounded on the verge of tears. He reached the stage where Heero stood, and knelt as he sang the words:

"So maybe you loved me but now
Maybe you don't..."

He was almost nose-to-nose with the blue-eyed, Japanese boy when he sang:

"And maybe you'll call me..."

He paused, skipping a few beats, his wide expressive, violet-colored eyes locking onto Heero's, and held ... two...three...four... then smiled, singing:

"Maybe you won't."

In a single fluid movement, the God of Death stood, shrugged, and ambled away finishing the song. He even danced a little, turned, but caught himself in a graceful near-fall. He grinned and stepped dance-like, swaying to the rhythm of the steady beat, reaching now the far side of the stage. He paused to shut off the synthesizer, waved one last time over his shoulder, and left for good.

It was over. The crowd roared its approval knowing they had been blessed. They had offered him their admittance fee, and their god, in turn, had given them everything he had, heart and soul. Quatre was afraid to say anything in fear of desecrating the moment.

Wufei, totally unabashed by his earlier deprecating remarks, acknowledged that the spell was broken. "Well, he certainly is loud."

Quatre was about to slap his face, but again, a calming spirit loomed close. He didn't want to make a scene. He reigned in his annoyance, and said nothing. Let the drummer make an ass of himself. He was, after all, the only one that didn't get the jokes about drummers. What do you call a drummer with half a brain? Gifted. What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A drummer.

Quatre started to chuckle as he remembered more jokes. What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine? You only have to punch the information into the drum machine once. Trowa once told this one, he recalled with a smile: Why do bands have bass players? To translate for the drummer. Laughter bubbled up and threatened to overflow as he remembered one of his favorites, told by Heero, of all people: Why do guitarists put drumsticks on the dash of their car? So they can park in the handicapped spot.

"What's so damned funny, now, Winner?"

Of course, that kind of attitude tipped the scales in favor of hysterical laughter, and the blond sank into his seat. Zechs, meanwhile, wrapped an arm over both Wufei and Trowa's shoulders to get their attention. "I have backstage passes."

Wufei opened his mouth, and then closed it, his eyes following Heero's movement a short distance off. "Where does he think he's going?"

"Ha, looks like Yuy's got his own pass," Zechs said. "Shall we join him and the singer backstage, then?"

Chapter 2 -- Mr. Boombastic

After the show, Heero wasted no time waiting for Zechs and the others. He skirted the edge of the stage until he found the stage door, moving swiftly and in silence, avoiding detection. He caught a glimpse of his target walking slowly down the hallway to the dressing rooms. Limping.

"Just a minute there!" bellowed a deep voice from behind him. "You're not allowed back here."

A meaty hand on his collar brought him up roughly. Heero reached around, and with a vise-like grip of his own removed the unwanted hand. "Don't touch me," Heero snarled.

"'Sokay, bubba," the singer's raspy voice called out. "He can come back."

Heero's head snapped around in time to catch a glimpse of saucy smile and flashing violet eyes. He squared his shoulders and loped off without a second thought to the grumbling bouncer in his wake. Rounding the corner, he was fast enough to see the boy disappear past an unmarked door. The place was a dive, but most venues for music were.

A scrawny arm blocked his way past the open door. He recognized the arm belonging to the girl who played on stage, providing the only techno-instrumental background music for the act. Good thing he'd taken the moment to study the arm. He had considered breaking it to get past.

"Give him a minute, okay?" the girl asked.

Heero watched as the near-naked singer collapsed on a chair, dousing his head with a bottle of water then drinking the rest in a single breath. Heero wanted. He wanted to be that bottle. He wanted those lips drinking him in.

When he picked up the second bottle, set it down, then lay his head on his arms on the dressing table, Heero stepped aside and let the girl close the door. Clearly, the singer needed a few minutes to rest. He could do that. Heero could wait a few minutes longer.

"Gotta smoke," she said and cocked her head for him to follow her to out the door with the EMERGENCY EXIT sign. "Duo disabled it for me," she said providing all the explanation necessary.

"Duo? Duo is Shinigami?"

"Yeah, that's him. Who are you?"

"Heero Yuy."

"Heero, huh? Kinda funny, ya know? Your name means like 'one' or something and his means 'two' in some language."

"Hn," Heero grunted. "You know some Japanese."

"It's part of the colony lingo on L2. Lots of Japanese stationed there once. I guess the environmental's worked back then...then they left, the technicians did, and things have been falling apart ever since. Kinda sad. But it keeps the elite out of our hair."

She shot him a leer revealing slightly crooked teeth and chuckled as she dug through her bag for her pack of cigarettes and lighter. Heero wanted. He wanted to squeeze out every last bit of information about Duo from the girl. When he didn't say anything, she went on.

"Um, I'm Hilde, by the way. So, what's you interest in Duo? It had better be music-related, 'cause he didn't come all the way here just to get laid."

Heero felt the blood drain from his face. He could want that, now that she mentioned it. "I'm with my band. Our manager wanted us to see the show. I don't know what his purpose was, but our band is missing something and Shinigami, Duo, satisfies the requirements. We are entering the Sanc Kingdom Battle of the Bands, and I want to win. I want to be the best."

"Oh? Well, Duo's the best at what he does, only --" She lit up and puffed lightly to get the paper smoldering. "Nobody knew that off-L2, until this weekend."

"How was the first show?"

"Pretty good. After the break, more kids came in. Guess friends called friends. The next, let's see...that was Thursday night, nearly packed. Real exciting that one. Then tonight. You saw -- sold out! He's going places I know."

Heero gave her a curt nod of agreement. Duo was star material. The singer could supernova in his universe. Heero did not see the girl fitting into the Cosmos According to Yuy.

"Another dude stopped by last night. I didn't like him much. Too...serious in a greedy kind of way. Old guy. I thought he'd be back again tonight, but I'm way glad he didn't make it."

"Who was it?"

"I dunno. Funny name. He gave me a card. Lemme see... here it is! Treize Khushrenada."

"He's an important man in the recording industry."

She grinned. "But you don't like him either."

Heero smiled, slightly. "No. He is quick to slap a name on you, pigeon hole you. He can make you money, while killing your creativity."

"Oooh, bad for Duo. He's all for freedom of expression, as you probably can tell."

"Hn." He thought about that, adding another fact to his growing list: Duo was expressive.

"He's a pretty cute guy, too, don't you think?" Her tone was teasing and Heero knew that she was only trying to provoke him into revealing his feelings.

Heero looked away and shrugged. He could do stoic impressions well. He had plenty to say, but not aloud and not to her. "He draws attention."

"Sure does. Sex with a braid! Ha! Some dude put that on the flyer!"

If she was expecting a reaction from him, then he was sure to disappoint her, not that she let it show. She held a lungful of tranquilizing smoke then released it into the smoky cloud around her.

"If the rest of the guys in your band are as dull as you, no offense, I mean... You gotta grab the audience and wring the applause outta them sometimes. Duo can do that, but also he gives himself. He opens his heart and shares his bad and good stuff. That's what people want. They want the guy up there to entertain them and care, not just take the money and do his thing like it or not. But...you felt that, right?"

"Yes. He made me want..." but he didn't finish his thought aloud. He didn't wish to share his innermost and private thoughts with a stranger. He looked at the door, willing himself to be back in close association with the spring of desire.

The girl sucked on her cigarette, held the smoke in her lungs then blew it out in a steady stream. "Yeah, he makes me want, too."

"Who are you?" Heero asked.

"Hilde Schbeiker, like I said. Short memory?"

"I meant, what are you to Duo?"

"What's left of his band? Oh, you mean... I get it. His girlfriend, maybe?"

Again, Heero looked off into the distance, and then turned back to the door. That was not what he had wanted to hear, but what he had sought to discover. Hilde stubbed out her cigarette on the cement step.

"We should get back and save him from your friends."

"Hn," Heero agreed.

The boy called Shinigami collected his voluminous locks, twisted them into a loose ponytail, and tied it at the nape of his neck with a strip of denim from his ripped jeans. He was tired, but interest energized him to meet these attractive young men who had been thoughtful enough to request backstage passes ahead of time. No one had ever done that before. Hilde had shaved off the hot dude with the deadly eyes. He smiled. No way was she getting any action from him. He had seen the need in his eyes and the lust. Nope, that guy was not looking up girl's skirts. With a sigh, he hoped he'd be back, but first he needed to collect his wits for his guests.

"Don't get up, please. Rest. We should introduce ourselves. I am Zechs Merquise, the band's manager."

"Holy, shit!" the boy said as he stretched out his smaller hand to shake. A dingy towel fell from his neck to the floor. "Wait'll the gang hear's about this." He released the grip and waved his hand in the air. "This hand has touched royalty!"

He laughed at his own silliness, but still regarded the man with a touch of awe. Zechs was tall, nearly one foot taller than Duo -- more now because Duo was sitting down -- with an elegant bearing, a sweep of silvery hair past his shoulders, steel-blue eyes, and a long straight nose. His loose pants and poet's shirt were matching unbleached linen, embellished with beads at the cuffs. The man was well-bred and poised -- everything Duo Maxwell felt he was not. It didn't take an inferiority complex to feel second-rate around Zechs.

Zechs returned a kind smile. "Well, not any more, not really." He gestured toward Trowa. "This is --"

"Lemme guess what they play, all right?" the entertainer begged. "I'm good at this."

"Very well, but first, what is your name? I can't possibly keep referring to you as Shinigami," Zechs said.

"Oh, yeah. Duo Maxwell. You can call me Duo. The Shinigami thing, that's just a stage name, ya know?"

He smiled coyly. He bent over to scrape the towel off the ground then continued to wipe down his chest.

"Gotta get up," he said to himself mostly, wincing slightly as he put pressure on his throbbing, sole-beaten feet. "Damn, hurts more than usual."

He studied the slightly taller boy with the reddish-amber hair and the dusting of freckles. His eyes dropped to Trowa's left hand and he motioned to touch it.

"May I?"

Trowa either didn't care or didn't know what Duo meant, but he nodded a fraction anyway, which was enough for Duo to go ahead, reach for the left hand, cradle it and rub it with his fingers. Trowa's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't pull his hand away. Duo dropped it and grinned.

"Bass player, right? Oh yeah! Calluses, man. Those heavy strings'll do it every time."

"That's cool," he told him. "Name's Trowa. I do flute sometimes, too."

"Flute? That's really cool...ah...Trowa. Tro-wa. Got it," Duo smiled again and moved over, examining Quatre. "You know, I don't see guys like you on L2 at all."

Off guard, Quatre frowned and retorted, "I'm not soft, if that's what you mean! I'm a smart fighter."

"Whoa! Steady there, blondie. Didn't mean any offense, really. It's just that fair hair is quite rare, that's all."

He wisely bit back the part about "especially cute ones with gentle blue eyes that are pretty and definitely fuck-bait out on the streets." It was the right thing to do, Duo decided, because in the next moment the sweet-tempered boy smiled back with a faint blush of embarrassment.

"Sorry, Duo. I jumped to conclusions. It's just, well, here," he stuck out his hands, palms up. "Guess what I do."

Duo grinned and lightly touched the fair skin, noting the manicured nails, and turning the hands over once before looking up. "Keyboards, right? That or synth, techo-something, but sometimes... This hand it very strong with light calluses, but not enough that you play guitar, so I'm not sure where you get those."

Quatre grinned, extremely pleased. "Violin! You are very good, Duo. I'm the keyboardist and I play the synthesizer for the band, but I studied violin formally. I'm Quatre Winner."

"Quatre." Duo repeated, sounding it out as "cat-tra."

"Yes, I'm actually from L4."

"Oh yeah? Another colony brat, eh?"

"Yes, we all are. Trowa?" Quatre paused waiting for Trowa to give him permission to say more. "He's from L3."

As Duo and Trowa traded colony jabs, he noticed the hot guy at the doorway, and Hilde hot on his heels. Quatre hurried to include him, and things really started heating up

"We were letting Duo guess what we do in the band. Meet Duo Maxwell."

"I know. His girlfriend told me."

"Girlfriend?" Duo asked.

Duo figured by Hilde's smug look that his face must have reflected how he felt -- confusion combined with distrust all in one. He was pleased to find that the hot guy was with the others, part of the same band. He wasn't sure why he was so certain Duo had a girlfriend, unless Hilde had told him. Right. She'd been teasing the guy, Duo guessed.

She smiled as she concentrated on unfolding a gum wrapper and shoved the thin, pink candy into her mouth. "Hilde here."

"Um, she's not my girlfriend, just a girl - space -- friend. What's left of our band."

"So, there is no Sweepers band anymore?" Zechs asked. "Just the two of you."

"Pretty much, yeah," the girl said. She snapped her gum and twisted the piercing on her eyebrow. "The others, they didn't wanna risk losing what real jobs they got just to come Earth-side. Sweepers make okay money, shuttling crap back and forth around the colonies. It leaves time for playin' clubs on base, and as long as you stick to L2, well, that's okay, not too far to go after the show's done. You know, friends to put cha up all over, but comin' here -- There's hotels, food, stuff that all costs more than the gig pays. So, when Duo got this gig, they wished him luck and signed off."

"But not you," Heero noted.

Duo studied the stern-faced boy and determined that Heero was pressing for conclusive evidence that he and Hilde weren't in a relationship. He smiled at that. Obviously, Heero was making such a big deal out of it was because he wanted a go at him. Well, that's nice, too, Duo thought.

"Well, a promise is a promise, but this is the last time. A girl's gotta make a livin', right? And I'm not some whore, for you all that think L2 girls are only good for one thing." She focused her beady eyes on each of the strangers, challenging them to deny her charge. When no one spoke up, she continued, "I'm licensed to pilot the smaller junkets. Pays lots better'n the band."

"But this is the last, you say?" Heero asked.

"You're pretty relentless, aren't cha?" Hilda grinned at Heero until he looked away, and then she blew an impressive bubblegum bubble. "Why don't cha introduce yerself to Duo?"

"If I do, will you answer my question?"

"Sure, you just tell my friend here what you go by and where you hail from."

"Heero Yuy. L1."

"Lead guitar, I'll bet." Duo stuck out his hand, waiting.

Heero cautiously moved his own until they touched, then gave the other boy a quick, sharp greeting. His grip was like a steel trap. Duo yelped and waved his fingers in the air, blowing on them dramatically.

"Damn! You do weights or something dangerous like that on the side? That's no guitar grip, I can tell ya."

"I work out," Heero said with a smug smile. "So," he lowered his deep blue eyes, casting his cold glare onto the articulate girl. "This is your last, what --? Gig?"

"Yeah, that's right. Couldn't let this pretty boy travel alone to the big city, could I?"

"Hilde!" Duo grumbled as he fell back onto his chair.

"It's true!"

She laughed, but Duo could tell the others weren't sure if she meant what she'd implied. On L2 he had his buds, his group, his people that banded together and gave him safe refuge. He wasn't sure how it was other places, but no young men or women should be alone in a strange place, he felt. On the other hand, taken another way, she'd just implied he was rather sexually free. No secret there, he'd already said he was from L2.

If L2 was known for anyone thing, it was for its legalized prostitution. Of all the colonized worlds, only that one was unable to crawl back from the downward spiral, which had begun during the war for independence. Gangs roamed the streets, drug lords and pimps ran the economy of the boroughs. Since the rest of the world was happy to have a place for all the vermin to live, nothing was done about it except to construct anti-immigration laws to keep L2 on L2. Of course, the natives of L2 were aware and distrustful of the outside world, Earth-side in particular.

"I was hoping he'd hit it big and find a backup band or a venue with a stage band so I could hit the road," Hilde finished having her say.

Duo chuckled and drank more water. "You know, follow your dream, unless it's the one where you're at work in your underwear during a fire drill Anyway.... So, you guys here for a purpose? I mean, it's not like you're transparent or anything, but you don't look like gang-bangers or groupies."

The short, Chinese-looking dude snorted. "Gods, I have had enough."

Zechs smiled and cleared his throat. "We were hoping to meet Shinigami, and, if all parties were agreeable, get to know each other with the intention of inviting him into the band. I'd make an offer now, but I know this is rather sudden. Instead, I was hoping you'd come see where the band lives and practices. Get to know us."

"Oh, excuse me for interrupting the introductions," the manager continued, "but are you traveling with one of your parents or a guardian? I was wondering, in case we go any place I will need parental consent, assuming you are less than 18 years of age. We could get that started while we wait."

Duo yanked out an ID card from the jacket draped over the back of the chair. "No parents, but that's chill, man. I'm legal."

"This is a shuttle pilot's license!"

"Yeah, I'm a sweeper. Ya don't think I make enough doing this to earn a living, do ya? I got plans, and plans take money to carry out."

"You fly a shuttle?" the Chinese guy croaked in disbelief. His face turned scornful. "Impossible. It's a fake."

Duo looked out from under his long chestnut bangs, chin down, teeth bared in a tense grin. In spite of his exhausted state, he lit out of his chair and landed inches from him, his sudden move causing Wufei to step back.

"Fake? You are pretty clueless if you think anyone can fake a shuttle pilot's license. Hold it up, Zechs. See the wires, the embedded holographic images? Can't be done. Still don't believe me? Call USLA, that's the Universal Shuttle Licensing Agency, drummer boy. Number's on the back. Or... scan the barcode. Or... look at my hands. These are calluses you get from gripping the controls handles for hours at a time."

The Chinese boy's face blanched from gold to butter. His eyes narrowed, seething with barely leashed anger. Duo smiled then, and knew the other guy wanted nothing more than to punch his grin into the back his head.

"Yeah, drummer boy. Gotcha pegged right, don't I? You know what they say about drummers, don'tcha?"

Wufei nearly burst apart. "I am not stupid! I am taking AP level classes and will be starting college soon. AP, that's Advanced Placement, in academia."

Duo shrugged and smiled wanly. "What made you think I meant stupid? A good drummer takes tons of practice, hard work, strength, and endurance. So does a being a shuttle pilot. I just figured you and me would share something, that's all. Always wanted a set of drums."

The drummer had done nothing but insult him after he'd managed to find a way to complement him, but with those simple, but carefully chosen words, Duo deflated the Chinese boy like a bubble in the sun. He was surprised, though, when Wufei bowed and mumbled his regrets.

"I am humbled. Please accept my apologies."

"Hey, it's chill, man. I'm not everybody's friend. What's your name?"

"Chang Wufei."

"Well, nice to meetcha, 'Fei."

Wufei winced at the shortening of his name, but under the circumstances he didn't correct the offense. "From L5."

Duo's eyes widened. "No shit. You survived. I'm impressed."

Wufei looked away, holding back the emotions threatening to be exposed in front of a stranger. "Yes. I am all that is left of my family, my clan."

Duo smiled, becoming shy in the silence, and fumbled with his nearly empty water bottle. "So, now that we're on first-name basis, tell me about this invitation, Zechs."

"I'd like to invite you to our abode, a combination residence and studio."

"We call it Club Sanc," Quatre put in.

"You do," muttered Wufei, still chafing from the horrifying 'gang-bangers' accusation.

A furrow formed between Quatre's eyebrows. "Yes, I do."

Duo took a closer look at the nice-looking blonde, and decided Quatre could stand his ground any day against a grouchy band mate, but probably didn't very often. He wasn't as delicate as he appeared on first glance.

"It's on acres of land with horses, tennis courts, swimming pool --"

"Swimming pool?" Duo's eyes brightened, the unusual violet hue standing out in striking contrast against his peachy-fair skin. Seeing the sun-kissed, glowing-skinned, Earth-bound guys reminded him how his skin held the tell-tale transparency of someone living in artificial light. "Oh cool, never seen one of those before."

"Two! One indoors and one outdoors," Quatre added.

Duo recognized bait tossed in his direction. He was tempted to tell them they didn't have to work so hard. He didn't need anything more to be lured back with them that night. He was ready to give in, when his honest streak darted into the foreground and a shadow passed across his face. His eyes darkened as they traveled over the faces of each boy in the band then looked askance at Hilde, and then down. He drew his breath and let it out slowly.

"I gotta be a real idiot to do this and blow the greatest thing that's ever come my way, but I gotta say this."

"Duo, it can wait," Hilde said, her voice gentle and caring.

"No, it can't. I don't lie, especially to people that matter. You all look like a great bunch of guys. I'll bet you got fans hanging all over you, girls in particular. And, I... well, I don't wanna wreck whatcha got going, that's all." He held up a hand, staving off any interruption. "This ain't easy to just blurt out, so let me do it, 'kay? Um, I'm gay. I'm pretty open about it. It's no secret on L2 where folks know me. So, if that's going to be a problem for you, just say so now before we get into this any deeper."

Quatre was the first to speak up. "So am I! I just let it slip out tonight, so no one's said anything to me, yet, but if there's a problem, then I guess you won't be alone."

When those beautiful eyes shown with pleasure and lit up his animated face, Duo blew out another arrested breath of air. One down...

"Well, that's great. Um, maybe? I hope so for you. What do you think?" he asked of Zechs.

"I am twenty-three. I have a girlfriend. I'm perfectly comfortable with my sexuality and I have no problem with yours, Quatre's, or anyone else's. That about cover it?" Zechs asked.

"Good for me." Duo looked at Wufei straight on, but the Chinese youth refused to meet his eyes. "What about you? Do I disgust you so much you can't give me a civil answer?"

Wufei's obsidian-black eyes snapped forward to meet Duo's. "My upbringing taught me that homosexuality was an evil perversion. However, I am here now, not with my clan on L5. I have learned to make concessions. As long as your behavior does not include me in anyway or harm or embarrass the band, then I can be tolerant."

"Tolerated? Okay, I can live with that, if you can, Quatre. What do you think?"

Quatre nodded. "It's a better reception than I received from home."

Duo touched Quatre's arm and smiled sympathetically. "Well, I was an orphan, but I've noticed even in the best homes that a pat on the back is only a few centimeters from a kick in the butt."

Quatre laughed, feeling the bond of friendship forming between them already, before Duo dropped his hand and moved on.

"And you? What does Trowa from L3 think? Yer awfully quiet."

"I'm okay with it. I'm probably bi, but none of us get much of chance at meeting or dating so...," He hesitated and shrugged the rest. "Like your dancing."

"Yeah?" Duo's eyes sparkled. "I think dancing is the perpendicular expression of your horizontal desires."

Quatre laughed aloud, covering the sniffs and grunts from Wufei.

Trowa just smiled and said, "I suspect you're right about that. I, ah, I like your voice. We need the energy. They sell that on L2?"

"Energy for sale? Not that I heard of. 'Bout the only thing that's not. Hey, thanks, man. You do have a lot to say, when you get going. Bi, huh? Yeah, never could get excited about girls. Lord knows I've tried!"

Duo barked out a laugh, ignoring the slap on his back from Hilde. He sobered instantly under the intensity of Heero's glower. In fact, he had noticed that Heero's eyes hadn't left him since he'd entered the room. Duo didn't let that wilt his resolve to cross-examine each band member, though.

"Okay, you're last, lead-boy; at least, I figure you for guitar. Have your say."

"About what?"

"Well, do you like my music? Hate my hair? Consider me as band material or jail bait? Will you murder me in my sleep if I date your boyfriend, or will you and your girlfriend simply tie me up and toss me in the swimming pool to drown?"

Heero's' face transformed slightly registering his transition through a few moods changes. "Baka."

"That mean you like me, or not?" Duo grinned savagely, daring the other boy on.

"He means you're an idiot," Wufei translated with what Duo felt was more satisfaction than the slight justified. "He doesn't care what you do, as long as you do your job."

"He knows what the word means," Hilda put in. "Duo, he insulted you on purpose."

Duo's smile turned wicked as he folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, Hee-row, you're avoiding me. You are not asexual, I hope. Ah, come on, tell me it ain't so."

Heero turned his head. "Shut up."

"Okay, I'll take that as another 'tolerate'," Duo said.

"Well," Zechs broke in. "Shall we go? Is there anything you need to do before leaving?"

Duo shook his head and handed an envelope, the pay for the gig, to Hilde. "Nope."

"Miss Hilde," Zechs addressed her politely, which amused Duo, "would you like to join us as well? You are certainly welcome to come along, stay the weekend, the week, however long you want. Duo, would you like that? Would you be more comfortable with your friend along?"

Hilda stood shaking her head. "Hell no he wouldn't. Like I said, I came, I did the gigs, and this was the last. I got'im hooked up, so now with a clear conscience, I go. And, if I go now, I'll catch the next shuttle back to L2 and be sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night."

"What about your synthesizer?"

"Not mine. Rented. Stays here." The girl swaggered over to Duo and wrapped him in a warm embrace. "You do good and make us all proud, okay?"

He nodded, burying his face in her shoulder and nuzzling her a moment.

"And if these jerks don't treat you right, you come right home. No defeat in that. No harm in trying, right kid?" she said, reassuringly.

"Thanks," he said hoarsely. He was obviously moved by her show of concern and friendship and didn't try to hide that from the others.

"Well, I'm like family, and we Sweepers stick together. We'll be rootin' for ya."

Quatre rushed to Hilda and gave her a hug goodbye. Zechs also promised to take care of Duo Maxwell and see that he had shuttle fare to return to L2, should he decide not to join the band.

"You must allow me to drop you at the launch base," Zechs said in a tone that allowed for no arguments.

Duo stuffed his makeup and other belongings into a soft, worn duffle bag, pulled on a long-sleeved black t-shirt, and jammed his arms into his jacket while whipping his rope of hair free. "These jeans will have to do for now," he muttered mostly to himself as he nabbed his half-empty bottle of water. He followed Zechs out the dressing room door. "Ready. Oh, ah, by the way... what's the name of the band?"

Heero was closest, the flying tail of hair skimming over his arm in passing. "Wing Steel."

"Steal? As in rob a bank and --?"

"No. The metal."

"Steel? Ohhhh... Um, so why 'steel' and not 'gold' or 'platinum'?"

Heero faltered, and Quatre stepped up with an explanation. "We thought it sounded more masculine, and at the time we were playing mostly hard rock."

"But now? What kind of music do you do?" Duo asked as he climbed into the van and found an empty seat next to Quatre.

"Alternative, indie...mixture, I'd say." Quatre smiled.

"So, why not an off-beat metal, then? Like...." Duo hesitated, brushing the tip of his braid against his chin as he thought. "Gundamium. No, make that shorter, like gundam."

"Gundam?" Heero echoed, rolling it over on his tongue and smiling as if he liked the feel and flavor of the word.

"It's used in building giant robotics used in manufacturing. It's stronger than steel. It can take the stresses of outer space," Wufei said.

"I know," Heero said. He looked slightly irritated at the interruption. "It is used on all the colony structures. I hadn't thought of using that in the band name. Wing Gundam."

Hilde laughed. "Guys are so lame at names, I swear! Duo was going to use the stage name of Deathscythe, I mean, that's just so axe-in-the-brain, ya know? Listen, Gun-dam Wing. Better, right? Has a lilt to it and that indie colony culture sound. Gundam Wing, yeah."

Heero's serious glower, softened, and he smiled. "Gundam Wing, with the indie colony culture sound. A new genre. I like that idea."

"Maybe you should wait until I'm in, before you start making changes," Duo said.

"In --?" Heero asked.

And then an incredible thing happened, although Duo didn't know it at the time. Duo watched as Heero Yuy lost his detachment. A blush flushed his face to the tips of his ears, had they been visible beneath his shaggy brown hair. He opened his mouth to respond then snapped it shut again.

"Anybody hungry as I am?" Zechs called out from the front seat. "I have a place in mind along the way. Open 24-7. I'm stopping anyway. Duo, Hilde? I don't imagine you had dinner before the show."

"Got that right. Can't perform on a full stomach," Duo agreed.

"You didn't have dinner the night before, or breakfast or lunch --" Hilde reminded him.

Zechs shot them both a concerned look in the rearview mirror.

Duo caught it and smiled in return. "Three-square's an overrated, Earth-side concept. Hey, I haven't slept for ten days either --"

"What?" Heero asked, his voice strangled. "That's impossible!"

"-- because that's just too long," Duo finished. He flashed him a charming smile and sat back, eyes closed.

Quatre leaned closer to Duo. "You shouldn't tease him," Quatre whispered. "Wufei either."

"Why not?"

"They don't like it."

Duo chuckled. "Now, that's where you're wrong. Those tight boys need teasing to open up."

Quatre opened his mouth to ask what he meant. Duo let him process his words and their meaning more closely, and caught the blonde's eyes roving over his ripped jeans. In the instant Quatre understood the sexual innuendo, he snapped his mouth shut, blushed furiously, and turned away his face to hide it.

"Hey, sorry, Quat. I gotta big mouth and that was just the perfect setup, ya know?"

Quatre nodded just as the van stopped, and Zechs slid out, opening the door to the passenger seat, where Hilde was ensconced.

"Come with me," Zechs said, and offered her a hand out. "The rest of you can stay put."

Several minutes later, Hilde and Zechs returned to the van with two dark-haired men loaded with sacks. Hilde climbed into her seat holding her own bag and turned around to smile reassuringly at her friend. Zechs commanded the distribution of individual bags of drinks and snacks to the boys in back.

"What is this?" Duo asked as two bags were deposited in his lap.

Quatre spoke up. "Middle Eastern. Friends of my family... of mine... own the market and small deli. Thank you, Zechs," he said politely as he accepted a smaller bag.

"Duo, that's lentil soup. It's nutritious and easy on an empty stomach; still, take it slow. I don't want you getting sick." Zechs meant business. He gave the boy a meaningful stare before gradually softening it and smiling in a friendly manner.

"Er, thanks. Tastes great." Duo slid closer to Quatre and whispered, "What's in the drink?"

"I don't know. Lassi perhaps? Is it carbonated?"

"No. Thick and fruity."

"Lassi, then. Mango?"

"Never had one, could be. Good, though."

"Don't you feel...cold wearing those jeans?" Quatre asked him.

"Yeah, I shoulda changed them."

"If you'd asked, we would have given you some privacy."

"'Sokay. Wasn't about you seeing me butt-ass naked. I simply was too damned tired." He turned his head and waited for Quatre's eyes to look up and noticed that Heero's attention was riveted to him. "Hey, don't get the wrong idea. I don't give shows to just anybody. A little mystery is important."

Quatre suddenly seemed so much younger as he filled his mouth with a bite and became completely absorbed in his meal.

Duo sipped and slurped, hands full, in silence the rest of the drive to the shuttle base launch site. The van parked in a loading-zone-only slot. Zechs once again assisted the young lady from the car and accompanied her to the ticket counter.

"Oh, she's not going to let him get away with paying for that too," Duo predicted as he peered out the side window.

"Don't be so sure. Nobility holds sway over its minions. Just wait and see," Quatre said with a light chuckle.

Wufei used the opportunity to move to the seat Hilde had vacated up front. Meanwhile outside the van, the man and young lady pantomimed a brief and noble dispute. In the end, Zechs clearly won, handing over his credit card to the man in the booth. Hilde shyly accepted a quick embrace and a kiss to her cheek, turned to wave to Duo one more time, and skipped away to the waiting room. She was going to ride first class back to L2 with a full tummy and a check to cash.

Zechs returned to the van and started the engine. "Next stop, home."

"How did you get away with that?" Duo asked Zechs.

"I asked her the illuminating question: 'If every year is a marble, how many marbles do you have left?' She understood and accepted her good luck." He tucked a CD into the player, and pulled out into the traffic lane.

"Mr. Boombastic,
What you want is some boombastic,
Romantic, fantastic lover..."

"Ska?" Wufei asked, eyebrows arching to show his distaste.

"Smooth just like silk
Soft and cuddle, hug me up like a quilt
I'm a lyrical lover; no take me for no filth
With my sexual physique jah know me well built..."

"Yes. A little Shaggy for the drive home. Go to sleep if you don't like it," Zechs told him.

"I'm Mr. Boombastic say me fantastic, touch me in my back
She says I'm Mr. Ro...mantic
Say me fantastic, touch me in my back..."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Wufei demurred.

"She say I'm Mr. boom boom boom Boombastic
Say me fantastic; touch me in my back..."

Zechs sighed and smiled wearily, but said nothing. Duo thought it must suck to have to be the mature one all the time. He closed his eyes and let the music rock him to sleep.

"She says I'm Mr. Ro...mantic
Say me fantastic; touch me in my back..."

Duo was asleep before Zechs had put the van in gear and he slumbered on for the rest of the ride.

"She says I'm Mr. Ro...mantic
Say me fantastic; touch me in my back
She say I'm Mr. boom boom Boombastic
Say me fantastic; touch me in my back..."

Chapter 3 -- She's Come Undone

Duo was dead to the world by the time Zechs parked the van at the estate. Quatre hadn? minded sitting beside the strangely quiet boy for an hour; it had given him the opportunity to stare, unseen. Street lights washed his face in sodium glows, but the god was just a boy asleep. His heavy damp braid lay curled in his lap like a snake, coiled, waiting. Brown bangs framed his closed eyes; long, dark lashes hid the entrance to them. His body gave away nothing, no clues to his personality, past, present, or future. Just a boy. How much of his charm was his liveliness and energy, Quatre wondered?

"Should I wake him up?" Quatre asked when the van was empty.

"We can't leave him here." Zechs looked at Heero to take action, but when he remained still, the older man moved to climb into the van.

"Why not?" Wufei asked. "He can't do any harm in there."

"It'll get too cold!" Quatre cried out irritably. He wanted to hit the sack, not trade barbs with Wufei at three in the morning. "What kind of impression would that make?"

"Hey!"Zechs' shout came from within the van. He backed out rubbing his jaw followed by an apologetic, confused-looking Duo.

"Sorry, 'bout that. Reflexes, ya know?" Duo said around a yawn. "Where's this?"

"The garage. Don't get it confused with home," Wufei drawled.

Quatre stepped behind Wufei about to settle his anger with a fight, one he would lose, he knew, painfully against the martial arts master, when a firm grip to his shoulder heaved him back a step instead.

"Ignore him."

"Heero, I will, but --"

Quatre didn't finish. He was irritated. He wasn't a child and didn't like being pushed around and treated like one. He wished he were stronger like Wufei or tougher like Trowa or scary like Heero. He noticed Trowa watching his reaction, though, and decided that it was a stupid time to make a scene over Duo. He clamped his jaw shut and said nothing more. When he wiggled irritably, Heero immediately released him. Once free, Quatre flung his coat over a shoulder and waited for the others to go ahead, trailing Heero into the house. Zechs led Duo to the guest room, motioning for everyone else to go away. Quatre had no desire to do anything but collapse on his bed in his room.

His clock said 12:00, but his head said "early" then he remembered bringing home the exciting Shinigami. Quatre raced through his weekend "morning" routine, yanking on a sun-faded, pink t-shirt and khaki shorts, and skipped downstairs to check on their guest.

Tapping lightly on the door, so as to disturb the fewest number of people still sleeping in the household, resulted in nothing. No answer. Quatre twisted the knob and peeked in. The bed was empty; the window was wide open.

"Duo?" he called.

"Yo!" Duo replied.

"You're already up?" Quatre leaned out the window, arms on the sill and smiled.

Duo spread his arms wide. "Soaking up the rays, man. Real sun. Woke me up and I'd forgotten where I was. This place... Is it real? Looks like a resort."

Quatre's eyes flit over the exposed torso. Slim and muscled, like he'd remembered from the vision on stage. Duo wore his jeans and nothing else.

"Um, Cat? I gotcher name right?"

His eyes rose to meet the uninhibited violet ones of the other boy, but instantly looked away. He was so exciting, but his hair was in need of a good washing, as was his body. Despite that, his impish good looks were enticing. Quatre's mind wildly chased down something polite to say and an excuse for his giving the stranger a brazen examination.

"Yes, ah, 'Kaah-truh,' but you can call me 'Cat' if you like. Would you like a shower? You look about my size so you can wear something of mine."

Duo responded with a wide smile, and sauntered closer to the window, braid swaying, eyes boring into the other boy's. Quatre was mesmerized; his legs refusing to let him scamper off.

"I packed clothes in my bag, but the shower sounds great." Duo reached out and ran a finger through Quatre's hair, lifting the bangs lightly. When he twisted his head to look into his blue eyes, Quatre suddenly felt shy. "You come with it?"

"Me?" Quatre squeaked. He stepped backwards away from the open windowsill.

"Yeah. You seem interested. I am interested."

"You are?"

"Gods, are you na?e or blind? You're a bloody, blond wet dream. Fuck. You can do me whether I stay on here or not."

Quatre sucked in air and coughed. He had never been propositioned by another boy in that manner; at least, not one he'd just met. He felt the heat rise up his neck and color his cheeks. Why me? he wondered. He envied how Trowa always looked so calm and cool. Heero didn't blush and when Wufei did he could cover it up with an angry outburst. Quatre just hated his blush reaction. He had some sexual experience. There was no reason to act like a virgin when he wasn't. He knew it made him look so young and immature, which made him nervous and self-conscious, which in turn made things worse.

His voice cracked. "D-d-do...? Y-you?"

"Unless you got something exclusive going with your boyfriend."

Quatre's wide eyed confusion set the other boy to laughing.

"Yeah, the one checking us out from the upstairs window at 2:00."

Quatre's shot a worried glance in the right direction, but the wall blocked his view. He wasn't sure if Duo had been joking or not, and it distracted him enough that he missed Duo pushing up on the sill, scrambling for a foothold.

"There's a door --" he began to say.

Too late. Duo was committed already, so Quatre stepped back further giving him room to crawl back into the guest room.

"Tell ya what," Duo wrapped an arm around Quatre and pulled him toward a door, "if I got it right, that way's the kitchen. You cook some? Can you fix me and you something to nosh on then? Cool. I'll go back, shower, and meetcha there in thirty. Okay?"

Quatre recovered his voice and nodded. "I can do that."

"Terrif! Catcha later, then, Cat. Oh and... rain check?"

"Rain...?" Quatre blushed to his ear tips remembering the offer for sex left hanging. "Oh, um, I guess... maybe..."

His waffling was lost in Duo's raucous laughter. Quatre resented Duo's ease with sexual issues, while he became more and more uncomfortable. Would he ever grow up?! How he wished he could be so daring around Trowa!

"Man, that was the best. Hot water to the ver-ryee end of a shower! Yeah! Sooooo, what'sup?"

When Duo entered the kitchen, all heads turned his way. His long wet braid hung in back, concealed, and his drab clothes typified him as a color-challenged teenager, but with a toned, yet slim, physique. His black t-shirt hugged his chest and the faded denims, less ripped that the others, still revealed skin here and there when he moved. Quatre beckoned him to sit in the empty chair beside his with a wave and dashed to deliver Duo sandwich on a plate and a fork -- all before Heero could gather his thoughts or even breathe.

"Here, and help yourself to the salads and pickles," Quatre said.

"Thanks. You really made all this for me?"

"No, I didn't, but it is all for you to eat."

Heero snorted, but kept on chewing his neatly sliced sandwich. He thought Quatre was trying too hard to be nice and accommodating. Duo wasn't a guest in the strictest sense of the word. He wouldn't expect special treatment. Quatre seemed nervous, too. He wondered if that meant Quatre was attracted to Duo. He had told them he was gay; they both were, but that didn't necessarily imply they had to be interested in one another. Heero hadn't betrayed his feelings. He wanted the singer to join the band, because Zechs had been right: he was the key to their winning the contest. If he joined to be with Quatre then that should be okay, too.

But it wasn't. Heero couldn't convince himself that he was all right with Quatre pursuing the singer. No, he wasn't worldly enough to take on Shinigami from L2. Who was?

Trowa pushed the carton of milk closer to Duo, saying, "Glasses are in the glass cupboard."

Duo opened his mouth. Heero expected him to say something like "that's obvious," before seeing that Trowa meant the cabinet with the glass front, but Duo said nothing. Heero studied the slim figure poised motionless and scanning the vast array of choices for the right one. Tall-stemmed wine glasses, coffee mugs, flutes, goblets, cordials, brandy snifters, cocktail glasses, highballs, hurricanes, parfaits, sherry glasses, shot glasses, and possibly even juice glasses somewhere mixed in lined the far wall in a dazzling array.

Trowa smiled the barest smile, and asked, "Want me to get one for you?"

Heero's eyes snapped away from that smile to gage Duo's reaction. Along the way, he was sideswiped Quatre's look of consternation. Heero swallowed back the words he was about to say. He had a new worry. Trowa. Was he possibly infatuated with the singer too? The competition would hurt the band. Now, Heero saw Duo as a threat.

"No, got two legs. It's chill, man!" Duo rattled off carelessly and hopped over to get his own glass.

Before returning to the table, Duo carried his glass of choice, a fine crystal highball, to the sink and turned on the tap. When he sat again, he had a glass of plain water to drink. He blew stray hair out of his mouth.

"Water has no food value," Heero told him.

"Yeah, I'm just drinking it. I got the rest of this for food."

"Milk contains additional protein and calcium."

"Oh yeah? Well, I haven't ever drunk cow juice and I'm not starting now." Duo piled his plate with potato salad as he bit into a dill pickle.

"That's why you're so short."

Quatre moved his chair noisily. "Drop it, Heero," he whispered.

"You think so? So, what's your excuse?" Duo countered.

"I am average height for a male of Asian heritage," Heero said coolly.

"I've read that most males continue growing well into their twenties," Quatre said. "I hope that's true because I'd like to be at least 5'10''."

Heero was mid surly-growl, "good for you --" when Wufei and Zechs entered the room together.

"You started without us?" Zechs asked. "I thought we were eating in the dining room?"

Quatre said, "We decided it would be more comfortable in here for just Duo and me. I thought everyone else had eaten." He looked self-conscious then added, "Then Heero and Trowa joined me. A-and now you, too."

Heero wondered why he'd said that. Lunch was served at this time everyday but Sunday, even when school was in session, he recalled, from his experience when he remained home ill one day. Heero set his fork on the table and stared at him. Quatre had wanted Duo to himself, then. The thought disturbed him. He had never thought Quatre would move on another guy. He wondered if Trowa had caught on to what Quatre was doing or cared enough to be a competitor after all. It was hard to tell what Trowa was thinking; he said little.

Wufei, however, spoke out. "The cook always prepares lunch for us at noon."

"The cook?" Duo paused in his eating. "You guys have a cook? Really?"

Zechs stood, pickle in hand. He was dressed in loose, ivory, draw-string pants and a long flowing tunic with rainbow beads around his neck, an informal version of his evening attire. "Yes. It is far easier and cleaner. More efficient all around. With school, there isn't time to cook meals for six or more if there are guests. Shopping is too far for daily trips and I really don't care to plan meals and purchase supplies in advance. This place," he swept the room with an arm, "has a staff to cook, clean, maintain the grounds, pool, horses, and cars."

"No shit." Duo looked flabbergasted. "So, what do you do?"

"Play music, tennis," Quatre began.

"Work out in the gym," Heero added.

"There is the pool and horseback riding," Quatre continued.

"Video games," Trowa contributed. Duo's eyes lit up and Trowa smiled again. "But music is the big thing for all of us."

"So it's pretty much all fun and games," Duo said, looking over Trowa with a satisfied with a broad grin.

Quatre cleared his throat, drawing Duo's attention back onto him. "It's a wonderful place to explore new interests."

Wufei cut in without remorse. "And then there is school."

"Oh, no problem. I'm done with it." Duo stabbed at his salad, filled his fork, and jammed it into his mouth. "So, don't worry 'bout that."

Zechs shook his head as Quatre opened his mouth. It was obvious to Heero that Quatre wanted to divert the subject away from business and school. Trowa was playing some game, too, and Heero did not want this new kid to break up his band. He was strikingly attractive, even Wufei had had to utter words to that effect after they'd left him at the guest room the night before. Obviously, someone like Quatre and, apparently, Trowa too, would fall hard and fast. Heero admitted that he had been nothing short of mesmerized by the end of the concert. He knew then that he would have to resolve the dilemma, because Wufei would most certainly not. Heero outlined a plan in his head, while listening to Zechs.

"Duo, if you live here, you go to classes. If you are a high school graduate, I'll send for your transcript and find a college --"

"No college. No degree. I learned all I needed. Sitting in hard, wood chairs for six hours was not my kind of thing, okay?"

Zechs would not be okay with anything sub par, that Heero also knew. "Duo, if you don't want more academics, there is a vocational high school program --"

"I got a vocation. I'm a singer and a pilot. Got it all covered."

"He's got a point," Trowa said. "Piloting is a respectable job and it pays well."

"You don't need a high school diploma to get a pilot's license?" Quatre asked.

"Not on L2," Duo answered lightly. "Only two things stop you cold. Can't be color blind 'cause the controls are color coded, and can't have a felony conviction. That last one really is a limiting factor, believe me."

"Really?" asked Wufei. "I didn't realize there were rules to enforce on L2."

Duo set down his glass and looked directly at Wufei through his fringe of bangs. "Ya know, I'm looking forward to the pleasure of your company since I haven't had it yet."

Heero broke into the battle of wits, fighting for containment before Wufei's volatile temper blew up. "But you had to have memorized manuals for repair and operations that would require a knowledge of engineering and physics, be able to compute routes in your head in case you lose navigation of flight control, that's got to be Trigonometry at least, not to mention --"

"Where'dya get all that info?" Duo asked Heero, his attention fully riveted onto the pair of intense, blue eyes.

"I researched it on the internet this morning."

"I find it hard to believe that someone your age and, now, self-admitted lack of education has a legitimate shuttle pilot's license," Wufei said. "Regardless."

"Hey, Chang, chill dude," Trowa said.

"'Sokay. Listen, I didn't say I was stupid, I just told Zechs here that I didn't take to sitting in classrooms. I was tested young and trained special because I had certain talents. Piloting was one; the singing I had to pursue on my own. L2 doesn't care much about advancing the arts, but they need pilots to move people and materials for manufacturing."

"Then there is no problem," Heero said, satisfied in more ways than one. Duo was not easily riled up by anyone; level-headed and able to roll with the punches. He could become a good friend. He looked at Zechs, adding, "He can test out of his classes if you arrange for it. He may not need to attend next year at all."

"Yeah," Duo drawled in a relaxed fashion. "Like I said."

"Well, part of attending school is for the social interaction. Something can be arranged, I'm sure. Some culinary classes, sports, computer classes to start. Besides, there are school functions like dances and games where you can meet other young people your own age."

Duo smiled. "Listen, I don't wanna argue so I'll say okay for now. School here sounds different than on L2, but aren't we all kinda old for high school?"

"Wufei is the only one who didn't have his education disturbed and is tracking well," Zechs said. "I believe the others have one last year to make up for lost credits. The current year is on summer break."

Zechs smiled, "It is my wish for all of you to succeed to the best of your abilities and heart-felt desires. To deduce what that might be, ask yourself the question: 'If I could be anything in this world, and be guaranteed success, what would I be?' Then start being that today in the small ways that you are able. Pretend and imagine shopping like that person, breathing like that person, making decisions like that person. Then build a bridge from here to there with real actions and steps."

"I guess I'm in for more of those affirmations of yours, huh?" Duo asked.

Zechs smiled and nodded. Duo shrugged, effectively dropping the subject. If he didn't join the band it would all be a mute point anyway, Heero thought. Which meant he should come up with a good reason for him to stay; one that did not depend on a romantic link with Quatre or Trowa. He reviewed his action plan again.

"So, what's on your agenda today? Do I get a tour or something? Hear the band?" Duo asked.

"If you are interested in seeing the gym, I was going to work out for an hour before band practice. You may join me," Wufei said as he rose from the table to set his dishes at the sink.

Heero was surprised that the offer came from the one who seemed to like the singer the least. His own thoughts had been along the same tract. Possibly he could join them.

"Okay," Duo said.

Wufei rose from the table to set his dishes at the sink. Heero's gaze followed Duo as he followed suit, collecting his dishes and balancing them precariously on top of Wufei's in the sink. He smiled at the result, tossed his rope of hair out of the way, and stretched his arms overhead. A sliver of skin revealed the rise of a hip bone as his back arched then the dark cloth of his t-shirt slipped back into place.

Show over, Heero pulled in his eyes and willed his disobediently pounding heart to behave. Self consciously, his eyes slipped sideways to find Quatre watching him. He stared him down until Quatre turned away, following Duo's progress as he trotted off behind the short, lithe, and serious Chinese boy. Heero nearly tripped getting to his feet.

"Practice begins at 2:00 on the weekend if we haven't a gig," Quatre called out to their retreating backs.

"Gotcha!" Duo hollered on his way out.

Heero steadied himself, but before he could join the two on the way to the gym, Zechs stopped him. "Heero, just a moment. Give them a little time alone first. I think Wufei is having the hardest time accepting him and this might be a nice chance for them to bond a little."

Heero frowned and looked at Quatre. He knew Quatre had the best sense of others' feelings, somehow. "Is Duo upset?"

"No, surprisingly." Quatre frowned at Heero. "None of you are making him feel very welcome."

"Oh? Did he tell you that?" Zechs asked.

"No, it was just my observation."

"He seems happy and comfortable here to me," Zechs said. "He clearly has moved around a great deal on his own. He gets along with others easily and makes many friends. He's very adaptable. What do you think, Heero?"

Staggering crossed his mind first, followed shortly by sexy, smart, and self-possessed. And that was only the letter "S". "Dangerous," Heero said.

Trowa shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. "How do ya mean?"

"The band is of primary importance. If having him in the band has a disruptive influence, enough to cause a rift then his singing and dancing contribution is totally lost."

"A rift?" Quatre asked, his eyes widening.

Heero thought his friend's expression and tone of voice gave him an aura of innocence, as if he hadn't a clue what was going on. Heero found that disconcerting. How could he not else feel the undercurrent of unrest Duo caused, Heero wondered? Quatre hadn't been a patent liar in the past. He was, in Heero's estimation, a good soul. Trowa, too. Heero sighed, thinking he was letting Duo get to him.

"That's right, Heero," Zechs said, lowering his voice. "What makes you think he's going to break up what you've all got going?"

"I could be wrong," Heero said abruptly, excusing himself and leaving the room without clearing his dishes.

"You should wait and let Yuy demonstrate those," Wufei told Duo, who was fascinated by the complex pulleys and balances of the weight machine. "I prefer isometrics, balance and strength training from karate katas."

"You spar?" Duo asked. He found a stationary running machine and turned it on. "Mind if we put on some music? Helps me keep pace."

Wufei pressed the play button on the CD player resting on a nearby shelf. "Yuy and I spar, sometimes Trowa. They are both skilled, but different." Wufei stared at Duo setting a fast pace on the treadmill. "You can adjust that down."

"She's come undone"

Wufei stared at Duo setting a fast pace on the treadmill. "You can adjust that speed down," he repeated.

"She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late."

"I run fast, thanks. As a kid I'd have to steal to eat then run not to get caught."

Wufei had no picture in his mind of what being a street kid really meant. Stealing food to eat certainly had never entered into any visualization, and trying to picture a younger Duo starving, altered his thinking. "Your parents?"

"Killed, I guess. Never knew them. Me and a few others hung out, safety in numbers. We got hustled into an orphanage, but I was too old to get adopted. Sister Helen saw to it we learned to read, write, and all."

"You were chosen to be a shuttle pilot and you never attended school?" This was too difficult for Wufei to fathom.

"Oh, I did from the time I was eight to twelve, give or take a year. I really don't know when I was born. The school wasn't much and the kids bullied us from the orphanage, so Sister Helen took over tutoring. I guess I was pretty smart, because Father Maxwell had me tested and at twelve, well, I got training. By fifteen, I was licensed to co-pilot and on my first flight the pilot had a heart attack and I took over. What?"

"It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost herself"

Wufei was standing by the machine, Duo still running his six-minute mile upon mile. "Father Maxwell. Maxwell Church!"

"She's come undone."

"Ah, yeah. Heard about that, eh?"

"She wanted truth but all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late."

"It was a story every child in my clan was told. Never play with fire. The children living there burned down their home and --"

Duo cut him off. "Not true! The OZ syndicate did it. I saw them. I was at my flight training and was late getting back. I heard some goon threaten Father Maxwell for more protection money."

"Extorting money from a church and orphanage? A lower life form never walked on land."

"That's for sure. And no better souls lived than Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. They wouldn't give in, but had they suspected the outcome, I'm sure they would have handed over every penny rather than doom everyone to death."

"Too many mountains
And not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches
And not enough truth..."

"So, what did you do?"

"I ran for help." Duo smiled and shook his head, still running without letup. "You know, it's not easy to convince a policeman there's an emergency when you're just a kid."

"They didn't believe you?"

"No, but when I ripped the gun out of his holster, he ran after me." Duo's pace slackened slightly. "But it was too late."

"You survived."

"The only one. I learned several things. I call them Maxwell's Laws, the first being: The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: when they're ready and when you're not. "

"You seek justice for what happened. You want revenge?"

"Yeah," Duo said, matching Wufei's intensity, "but that takes big bucks and power, oh, and some brave souls stupid enough to carry out some maniacal plan. I, heh, heh... don't know which will be the most difficult problem to overcome."

"It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost herself

She's come undone."

"Time to cool down." Duo reached out and dialed down the speed until he was walking. When he stopped, Wufei leaned over to read the dial.

"You ran three miles in 17 minutes. I'm very impressed." His eyes bore into Duo's. "You aren't even breathing hard. You weren't even trying."

"Not my hardest, no. I mean, I just ate!" Duo laughed and hopped off the treadmill. "One thing I learned in a book, and that is: humans reach higher running speeds not by increasing the speed of their legs, but by applying greater support force to the ground. Also, shorter lighter runners release body heat faster giving them an advantage."

"She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
Mama, it was too late!"

Wufei nodded slowly. He had no words for this remarkable young man before him, he thought, then a few come to find. "I judged you wrong. You are not weak or stupid. Taking justice into your own hands would be a rash move. You would be dead had you attempted to do so at the time."

Duo grinned. "Yeah, well, Maxwell's Law number two: anything you do can get you killed, including nothing."

"I did nothing. Oz syndicate destroyed my home, my clan, my family. They killed my wife. I wanted justice, but I was too weak."

Wufei wondered why he had told Duo what he hadn't revealed to his house mates. What was it that made him feel so exposed or want to share his secrets and dark desires with this stranger?

"It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost herself."

"So, you work out down here to get stronger," Duo stated, understanding Wufei's motivations like no one else. "You want justice served for what OZ did to you."

"Of course." It wasn't sexual attraction, he felt; it was of a different nature, like brother-in-arms.

Duo cracked a smile and broke the binding spell. "You need to loosen up, dude. Believe me, I know. Too much determination will just shrink your nuts. 'Course locked up like monks in here you haven't got much outlet. So, Duo Maxwell at your service, if you get my drift."

He bowed with a dramatic flourish that was completely unnecessary, so of course he intended it to be insulting. Wufei curled his lip in disgust.

"I wish I didn't understand what you just offered me, gai. Say that again, touch me, look at me and I will see to it that you do not play music on Earth again, if you 'get my drift.'"

Duo stepped back tongue-tied, and Wufei knew that he had skillfully impressed him with his authoritative and unquestionable masculinity. Weak women could never stand up to men like him. As long as Duo Maxwell knew his place and remained in it, they would get along fine.

"I must shower before practice," he told him. "I'll have someone meet you here to show you the way to the studio."

"Don't bother. I can find my way." Duo grinned like a spreading wound. "Ah, but before you go --"

Wufei reached toward the CD player and hesitated, uneasy in such close proximity with the smiling boy. "Yes?" "I'd like you to take this knife outta my back. You'll probably need it again."

"She's come undone
Doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh
Doh doh doh"

Wufei slammed his hand into the CD player, shutting off the music and possibly breaking the unit. Then he swept past Duo and yanked at the door.

Chapter 4 -- I'm Shakin'

Trowa loped after Heero, stopping outside the gym door. "Wait."

Heero dropped his hand from the door knob, taking a defensive posture. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I just want a moment with him," Trowa said, shaking his long bangs to the side then pausing to catch Heero's eyes with his own. "Then he's all yours."

Heero's deep blue eyes pierced his a second then looked askance. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sex with a braid? Oh sure you do, or else you're denser than I think. Or...? Should I invite him to my room tonight, since you're not interested?"

Trowa didn't often tease Heero, but he deserved it for not coming clean the night before. Trowa could see the obvious signs of attraction as well as anyone else with two legs and a libido. He knew Heero was drawn to the comely singer, and yet had denied it to his face. Well, avoided acknowledging it. Asexual, indeed!

And if he didn't get Heero to stake his claim soon, he wasn't sure that Quatre wouldn't fall hard for the singer. Trowa was sure he couldn't compete with the brazen, glamorous, and sexy kid for the attention of the refined Winner un-heir, nor did he believe he had a chance with Duo should Quatre make a stab at romancing the kid. Damn. He wasn't fool enough to dream he had a chance with Quatre whether or not Duo was in the equation at all!

His best scheme, and the least work he decided in the end, would be to spur Heero to action and remove the Duo threat. Heero, he knew, could act impulsively. He could also break his arm, or neck.

Heero snorted something to the effect of "Don't push your luck," and strode off down the hall, missing the hanging pictures by mere inches.

"Only take a minute," Trowa said one more time, then entered the gymnasium.

He nearly pulled Chang out the door as it swung open into the hall. Trowa was pleasantly surprised to find Wufei and Duo at the end of a heated exchange. More resolute guys than Chang had fallen into the arms of less attractive boys than Duo, but it was unlikely.

"Barton. Excellent. You may direct Maxwell to the practice room when the time comes. I have other things to attend to." Without waiting for a reply, Wufei tucked in his stinger and "wasped" off.

"What'sup?" Duo asked.

Trowa checked out the toned chest and faint film of sweat under his bangs. "Getting a workout?"

"Naw, just a run. You here for some exercise?"

"Verbal only." Trowa's eyes flashed a humorous warning.

Duo appeared amused by his suggestiveness. "'Kay. So, you got ten tries to guess what I'm all about."

"Don't need ten." Trowa watched the other boy's eyebrows disappear upwards under the heavy fringe of bangs. "You doing drugs?"

"I used to do drugs. I still do drugs. But I used to, too," Duo replied comically.

Trowa chuckled. "Right. "You bring drugs with you? Okay, just keep the drugs away from Winner."

"You mean Quat? You his big bro or something?"

"No, he's very inexperienced, not like us." Trowa looked down at the slightly shorter boy then hid his eyes behind a shank of hair. "He gets...down about what happened to him; what brought him here. He has a source. He nearly OD'd couple times."

Duo absorbed the information then nodded. "Gotcha. So, you and him got something going on?"

Trowa had scarcely even considered it, although, now that he knew Quatre was gay, he might dream. "No."

Duo smiled in a way that made him uncomfortable at first but then charmed him into confessing. He had sought Duo out to question him and warn him off Quatre, but he found that he was opening up to him and revealing his own well-kept secrets.

"But you wish you did, huh?" Duo pressed. "He's sweet, for sure."

"He's rather pure and clueless for the most part."

"Yeah, I figured that. I may have gone a little overboard with the teasing earlier. So, ah, you're protecting your turf here, right?"

Trowa nodded. "Possibly."

"Not looking for a little action on the side."

Trowa shrugged noncommittally.

"Okay," Duo said without much expression. "So, why aren't you washing the family car and working in your dad's shop?"

"No family, 'cept a sister still in the circus."

"No kidding? The circus? You grew up in a circus? How cool is that?"

"Um, to not me. OZ syndicate mercenaries attacked our caravan. I don't remember it at all. Guess the ringmaster missed a payoff. Our parents were killed, but my sister remained with the remnants of the performers, who were like family."

"You didn't?"

Trowa shook his head. He hadn't even shared this much with Heero, Wufei, or even Quatre. "Mercenaries kept me; trained me. When I was twelve, another circus came to town and I struck out on my own and joined up." When he looked back at Duo, the boy's eyes reflected the pain and loss of innocence he'd known. "My luck it was the same one I'd grown up in. Catherine claimed me and took me in."

Duo shook his head. "What were the odds of that, huh?"

"Pretty low, I have to agree. I'm lucky."

"Yes, you are. That's cool. So, what did you do in the circus?"

"Everyone does lots of things. I took care of the animals. Feeding the lions was my favorite job. I performed on the tightrope...other stuff, like clowning around."

Duo was very impressed. Trowa knew he wanted demonstrations and more details, but one look at the clock flashing digitally on the wall and he knew they'd have to go immediately. "I have a few keepsakes."

"A whip? I always wanted to be a lion tamer just to get a turn at cracking that whip."

Trowa chuckled. "No, um, we should go."

"That time already? Okay, I'm kinda excited to see the studio."

Trowa thought many things excited Duo, but none of them were really him, regardless of how he flirted. No, Duo was looking for a challenge, he bet, and Heero would be one. He closed the door behind them. He felt a tug on his shirt and turned to see what Duo wanted.

"How can you stand it? I wear t-shirts. I can't wear turtlenecks. Wearing a turtleneck is like being strangled by a really weak guy. All day! If you wear a backpack and a turtleneck, it's like a weak midget trying to bring you down."

Duo grabbed his own neck and made gagging sounds, bending over backwards so that Trowa thought he might lose his balance and fall. He caught him by the shoulders and lifted him back into an upright posture, taking care not to step on the braid dragging on the ground.

"You're exaggerating," Trowa said, but he smiled, too.

"You think so?" Duo laughed.

Trowa shrugged, and then said in a droll aside, "I saw a human pyramid once. It was very unnecessary."

Duo nearly busted a gut from laughing so hard.

Heero was tearing into a series of heavy, devastating riffs with the ferocity of a machine-gunner taking on the oncoming enemy. He'd cranked up the amplifier to ear-splitting volume heedless of the other band members filing into the studio, and launched into another attack on their nervous systems. Quatre ignored him in favor of switching on this keyboard and setting tabs on the humming synthesizer already warming up.

Wufei conducted crash tests on his cymbals, testing the resonance of his newest acquisition against the others. If he could distinguish any difference over the cacophony of other noise, Quatre would be surprised. From what he could sense, both band mates were disturbed. Quatre could guess who was at the root of their moodiness, but not why, exactly.

When Duo and Trowa entered together, laughing at some shared joke, Duo's arm draped casually over the taller boys shoulders, they were accompanied by the sour whine of guitar and a deafening racket as one cymbal stand fell over onto the hard linoleum floor.

Oh, yes. Even a non-empathic person could figure out the "who" part of the problem. He felt a tug in his chest seeing the Duo so familiar with Trowa. Maybe it was just as well, Quatre tried to convince himself. He wasn't experienced enough for someone like Shinigami, possibly, but he wasn't an innocent by any means. He simply felt like a kid next to the worldlier singer. Trowa, he knew, had had an exciting life on the road in the circus, and was better equipped to handle the handful Duo was proving to be.

Just being gay wasn't enough. He wondered if he had any attributes besides his good looks to attract anyone but perverts. Maybe drugs.

Quatre sighed, disappointed. He had hoped to build on his friendship to make it something more with the quiet Trowa. He wished to be outgoing like Duo, at least to attract Trowa, but it wasn't meant to be.

Trowa broke apart and dialed Heero's amp down a couple notches in passing. He rolled up a few cables and restrung new ones in a different configuration. He slipped on head phones, took up his bass, plugging a cable into the end, and proceeded to tune up. Not one word. He was the only one completely untroubled in the room.

The singer, Quatre noted, was slightly agitated and he wondered why. Duo seemed content studying his surrounds, although he surreptitiously snuck a quick glance over to where Heero was thrumming two notes over and over.

Quatre watched as Heero stopped punishing his guitar and, instead, tracked Duo's progress around the room. Duo was examining a piece of equipment then moving to the next in a determined fashion. Heero scratched his forehead then scraped the ragged-cut brown hair across it in a boyish gesture. His features softened and a smile teased at the edges of his lips. He gave the impression that he'd been waiting for ages for just such a person as Duo Maxwell to come along so that he could get down to the business of living.

Oh my.

Wufei didn't seem to like Duo at all. Trowa and Heero looked like they might both be attracted to him, and when Quatre was honest, so was he. Maybe Duo wasn't going to be a good fit for their band. He closed his eyes and concentrated on banking up barriers in his mind against the onslaught of emotions moving like warring rivals, clashing onto his bruised psyche. When he checked again, he was pleased to note that Trowa no longer seemed interested in what Duo was doing in the room. He was concentrating on tuning and adjusting his cable leads. Time to get to business, then.

Quatre played an arpeggio which was part of an introduction into one of their songs. Trowa met his eyes and they shared a smile as he answered with the matching bass line. He repeated the notes, establishing the rhythm. Wufei righted his stand and came in on the next measure with both the snare and bass drum accompaniment. Five measures and one repeat later, Heero joined in, and the practice began.

Duo politely listened, tapping his foot, but otherwise staying out of their way while they concentrated on instrumentals. When Quatre started to sing, Duo sat on an amplifier near enough to watch. Quatre knew his voice was nice, but still not as emotive as Duo's. He became self-conscious and sang even worse, although no one, not even Heero commented on it.

They ran through a dozen songs, giving Duo a sample of their range, then broke for sodas. Quatre was first to ask him what he thought.

"You sound terrific; better than I'd expected, though I don't know why I didn't think your band was going to be great," Duo began. "Your equipment is fantastic. I don't even know what all that mixing board can do, but I'd love to get my hands on it."

Wufei smiled smugly. The mixer had been his choice, and Quatre bet he'd never admit that he didn't know how to use all the features yet either. Wufei beckoned Duo closer.

"This is my new raw-china cymbal. You can see the quality in the metal here, but you can hear the difference, and that's what's important," Wufei told him. "Here, give it a try."

Quatre couldn't believe what he'd heard. Wufei never allowed anyone to touch his kit. His throne was his, well, throne! Trowa pretended to clean out his ears as if he hadn't heard properly, and glanced at Quatre to include him. Quatre hid his smile behind a hand, leaned behind his wall of amps, and signaled that his ears were damaged as well. When Trowa chuckled, his insides felt warm and bubbly and the room brightened.

"Man, that's bright with trashy power!" Duo said enthusiastically.

Wufei beamed. "Penetrating. It cuts through fast, doesn't it?"

Duo slammed and pounded for a few minutes on the drum set, pronounced it "awesome," before moving on to check out Trowa's sleek red bass.

"Cool." Duo leaned over the instrument and studied it closely.

Trowa shrugged. "I like it. Warwick Corvette Double Buck Electric."

"Are those two massive MEC humbuckers nestled close in the center of the body?" Duo asked.

"Yeah. Completely covers the sweet-spot most basses miss completely."

"Cool pickup and electronics package I gotta say. Never seen anything this good before."

Trowa glowed. "Yeah, gives it its outrageous attitude and identity. Zechs funded this. I never could have laid out over a grand for this without his backing. Take a look at Yuy's sweet axe, speaking of impressive."

Duo was happy to oblige. He looked over the smooth black finish, the slick, smooth ebony fret board, and high quality chrome hardware, and whistled. "This is one armed and dangerous axe, 'Ro. This pickup array is amazing. Does the neck extend through the body?"

"Yes. Maple neck fitted with twenty-four extra-jumbo frets. There's a Seymour Duncan TB-4, an ESP LH-200, and an ESP SS-120 pickup -- standard on the Stephen Carpenter Signature from ESP." Heero cracked a smile and allowed Duo to touch his beauty that cost the bon viveur Zechs almost three grand.

Somehow Duo had managed to say the right things, assuage the ill feelings, and smooth the ruffled feathers of the conspicuously vain peacocks in the band. Quatre let down his guard, testing the waters, and was pleased to feel warmth and good feelings proliferating. He relaxed and joined in the fun, thinking that possibly this new member might work out after all.

They messed with a couple songs and Duo pointed out how one sounded like one he knew. With some work, they figured out the instrumental parts to dance-rock song by Rooney, which was only a few years old, and ran through it a few times until they were comfortable to add the singer.

"I've forgotten what it feels like to feel normal
To be normal..."

"Ahhh I wake up and it's not my bed, it's w-way too soft...

Duo pulled the lyrics off the top of his head, making them up along the way if he had to, if he'd forgotten the real words. As long as the scansion was right, he was cool.

"I'm sha sha shakin, sha shakin'
I'm sha sha shakin, I'm shakin' now..."

Heero laughed at the mess ups probably because he wasn't fond of the song, but Duo was dancing and shaking and carrying on in a very funny manner. For the last verse, Quatre joined in to keep the lyrics close to true.

"I'm supposed to feel better.
This nightmare is supposed to end.
I am holding on, I am holding on,
I am holding on, I am holding on...,"

The others harmonized, some, but at least they lent their voices to the chorus and brought the song to an outrageous end. It was fun.

"I'm sha sha shakin', sha shakin'
I'm sha sha shakin', I'm shakin' now!"

Zechs wandered in toward the end, bells dangling from his belt tie jingling softly. He clapped and congratulated them on ruining a perfectly good dance tune. After that they played a couple more, testing what Duo knew already and what would make their "sound". Zechs made a few suggestions they approved. The problem was that they needed a real show stopper to end a set or place right before a break to ensure the audience goes wild.

"I know one, but I sing it in Japanese, or mostly, not that the words make much sense. It's a dance tune, so it'll get folks on their feet, but I can make it hot."

"I do not doubt that you can," Zechs said aloud what each of the others was thinking. "Dream and give yourself permission to envision the you that you choose to be."

"Yeah, somethin' like that," Duo said, mystified by the new age philosopher, ex-prince of Sanc. "Do you have a rainbow room, too?"

Zechs laughed aloud at that. "No, I have something much better, a Transformation Oracle to inspire you to self-reflection and clarity."

"No shit!" Duo said as if he might have to see that one for himself someday.

"I'll show you sometime, if your interested," Zechs offered.

"Give me the title and recording artist and I will download it. From there I can get a midi of the music, get it charted out for us to read through," Heero said without consultation. "I can improve the translation as well."

Duo patted his pockets, but came up short if he was searching for a paper and pen. Zechs had both and handed them off. While Duo was scribbling, he was also talking.

"I don't know. My Japanese is pretty good, but you being a native speaker and all... okay. And, ah, don't bother with a keyboard part."

"Hn," Heero grunted, as if he wanted to say more, but he didn't, and then Duo had moved on.

Duo asked, "Can you dance, Quat?"

Quatre nodded. "I've had lessons since I was five."

Trowa cleared his throat.

Wufei snorted. "He does not mean ballroom dancing."

"Like whatcha do at clubs," Duo said, tearing off the sheet of notepaper.

"I-I've never been out clubbing." Quatre suddenly felt very young.

"The nightlife is dangerous in the parts of town where the youth-oriented clubs are located," Zechs said. "I strongly advise against it and do not go myself."

"No way to get there," Trowa said. "No city buses come out here and none of us have transport, except Zechs, of course."

Heero snatched the now neglected paper out of Duo's fingers, and Quatre felt a mood swing from his direction. It wasn't a bad one, more lustful if anything. He wondered what Duo could have written down that would have wrung that kind of reaction out of him -- then he didn't. Duo seemed able to charm chuckles out of Trowa, haul humor from Wufei, why not lure lust from Heero? Quatre frowned at his stumbling alliteration attempts.

Without thinking further than where his own drives were taking him, Quatre looked directly at Trowa and said. "You can teach me."

"He can help, but you and I gotta work out a little routine for that song," Duo said.

Wufei made a point of checking his watch. "We haven't much longer until dinner. We should practice while we can."

"Very well, then," Zechs said. "I'll be on my way to run errands. See you at dinner."

After he left, the band returned to practice. Duo stayed out of the way as he had done before, until his opinion was asked. Quatre was pleased the he could keep a low profile when the situation called for one. Still, he could also tell that Duo was itching to get his hands on Wufei's drums again, so he invited him to sit on a chair close to the synthesizer and pointed out the different "voices" he could set for each song.

In that way, the afternoon passed into evening. It was nearly dark when Zechs came to collect them for dinner. They were putting away the instruments and shutting down the power already.

"You're still here? Dinner's waiting."

"Coming," Quatre said.

"Noin's joining us. We rented movies."

"Does that mean we're supposed to hang around or get lost?" Duo whispered to Heero.

"That means," Zechs said, his eyes betraying his good humor at the question. "Well, I'd like it if you stuck around long enough to meet her. She wanted to catch your act. She is the one who told me about you."

"Oh? She follow the L2 music scene?"

"To some degree you might say she follows all the music scenes. She's a scout for Treize Khushrenada."

"The Treize of Romefeller Recording Industries?" Duo snarled. "That Noin? You know OZ syndicate owns Romefeller, don't you? They rip off the artists royally while laundering drug money."

Zechs' lips drew back in a dry-as-gin grin. "How imaginative you are! Romefeller Recording is the largest label anywhere, but they are completely legitimate."

"Not on L3 or L2," Duo said. "Go there and I can prove it."

This was not the time for arguments, Quatre thought. The conversation ended when Quatre stepped in to ask, "Didn't you suggest we try for a Meteor Music label if we win the contest?"

"When you win it, you mean," Zechs corrected him. "Yes, if that meets with Mr. Maxwell's approval?"

"Meteor? Yeah, they're cool." His demeanor was serious as he entered the formal dining room. "I meant what I said, Zechs, and I do not lie."

Noin and Zechs excused themselves and left the dining room. They hadn't been gone a minute before Duo brightened and caught Heero's eye. "I don't know if I can take any more of Rasa recordings."

"You haven't even caught the energy healing videos," Trowa said.

"Or my favorite, the 'Near Death Experiences of Kun Jen'," Quatre said.

"So, you guys up for a night on the town?" Duo asked.

"You heard what Zechs said," Heero answered him.

"What did you have in mind?" Trowa asked.

"Unless you can materialize a car, 'in your mind' is where the night out will remain." Wufei folded his arms across his chest and looked annoyed when Duo didn't instantly perform magic before his eyes. "That's what I thought."

A dangerous gleam shone from Duo's eyes. It sparked Heero's smoldering libido. He wanted Duo to look at him with that predatory passion.

"Twenty minutes. Change clothes and meet in the garage anyone who wants to come along." Duo's smile promised everything.

Heero was surprised that nobody challenged the singer or argued at all, but then they were probably just as curious and shit-faced bored as he was. Quatre lingered a moment until Trowa nudged him upstairs. Wufei was already gone. Heero was standing alone with Duo. He stared at Duo. Sex with a braid. He'd like sex with a braid -- anyway that sounded, he liked it. Then they were inches apart. If Heero leaned, he'd touch the other boy. He wanted. He throbbed with the wanton desire to touch him.

"You have a clean shirt I could borrow?" Duo asked.

"Yes."

"Your room upstairs?"

Heero nodded and turned away, climbing the stairs. He didn't know what to say. If he opened his mouth he'd tell the sexy singer how much he wanted to see him naked. He might get the wrong idea.

"We're about the same size. Quatre's close, too, but I didn't want to get stuck with a pastel shirt, ya know? Don't get me wrong. I think he looks great in them, but he's blond and I'm not. Trowa's arms are too long, and 'Fei would expect me to return his washed, ironed, and starched."

Heero chuckled. He was right about them all. "And me?"

"I just wanna see what your room looks like."

Heero did a double take. He looked at him, shook his head, and looked again. He thought possibly that Duo was joking, but then again he might have been serious. As he opened the door to his room, Heero thought about what clothes he owned might in any possible way interest Duo. He needn't to have concerned himself even that much, though, he discovered. Duo found the closet and rifled though with total abandon and complete ease. He found Heero's favorite black shirt and pulled it out.

"This one's for you," he said. He dug out a dark, shimmering, blue shirt. "Okay? No, maybe we should switch. This one's probably your fav."

"Actually, the black is," Heero said. "I don't even remember having the blue."

He waited. Heero wanted to watch Duo take off his t-shirt. And he did. Right there and then. He just ripped it off over his head, pulled that damned long braid through, and let it drop to the floor.

"I'll need that back sometime," Duo told him. Heero assumed he meant the discarded t-shirt.

He put on the blue shirt, not making a show of it, just one arm then the other. Heero watched with a trained eye measuring his progress second by second. Heero wanted to be that shirt.

"I look okay?"

Up close Heero could tell Duo's legs were longer than his, but that his own torso was longer. The shirt looked great on the slender singer. His eyes were large, but now they were breathtakingly huge. He was looking deeply into Heero's eyes as if he thought he could look the right way and see himself as Heero did.

"No, you look better than okay."

"Ah, thanks. We only have a few minutes. I'll help you."

Heero's eyes were glued to his animated face as Duo's clever, quick fingers unbuttoned his shirt. He shuddered under the touch so light, so fleeting, so unlike what he had expected. Those hands were strong and calloused from piloting, but the fingers were gentle as they flickered over Heero's chest as he opened the shirt and along his hard, muscled arms as drew it off. Heero mourned the loss of them when Duo was done and tossed him the black shirt.

Duo bounced on his bed and lay back, stretching out, leaving Heero to button his shirt on his own. He managed two. He wanted to cover that tantalizingly poised body with his own and press him into the mattress.

"Your workouts paid off," Duo said. "Your shoulders are great. All your upper body is." He sat up, leaning back on his elbows and looked at Heero from beneath his bangs. "I can imagine you keep the rest in good shape, too."

Heero felt those rare-colored, violet-blue eyes burn through his clothes. He was naked; at least, Heero really wanted to be naked, with him like that, now. He couldn't move, even to tuck in his shirt. Duo's shirt was open, exposing a pale slice of skin and his bellybutton.

"Well," Duo said cheerfully, hopping to his feet. "We'll have to pick up from here later. Time to put on your dancing feet."

This time Heero caught the quick-moving boy by his arm before he dashed out of his room. "What do you mean?"

"Huh? Ah, time to go, right?"

"Not that. The other."

"I should get my shirt back, and give you yours."

"That's not what you meant."

Heero wanted to hear his voice asking, or telling, it didn't matter which -- begging would be nice, he thought. He wanted the other boy to want him, here. If he did. He hadn't tried to remove Heero's vise-like grip from his arm, but his gaze traveled from Heero's face to the hand and back. Heero loosened his hold and ran his palm up, feeling the sinewy muscles of Duo's arm until it rested on his shoulder.

"I'm not cheap, but I am on special this week," Duo said in a low voice like velvet that continued to fire Heero's imagination. His smile and wink indicated that he was joking, a little. It would be up to Heero to discover how much.

"When we get back, we can come up here." Whatever he was offering, Heero was taking. He'd take anything. He was drowning in an excess of his own wants, but parched for a genuine connection to them.

"Really? You mean that?"

Heero nodded. "I want you."

Duo grinned. "Well, damn."

Heero had no idea that the other boy solicited all three of his band mates, even if in jest, and that only he had accepted the offer. It wouldn't have mattered. Right then all that mattered to Heero was how he felt for him, that mind-slamming need to touch, to kiss, to be with Duo Maxwell.

The five boys gathered at the entry to the garage then opened the door for Duo to see what was there. The band van blocked most of the view, but it was obvious the place could hold a fleet of vehicles, which it did. He was awed. They all had been when they had arrived, one at a time. There was a male bonding over the sporty Jaguar, the durable Ranger, and the Harley, while they discussed the dinner company.

"You don't like her?" Heero asked.

"Noin? Nah, she's cool, but if she doesn't know what her boss is really up to..." he hesitated uncharacteristically "... She doesn't strike me as being dense."

"She's nice," Quatre stated as truth.

"Okay, I'm not fond of the girlfriend, but I've never had one, so she's probably fine as far as they go. I will say this for the guy though, he has one sweet ride."

"But it's his, not ours and he won't lend us the keys to any of these," Quatre said.

"We have tried," Trowa put in.

Wufei added nothing.

It was the BMW sedan Duo chose because it looked good and could hold them all. They watched as he pulled out a lock picking tool from his braid and in seconds, popped the door locks.

"'Ro," give it some gas when I say." Duo had the hood open and hot-wired the engine moments later. "Keys, shmees, ya know? Who needs them?"

"You're stealing Zechs' car!" Quatre said in a gasp of real shock.

He stole my heart, Heero thought to himself.

"I'm a thief," Duo admitted.

"Yes you are," Heero muttered.

"I would like it if four people did a cartwheel all at once... so I can make a cart and have a ride, but...heh, heh. So, anybody know the way to town?"

Yes, they did.

Chapter 5 -- Beautiful Boy

As Duo slid into the driver's seat -- a position everyone recognized he deserved to have without argument -- Heero and Trowa contrived to seat Quatre in the middle in the back seat. Even as Quatre's arm reached for the front passenger door handle, Heero used his superior weight and strength to edge in first. Trowa masterfully opened the rear door and directed Quatre to get in. He smirked in Wufei's direction. Apparently wishing to avoid the center seat, Wufei used his leverage so that, as he rounded the back end of the car, he pushed off the rear tail light and bounded to the door, wrenched it open and dove into the seat, all before Quatre had a foot inside.

Quatre frowned at both of them, but Trowa was waiting patiently for him to get in, so he did without a word. Quatre couldn't find his seat belt. Trowa was sitting on half of it and managed to give the boy the minimal space to squeeze his hand under his ass to retrieve it. He watched the blush spread over Quatre's cheeks as he found the buckle and tugged fruitlessly on it. Then Trowa rolled his hips, grinding into the hand. To his delight, Quatre didn't flinch; instead, he grabbed and pinched Trowa's thigh to get him to move.

Trowa eased up on the seat belt, but only after Wufei growled at them, "Stop screwing around and be still. There's not enough space as it is!"

Duo found the lights and the music. "How do we get outta here?"

"Second," Heero said. Humming quietly as he thumbed through the carton of maps, sunglasses, notepapers, and "got it!" Heero waved a gadget towards the back of the car. "Automatic garage door opener," he explained.

"Cool."

Half way down the block Wufei began with the directions.

"You've been to the club district?" Quatre asked.

"I've been by it, not in it. The library is also in the downtown, but on the other side. Zechs and I go there frequently. Now turn here -- no, left!"

The car swung wide, sending Quatre into Trowa's lap. He still hadn't hooked his seat belt. Trowa's arms clasped him tightly and held him steady. Quatre didn't squirm so Trowa didn't let go, and, amazingly, Wufei kept his mouth shut. When Quatre's head rested against his chest, Trowa sucked in his breath, letting it out in a steady stream so he could ruffle the soft, blond hair. Quatre swatted at the lock of hair blown awry. So engaged were they in this pastime, they nearly missed Duo's lively, ongoing conversation with Wufei and Heero pointing out landmarks.

"Right, Barton?" Wufei kicked his foot to get his attention. "A lit parking lot with a guard on duty? By the train station or ... just forget it. He doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Turn right at the one way street and go slowly."

Trowa gazed out the window, listening to Duo ramble on and on. He couldn't stand listening to that all day. More power to Yuy if he could.

"...So I went to the store and bought eight apples. The clerk asked me, 'Do you want these in a bag?' And I said, 'Oh, no, man, I juggle.' I don't know, maybe I was stoned or drunk, but it seemed funnier then."

"Hn," was all Heero had to say in response. "There is the lot. Two o'clock."

"Gotcha. It's gonna cost us, but believe me we don't wanna leave a beauty like this on the street where we're going."

"It would be okay."

"Yeah? On L2 it would be stripped in fifteen minutes flat. I've seen it done. Hey, it wasn't me! But I say, if a dude's stupid enough to put his wheels in danger then, well, those guys stealing the parts gotta make a living too, ya know?"

"Are you amoral?" Wufei bit off. "Laws give order to society. Justice systems -- without them you get chaos."

"You get L2 where the rules change to meet the needs of the men in charge, not the needs of the people. So... the peons rebel in little ways and bend the rules so that they can find ways to eke out an existence."

"There's a place I never wish to visit," Wufei vowed.

Trowa chuckled deep down in his chest, rocking Quatre's head a little. Quatre seemed to become aware of himself and sat up. "Are we here already?"

"Looks like it," Trowa said.

Duo took the time card from the man on guard duty, who wished them well. "Have a nice evening."

"Thanks, but we got other plans," Duo told him with a laugh, and turned the wheel into the lane to locate a parking space.

"Is everything a joke with you?" Wufei asked tartly.

"Nope, you keep reminding me it's not. You know, 'Fei, as the days go by, I think of how lucky I am that you're not here to ruin it for me."

Trowa couldn't move. He had a hand over his eyes, his body trembling with silent laughter, until Quatre punched him in the side, playfully.

"I want to get out on your side. Wufei might bite," Quatre whispered.

Duo let the idle die out and set the brake, ignoring the sputtering and huffing 'Fei. "So we hike a couple blocks and start checking out the clubs. Me, I like the ones with live shows. The ones with deejays-only next. Can't take the canned clubs at all. If they're gay, cool, but not necessary. That rank on your charts?"

"Just move," Heero said, giving Duo a directional shove.

But, Trowa noticed, he hadn't said it unkindly. When Duo draped an arm across his shoulders, Heero didn't shrug it off. When Duo's hip bumped him, Heero bumped back. Duo was fishing, teasing out the line, hoping he could lure the big fish closer.

"Um, I love it when you get rough," Duo purred.

Oh yeah, who could ignore that baited line? Trowa wondered to himself.

"I haven't gotten anything yet," Heero said.

Trowa's eyebrows shot up. That was more innuendo than Yuy ever let slip.

"Um, well you'll have as much as you can handle when we get home."

Heero answered with a groan and a growl, something very animalistic. All right! Hook, line, and sinker. That took care of the competition for tonight, Trowa thought with satisfaction.

Ground Zero. Duo flashed his pilot's license and they were passed on through, no questions asked. Pilots had status, especially good-looking ones. A wall of blaring music nearly blocked Wufei's entry into the cavernous, industrial-chic space, but a cute girl in a non-existent top and micro short skirt lured him past the point of no return. Trowa examined the "Coming attractions" sign just inside the door, and discovered that national tours and DJs occasionally hit the stage, playing anything from alternative to classic rock.

Themes were anything but routine. Tonight's was Goth and the feature had already started: a voyeuristic "Bondage a Go-Go." Nothing was actually whipped during the cheeky, strictly staged S&M scenes. Disappointing, actually.

The moment the show ended, a youngish, fashionable crowd filled the hopping dance floor. Within three minutes, girls latched onto all five of them, dragging them to join in the fun. Heero seemed reticent, but when he saw Duo grinning at him and wiggling his hips, he smiled and caved in.

Trowa kept Quatre in sight, noticing the worry-furrow forming between his azure eyes. Trowa moved around as he danced, sidling up closer so they were nearly facing one another, while still appearing to be with their "dates". Quatre could keep rhythm, but he'd never been club dancing so Trowa let him study his actions and copy them.

"You're so adorable!" Quatre's dance partner squealed.

Quatre was too polite to brush her off. When Quatre blushed, Trowa knew it was from discomfort, but suspected the girl thought she was charming him. Trowa could also tell that Quatre was unaccustomed to reading body language in clubs, and didn't know how to define his space and avoid her pawing him. She was taking advantage of Quatre's naiveté and Trowa's tolerance for the seductress was wearing thin.

The tempo slowed. Quatre pulled the girl into a classic slow dance hold, making the girl giggle. His soft voice couldn't be heard over the music, Trowa knew as he watched Quatre's lips move against her ear. Quatre, Trowa felt, was too sensitive and caring. He had sacrificed so much to be true to himself -- his wealth, future, family. He deserved a chance to explore his hard fought for sexuality, and Duo was relinquishing him into his hands, if Trowa wanted to go for him. That would take effort, though, and Trowa never was one to put forth any effort for anything.

Still, Quatre had to be one of the most eligible men in all of Sanc, maybe the know world for all Trowa knew of the world-wide Winner family holdings. He had intelligence, looks, character, warmth. Whether Trowa had enough of those himself, he didn't know, but he knew damned well that that he didn't have the rest of it, like money. And titles. Quatre had oodles of the first and most likely a few of the second squirreled away.

Trowa sighed. He held his dancing partner closer, enjoying the soft curves as she pressed her breasts into his chest. He could love a woman or a man, but which would make him complete, he wondered?

The song ended before Trowa had resolved his dilemmas. He turned to the hand tapping his arm, releasing the girl without a thought. He bent closer toward Duo as the pounding music resumed. "What?"

Duo wriggled a finger in his face and pointed to the door. Good idea, Trowa signaled with a curt nod. Quatre was still locked in the girl's arms. He shouldn't have to struggle with his feelings, Trowa decided. With athletic grace, Trowa snaked close beside the couple and ran his hand down Quatre's back, smoothing the pale silk cloth. He hesitated doing more; he didn't seek to be invasive, but when Quatre stiffened he stopped. Quatre turned his head and looked up. The warmth in those azure eyes melted his mind. Quatre moved into his touch, sighed, and gazed deeply into his eyes. Trowa's control vanished. He bent over to say, "Let's go," and kissed him quickly. Before he could gage the reaction, Wufei was yanking on Quatre's arm and guiding them out the door.

"That wasn't so bad," Wufei announced. "I expected loud and dark and got it."

"One would think a so-called 'GOTH' could make a decent Bloody Mary!" Duo complained loudly.

Duo was excited. When we walked his shoulders dipped side to side, cocky and animated. Heero stalked him. The intensity of his interest focused solely on the swinging braid; at least, Trowa doubted it was Duo's constant inane babble that held his interest. But then, maybe it did.

The next club featured an intergalactic theme far beyond just the name Stargazers. Floor-to-ceiling intergalactic murals throughout and space-age anime on numerous big-screen TVs stopped the boys in their tracks. Once again, Duo's pilot's license allowed them access, but they had to pay a cover charge. Upscale costs. The wealthy, college-age, young, buff crowd wasn't there to look at the walls, though; they came to dance and hook up. The dance floor was smaller compared to that last place, already filled with a sweaty mass. There are two bars, plus the obligatory beer tubs scattered throughout.

Duo grabbed a beer and found a table with practiced ease. Heero copied his movements robotically. Trowa cased the place and decided it could be a possible venue for their band, in the far-fetched future. The others filed in and stared, but didn't stay long. There were more clubs to check out.

Infinity Room held promise, but that was all. The decor screamed glamour, from sleek reflective surfaces to elegant seating along darkened walls. Low lighting transformed the customers into beautiful, mysterious creatures. There were drool-worthy bartenders and a funky DJ setting the vibe with a sultry soundtrack currently soft hip-hop. The dress code was strictly enforced, so the boys waved it off. They'd sure to come in business casual next time, if there was a next time.

Everything rolled off Duo like rain down a slicker, but not Wufei. He felt personally insulted.

"I am dressed appropriately," he insisted.

"Sports coat, 'Fei," Duo said. "None of us are wearing one. 'Sokay, we're doing fine. I've been thrown outta worse places."

But Quatre hadn't. He looked despondent. Trowa couldn't think it was only because they'd been asked to leave.

"Hey, I think you look great," Trowa told him. He was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

"Thank you! I wasn't sure what to wear. I haven't been..." he paused and looked away.

Trowa was drawn to the blushing boy like no other. He rubbed his palm over Quatre's shoulder blades, ending with a firm, quick hug. Trowa wished he had his innocence to offer him, too.

"These are nice places," Wufei said. "Over there. Fine Line Music Club."

"Or the one next door: Riptorn," Duo countered.

Wufei stood watching the people on the street. "If that man goes into the club, I am not. He sashays."

"Hell, 'Fei, Riptorn's a gay bar, obviously," Duo bit off.

"The music club," Heero voted.

"Sure, okay,' Duo conceded. "Another time, then. Let's check out Fine Line."

Quatre leaned into Trowa and spoke in a low voice. "I think Duo listens to what Heero says."

Trowa nodded. "I think Heero worships the sidewalk beneath Duo's feet."

"Only if he's a doormat," Wufei said, coming up from behind them. "Duo is unworthy of sainthood."

"The anointed one," Trowa muttered, smiling.

Fine Line Music Club appeared to have once been an industrial space currently transformed into a club. Duo's license performed magically again, and the five young men were allowed entry. Stairs led up to a balcony, where couples and small groups dined and sipped cocktails. Downstairs, more of a party crowd bumped on the packed dance floor or collected along a sleek bar with plasma TVs. Behind the dance floor, Trowa noticed a stage equipped with high-tech lights and smoke machines. A band was setting up.

Wufei waved them over to the wall-hung list of bands. Apparently, this was one of Sanc's premier places to hear big-name acts as well as bands on the verge. New local acts took the stage Monday and Wednesday nights.

"One's setting up now," Trowa told them.

The dance floor was crowded, so the boys had to fight through the bodies to get a good spot by the stage. Everybody was moving, so the boys grooved in place with nobody in particular and often with each other, changing partners with a spin. There was a pause in the music. Trowa wasn't sure when Duo left, but Heero gripped his arm and jerked his head toward the stage. Duo was talking to one of the musicians. Looked like heavy-duty negotiations to him.

Whatever. Duo must have won them over because he was still on stage for the next song. There were no intros for him. The band launched into a rocking lead-in for Duo to scream the angry lyrics, whipping the blasé dancers into sweaty frappes. Trowa felt Heero's ire solidify into a tangible surface, coating him like battle armor.

"He's not ours," Trowa reminded him. "No contract. So chill, soldier boy."

Quatre gasped with a painful expression. Trowa knew it was a risky thing to say. Trowa knew Heero did not like to be reminded of his military background any more than he did, but it got the result Trowa wanted. Heero's scorching glare shaved his face then froze. The tension drained from his shoulders. He was right, after all.

"Last song by Lola Ray before break," muttered the bass player as he rested his instrument in its stand and left the floor with one of the guitarists, leaving the acoustic guitar, the drummer, and Duo on stage.

The song changed moods abruptly. It began with a simple tune, guitar alone. Then Duo, his voice low and tender told a story in song.

"Never been burned by a beautiful boy.
I always had myself a couple little toys.
None of them matter when you're lying next to me.
You know you shook me like a baby in a tree."

He voice cracked with emotion. Trowa though he'd start crying there on stage. He wondered where the singer dredged up those feelings, and then was glad he didn't know. Sounded like a tragic past to him. He looked askance, sweeping his friend's faces, and landing on Heero's. He wondered if he understood that this song wasn't about him.

"But, hey, is it easier
To be out there on your own?
Did you find what you're looking for?
I know I'll never be the one that you adore..."

"He's saying goodbye," Trowa said to Heero. "To someone in his past, I'd say."

"I need time to grow.
I need someone else to call my own.
Don't need you to need me.
I don't love you, so come love me
Tonight."

Heero's cold look silenced anything Trowa might have thought to add. He stepped closer to Quatre, absorbing from him the warmth Heero had taken. Duo sobbed the final refrain.

"I don't love you, so come love me.
I don't love you, so come love me.
I don't love you, so come love me.
I don't love you, so come love me, tonight."

The club switched over to recorded music with a colorful DJ and the dancing frothed again. Not wanting to be around to hear Heero or Wufei voice their opinions of the singer or his song to the singer of the song, Trowa urged Quatre to move deeper into the crowd and dance with him. It was too crowded for same-sex couples to be noticeable.

Quatre was catching on to dancing. Guys were grinding into girls and Trowa noticed him watching what they were doing. He wanted to hold Quatre tightly and feel his firm ass pressed into his groin. He smiled and Quatre smiled back. He might have the nerve someday.

"Duo, have you seen him?" Heero jostled Trowa and Quatre into the here and now. "After the song he disappeared."

Trowa glanced up at the band. "They might know."

Quatre urged him to go with Heero and find out, so he did.

"End of the song he talked to Ed, the bassist."

"Had a word or two."

Heero pressed them further, and learned that Duo had earned a couple bucks singing and was spending it on drugs. The deal was going down in the alley out back. Quatre thanked him and signaled Trowa to follow Heero. Trowa was at his heels and nabbed Wufei on the way to the back, passing the bathrooms, to the exit.

"Gave him some money he's trading for dope," Heero explained. He didn't need to say that Duo didn't know the dealers and was alone.

Heero pushed ahead, slamming into the door, and rushing outside. Nobody was there. "Shhh..." he held up a hand to silence his friends as they joined him. "There."

Duo's back was to a wall, silhouetted, the light from the club's bathroom the only illumination. Two men were holding his arms, another talking to him. Trowa counted two more in the shadows, resting on upturned crates. Wufei nodded and circled left, Heero right. Trowa and Quatre stood shoulder to shoulder and scanned for possible weapons.

"You got all I have. That was the deal. Now, just divvy up and let me go," Duo said.

"Deal's a deal, but we didn't know we'd get a pretty boy like you tonight. I think I'll take me some pretty-boy ass to go along with the rest."

Duo struggled some then slumped. "Listen you don't gotta pin me like this. I'll make it good for you, if you let me."

The men chuckled and released his arms. "No place to run any way. Go on. Move!"

Duo bent to rub his leg and spun, landing in a crouch with a knife in his hand, blade catching the light and gleaming as he twisted it in his hand. "Don't make me seriously mad, if you want to live long."

Trowa saw the barest flicker of light in the dark. Heero waited no longer. He ran for the nearest man in the shadows, and jumped him. The man's cries echoed off the stone walls and Trowa heard a snap. A gun skittered across the cement walk.

Wufei meanwhile kicked another man in the face, twisted a complete revolution on a toe then blocked a wild fist. He grabbed the extended wrist and bent around, using leverage to flip the larger man to the ground. The Chinese boy poised ready to continue the fight, if necessary.

Knife in his face, the bully backed away from Duo, hands raised and sputtering. "No reason to mess me up is there? Just having some fun. Here, ah, take the packet. In my jacket."

"Think I will." Duo snatched the zip-lock baggie from the coat pocket and checked the contents. "Nice. Too bad you couldn't have given this over like you promised. I'll have to exact punishment, ya know."

"No! D-Don't cut me up!"

To Trowa's surprise, Quatre applied his boxing skills courageously, bloodying the nose of one of the men who had been restraining Duo and holding his own, blocking punches. Trowa ducked the other man's wide swing, and on the way back up laid him out flat on his back with an upper cut to the chin. He cold-cocked Quatre's man, letting him fall hard. Quatre ran a hand through his light bangs, breathing heavily, and flushed with excitement and exertion. Trowa turned at the sound of Duo's voice; he was still waving his knife in the face of his attacker and demanding the return of his hard-earned cash.

Duo rubbed his fingers together. "Give it back."

"T-The money?"

Duo tossed the knife from hand to hand, grinning. "Yeah, where is it?"

Heero had taken down one of the men, broken his arm, and moved on to back up Duo. "Answer him," Heero growled, stepping in and gripping the larger man by the neck. "In a few seconds, the blood will stop flowing to your brain and you will pass out. A few more and you will die. Sudden move and I break your neck."

"W-Wallet, in back."

Heero released the man's neck long enough to grab hold of the back of the jacket collar and rip down, effectively pinning his arms in the coat's sleeves behind his back at the elbows. Roughly, Heero jerked the arms to the side, exposing the rear pocket, and deftly removing the thin, folded leather from the slick trousers. "How much?"

Duo wiggled his fingers. "Empty it."

"You only gave me forty!" the man had the nerve to say.

"I could cut you a new hole," Duo said through gritted teeth.

Heero counted out forty bills, and handed the wad to Duo. The rest of the money he rolled into a thin tube. "Open your mouth."

"Huh?" the man gasped.

Heero jammed the roll into the mouth. "Now eat it, or I'll help him gut you."

"Let's get out of here," Wufei said. "Before someone calls the police --"

All the way back to the parking lot Duo whined and complained to Heero about the damned bills. Trowa thought a simple "thank you" would have covered for the night's entertainment. He sighed and kept peeking over at Quatre to see how he was taking the whole thing.

"Your side hurts you?" he asked Quatre.

"Yes, a little. I forgot to cover myself and let him get a punch in. It was the only one."

Trowa carefully pulled the delicate silk shirt up. He could see the start of a bruise darkening along lower ribs. He pressed gently. "This hurt? Here?"

Quatre winced, but only slightly. "Some, yes there. I can move okay."

"No broken ribs, then," Trowa told him with visible relief. "That would be hard to explain in the morning."

Quatre nodded, staring at the long fingers still trailing over his skin. "Y-yes."

Trowa breath hitched and he knew he had to stop at once, while he could. He pulled his hand away, letting Quatre's shirt fall back in place. They quickened their pace, catching up to Duo and Heero in time to hear more of the same argument.

"You made him eat eighty bucks?! That coulda bought us gas and dinner for a month!"

Heero shrugged and mostly grunted. Trowa once heard him answer simply.

"Just came to me. Wasn't important."

"Damn! What I could do with eighty bucks! You see, I'm a little strapped."

"You have forty. You were wasting that."

"I was my work, my business!"

"You shouldn't sing outside of the band, now."

"What's that you say?" Duo poked Heero in the chest and stood toe-to-toe. "I haven't made that decision yet. I don't know if I'm going to join the boy scouts here."

Sensing a bad outcome for the brewing argument, Wufei stepped in, prepared to break them apart, but Quatre was first to speak.

"That's enough, both of you. It's late. We stole a car, if you recall, and we'd better get it back before Zechs finds out. I for one don't want to pay back his kindness and generosity with dishonesty and deception."

Wufei said he was paying for the parking so he was getting the car and driving it home. Duo gave up reluctantly and stalked off, trailed by Quatre. Trowa kept pace with Heero, while Wufei trotted on ahead to claim the car. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Trowa thought to remind him that they hadn't any keys to the car.

"Heero's really angry, Duo," Quatre told him.

"Yeah? Well, me, too."

"He's counting on you to join the band. He... he likes you, I can tell. He doesn't like many people."

Duo shook his head. "Not my problem."

Quatre put an arm around his shoulder. "I, um, got a source, so you don't need to go looking for trouble again, okay?"

"So I heard." Duo gave him a side-long glance. "I would have guessed Trowa for the druggie, not you."

"I didn't think of myself that way until one day I realized, well, it's hard when your best friend just happens to be your dealer."

"Trowa deals? He never told me --"

"No, not him. Before I, ah, moved here. That Arabic deli Zechs stopped at on the way home, remember that? The men that work there... There are several from my father's home that still look out for me. Sometimes they bring me special treats from the shop."

"And dope. Slick, kid."

"Don't call me that! I'm not a kid! I'm probably older than you!" Quatre shouted.

"Hey, sorry! Sorry!"

"Oh, Duo," he said with a heart-breaking sigh, "me, too. It's just a sore point. I still feel like a boy, even at eighteen, when I know I'm considered to be a man of legal age. I can't shake the feeling."

Trowa cocked his head their way silently indicating to Heero that he wanted to overhear the conversation. He thought he knew what Quatre had to say, but he also remembered how Duo had somehow made him open up and say more than he ever meant to. Maybe Quatre would too.

"I think my father suspected me of being gay when I was twelve; at least, I suppose that, because he didn't actually come right out and accuse me of being a sexual deviant. Instead, he told me in no uncertain terms that should I be tempted to follow a homosexual lifestyle, I would forever be a boy, never a man. Men grow up, marry, father children, he said. Boys play in fantasy worlds and never achieve life's goals. He also made it clear what would happen to me if I chose that way of life. As if it was something I had a choice about?! Drugs helped me escape. In the end..."

For a moment Quatre nearly revealed what caused the rift to rip them apart, but after a pause he just summarized, "... he disowned me and Zechs took me in."

"I, ah, I'm sorry 'bout your dad and all," Duo said. "Being gay. Yeah, it's not about choice, for sure."

Trowa tried to hold Heero back, but failed. The guy was strong and determined. He had a goal. He stopped both Quatre and Duo in their tracks.

"It ends here," he announced.

"Heero?"

"The drugs. Both of you. You talk about choices. Okay, you didn't choose to like boys and not girls, and you can't change. Fine. You did choose to use drugs to escape... to hide from your problems. Now you choose to stop. The trouble you'd make if you got caught, damage to band, not to mention to yourselves. Just end it here and now."

"You care about us?" Duo asked.

"Yes."

Quatre elbowed Duo. "Idiot, he's crazy about you. I'm just standing in between."

"You are the band's keyboard player, songwriter, and my friend." Heero smiled fractionally.

"You write songs?" Duo grinned. "Okay, I gotta hear those next."

"Maybe tomorrow," Quatre muttered, embarrassed.

"What do you say?" Trowa asked. "About the drugs."

"I...I'll stop," Quatre turned to face Duo. "If you help me."

"Oh, well, it's not a big deal. I can do that, I guess. Sure."

"Does that mean you'll stay and join the band?" Quatre pressed.

"Yeah." Duo looked at his hands which were holding the end of his braid and nervously playing with it. His eyes slid over to Heero and caught, trapped by the intensity of Heero's blue stare. "Yeah, I guess Gundam Wing's got a new singer. Okay?"

"That's settled then --" Trowa left off.

He was interrupted by the screech of tires. Grabbing Quatre by the waist as he jumped instinctively away from the curb, and put several feet between them and the car pulling to a stop. Wufei powered down the side window and shouted.

"I could die waiting and you'd never know. Get in."

Trowa pointed out a gas station two blocks up the street. "How did you get the car started?" he asked.

"Had a key. Zechs has copies. I borrowed one." Wufei smiled smugly.

That revelation led to a round of cursing from Duo, who had bounced into the front passenger seat, and exclamations from Quatre and Heero, who pressed into the back seat with him. Trowa was too beat to care anymore about any of them and their sensitivities. Wufei was forced to pay for a full tank of gas, and they drove the rest of the way home. The car was tucked away after they checked for trash, dirt, and smudges.

All that remained for the five boys to do was to sneak back to their rooms. The living room was lit like a mortuary with scented mood candles, and they knew Zechs wouldn't leave the house without extinguishing the open flames. That meant that Zechs hadn't left the house, and implied that Noin was probably staying over and they'd been busy. The floor by the couch was littered with books on soul recreation and spiritual awakening. The candle perfume started giving Trowa a headache, to the point that he hardly cared whether he got caught or not, but it also gave him a sly idea.

As they passed Duo's room, Trowa paused and looked him in the eye. "Better say good night here. No more chances. Call it a night."

"Say what? Hey, if I wanna get some, then I will!" Duo declared, pushing Trowa against the wall.

Wufei looked at Duo. "You better not be expecting anything --"

Quatre paled. "Oh! I didn't mean... I wasn't going to --"

Heero rounded on Trowa. "How did you know?"

"Know...what?" Quatre asked.

Duo looked around at all the confused faces. When Duo stopped at his face, Trowa smiled, knowing he'd caught Duo at his game. Duo, he had guessed, had teased them all, offering them a sexual encounter. Heero's response sounded to him like a confession. Heero must have accepted him. Time to leave.

"Ah --" Duo was speechless as his chased Heero's eyes probably in an attempt to gage his feelings, Trowa figured.

"If you pick a fight with a clown, Maxwell, be prepared to get pie on your face," Trowa said, chuckled quietly, and climbed the stairs to his room.

Chapter 6 -- Bohemian Like You

Zechs returned from the garage after having taken Noin home that morning. He grabbed a croissant and studied his five resident boys, his responsibilities. They had all gathered around the sturdy round table for a very late Sunday brunch. Duo had started a new tradition, dispensing with the more formal dining room in preference for the cozier, more intimate kitchen atmosphere. There was no conversation for along time. Even Duo was quiet. Zechs let Duo feel his steely gaze settle heaviest on him.

"Hey," he said to Zechs in greeting.

"Duo, good morn..." He paused in his morning greeting and made a correction. It worked to attract everyone's attention to him. "Well, the morning is long past, so let's just call it afternoon. You're all up late." Zechs smiled. "Quatre?"

"Hmm?" Quatre's mouth was full, his expression guilty as hell. He was likely to blurt out the whole story, Zechs thought, with very little encouragement on his part.

"Your hand. It looks painful."

Quatre's eyes fell to his raw sores on his right hand. He hid it under the table and reached for his cup of tea. "It's okay."

Zechs' eyes roved over them all again, collecting evidence to seal their fate if they didn't confess soon. "Looks like you've been fighting by the split knuckles."

Wufei, hair pulled back in a punishingly tight ponytail, had taped his hands. "Yes. We demonstrated our differing techniques. We must stay strong. Weaklings shouldn't fight." He seemed content with that explanation and returned to his meal.

"I see."

They drank their drinks and looked in different directions at indifferent space. Zechs waited them out. He didn't have to wait long. He followed the imaginary dotted line of Heero's glance and came to rest, a little surprised, on Duo, who was completely unaware. Zechs started thinking about both young men, their interactions, and wondered.

Duo was staring intently into his coffee mug, as if he could read the future in it. As Zechs studied him, he opened his mouth to confess, possibly, when unexpectedly Wufei stood, slamming his palm hard on the table.

"I used the spare key."

"You should have asked."

"You never said 'yes' before; besides, you were busy."

"Not too busy to talk -- ever." Zechs' gray eyes drilled into Wufei's. "You haven't a license to drive."

"I didn't go far. We didn't go joy-riding."

"I know. You filled the gas tank and left it in pristine condition." Zechs knew Duo was behind it all but he had no proof. "Had you altered the mileage I would have known you were trying to be deceptive."

Never before had any of them defied him before. Trowa was passive and Heero a blank wall. There was nothing to be told by their stoic countenances. The boy from L2 was spirited and currently squirming in his chair.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ!" Duo exploded. "We were scouting clubs for the band. Lay off!"

Zechs turned his penetrating gaze back onto the disheveled-looking singer. The braid needed care. "No need for swearing, Maxwell. This isn't an inquisition."

"Coulda fooled me."

"I don't think you are a fool. But then, what's my own humble opinion compared with yours?" Zechs muffled his chuckle, but was pleased to see that Duo could laugh at himself.

"Heh, heh...yeah, okay. We, ah, did find a few possibilities, one in particular that pays good and wants local talent. I gave'em a taste and they were interested."

"Just a taste? Really? Well, I'm sure they were." Zechs opened a drawer, pulled out a pad of paper and pen. "Here. Jot down the names. I'll call them."

Duo nodded. Zechs didn't think Duo would think that was the end of the matter. He was a smart boy. So, he added, "But next time, let me join you. As manager and agent, that's my job."

"Yeah, well, I don't know where the band's been playing so far, but that was Quatre's first time inside a club. How's he gonna perform on stage if the venue's a brand-spanking new experience for him, huh? Some places are real dives. We hit the high spots, or a few of them. But we're not likely to get many gigs at those starting out. What kinda rep do you got so far? Any? Man, we're gonna have to start at the bottom and work up, then --"

Zechs put a stop to Duo's rant. "Not in Sanc. Not with my contacts."

Duo's eyes widened, soaking up all the information he hadn't said. "Oh. Yeah. Forgot for a second 'bout the royal ass-hole-shee-a-shuns."

"Duo!" Quatre said sharply.

Zechs knew Quatre was grateful for his hospitality, and polite, so much so that it almost hurt. Zechs rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Quatre. Let him express how he feels, although, I appreciate your loyalty."

Duo blushed, mortified. "Sorry. Sometimes stuff just comes out when I'm not thinking."

"Apology accepted. So, you were out exposing Quatre to the club scene of Sanc, Wufei, too, I'll bet, getting a feel for the places, looking into future venues," Zechs summarized. "Sounds like you're thinking about my offer, right?"

"He's going to join!" Quatre cried out. "He decided last night after...ah, we had such a good time together."

"Is that right?" Zechs thought Quatre had more he was holding back.

"Ah, yeah," Duo said.

Heero and Trowa chipped in, losing the moment. When Wufei joined into the conversation, Zechs knew that they had formed a shield around themselves, protecting whatever secret the night had brought them.

"Well, that's great. I shall have to get busy and get you some jobs, then, while you practice." Zechs took another roll and a fresh mug of coffee. "Oh, I don't suppose any of you remembered about the party tonight? No? My sister's graduation party is this evening. She came in late last night and was disappointed to find --; well, let's say no one was here to greet her. I'd like you all to attend tonight. It could be fun. She's inviting many young people your ages. Girls included. Some of you will know them from the high school. Others --" Zechs cleared his throat and swept his gaze over the expectant faces.

"Noin's invited a few of her friends: Dorothy, Sally, and your sister Catherine, Trowa, who you haven't seen for several months. You can introduce Duo. Oh, and help him find a suit that fits, would you, Quatre?"

"Uh, yes," Quatre said, blinking.

He smiled at the shocked faces, and remembered one last thing to say. "And Heero? Relena has moved back in for the summer, maybe permanently. No more Paris schoolgirl! Little sis told me to say 'hi' to you in particular."

Zechs winked at Heero. On his was out Zechs overheard Duo remark, "Is that guy for real?"

Zechs hesitated. "I have direct experience that confirms that I create my own reality, Duo. Therefore, it is real for me. I have to accept complete responsibility for everything that happens to me. I suggest you take that to heart and subscribe to the same philosophy."

He looked at Duo hard before leaving the kitchen to relax in the sunroom. There was the staff to meet with over party preparations; a new color choice for the den that he must choose; and yoga. He must make time for yoga.

The weather was drizzly cold, so they remained indoors. No one was up to practicing either. They were simply whacked-out, but without the benefits of drugs, Duo thought.

At his request, the other four boys gave Duo the palace tour, but studiously avoided discussing the party no matter how hard he pushed for information. Trowa, quiet by nature, became a mute, while Quatre couldn't finish the sentences he began. Heero's mood was dark, reducing his communication to single syllable grunts. Duo wondered where all the anxiety was coming from and if this Relena person had anything to do with Heero's mood, but couldn't get a straight answer out of anybody about anything and gave up. Wufei, more cheerful than usual, chose to workout in the gym, dragging the others along for company until late in the afternoon.

"How about some tunes?" Duo said.

Wufei seemed happy to oblige and flipped on the CD player. "Dandy Warhols, I think. I especially like the tom-tom intro and then the guitar work reminiscent of Jumpin' Jack Flash."

"Yeah, they're cool," Duo said, watching Heero load up the weight machine.

"You've got a great car,
Yeah, what's wrong with it today?"

Duo left Heero and Wufei with the machine to wander around the room. He considered the running machine again, but there was time for that after he found out what Trowa was doing.

"I really love your hairdo, Yeah,
I'm glad you like mine too,
See we're looking pretty cool, getcha."

"So, Trowa what do like to do down here?" Duo asked.

"No, I haven't heard your band,
Cause you guys are pretty new."

"Depends." Trowa took the jump rope off the wall hook, changed his mind and put it back. He turned his back on Duo and sat on the stationary bike. He peddled it in high gear with one foot, expending as little energy as possible.

"Sure," Duo muttered, exasperated by his uncommunicative manner. Moving on --

"Cause I like you,
Yeah, I like you,
And I'm feelin' so Bohemian like you..."

"So, Quatre, how many sit ups can you do?" Duo asked.

"Hundred or so. Today, I'm lucky if I can do twelve," Quatre replied. His eyes met Duo's. "Maybe you can spot Heero so Wufei can unleash some of his energy."

Duo knew a "leave me in peace" line when he heard one. He didn't need to be told twice. He wandered back to Heero and Wufei, where the Chinese boy was thrilled to show Duo just what to do and watch for, before making his escape.

Heero stripped off his t-shirt and took up his position flat on his back. Duo clamped his jaw shutting off a squeal of delight. He watched for Heero's arms to give out or for a peek at exposed sweaty leg skin -- anywhere skin wanted to show was good. He thought he could support the bar, if it slipped as long as he kept his mind on task.

"Cause I like you,
Yeah I like you,
And I'm feeling so Bohemian like you.
Yeah, I like you,
Yeah, I like you ..."

"More."

"More, what?" Duo asked.

"Weight! Take the 20's. Put them on the ends. Right."

Heero's chest glistened with beads of sweat like golden-hued pearls. Duo shivered. It was all he could do to control the urge to lick them off. Corded ropes stood out from Heero's neck and arms, and Duo wondered if Heero needed help, or if he should just to get down on his knees and worship him. He was pretty sure he couldn't hold up the bar weighted as it was.

"It's you that I want so please,
Just a casual, casual easy thing.
It isn't? It is for me."

"That's it," Heero said, returning the weight bar to the rack. "I'm going to get cleaned up."

"Okay."

Heero's body language screamed: Don't touch me or even look like you might! Duo backed up to give him space to move. Moses parting the Red Sea couldn't have made more space than that vision in spandex shorts.

"Wanna t-towel?" Duo asked, his voice cracking.

"Thanks," Heero said, taking the offering before stalking off.

"And I like you,
Yeah I like you,
And I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you
I like you.
And I feel wahoo, woooo
Wohoo hoo hoo ..."

The others followed Heero's lead and called it a day. On the way out of the gym, Duo once again tried to start a conversation with Quatre. He was short of clothing, after all.

"What about a suit," Duo asked. "I've never had one. My pilot's uniform, but I didn't bring that."

"I'll look, um, and collect some things and leave them in your room," Quatre said. His mind was not on the conversation; that was obvious.

"You okay, Quat?"

"Yes, just tired, but I'm glad we went last night."

"Glad you feel that way. I, ah, had fun. Sorry about the trouble, though."

Quatre looked down at his bound hands and flexed his fingers. "It was worth it." He smiled weakly. "I never danced with another boy before. Um, I'd like those dancing lessons sometime, if you are still offering them?"

"Sure am. Great. Well --"

"I'll be by in a few minutes," Quatre said. He leaned into Duo and quickly brushed his lips across his cheek then left Duo standing in the hall with nothing to do.

"Guess I'll start on my hair," Duo muttered to himself.

He picked shampoo and conditioner from the vast store of cupboard supplies, and pampered himself with a bubble bath first and a long, long hot soak afterwards. His mind wandered the paths of the day, searching for clarity, which escaped him, being just around a corner, out of reach, and obscured by Big Unknowns. Understanding would have to wait.

Party. Girls. Most guys would have been excited, but this bunch seemed depressed, except for Wufei. Girls. Well, that explained Wufei's smiling mug. He must have been expecting one in particular. Maybe the others were, too. Quatre seemed attracted to Trowa, though. Whoa... If Trowa had a girlfriend, that would explain Quatre's gloom.

Trowa didn't seem thrilled about seeing his sister -- that Duo couldn't grasp. If he had had a sister ...! He didn't know what he'd do, but he wouldn't avoid her. Family was important, as were friends that were like family. He thought about his friends he'd left back on L2 and felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He knew they were doing fine without him. Things were probably better that way. He brought more problems than solutions to any table he joined.

And then, for the first time in days he thought about Solo, and how he told Duo to take a hike. Said he was getting a big head, too big for the Sweepers. Well, a guy had to aim high, right? Not right. He had it good on L2. It was good enough for the others, Solo told him, so why the hell not for Duo Maxwell? Because.

"Think I can't get me better ass than what you've got? Go Earth-side and see just how little you're worth!" Solo had said.

"NO!"

Dashing cold water over his face broke him out of that unwanted reverie. Sweepers was over. He had to get over all of that. All. Of. That.

Back to Relena, Zechs' younger sister. What would she be like, he wondered? Zechs had said that she had looked forward to seeing Heero. What if she and Heero had a thing going? Couldn't have been much, since she wasn't around for more than a few weeks in the past. Still, that would be messy. Heero wouldn't want to fool around with him, not with a princess to flirt with. 'Course, Heero may not want to fool around much at all. Just curious, probably. Horny, certainly.

Duo sighed. It was disappointing if all that was true. Still, he'd never been to a fancy party in a palace. Food, music, and friends. Something fun in there someplace!

Feeling cheered, Duo dried off, shaved, pulled on a pair of workout shorts he'd borrowed from the pile, and wrapped his hair in a towel. He picked up a brush and comb and left the bathroom to sit in comfort while dressing his mop in his room, the guest room, now his room. His room. His stuff was on L2. What was going to happen to that, Duo wondered? Heero strode up to meet him outside the door, and Duo was so lost in thought he didn't notice him until he nearly bowled him over.

"I'm surprised, Heero," Duo said. "You really turn up in the most unexpected places." He readjusted the towel around his hair and smiled. "I, ah, wasn't expecting you. Come in?"

Heero unfolded his arms and followed Duo into his room. He had showered and his hair had dripped onto his sweatshirt. Heero's eyes scanned the room first then stuck to Duo. Since he didn't say anything, Duo felt obligated to do the talking.

"I have to take care of my hair and try on clothes, if Quatre remembered to drop any off. Ah... he did. Bless his sweet, boy-lovin' heart."

The clothes he had brought with him had been cleaned and pressed. Some hung visible in the open closet and others, he assumed, had been hidden away in the dresser. Duo shook his head. Maid and laundry service. He couldn't believe the place was for real and that he was a part of it. He laughed aloud and danced across the room, ending in a swirl before collapsing on his bed, just missing the suit, tie, and shirt Quatre had left out him.

"Jeez... This is the life!" He opened his eyes when Heero cleared his throat. "Really! This is like...paradise. Don't you think so?"

"In many ways it is," Heero agreed.

Duo liked the hungry stare. He liked Heero's hard eyes, softening in their exploration of his purposefully exposed body lying supine, passive. It was his best asset, except his sparkling personality, and... maybe his voice, which, Duo knew, wasn't going to get him a man.

"No shit. This is the only time that I ever got anything for good behavior!" Duo laughed as he sat up and unwrapped his hair. "Nothing to do but play and eat. Um, you just gonna watch me comb out my hair or help?"

"How can I help?"

Help? Help! Duo couldn't help himself. Heero made the perfect straight man, not heterosexual straight, but good-to-bounce-funny-lines-off-of straight. He fell back, resting his weight on his elbows.

His grin widened as he lowered his voice to its sultry best and said, "Now, I haven't known you very long and I shouldn't be asking you for this so soon, but I really need it badly."

"Ahh." Heero shifted his stance as Duo shifted to a sitting position, long legs draped over the edge with seductive slowness, inviting imaginative fantasies.

"I haven't had it for a while and I can already feel it going in good and hard and coming out nice and soft."

Duo rose and stepped away from the bed, his hair damp and swinging free over his shoulders, down his back and chest. Heero swallowed hard, parting his lips in anticipation.

"If you would do this for me no one would ever know, and I am sure you can satisfy my needs and I'd be very grateful if you would."

Duo moved close enough that he could hear Heero's shallow, accelerated breathing. If Heero was at all impulsive, Duo expected him to do something at any moment.

"I am very desperate and I need your help. Yeah, I know you must think I have a lot of nerve, but I can feel my tongue wrapping around it and sucking out all the juices until it's very dry."

"Duo...I ah..."

"I am not going to beat around the bush any longer so..."

"Y-yes?"

"Do you have a piece of gum?"

"W-what?" Heero frowned with understanding and stepped backwards. "No! That... that wasn't funny."

Heero might have fled the room, had Duo not jumped into his path. "Hey, sorry, man. Just a stupid joke, okay?"

Heero's face was flushed. He looked deeply embarrassed and irritated at the same time. Duo realized that his friend was disturbed by his overt suggestiveness. On second thought, it was possible that just having a response to it, getting turned on, had angered Heero. In either case, Duo had some making up to do, he could see that.

"Gods, Heero. I gotta have something to think about tonight while you get all hot and heavy with your princess, and that expression of yours... that will help."

"My princess?" Heero spat.

"Well, the moment Zechs mentioned Relena's name, you clammed up." Duo reached out and touched Heero's arm. "You gotta know all my life I've had to share my dream guys with their girls, so it's just hard. The joking around --"

"It's your defense. I get it. Now, drop it." Heero turned away. "Talk about something else."

"Ooookay."

Duo felt the temperature drop in the room two seasons. So, his joke went flat like stale beer and Relena was off limits. Then, it was time to find a new topic. Fascinate him with your brilliant wit, instead of being such a facile dimwit. Fat chance.

"So, thanks for helping me out last night, there in the alley."

"I'm a trained soldier," Heero said. "That's what I do. You should be more careful."

"Really?" Duo nearly asked him to fill in the background material, but hacked that thought off at the roots before it could grow into another contentious subject. "Yeah, well, I had my knife and know how to use it. You don't think I got this far on L2 without knowing how to defend myself, do you?"

"I meant you shouldn't have got into the situation in the first place. It was a stupid thing to do."

"Ouch! I got the point last night. I stand corrected, okay?"

"Hn," Heero grunted, leaving Duo to once again search his brain for something safe to discuss, or lose the opportunity to learn more about the intriguing object of his current adoration. "Any more questions?"

"Like what? You gotta tattoo to show off?"

"No." Heero's expression included a bit of wonder with the disgust. His eyes examined Duo from head to foot in one pass. "Why do you wear your hair so long?"

"My...?" Duo remembered his hair was loose. In preparation for braiding, he raked his fingers through a dense portion, separating it from the rest and flung it over one shoulder to his chest. "Uh, habit. Saves money? Uh, a conversation starter? I dunno. I guess I like it. My turn." He repeated the gesture, moving another rough third of hair over his other shoulder, and decided to ask what he wanted to after all. "Why is it you can kill a man with your bare hands?"

"I didn't!"

"Just short of. Didn't learn that here at Resort Sanc or whatever this place is, I assume."

"No."

"You seem reluctant to tell me. Makes me curiouser and curiouser."

"I just met you!"

Duo was sure Heero knew that was as lame an excuse as it sounded. They were silent a minute. Heero, Duo could tell, wanted to say something, and he didn't know how. Duo couldn't help him; he didn't know what it was he wanted to say.

Finally, Heero cleared his throat and said, "I never knew my parents or if I ever had any family."

"Yeah, me neither," Duo commiserated, but no more. He would let Heero make his point unassisted.

"I was raised by an assassin to be a soldier, who, it seemed to me, killed anyone if offered enough money. He taught me how to kill. It wasn't until I was twelve that I learned who the OZ syndicate was and that he worked for them."

"And you helped? You helped some motherfucking murdering syndicate asshole kill innocents?!" Duo was livid. He had Heero by the neck, ignoring the fact that the other boy could snap his in the blink of an eye.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Heero extracted himself from Duo's chokehold with practiced ease. "I was a kid! I didn't know anything else. I said, when I was twelve I figured it out, who Odin was. We were ambushed and... You don't want to listen. You don't want to hear the truth."

"Hey, I, ah... Sorry. Damn. Sit down, Heero. It's just that the syndicate has screwed over L2 so bad. It's a real sensitive issue for me. Really, sorry. Go on. Tell."

Duo had to part his hair again.

"Hn. Okay." Heero took his time getting started. "The staff of the hospital, where the hit was supposed to happen, tried to stop us, and did. Alliance supporters were using the hospital for a base of operations. They took him out. Me, they didn't see as a threat. I was held and treated for injuries, and I ran away, but was captured by the police. Then out of the blue --"

"Zechs Merquise."

"Yes, although since he's gone all New Age, he prefers the 'Peacecraft' name. He scraped me off the cell floor and brought me home. The others were already here. Winner was first, but then Barton and Chang and I came only weeks apart, and now you, years later."

"Yeah, and now me. Why do you think he does it?"

Heero just shook his head, signaling they had reached another dead end discussion. Duo didn't want him to leave. Since Heero was answering, Duo asked another question.

"You play guitar before you came?"

"No. Zechs provided me lessons. The others had some music training. He brought in a guitar teacher for Barton and me. Chang had a few drumming teachers come through, but he's a natural and pounded away for hours at a time listening to music through head phones. Dedicated. Your braid isn't straight, by the way."

"He had a wife who was killed on L5, Wufei said." Duo tore out the braid and combed it out straight again.

"I didn't know. He never said. Five years --"

Heero picked up the dress shirt laid out on the bed for Duo. He shook his head. They both winced at the delicate blue and lavender tie he held up next for display.

"Quatre's?"

Duo chuckled. "How could you tell?"

"Pale blue."

"Pastel blue, babe."

"Hn. I have a white one that would look better."

"Do you have a gray shirt and maybe a black tie?"

"You like to go dark."

"I'd go all black if I could."

Heero smiled, just a little. "I'll see what I can do."

When Heero left, Duo slipped off the shorts and dug out a clean pair of boxers, his dress pair. It was then that he remembered that he hadn't asked Heero why he'd come for a visit. Duo decided that it must have had to do with the clothes and turned back to the slacks Quatre had donated. He was pleased to find Quatre's clothes accommodated his slender form, although the taupe gray-beige color wouldn't have been his choice. He waited in the slacks until Heero arrived with a couple shirts and ties. He was relieved that he and Heero were speaking and not yelling, and seemed to share a bond, which could grow into a lasting kind of friendship. Or it could become a sexual liaison, which might mess with the band. But it might not.

"The yellow's good with your hair," Heero said.

Duo smiled and tried the charcoal shirt next.

"Put on the jacket."

Duo followed orders and turned to the mirror. "Well? Which will it be?"

"This one, the gray." Heero offered him a tie. "Ever wear one before?"

"Yeah, with my pilot uniform when I got my license, but never again. Ah, Hilde tied it for me."

Heero snapped the tie between his hands and smiled. "Trust me?"

No! Duo's eyes answered, but aloud he said, "Ah... yeah, um, I should braid my hair first."

Duo hesitancy was probably what made Heero chuckle. "You don't trust me at all. That damned braid, will it take long? I need to get dressed."

"Go on. I'll meet up with you later." Duo suddenly felt self-conscious.

"Don't look at me for help with that noose," Wufei told him. He touched the edge of green, satin Chinese jacket, where there was no use for a tie.

"I was looking for Heero." Duo stopped. "He's already down there, huh?"

"Yes." Wufei looked away uncomfortably. "I came back for my earring."

Duo leaned closer to get a good look at the gold charm dangling from Wufei's ear. "Dragon? Cool. No, Heero, huh? Well, that sucks. I guess I'll just have to go without the tie."

"Here comes Winner. Apparently, he's managed to talk Barton into joining the party. I will leave you in his capable hands," Wufei said, then trotted downstairs, taking them two at a time.

Duo felt his disappointment like a tangible entity hanging in the air. He needed to deal with it before moving on. Mentally, he kicked it onto a shelf. "Stay put and outta my way. If Heero's undecided, then it's up to me to make myself irresistible," he muttered aloud.

I can chastise himself out of any mood, Duo thought. He grinned, straightened his jacket, and called out, "Hey, Quat! I need your magic fingers!"

Chapter 7 -- Ain't Misbehavin'

Heero hadn't planned to join the party so soon. His mind was filled with visions of a half-naked Duo languishing on his bed. He had really thought that beautiful boy was coming on to him, and he had wanted him to. He didn't know exactly what it was that Duo had been offering, but it was absolutely what he wanted.

Heero had wanted to touch his skin -- as much as possible. He had wanted to kiss him. Heero twisted his face into a sour scowl. He couldn't imagine what that would look like -- two guys kissing. Pretty stupid, probably.

Duo was slender but not boney. Heero had seen pictures of kids from L2 that looked half-starved, but that wasn't Duo. His chest was toned, wiry, but not scrawny. He had nicely muscled legs. Heero liked legs and his eyes had led him to wonder what lay beyond. Duo had been aroused, obvious through the skimpy running shorts he'd been wearing. Heero smiled with the knowledge that he had caused that reaction in him by just being there, not even touching him. But he wanted to touch him, bad.

Then Duo made a joke of it.

Frustrating! Was he just a tease? Unlikely. Duo seemed to be an earthy, real sort of guy. Possibly, Heero thought, his own reactions had been incorrect. Possibly Duo had expected him to make some move on him. Possibly he was looking for a more experienced partner.

Or was Duo offering romance? He certainly was overtly sexual. He was from L2 and no prude.

Gods, he wanted to kiss those lips!

Heero shook his head. He had no answers tonight, and continuing to analyze his predicament was maddening. He finished dressing with little thought as to what he put on, and left his room, closing his door behind him. He fully intended to return to Duo and fix his tie for him, providing him another opportunity for intimate contact. Heero hoped to touch his skin as he showed him how to properly knot a tie. His chin, jaw, maybe his neck, too, would be within touching range. He'd even be close enough to kiss him, but would he? Would that be too stupid a thing to do?

"What the hell am I doing?!" Heero growled to himself.

"So, Heero must be alive after all, right?"

Heero jumped, startled out of his reverie. He was not often caught off guard like that. He instantly recognized Relena Dorlian, Zechs half-sister. She laughed lightly. Her voice was soothingly familiar, although unwelcome at the moment.

"It's been so long. I missed you last night. I wanted to see you before the party and Quatre told me you were still in your room."

"Quatre, I'm going to kill you," Heero muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I have to go."

"Heero, promise me you won't disappear without telling me," Relena said. "You often do just go off."

She slipped her arm around his. "I really have missed you. Since the last time we were...together... I haven't forgotten."

He sighed. Oh, yeah. That kiss. One moment of unguarded passion. She was one of the few people who gave a damn if he lived or died, and obviously she had placed more importance on that kiss than he had. That wasn't her fault. There was no reason for him to be rude.

"Sorry," he said at last. "I was out with the band last night looking at a few clubs we might call later for jobs. We got in late." The tension left his back and fisted hands. "How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you. I'm going to be living here again. I have a position with a non-profit conservation group. Did my brother tell you?"

"He said you were home. The job sounds like a good fit for you."

"Yes, it is. I want to tell you all about it. I think it is a cause you could believe in and be a part of. Oh, listen! I hear the band downstairs. Come help me greet the guests, please?"

He owed Zechs for his current life, and Zechs would want him to treat his sister with respect. Relena was smart, beautiful, and a visionary. Why she seemed to like him, Heero didn't understand. She was pleasant company. In fact, now that he was over the surprise of seeing her, he was looking forward to her company. Duo's room was downstairs. Maybe he could stop by, introduce him to Relena, and fix his tie.

"Okay."

But the guests were arriving and wanted to talk to him, and before he knew it, because he wasn't aware of it as it happened, he had pushed Duo to the back of his mind.

But not for long.

He heard a shout and turned to see Duo entering the grand ballroom, tie straight, accompanied by Trowa, Quatre, and the source of the noise, Trowa's estranged sister, Catherine. Catherine Bloom was a friend of Lucrezia Noin, Sally Po, and Zechs, and the same age. Heero thought Catherine was nice, although she didn't seem to like him much. He didn't know or care why. He watched her greet her brother affectionately, and thought she looked agreeable tonight with her wavy brown hair pinned back in a jeweled clasp. Her dress was made out of some filmy material in a light blue to match her eyes, which made Heero think of mist. She didn't look a thing like Barton, but Relena and Zechs didn't look like siblings to Heero either.

He gently extracted Relena from one conversation to move closer to the others in his band. When Catherine Bloom latched onto Barton's arm, he was close enough to overhear their discussion, but Duo's face was blocked from his sight.

"Oh, my goodness! That child is my little brother, a child of the circus!" Catherine cried out. "You have grown so much!"

"In two months?" Trowa grumbled. "I hardly think so. You frighten me."

Catherine Bloom laughed carelessly. "It's no fun if you don't act a little frightened. Come on now, Trowa, smile, smile!"

"I am smiling."

Catherine huffed. "Hmmm. Don't behave like a spoiled child. Introduce me to your new friend. No, not Quatre Winner. I know him, silly. Quatre will dance with me tonight, right? You are the best I've ever danced with."

"Yes, Miss Bloom, I'd be honored," Quatre said courteously.

"Wonderful!" Catherine grasped Quatre's hand. "Now, Trowa, hurry up. Here comes Dorothy and she'll just take over."

"Meet Duo. Duo, Catherine, my sister, if you haven't caught on to that yet." Trowa's tone was cool as he snaked an arm around Quatre's waist.

"For a quiet guy, you're putting on quite a show," Duo whispered to Trowa.

Quatre remained poised despite the close contact from Trowa, which he couldn't have anticipated. Heero expected him to be blushing and stuttering, but Quatre only smiled and continued the introductions. Either he would grow up to be a fine diplomat or he wasn't as naïve as any of them had thought.

"Duo was a famous singer from L2 called --" Quatre began.

"Shinigami," Noin said, interrupting him. "He's adorable, isn't he?"

"He can hear you," Trowa muttered to the powerful, young woman joining the crowd.

"Hi, I'm Lucrezia," she said, shaking Duo's hand. "Remember me?"

"Yeah, it was only last night. I may look stunned by all the new faces, but I gotta good memory. I've got Lucrezia to thank for telling Zechs about me," Duo said to Trowa's sister, who was listening with interest. "She was out scouting and discovered me, ya know."

"Yes, it was my pleasure. I didn't think you were exactly right for my company." Noin smiled. "Cathy, I was telling you about him on the way over. He's the most amazing entertainer. Very sexy." She ran a hand through her own short black hair. "You should see his hair when it's free."

Catherine smiled. "Nice to meet you Duo. Are you here to sing for us tonight?"

"He's here as a guest," Noin answered for him.

"Actually," Trowa put in, "he's part of our band."

"It's official!" Quatre added. "He signed a contract today."

"Really?" Noin asked. "Well, congratulations, boys, for getting him. You have a good chance of winning that contest now. Well, Duo, I was so looking forward to hearing you again, but I guess there's not chance of that, is there?"

"The orchestra here is..." Quatre paused as he searched for the right way to put it, "not exactly rock."

"I cover lots of material," Duo said with a shrug.

"He's a guest at the party and should be able to enjoy his evening," Trowa pointed out.

"Hell, I can sing for my dinner. I ain't proud. No problem," Duo said, dismissing the issue.

Heero stepped to the side until he could catch Duo's eyes. His expression didn't give Heero a clue as to what he was thinking. They hadn't exchanged a word since the party began. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Quatre leading Catherine onto the dance floor.

Zechs took their place, taking Noin by the arm and greeting the others. "Have you found the food, Duo?"

"Ah, not yet. I was wondering where Wufei was. He seemed excited all day, and I was wondering who the girl must be."

Zechs tipped his head to the side, chuckling.

"Sally Po is with Wufei, over there."

"The blonde? Okay, I was thinking 'Po -- Chinese,' right? I've never seen so many blondes in one place in all my life," he said with a tight laugh.

"She is part Chinese. Like most Earth-born people, we are no longer genetically pure. Wufei is, because his colony consisted of just his one clan. It grew so powerful that it was exiled from Earth. I learned many things about his culture before I invited him to stay. For one, I found that I must arrange parties like this, because otherwise he would be unable to approach an unmarried young lady. Families arranged the young people's social lives."

"Whoa, too much control for me," Duo said. Before he could join Wufei, though, he was mobbed by another powerful presence.

"So, where is he? Oh, dear gods, he's beautiful! Is this Shinigami, Lucrezia? Oh, he's darling! Welcome to the Peacecraft's Paradise. Whoops! Is that name passé, or not these days? I keep forgetting. Hi, I'm Dorothy Catalonia, Relena's best friend so you'll be seeing lots of me."

"Uh, hi," Duo said, taking her hand and giving it a warm shake.

She didn't let go.

"Relena and I are soooo different, which you'll find out. She's so sweet and optimistic. Me? I live strongly and passionately and violently!" Dorothy exclaimed.

"You aren't violent, really. You just will go much farther and use more extreme means to achieve your objectives," Relena said defending her. She turned to Heero to say, "Dorothy has a job with a more intense conservation group."

"That's why I adore you, Relena," Dorothy said. "You only have nice things to say about anybody, even those with whom you disagree. Earth Liberation Front is a radical environmental activist organization."

Heero noticed Duo's discomfort with the familiar way Dorothy was snuggling up to him; at least, he would have felt that way. But it was what Duo said that alarmed him.

"I understand Romefeller Recording Industries is a large contributor to ELF," Duo said.

"Is it? I wouldn't know," Dorothy said. "I just graduated and I haven't really started working there yet."

Before Duo had a chance to say more, he was drowned out by Wufei's voice, raised in argument,

"A woman? That's why she's weak." Wufei smiled knowingly. "A man could hold up to far more punishment than that and still survive."

"Oh, dear," Relena sighed. "Here we go again."

"What's that?" Duo asked, moving closer to her so he could hear.

"Sally and Wufei. They like to spar, but in order for him to fight a woman, she has to goad him into it. This happens so often I would think they'd realize what they were doing and just get to the mats."

"... have proven that women can withstand far more pain than men. They have to in order to endure childbirth! Besides," the attractive young woman said, "She was doing what she thought was right, defying her orders."

"Those who are right have to be strong!" Wufei stated as fact. "Weaklings shouldn't fight!"

Heero allowed the corners of his mouth to curl slightly. He liked Sally Po and could understand why Wufei was so taken by her. What Relena had said about them was true, he thought. The two just loved the battle of wits it took to get along. Heero missed her side of the argument, not that it mattered. Wufei was ready with his retort.

"... and that's just the kind of thing a woman would think of. But I follow my own path!" Wufei said with an arrogant snort.

"Are you willing to put your words to the test in a match?" Sally asked.

"Absolutely! You will stay over and we will fight in the morning."

"Let's discard our desire to fight. Such hearts have no place in our future," intoned another woman's voice.

Wufei's head snapped up to face off the intruder. Heero scanned the kind-looking face framed by long, brown hair. The soft brown eyes looked honest. She was familiar, but he couldn't place the name.

"Who the hell are you?" Wufei snarled, still in a snit.

"May I?" Zechs asked, stepping in gallantly. "This is Lady Une, who... ah... Just a moment. I'd like the entire band together for just a moment. Who's missing? Mr. Winner? Here he comes. Quatre? Join us for just a second. I'd like you all to meet Lady Une, head of Meteor Music."

Heero took his turn shaking hands with the woman who would most likely be guaranteeing them a recording session under a good label, one that could promote them. They already had a few mediocre CD's recorded in their own small studio. Quatre and Zechs had discussed the business end of the band countless times, and agreed that the CD's the band had were okay quality-wise for sending out to venues for try outs, but not to sell. Of course, now with the addition of the new member, the CD's weren't even good for that. Since the chief way a band made money performing on the road was to sell their CD's, making a good impression on Lady Une would be a good idea.

Lady Une looked to be in her twenties, like Zechs, Sally, and Lucrezia, which was young for her powerful position. Zechs introduced her to each of the band members, ending with Duo. Duo, Heero noted, was holding back, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes hardened as if ready for combat.

"Did I tell you, the band has chosen a new name: Gundam Wing?" Zechs remarked. "And here is our newest member of the band and the one responsible for the name change, Duo Maxwell."

Heero could tell that the two recognized one another; Duo more than her. Duo eyed her suspiciously without moving to do more than nod curtly. Lady Une stared as if trying to place where she'd seen him before.

"Zechs has great hopes for this band. Gundam Wing, what a curious name. Sometime I'd love to know where you came up with it, Duo."

"It was a mutual effort," Quatre put in. Heero wondered if he too could sense the tension.

"That's nice," Lady Une said. She brushed a length of straight brown hair over her shoulders and smiled fetchingly at Trowa. "Mr. Barton, I'd love the next dance."

He looked uncertain, at first, but Lady Une secured him, and with linked arms, led Trowa away. Heero couldn't help but observe how Quatre's shoulders fell. Nor, apparently could Wufei.

"Left behind with what looks suspiciously like a crush," Wufei whispered under his breath.

Immediately afterwards, Cathy and Quatre returned to the dance floor.

"Heero, please?"

At Relena's insistence, Heero agreed to dance, but he wanted to wait and find out what Duo would do. "Just a minute."

Heero nudged Duo's arm. "You know Une from somewhere?"

Duo nodded. "Maybe she has an evil twin sister working for Treize Khushrenada, real close, if you get my meaning."

Heero didn't exactly. "Or Une's leading two separate lives?"

"Heero!" Relena tugged at his arm. "The song will be over before we even get out there."

Duo shrugged and turned away, so Heero allowed himself to be dragged onto the dance floor. Duo looked over at the last hold out.

"Hey, Wufei, I'm lonely! Keep me company till the end!"

Wufei shook his head. "I promised Miss Po this dance."

Dorothy smiled. "That leaves you with me."

Duo returned her smile and took her arm. "Okay."

Heero and Relena joined the other couples onto the spacious hardwood floor, polished to a high gleam just for the occasion. Heero wanted, but he didn't want to understand his feelings. He wanted to act on them. All of them. The dancing helped.

Heero watched as Duo had a word with the band leader concerning the song he wished to perform. He knew Duo wasn't just a singer, he was an entertainer and the glint in his eyes signaled trouble; at least, that was how Heero read it. The band leader nodded and led the musicians into a lengthy overture. Duo pulled a chair to the edge of the raised dais and presented his introduction.

"So, this is a real, real oldie with lyrics by Andy Razaf and music by 'Fats' Waller and Harry Brooks. And, um, if you know the words, feel free to come in on the chorus with me."

Duo hitched up a leg and rested his foot on the chair, while snapping his fingers and counting out the beats. Heero jostled a couple folks to get closer.

"Singing's good, ya know. Singing alone's good, too," Duo said, warming up the audience.

Trowa shouted, getting into the act, "Yeah, I was gonna talk to you about that singing in the shower stuff --"

Laughter rippled through the audience, and Duo chuckled.

"Okay, I keep it down from now on. Still, singing alone is fine. Talking to yourself, well... that's not so good!"

The audience roared and applauded their approval. Duo smiled charmingly, winked at Relena, but when he located Heero, he began to sing in a jaunty manner:

"No one to talk with,
All by myself,
No one to walk with,
But I'm happy on the shelf."

Duo stood and meandered over toward Heero, and when he sang the next lines, he made it no secret to whom he was singing;

"Ain't misbehavin',
I'm savin' my love for you."

Heero remained immobilized, probably traumatized as Duo added a little soft-shoe dance routine between verses.

"I know for certain,
The one that I love,
I'm through with flirtin',
It's just you I'm thinkin' of."

Several people joined in this time to sing-along with Duo:

"Ain't misbehavin',
I'm savin' my love for you."

Heero was too stunned to move or he would have disappeared into the woodwork. There was Duo, dancing. All he needed was spats, a top hat, and a gilt-handled cane. And he just told everyone Heero knew that he liked him.

Heero had a choice as to what to do next. He either had to reject Duo now, laugh it off as a joke, or -- He hadn't much more time to decide. Duo had already begun the next verse. He could feel Relena's eyes on him when they weren't on the singer. And Zechs. He could feel his presence not far away.

"...What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin' for..."

Heero felt the heat rise up his neck, past the tie, coloring his cheeks. When Duo performed, a magical transformation converted him from a typical, though not ordinary, guy to hot Shinigami. Heero smiled and dipped his head with a chuckle. It was flattering, actually, he decided. And he liked the attention, public or not. And that surprised him most of all.

"Ain't misbehavin',
I'm savin' my love for you."

"Who is he singing to, I wonder?" Relena asked.

"My dear, I have no idea who it is you might be referring to," Zechs replied.

"Don't play dumb with me, brother-dear. I think he's singing to you, Heero. He is looking our way."

Heero raised his head slowly, knowing exactly what she meant. He was rewarded with a deep look from Duo's violet eyes only a few feet away. That he was mesmerized beyond the limits of his control was nothing in the light of eyes like amethysts. The rest of Duo was regular enough. But who would bother looking at the rest of him?

"Our way? I suppose so. I think he's marvelous. Don't you agree, Heero?" Zechs asked.

"Absolutely," Heero murmured.

From Relena's look, Duo could have gone up in flames and no one would be the sorrier. Her blue eyes flashed Zechs a warning. Duo had finished his song and taken a bow or two. He was closing in on them.

"Both of you make me sick." Relena looked from Heero to Zechs. "Maybe I should leave."

"Do as you like, it's your house," Heero said unhelpfully.

She started to wrap her terribly de la Renta scarf-like thing about her, preparatory to moving on. She looked grown up with her high-lighted, upswept hair, her lacquered nails, and her fashion-plate clothes. Why was that crushed-leather belt, for instance, riding down somewhere around her hips, Heero wondered?

"I would say he was singing the song to you, Relena," Quatre piped up. "It's your party."

"Excellent point," Zechs said.

Relena's expression changed instantly. "Oh! You really think so? How sweet. I should thank him then. I'm sorry, Heero. I don't know what's gotten into me tonight. I must be delusional! I guess it's just been too long since you and I had any time for just us."

"Let's go out into the garden while the band is on break. It stopped raining hours ago, it's lit at night, and the roses are in bloom." Zechs pulled Heero aside and whispered into his ear. "Looks like you have traded in your girlfriend for a boyfriend."

Heero yanked his arm free and said, "You don't know what you're talking about, and nor do I." He watched Quatre steer Duo and Relena out the double French doors.

"Yes, I do. And don't tell me it isn't my business, because it is. My family and the band are both my business. Relena is my half-sister, my family, and she is infatuated with you, and has been since she set eyes on you."

"Relena is drowning in her ideals," Heero deadpanned.

Zechs frowned. "I don't know what she sees in a cold fish like you, but she does. I've seen how Duo Maxwell looks at you. Quatre was wrong; he was singing to you, and you know it. I want the band to succeed, damn it!"

"It will," Heero bit off. "You are reading more into all this than there is, which is nothing. Nothing will get in the way of the band winning that contest."

"Good. Despite what you say, though, I'm suggesting that you keep your options open. I'm not talking about settling down with a girl, Heero. You have years. I'm not even ready! The ladies are...a different breed. They are more difficult to understand and communicate with, but they hold their own special fascination. You can learn to appreciate their finer qualities."

"Are you finished?" Heero uttered in as flat a tone as he could manage.

"No. I'd like you to think. Your future becomes clear based on who you are already -- so you must own the identity of the dream in order to manifest it."

"Enough with the New Age platitudes," Heero said, grinding his teeth. He spun around and set out for the garden and his friends.

They were joined like sweethearts, passing under the rose covered archways heavy with scent, arm-in-arm. Wufei with Sally were the only couple truly content, at ease, and happy. Trowa and Lady Une seemed deep in private conversation, slightly apart. Duo chattered animatedly alongside Dorothy. She was laughing intermittently, but Duo's manner seemed stilted to Heero's trained eye.

Heero with Relena on his arm followed closely behind Quatre. He pointed out the difference in rose varieties to Catherine as if he believed his job was to keep her entertained for Trowa's sake. Maybe it was.

"This is my favorite, the striped one, Camaieux," Quatre gushed. "It looks like raspberries in whipped cream and the clove scent is wonderful, don't you think?"

Catherine's look screamed that she thought Quatre was wonderful. "Yes, it's lovely. What are these blowsy white ones climbing all over the arbor?"

Quatre sighed and smiled contentedly. "Gorgeous. Seafoam. Good name, isn't it? White roses symbolize the meaning of reverence and humility."

"I didn't know that! You are so knowledgeable, Quatre," she said leading him farther into the garden.

Heero wondered why it was he couldn't get excited. He could, only it was Duo who ignited his desires. He once felt something for Relena. He wondered if he could kindle that warmth again, and if he did, would he want to pursue her? He and Duo had no agreement. There was nothing to end. They hadn't started anything. Zechs was older and a man of experience. He could be right.

When the others had moved on, Heero pulled Relena into his arms.

"Heero?"

He silenced her with a kiss. His fingers gripped her shoulders, holding her awkwardly in place. Her soft curves fit comfortably against him; her petite body relaxing into his embrace. Her lips moved gently against his; opening slightly as an offering for more. The kiss broke and they moved apart, smiling.

"We should... join the others," he said.

A trailing wisp of Seafoam brushed his hair, mussing it more. He reached up and snapped off a rosebud as they passed beneath the bower. He wasn't looking for a life partner, just a taste of heat.

Duo had said his good byes and good nights and, almost, a few good riddance's. He had sung and danced -- a lot of dancing. He had had a good time and eaten his fill of rich food. Overfilled. It hadn't been the evening he'd hoped for, but it hadn't been too bad, either. He liked girls, as friends, and most of these could be fine friends to have.

Like Catherine and Sally. Trowa's sister might be a little over-protective, or so he claimed, but she did care about his well-being. And Sally was enamored of Wufei- that was clear. Nice girls. Lady Une and Lucrezia both had connections to Treize and the syndicate. Although, he was pretty sure Une had looked remarkably different when he'd last seen her. Glasses, she had worn glasses, and her hair had been tied up, back, away from her face in a severe bun or something. Dorothy, well, she gave him the feeling that she could be dangerous, especially in her new job, again with syndicate ties. Dangerous was good; syndicate dangerous was not.

Relena. Well, there was no question about how she felt about Heero, and even less about how he felt about her. Heero had never left her side all night. That had been a let down. Damn. Too bad the asshole couldn't have warned him. Admitted it when he'd asked about her. Just a hint like "Yeah, I've got this girl --" or something.

Duo hung his borrowed suit and tossed his underwear and shirt into the awaiting laundry basket. He was beat. He'd just crash and shower in the morning, he decided, and then he felt a scratch across his back. What was up with his hair?

He twisted around to get a look at his back in the mirror. Something was stuck in his braid. He dragged the ropy end over his shoulder and found a white rosebud woven between the strands. How had that gotten there?

Someone had to have put it there. It hadn't appeared magically or on its own! But who? When he heard a solid knock on his door, he figured he was about to find out. He weighed getting pants on first or climbing into bed -- for about one second -- then slipped under the covers.

"Duo, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

Heero opened the door and stepped in, while silently closing the door behind him with a snick. Duo remained posted in bed naked. He wasn't getting up for anyone, Heero in particular.

"I wanted to talk to you about tonight. About us."

"I don't."

"Duo..."

"Well, Heero, ya see... I thought I wasn't being subtle at all. In fact, I've been pretty open about how I've felt all along. And I thought you were okay with that or I wouldn't have sung that song to you tonight. It's you who's been acting like an asshole. You have a girlfriend. Fine. I'll get over you. Is that what's got you worried? Think I'll make trouble for you? Well, I'm not that kind of guy. I'm a real good loser. So get the hell out and let me go to sleep."

Heero's rich, almost navy-blue eyes, gave Duo a look filled with splintered glass. Duo looked away, skimming past his face to the bedside table and alighting on the white rosebud.

"I put that in your hair tonight," Heero said. "I wanted you to know."

"Know what? That you are sneaky? Like flowers? Wished me well?" He thought he'd test him.

"Quatre said that white roses symbolize the meaning of reverence and humility."

"It's a white rosebud, Heero. Symbolizes 'girlhood'."

Duo was pleased to illicit that gratifying shocked reaction from Heero. He laughed at Heero, but it held no humor.

"Good night, and close the door behind you!"

Heero's pale face disappeared and the door closed, leaving Duo alone and very, very far from home. The dull ache in his chest threatened to overwhelm him and for the first time he doubted his decision to remain Earth-side.

Chapter 8 -- Island in the Sun

The smoke and sparks emitted by his synthesizer signaled an end to Quatre's performance.

"I know an apology isn't enough, but, I'm really sorry," Quatre told Heero for the tenth time.

"It wasn't your fault," Heero told him.

"At least you didn't say 'it's okay.'" Quatre smiled weakly and let out a sigh.

Heero nodded. Had his long-standing habit of refusing cheap condolences actually done him some good, he wondered? "Don't you think it's fixable?"

Heero knew that Quatre didn't mean the synthesizer meltdown only; he was folding the "white rosebud" incident into his meaningful sentence. Quatre had learned about Heero's abortive attempt to apologize to Duo for having snubbed him at the party, using the rosebud offering. Heero guessed Duo had told him, making a joke of it, but told no one else. Quatre, having supplied Heero with the incomplete meaning behind a gift of a white rosebud, unknowingly of course, was "so sorry" about the misinformation. He felt guilty, even though he had done nothing to warrant it. Heero told him to forget it and made him promise not to intrude. He could handle his problem with Duo all by himself, even though so far he hadn't.

Up until that time, the practice had been going okay, then the over-wrought circuitry fused, blistering the paint on the outside. Toxic fumes rose over the keyboard.

"Maybe. I'll take a look --" Quatre shoved aside the instrument, making a path to get by, and setoff more sparks and smoke. "Oh! I'm really sorry!"

Heero cast a baleful look in Quatre's direction.

Duo, however, stood, rolled his shoulders and cracked his back. He unplugged the synthesizer from the wall, fanning the smell of melting plastic away from his face. His nimble fingers danced over the damaged instrument eager to tear into its electronics. He looked up, cocking his head in question before starting.

"I was pretty good at fixing electronics for the Sweepers. Lemme have a look at that thing," Duo said. "Go on; work on some other tune, while I see if I can rewire it. Worse case, I can't and I gotta order a replacement part."

Quatre thanked Duo profusely, abandoned his synthesizer, and skipped around to his keyboard. Heero wanted to thank Duo, too, but Trowa was starting a new song and the moment was lost.

Heero concentrated on his fingering, while keeping one lustful eye on Duo's movements. He admired how he bore the awkward situation with composure. Duo hadn't said another word to him about what had happened, nor had he flirted. Whether he endured it or just accepted the uneasy friendship, Heero didn't know. Outwardly, Duo seemed as happy and easy going as before, and he found ways to fit in and to be part of the team.

But Heero wasn't content with things as they were. His concentration was shattered in Duo's presence. From his standpoint, Duo didn't have to try to be attractive; it just came naturally to him. His clothes draped loose, the t-shirt riding up as he leaned over, giving Heero an enticing glimpse of ivory skin. The shirt was loose enough, Heero imagined, for him to slide a hand beneath and indulge himself with a feel of what he was sure was satiny smooth skin. He could slip off the garment completely to reveal his bare chest. It would be warm...

"Heero, you want to give me a few bars?" Trowa called him out of his pleasant daydream.

"Hn," he replied.

It was also apparent to anyone with two eyes and a working brain that Duo was avoiding him as much as possible in order to achieve his level of complacency. Quatre had told him that Duo might be afraid they'd send him away if he blew it, and with a sexy, outgoing guy like Duo there was potential for all kinds of trouble. Duo would lay low for the time being, and Heero knew he was the cause. As much as he would prefer to avoid the problem like Duo was doing, he couldn't. Heero would have to think up a way to dispel the anxieties and solve the problem.

At least he had taken one step the other day, which had helped. He set down his guitar, while Wufei and Trowa ran through the rhythm for the song, and allowed his mind to drift back to that nice afternoon.

It had been one of many wonderful afternoons. The past few weeks had been fun and full. Although Duo couldn't swim, they had been taking turns teaching him, and he was a fast learner. When they weren't practicing their music, they were eating, sleeping, or exercising.

Heero's thoughts floated back to the cool start to this one particular morning. Trowa had offered to lead them on a long trek through the extensive property. Heero hated horses and Duo was leery of them, so everyone agreed to hike on foot. Dew sparkled on the grass tips for birds to sip. The green and over abundance of life thrilled Quatre and amazed Duo, because plentiful water and luxurious plant growth were unknown on L2 or L4. Heero catalogued each new name as he learned one from Trowa, but the beauty was lost to him. Only when Duo or Quatre delighted in some flower or frog or bird song did he notice them and for a moment enjoy and appreciate nature. Beauty, Heero could value, because he liked Duo, who was the most beautiful person Heero knew, but nature provided more obstacles to comfort than opportunities to attain it.

"You know so much about the plants here," Duo asked Trowa. "You know if L3 was big on simulating places like this."

Trowa picked a few yellow buttercups and tiny white English daisies blooming in the mottled shade beside a small stream collecting runoff from the earlier rain. "Not something that I remember. I was only born there, really, but L3, I'm told, has a rich environment."

"Hmmm, sounds nice," Quatre said. "L4 is a desert."

"L2 is like the bad part of a big city, only bigger and badder," Duo said, "because nothing works."

"Sounds uninviting," Quatre said.

"People are good there, though," Duo said quickly, assuring them all that he wasn't that desperate to stay.

"What about L1, Heero? I've never seen pictures of it," Quatre asked.

"There were buildings, people, plants. It was okay."

"None of the colonies had any of the vast varieties of life that exists on Earth," Wufei told them. He swelled with pride as he recalled his homeland. "They were designed to mimic portions of the planet. L5 was like Northern China on Earth. My clan was so large and wealthy that it built and relocated to L5. I would like to travel to Earth's China and see for myself how close the designers came to replicating it."

"I understand L4 is very like the Middle East on Earth. Of course, it was less complicated. I remember the beautiful sand dunes for miles upon miles surrounding the city where my family's estate was located." Quatre turned back to Trowa. "What part of Earth was L3 built to replicate?"

"Some part of Europe around Spain and Italy, I guess. It's hot in summer and mild in winter when it simu-rains."

Trowa presented his small bouquet to Quatre by way of stuffing it down the back of his shirt. Quatre squawked and squirmed, tearing at the hem of his shirt until the flowers fell to the ground. Heero watched their horseplay and recognized the actions for the mild flirtation that they were, smiling smugly as he watched. Trowa apparently doesn't know shit about ensnaring a boyfriend either. Quatre yelled at Trowa for destroying the environment. No, flowers weren't doing it for Quatre.

Heero spotted a turtle sunbathing on a log, and immediately knew it would be something novel for Duo. Casting a glance backwards, he noticed Trowa leading Quatre further on down the path. Now was his chance. He returned his attention to the turtle, staring intently, willed the animal not to budge, and waited for Duo's curiosity to kick in and bring him closer. Didn't work.

With a finger to his lips signaling for quiet, Heero brushed Duo's arm to get his attention. Duo looked quizzical, but followed in dutiful silence. Heero moved aside, pointing in the direction of the boggy scene, and hunched down, making a space for the other boy to move closer and get a good look.

Heero watched his face. The wide-eyed wonder and joyful smile was his first reward, followed by libidinous excitement as he soaked up the heat of Duo's body though his thin t-shirt as he pressed into the snug space. Damn, he wanted Duo! He also wanted to make Duo feel good, which was a strange new wonderful discovery.

Heero looked up when he heard scuffling foot steps to see Trowa and Quatre joining them.

"Turtle," Quatre whispered.

"Red-eared slider," Trowa corrected.

But Duo smiled at Heero appreciatively, and said it all.

"Watch this," Trowa said, more to Quatre than to the others.

He lobbed a stone at the water with a quick, sideways motion, snapping his wrist. The stone hit the surface and skipped seven times before sinking under the water. Wow. Quatre and Duo both tried and failed. Neither had watched Trowa's movements or release as Heero had. Heero picked up a rock, but Duo's hand stopped him.

"Use this one," he said, pressing a smooth thin stone into his palm. "It's shaped like the one he threw."

"Okay."

Heero dropped his own round rock and held onto Duo's gift. He closed his eyes, picturing Trowa's moves, breaking them down into a series of discrete steps, while his fingers rubbed the stone Duo had given him. He repeated them in his mind until he knew he could mimic what Trowa had done.

"Come on, Yuy," Trowa said. "Pool time back at the house."

Heero wound up and released the stone sending it skimming over the water, hitting once, hopping a ways, twice... On the third touch it sank.

Duo smiled. "Cool."

"Yeah," Heero said, brimming with pleasure.

After that, Duo smiled at Heero a little bit more. It was a step, Heero felt, toward rebuilding their friendship. Or maybe it was really the foundation for a true one. Making Duo happy, rather than just having designs on him, was now a worthy goal.

At the sound of Trowa's voice, Heero returned from his revere to face the reality of the intense practice session.

"Okay, Yuy, we're ready for you now." Trowa clicked his nails on the edge of his bass, setting the time. "On a count of one, two, three --"

Heero played through the intro with half a mind. The other half was on Quatre, who was leaning over Duo and blocking Heero's view of him. Duo had the synthesizer apart and was setting parts on the floor in a particular order. He slapped at Quatre's feet to get him to move.

"Winner!" Heero called out, more sharply than necessary. "I need an 'A'; the tuning's wrong."

He hadn't needed to do that and felt guilty an instant later. Quatre would drop anything now to follow Heero's orders, because he felt partially responsible for Heero's problems with Duo. Heero could guilt-trip him into doing things, and he felt bad doing so. Quatre powered up the electric keyboard and pressed the "A" key.

"Okay?"

Heero twisted the guitar tuner a hair's width. "Okay. Better. Winner, why don't you come in two measures after I do. That would be enough. Duo? We have a couple more run-throughs left. Will you be ready to sing?"

"Sure."

Half an hour later, they were working on another song. Heero wanted to listen to what Quatre and Trowa were playing, which left Duo to return to the parts strewn out on the floor.

"Got it out!" Duo announced. "One fried baby board. Man, that's gonna cost a mint to replace."

"Just make the call and order it from the manufacturer," Quatre said.

Looking rather sheepish and trying not to smile too broadly, Duo said, "I can get one for a third the price and in half the time. Be back!"

"What's so amusing?" Trowa asked Heero.

"Nothing," he said, but couldn't stop from smiling to match Duo's smile. His mind had drifted back to another memorable incident -- their swim after the hike.

Relena caught Heero before he could reach the pool. The others ducked into the kitchen for drinks and, he thought, to change for a swim. She led him to a table and wicker chairs, ostensibly to discuss her new job with Nature's Concern Conservancy. He wasn't stupid. He was not bedazzled by Relena. He could tell that she wanted to be with him all the time, because he felt the same way -- but about Duo. However, he didn't mind spending time with her. She was interesting and attractive, and was most like the woman he would probably marry someday.

From her slender, petite frame, today clad in petal pink lawn, came her breathless account of the past few days. "Nearly 90 percent of all the funds collected go directly toward purchasing new land for parks. Ten percent operating funds for wages and facilities is really quite low. Amazing, really. I get to travel. First, I must visit some of our acquisitions in order to have first hand experience then I will be sent out for fundraising."

"Money. They all need that," he said.

"Of course! All the wetlands, which have been converted to a bird preserve, were purchased from farmers planning to drain and convert them into range land."

"Don't we need land to raise cattle, too?" he asked.

"No. We don't have to eat beef, or any animals, actually."

He shrugged. He liked to eat meat.

"Fish farming is improving... all the time..." she paused, her voice catching in her throat, her eyes fixed on something alarming behind him.

Heero turned around as he heard Duo's voice carrying from the kitchen out onto the patio near the pool.

"-- yeah, yeah, who cares? What I am sayin' is: it's just water. Like a bathtub. You don't need shorts in the tub. I don't care. When I'm in the water, what's to see?"

"Your naked ass!" Wufei shouted.

The naked ass entered the picture, long, brown braid swinging past it to his knees. He had no tan lines. No tan. All milky, white skin.

"Eh!" Duo flipped him off. "Come on, it's just a pool, Quat."

Relena's hands flew to her mouth.

"But Duo!" Quatre whined. "Well, okay..."

"Just a pool, and Zech's sister," Trowa said, now that Quatre was about to drop his towel.

"OH!" Quatre cried out. Too late to retreat, he jumped into the pool, towel and all.

Duo cast a disbelieving glance over his shoulder, his eyes settling on Heero and Relena. "Oh...fuck..." He hit the water with a painful smack seconds later.

Trowa strolled to the water's edge, laughing, before he dropped his towel with a shrug and a muttered, "What the hell --" and dove under the water.

"I cannot believe Zechs will be pleased with this at all," Wufei snapped. "Miss Relena, you have my deepest apologies... Heero! Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face!"

"You had better not be thinking about what I think you are," Wufei said tartly and finishing with a cymbal crash.

Heero popped the top off a soda and shrugged. "Just get the drums right this time." Yeah, they really sucked the color from Zechs' rainbows that day.

They practiced a few more times and then called a break until Duo returned. Heero swigged back the drink and wished the bottle was Duo. Then he wondered if it was like that with everyone. No matter what it was he was thinking, Duo entered into his thoughts, even when he was thinking about Relena. What he really wanted was Duo naked. He checked the clock on the wall and then his watch.

"Break is over," Wufei said.

"I'll go see what's keeping him." The words left Heero's lips moments before Duo banged open the door.

"You shoulda heard me. I was great. Got'em down to fifty bucks AND they throw in next day shipping. Is that great or what?"

"If we'd been paying for studio time, the delay would have cost us hundreds," Wufei snapped. Duo's upbeat mood grated on his apparently.

"Sorry. Won't do you no favors, I guess," he muttered.

"Thank you, Duo. I want to know how you did that. You could teach me to be more price conscious," Quatre said, over-ruling Wufei's comment in a flash. "I was just going to see what other songs we should have prepared for a CD or a few gigs."

Quatre blocked his perfect view. Heero's eyes bore all the way through Quatre, who was looking over the play list they had put together, in hopes of seeing what Duo was doing.

"We need something mellow," Quatre said, biting his lower lip, teasing it red in concentration. "Mostly we have pretty upbeat stuff. Duo, how about a song you like to sing. That one you've been humming around here."

"Oh, that, yeah. You guys know the Wheezer number 'Island in the Sun'?"

Not really, but Quatre knew it and was excited to try the harmony. He didn't need to play piano so he could stand alongside Duo and sing together. Quatre found his CD so Heero and Trowa could learn the guitar parts. Wufei would work out the drums along the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah... There, now he could see Duo.

Heero was a quick study. He knew the song, somewhat, but a mistake would be noticeable since he was carrying most the instrumental. He found his attention drifting as he watched Quatre interact with Duo. The two shared an inherent optimism that Heero envied. And since Duo wasn't flirting with him any more, Heero begrudged every smile or touch he shared with anyone else.

Trowa missed a couple bars, screwing up the rhythm. He's having trouble concentrating, too, Heero observed, and smiled inwardly at the other boy's weakness. He didn't have to guess why, it was obvious Trowa was attracted to the sensitive blonde, since he made the same stupid behavioral slip ups he'd been making. Heero grunted, aware of how severely critical he was of himself.

Duo was giving Quatre dancing lessons, hip hop-like, for them to do in unison on stage, side by side. Quatre was adding an extra step, throwing him off. Duo was perfect. Trowa was lackadaisical, but finally got the bass line back on track. Wufei looked bored by the performance. Heero was critical of everyone, he decided with a resigned sigh.

Additionally, there was that song Duo wanted them all to learn soon; requiring him to partner with Quatre, again, with some sort of dancing, and it required a little choreography -- behind closed doors. Heero had translated the lyrics from the Japanese and it made little sense. The title had been a little off-putting as well, "Sexy, Sexy."

Trowa had stayed out late a couple times with Lady Une, on the same nights that Quatre and Duo hid away. That had left Heero to spar with Wufei, or play cards with Relena, which was okay. Just. Not. What. Heero. Wanted.

He thought about Trowa dating the Lady Une. She was attractive without her glasses and her hair down. In fact, in Relena's words she was "Saint Une, a gentle and soft-spoken champion of peace." But Duo's mutterings placed her as the right hand officer of Treize Khushrenada, and not to be trusted. Was Trowa truly attracted to the older woman or trying to gather information? The guy was tight-lipped about everything. Heero reminded himself to talk to Trowa sometime, for all the good it would do him.

"Are you ready to try it yet?" Quatre asked brightly.

"Sure," Trowa said, whether he was or not.

Third time was the charm.

"Hip hip
...
Hip hip..."

The instrumentals were low key, starting with a simple rhythmic guitar. But when Duo sang, his voice light and soft, and undulated his body while dancing in place, Heero had to fight against the distraction with all his considerable concentration.

"When you're on a holiday
You can't find the words to say
All the things that come to you
And I wanna feel it too..."

Quatre hit the harmony right on the mark, and knew every word by heart. He and Duo shared a smile, eyes sparkling with fun. Duo poked him in the ribs to encourage the other boy to dance with more flair.

"On an island in the sun
We'll be playing and having fun
And it makes me feel so fine
I can't control my brain..."

Heero resented their easy closeness; he wanted that for him and Duo or even with Relena to a lesser degree. Duo placed his hands on Quatre's hips showing him how to move. Then on his arms. Then they were hoola dancing and snickering.

"We'll run away together
We'll spend some time forever
We'll never feel bad anymore..."

Heero heard the studio door open and close. He turned and watched Zechs find a place to sit, listen, and watch. He wore a wolfish grin.

"We'll never feel bad anymore
No no
No no
No no..."

Zechs clapped and congratulated them on their fine dancing but that it wasn't really authentic native islander dance. Wufei put in his suggestions. Trowa and Heero listened, but contributed nothing. Zechs waited them out and when the discussion died, he cleared his throat to speak.

"Remember how I promised to get you a few gigs to start testing out their sound and gain experience?"

Yes, they did.

"Well, I'm waiting for one last confirmation, but we have a short tour planned. Out of the area. I have given this much thought and decided that I didn't want to give away too much about the band, and several of our top rivals are trying out for a few of the venues in town. I thought I'd like to keep you secret, until the contest, and then spring you on them."

"Where?" They wanted to know now.

"The L2 colony. I thought Duo might be a little homesick and would like to check in with his friends. Besides, he has a few belongings there to pack up, or so Miss Hilde said. She called me."

"Hilde...called you? About me?"

"We spoke about more than just you. I'd like to think she and I have an understanding."

"I don't know," Duo said.

"Don't know about what?" Heero asked.

"If I'm ready to go back so soon," Duo said, but he looked like that wasn't all he was thinking.

"If you're worried about running into any old enemies, don't," Zechs said. "We'll have comfortable accommodations near the clubs and when it comes to collecting your personal things, I can send someone to do that for you, if you'd like."

"Oh, it's not that..." Duo muttered.

"Just remember, we are all free to express what we want just, please, don't gripe when the outcomes are not what we expect." Zechs raised his eyebrows when Duo had no further comments. "Come to me privately, if you think of something I might need to know."

Since Duo couldn't come up with any solid excuses not to accept the gigs, The band signed off on them. Zechs left to the musical tinkling of the chime pendant he wore. He had to print off their itineraries and inform Relena and the household staff of the plans. Duo seemed lost in thought, so Heero, Trowa, and Wufei left him alone, choosing to workout together.

Quatre immediately began with the lists. He made and maintained lists of everything. He maintained the band's play list; he collected service numbers, part numbers, and warranties. His inventory list included everything the band needed to pack and would ensure that everything that was packed returned home. While he wrote, he occasionally looked over to watch Duo sort and place spare parts to his synthesizer into an empty tissue box. Where he had found that, Quatre didn't know, but it was better than losing pieces. He could feel Duo's strange melancholia wash over him.

"You can't go home again," Quatre whispered.

"Whazzat?" Duo asked.

"Oh, nothing. A quote from a writer, Thomas Wolfe."

"Good book?"

"Yes, it was a story about a man coming to terms with himself."

"Well, he probably knew what he was talking about," Duo said, but offered no explanation.

Quatre hated controversy and unrest. He wanted problems out in the open and addressed, not brooded over, just as Heero did, but he usually employed indirect methods to accomplish his goals. With Duo, he was different, more upfront. "Are you running away from problems back home?"

"Not exactly," Duo said, then thinking he was putting the wrong meaning on the subject, turned around to look at Quatre directly. "Nothing unlawful. Just..." He sighed. "Unresolved issues. I'll be okay. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Okay," Quatre said, wanting to believe him. "Then don't you worry either."

Duo nodded. "'Kay."

"Do you like cats?"

Duo did a double take. "Cats? Furry beasts? Yeah, guess so, though I gotta tell ya the ones I've known I sometimes had to fight tooth and nail over the rights to dinner."

Quatre's mouth fell open. He wasn't certain what to think, because he didn't know Duo well or what his rough life had been like. He wanted to defend all cats, though.

"Um, that was a joke, Quat," Duo said in a soft-toned voice, although it wasn't entirely.

"Oh!" Quatre's face brightened as he tried to hide a creeping blush.

"I mean, I'm gay, so I gotta love cats."

"What do you mean by that?" Quatre asked.

"If you have a cat, you are advertising that you're a flaming homo. See, a cat is like a dog, but gay. It grooms itself constantly, has a delicate touch except when it uses its nails, and whines to be fed, then goes emo when the meal isn't special enough. And just think about how you call a dog: 'Brutus, come here! I said get your ass over here, Brutus!' Now, think about how you call a cat: 'Fluffy, come to daddy, sweetie-pie!'"

"Duo, that is so wrong and so stupid." Quatre said, trying to look angry, but laughing anyway.

"I was joking, sweetie-pie." Duo ducked a punch and skipped around after Quatre connected. "Yeoww! You hit hard!"

"Be serious!"

"Okay, okay! Lets say I like cats, what then?"

"Would you like to see something special?"

"Sure!"

Quatre led him out the studio rear exit and headed toward the stables.

"They live with horses?" Duo asked.

"Yes, to kill the mice, at least that's what I think attracts them. All you have to do is sit still here in the straw and wait. Cats like to sleep on people, because we're warm."

"You had cats when you lived on L4?"

"Yes, the Abyssinians we had were brown cats native to Arabia and brought to L4. In Arabia, cats had been sacred since the sixth century."

"That long? How do we know that?"

"Well, there were many stories surrounding Muhammad's cat, Muezza. It was said to be the first nine-lived cat in history. Anyway, once, goes the myth, when the cat was asleep on the sleeve of Muhammad's robe, rather than disturb the cat Muhammad cut off the sleeve so the cat could sleep on."

Duo chuckled. "Shit, what a stupid thing to do, wrecking your clothes for a cat."

"Shhh... here they come."

A large, tawny male bounded to the floor from a stack of hay bales. He was first to greet them. As if his opinion mattered wholly, once he curled up alongside Quatre's thigh, accepting his presence, five more paraded in: a tabby, a gray, and a black and white. The one all-black female padded over to Duo's braid and started patting it, setting it to swaying.

"What's it doing?" he asked, unable to see what was going on behind his back.

"I think you have a girlfriend, Duo. She's never let me pet her and she's playing with your braid."

"She better not... Hey!" Duo tugged it out of her claws. "Mine!"

"She doesn't think so!" Quatre giggled as the cat pounced at the fuzzy tip when Duo pulled it away.

Duo let the cat catch the braid and then he moved slowly, stretching out on the ground so the hair coiled like a rope. "Don't chew it," he muttered. "Ew! That goes double for licking it!"

The cat wasn't listening. She caught her 'mouse' and now she wanted to rest, so she fell on the coil, tucked in her tail and toes, and closed her eyes.

"Now what?" Duo asked.

"She's going to sleep."

"That's it?"

"Cats sleep 20 out of 24 hours a day, so I guess this is her resting time."

Duo tentatively touched her head, smoothing the fur. "Looks like a crescent moon on her forehead," he said.

"Or dirt. They like to be scratched. Behind the ears, chin. Must be itchy being fur-covered."

"Not dirt." Duo scratched. The cat purred. Duo smoothed the fur. The cat purred harder and rested her head on her paws.

"She's down for the count," Quatre told him.

Meanwhile, other cats settled themselves around them, one seeking out the sunny spot on the floor from the open door. Duo rested his head on an arm and closed his eyes, while Quatre leaned back on the straw, watching dust motes in the sun rays. The peaceful setting eased Quatre's raw emotional nerve endings, and for a few minutes all was well in the world.

He woke up and it was nearly dark. A figure stood at the door. "Found them!"

Quatre sat up, a cat skittering off his lap. "Duo! Wake up. It's late!"

Duo groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position, straw falling from his hair.

"Looks like they took time out for a roll in the hay," Wufei shouted.

A shuffling of feet at the door sounded as Trowa and Heero joined Wufei to stare.

"What?" Quatre shouted. He bounded to his feet. "That's not true! I was showing Duo the cats."

"Cats?" Trowa asked as he scanned the barn for life.

There were no cats.

"You frightened them away," Quatre huffed.

"'Cept this one," Duo said. In his arms was the plump, black female. "I'm going back. You comin', Quat?"

"Sure." Quatre brushed off his clothes. "There really were lots of cats."

"Uh, huh," Trowa said, smiling. "We believe you."

Quatre frowned and pushed past him at the door. "Don't patronize me."

"Hey, I mean it. Really! I've seen the cats in there." Trowa tried to make up for his other smartass remark and failed.

Quatre narrowed his eyes and stalked away. Trowa chased after him laughing and trying to be serious at the same time. By the time they reached the house to wash up for dinner, Quatre was walking by his side.

"What is it Wufei?" Quatre asked as the other boy barred the door to the house.

"Just where are you taking that... animal?" Wufei asked.

Duo stepped up until he was nose-to-nose with the Chinese boy. "To my room, not that it's any of your business. Now move it or I'll make a door out of you."

"Chill, 'Fei," said Trowa.

"I had better not find that animal running loose!" Wufei shouted, spun on a heel, and then stomped to the dining room.

The irony of the situation wouldn't be apparent for another few weeks.

Quatre sighed. "I'm going to change before eating."

Trowa picked a piece of straw out of his hair. "Okay, farm boy."

"We weren't really... you know," Quatre added in a low voice.

"I believe you."

"Do you like cats?" Quatre asked.

"Yes. Big ones."

"Big?"

"Lions, tigers, and leopards. I was their caretaker at the circus."

"Really?" Quatre's eyes shone with wonder and Trowa knew he had finally struck it rich.

Chapter 9 -- I've Got a Crush on You

Heero strode resolutely up to the door, behind which Duo had just disappeared with an armload of black fur. He was beside himself with jealousy. Had he and Quatre really been making out or, worse, had sex in the stable? He had to hear it from Duo. In his hands were two beers, stolen from the refrigerator. Dinner was waiting and would wait a little longer.

"Duo?"

"Yeah, come in."

"My hands are full."

"So are mine."

Heero transferred the bottles to one hand and opened the door. He never knew what to expect, entering his room, but he hoped for something exciting and so far hadn't been disappointed more than once. He hadn't been back since the rosebud incident.

Duo was busy with his cat, holding it in one arm, while making a nest for it out of a chest drawer lined with a towel. He was putting the finishing touches on it when Heero walked in. On one of his back pockets was an appliqued 'You Wish' and when he turned the little heart appliquéd on the crotch pulsed. Duo Maxwell believed in advertising fore and aft.

"Thirsty?" Heero asked.

"Hey, thanks." Duo de-capped the beer causing the liquid to foam over the lip of the bottle and run down the loose t-shirt that didn't need anything more to let Heero know how little lay between thin cotton and skin.

"Damn. Now look what I've gone and done," Duo said with a child-like note of wonder in his voice just as if he hadn't for a minute meant to go and do it.

He set his bottle on top of the chest where the cat had already curled into the drawer bed, and tore off his spotted shirt. Beer was snaking down his naked torso to the jeans. Wherever the waistline was supposed to be (only GUESS knew, except the label had been ripped off or worn off ages ago, so it was anybody's guess,) it seemed to ride low on his pelvis at the moment. Threaded through the belt holders were what looked like worn steel guitar strings ending in little bells cavorting with the red heart.

"Come here," Heero said as he seated himself on the Duo's unmade bed.

The long, dark lashes lowered over the deep violet eyes, Duo's whole expression saying "at last." He snatched his beer bottle and swayed over to him, holding the bottle, and landed his sticky torso right in front of Heero's mouth.

Heero took out a handkerchief and wiped his stomach.

Duo's mouth fell open and his arms fell down, clutching the bottle as if he'd wring its neck. Heero raised his own beer and swigged it. He met Duo's befuddled gaze.

"You're not going to touch me?" Duo asked in a husky voice.

"Did Quatre?"

"No, you heard him. He said so. Isn't his word good enough for you? Besides, what does that matter? Come on, Heero. Just admit it. You wanna know if it's boy-ass or girl-pussy you want, right? Or maybe both? So, here I am."

Heero swallowed. Hard. "You don't have to be so...crude."

"Don't I? I've tried subtle, romantic... What's left? It's what you expect, isn't it, from a fag from L2?"

"Duo, no. It's just that I, ah --"

"Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out," Duo warned.

"I want..." Heero began then turned away.

"Fine. You know where to find me." Duo turned away, selected a striped t-shirt on top of his stack. "Suit yourself."

Heero couldn't leave, not with the misunderstanding worse than ever. He leaped off the bed, reached out, and clasped Duo's arm. He had been practicing his lines for days. Just say it!

"Please. Wait. I, ah, I've been trying to convince myself for days now that you might be interested in trying some things together, trying to read subtle encouragement into every single thing you have said or action you've taken; any action that is, that I could possibly take that way, while still utterly positive that there was nothing about me that could interest you."

Duo laid his hand on the back of Heero's and gave it a squeeze in a gesture that was more intimate than Heero's grasp had been. His deep, violet-blue eyes looked to be pleading for more words.

Heero sat down again, pulling Duo alongside him on the mattress. Never once did he remove his eye contact. "I wondered if you'd want to kiss? I want to. I am desperate to kiss you."

Duo nodded slowly. Heero leaned closer, his long bangs tickling Duo's cheeks as he lowered his mouth an inch toward his, and stopped. Duo caught his breath and closed his eyes. His trembling lips parted. Heero forgot to breathe as he lowered his mouth until their lips lightly touched. Duo moaned into his mouth and then melted into a gentle kiss.

When he could put off breathing no longer, Heero removed his lips. Wrapping his arms under Duo's shoulders, he could press closer and feel the contact he craved. He pressed his cheek to his, clutching him hard, practically panting. He was trembling.

"Your cheek is so soft and warm," Heero said.

"Not too scratchy?" Duo smiled.

Heero could feel the smile against his face, sighing as Duo's arms wrapped around his back. When Duo turned his face to Heero, his lips brushed his cheek. Heero turned to him and their lips met again, this time firmly. Duo's mouth opened to Heero's and their tongues met. Heero felt fingers comb through the back of his hair as their mouths worked against each other, exploring, tasting, and testing.

Heero's first kiss with any boy would have been electric, but this was Duo, and electric couldn't begin to describe how it felt, chest to chest, his fingers in his hair, and their mouths -- Duo's mouth, his tongue sliding over Heero's, twisting together, tasted like Duo, like his breath always smelled, all boyish and sweet. This was Duo and it was perfect; no one else would have been perfect. Despite an erection that almost hurt, Heero would have been content to hold Duo and kiss him like that all night.

There was a rap at the door. "Duo? Are you coming to dinner?"

Duo called out, his voice muffled by Heero's neck. "Yeah, inna minute, 'kay?"

"Okay, I'll save you a seat!" Quatre said cheerfully and then he padded away.

That pretty much broke the spell. Duo yanked on the striped shirt and checked on the sleeping cat. Heero straightened his hair and looked uncomfortable.

"Um..."

"Listen, I'll keep this quiet, if you want," Duo said.

"I was going to ask if I can come back, later."

"Finish where we left off?"

Heero nodded.

Duo shrugged, "Maybe, then."

The conversation over the dinner table that evening was doomed to languish in dull banter detailing the day's events. Normally, Relena did her best to keep the conversation light and easily digestible. She was more successful when Lucrezia or one of the other girls visited. She did, however, produce an overall civilizing effect, which the five otherwise homeless boys desperately needed, and Quatre truly appreciated. But then, suddenly, Quatre sensed dangerous intent. He had only an instant of awareness before Duo spoke.

"What do you think the phrase 'roll in the hay' means? Means nothing to me. No horses or hay on L2 at all."

Quatre dropped his fork on the floor and excused himself from the room to get another one.

"It's an idiom." Zechs cleared his throat. "It alludes to secret lovemaking in the hayloft."

"Oh," Duo replied, thinking about it. "I guess we got something like that, only we say a guy's got someone over a barrel."

Zechs smiled and shook his head. "We say that, too, but here, it would mean that you have someone in a difficult position."

"Isn't that what I said?" Duo's eyes gleamed mischievously.

Wufei groaned disgustedly. "How did you get by?"

Duo's violet-blue eyes regarded him, this time with a sparkle. He spread his arms in a 'look at me' fashion and said, laughing, "You kiddin'?"

Relena folded her napkin and placed her hands in her lap. "Duo, you're not a tramp, are you?"

"A what? I gotta home --"

"Relena, he's a shuttle pilot!" Quatre cried out in his defense, brandishing his fork like a weapon, or a microphone. "And a singer!"

"He is? You are? Why do you say those things and act so --"

"You don't like how I act?" Duo asked. "Oh, you mean you think I'm a --"

"Dear sister, you told me Duo told you he's gay," Zechs interrupted.

"So am I!" Quatre announced.

"Oh, Quatre, sit down and relax. Now, we all know that's not true," Relena insisted. "Catherine adores you, and I know you like her, too. You don't have to be so defensive."

Quatre blushed, flustered for a moment. He wished he could be forthright and be heard, even respected. He envied how Wufei could command attention and how Heero with only a word could get everyone's attention. "Being gay doesn't make someone a tramp!"

"Well, some might disagree."

"A-and doesn't stop me from liking girls or having them as friends."

"Of course it does!" Relena insisted. "People are always looking to connect and if you can't date girls then you'll get left out. You're not gay, Quatre. You're just effeminate and confused."

Quatre drew his brows together into a frown. "That's not so!" he continued to protest. He was so frustrated he wanted to throw his glass and watch it shatter.

"And gay man are very promiscuous, which you certainly are not," Relena went on, this time casting a virulent gaze in Duo's direction.

Duo snickered, and Quatre gasped, feeling that pinch of imminent disaster again. Before Heero could stop him, Duo had his lips pressed to his, giving Heero a serious kiss.

When Duo moved apart he was grinning, and said, "Connecting works for me."

"Heero, how can you just let him do that?" she asked.

Zechs seemed interested in his answer, too.

"Free world," was all Heero said, returning to his dinner.

Relena regarded him narrowly, not knowing what to make of that runic comment.

"He's seductive," Trowa offered, "which makes him deadly on stage. Fans worship him."

"He does sing well," Relena relented.

"He's sex with a braid," Trowa said with a chuckle.

Relena blushed and stared at her uneaten dinner. Quatre had grown weary of that turn of phrase. He wasn't the only one.

Duo let out a breath, ruffling his bangs. "Okay, can we change the subject? Relena, how's work?"

The conversation started again and dinner completed on an up note. Trowa asked Quatre if he knew what Catherine's favorite color was. Quatre had not anticipated him saying anything like that, and so he admitted candidly,

"No idea, but yours is purple. Not the bluish tone like Duo's eyes, but the real, royal, purple."

Trowa blinked. "How did you know?"

"You always choose the purple jelly beans first, and, as everyone knows, they taste awful so it couldn't be because you liked their flavor."

"What about mine?" Duo asked.

"Red. Definitely. The darker the better. Ruby red, right? Like the color of the gem in Zechs class ring."

"Yeah!" Duo exclaimed, delighted. "Man, you're pretty good. Betcha can't guess Heero's."

"Just a minute," Quatre said. He jumped to his feet and carried back the jar of jellybeans, just recently filled to the top. He poured a few out onto the table. "Just look them over, Heero. You don't have to choose any of them."

Heero stared at the table watching the candy come to a standstill. "Is that long enough?"

"No, keep looking while I tell Wufei what color he likes."

"You couldn't guess," Wufei said.

"I could guess, but I don't need to. I know." Quatre smiled confidently.

Relena liked this game. "He likes green."

"Yes, but what green. There are many shades."

Relena shook her head. "Green, green."

"Ha! Not close enough. The color of apple-green jade," Quatre announced bubbling with excitement.

"My God!" Wufei was on his feet in an instant. "How did you know? Even I couldn't have told you that!"

"That's more complicated. I noticed how you admired a statuette in a store window once."

Quatre looked askance at Heero, whose stare was boring a hole into his heart, his head, and the table top alternatively.

"What about Zechs? Do you know what his favorite color is?" Relena asked.

"His is sapphire blue and yours is lemon yellow."

"Oh, you actually know! How? How do you do that?" Relena asked, laughing with excitement.

"... and Heero's is..." Quatre paused and met Heero's eyes. "Nothing. He has no favorite color."

"Balderdash!" Wufei shouted. "He just doesn't like candy."

"You are right, he doesn't like candy, but he also is not attracted to any particular color."

"You are empathic," Trowa stated, finally understanding the extent of his friend's talent.

"Quatre!" Relena cried out. "You can read our minds?!"

"No, idiot," Heero grumbled.

"No, I can't. I feel strong emotions, and how you react to a favorite color is one of them."

"Not just colors, but particular shades." Again, Trowa made a particular point. "Not many men pay attention to things like that."

Duo chuckled and the tension drew taut like a clothesline with everyone pinned to what might pop out of Duo's mouth next.

"And how right you are. In fact, if you're male and know more than four names of colors, and I don't mean just simple red, blue, green, and yellow type color words either, you might as well wear a blinking rainbow pin on your forehead. A real man doesn't have memory space in his brain to remember all of that crap as well as all the names of all the players and their stats in ML baseball, the NFL, NHL, college ball, and NASCAR. If you can picture 'cerise' or you know what a 'sommelier' is you're gay."

Zechs cleared his throat. "A sommelier is a wine steward, Duo."

"Word's French," Trowa put in.

"'Kay." Duo smiled not beaten yet. "Anyone wanna make a guess at 'cerise'? Heero, any guesses?"

"He wouldn't know," Relena said before he could answer.

"Hot pink," Quatre declared with relish. "Like your dress, which is made from a super-soft, lustrous, silk charmeuse, as opposed to a nubby silk Shantung fabric. I hope I've made my point."

Afterwards, everyone gathered in the second-floor screening room for a movie. This was far grander than watching on the television they used for video games. Heero sat between Zechs and Relena in the row behind Duo, where he could keep an eye on his activities. Trowa squeezed between Duo and Quatre, with Wufei on Duo's other side. Heero considered the arrangement safe for the duration.

At the closing credits, Heero excused himself without remembering a moment of the film.

"Headache?" Relena asked him. "You've just been so quiet all evening."

Heero had never had one in his life. No time like the present. He nodded and lurched out of his seat. He wanted to get to Duo's room unobserved.

Duo must have come up with an excuse of his own, because less than ten minutes later, he joined him.

"Is the cat still sleeping?" Duo whispered. "I found a can of tuna and a water bowl for her."

"Yes." Heero watched him set the open can and soup bowl of water on the floor near the dresser.

"What should I name it, er, her? Quatre said it's a 'her'."

"I'm not good with names. You told me so," Heero said.

"Um, pouty, eh? Come on, a name for a cat's not so hard."

"Then you think of one."

Duo cocked his head to the side in thought. "How about 'Get Naked'? Can't you just hear it? I'd call 'Come here, Get Naked!'"

"Baka," Heero muttered.

"Baka? Hey, that's not bad. Short and insulting. Baka the cat it is. Now, for that, your reward."

"My...? Oh," Heero's mind completed the last tortuous twist it took chasing after Duo's words, connecting the dots. "Reward."

Duo stripped off his shirt, shoes, and socks. "Ya know, there's nothing stupider looking than a guy standing half-naked in shorts and socks, so those gotta go."

Heero wasted no time kicking off his shoes and rolling the socks into balls to toss by the door. Duo's hands tickled under his shirt.

"Duo?" Zechs called out, tapping at the door simultaneously.

"What?" Duo growled.

Heero hissed as he yanked his shirt back down. "Baka" opened a green eye and stretched out a leg, claws ready to shred the source of the escaping air noise.

"I've got a job for you," Zechs said.

"How much do I have to take off? I stop at --"

No matter what Duo said, it sounded like sex.

Zechs overrode whatever Duo was going to say next. "I don't want to know what you'll stop at. I want you to put on clothes, not take them off and talk to me about L2 for a few minutes. I am of the belief that, when confronted with an unknown, one should ask someone who knows; two lots of knowledge are better than one."

Duo started laughing. Heero shrugged off his frustration as best he could.

"You... you..." Duo said in a raspy whisper to Heero between barks of laughter. "You expected Zechs would interrupt us, didn't you? I swear, he's got a crystal ball, and it works!"

Heero could only glare. He couldn't shut down his passion that fast. He waited until Duo left, chattering with Zechs down the hallway, until he grabbed his shoes and socks then slipped unseen from the room and to the gym. A good workout was in order. Or a bad one. A hard one.

No question about it, Duo looked hot in uniform. Heero smiled minutely and watched as Duo posed a moment outside the shuttle, tipped his cap in greeting, and then climbed aboard the short stairs to the pilot's cabin. He had insisted on flying the band to L2. That way, the band traveled for free, but not the baggage and equipment storage, so Zechs covered the charges and insisted that they arrive on L2 a day early so Duo would be rested.

Quatre laughed at Wufei. He still couldn't grasp "Duo Maxwell, shuttle pilot." Heero thought it was a bad idea for him to laugh at Wufei, who was deeply ashamed to admit to any weakness or to being wrong, and hated being laughed at. Wufei waited, expecting Duo to join the others in the first class passenger compartment right up until take off.

"This is your pilot, Duo Maxwell, speaking. Would everyone take their seats at this time and buckle up for take off? Oh, and 'Ro, turn off the laptop, 'kay?"

Then Chang panicked. Heero was too alarmed by his friend's behavior to do more than hold him in place. Zechs loaded him with anti-anxiety drugs, which quieted him long enough for Heero to open the book he'd brought along.

The sedatives knocked Wufei out for an hour, and for one hour Heero read his book of architectural designs. Outside, the sky was star-studded black and a vacuum of little interest to Heero.

"Would you like something to drink, sir?" the steward asked him.

Heero placed his book face down on his tray table, and ordered both Wufei and himself a cup of tea. Music came on over the speaker system, and since Heero had nothing else to do, he closed his eyes a moment and listened. Heero smiled as the sultry torch singer warbled out the tune.

"I've got a crush on you, Sweetie pie.
All the day and night-time, hear me sigh."

He followed the steward's progress up the aisle, listening as he took orders from the other passengers.

"I never had the least notion
That I could fall with so much emotion. "

Wufei awoke. He said nothing. Nor did Heero.

"The world will pardon my mush
'Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you"

Heero acted as if nothing had happened.

"Could you coo?
Could you care
For a cunning cottage we could share?"

It was best to allow Wufei as much honor as possible. He accepted his tea when it arrived, and closed his eyes, avoiding all contact.

"Your mush I never shall shush,
'Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you."

Heero could overhear Trowa talking to Quatre, and bet Wufei could, too.

"First, I just played what I learned. Walking jazz to the beat, yuh know? But I got to adding some riffs and got all funky."

"Really?" Quatre asked.

"Could you coo?
Could you care
For a cunning cottage we could share?"

Wufei sighed heavily. "Dear Gods. Barton could be reciting the phone book and Winner would think it was gospel."

"Koran."

"The world will pardon my mush
'Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you"

Wufei's look at Heero was scathing. "Don't be anal. A crush is bad enough, but on someone of the same sex it's..."

"'Cause I have got a crush,
My baby,
On you."

"It is what?"

The two boys locked eyes. "Damn," Wufei said, "Make your move on the princess, you'll see."

"See what?" Heero asked.

"Female attributes."

"Oh."

"It's more than just long hair," Wufei assured him.

"What is?"

"What attracts men to women, fool!"

Heero felt Wufei eyes studying his profile. "Hn."

"Sally is wonderful, but so is Relena. You should try kissing her."

"Sally?"

"No! Your girl! Relena."

"I did, twice. You have kissed Sally, then?"

"Good gods, man, naturally. Don't let that --" Wufei pointed vaguely in the direction of the front cabin, "-- demon fool you. Try a woman again. They are weak, and very soft."

Heero nodded. It was something to think over. Maybe what drove him mad about Duo was simply lust, lust for anything with long hair and suggestive moves. Maybe, but he doubted it.

After landing, they separated out their personal bags and had the equipment sent on to the venue for storage. Zechs would accompany the instruments, and, when everything was secured, he would join them at the motel. They waited for Duo to change out of his uniform. He was whistling and carrying his flight bag.

"Hail a taxi 'cause the motel's not close."

Heero hardly noticed the dingy industrial zone that seemed to go on forever. He just wanted to get out and walk, see the sights, and understand Duo's world.

"Here's the place," the cabbie said, stopping outside a hotel.

It was a sprawling old stone-look, artificial-cement building, dating back to Sector 12's days of eminence, when all four sides of the park it faced were limited to the well-to-do of L2. It had fallen since. Plaster peeled in the huge foyer. Drab obscenities were scratched in the elevator walls. The tenth floor corridor was marred by bubbled, cracked, dry and eroded paint crumbling from the walls. They settled into their rooms at the just-better-than-shabby hotel equidistant from two of their venues. To control costs, they shared, two to a room, drawing names out of a hat to determine who roomed with whom. Duo drew Trowa's name; Heero would room with Zechs; and Wufei with Quatre.

"Not too bad," Duo announced as he circled his room. Heero followed him to see if his setup was just as bad as the room he shared with Zechs.

Trowa nodded. "It's chill. If the shower works, I'm set."

Duo was excited. "We got three rooms. Chances are one will work."

Heero shrugged. "You can check mine out."

The sink tap dripped steadily and the signs of reoccurring water damage above and below the toilet was disconcerting to Heero as he checked out his room, but he wouldn't complain. It was the most depressing place he'd ever been in, and from the look on Quatre and Wufei's faces they were in complete agreement. Still, they were there to work, not for a vacation. And for a minute, Duo looked so damned happy to be home.

Chapter 10 -- I Thought You Were My Boyfriend

They had time to walk to dinner, rest, and change clothes before they would have to setup their equipment, do sound tests, and then wait until it was their turn to perform. Trowa couldn't help but smile as he watched Duo come alive in his old stomping grounds, the sinkhole of colonies, L2, as he himself felt increasingly sluggish.

"It's a great night, warm for a change, so we eat outside," Duo announced.

Quatre looked relieved. "Al fresco? Wonderful idea, Duo. The blue skies and balmy breezes of summer beckon me outside."

"What blue skies?" Wufei grumbled.

"Leave the boy his fantasies," Zechs said. "I know the gritty urban landscape here is far from bucolic, however, just pretend."

Wufei's expression meant he would allow for no flights of the imagination. His eyebrows raised; his chin tilted upwards. "Eating outside means sharing meals with gasping buses, honking horns, car fumes and the occasional deafening rip-roar of a motorcycle. Our view? An up-close view of the parking lot at best. The ambiance --?"

"It's loud," Heero pointed out when a cement truck rumbled past and setoff a car alarm.

Trowa chuckled quietly at his unimaginative band mates.

Zechs sighed. "Still, for many, sitting outside on a cloud-free afternoon is preferable to being indoors."

"You can't control who is walking by. I like a little privacy when I eat," Wufei continued.

"That's okay, it's not for everyone. It bugs me when someone walks by and stares at my food as if they hadn't eaten in a week," Duo said.

"I hadn't even thought of that," Wufei said. He looked as if he'd already eaten something which had soured in his mouth. "I don't see any of these... establishments braving the urban elements and setting up street side seating. In particular, this one at which you're stopping. Maxwell? Stop! Why are we going around the back?"

"We are getting food at the back of the restaurant. Cooked up and sold to us at the back step in boxes costs less. You know, no fancy table service or table cloths to pay for."

"No kidding?" Trowa asked, perking up slightly. He hoped food would help pull him out of his growing torpor.

"They even have a two-tiered, take-out pricing on to-go orders where you supply your own boxes. 'Course, we don't have anything so we'll have to ask for a few extra supplies," Duo explained.

They put in orders for sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, pot stickers, bread and bottles of pop, cheaper than from the machines at the hotel. Zechs requested napkins, but plastic utensils were not to be had.

"'Sokay," Duo assured him. "I'll pick up some from the hotel kitchen."

Duo told them to go ahead upstairs. He'd meet them. When he reappeared with knives, forks, spoons, and plates clattering together in a bag, Trowa guessed he'd put his thieving skills to work, but said nothing more than to recommend that Wufei "chill down."

Trowa was by nature laconic. He needed very few words to express his thoughts -- he was just about as opposite from Duo as possible. Trowa thought that was probably why he liked the guy, apart from being walking, talking sex with a braid.

Trowa smiled as he thought that some more. When he arrived at the door to the room he and Duo were sharing, he leaned against the door and waited. Further down the hall, Wufei and Quatre looked lost, staring expectantly in the direction they expected Duo to appear. Heero stood outside his room staring at the window at the end of the hall as if a courtyard with tables and chair might materialize suddenly. Zechs leaned against the wall to examine his finely manicured fingernails.

They didn't have long to wait before Duo joined them, bag in hand. When Duo poised a moment, inches from his back, Heero asked, "Where are we eating this?"

"This way," Duo said, leading the pack to the window. Amid Wufei's cries of outrage, Duo opened the window, climbed out and lowered the fire escape.

"That's our balcony?" Quatre asked, leaning out tentatively.

"Yep. You got plenty of space if one or two sit on the stairs above and two below. Great view, too."

Trowa, Zechs, and Heero were first, followed by Quatre, and an unenthusiastic Wufei. As the food circled the group, drinks opened, and napkins unfolded, the mood improved. When Duo revealed a bottle of whiskey in the bag with the utensils, no one turned down a slug in their sodas, and the mood elevated even more. A haze of industrial smog resulting from inoperative air scrubbers clouded the distant view of the smokestacks and gray slab buildings. Ugly, but it was private and relatively quiet. Good enough for the mellowed out musicians.

Zechs, Quatre, and Wufei were too well bred to be anything but polite, although Wufei had the most problem disguising his distaste with his surroundings. Zechs had a natural grace that allowed him to appear at ease anyplace, even on a run-down hotel fire escape on L2. Quatre smiled nervously and guarded his food cautiously after Heero killed a thieving rat with a soda bottle, and tossed it over the railing. Duo related tales of his youth, seriously abridged for Quatre's benefit, Trowa supposed.

At one point he wondered about the future and what it might bring them. Zechs withdrew a small book from his shirt pocket. "Well, it says here that the future of human beings is 'to become a functionary of the time continuum and to retain the unique psycho emotional character of his/her language streams. This is a wondrous destiny and unique intergalactically. As the individual becomes stronger in the establishment of pure or transcendental consciousness, he or she rips the fabric off the cloak of awareness and arrives at a point in which original interpretation of dimensional existence begins.' That's what Ms. Sussman has to say on the subject."

Trowa shook his head and rose to his feet. "That does it for me; I'm gonna take a nap."

"I was listening and I don't think I got past us being 'unique intergalactically'. Is that even a word?" Duo asked.

"It all depends on whether or not you give a rip about dimensional existence in the first place," Heero said. "All I know is: no more rats, no more excitement. I'm ready to sleep, too."

Quatre balanced a cup of silverware on top of a pile of used napkins and empty boxes. He passed one armload through the window to Trowa, who stood waiting. "I have to leave you, too."

"Ah, go ahead. I'm coming," Duo told him. "Zechs and I will take care of the rest."

"I have the bottles," Zechs said as he climbed over the window sill.

As they moved off to their own beds to rest or sleep for a few hours, Trowa lingered at the window, giving the scenic outlook one last gaze in an attempt to discover some new meaning in life or, failing that, at least some motivation to move. The murky vista was uninspiring.

Nothing compelled Trowa to the next undertaking, but since it was only resting, Trowa ambled over to his bed and fell across the lumpy mattress. He had slept on much worse. Fatigue oozed from his pores. Air travel made his head feel as if it were stuffed in a tissue box; the warm air enervated him; all the blood in his body fled his brain to focus on the digesting meal.

Duo was up before his alarm sounded; at least, when Trowa awoke Duo was digging in his overnight bag and the clock showed it had been shut off. Trowa's eyelids were still heavy, but he watched as the other boy removed his makeup kit and laid out his clothes for the performance. He decided to remain in bed as long as possible, preferring the horizontal to the vertical, lethargy to activity. It didn't hurt that he had a live strip tease performance for entertainment as Duo undressed. Trowa could appreciate a hot young body, even if it wasn't his to touch. He wondered if Heero accepted that he'd fallen under Shinigami's spell or if he was still pretending to be uninterested.

It was the job with the makeup that was a marvel. Nothing flamboyant, Duo had gone at that makeup case with the eye of a surgeon. Outliner like a scalpel, lip-liner incised. Blusher like the real thing. Against his pale complexion, the makeup would make Duo's features pop on stage.

"Hey, Tro, time to get dressed."

Duo stood there dressed again as only he could; meaning, he looked undressed. Skintight leathers worn low on his hips and a torn t-shirt. Jacket in hand. Braid neatly lined down his back.

"Bring a coat or something. It will get cold in the night cycle. Temperature controls are shit here. Uh, plus I'm taking a change in case I start to steam in these pants."

Trowa made no attempt to hide his arousal as he threw back the covers. He figured a guy like Duo must be pretty used to the effect he made on other gay men. This made him smile again, thinking about how differently he acted around Quatre. Yeah, he knew the slender blonde was sending out hints, and those stolen kisses had been sweet, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to taint him. Quatre just seemed so pure, while Duo was as sullied as he. One of these days, though, Trowa knew he would break down and give into his drives. Yeah, sure. He could hardly get up off the bed. He shook his head and pulled himself together. There was work to be done.

"Okay, man," Trowa said, stretching out the kinks.

"I'm checking on the others," Duo said as he left the room.

Trowa rinsed his face with cold water then shuffled over to his clothes bag. He thought about Quatre and how his sister, Catherine, was infatuated with him. He wondered if there was a chance for them, if Quatre might return her feelings sufficiently to one day marry her. That might go a long way to mending the rift in the Winner family, returning Quatre to the fold, and his considerable wealth. That would be good for Quatre. He didn't belong in this hard world of harsh realities. As tough as it had been so far, Trowa knew he'd have to continue fighting his urges and keep Quatre distanced -- a friend only. There was no way Catherine would have a thing to do with Quatre if she discovered Trowa had been his lover.

Trowa rinsed out one of the empty soda bottles and filled it with cold water. It was cheaper and more refreshing than drinking soda while playing, and he always got thirsty under the lights. He examined the pill container he'd ripped off of Zechs containing the drug which had knocked out Wufei so fabulously on the plane, and considered testing the anti-anxiety medication's libido-lowering side effect on himself.

"Nah, probably fall asleep on the stage -- that would be cool. Yuy'd flip for sure." Trowa stuffed the medication in his pocket. Never know when he might want to drug the arrogant drummer, though.

Change of shirt, a rake through his bangs, and Trowa was ready to rumble.

They setup their equipment in the back staging area and ran sound tests with the house technician, stopping before the "no compromises" perfectionist Heero and the "close enough" by-the-seat-of-his-pants sound man came to blows. After that, they had a short wait until the club opened and the opening acts began. The technician cranked up the sound system playing recorded hip-hop music then left the stage.

Wufei would not leave the vicinity of his drum kit positive that anything left unguarded would be stolen instantly. Trowa thought he was probably right. Heero remained near his guitar, probably for the same reason as Wufei, although he didn't put it that way. The band wore black jeans, or leather in Duo's case, with varying dark shirts, mostly in the shade of black. This made them disappear when the lights were out, which was why Trowa nearly passed by Duo and Quatre seated close together on stacks of dead amps lining the back stage area.

"Hey," Duo called out.

"Trowa? Are you all right?" Quatre asked. "You seem a little lost."

"After effects," Trowa said, finding his own box to sit on. "I haven't woken up yet, I guess. What time is it?"

"Doors are open and the first to arrive are already dancing. This place gets busy fast. Popular hangout." Duo said.

"So you've been here before?" Trowa asked. "Oh, yeah, you probably played gigs here. Dummy me."

"Yeah, played here," Duo said.

Quatre had risen to peek out at the dancers already crowding the floor. "Wow! They are certainly an energetic bunch out there."

Both Trowa and Duo joined him for a look.

"That's krump dancing, really emotive style of dancing," Duo said.

"Very visceral and gymnastic," Quatre said.

"Aggressive and raw... and fast," Trowa observed.

"Yeah, faster than most mortals will ever move," Duo said with a laugh. "It's an expression of feelings, tapping them, getting 'amped.'"

Duo pointed to the far side. "Now, that's called clown dancing, the goofy looking group over there locking, popping, mock stripper dancing, and anything else that makes 'em laugh."

"Exhausts me to watch," Trowa said.

"You are pretty laid back," Duo observed, "which is cool for a bass player. Drummers can be hyper assholes, guitarist anal perfectionists, but bassists gotta be..."

"Indolent sloths." Wufei appeared out of the dimness. "Would you watch our valuables, while I fill my water bottle?"

"Sure," Trowa said, smiling. "I'll take me an hour to crawl over there, though."

Quatre piped up. "So that makes singers egotistical exhibitionists and keyboardists --"

"Perfect," Trowa whispered as he loped off to sit at Wufei's throne.

Duo smiled after him. "Looks like you got an admirer, Quat."

Trowa froze in place, turned and over his shoulder shouted back to Duo. "You haven't seen Zechs have you?"

"He was looking for Lady Une, who was going to come hear us, I think," Quatre offered. He looked up at Trowa's face briefly then down to his hands.

"I'll go find him."

"Guess that makes us the guardians of the royal drum kit," Duo said with lively amusement in his voice.

Trowa found Zechs milling around the back of the building. "Hey."

"Trowa? You guys ready for your big L2 debut?"

"Yeah, you?"

"I was hoping to stumble upon Lady Une," Zechs said, adding quickly, "We discussed a tryst, but not a romantic one. Don't worry."

"I wasn't."

"Pretty confident of you."

Trowa shrugged. He didn't think he had any power over Une's heart; what's more, he didn't care. Realizing that truth, triggered his smile reflex -- a small one. It wasn't worth the effort to care.

"Maybe she didn't want to draw attention in Treize's territory," Trowa offered.

"Possibly, if you believe Duo's paranoia."

"You don't?" Trowa asked.

"I don't want to," Zechs said. "She can find me inside. I want to hear the show."

Trowa followed behind the taller, older man to whom he owed his current comfortable lifestyle and future happiness.

"Do you know the warm up band?" Trowa asked Duo.

"Naw. Names change, but I don't recognize the equipment set up on stage either."

Trowa watched as Duo's smile vanished and his lips lost their color beneath the lip gloss. He cast a keen green eye across the stage, over the audience, and back, but he was unable to determine what caused Duo's concern.

"Who?" Trowa asked, succinctly.

Yuy materialized beside them. Zechs, Winner, and Chang watched from the other side of the backstage as a man the age of Zechs, and nearly as tall, sauntered out of the audience and hopped the stage, remote microphone attached to his shirt collar.

"Hey, Solomon Betts here tonight doin' the intros. Yeah, all's good when I'm here, but when I'm not...all "bets" are off." He waved off the groans and cheers alike then went on warming up the crowd as more people joined the crush.

"So, here's tonight's test question. Ready? Okay. Which of the following does not belong in this list: herpes, gonorrhea, or a condominium in sector 12 on L2?"

"The condo!" was shouted from the audience.

"Nope, gonorrhea. It's the only one you can get rid of."

Trowa shook his head. "Shit, he's as bad as you."

Duo swallowed hard and whispered, "Solo, he was our leader."

"Your... band? That guy and you and... Hilde, right? You were all in a band called Sweepers... together?" Heero asked.

Duo nodded mutely.

Solo's voice overriding whatever he would have said. "Anyone who can guess what I have in my hand can have sex with me tonight."

"An elephant!" someone shouted from the back.

Solo thought a moment, pushed a fall of ash-brown, chin-length hair behind an ear, and then said, "Close enough!"

"Hey, speaking of sex --" Solo broke off, turned, and stared directly at Duo a moment before turning back to the audience. "I noticed a few familiar faces in the hall tonight. There's Howard and Hilde just comin' through the door. Yo, Howie! Me and Hilde are with the band startin' us off for tonight. But, seein' as another lost soul's with us tonight, maybe I can talk him into joining us for one number, kinda a Sweeper's reunion e-vent?"

Heero shifted next to Trowa to get closer to Duo. "You don't have to do it. Just wave or something and bow out."

Trowa could feel the tension building between Duo and Heero. When he looked across the stage, he caught Quatre's eyes and saw the worry there as well. Zechs was not pleased either.

"Come on," Solo was grinning as Duo now. "Yer not afraid you've been forgotten already?"

Trowa could tell this guy knew all the triggers to set off Duo. They must have known each other well and long. Duo snorted and shook off Yuy's hand. "No biggy. I'll just do one song for the fans and it'll be over."

Duo stepped out and into the lights of the front stage. The crowd roared with recognition. Trowa knew by the spirited and relieved looks on the faces of his former band mates that his being there was welcome and that his leaving had been hard for them. The Sweepers band may have broken up, partially. They may not have wanted to tour off L2, but they hadn't wanted to lose Duo. Hilde wrapped him in a hug, whispering something in his ear. Duo pointed backwards where his other current band members were standing out of sight and she nodded before dragging him to stand up front beside Solo and take a bow.

The old Sweepers band tuned briefly while Solo and Duo stood joking with the crowd, Solo's arm draped all too familiarly and intimately over Duo's shoulders. Hilde picked out a piano solo, a melancholy tune. Trowa watched Duo's reaction, and from where he stood it didn't look to him like Duo wanted to sing the song, but Solo tossed him a microphone as he picked up his guitar. Solo's voice was low and level.

"You told me you loved me
I know where and when
Come sunrise, surprise surprise, the joke's on me again."

Duo and he were to trade off lines. It was Duo's turn. He didn't sing, so Solo continued after a skipped measure, increasing the words' impact.

"I know you don't love me,
You know I don't care.
Keep it hidden better.
Did I say the world is fair?"

Duo must have felt uncomfortable. Trowa was, and he wasn't on stage being studied by hundreds of expectant kids awaiting his reaction as his ex-lover, and Trowa was very sure Solo and Duo had been that, sang a heart-breaking, accusatory song in his face.

"Damn," Heero growled

Just in time, Trowa caught his arm. "Don't go out there."

The two young men locked eyes. "Yuy, let him handle this."

Duo jumped into the song, taking a higher harmony, and belted out the chorus:

"I thought I was just the guy for you and it would never end.
I thought we were supposed to be like glue,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
I thought you were my boyfriend.
Love or not, I've always got ten guys on whom I can depend.
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
I thought you were my boyfriend."

This time Duo continued on, singing the next verse. His voice cracked with feeling in just the right parts, but he avoided direct eye contact with the other singer. He was performing for the crowd, not for an ex-lover, and Trowa hoped Heero saw it that way, too.

"...Should I freak out?
Should I seek out
Someone I could keep?"

Solo came in on the chorus again, their voices blending well, and bringing tears to the audience. Trowa sighed thinking that they had probably been a killer duo and wondered why Solo hadn't wanted to travel with Duo. Or was it that Duo had wanted to get away from the overbearing older guy?

"I thought I was just the guy for you and it would never end.
I thought we were supposed to be like glue,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
I thought you were my boyfriend..."

The names struck Trowa like head on collision with a semi. He swayed. He felt Heero's arm on his shoulder steadying him. Solo and Duo. "Heero" meant about the same thing as "solo" -- how weird was that? The music was coming out of a down turn into a minor key.

" ...Wishing you were here to keep me from the sleeping
With anyone who might want me or even not.
Some guys have a beer and they'll do anything, anything, anything."

How could Heero not be thinking Duo was replacing Solo with him back Earth-side, Trowa wondered? He felt his stomach churn and wished the song would hurry up and end. The key changed, the piano trilled, and the chorus repeated as upbeat as it ever had been, but this time with Hilde coming in to echo part of the lines in a mournful tone.

"I thought I was just the guy for you and it would never end.
(thought you were my boyfriend)
I thought we were supposed to be like glue,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
(thought you were my boyfriend)..."

It would take a miracle to put the band into the mood to perform once this was finished. Trowa could see Wufei frowning for whatever reason, and there were plenty to choose from. He wouldn't like the obvious and overt homosexually; Duo being the part of it; Duo singing with another band, especially his past and popular one, it appeared; or the implied relationship between Duo and Solo and its effect on Yuy. Quatre appeared alternatively angry at whatever it was Chang was grumbling in his ear and worried about Yuy's reaction. Zechs was -- suddenly missing.

"Love or not, I've always got ten guys on whom I can depend.
(thought you were my boyfriend)
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
(thought you were my boyfriend)..."

Trowa checked his side. Heero had been staring at his watch, but looked up. "It's time for us to go on."

Trowa nodded curtly, and then moved back to where his bass guitar was resting on a rack. At this club, the keyboards, amps, and drum kits were setup on rolling platforms, which could be easily moved into place when the bands switched places. The cables were wrapped around the amps so all Trowa would have to do is carry his bass and plug it into the pickups to be ready. The microphone stands could be moved in seconds; the two bands were sharing the house mics and sound system.

Chang and Winner followed their lead, preparing for their debut performance on L2. The song was winding down, entering its death throes, or so Trowa imagined it.

"I thought I was just the guy for you and it would never end.
(thought you were my boyfriend)
I thought we were supposed to be like glue,
I thought you were my boyfriend.
(thought you were my boyfriend)..."

Whether the song was done or not, Due took his cue from Trowa's downbeat, and he could hear his band moving their equipment behind him. He motioned for "cut" to the old sweeper band and stopped singing with one last note held out...

"I thought you were my boyfreeeeeeeeend."

Duo bowed. The end. The audience screamed and stomped, wanting more. Duo still had the mic. He waved in his new band as Hilde helped roll off her band's equipment, quickly making room for Quatre and Wufei. Solo tottered from foot to foot, as if he meant to say something, but was stymied by Duo's behavior. He was playing the audience and ignoring the older boy.

"Hey thanks, really, thanks for the welcome home. Yeah. It's great to be back, too!" Duo shouted.

The crowd howled. "Sure it is, flyboy!" one funny guy yelled.

"Okay, so it's not great, but this place is cool, right? And you guys, yeah, you're a terrific audience tonight."

The folks cheered loudly. The band behind Duo was nearly ready, testing the hook ups and tuning up. Duo was loved by his fellow L2-ers and he fed off of that love to acquire his energy.

"All right! We are Gundam Wing and welcome to our world. Now, don't worry. No matter what, you'll only be here for two hours. We're stuck with it." He grinned and the audience roared their approval, more than willing to play along with him.

"...Anyway, these are our principles. If you don't like them, I have others. Um, Groucho Marx said that," Duo turned around and waited for a signal from the band that they were ready to begin.

Trowa started a bass line, and the show was underway. Duo tore into the first song, blowing everyone away, proving he was even more spectacular with a great band behind him. Without pausing, they ended one piece and started the next. Duo warbled and wowed without pause. Then the next and the next. Before the break, Duo introduced the other members of the band: "Wufei on drums, Quatre on keyboards, Trowa on bass, and my Heero on guitar."

Trowa's head jerked up in time to see Heero jolt like he'd touched a live wire. "My" Heero? Had Duo really said that? Had he meant to?

"So, we'll all be back in about twenty. Don't leave!" Duo shouted, waving to the crowd which might do just about anything, but not leave.

Trowa swilled back the last of his water bottle and stood to look for a fountain to refill. "How's your throat, Duo?"

"Fine. I learned fast how to sing into a microphone. Let it do the amplification. Saves me."

Trowa took one step toward the hall. "Anybody see Zechs?"

"He whispered something about Une and meeting her," Wufei said. "Too bad he couldn't catch our act. I think the audience likes us."

"They do!" Quatre exclaimed. He energetically launched into a rhapsodic retelling of the emotional response he sensed from the crowd during the performance. Trowa hung around just to listen to his voice and soak up his positive energy.

Refreshed, somewhat, yet still Zechs-less, the band returned to the stage for the second part of the gig. More patrons had entered the club in the meantime. The noise was unbelievable. The lights flickered as the sound man turned up the volume on the amplification. Air circulation sucked; at least, it would have helped if it had.

The first song began, Duo warbling the moment the first measure began. Heero held up a hand, calling a halt to the song. Duo closed his mouth and turned around to look at Heero. The audience fell silent.

"Eh?"

"You're not supposed to sing," Heero explained, his tone flat making it difficult to tell if this was a joke or he was serious. "We play first to get in some solo time and you don't sing."

"Don't sing?" Duo looked horrified. "It's a song. You think they wanna listen to you guys do just instrumentals?"

"Yes," Heero said.

"Ha! That's pretty funny. I'm the singer, I sing, you play, together we make be-uuuuu-tiful music." Duo slithered up close to Heero and batted his eyelashes.

Heero smiled and shook his head.

"Ah, don't be so hard, man. Just start over and I'll sing real nice and pretty..." Duo continued along this vein, combining meaningless chatter with begging.

Heero kept turning away, attempting to avoid Duo's direct pleas and look serious despite a smile threatening to ruin the effect. It didn't help that Quatre was giggling, Wufei was hiding his face behind a cymbal, and Trowa had collapsed on one knee, shuddering with repressed laughter. They made the perfect comic and straight man act and the crowd adored them.

Heero finally stepped up to the mic and said, "Shut up Duo."

Duo clammed up, blinked, and stood, hands over his mouth.

"Better," Heero told him as he started the introduction over, this time with a long musical interlude before Duo was allowed to join in.

To show their approval the audience screamed and stomped their feet to the music, and Trowa wondered for the hundredth time where it was that Zechs had gone off to.

Chapter 11 -- You Really Got a Hold on Me

"Yes!"

"We did it, dudes!"

Quatre was thrilled with the audience response to their performance. The band's warmth, as shown by Heero and Duo's friendly banter and Duo and Quatre's hip-bouncing dancing, connected with the crowd, winning them fans. Quatre and Duo embraced and hopped excitedly, laughing. Wufei smiled, Heero and Trowa exchanged congratulatory grunts.

"Hn."

"Hn."

"Our first show and they liked us!" Quatre chortled.

"Yeah," Trowa mumbled. He seemed so emotionally impoverished it frightened Quatre. How could he contain himself?

The warm-up band returned to playing their own music, and Duo was moving in time, dancing in place. Quatre noticed Heero watching him, his eyes open wider than usual, his arms tense at his sides. There was a hungry look in his dark, blue eyes, as if he would devour Duo, if he could; at least, that was how Quatre interpreted his friend's expression.

As he continued to watch Duo and Heero carefully, he noticed that they did not renew the closeness of the interchange on stage. He didn't wonder that the man now back on the front stage singing with the new Sweepers band, the guy called Solo, was the cause. He caught Heero glaring at Solo's back with a look that could stop a heart in a moment, before turning away, and closing the lid on his guitar case.

Even with the overhead fan blowing the humid air across the top of his head, the air was thick with unsaid words. Quatre hated the pent up hurt, jealousy, and betrayal radiating off of Heero. There were times he envied their passionate reactions, wishing Trowa was more demonstrative, but not at the moment. He wanted to take pleasure knowing that the band had done a good job. He wanted the bad feelings to go away, the problems be resolved, the feelings known, but didn't want to be the one to start talking. Once he got started, he knew there would be no controlling what Duo might say or do. Also, there was something about the set of Heero's jaw which said, "Leave me alone," mirroring Duo's own sentiments and giving Quatre a reason to clamp his mouth shut. The music played background to their roiling emotions.

Quatre thought Heero had good reason to be mad and hurt. If Duo had some "ex" here on L2, whom he might run into, he should have warned them, at least Heero, since it seemed he and Heero had some understanding.

Thinking about Duo and Heero made Quatre's chest tighten, because it made him more aware of how little headway he was making with Trowa. How could he get him to notice him more? Pay attention to him? Want him the way Heero obviously wanted Duo? He was about to approach Trowa and offer to help him wrap up cables, when Zechs reappeared, looking uncharacteristically harried.

"Sir? Did you catch any of our act?" Quatre asked him.

"I'm sorry, only the last song and that from the way back, but the club was rocking. Excuse me a moment."

Zechs turned away to speak to a club employee charged with storing their equipment for the next evening's gig. Trowa, Heero, Wufei, and Duo stopped what they were doing and gathered closer to where Quatre was trying to talk to Zechs.

Trowa waited patiently, and then asked, "Did you have your meeting with Lady Une?"

Quatre wondered if Trowa had a very personal reason for his concern, if he wasn't developing an attachment for the woman. They had dated a few times. It would explain why he seemed so reticent to make any moves on Quatre. Quatre had pointedly spent time with Trowa, seeking him out when he could, and they had kissed, but he could not bring himself to be any more overt or aggressive, not without some new sign of interest from Trowa, and lately, he had had very little to suggest more than friendship. He was getting discouraged.

"It's the funniest thing. One minute I saw her. The next minute she was gone. I could have sworn she was in the company of at least two other men. She didn't answer her cell phone, so I followed her, or who I thought had to be her, and became lost in the side streets. It took me a long time to find my way back here, which is why I missed your performance, sorry to say."

Quatre noticed Duo joining the conversation, his eyes shining with purpose and excitement; it made Quatre want to become a part of whatever plan the other boy was formulating. He was as super-charged as Trowa was laid back, and both types attracted Quatre. Maybe he should get some training in the art of seduction from Duo, Quatre thought. Heat rose to his cheeks as he came to the conclusion that right now he felt desire for any cute male, and he was surrounded by five, Zechs included.

"Where did you lose her, or whoever you were following?" Duo asked.

"A bar called the White Fang," Zechs said. "I entered shortly after her, but once inside, I never caught sight of her or the men with her again."

"Doesn't surprise me," Duo said. "Below these buildings are tunnels linking the machinery that keeps the environmentals going, such as they are. Sectors are distinguished by the different underground activities -- water purification, atmosphere production, sewer and garbage, and on and on. If you know what's up, you can travel the tunnels all over the colony and avoid detection. My guess is that she disappeared into one of these chambers either willingly or not."

"But why?"

Duo's fey face became dark and troubled. He lowered his voice and swiftly scanned the room. "Because the syndicate works that way! We can be pretty sure she's not a part of the syndicate, seeing as she's head of the Meteor Music record label. I'll bet Treize doesn't like her coming into his territory. They don't take lightly to alliance activists." He looked at Heero sharply, adding, "Not even pretty lady ones like Relena and Lady Une."

"They are not activists, Duo," Zechs assured him.

"Don't be so sure," Duo snapped. "Nature's Concern is in direct opposition to lots of the Syndicate-operated industries. Relena's going to be their spokesperson in no time with all her social status and celebrity. A-aand which is why the syndicate, through OZ, backs Dorothy's new employer, ELF. They go and blow up places and give the environmentalists a bad name and Nature's Concern takes the hit. I know, I know... you think I'm making this all up. Anyway, my bet's on trouble. She's been kidnapped."

"Then we have to go after her!" Quatre cried out.

"No, it's too dangerous. You are musicians, not vigilantes any more," Zechs snapped, then drew a deep, cleansing breath, and let it out to the count of eight. Calmer, he began with another affirmation, the source of his strength. "We are here to follow our own path, but we can also assist others on their own along the way, so...We go back to the hotel and call the police."

"Excellent idea," said Wufei. "Quatre, are you feeling okay? You look feverish."

"I-I'm fine, just overheated," he answered, ashamed to be caught staring at Trowa, who was stretching his arms.

Duo opened his mouth to argue with Zechs, but, catching Heero's irate expression, he changed his mind and clamped his mouth shut. He shrugged as if to accept Zechs' reasoning and followed the others out the door.

"Zechs," Heero said behind Quatre's back. "Duo and I are going to take a walk. We'll be back to the hotel in an hour or so."

Zechs shook his head. "We should stick together. I don't want you going off and getting into trouble."

Quatre noticed then that Heero was pointedly holding Duo's hand, making it clear to Zechs that they wanted a little time alone, and not that they were planning to conduct independent investigations. He wondered at Heero's boldness, knowing how Zechs felt about Relena's involvement with Heero. Zechs didn't was his little sister hurt.

"Duo knows his way around," Quatre assured Zechs. He moved into whispering range and added, "They need to work out a problem, really."

Trowa offered to take Duo's bag containing his change of costume, such as it was, but Wufei surprised him by grabbing Duo's bag first, telling Trowa that he could take Heero's gear bag back to hotel.

"Ah, thanks, Barton. I'll make sure Duo stays out of trouble. We won't go far or be long," Heero assured Zechs.

From Heero's tone of voice, Quatre thought he wasn't asking for permission; he was informing their guardian of their plans. There was nothing for Zechs to do but say "fine." Zechs watched them walk off in another direction a moment then resigned to take control of the others.

"Drinks and cards in my room," Zechs said. "You can tell me all about the wonderful show I missed tonight." He wiggled his foot and made a face. "Oh, damn, my sandal strap broke."

"I can fix that!" Quatre cried out, pleased to be of service. "I brought an emergency repair kit."

"You can sew?" Trowa asked, his eyes dancing rare with amusement.

"Yes." Quatre felt defensive again.

"Me, too. Always on tent repair duty," Trowa explained.

"Really?" Quatre smiled and relaxed. "Tell me about it."

Heero checked over his shoulder and once he was sure no one was following them, asked, "We're going after Une, right?"

"Yeah, um, that's okay with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure you and me were on the same track before I take you for a tour of the bowels of L2."

Heero felt his heart rate take off on a trip of its own when Duo looked him over and smiled. He made no move to release Duo's hand, though, as Duo started forward, but planted his feet. He had to know one thing.

"Solo."

Duo winced as if he knew it had been just too good to be true that Heero would let that go by without comment. "Yeah, him. We were in the band together. He was like my big brother."

"Brother? Don't fuck with me, Duo. He wasn't looking at you like a brother."

Duo pressed his lips into a tight line. Heero felt Duo tug on his hand, trying to get free, but Heero wouldn't release him. Instead, Heero dragged him across the street on their way to the White Fang club destination, hoping Duo would feel more like talking if he didn't have to look him in the eye.

"I think Solo was your boyfriend and you walked out on him. You have a problem with telling me the truth?"

"I don't lie, Heero." Duo nearly spat at him. "To me he was just, well, I thought of him more like a brother -- okay, one with privileges, but it was him that didn't want me. He didn't even want to come with Hilde and me to tour Earth. Said I carried too much overhead. I wasn't worth the trouble to him, so as I see it, he dumped me. Just another piece of garbage he could replace with --"

"You," Heero said, stopping abruptly on the far side of the street and gripping Duo securely by the shoulders, "are not garbage. You are the sexiest, most talented guy I've ever met. You make our band hot and drive me crazy."

"Oh." Duo swallowed.

Heero wanted. He wanted Duo to fall into his arms and be swept away by the emotional torrent. He wanted to believe every word Duo said and believe Solo was out of his life. He wanted to kiss Duo and make believe he was his. Heero allowed a smile to flicker around the edges of his lips, and Duo relaxed.

"I mean it, Heero. Solo wasn't 'the one', you know?"

"Hn."

Duo cocked his head to the side. "White Fang's up ahead. Wanna go in?"

"Yes."

Duo entered as if he owned the place, impressing Heero with his moxy. This was no time to appear unsure, or things would start to unravel, but the guy had to know what they were doing was dangerous, as Zechs had suggested, and yet, Duo gave away nothing. He showed no fear.

Duo nodded to a barmaid, beckoning her closer, and shoved a couple bills in her hand. "Tunnels."

"You repair dudes?" she asked. Her eyes gave them both the once over. "Cute." She made the money disappear. "This way."

Heero walked behind Duo, his eyes straight ahead, but scanning covertly for others watching them. They went behind the counter, down between the racks of cleaned glassware, and saw the lines of the door in the linoleum floor. Duo shoved the rack of stemware out of the way.

"Hey," the barmaid said, "Take it easy with the glass."

Duo offered her a "sorry" and Heero ignored her, using the opportunity to push Duo aside. Heero lifted the door, and it was pitch-black down below. They hadn't a flashlight, but it wouldn't have looked good to back out. So, hoping there was light switch somewhere, he lowered himself through the opening until his foot caught the first rung of a wooden ladder. He just barely saw it as he was going down, tucked away behind a beam next to the door opening. He clicked it on, and continued down, Duo after him.

There was a wide, steel-clad fire door off to the right. It was filthy dirty. Instead of a lock, there was a latch and hasp, held shut by a twisted piece of thick wire broken off a hanger. Heero untwisted it partway, became impatient and then snapped the metal apart, coating his hands with dirt. Duo stuffed his fingers into the crack around the door and tried pulling it open, his forehead breaking out with perspiration. Heero imagined the dust in the air settling against it and sticking, and he wanted to lick it off with his tongue.

Instead, Heero put his added weight into it and shoved the door aside on its roller. He pawed around on the other side until he found the light switch. He turned it on and saw a bigger chunk of basement, just as filthy as the one behind them. Up ahead, there was humming. Machinery, not voice.

Duo trotted back to the foot of the stirs and shouted up. The barmaid heard, came over and looked down. She stood with her legs pressed together and her palms flat against the front of her thighs, so Duo couldn't peek up her skirt.

"I gotta lot of customers here. Whatdoya want?"

Duo replied, "We're going through this way, but we'll be needing to leave the way we came in. You can close the trap door now, but left it open a crack."

She started to bitch about how it wasn't her job to man the trapdoors, but Duo had already left. When Duo rejoined Heero, they closed off the sound of her voice with a yank of the fire door.

"That way is a corridor," Heero said.

It looked low-ceilinged with concrete walls that were dirt-gray except where fresh concrete had dribbled away and showed flaky white. At the end was another fire door, but this one was padlocked. Solo hadn't been good for much, but he had taught Duo how to listen to the tumbler on a padlock, information he'd picked up from his safe-cracking days. He turned the knob, his ear close to the lock, and heard the nearly inaudible clicks. He tugged on the lock and it released. Together, Duo and Heero slid the door open and went through to a part that was already lit. The humming was louder ahead of them.

They came to the end of the corridor a little ways after that door, and found a relatively clean part, with an old chunk of linoleum on the floor, and a battered old desk and a girlie calendar on the wall. Heero examined the calendar, noting that the month was correct and the days had been crossed off, up to that day. An old clock on the desk had the right time, within ten minutes. The radio was on but playing static for an oldies station not completely tuned in. Heero bumped into the radio by mistake, jiggling the dial so that the tune came in clearly.

"....You treat me badly
I love you madly
You've really got a hold on me..."

"Shit," he hissed.

Duo nodded and placed his finger to his lips, indicating silence. There wasn't anybody visible except a cat stretching itself awake beside the desk. The cat woke up when the music blared out, and slunk away to the doorway where the humming was coming from.

"I don't want you,
But I need you
Don't want to kiss you
But I need you..."

It was brightly lit beyond the doorway. Heero got a glimpse of metal stairs going down and a lot of grimy, black machinery and a guy with a striped train engineer's cap sitting on a kitchen chair. Heero's blood ran so cold that he froze in place, but, as he watched, the man didn't move. On closer examination, Heero noticed that he was wearing headphones.

"You do me wrong now
My love is strong now
You've really got a hold on me..."

On the opposite wall, there was the door of the freight elevator. The elevator creaked as metal scraped against straining metal; it was moving. Duo yanked Heero backwards against a far wall. Heero leaned back into the Duo's chest, making no attempt to push away the embracing arms.

"I love you and all I want you to do
Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me..."

The elevator doors parted, and a woman stepped out. She wore glasses and her hair pinned into a tight, dark bun, but, more importantly, she was accompanied by a tall man. He was handsome with wavy, golden brown hair.

"Une... and Treize," Duo hissed, his head twisted around to glance over his shoulder. "We gotta move."

"I want to leave you
Don't want to stay here
Don't want to spend
Another day here
Oh, oh, oh, I want to split now
I just can quit now
You've really got a hold on me..."

Duo yanked on Heero's arm, backing him further into the shadows.

Zechs dealt the cards again. Quatre looked at his hand and chose two cards to exchange, hopefully, for better ones. Wufei wore a smug expression of supreme confidence; Trowa, inscrutable. He had the perfect poker face, like the Great Sphinx with his enigmatic smile one moment and a bland countenance the next. Quatre could watch Trowa all night and not know what occupied his imagination. Even his emotions were tightly leashed. He exhibited none now. Quatre tried to get an impression from each player, but he was completely barred from knowing Trowa's feelings.

Zechs was inattentive. Quatre guessing that his mind drifted to the missing two boys. Whatever Heero and Duo were doing, Quatre sensed more tension than romance, and then Quatre found himself paralyzed by a storm of emotion.

With a catch in his throat, a sharp and sudden stab of worry overtook his senses. "Oh!" he said mid gasp.

Wufei sighed and shook his head in apparent despair. "Quatre, you must keep your feelings under wrap. You do yourself an injustice by... Dear Gods! Are you all right? Trowa, give me a hand here!"

Wufei relayed his orders in rapid-fire Cantonese. To Quatre, the language always sounded like a show down, as if the participants had pulled out twin Israeli Uzi submachine guns and fired away. He felt the words' penetration, clutched at his heart and caved inwards, collapsing onto the small circular table.

"I love you and all I want you to do
Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me..."

"I won't be pushed around by you, Treize. I have my own company now. I'm no longer your drudge."

"You are here. That is provocation enough for me to --"

There was a pause and then, "Would somebody turn that damn music off? Who's attending the machines down here?" Treize Khushrenada shouted.

"You've really got a hold on me
You've really got a hold on me ..."

When there was no answer to his request, he went on speaking to Lady Une. "I am here to observe one band on its first tour, that's all. I have no interest in stepping on your toes."

"But I have an interest in stepping on yours," he said in a low intimidating voice. "My dutiful Une."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a job for you. Nothing big. But it would make up for your...mistakes. "

"I just told you; I don't report to you any longer!"

"You do this for me and I might let you keep this band of interest. You know, I heard that Shinigami first. He could have been mine."

Lady Une heard the hidden threat to the singer of the band. "What is it you want of me?"

He smiled. "You remember Chief Engineer Tsuberov at the Lunar Recording Studios? He has perfected a new, fabulously efficient method of mass-producing recordings. I either want him in my employ or his secrets in my hands. Oh, and I will stop at nothing to accomplish my goal."

"You hurt me, Treize Khushrenada, and I vow to get you back!" Lady Une cried. "Besides, you have a new assistant. Why not use Miss Noin to do your dirty work?"

"Who says I'm not?"

Heero could feel his nasty grin even if he couldn't see it.

"Oh, oh, oh, I want to split now
I just can quit now
You've really got a hold on me..."

"I'm going to see who's not minding his job," Treize grumbled.

"Shit," Duo hissed in his ear, and Heero couldn't agree more. "He's coming this way."

The song ended and the station blared out a commercial announcement.

"So irresistible, this swimming through a tub of honey, and my eyelids are so heavy. If only that idiot would stop calling my name I could really enjoy..."

"Quatre!" Zechs voice cried out.

"... got to wake up!"

"Ugh, my head," Quatre said, groaning. "Alya!"

"Heaven," Zechs translated automatically.

Quatre blinked, focused, and his field of vision was filled with Trowa's face. "Israfel!"

"Ah, that's the angel of music who will sound the trumpets on the Day of Judgment," Zechs said. "I think he's hallucinating."

"That's obvious if he's staring at Barton," Wufei groused. "Angel, indeed!

Trowa said nothing. He continued to cradle Quatre in his arms and stare into Quatre's eyes. Quatre squeezed his hand.

"I'm okay, now. Better, really." Quatre sat up reluctantly, although he remained in contact with Trowa's warm, solid chest, leaning back into it for support. "You were worried about me?" he asked Wufei, chuckling a little.

"You collapsed, Quatre," Zechs told him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like something... dreadful has happened."

"Duo and Heero--?" Wufei assumed were the cause.

Quatre's answer was interrupted by the ringing of Zech's cell phone. "Hold that thought." Zechs flipped the phone open. "Hello? Who? Say that again? Oh, no. Not...that. Yes, he's here. I'll put him on." Zechs handled the phone to Quatre. "Quatre, you should take this call back in the bedroom."

In the time it took Heero to determine they had no time to run, Duo had dropped his jacket to the ground, ripped his own thin t-shirt over his head, and torn off his jeans leaving himself stark naked. Heero was struck blind, deaf, and totally dumb. Not in his wildest imaginings could he have thought the boy would lose his mind under pressure.

"Wha--?"

Duo reached for and unzipped Heero's pants, yanked them down with his boxers, and man-handled his body down to the floor. Heero was grateful it was dark. He didn't want to know what was on the surface of the ground where Duo's bare ass was in contact. He wanted to revel in the feel of the naked boy beneath him, but not this way. He bit his bottom lip to keep from moaning aloud. He was becoming aroused, but he could feel that Duo was not, his limp cock pressed firmly against Heero's abdomen. He was trembling from the chilled ground or fright, Heero couldn't tell. Where their bare skin came into contact was a coat of sweat infused with terror.

"Nuh--" Heero grunted.

"Kiss me," Duo demanded. He gripped a hank of Heero's hair and pulled their faces together. "Hide me," he whispered just as the heavy footfalls scraped the cement floor near Heero's feet.

Hide him, yes, that at least made sense. He kissed those lips and tried to permeate their contact with all the courage he could muster. Duo moaned loudly, and it was all Heero could do not to moan with him, except that his throat had tightened into taut band of constricted tissue.

"Oh, yes, mooooore!"

"What's this? Oh, for the love of... It's two fucking fairies!" Khushrenada's voice cut through the drone of machinery like a finely sharpened sword through soft butter.

They were joined by the sharp click click of high heels on the ground.

"Who is that pathetic breath of a boy? Something familiar about him."

"I have no idea who it is you might be referring to," Lady Une replied. Her voice sounded pinched and artificial.

"Haven't I seen you someplace before?" Treize asked leaning closer.

Heero knew the man couldn't see Duo's face and was just goading him. He squeezed Duo tighter hoping he'd not start talking. Didn't work.

"Yeah, that's why I don't go there anymore," Duo snapped back.

"Oh, a funny whore! No matter. I suppose they're both just street rats practicing their trade."

"We work in the club," Duo huffed over Heero's shoulder, being careful to keep his face hidden. "We're on break. The barman said we could smoke, or whatever, down here."

Heero wiggled back into his own pants and gathered Duo's, pushing them between them, spreading them out to cover Duo as best he could, all the while keeping his body between Treize and Duo's face. He was dreadfully embarrassed, terrified, and angry all at once. He wanted to thrash the simpering, superior smile from the man's face. And, Lady Une, had she recognized who they were? He could never look her in the eye again. What would she think? The next words, however, made him consider how much he valued his life more.

"What do you think, my Lady?" Khushrenada asked in a mocking way, pretending he cared what Une said or thought. "Should I call the stupid guard, bring these two invaders to his attention? Or just call my own men and have these two arrested for debauchery and breaking and entry and locked up in the most wretched of the Organization of the Zodiac's prisons... GrubeHollenfeuer?"

Heero hadn't heard of the OZ prison, GrubeHollenfeuer, but he could tell from the Duo's startled reaction that it must have been an abysmal place. He could recall the phrase "in die Grube fahren," which meant 'to give up the ghost," and knew the place was terrible. As the powerful man's lips tightened into a malicious sneer, Heero knew Treize was about to fill him in on the complete grisly details.

"Accommodations are based on a prisoner's ability to pay. The poorest are stuck in the darkest dungeon, where the fetid air can turn to fresh only by the admission of outside air entering through a crack in the wall. The lucky ones make tools of eating utensils to enlarge the cracks to form holes emitting sighs like breaths from the dying." Treize paused to let the information settle in. "And I'm sure... you haven't... a penny... on... you." His voice seemed to unwind with these words, and like the clock on the desk -- stopped.

Heero and Duo both struggled to their feet, scrabbling in panic on the oil-slicked floor, and jumped backward as far into the shadows as possible.

"We got nothing," Duo said just this side of sounding desperate. He jerked his pants over his hips and grappled with the zipper in the dark. "You're right, but in a few minutes our boss'll come looking for us if we don't make it back to work. We got connections, whoever you are."

Heero thought that Duo had better keep his mouth shut and not provoke the man even more. What he did not know, and what an experienced L2 survivor like Duo did, was that a job with connections was good as gold. Also, Duo had implied that they had no idea who they were talking to, which just might save their lives.

Suddenly, the mood changed.

"Get the hell outta my sight and back to your jobs and I'd better not catch you fucking around these tunnels again. They are off limits!" Treize shouted.

Chapter 12 -- Tangled Up In Me

"I w-want to go b-back to that c-coffee shop," Duo said through chattering teeth and hugging his jacket close to his body.

"Coffee shop? Are you out of your mind?" Heero asked Duo.

"I d-don't know." He decided to take dumb, rhetorical questions literally from that point on. "But I w-want some c-c-coffee even if you d-don't."

"It's nearly three in the morning. I want sleep not coffee. Maybe a shower."

If he was sounding petulant, Heero didn't care. He'd already followed Duo blindly into the underground tunnels and nearly gotten killed, or felt close to death. He was certain someone did die down there. He could replay the events of about ten minutes past, and his mind did without his desire to relive any of it, because as he had shoved the trapdoor open to gain access to the safety of the club, he was sure he heard gunfire ricocheting off the cement walls somewhere in the distance.

Duo ducked into the coffee shop with Heero on his heels. "Order me something hot. I'm washing my hands."

Heero glanced down at his own hands and remembered the feel of touching Duo's naked body, and was charged with a jolt like electricity. When he looked up, he caught one last whip of a braid swinging along a dark corridor. A shaky breath escaped Heero's lips as he pulled himself together.

He stood in line and scanned the menu for a suitable warm beverage. The line was short, but it was a line, in a coffee shop -- at this hour of the night? A quick survey of the clientele told him that the teenagers of L2 were night owls. Some were dressed as well as he was, but most were scruffy, needing haircuts, and dental care. None had the funds for colored hair or elaborate piercings, which set them apart from their Sanc counterparts. Heero guessed they were here because it was safer to remain alert during night hours and sleep in the relative safety of daylight. Duo would know if he asked him.

He placed his order, took his number, and waited for a couple to empty out a booth before seizing it for himself. Duo appeared and Heero left the order receipt on the table, while he exchanged places with him. Washing hands was an excellent endeavor. Washing his entire body would be even better.

After he fought the stubborn faucet for a trickle of water and discovered his pants were the best towel choice, Heero was incapable of friendly banter, which was too bad because there at the table he found a teenager leaning over the booth chatting up Duo.

Duo caught his eye and waved him over. "Fan, 'Ro. Say 'hi' to Sphere. He was at our concert tonight."

"Hn."

Heero smiled, barely, but when he looked in the fan's direction his thoughts were murderous. He wanted Duo to himself. He wanted to pommel him with questions and extract answers. He wanted to rip off his clothes and ravage his body in a hot shower and then tumble with him into a huge, clean bed. He crammed his many wants into a tight, pulsing wad of ire and listened in on the conversation as he studied the invader.

Sphere was younger than Duo and Heero, just got his license to drive into the borough for the show, was excited to be out so late, and thrilled to meet his idol. One of those rare rich boys, Heero decided, although he looked average for Sanc. The coffee-girl delivered a tray of drinks, recognized Duo, squealed shrilly, and Heero had to restrain himself again. Holding his mug of hot drink stilled his hands; sipping it excused his lack of conversational skills.

"Wow, so you two were so cool on stage. Really great band. So much better than Sweepers, but that was chill, you guys doing that number together like that." He boy looked shyly at Duo and then Heero. "So are you guys, you know --"

"Tired?" Heero asked in an ill-disguised growl.

"Nah, just mates," Duo said dismissively.

"You still live around here?" The boy's curiosity seemed endless.

"Not any more. Band's touring for awhile."

Heero was interested in Duo's reply, though. He'd not paid attention to what "sectors" Duo had lived in before. He knew Duo had worked the area, but having lived here would explain how he knew about the tunnel. Partially. Heero wanted to know why Duo chose that tunnel. Was it just coincidence that Une and Treize showed up?

Duo quaffed back a hit of what appeared to be a fancy coffee drink with whipped cream topping. He gagged before forcing down a swallow, coughed, sputtered, and set the mug back on the table before he stared wide-eyed at Heero and asked, "What is this?"

"Hot chocolate." Heero finished his drink in one last swig and looked toward the exit.

"Milk?" Duo could have said "poison." It was said in much the same way.

"I assume it contains heated milk, sugar, and cocoa, but I could be entirely wrong. It is not caffeinated and it's warm."

"It's for babies! I haven't drunk milk for... like ages."

"We should go," Heero suggested.

More than anything, he wanted to discuss what happened and to report Lady Une's predicament to Zechs. Then he wanted that shower and sleep. He could see something black and greasy on Duo's braid, his stomach recoiled, and nearly lost his drink.

"Now!" he added, standing abruptly.

"I should be there fighting!" Quatre cried out. "Not here cowering, safe and whole, while my colony is under attack! If my colony's government falls then I have failed them!"

"You aren't allowed re-entry," Zechs reminded him unnecessarily.

"Quatre loves to blame himself for everything if you let him. Sooner or later, he'll start saying that there's no air in space because he didn't work on it hard enough," Wufei drawled, pulling back the sheets, and slipping under the cover of his bed.

Trowa said simply. "Maybe your father knew something about the situation there you didn't and sent you away for your own safety."

"What did you say?" Quatre turned on him.

Quatre studied the other boy's face for a hint of sarcasm and came up short. Trowa was sitting close on the arm of the overstuffed chair, his arm half on the chair back and half over Quatre's shoulders as if he was expecting him to swoon again at any time. Had he been in the mood, he would have enjoyed Trowa's concern and read more into it that there was. But Trowa's face was serious and what he had said contained a ring of truth. Maybe there was more to his being turned out of his family home than what his father had shouted in anger? Maybe being disinherited had been a move to protect him?

"Oh...my... I never thought of that. But... Rashid said the family compound was safe. The OZ attack was in another area entirely."

"That's good. So, your family is safe and so are you. Let's keep it that way," Zechs put in. "Did Rashid say all the Maguanac Corps were returning to L4 tonight?"

"He called from space. They should all be there now." Quatre stood at the window gazing into the fog and gloom, hoping to spot a glimmer of light which was L4. "Some are transporting my remaining sisters away."

"And knowing you are here and out of harm's way will allow them to protect the compound. Their attention won't be compromised," Wufei concluded. "I understand your motivation to join the fight, however. I, too, wish to vindicate myself. I survived, while my colony was destroyed."

"What happened, Wufei?" Quatre asked. He reached out to touch the other boy's arm, feeling the pain and anger seething inside him, and something Quatre interpreted as being the need to share his misery.

"I was the heir to my clan; a scholar not interested in fighting, however, my wife-to-be, my promised, Meiran, was a warrior and she considered me weak. She ended up dying in the much publicized syndicate attack on L5. As a result, I am, I admit, obsessed with being a strong fighter, and with taking my revenge on the syndicate."

"You will get your chance," Quatre said.

"Let's not lose sight of what we are doing here," Zechs interceded. "And more importantly, you need to grow beyond your hatred. Remember, the greater the hurt the greater the need to forgive."

Before any of them could argue further, Heero and Duo thundered into the room, Duo shouting "Dibs!" and dashing into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind him.

"You forgot a change of clothes and your hair crap!" Heero yelled at the door. He spun around and stared at Trowa, Zechs, and Quatre, who stared back. "It's the only bath with hot water," he explained.

"Where have you been?" Zechs asked.

Quatre gasped. "Heero you're bleeding. Your jeans are torn." He pointed to his temple and Heero copied his movements, smearing a line of blood over his cheek.

"Zechs, we found Lady Une."

Trowa tensed.

"Where?"

Heero turned to Trowa, who asked first. "Beneath the streets run tunnels which house the environment controls for L2. Duo used to live around here, and for reasons only he knows, knew where he thought Treize might have taken her. Zechs, they were there. Treize and Une came out of a freight elevator, and she was an unwilling partner in a new scheme of his. He spoke of an inventor at Lunar Recording."

"Tsuberov? He's their supremely creative engineer," Zechs said.

"Yeah, that's the name. Treize wanted either him or his technology for mass-producing recordings, and ordered Une to get one or the other for him. Apparently, she once worked for Khushrenada."

"I neeeeeed more shampooooooooooooo!" Duo warbled from behind the door.

"You can give him mine," Zechs said to Heero's retreating back.

"He hasn't much to wear," Trowa put in. "He travels light."

"I have plenty," said Quatre.

Quatre popped out of his seat and plowed through his bag until he located a clean pink t-shirt and grey sweat pants. Heero returned, took the clothes offering with a grunt, and banged on the bathroom door.

"Open up!"

"It isn't locked!"

Heero opened up and entered. He was gone only long enough to hand over the hair products and clothes. When he stepped back into the room, he stood empty-handed, eyes glazed over.

"What the hell am I doing?" he asked his hands, shook his head and stared blankly. As if he only just remembered his own needs, he muttered, "I'm cleaning up back at my room."

Quatre backed into the door to the hall and leaned into it, blocking the exit. He observed Zechs, who looked immensely tired, pull out his cell phone and step away to the window. He balanced his weight on the sill with his back turned to the room in a definition of private space.

"Heero, how did Duo know where to find Lady Une and Treize Khushrenada, of all people?" Quatre asked.

"He didn't tell me," Heero said. "You're the mind reader; you tell me!"

"I don't read minds! I was just asking."

"Quatre, if you don't get out of my way, I'm going to kill you."

"Heero, don't pick on Quatre so much," Trowa said, his voice soft and low.

Heero looked over to meet Trowa's eyes, surprised perhaps by his show of solidarity. "Just move and forget it, Winner."

"I won't forget. And I won't let you forget what happened today," Quatre said.

"Nothing happened. I'm just tired," Heero mumbled in a limpid apology.

"To me it did," Quatre said softly.

When Heero took no notice of what he'd said, Quatre stepped aside, allowing the heavier, stronger boy to pass. Heero grunted and stalked out of the room, presumably to clean up in his room's tepid shower as he had said. Quatre was tired and crabby, too. They all were, but no one seemed to want to leave the room Quatre and Wufei shared and miss out on the scenario unfolding before them. Trowa pulled Quatre onto the arm of the cushioned chair where he had been sitting earlier.

"Take a load off."

Quatre was about to suggest that he and Trowa go to his room for the night, when Duo emerged from the shower, dirty clothes balled up and tucked under an arm, and hair wrapped in an insufficiently sized towel and dripping.

"Loads better. Now, I'll I need is food."

Wufei, who had dozed off on his bed, was startled awake by Duo's loud voice. "Eh, what? What are you doing in here? Why aren't you in your own room and why are you dressed like Winner?"

Duo chose not to bother answering; instead, he stood over the crabby, sleepy-eyed Chinese boy's bed and shook out his hair. There was plenty of runoff to shower Wufei to the soaking stage. Amid Wufei's shrieks and death-promising oaths, Duo danced out of his reach and laughed playfully.

"Get me something to eat, and I'll stop. I know you're hiding something in that bag of yours. Candy bars?" Duo chortled.

"I do not carry candy with me!" Wufei snarled. "Go away!"

"Stop making me repeat myself, it's bad for my health," Duo said, snapping his towel and stinging Wufei on the ass.

"Argh! I will decide justice. NOW!"

"We are leaving," Zechs said quietly folding away his cell phone. "You have fifteen minutes to pack up your belongings then we will assemble in the lobby where I will be settling our bill here. A vehicle will deliver us to our new hotel for, I hope dearly, the duration of our stay. I'll inform Heero of the change of plans as I pack."

He wrapped Wufei in a firm grip and propelled him back to the bed and apart from Duo. Duo, he grasped by the back of the neck, mostly by a handful of damp hair, and pushed him ahead and out the door.

He paused only to cast one last look over his shoulder, catching Trowa's eye. "You, too."

Without another word, Zechs opened the door to leave.

Duo, determined to get in the last word, said, "I could use something to eat, ya know."

Quatre could hear Zechs muffled voice as it echoed down the hallway and smiled. "Naturally."

By four o'clock in the morning, Zechs and the band he managed were ensconced in one of L2's finest, newest hotels within a twenty minute drive of their gig location. Each room had working hot and cold water taps, and one, the one connected to the room Zechs would be sharing with Wufei -- by Wufei's loud pronouncement -- had a couch, table and chairs, and kitchenette attached. Room service had delivered light meals of omelets, toast, and tea for everyone. Showers were completed. Heero claimed Duo by rights and hauled him off to one room, leaving Trowa and Quatre to share the last available room. Bodies collapsed into clean beds. Eyes were shut. Conversations over. Asleep.

Trowa woke up to the sound of quiet. Quatre was silent like a sleeping cat. Duo tossed and turned, muttered, snorted, gasped, and even shouted out in his sleep. All that proved that the other bed was occupied was a tuft of bright blond hair and the steady rise and fall of the mound of blankets down the dead center of the bed. It was nearly two in the afternoon and Trowa's empty stomach growled. If he was hungry he knew that Duo wouldn't be far behind. He expected him along shortly to go hunting for food. So, he dressed quietly in a t-shirt and jeans, which was like the uniform of teenage boys all over, in preparation.

He answered the gentle knock on his door with a smile, but it wasn't Duo. "Yo."

"We are going out in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, Chang, but Quatre's still sleeping."

"Leave him a note."

"As if --" Trowa only just managed not to slam the door in his insensitive friend's face.

He sidled up to the sleeping form. Quatre looked so young, although, Trowa knew for a fact that he was the oldest of the five of them, if even only by a few months. Trowa looked at him and wondered how it was that Quatre was attracted to him. Trowa was nothing, not even a cagey street rat. He was a clown, a no-name clown in a circus, with a violent murky past running with a band of mercenaries, while Quatre Winner was the only son to the multi-billionaire. Cultured, genuine, and gentle. If Quatre stuck with girlfriends he would be returned to the bosom of his family and his inheritance. If he fell for him, another guy, then he'd be expelled, surely and permanently. Trowa knew that eventually Quatre would hold him responsible for spoiling his life, and he couldn't blame him for that. His best course was to steer Quatre into a firm, platonic friendship with himself and into a steady, romantic relationship with Catherine. That made him very sad, though, to think about.

"Quatre?" He reached out and touched his friend's shoulder. "Quatre? Hungry?"

"Hmmm?"

Quatre blinked. He stretched. He looked so inviting that Trowa nearly fell into his arms.

"Chang dropped by to tell us the others were leaving to go find food. We have about ten minutes."

"Oh!" He sprang out of bed wearing loose pajama bottoms. "I, ah, don't have much time then, do I?"

Quatre seemed a little flakey to Trowa, but his merry temperament and "early morning" energy just amazed him, uplifting his sagging spirits instantly with his cheerful smile. He would maintain a hands-off policy. But if Quatre moved on him, how could he resist, Trowa wondered? Well, he knew he couldn't, no matter how right or wrong it was, Trowa knew he was weak and would surrender himself to the other boy immediately.

Quatre dashed into the bathroom, only to come out a few minutes later dressed, brushed, and ready to go. "I really do like this place much better, don't you?"

"Yes," Trowa answered, knowing it must have cost Zechs a mint to put the band up in this swanky hotel.

Quatre needed a healthy income to be comfortable, that was clear. Trowa wondered if he could ever supply that for him. Unlikely, returned the small voice in his head. Well, if Quatre was really gay, and surely no teenager would lie about something like that, then he wasn't going to deny him the pleasures of sex, if he sought him out. Still, Quatre would have to be the one to make the moves, that Trowa decided, was all there was to it. That was as far as his morals would go, after that he was a fallen man.

Duo gave them a tour of his old haunts from the comfort of their rented limousine, which, as Duo put it, "ran as smooth as foam on a mug of Guinness."

One rundown building looked like the next to Trowa. He'd had his fill of the bad side of town, the wrong side of the tracks, and the dives of life. He was only marginally interested in seeing the flop houses, hangouts, and joints Duo and his Sweepers visited.

Zechs and the five boys all got out to see the last place where Duo lived. Duo was particularly subdued now that they were there. The sun had come out yet there was still this ocean of mist at their ankles.

"I get the feeling of standing on a ship's prow, looking out over empty water," Quatre said, dreamily.

He said stuff like that all the time, but on this occasion Trowa wished he had experienced the feel of sailing on a ship with him so he could enjoy the out-of-synch environmental controls as much.

Zechs was on the phone calling for a truck to pick up whatever boxes of crap Duo and the rest of them could haul out. On an empty stomach there was too much, however, when you counted the few things it made Trowa sad to think what little accounted for Duo's life accumulations.

Trowa was thankful Duo steered them to the German Hofbrau House next. Heaping plates of mashed potatoes, gold with butter and with hollowed-out centers overflowing with rich, brown gravy were set before each boy. This was more to Trowa's liking. A platter of sliced meats carved from roasted haunches of beef, ham, and rotisserie chickens filled the center of the table. At each place were steaming side dishes: bowls of peas, cauliflower with cheese sauce, cabbage with noodles, and three other dishes Trowa didn't recognize but ate with relish. They all ate like starving children, even the rather finicky Wufei, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly doing so.

Afterwards, Zechs directed the driver to a shopping district to look for more clothes and to fill the time before they were to head back to the club to play. Trowa guessed that Zechs didn't plan to let any of them go sightseeing on their own. Too risky.

Duo, Zechs insisted, was to shop for clothes suitable for performing and a few sturdier pieces. What Duo was wearing was very worn. His ragged jeans weren't stone-washed they were street-pounded, and his scuffed motorcycle boots were resale-shop castoffs.

When it was first pointed out, Duo laughed, "I call it 'poverty chic'."

Surprisingly, Duo didn't get defensive. He accepted the spending spree with good humor, especially since his clothes from performing the night before were unusable after a few hours in the tunnels contacting sludge, which he barely washed out of his hair. From what little Heero told Trowa, he had ended up cutting tar out of Duo's hair before they finally fell asleep. It hadn't been a night of romance that much Trowa was sure of. If he was confused as to what to do about Quatre, he knew Heero shared his confusion, even to the point of misery, as to what to do about Duo.

Up to this summer, Heero had been expected to court Relena, although from Trowa's point of view he hadn't shown an interest in either sex. When it had been said jokingly that Heero was asexual, it was actually true, up to that point. A more disinterested date Trowa couldn't imagine. Then Heero saw Shinigami on the stage and he was like a man ensorcelled. The guy was really due this kind of manic infatuation, Trowa thought and smiled, because it was rather funny and remarkable at the same time.

Zechs lay down the law this time. They were required to stay in the same store and not venture to the next shop until everyone was ready. It was clumsy and slow going, but fun just the same.

"Abercrombie and Snitch?" Duo joked.

"Might as well start somewhere," Quatre told him. "Oh, look at this nice shirt!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey!
Can't you see I want you by the way I push you away, Ya"

"Do you think they would turn down the music in here if I asked?" Zechs asked.

Wufei shook his head. "Ask and they will laugh in your face. They laugh in the face of the weakness."

"Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction Ya!"

"Not if they want my money," Zechs replied.

Wufei fanned his hand, pooh-poohing the idea. "The people who work here get paid whether or not you are happy."

"I think I shall sit outside," Zechs said, resigned to playing guardian for the day.

"I shall keep you company in that case," Wufei said. "There is nothing here that could interest me."

"Hey! Hey!
Get tangled up in me!

Dressing Duo was insane. He had no idea what looked good on him, just what was "too pricey" or "a good deal". His tastes were eclectic, but mostly if he wasn't showing skin he thought he was overdressed. Quatre found tons of possibilities and Trowa simply watched, trailing after him, amused by the excitement both boys shared at the sight of clothes. Trowa was happy with the same few things, a few better shirts, and a few for the act. That was enough. Well, that and Quatre watching. Quatre seemed so free and easy talking to Duo. Trowa wished the two of them could be as comfortable and close.

"Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it," Trowa said.

Duo agreed, up to a point. He didn't collect "stuff," but now he seemed not to be able to get along without numerous items of clothing. Quatre was pleased to cater to his every whim, even when Duo teased him to within an inch of his life.

"Here's a cute outfit," Quatre held up a couple articles of clothing by their hangers.

"Not bad, Cat. That outfit would look great in a crumpled heap on your bedroom floor tomorrow morning. Heh, heh..."

Yeah, Duo could make poor Quatre flush with embarrassment with ease. Trowa wanted to be the one to make Quatre color with passion. He was afraid he might give away his thoughts, so he turned to Heero to discover how he was holding up.

"You wanna know more, more, more about me
Gotta know reverse psychology..."

Trowa caught Heero staring at the dressing room door, waiting for Duo to re-emerge. He stood transfixed by the door, his heart pounding double time against the canned music.

"Hey! Hey!
Get tangled up in me!

Trowa had seen Duo moments ago, flitting around in some shirt and pants Heero and chosen for him. If Duo had bumped into him or even touched him, it had to have been the lightest of touches and not overt, but certainly something Duo had said or done had stirred his friend's guarded passions, lighting his desire, because Heero was clearly aroused.

"You okay?" Trowa asked and Heero didn't even blink.

"Can't you see I want you by the way I push you away, Ya!
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today..."

"Want to go look over some shoes with me?" Trowa asked, trying to help break the mood. Heero, against his wishes, Trowa supposed, was on fire. Bad timing.

"Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction Ya!
Hey! Hey!
Get tangled up in me!"

Heero closed his eyes and drew an unsteady, but purifying, breath, as if to reset his resolve and break from Duo's spell. Sadly, it was just in time for Duo to reappear.

"Okay, Heero. It's either this outfit or the other or I'm going naked!"

By Heero's expression, Trowa could tell Heero chose outfit number three, and started to laugh.

"This one, now let's get out of here," Heero grumbled.

"You think that you know me
You think that I'm only
When everything I do is only to get tangled up in you..."

"Twenty minutes!" the sound man told them.

Quatre checked and re-checked the settings on the synthesizer, but his concentration was flagging. He found his seeming inability to knit words into sentences getting worse whenever Trowa was in his presence.

It was no wonder. Trowa is fantastically sexy, Quatre thought. Enigmatic, from the circus, years on his own -- all of it touched a romantic nerve in Quatre. Trowa was taller than the others by a few inches, lean and lanky like a male model. His tawny hair covered one eye giving him an air of mystery. Salesmen had bumped into him, flirted, chatted him up. Trowa was unaware of the effect he had on the male sex. They didn't do that to Quatre and they avoided Heero completely -- Duo, too, after feeling flayed alive by a lash from Heero's ever-watchful glare.

Quatre only wished "it", that thrilling thing that made guys so attractive, would rub off on him. He so much wanted Trowa to notice him! He closed his eyes and pondered. Certainly, he was rich enough, probably intelligent enough, even good-looking enough.

If anything was going to happen between him and Trowa, he would have to instigate it, he guessed. Envying Duo's talents wouldn't help him, and Trowa was too shy and, if he was honest, not really upper class. Not that that mattered to Quatre, but he knew that held back many suitors in the past; like the chauffeur's good-looking son, he mused. It was the kind of problem that concerned his father, but not of him. He was just a kid in a band now, no better or worse than the others.

As they readied themselves for another performance, this time to a sell-out crowd, Quatre had plenty of time to contemplate his past experiences in order to formulate a strategic plan to "get Trowa Barton."

Generally speaking, Quatre determined that he was confused about sex. The gropings and kissing and sweaty fumblings of his early teenage years had somehow seemed off the mark, irrelevant to the hunger that really did exist. The idea that any of those nervous, jack-rabbit boys he'd encountered might have the solution to the problem, might be able to guide him into understanding and some kind of contentment, was absurd on the face of it. When at the tender age of fourteen he had finally "done it" on the floor of his private bath, he had been taken by the son of an ambassador. The boy had been so nervous, so overly eager, so inexperienced and gawky, that in some ways it had been worse than learning to dance. Drugs had at least provided him an escape. He smiled at the rather nasty remembrance, knowing that the others in his band assumed he was a virgin. It would be fun to surprise Trowa Barton.

"Showtime!"

And hour later, the band took a break. Quatre swallowed his weight in water, unable to quench his thirst. "It's so hot! Oh, look who's here!"

"Well, why are we all just standing here?" Lady Une said it as if chairs should materialize out of the very air, and looked sharply at Trowa as if his magic act were rotten.

"It's filled to capacity," Zechs explained. "All the spare chairs are being employed as additional aisle seating."

"However," Zechs Marquise, by far the most elegant thing in the club, murmured as he rose smooth as syrup to his feet from Wufei's drum throne, "you may have this, if you like." His lips spread in a razor-blade smile. "We missed you last night. I understand you were meeting with the enemy instead."

Her breath hitched. "Who told you that, a little birdie?"

"I'd say more of a little sewer rat. You were seen with Treize Khushrenada, Une. It makes me very uncomfortable that the head of our recording company is just a pawn of his."

Lady Une flipped her long, dark hair over her shoulders and observed him from narrowing eyes. "Treize keeps me very busy. My hands are either full or tied behind my back."

"Just make sure his hands aren't on your company. If you fall into his traps, and you know I mean stealing secrets and ruining other companies, you'll end up doing time in jail, or worse. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice. You might consider listening to mine this time."

"You are not in my employ; it is the other way around, should I record your band. To that end, Prince, I recommend that you mind your band's business. They haven't won the contest yet. Besides, to quote one of your preachy little books, 'I am one with my duality. As I learn to trust the Process, I no longer need to carry a gun.' Can you, Prince, say the same?" She left the backstage, frosting her path with her icy stare.

Chapter 13 -- Sexy, Sexy

"I'd like to go back. You know, sometime? With you." Heero hoped that all made sense and didn't sound too, well, stupid.

Duo jerked up his head away from the van window. "L2, ya mean? You wanna go back there? Come on, the place is a shithole, I know that."

"Not true. The tunnels were, ah, cool. The club scene is hopping. Your friends, nice, like the girl at the coffee shop. I felt comfortable there."

Heero dipped his chin, certain he'd said too much. He didn't want to sound mushy. When he turned his face to the aisle, he felt Duo's warm, strong, fair-skinned fingers envelop his hand.

"Thanks," Duo whispered. "If we getta chance, I'd take you to some great spots. Have some good times."

"Yeah." Heero let a smile creep over his face.

As their fingers formed a braid, peach commingled with golden skin, he imagined their limbs intertwined the same way. How many times had they come so close and yet slept apart? Even when they shared a room Duo was asleep before Heero finished his shower. Sitting close, feeling Duo's hand in his made a heat inside his chest grow. To Heero, this was a special friendship.

"So --"

"So, what?" Heero asked.

"So you gonna invite me to your room this time, or trust I won't get interrupted again in mine?"

"My room would be, ah, fine." Heero did a mental scan of his bedroom's interior. No dirty clothes strewn about, bed made and sheets clean, because the housekeeper would have been there, but no stuff, in case, no sex stuff, in case, in case, in case... "But I don't have any, ah, --"

Duo leaned closer, his lips brushing Heero's hair, his shoulder pressing into Heero's, his presence filling Heero's mind. "You ever had sex with another guy?"

Heero swallowed, hard and shook his head. "No," he whispered.

"You want to --"

"Yes!" The word passed his lips before Heero processed the rest of the question. "To, ah, anything. Probably." As an afterthought, he decided he should say something flattering to Duo. "It's more than just...that, you know. I, ah, like you, too."

"And I like you. Listen, if you got anythin' you wanna reach me about, 'Ro, just say it plain."

"I've never, ah, done anything, but what you and I've done so far. I want...I don't know --"

Heero sounded as pained as he felt, he knew. When Duo squeezed his hand, he met his eyes, and when Duo leaned closer still, he turned toward him in time to let Duo brush his lips over his mouth -- no not lips, his wet tongue painted a sensuous scrawl. Heero's lips parted in an automatic gasp.

"You Japanese dudes are so uptight," Duo whispered into his mouth.

Duo sat back and wiggled into his seat before hauling Heero's hand to his mouth. He gnawed and sucked on the row of knuckles until Heero nearly exploded with excitement. Then Duo knocked his socks off with a question.

"You wanna be my boyfriend? Would that make you feel better about taking me to bed, or make it worse? I'm not crazy about sharing you with the little princess, not that I don't like Relena, but I don't know how you feel about us just doing it and mixing that with being friends and all."

"You won't share me. I choose you."

"'Ro, come on, you don't mean that. Think about it. Being with her will get you places in life. Me, I'm a dead-end deal. I know that. You can take me for a roll, until it's all proper and stuff between you and her. I don't mind, well...that's not true. I do, but I'll deal with it, I guess."

Heero rotated around so he could face Duo, who'd been squirming lower into his seat as he talked. Heero couldn't even see his face, just hair. Duo was twiddling with the tip of his braid with his free hand. Heero wouldn't relinquish the other one. No, holding hands with Duo was a more intimate act than he had anticipated, especially when the other boy was acting all sexy. Right now, however, Heero didn't like the path their conversation was taking them. He didn't want Relena mudding up the picture.

"Shut up."

"Huh?"

"Don't talk that way; putting yourself down or selling yourself cheap. You are worth everything to me. You deserve everything I can give you. Not some. Not a part. Not what's left over after I've gone on a date with someone else. Everything. And that is what I want in return. I want you. I want to kiss you and take you home and sleep with you, and I don't want to share you with some other guy or girl or anything. I want to give you... me. Do you understand?"

Duo was speechless. He nodded quickly before Heero could take back anything he'd said. No one had wanted to give themselves to him; others had wanted him but weren't interested in a relationship, or much of one. This sounded like a relationship to Duo. It was a daunting proposition, more so than a request for sex.

Duo cleared his dry throat then asked, "Are you as scared as me?"

Heero chuckled, a nervous laugh. "I'm sweating bullets, Duo. I've never been...close to anyone -- in anyway. I never had a best friend."

Duo kissed him. It was quick, but on the lips, making it more than just a friendly peck. He kissed Heero again, in a way that impressed Heero, soft and warm with a few prickles where Duo needed to shave.

"We're boyfriends then, right?" Heero asked when Duo pulled away, just to make sure.

"Yeah, Heero."

"So, are you going to tell me about you and him?"

"Him? Oh, Solo. No. I said all I'm gonna on the subject. What you and I make of all... this, well, I don't tell anyone about that either. Solo is history; the past. You are the here and now."

"And future," Heero said. "This changes everything. After the contest, do you want to go to L2? I'd go with you."

"Whoa, buddy. You are looking way too far ahead for me and my fried brain."

"Oh, I forgot you did hours of piloting while I slept," Heero said. He was a little disappointed by Duo's reply, and was grateful to drop the uncomfortable topic. "I'll let you sleep now, if you want. We have another hour till we get home."

"Okay, I'll catch a nap while I can. Keep my energy up for later."

Duo's eyes glittered with good humor, making it clear that he meant what Heero thought he meant. He closed his eyes and let his imagination make more immediate plans for their future.

"It's good to be back home," Quatre said as Zechs pulled into the garage of the home in the Sanc kingdom. "I could like touring, but --"

"There is work to be done by the 'roadie' securing accommodations," Zechs finished for him. "I'm learning. But, now I'm showering and will not be disturbed for one hour."

Quatre started up the stairs to his room, but noticed Heero hesitate at the bottom watching Duo dump his bag by his door and trundle off to the kitchen, probably to find a snack. He had seen how chummy those two had been on the ride home and wondered if Heero was going to sneak Duo upstairs to his room or stay with Duo tonight. He had his own ideas, which were interrupted by the singular sound of Trowa's voice.

"Are you standing here or going up?" Trowa asked, nudging him gently where he stood, one foot on the stairs and the other on the hardwood floor.

"I can't decide," Quatre said coyly. "I've become used to a roommate."

Trowa's eyebrows shot up. His usual, serene countenance mirrored what he was thinking for once. Quatre saw his chance and took it. He stepped to within kissing distance from him and smiled.

"A, ah, roommate, huh?" Trowa said, his voice husky.

One hand seized the banister with a deathlike grip and his other twitched, uncertain what to do. Quatre knew what to do. He slid both arms around Trowa's waist, hinting that that free arm could complete an embrace, if Trowa wanted.

When the arm wrapped around Quatre's shoulders, Quatre smiled and said, "Yes, but I've only the one bed this time. Is that a problem, you think?"

Trowa's answer was pitched so low, Quatre could barely hear it. "Uh, yeah; I mean no, not for me."

Wufei charged past them with a "tsk" and muttered, "The book was right. Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence."

Quatre cocked his head to the side and smiled at Trowa. It was deliberate and devastatingly charming. Trowa returned his stare with one of utter frankness, friendship warm in his eyes, and suddenly Quatre was short of breath, his heart pounded, and he broke out in a sweat.

Duo and Heero squeezed by next, carrying bags, oblivious of the other pair. Duo was talking.

"So I said, 'If I flip this coin, what are the chances of me getting head tonight?'"

"No," Heero chuckled.

"Yes! A real faux pas. The old guy straightened his tie and said, 'Give me ten minutes and then meet me in the men's room.'"

"Shit. Did you?" Heero asked.

Quatre didn't catch the rest of the story as the two turned the corner at the head of the stairs. He had his own magic to contend with. When Trowa lowered his face, Quatre crushed his lips onto his, never wishing to relinquish his hold again.

The house phone rang. A cell phone upstairs buzzed. Quatre's own ring tone jingled merrily in his pocket. But when Trowa returned his passionate kiss, dropping his personal barriers, he had no problem ignoring the maelstrom around them.

"I'll get that!" Wufei shouted from the beyond.

Seconds later, Quatre pulled apart, preparing for another attack on Trowa's failing lines of defense. His cell phone shut up, thankfully. He looked up at Trowa's eyes, catching them off guard beneath that tenacious fall of hair. He put on his best game face, smiling and eyes wide and innocent then asked, "I don't have a coin to flip. What are the odds?"

Trowa's eyes shot to the side as if hunting for Duo and Heero, who were long, long gone. Quatre was satisfied that he got the gist of the joke and understood perfectly well what Quatre was hinting at. He waited. Trowa leaned back against the railing and let out a deep breath.

"Pretty damned good, if you ask me."

"I am asking you," Quatre said, his voice turning soft as velvet. "Twenty steps up, thirty more, third door on the right."

Whether Trowa could follow the directions in his head or not, Quatre figured he'd find his way. "I'll be in the shower. It's plenty large enough for two."

Trowa graced him with his slim smile and a curt nod. Good enough. Quatre giggled and trotted past him, removing clothing along the way. Trowa scooped up the evidence, remaining on his tail all the way to the bath.

"Yuy!" Wufei called outside his door. "Phone's for you. Hurry up. I know you couldn't have fallen asleep that fast. Sounds urgent!"

Heero cracked open his door. He was pissed off by the interruptions, especially since he already had one serious problem to contend with and a naked Duo reclining on his bed.

"I got Relena on my cell. Take that one yourself, Chang."

"Well, all right. Trowa! Where the hell are you? There's been an accident and Zechs is in the shower... Oh, the hell with all of you. I'll just take care of this by myself."

What Heero learned was not good. Dorothy was in a bad situation, Relena had called to say. Both she and Lady Une had been in an accident and now only Heero could save them. Relena was on her way back to the house and should be there anytime.

By the time she arrived, everyone was seated around the living room in various states of unhappiness. Wufei had explained the call from the hospital. Lady Une was injured, possibly in a coma. She had Zechs' card in her wallet, which was why he had been called as a contact. The hospital on L3 knew who the ex-prince of Sanc was and respected that title. Zechs was in a chair closest to the window where he could watch for his sister while chasing down doctors on L3.

Relena sailed into the room, and collapsed on Heero's lap, breathing heavily. He pushed her onto the couch beside him gently, but purposefully under Duo's scrutiny.

"Tell me everything you know," he said.

He watched her close and snap open her bag and rummage relentlessly through it, as if looking for proof of what she'd been told. She was upset and nervous and not thinking straight, but attempting to find control.

"Dorothy called me in a panic. She was hiding in a closet to make the call and then suddenly, she was cut off. I had this terrible feeling --"

"Where was she calling from?" Heero asked, knowing he would not like the answer.

The answer was not good.

"Why was she inside Lunar Recording when it was closed?" Wufei asked. "It sounds like she was doing something illegal. There's nothing we can do to help her, if that is the case."

"Isn't that where that engineer, ah, Tsuberov, right? Where Treize claimed that guy worked, Lunar Recording?" Duo asked.

Wufei nodded. "Then Lady Une must have gone there and involved her friend in some nonsense. Women!"

"Oh, Heero! You must go and see for yourself that everything's okay!" Relena urged him.

Zechs slammed down the phone. "He will do no such thing. None of you will endanger your own lives in this folly." He rubbed his face and sat back.

"I have arranged Dorothy's bail and she is being released to her family now. Her activist group set fire to the recording building and is being blamed for several hundreds of dollars worth of damage, or which she was one of the players, so it will be a tough court battle for her. Lady Une is another matter. She was shot, although it hasn't been determined by whom, but Tsuberov is a suspect. Currently she is in a drug-induced coma while in surgery. Heero cannot go there. Treize has his 'people' guarding Une from other assailants, I presume."

"He is guarding her from her friends," Duo said. "If she talked, it could be trouble for him. And as far as Dorothy is concerned, just wait. He'll have his spin masters weaving a web of betrayal. Earth Liberation Front will be the fall guy, you can bet, and Treize will have his prize, whatever that techo crap he wanted was."

Trowa shook his head. "I can't wrap my head around that woman, Lady Une. One minute she's here, talking records and nature and peace and crap and the next she's all keyed up over something and pissy about that Khushrenada dude. It's like she' two different people."

Zechs stared hard at him. "Yes, it does seem that way at times. I wondered if anyone else caught that about her. Of, course, you spent more time with her than the rest of us at the party. That's right, you've been dating since then, too. She was okay, then, you'd say?"

Trowa looked uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him. Heero knew he liked to be in the background and shied away from too much attention. Well, if he was going to date recording company executives and mess around with the son's of multimillionaires then he'd better get used to the limelight.

"It was just few times and I wouldn't call them dates, exactly," Trowa explained. "Anyway, with me she was lighthearted, I'd say. She collects circus memorabilia and wanted to know if I was a source. I gave her some stuff, that's all. She wrote up a receipt to make it all correct, like I wasn't bribing her or anything, and gave the money to Catherine. Point is -- she never said nothing about Oz or Khushrenada or anything like that to me."

Duo stood and stretched. "Nothin' more to do now. I'm off."

Heero nabbed his braid dangling overhead. "Hold up. Where are you going?"

Duo yanked the braid out of his hand. "To my room. Night, y'all!"

Heero was on his feet immediately. He had everything worked out. He was not going to lose this chance to have Duo to himself. Not for Dorothy, Une, Relena, or all the ladies in the world. "He's right. I've had enough."

Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre pushed out of their chairs, replaced pillows, and moved to the exit. At last, Zechs and Relena gave up. There was nothing left to do that night but rest up for the busy days to come.

"Remember, you have a gig at a hall, not a club but a music hall just out of Sanc, tomorrow night," Zechs called out as they all dispersed. No one bothered to answer him.

Heero stood at Duo's door. "Please?"

"'Ro? I'm not putting you off for good, but for fuck's sake, I'm really not in the mood, and I gotta tell ya that it takes a whole hellova lot to put me outta the mood, if you get my drift. I'm not mad; I'm just kinda hollowed out. So -- I'll catchya on the flip side."

Heero drew back. "I didn't ask for things to turn out the way they did."

"I know, Heero. And I did appreciate you dumping the broad off your lap and all. It's not that, well, just that. The Une thing is distracting. Oz has messed with my life --"

"All of our lives, don't forget," Heero put in.

"Yeah, sure. If she's taken out, our record contract's not looking so good, which is pretty small potatoes in the scope of things, but still... Listen, kiss me good night and I promise tomorrow night will be a better one."

"Promise?"

"I don't lie, 'Ro."

As Heero passed Trowa's room, he saw a light from beneath the door and wondered if anything had come of his flirting on the stairway. He knocked, Trowa grunted, and he stepped in. Trowa was alone.

"Alone?" Heero asked.

"Timing sucks royal," Trowa grumbled.

"Yeah. Double that."

Trowa met his gaze and they shared a wistful smile. "At least I am not alone thinkin' that."

"No, you're not. Night." Heero left to his own room, missing what he hadn't even had yet, but knowing there were at least three, and probably five, other men in the house just as frustrated helped.

The next day, Duo and Quatre practiced their dance number one last time in the morning. They rehearsed with the band, doing a limited version. "More in store for the performance" as Duo said. The "Sexy, Sexy" song was deemed ready for the show that night, something new for the locals to cause a little frisson of excitement.

They arrived two hours early to setup their equipment and run a sound test. The wait until it was their turn to play was always the worst. There was time to get nervous or lose an edge, so Zechs made it a point to be there, putting in the good word, exuding confidence, and sometimes just listening.

"So fearless leader, what New Age affirmation have you prepared to enlighten us with tonight?" Duo asked.

"I did some thinking and found this one: 'It is in the times of our greatest struggles that our souls grow the most. What may be difficult to accept is that real soul growth needs tragedy.' How's that for you, Mr. Maxwell?"

"Ooh, deep, man. I must have a soul the size of... Hey, 'Fei! What's really really big?"

"Your mouth."

"Ah, come on, I mean a thing."

"The universe."

"Yeah, that's big. Okay, Zechs, the size of the universe for all I've suffered."

"That doesn't leave room for the rest of us," Heero said.

"Yeah, not too charitable of me, eh? Okay, the planet, then. That gives your soul plenty of room to grow."

"Thanks, dude," Trowa snorted.

"So do you think about death much?" Quatre asked Duo.

"All the time. Death is life's way of telling you you've been fired, and right now I love my job."

"Idiot," Heero said, but he laughed softly, too.

Zechs checked his watch and nodded to the soundman of stage. "Speaking of jobs, it's time."

Word of the two bands performing that night must have spread because the concert hall was filled with only a few odd seats open in the back. The band prior to theirs played acoustic folk. Gundam Wing would contrast nicely and rock the crowd to their feet. Two songs into their set, they had captivated the seething, desolate youth culture with abrasive, lyrical wonders with a bit of colony-trash thrown in for good measure. They switched moods with temperamental, wistful songs that turned sharply on vaguely down-home rock hooks and a touch of soul -- and the audience followed them, chanting for more, more, more!

The final song, for their encore, they had decided, would be the new one. It would leave the audience humming and dancing and remembering them. Quatre left his keyboard to join Duo, sharing a stationary microphone. Duo nudged him to do the introduction, which wasn't a problem. Quatre was a good speaker and comfortable in front of a microphone.

"Thank you! Thank you! You've been a super audience tonight. So, just for you, we have a new song. It's called 'Sexy, sexy.' Hope you like!"

Heero laid down a riff, pealing the notes and running them up and down the scale for a hard edged, jagged, nerve scraping beginning. Trowa's bass kicked in providing a driving rhythm. If there was any doubt that this would be a dance number, Wufei's drum brought in the heavy downbeat.

Duo took the lead with Quatre on the slightly higher harmony:

"The evening's mirage sent from beyond
I want to meet you
I want to meet you
I can't meet you
I can't meet you
Your utopia
I miss you, I miss you!
I need you, I need you!
Sexy, Sexy..."

In the longer pauses between verses, the two singers would dance. Sometimes, Duo took Quatre's hands and placed one on each of his own hips. His, he rested lightly on Quatre's shoulders. They were the same height, short, and able to look each other in the eye. As they rocked with the music, Duo's hands slipped around to Quatre's back, pulling him closer, causing Quatre's hands to glide lower and around where he could feel the undulating muscles even better.

"Hey? Won't you come to my room?
I'll let you listen to my secret story...
Come back, come back, come back!"

While they sang they grinned and winked and generally flirted outrageously. The crowd was on its feet dancing and screaming at the audacious show.

"The passion's mirage sent from beyond
Shaking, shaking
Shaking, shaking
Feels so good, paradise
Sexy, Sexy Dance!"

At the bridge, Heero lead them into a soaring instrumental. Quatre slipped and Duo slid front to back, Duo grinding into Quatre's butt. When Quatre flung back his head looking for all purposes in the throes of ecstasy, both Heero and Trowa faltered. Luckily, Wufei covered with a thunderous drum solo.

"The stars pale, the flowers get confused
From inside of the darkness, something glitters
The twining fingertip's mirage
Teasing, teasing
Teasing, teasing
Let me do it little by little..."
I miss you, I miss you!
I need you, I need you!
Sexy Sexy You!"

Duo added a line before the repeat, which trembled with sincerity:

"Always, I'll love you like this..."

Then together they continued aching with passion:

I miss you, I miss you!
I need you, I need you!
Sexy, Sexy you!"

"Far off in the passion there's a mirage
Shaking, shaking
Shaking, shaking
Over and over again
Shaking, shaking
Shaking, shaking
Sexy, Sexy
While glittering
Sexy, Sexy you!"

They ended with more hot dancing, roles reversed, until Duo twisted around, and lifted Quatre into the air. Quatre reached around, wrapping his legs around Duo as he was slowly lowered until their lips nearly touched. They held the tension a moment before Quatre unwrapped and stood on his own. They turned and waved, backing up to include Heero and Trowa. They waved, blew kisses, and bowed amid the cries, hoots, and hollers of the insanely excited crowd.

"Thank you, thank you all!" Duo shouted into the microphone. "Hey, I know I'm a hard act to follow, because when I'm done, I take the microphone with me. G'night!"

The performance had been outstanding, brash controversial, and confrontational to the very end. Most importantly, they owned the audience. Everybody loved the show, except Wufei Chang. He hadn't liked the overt homosexuality of the dance, and he made his discontent known after the show.

"I put up with a lot from you and your perverted ways, but that was ... you took that too far," Wufei said to Duo.

"Oh, ah been toning it down, honey," Duo said, mocking him. "I could be sashaying around with a tube of K-Y in my back pocket."

"K-Y?" Wufei faltered in thought.

"Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out," Duo said, adding, "Maxwell's law number five, or sex, I mean, six!"

But Wufei's baffled expression meant he had to speak plainer, so Trowa bent closer and said in a low tone, "Lube, ya know, more of that pervert stuff."

Wufei flushed dark red, swore in rapid-fire Chinese, and stomped away, far away from his offensive band members. He was so angry, he didn't notice Zechs talking on his cell phone, one hand over an ear, concentrating on the call and keeping the weak signal from fading out, until he bumped into his arm.

"My apologies," Wufei muttered. One look at Zechs' blanched face and he forgot all about his previous upset. "Sir?"

When Zechs seemed to waver on his feet, Wufei steadied him, pushing his back to a wall for support and looking wildly for a chair or bench or stool. "There's nothing for you to sit on. Wait, here's a box. Sit here. Water. I'll get you water. You must have overheated."

Zechs larger, pale hand clamped onto Wufei's shoulder. "No. What I need... bring Quatre here, if you would, please."

Wufei knew that something very serious was underfoot. Possibly news from the fighting on his home colony. It wasn't good, whatever it was. He pushed past Heero and Duo, aiming directly for Quatre. Trowa stood in his way.

"You gotta chill."

"I have nothing to say to you. Get out of my way, Barton. Quatre! Zechs needs you. It's urgent."

Quatre didn't look so good now either. He dropped the stuffed toy some fan had tossed at him and trotted after Wufei without a word. Trowa shadowed them. Heero motioned for Duo to go ahead. That he'd stay with the instruments.

"I'm so sorry to have to break this news to you, Quatre, but there's no easy way to say it. Your family compound was over run by syndicate forces. Your father led the charge to defend, saving the lives of your sisters, the only ones who chose to remain on L4, but --"

"My fa-ather is dead?" Quatre asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes. I am so, very, very sorry, Quatre.

Chapter 14 -- Head over Feet

"Hey, there! Man, you look like hell musta set up camp in your room," Duo said, commiserating as best he could, Zech assumed, considering he was more interested in tempting the black cat in his arms with bits of cheese between nibbles of his own.

"I'm worried about Quatre, among other things," Zechs said.

"You'll get fat if you keep eating that," Wufei whispered in Duo's ear in passing. He was making tea.

Duo gyrated around, tracking Wufei. "Hey, I've never ever had a surplus of food, endless quantities of it, in boxes, cupboards, refrigerators, and sideboards overflowing with courses at mealtime and snacks in between. I can't pass by without tasting. I never knew when my next meal might be my last."

"Looks like your cat's as much of a glutton as you," Wufei put in before Duo could.

"Yeah, well..." Duo paused. "I got no argument for eating all I want, since I'm not gaining weight at all. I'm more interested in what Zechs has on his mind, because, like, Quat's pretty numb from the shock. He needs to accept what happened, grieve for the loss, experience the pain before he can start to adjust to the changes." He looked at the cat in his arms, hefted it a couple times, and asked Wufei, "You saying my cat's fat?"

Zechs fiddled with a packet of NutraSweet resting half-torn on the kitchen table and smiled, thinking it was an obvious sign that a girl was living in the house now. "Quatre needs more time than we can give him, I'm afraid."

Wufei pretended to look the cat over. "Yes, chunky in fact."

"Well, I'm not," Duo insisted. He turned toward Zechs again, the cat's tail catching the long blond hair and giving the cat something to reach for. "At least Quat's not alone. He's got someone to lean on now, several 'someones,' in fact."

"Quit calling him 'Cat'," Wufei said. "I can't tell if you're talking about that damn animal or our friend."

Ignoring him, Duo went on. "Trowa just fell into place at the right time for Quatre, that's on an emotional level, like as a best friend, I'm saying. So, the rest of us are left to do other things for him."

Zechs pulled a fine lock of his hair from the cat's claws. "I'm trying, but he's not ready to listen to what I have to say."

"He's listening, Zechs, he's just not reacting yet. We can't let him withdraw from the world; that's what we do for him now. Then we'll have to help him get past the guilt the 'what did I do wrong?' stuff, which you know will be huge for Quat, and then let him assume some responsibilities of the daily grind again, so he can take back his power."

Zechs smiled a little. "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life?"

"That's it," Duo said. "Always have a bit of hope in your heart."

Zechs shook his head. He knew that for Quatre, there was an utter inability even to hope. As long as his home was intact, his family safe, and his father alive, there was the possibility hanging out there that he could mend their rift and reunite. Now, the future was an abyss of the unknown where existence was a fear in itself. He was completely dependent on the charity of Zechs Merquise.

And Zechs didn't need to be a mind reader to know how difficult that was on the pride of a young man of old family and independent means. As Quatre fully comprehended his dismal situation, Zechs could see the resulting misery given away by his eyes. Even Heero had noted Quatre's change to Zechs, which meant that Quatre's emotional state was painfully transparent no matter how hard he tried to hide it from everyone.

"Don't you New Ager's say stuff like 'the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'?" Duo asked.

"Yes, we do." Zechs sat back in his chair and met Duo's eyes.

"So, we shouldn't expect him to change overnight."

"You are right, Duo. Healing from loss, grief... it is a gradual process that will take time. We should all be patient with him, help him love himself, and enjoy life again."

"Man, that's deep, Zechs."

"To have compassion you must first have an understanding of the oneness we all share."

"Whoa, now you're going all magic crystals, rainbows and meditation music on me again." Duo switched his cat to the other arm and raided the refrigerator for a soda to wash down the cheese.

Zechs chuckled and turned the page of the paper. "It's the time element that's the problem. That band contest doesn't move out with our needs."

The news carried a wide variation of stories covering the attack on the L4 colony and attack on the reigning Winner family. One parallel that wasn't drawn, but that Zechs saw with his newly opened eyes, was the movement of Treize Khushrenada. In a small article on the business page, Zechs found the announcement that Romefeller Recording Industries main offices were moving to a small satellite colony not far from L4. When Treize took to the stars, it was an OZ response to a decision to engage the Alliance openly, and proof, as far as Zechs was concerned, that Treize was a part of the OZ higher command.

"Did you see this?" Zechs handed the paper to Duo.

Wufei joined them to read over his shoulder.

"'Evil' is 'live' spelled backwards. You know what OZ spells?" Duo asked.

"Nothing," Wufei supplied. "But 'Duo' backwards spells 'oud', which is an Arabic lute."

"It spells 'death'." Duo said. "If you don't believe me, research it yourself. Just follow the money flow. Record companies, drugs, arms. You'll find OZ greasy paw prints everywhere and the flow runs through the sewer in the form of fluid death the reality of which tickles through your fingers when you try and grasp it."

"I will look," Zechs replied. "You make valid points, but it begins to ring of paranoia when the conservation groups get included."

"Hell, manufacturing pollutes! OZ recording plants always got some nitwits marching 'round pointing out the crud destroying the environment is pouring out of it. It'll be off planet soon, if not already. I'll bet they've looked at rebuilding L5 just for that purpose."

"Wufei?"

"I will research that. It is my clan. He has no authority to touch a particle of its surface."

"So," Duo went on, "OZ pays off these activist groups to cause controversial destruction in the name of conservation--"

"That would be Dorothy's employer? Earth Liberation Front?" Zechs asked, sighing and rubbing his temples.

"Right. They distract the reporters from what's really going on and smears some of the legit stuff groups like the one Relena works for--"

"Nature's Concern Conservancy," Zechs supplied.

"Yeah, that one. Listen. Now, this is just one scenario I thought up. Say you got this huge manufacturing operation, maybe thousands if you add up the recording, arms, and drug companies. You use up lots of resources and spew out tons of toxins, possibly. Maybe you own the power companies or just one of them. Let's see... L4 produces oil-like substitutes; maybe you want control of that. You use environmental groups to stop or significantly reduce production on Earth and now you control a large proportion of the resources. You feed the kids heads with music, drugs, lies and you got potential armies. You got the arms and the resources, why it looks like OZ might have the world by the balls!"

"My God!" Wufei shouted. "Does the man's greed know no limits? We have to stop them! We must stop Treize!"

Zechs groaned as his head pounded. "How about we win this battle of the bands contest first, and then see how it goes?"

"You are in pain. I will make you an herbal tea," Wufei said.

"My job here is done," Duo said. "I think I'll go see what 'Ro's up to."

Zechs cleared his throat.

"What?" Duo asked, both his and his cat's eyes narrowing in defense. "You think I'm corrupting him? You know, Relena's a catch--beautiful, smart, and rich. If this," he twirled around, "attracts him more, then I'd say he's fag and I ain't the cause, just the lucky recipient of his lust. Ta, ta!"

Duo snatched a couple sandwiches left over from the lunch spread and an apple on his way out. Zechs guessed he did it mostly to annoy Wufei. He almost smiled, but actually all of their fighting and romancing caused Zechs no end of anxiety. He moaned and closed his eyes, his head hanging forward, silvery mane falling loose over his shoulders, hiding his face.

His concerns didn't stop with the boys either, because his significant other, Lucrezia Noin, was a talent scout for Romefeller Recording Industries and in close association with Treize. He worked and reworked what he wanted to say to her when she would visit later that day, which led to another stab of pain across his brow. Also, contributing in no small way to his migraine this morning was Lady Une's relationship with Treize. He blocked out the rest of his thoughts as he became aware of someone else's presence at his elbow.

"Yes?"

"You must drink the tea to activate the healing properties," Wufei admonished him. He pushed the cup nearer to Zechs' fingertips.

"Tea? Oh, yes, thank you."

"You have helped me, taught me how meditation is a path to healing. Let me help you now."

Zechs closed his eyes, nodding, preparing to relax and listen to Wufei's calming words.

"... and through your own individual strength you can heal yourself effectively. It's always a process. Meditations are meant to assist you in your healing process. Do not ever underestimate your personal power to heal..." Wufei murmured on and on. "The challenges we face in daily life bring strength, wisdom, and perspective. The Way creates the warrior. Martial arts come from an ancient lineage of training mind, body and spirit, we call this the Peaceful Warrior's Way..."

Duo left his sleepy cat in his room, stowed the sandwiches in a pocket, ate the apple, changed his mind and ate one of the sandwiches, and then set out to find Heero. He automatically ate the second sandwich, soaking up real sunshine, and breathing in naturally produced air. He found him with Trowa and Quatre in the garden. Heero sat, back-turned his way, beside a nearly empty plateful of sandwiches and a six-pack of soda. The moment Trowa sighted him, Duo could see his lips move and everyone turn around, but they weren't smiling.

Duo!" Quatre called out.

"Yo!"

Duo stared at the last remaining sandwich until Heero offered it to him. "Nice day. Zechs is inside meditating with 'Fei. So, whatsup?"

"Heero was telling us about the tunnels below sector 12 on L2--the, ah, unabridged version," Quatre said.

"Oh." Duo looked askance at Heero who was staring out at sea, only it wasn't a sea, more of an ocean of blossoms. "Are we talking about the sex or the violence." He chuckled and looked at Heero to gage his comfort level.

"Wouldn't mind more of the sex part of the story," Trowa said.

"There wasn't any," Heero said in a clipped off fashion.

So, Heero was only just so comfortable with his actions, Duo mused. It made Duo want to take Heero away and straighten him out. He had done what was needed at the time to give them a plausible cover story. Duo thought Heero understood that already.

"Oh, so after Duo ripped off his clothes and most of yours and pulled you to the ground... that was it?" Trowa pushed.

"Yep!" Duo said. "You gotta be quick to get outta trouble there. You can't be a kid running around on your own and not be sharp, well... that or dead. Still, there's worse things than a little unexpected roll now and then."

"But with so much casual sex, doesn't it become mundane after awhile?" Quatre asked.

"Shit, Quat, how much fooling around do you think I've done?"

"More than him," Trowa put in.

"Well, if I could put it to music, we'd go, like, aluminum."

Quatre and Trowa both laughed and punched him from different sides.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do than talk about my sex life?"

The answering silence was awesome.

"Guess not. I mean, I don't claim to be some fucking saint or anything, but I never was no whore either. Balancing the physical need with the mental can be tough. I've seen kids reduced to despising everyone they had sex with. Anyway, early on I decided it would be different for me. I didn't want to become what amounts to a public convenience into which some would relieve themselves and then move on to the next victim. I mean, I was made desiring men, but I wasn't going to become a slave to my passions. And I sure as hell wasn't going to exchange money for it."

"Not a healthy lifestyle, certainly. It disgusts most people," Quatre said with a sidelong look to Heero.

Duo said, "I hear ya. The piloting was a godsend. With training came a job, money, and safety. So that's my story. How about you, Trowa? You got some dark secrets you want to share? Quatre?"

Heero's cell phone buzzed. "Hn," he said to the caller then listened a moment. The sound of his hang-up was eloquent. It was action and comment compressed into one little monosyllable. "So dinner will be a little later than usual tonight. Zechs' request," Heero said as he stowed his cell phone.

"The kitchen help calls you?" Duo asked completely flummoxed by the idea.

"No," Heero frowned at him. "Zechs."

"Lucrezia's visiting," Trowa surmised. "He'll be better once he's getting some again. No rush is good."

Duo looked with acute suspicion from Trowa to Heero out of the corner of his eye. "No rush?"

"We have hours until we're expected for dinner."

Quatre smiled ravishingly up at Trowa. "Maybe we can go to your room and you can show me those circus photos?"

"I? Trowa's voice would hardly obey him.

Duo did a double-take. Had Quatre really asked Trowa to be alone with him? This was a nice turn of events. Duo knew Trowa wouldn't chance leaving Quatre alone, not with his past OD history, but Quatre talking and asking for companionship was a good thing. His heart was high in his throat or might have started to sing.

"That would be? Trowa gulped and swallowed hard. "Yeah." He stood, wearing a silly smile, which he tried to hide.

Quatre, on the other hand, looked at him with a most curious smile, half interested and half amused. He extended his hand, which Trowa took, and said, "Okay, then, let's go."

"That was interesting," Duo said to Heero.

"Not as interesting as what I was thinking," Heero said. "You know what I was thinking?"

Duo's heart beat so hard he hoped the shaking of his body wasn't visible, and his mouth was completely dry. He could feel Heero's cold, blue eyes raking him over. He must have stood too long without answering; Heero was staring openly, waiting, so Duo said something obtuse just to say something.

"I gotta idea."

"Unless you don't feel up to ...what I have in mind." Heero's eyes stopped in their examination with the pause in his words and locked on Duo's. "You look up for anything, to me."

Was the hunger in his eyes that obvious, Duo wondered? It took all his control not to grab Heero by the hand and pull him to the grass; that is, had he been able to move. He didn't come prepared for sex, which was what he guessed was on Heero's mind.

Heero looked away, then back. It was direct contact before he began talking, speaking haltingly. "Underground on L2, when I felt your skin against mine, it was... amazing... like I was on fire. I couldn't function, but you did, well, the right thing to throw Treize off course -- ingenious, in fact. However, if you ever do anything like that again, I'll --"

Duo melted with the praise, and then grinned at him. He didn't want to smile, but he could not help it as his chest filled with a fierce warm ache he never wanted to lose. Heero had not touched him, nor he him, but the look in Heero's eyes had been a caress in itself, a touch that would never fade.

Duo let out the deep breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I think I need to cool off inside."

"Okay, sure. I'll bring drinks," Heero agreed hefting the six-pack a few inches in the air.

Duo starting walking he knew not where, but ended his walk inside Heero's bedroom. He stretched and pulled down his t-shirt where is stuck to his sweaty back, and then perched on the wide window sill, feeling the cool draft. The old jeans he was wearing were torn under the back pockets. When he lifted a leg, placing a bare foot on the sill, he knew the split would show Heero he was naked underneath.

His eyes closed to slits as he watched Heero step lightly across the rug, heading his way, carrying what was left of the sodas, the young man's dark brown hair nonreflective in the ambient light. Duo unconsciously licked his lower lip and lowered his eyes as the young man approached. Smokin'!

"Hot?" Heero asked.

Duo looked up, startled he thought he'd read his mind. "Huh? Oh, yeah, summer, ya know?" What a stupid thing to say!

Heero stopped, a foot away, the corner of his lips curled upwards. "What did you think I meant?"

Duo felt the heat rise up his neck to his cheeks. "I wasn't thinking, exactly. Just reacting."

"To the heat...?" Heero stepped closer.

"To you," Duo said, looking down.

He brought both arms up to run his fingers through his damp bangs nervously. He didn't hear Heero set the sodas to the side. Instead he felt his wrists caught up in Heero's one-handed, vise-like grip, pressed back onto window frame, pinned. He winced, struggling against his defensive reactions so as not to kick Heero in the face. He wasn't a docile person by nature, but he'd let Heero make the first moves if it would make it easier for him to deal with the situation. Duo opened his eyes just in time to get poked by Heero's coarse hair, to feel the warm breath moments before contact.

Heero slammed into him, their teeth clicking together under the brunt of his assault. It didn't register with Duo at first that the other man was kissing him, but when it did, his entire body shook with tension, fighting back from his submissive pose before relaxing into the window, allowing Heero to dominate him. His lips firmed slightly, resisting Heero's forceful attack, and he wiggled into a more comfortable position, spreading his legs slightly and allowing Heero to press closer. Feeling the other man's heat along his thighs caused an ache of pleasure centered in his groin. He tilted his hips without thinking, adding friction, and arousing them both more. Duo moaned into the kiss, parting his lips slightly, and was rewarded with a hot tongue, trusting into his mouth, pressing and massaging his own erotically.

This was a dream. It wasn't Heero dribbling spit on his chin, thrusting his erection into his, holding him captive. It couldn't be. It had to be a dream. He'd be waking up any minute now. Then he wondered how the inexperienced guy got so good. Maybe it was only guys he hadn't fucked, but girls were another thing. That would explain it, Duo decided. Asexual, the hell...

Heero released his wrists, only to bury his fingers in Duo's hair. He nipped at Duo's lower lip, sucking, then nipping again, driving Duo mad with need. Duo used the opportunity to slide his hands beneath Heero's shirt. When he felt Heero move back a few inches, Duo opened his eyes. Yes, Heero was still there. Heero pulled his shirt over his head then removed Duo's just as swiftly. Duo knew Heero was awfully excited, because his sentences were getting shorter.

"Better."

"Cooler," Duo agreed.

Heero smoothed Duo's glossy, though, slightly mussed bangs, trailing his fingertips along his braid, and kissed him on his bruised lips. "Gods, it's so soft."

And they did kiss for a long time before Duo felt Heero's hand leave the back of his hair and slide slowly, lightly, down his back. Heero's hand paused on his jeans.

"Nothing under these?" Heero's low voice asked. It was a touch husky with hope. Duo wasn't about to kill his hope.

"Just the best damned package you'll find in all this-here Sanc Kingdom."

Heero didn't even blink. "I know what you've got." He jerked at the zipper. "Off."

Duo smiled. Heero was back to basics. Duo wiggled out of his jeans as Heero yanked off his own, tossing them across the room. Immediately he had both hands on Duo's naked butt and gave it an appraising squeeze. They both moaned softly into a kiss.

"Bed."

"Music?"

Heero flipped on the radio, careless of what was playing. They nuzzled each other's necks and gently fondled, keeping each other hard, and shuffling over to the bed.

"...You've already won me over, in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall, head over feet ..."

They fell together squirming, unable to give up claim to the other boy's body.

"Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it, it's all your fault..."

Then it seemed completely natural that Duo would move his body over his. Heero was ready, guiding Duo's hips with his hands, opening his legs for Duo to settle between. Their cocks pressed between their bellies and Duo's balls settled onto his. They moaned together, softly.

"You're love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service..."

Heero's hands slid over Duo's butt, grabbing both sides and pulling hard grinding up against Duo. In turn, Duo slid his hands up under Heero's shoulders and held on. Their mouths met again, and opened to each other, and they kissed and kissed while Heero clutched Duo's butt and ground against him.

"You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience."

They pumped their hips, pressing, grinding. The feel of Heero's solid, naked body moving under his, the skin of Heero's belly under his, Heero's hands on his butt, the hardness of both their cocks grinding between them, the warmth of Heero's flesh, the smell of his hair and skin; the late afternoon breeze over his skin; their soft moans; the squeaking of the bed -- it all swirled through Duo's overwhelmed consciousness.

"You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long?"

They rolled so that Heero was on top; as if they had both decided to do so at the same time. With gasps and wordless murmurs, they acknowledged the differences in the feel. Duo felt Heero's hands slide under his shoulders as Duo had done to him.

"I've never felt this healthy before
I've never wanted something rational..."

Duo automatically opened his legs for Heero to settle between and slid his hands down Heero's back, feeling his smooth skin and the firm, toned muscles working beneath.

"I am aware now
I am aware now..."

Heero's body felt so solid and unyielding; the feel of his weight on him and between his legs was something Duo's imagination hadn't anticipated, because it was unlike any other lover he'd known. Duo gasped as Heero moved, and squeezed Heero's long legs between his. And then Duo's hands found the small, firm globes of Heero's butt, flexing with his movements, and groaned as he massaged them.

"You've already won me over, in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall, head over feet ..."

Duo chewed Heero's ear and neck and Heero nipped back, sucking his skin, tasting the skin within reach. Duo spread his legs more and pulled their crotches together hard. And that felt good.

"Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it, it's all your fault..."

Their moans grew louder and their grinding faster and more demanding. They were whimpering at the same time and their stomachs grew slick with cum. They slowed, and then stopped.

"You're love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service..."

"More."

Duo chuckled, low and deep in his chest. "I am at your command. Your call."

"I want to fuck you."

"Smooth talker, that's my 'Ro. 'Kay, well, I won't deny ya, babe, but we'll need--"

"I got lube right here in the drawer," Heero said, stretching across the mattress.

"Ah, don't bother with that. I'm pretty, ah, loose already. You got me really hot. But you will need a rubber. In my jeans pocket. Left one. A pre-lubed..."

Heero balked, but Duo was insistent. Without being too blunt he reminded Heero that although he'd tested clean for STD's, part of the medical testing Zechs had insisted on, Heero shouldn't trust him, or anyone.

"Six months minus, uh, two gives us about four, and if it's still just you and me, well, we can talk about dropping the condoms in four months."

Heero put a note on his calendar and agreed, right before he grabbed both the lube from the dresser drawer and the condom from the jeans. Heero pressed their heaving bellies together before rocking back on his heels, knees bent, Duo's legs stretched to either side along his hips.

"I read about how to do this," he said. A glob of cool gel appeared on the ends of his fingers. "Need it or not, it won't hurt if I used it."

"It's easier if I roll over," Duo recommended.

When Heero nodded, Duo showed off his agility by swinging a leg up and over Heero's head and rolling onto his stomach in a single graceful move. Head down on his folded arms, ass up, he gave Heero all the access he could. Next thing he knew, a cool finger entered him.

"You weren't kidding about ready," Heero said.

"You can train your muscles to relax," Duo told him. "Uh, that feels really nice, 'Ro."

He wiggled once then heard the tear of packaging and a grunt of urgency from Heero. He wished he hadn't eaten that second, or third, sandwich.

Heero felt different with his body folded over Duo's. That slim, hard back under Heero's belly and chest, his sides and stomach under his hands, his thighs brushing Heero's, the hairs tickling slightly. Heero felt masculine over him; strong; aroused.

With his arms tightly around Duo, his gut began clenching and his hips thrusting without his thinking about it, or thinking at all. Heero's first real experience with the copulating reflex drove his hips, thrusting hard up and into Duo.

His gut clenched harder and it felt good to clench harder. It felt good to thrust harder. He grabbed Duo's shoulders, pulling back on them as he pushed in as far as he could, taking Duo's tightness down to the base of his shaft. And then pulling back and feeling it slide up, squeezing the underside of his cock... and then back down.

Heero lost control after that and moments later he lay heaving, collapsed over Duo's back. He could feel Duo struggle, possibly to breathe, so he altered his weight to the side, allowing Duo to turn facing him. Heero's eyes remained closed. He felt Duo slide his hands more comfortably to the small of his back, marveling again at the feel of Duo's talented fingers and the weight of one leg arranged to rest on his hip. A rigid cock rubbed sensuously along Heero's bent leg.

Heero wanted to taste that. He dipped his head and flipped Duo onto his back in a single, rapid movement, causing Duo to gasp with the loss of breath. "'Ro?"

But Heero's answer was muffled by the tip of Duo's cock filling his mouth. The sensation had been so unexpected, Heero guessed, that Duo came in the next instant when Heero's hand rolled his balls. Heero moved off, choosing not to swallow what his lover had offered. He left the room, returning with a damp washrag and towels. Duo lay silent, watching as his lover cleaned them both then dried.

"Never has someone done that for me before. Ya know, cleaned me," Duo said, the awe evident in the tone of his voice.

"Get used to it," Heero said. "I want us both comfortable. I'm not into...sticky and moist."

Duo chuckled, but wouldn't enlighten him as to what he found so funny. Heero snorted and gave up, allowing Duo to place his hands against the sides of Heero's face, pull him back onto the bed beside him, and nuzzle into Heero's neck. And suddenly, all the affection that Heero had ever felt for Duo swelled his heart. Wrapping his arms over Duo's back, Heero hugged him tightly as he listened to Duo moan.

Together, they covered themselves with a fine, lavender-scented, Egyptian-percale sheet, and fell asleep with Duo nestled into the side of Heero's neck. Heero and Duo had become lovers. Heero smiled. Having a lover was an incredible experience, especially if your lover was Duo Maxwell.

For about fifteen minutes.

Trowa burst into the room. "Yuy, ah, sorry, but damn. Reeeally, sorry, man, but Quatre's gone. He's taken off with Wufei... to L4. I'm pretty sure. To fight!"

"What the hell?" Heero growled, leaving the bed.

Duo rolled over watching Heero pull on his jeans. Well, it had been good for awhile, he thought. Maybe Heero would invite him again.

"Wufei came to my room asked to borrow Quatre a minute and after 30 I went looking for them. There's all this stuff, papers, printouts lying about Wufei's room."

"Sounds serious," Duo agreed. He leaped from the mattress to his pile of clothes and dressed, too. They dashed to Wufei's room. As He and Trowa and looked over the papers scattered about, Heero brought up Wufei's computer.

"He was looking at L5 investors," Trowa said. "He printed out pages of names."

Duo looked around his shoulder. "Mariemaia is an OZ corporation named after Treize's daughter."

"Oh, yeah? He's underlined that name numerous times in association with power companies and one... weird... one opera house?"

"Did any of you know Dorothy Catalonia is the granddaughter of one of the leaders of the financial organization behind OZ? She's also Treize's cousin," Heero told them.

"No wonder she got the job with ELF. OZ contributions fund them by circuitous routes, like I said," Duo said. "Though, she's in trouble now. Wonder if the charges will evaporate?"

"Chang was tracing Treize." Trowa held up a sheaf of paper. "Ends on L4."

Heero muttered something then shouted, "Une came out of her coma and escaped from the hospital! Wufei's been following the blog. Look here!"

"How much you wanna bet that Une didn't escape, but was kidnapped instead and is now on L4, too?" Duo asked.

"Not a dime," Trowa said.

"So, Wufei wants to get back at the syndicate for destroying his clan, and Treize is buying up L5 land for the syndicate. That means that Wufei will want to attack him, but Treize is on L4 and Wufei's never been there." Duo shook his head.

"So he gets Quatre to go with him. Quatre will be crazy with guilt and out for vengeance," Trowa said. "He'll be reckless."

Heero shut down the computer. "Zechs locked up my gun. What about yours?"

"Guns, knives...all gone," said Trowa.

Duo was impressed. "Guns? Wheredyagettaholda guns? I gotta few knives, garroting wire, small stuff. We're going to L4, right?"

"Right."

"Wrong."

"Zechs?! Aw, fuck!" Duo shouted. "Listen first. We have to go get Wufei and Quatre before they do something very daring but very stupid."

Heero and Trowa filled him in, showing him the paper trail and explaining their discoveries on the computer. When Trowa showed Zechs the empty spot in the garage where his expensive sports car was missing, Zechs withdrew his cell phone and made travel arrangements.

"Yes, shuttle to L4, but no weapons, is that understood?"

As they walked into the kitchen, Duo paused and fondled the paper trash lying where they'd left it.

"What now?" Zechs asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking of a joke I'd heard."

Trowa nudged him. "Yeah?"

"Straight guys never use this stuff. Just ask Zechs here. I'll bet, even though your sister uses it, you haven't, right? Right. Have you, Trowa?"

"NutraSweet? No, Quatre likes it, though."

"Heh, heh... Yeah and Wufei will never, ever know what artificial sweetener tastes like either."

"What's your point?"

"Okay, it's a gay thing. If you've had NutraSweet in your mouth, you've had a man there, too."

Trowa shook his head. "You are so bent, Maxwell."

Duo grinned. "Just a little to the left." He held up a finger with just the slightest bend in illustration.

"Enough, messing around, boys. We have a shuttle to catch!" Zechs shouted as he led Miss Noin downstairs and out the door.

And, once again, Duo wished he had only eaten two sandwiches and the apple as his stomach twisted into a knot of anticipation.

Chapter 15 -- Satisfaction

Treize Merquise finally had Lady Une alone. He walked with a lift in his step and a smile on his face. As he passed the control box, he flipped on the ambient music -- soft, atonal, and noncommittal -- creating the perfect ambiance to augment the seductive atmosphere.

He was on the cusp of achieving worldwide domination. The syndicate owned vice on L2, and would be opening the first of thousands of mining operations on L5's meteor belt. Soon, he would acquire the rights to synth-oil production on L4 in a smooth takeover of the failing Winner Corporation. His journalistic spin-masters and news-feed originated from L1, which left him room to develop plans yet for L3, an unimportant colony that would fall in with the others. With all the colonies enthralled to the syndicate and Earth dependent on them as a source of information, entertainment, resources, and power, he would soon be the omnipotent leader of the New Order. Even Dermail, the aging duke and figurehead leader of the syndicate, would cave into his demands.

Yes, Treize Merquise, would have it all. His self-indulgence knew no bounds, which meant that he could take time for a little coddling, a little personal growth and development. Time to acquire a girlfriend.

Of course, Lady Une didn't see him as a suitor, but that didn't mean they weren't, in some metaphysical sense, already in love -- to his way of thinking. I must begin by showing her my strengths: power, money, and refined, good looks.

"You are driving me crazy, Lady Une," he confessed in a whispered tone.

"It's a short trip," she muttered beneath her breath.

He didn't hear her. He was completely engrossed by a reflection, admiring their portrait in the mirror. He ran his fingers through his thick, tawny mane and watched it snap back into place, leaving a single lock to curl over his forehead.

Damn they made a handsome couple! "So true, so true," he purred automatically to her comment, which he had missed actually hearing. No matter, I have plenty of conversation for the both of us.

"I just want to say," his eyes roved over her face appreciatively, and then lowered to encompass her whole person. "How enchanting you look in that robe, Lady Une." He held out a hand and touched her hair hanging loose and dusky in the dim light, his eyes open and luminous. "You are the most beautiful young woman I have ever set eyes on."

"Perhaps you've been out of the loop too long," she whispered over her shoulder.

He thought that was an odd way to put it. He had not been in any loop, and now he damn well wanted into a loop, any loop as long as it was an important one. He wasn't going to be left out any longer!

"Now that we are here, I regret bringing you into this," Zechs said. "Treize is a man to be reckoned with, not toyed with. If he really has taken over the Winner property for his own, then he will have dug in his heals to stay. He won't be pleased to meet the assumed heir face-to-face or an angry young man from L5 looking for justice."

"We would have come without you," Heero said. "What concerns Chang and Winner, concerns the rest of us."

Duo was about to joke about Winner being more of a Trowa concern, but stifled his comment in view of Trowa's despondency. No need to remind him of Quatre's danger, which Trowa was blaming himself for not have seen coming and stopped. Returning to his home amid what amounted to a war when he was an outcast was absolutely insane; Duo hoped Quatre hadn't gone over the edge.

The shuttle was about to land, and Duo was glad to have been a passenger this time. He had slept mostly, dreaming of Heero, but now the four sandwiches, apple and quarter pound of cheese that he'd eaten hours earlier sat like an auto accident in his stomach.

"You seem to know more about Treize than you let on before, Zechs," Duo said.

"I know about his past," Zechs said. "I once worked with the man."

This was startling and disturbing news to them all, except Lucrezia, who stepped in and took over his end of the discussion. "The Peacecraft family has past ties to OZ, which wasn't always or ever entirely linked to the syndicate. The recording industry wasn't, certainly, and I'm not certain how it is today..."

"Underworld, drugs, money, kids, and control --" Duo suggested.

"Okay, I can imagine those links, but in the past OZ was the center for the New Age Movement, and you know how into that Zechs is." Noin leaned in and kissed his tense jaw.

"Mr. Inner Light Himself," Duo began. "You know what I think?"

"Unlikely," Zechs said then sighed. "What do you think, Duo Maxwell?"

"I think you've taken us all in to assuage your guilt. The only thing the five of us have in common is how we've been hurt by the syndicate, by OZ."

"Is that true?" Heero asked.

Lucrezia Noin chuckled. "These children are too pure."

"Not me!" Duo assured her.

"God, no, not any of you are pure, but most particularly not you," Zechs agreed. "Heero, I'm not sure what to tell you. Altruistic motivations are complex and easily misconstrued. I did want to undo the harm done by the syndicate in whatever small ways I could, but I didn't choose you with that tantamount in my mind."

"So, why did you choose me?" Trowa asked. "Maxwell was different. He was a contribution for the band, but why me, or the others?"

"In particular? Catherine had located you and she was a friend of mine from the old days, as I told you before."

"And Heero?" Trowa prompted him.

"Heero, well, Relena noticed him outside her school once and wondered why he wasn't forced to sit in the classroom like the rest of them. A little research revealed no family and that started the process, which found him escaping the hospital. Wufei was rather direct. A survivor of the L5 disaster... the sad news made it to me."

"What about Quatre?" Trowa asked.

"He was my first step into guardianship. The local Maguanacs that run the deli we visited contacted me, actually, when he was disenfranchised. I collected him immediately." Zechs grasped his hair and retied it at the nape of his neck with a bead-and-braided hemp tape. "I had this large, empty space and you needed homes. So, whether guilt over having been a part of OZ entered into any of my deliberations, I honestly don't know. I don't think of it that way." He stood to exit the shuttle. "Time to find our ride."

Dawn was hours off. Zechs had chartered a driver to take them as close to the family compound as possible. The rest was a long walk past rolling and dunes, luckily in the absence of sun. As they approached the first outbuilding, they could see signs of battle: damaged vehicles, burned out and rolled over onto their sides forming someone's last defense, nice cars at one time; barbed wire and torn out fences strewn helter-skelter; a blast hole through a stone wall, but no bodies. Either no one fell at this point, which was unlikely, or they had been carried away.

"Looks like an encampment," Noin said.

Duo wondered at that comment. What experience had a recording scout with battlegrounds? More than he'd thought, apparently. He pointed at a gaping hole in the wall.

"Looks like our entry point," Duo said.

"I'll take the top of the wall," Trowa said. With the grace, strength, and agility of an acrobat, he hoisted himself to the top, balanced, and walked several feet.

"This wall cuts back to the right, where it meets another. There's an undamaged SUV parked further over that way."

"Possibly how Quatre and Wufei got here, if they are here. Can you see a 'WM' insignia on the side?" Zechs asked.

"Yes."

"Maguanacs vehicle, then. So, possibly one of his corps survived the attack and picked the boys up from the shuttle launch site. Trowa, do you see any guards?"

"I see no one about, but I do see security cameras. Those nearest you are seriously damaged, so I'd say if anybody's watching, you're safe for about 200 feet. Then --"

"Yeah, near the next building -- I see it!" Duo shouted, already leading Heero past the blown out wall.

Zechs and Noin followed Duo and Heero, watching for gun-toting OZ patrols or, on a positive note, Maguanac corpsmen. Trowa was lost from sight soon after. Hugging the shadows and staying out of line-sight of the surveillance cameras, the foursome inched their way toward the main building where they were once again furnished with an entry.

"You think this is where Quatre once lived? It's fuckin' humongous. Even bigger than your palace in Sanc," Duo said. He was in awe of such vast expanses of living quarters and splendor, even in the ruins.

"The Winner family is very wealthy," Noin said, avoiding tagging on "if any of them are alive."

Just inside the door, which was blasted off its hinges and simply resting against the door jam, Duo felt a tug on his arm. Heero required his attention. For a moment, Duo was lost in fond memories of Heero's smooth legs forcing his thighs apart, and, later, those legs braided with his and the sheets in bed.

"Duo! Over here," Heero said, while hauling Duo to look at his significant find. "Central Control for the building, and power, I think."

Duo looked over the complicated circuitry and touched a wire, causing an electrical arc and fall of sparks.

"Hey!"

Zechs yanked him away from the exciting lights and pressed a hand over his mouth. "Voices...that way," he whispered.

Noin was practically glued to the wall and edging her way toward the sounds. Heero cocked his head to the side and hissed to get Zechs' attention.

"What?" Zechs whispered.

Heero tilted his head to the side and looked up, indicating the stairway. "More noise."

Zechs still had a grip on Duo, holding him in place as Heero sprang up the stairs. He poised still in sight and turned his head, whispering "Trowa," and disappeared on his way to the next floor. Zechs shook his head and nudged Duo forward.

"Follow Noin."

"Sure, boss. Pick on the newbie little guy," Duo groused.

Noin had halted at the end of the hallway. A man's voice resonated against tiles and "elevator" music wafted on the steamy air, highlighted pale peach by the first glow of morning. One quick glance and Duo knew it was Treize Khushrenada's voice. There was a woman's voice as well, too muted to recognize. Zechs appeared to have lost interest in him in favor of Treize, so Duo slipped away, returning to the control circuits. First on his docket was to change the tunes. All it would take was some Duo-skilled reprogramming of the music channel. Something loud.

The rising sun cast its rosy glow into the room. Treize Merquise liked the way Lady Une's shiny, dark hair caught the light reminding him of burning wood, but he couldn't stare at her for too long or he might lose control. She wasn't his to have, yet. He hadn't won her heart for certain, even though he had saved her life. Of course, he had endangered it in the first place, but what was important was that he had been there to care or her afterwards, or at least his agents were. And now she was here safe and sound. He watched wisps of steam rising from the water.

"Ready to soak those tired muscles?"

"By the dawn's early light? Sure, but shouldn't we wait an hour or so? We just ate breakfast. I believe we are supposed to wait an hour before entering a pool," she asked.

"No, we can go in now. We just shouldn't stay in the water too long or exert ourselves after eating. Would you like to get in first?"

"With you watching me? No. You first, then turn your back."

"With you watching me?" he chuckled. "I see. Well, have it your way."

He strode confidently to the pool's edge, but when he was about to drop the robe, he was overtaken with a flash self-doubt. He had no idea how experienced she was with men as perfect as he, as manly, and he didn't want to shock her. He modestly turned his back to her, stepped into the water, and at the last possible instant removed the robe and gave it a hard toss to the side. He slipped under the water to his neck and sighed contentedly.

As soon as he heard the padding of her feet on the rock edge, he closed his eyes and turned away. If he could throttle his eagerness, allow Lady Une to move at her own speed, he might have a chance.

"This feels...unbelievable. I've never been in a place like this. Not even a hot tub. I want one of these in my house someday," she said, sighing. "This is one of your estates you say?"

It is now. Those Winners had lavish tastes. "Hmmm," he moaned into the water.

"Is that...roses I smell?" she asked with a pause to wave away the strong perfume.

"Yes, damask rose oil from Provence, France. Do you like?"

"I...suppose." Again, she just managed not to cough and wheezed instead.

"I adore it," he said in a moment of revelation. He knew it would help if she saw him as a real man, an honest to goodness, real man. Women didn't like their men to dissemble at times like this.

"In that case," she said, hiding a smile, "I will have rose essence ready for your next bath time."

They soaked in silence awhile, watching the sunrise. After awhile, Treize decided he needed to begin. "Lady Une, let me begin by apologizing for my stupidity the last time we were on L2, and then again at Lunar Recording Studios where, I must say again, you were most impressive. I was thinking that by cutting short any possible...romance between us, that I'd protect you from my evil devices, but, then the way I ended up treating you turned out to be worse than ever."

"I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun
I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun
'Cause I try
and I try
and I try
and I try
I can't get no,
I can't get no..."

"Good Lord! What's gone wrong with the damned music?!" Treize roared.

"He's tellin' me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can't get no, oh no no no..."

His setting was ruined. Like a stage, the background lighting was perfect, the props in place, actor and actress poised for action, but then the sound system deteriorated into that awful hollering, throwing off his whole performance. Before the curtain could fall, from behind one of the window draperies leaped a young man flailing a sword.

"I will decide justice!" Wufei Chang announced, drawing his sword, and taking aim at the older man's neck, which was not yet completely submerged beneath the fragrant water.

"I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun
I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun.."

"Holy crap! Who the hell are you?"

"Wufei Chang! If you guys are justified, then you'll defeat me."

"'Cause I try
and I try
and I try
and I try
I can't get no,
I can't get no..."

"Wufei?" Lady Une said. "What are you doing here and put down that sword. It's very dangerous. You could slip."

"But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke
The same cigarettes as me
I can't get no, oh no no no..."

"No." Wufei flipped the sword about, looking intimidating.

"That was beautiful, Little Dragon Chang," Treize said, gaining his composure.

Lady Une recognized Wufei, so Treize assumed the boy wasn't the threat he had taken him for at first. His mind churned with the water as the jets suddenly engaged. He had no weapon of his own, but the water. So use that! With a powerful thrust of one arm, he showered Wufei with a wave of water.

"Argh!" Wufei screamed. "Treize! How could you?"

"'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no..."

Wufei shook the water from his hair and wiped his eyes. His quick-acting, drenching-bath move provided all the diversion Treize had needed. The sword was lowered. Treize heaved his body out of the bath and grabbed his robe.

"And I'm tryin' to make some girl
Who tells me baby better come back later next week
'Cause you see I'm on a losing streak
I can't get no,
Oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say..."

"Bye Wufei, my eternal friend, I'm honored I could fight with you," Treize said mocking him as he slid the robe's tie from the loops.

"You haven't fought me --" Wufei insisted.

Anger (and water) roiled in waves off Wufei's lithe frame. But, before he had his say, Treize whipped out the tie in a lightening quick move and snapped the sword from Wufei's astonished hands. The gleaming blade clamored to the tile deck out of reach of everyone except Zechs, who stormed into view and snatched it up in a demonstration of his agility and willowy grace.

"You can't get away with this, this destruction," Wufei wailed in frustration. "No! This can't be true. No way! I won't let this happen!"

"Milliardo?" Treize said. His voice was filled with wonder. This was an unexpected, and unpleasant, addition to the play. "I thought you'd bowed out of the game. Have you come to join forces again? Lucrezia? You, too? Have you recruited our friends to the cause?"

"Ah... Damn it! I didn't think I'd win," Wufei moaned, moping around and stomping his feet about in a circle, disappointment continuing to drip from him with the bath water. "Just this once --" he mumbled the rest in Chinese.

"I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun
I can't get no sa-tis-fac-shun
'Cause I try
and I try
and I try
and I try
I can't get no,
I can't get no..."

"The honorable spirits of the Sanc Kingdom can never be killed off; that's what I want to protect," Noin replied.

Wufei, not grasping the changing situation at all, and thinking that she was talking to him, snapped, "That's just the kind of thing a woman would think of. But I follow my own path!"

Zechs moved continuously, placing himself between Wufei and Treize. "Wufei, shut up -- please. You do not understand what is going on."

"Damned straight!" Wufei shouted, realizing with a blush that he'd chosen one of Duo's passionate turns of phrase to express himself.

Zechs looked askance at Lady Une, wondering what role she had in the attack on L4, and what she was doing here at all, naked in a hot tub with Treize. She appeared calm -- neither the serious business woman nor the sweet lady who had shown up at his party. He wondered at her transformation only a moment then turned his attention to the older man.

"I am called Zechs now. You know that and yet refuse to accept me as I have transcended the 'me' of the past. You too can change. You too can find the way. Once you still your mind, you will discover your heart's desires. Once you listen to your heart, your soul will be able to guide you to your new destiny, just as my soul did for me."

"Milliardo, you are so full of shit," Treize said.

"Treize, I can't be your friend."

"Then that makes us enemies. How very, uncomfortable."

"I can't get no,
I can't get no..."

Treize played with the pool skimmer with his toe. At the last moment, he flipped up the handle, catching and holding it like a bo staff. Zechs offered the sword to Wufei, who promptly seized it and tested its weight to correct his grip.

"Treize Khushrenada, back down. That young man was just toying with you before. He can slice, dice, and skewer you into kabobs if he wants."

Wufei rushed Treize, sword held in attack stance. "For justice against what you've done!" Wufei shouted. Wufei dove at Treize, reengaging him in the duel, with both verbal and actual sword jabs.

"I can't get no,
I can't get no..."

Treize parried with the staff and his wit. "I am merely a middleman for a vast enterprise."

Wufei dove forward, cutting a slash in the robe. "Too many people have died pointlessly!"

Treize dodged a blow and blocked the next with a snap of his wrist. "Do you really want to know how many people have died? 99,822 people have died, and I remember all their names. None of them died pointlessly! Their grave markers pave my path of glory!"

"I can't get no,
I can't get no,
I can't get no,
Satisfaction..."

Treize charged, but lost his equilibrium as he stepped in the water which had puddled off Wufei. He dipped his shoulder to regain his balance, lowering his guard, and fell faster.

"Argh!" he bellowed as he impaled his leg on Wufei's sword.

Wufei blanched in shock, but had the clarity of mind to yank his sword free.

"Ugh!" Treize groaned. How had this come to pass, he wondered? He fell heavily to the floor, shocked at the sudden and unexpected end to the fight. He stared at his leg as bright red blood gushed from the wound.

Wufei stood by and watched helplessly. "What should I do?"

"There's a stack of towels!" Lady Une shouted. With all eyes turned to the prone man, she took this opportunity to exit the pool and wrap herself in her robe.

"No satisfaction,
No satisfaction,
No satisfaction..."

"Stupid children -- the both of you!" Noin grabbed a towel off the top of the pile and rushed to Treize's side. She immediately administered first aid, applying pressure to the wound with the wadded up towel. "Lie still until the bleeding stops," she admonished him as he tried to stand.

"Leave, woman," Treize said through clenched teeth.

Noin chuckled, "I'm not moving even if I have to kill you, boss-man."

"Noin?"

"Zechs, don't worry. I'm with you no matter what; still, I do like my job in the recording industry."

Zechs nodded. "Khushrenada, you understand that you must leave this colony at once," he told the fallen man.

"At least turn off that damned music!" Treize growled like a trapped animal, a dangerous, injured one. "Then I have a proposal for you. A little wager."

"No satisfaction,
no satisfaction,
no satisfaction..."

BOOM!

"That was an explosion!" Wufei shouted.

"Where's Maxwell?" Zechs asked, noticing his absence for the first time, apparently. "He was here... We have things under control, Chang. Go see what's happened to the others. Duo! Duo, where are you?!"

BOOM!

Heero didn't know what caused the explosion, but he urged his legs to move faster to find out. Heero took the stairs two at a time and rounded the corner on the third floor, where he reached his friend. His heart pounded, regulating the blood flow to his limbs with perfect fine tuning. Trowa shook his head, looking unsure which way the noise had come from.

"Trowa, left!" Heero bit off as he abruptly turned right.

Heero wasted no movement. His body was in excellent condition. His reactions, whet to a razor's edge of precision, were put to the test on his next turn.

One glance and Heero froze in place, his muscles rigid as if chiseled from the stone of the walls. He didn't sweat. Or blink. He observed.

Quatre stood, shotgun raised, the floor littered with bloodied, dead syndicate men. Heero remained fixed in place by that weapon aimed at his heart. An enormous bookcase lay overturned, partially blocking the doorway. Through the murky scrim of still-rising dust, Heero scanned the gun with what seemed a glacial pace, but was unable to automatically recognize the make of the gun. Suddenly, the armament registered in his brain as a Ted Williams over-and-under shotgun with 28-inch barrels, 48-inches overall, weight seven and a quarter pounds, firing either two and three-quarter or three inch standard or magnum shell in twelve gauge, available in Sears stores.

Quatre's finger had already moved from the front trigger, which had fired the modified choke barrel and resulted in the noise, possibly, and was now hovering over the rear trigger. At any moment he could unleash the entire contents of the full choke upper barrel. Heero understood his immediate and grave danger, but did his friend.

"Quatre, put that down. It's me, Heero."

"Go away, heathen, or you can join your brothers in a bloody heap!"

"Brothers? Winner, I'm not an OZ fighter. I'm your friend." Heero cast about for something to say that wouldn't aggravate Quatre or something he could use as a weapon. "This, ah, looks like a kid's room. Was this your room, Quatre?"

He couldn't remain standing where he was, exposed. If Quatre fired, even if he moved at top speed, Heero knew he couldn't avoid the wide stream of deadly projectiles. He had no choice but to move closer and attempt to disarm his friend. With extreme caution, Heero stepped through the splintered bookcase and entered the room. He could see Quatre's face and that from his wild-eyed expression Heero guessed that a battle raged in his friend's head. Luckily, Quatre appeared reluctant to kill him right away.

"The nursery..." Quatre answered then his eyes glazed over. "Go away! Leave my home!"

Heero heard footfalls nearby that were so quiet he was certain Quatre, especially this crazy Quatre, couldn't hear their progress. At the edges of his vision, he could make out Trowa slipping behind him.

"I-I will kill you if you don't go!" Quatre screamed. "I will kill everyone!"

"Oh, Quatre."

It was Trowa speaking. Heero glued his eyes to Quatre's trigger finger, while tracking Trowa's movements by sound.

"It doesn't matter how it happened," Trowa said, starting a long rambling monologue, "but it looks like some of the colonies have teamed up with OZ, and we have to keep in mind that it does mark the end of an era. We've got no choice but to accept it. The only question left is what happens within our hearts. With some of us, we once trained to be soldiers before we even realized that when you put everything into a battle you start to think you can change the times all by yourself. Don't you?"

"I-I don't know. I'm not sure," Winner said uncertainly. "Maybe...?"

Heero used the distraction to inch closer to Quatre. He was halfway to his mark. He had never heard Trowa link that many sentences into audibly before, and he hoped the clown didn't run out of babble before he reached his goal.

"But Quatre, you're not the only one who feels that way. We all do, but the kinder you are the bigger the toll it takes on you. We have to fight with ourselves, within our hearts, and we have to do it ruthlessly in order to come to the right conclusions. We have to acknowledge the facts. The five of us have become more than redundant soldiers, Quatre. We're a band. We have a chance to become something better, and then, we can show these people. And we can prove to your father and Wufei's wife that they didn't die for nothing. But for now, let's just accept it. Turn back into the nice guy I once knew, please? I just hope something triggers your mind and calms you down. Something..." Trowa's voice trailed off.

Quatre aimed a finishing blast at Heero, but Trowa leaped, his own body crossing paths and the blow slamming into his chest. Heero heard Trowa struggling for air as wetness saturated his shirt. He reached out to catch Trowa's fall, but was too far away. Trowa collapsed on his back, clutching his stomach.

"Oh, no! W-what have I done?" Quatre wailed.

Quatre pressed the shotgun to his chest and fell forward toward his fallen friend, but, before he reached Trowa, Heero stopped Quatre and ripped the gun out of his grasp in a single movement. Heero, astonished to discover the gun hardly weighed a pound, slammed Quatre backwards into the wall.

"What is this weapon?!"

"Heero, let me go, Trowa's gonna die!" Quatre cried.

"Yeah, and you're the guy that killed him," Heero said cruelly, then added, "Practically, but not today...baka...idiot."

Heero tossed the gun into the corner and bent over Trowa, touching the dampness and bringing his finger to his nose. Trowa opened his eyes and gasped, drawing in a shaky lung-full of air. Heero yanked up his t-shirt to reveal Trowa's damp, reddened, but intact torso.

"Toy water gun, Barton."

"Damned, powerful one. Shit," Trowa hissed as he rubbed the bruising flesh. "Knocked the air out of me."

Heero met Quatre's eyes with an intensity that he hoped would knock the breath out of his crazy friend. "Winner, I will kill you for scaring me like that."

"I'm so sorry!"

Trowa placed a hand on his arm. "Don't be too hard on Quatre, Heero."

Duo decided Zechs had things under control. He wondered where Heero had disappeared to and decided find him next, after he found a bathroom. One sandwich too many, or one bad apple. He wandered through the empty halls filled with ghosts of wrong turnings.

"A bathroom!" he discovered with joy.

He went to the bathroom, and washed his hands and face, and went to the bathroom, and rummaged through the drawers, found and swallowed some antacid pills, and went to the bathroom, and started down the hall, and then turned around and went to the bathroom, and washed his hands and face, and raked his fingers through his hair, and re-braided it, and went to the bathroom, and washed up. When he left the bathroom, he heard a loud explosion in another wing on the same level, and started running.

Duo found Trowa, Heero, and Quatre sitting on the floor amid the carnage and nearly flipped out. He ran the gauntlet of the bookcase and the bodies to stop amid his friends. Heero beckoned him into his arms, and not having a better idea, he collapsed on his lap.

"You're okay?" he asked Heero. Heero nodded and Duo's stomach gurgled just as Wufei pounded down the hall.

"Is anyone hurt?" Wufei yelled as he stopped at the doorway.

Heero shook his head and Quatre sighed.

"Things are chill, man," Trowa answered. "Just a bookcase falling over. Pretty loud, huh?"

"Bookcase!" Wufei was outraged. "Who... why are those...dead bodies --?"

"My bet's on the surveillance tapes for getting answers, if we could get our hands on them," Trowa said. "Wanna see how many we can score, Maxwell?"

"Sure... But first, I'm going," Duo swallowed loudly, "to be sick."

Wufei, sotto voce, hissed, "We can't take you anywhere."

"I don't want to be anywhere. I want a bathroom."

Wufei looked away, jawline eloquent with ejection, he icily explained they would all have to get up and move so Duo could be sick. Duo nearly made it to that glorious bathroom he'd visited earlier. Everything might have been all right had the bookcase not snagged his pant leg as he leaped for the door.

Chapter 16 -- To the Moon and Back

"I don't get it," Duo complained.

"What's to get?" Wufei said.

"Shhh!" Trowa hissed.

They all crowded around TV in the palatial Peacecraft living room where Trowa and Heero were paying a videogame, and currently taking turns pummeling one another's diminutive, fighting characters into bloody messes.

Duo turned to Wufei. "I thought you said you beat Treize."

"In a manner of speaking," Wufei corrected him.

"Right. Then why we are now part of some bargain, and you're so depressed, 'Fei?"

"Aw, he's just pissed 'bout being grounded for stealing Zechs' fancy-ass sports car to try and run away with his girlfriend," Trowa said with a quick grin. "Ooooh, yeah! Gotcha, Yuy!"

"Lucky move," Heero snapped. "Again."

Wufei snorted. "I was helping Quatre, and you know it! More like your girlfriend."

"Yuy goes for another ass-kicking," Trowa said with a chuckle, ignoring Wufei's comment.

"So, you're stuck here with us?" Duo asked Wufei.

"F--"

"Listen," Trowa hushed them again.

"Quatre plays that classical stuff really well. Say, Trowa? Why don't you give me that controller so Heero can beat the shit out of me?" Duo asked.

"Sure," Trowa dropped the game without another thought and glided out of the room.

"Now, just so I get all the subtle details you guys see as obvious, why is the Sanc Battle of the Bands now a battle against the Syndicate?" Duo asked again.

"Shut up and play."

Trowa loved to listen to Quatre play the piano. It transported him to a better place, a higher plane of existence, where elegant men and women danced in fantastic costumes surrounded by magnificent grandeur. It was a wildly romantic notion in a world of peace and comfort and where the bad guys didn't exist. For kids like Trowa, it was a respite from his harsh past. That was what Quatre brought him. He wanted to call out to his friend and talk about what he was playing. When he entered the room, though, Trowa's breath caught in his throat.

Quatre wasn't alone. Trowa watched as Lady Une approached Quatre from the window seat. She gently embraced him then took a seat in a nearby chair. Trowa didn't understand why she was still staying at Zechs' house, rather than at her own home, or what her interest was in Quatre. He remained out of their line of sight and listened. When he realized that the two were simply discussing music and complaining about the state of the world, Trowa left the private scene. Quatre needed comfort from every quarter, and if Lady Une could offer him consolation, well, Trowa wouldn't wish to disturb them.

Trowa had another idea and turned up the stairway to the bedrooms. He did wish he could be more effective at comforting Quatre. So, far, Trowa had done what he could, pretending nothing had happened on L4, but felt nothing was going to get them back to where they were before Wufei stormed into his room to tear him away.

Fuckin'A bad timing, Chang!

There was that promising start in the garden where Quatre had surprised him with his forwardness. After leaving Duo and Heero in the garden, Trowa really did just show Quatre his picture album from the circus, the one his sister had put together for him. Quatre had been so close, leaning into him, so he could smell his aftershave and admire his flawless complexion. Trowa was torn between grinding the other boy into the mattress and kicking him out of the room to preserve their friendship, and then Quatre made up his mind for him and kissed him.

One, two, thr...presto! Like magic! Chang appears!

Trowa cursed Wufei's timing again as he dug through the tangle in his closet until he found his penny whistle. He tucked it in his front pocket and loped back downstairs, whistling an old Celtic tune. Maybe if he expended a little more effort, he could do more for Quatre.

Lady Une leaned forward, listening intently. "Go on --"

"I killed him! I know, the gun wasn't real, but if it had been I would have! I intended to kill my friend and I killed my, ah, well, someone very important to me. I have no family run to. No place to escape. I have to live with the fact that I'm capable of murdering those closest to me!"

Trowa stood in the doorway, stunned to hear Quatre blaming himself for the shooting incident and his "death." Everyone understood that Quatre was acting out of stress and hallucinating at the time. It had been explained over and over! He had been sure that Zechs' New Age Philosophy had gotten through to Quatre:

"Unfortunately, Quatre, there are hardships that we are meant to endure, but we are never meant to suffer beyond our capacity. By asking for help you are sending the message out to the universe, and help will come back to you." Trowa shook his head free of the memory -- and the chiming of the overhead crystal candelabra -- to listen to what Lady Une was saying.

"Quatre, can you put yourself back there and think, tell me who you thought you were firing at, who you were protecting?" Lady Une asked in a calm, sensitive voice.

Trowa recognized this, her kind, receptive, well-meaning persona, as the one he faced when they had gone out on what he considered to be far less than a date, but with strength of determination and spirit he hadn't noticed before. Had the recent trauma changed her, he wondered?

Quatre's voice cracked. "Ah, I-I saw my friends, lying injured. I found a weapon and pushed over a bookcase to blockade the door, but they came for them anyway. I warned him, but he came anyway so I shot him. But --"

"Quatre, you shot the enemy to protect your friends, don't you see? You weren't seeing straight, even though you were thinking right. Now, I'm no doctor, but you have been through a terrible time. The shock of knowing your family was endangered and seeing you home damaged was traumatic. Now, it's so wonderful that your sisters are all going to be fine, your magnificent corps saw to their safety. You didn't know that at the time."

"But my father --"

"I'm so sorry you lost him before you could be reconciled," Lady Une said.

"Me, too," Quatre said.

They sat silent a few moments, until Quatre felt like talking again. " But it never would have happened, an end to our dispute. Our conflict was over my sexual orientation." Quatre began picking out a tune with one hand. "He wouldn't tolerate a gay son, and I can't help that I am and can't be what I'm not."

"Oh," she said with tenderness and understanding, "that's tough. Do you have a boyfriend?"

Definitely, Trowa felt that the woman he was listening to was a combination of the different personalities Trowa associated with her in the past. He was curious what Quatre might reveal, because he wasn't hiding a boyfriend around here and their kiss was just a kiss, not a promise. He edged closer, but still he could hardly make out what Quatre said.

"No, but I'm working on it. You see, I shot him and I don't know if he'll ever trust me again. I'm just hoping the guys will still want me in the band. I wouldn't. Not a raving mad, worthless castoff like me."

Trowa felt ice water chill his chest and a tightening constrict his breathing. Quatre was hurting, and Trowa giving him his space had only been making it worse. He stepped forward, knowing what he needed to do next, holding his whistle in the air.

"Yo, Quatre! Can I join you?"

Quatre's eyes lit up and a blush reached his ear tips. The afternoon sun chose that moment to enter the line of high windows, which lined the outside wall. The concentration of light cast a golden skin across the marble floor and beaded the graceful arc of the window frames with goldwork and traced the outline of Quatre's hair like a halo. He appeared to dissolve into sheer light and luster.

Trowa coughed as he sucked in a lungful of air too fast. He had forgotten how to breathe and walk at the same time. His eyes were locked on Quatre's and refused to let go. He wanted to communicate something important, but could he? Trowa was better at hiding than revealing his innermost thoughts.

"Are you okay, Trowa?" Une asked him.

He nodded, still clearing his throat. He felt Une rising to her feet at his side. She was scrutinizing both of their reactions trying to figure out where she fit in, he supposed. Well, let her try 'cause I sure don't know. Trowa had enjoyed his almost-dates with Lady Une. He liked women, their curves and soft voices -- sweet. Une's older-woman experience was very appealing, but Quatre was a bandit. His pristine beauty raided Trowa's mind, leaving him bereft of clever banter, and stole his heart. Right at that moment Trowa knew for sure that he was a goner.

"Hello, Lady Une." Trowa greeted her with a hushed voice, and without breaking his contact with the pair of azure eyes.

"You are welcome to stay, if you wish," Quatre said.

Trowa wasn't sure if he meant him or Lady Une, so to be polite he added, "Don't let me chase you away."

"Thank you, but I have a call to make. It was nice talking to you, Quatre. Trowa --" She smiled.

Trowa thought Lady Une was quite the "lady" to excuse herself from the room with grace and alacrity. Perhaps Zechs was right. Maybe Lady Une's two personalities had merged. She was one classy woman, indeed.

"To answer your question for the tenth time, Maxwell," Wufei began. He took on the pedantic air of one of his ancient, withered, and long-dead, instructors on L5 and paced the room. "Although Khushrenada was down, he was not out. He agreed to leave L4 and taper off on his claim to L5, but we can be certain that is only temporary."

"Which was what I was sayin'," Duo interrupted.

"I was not done with my explanation!" Wufei clipped off imperiously. "We had no authority to arrest him, and he had the local police in his pocket."

"You could have chopped off his head... like... that! Ah, ha! Gotcha, Heero! I can't believe I won a round! Yaaaaa-whoooooweee!"

"Duo, you are a bad winner," Heero grumbled. "Now I shall have to destroy you."

"Heh, heh, heh...no way. Now that I got my death-ray workin', I become the great destroyer!" Duo crowed.

"Shut up and sit down if you want to play another round," Yuy said.

Duo did so, so fast his jeans rode down too far in the back and he had to wiggle and squirm to yank them back up. Heero nudged him with a knee and waited for Duo to look up, and when he did, Heero raked his eyes over Duo and smiled. He let his desire show.

Duo pressed his lips hard into a line and huffed, "Don't think I'm gonna go soft on ya for that."

"No, I was thinking, hard," Heero said in a whisper inches from Duo's ear, "and more about going down on you."

That comment elicited a chuckle from Duo, as he took up his controller. "Think again." He glanced over at Wufei, whose head was turned away, lips pursed in a moue of distaste. "So, you're telling me you didn't chop his head off because you might get in trouble over it?"

"No! Well, yes," he conceded. "I wanted justice served, but Zechs and Treize..." Wufei paused as he flopped in a chair, his ego deflated, "They go back a ways."

"A ways? Like Zechs and him had somethin' going at one time?"

"Business related, yes, but Zechs opted for the New Age order and not the underworld, so they parted ways."

"Ouch! Heero that was one low blow... aaaaah! Damn, your guy is strong," Duo wailed.

"I am quick, Duo. You are talking and distracted."

"Again!" Duo demanded.

Duo settled back into the video game, but within minutes he was back to the discussion with Wufei. "So Treize and Zechs once worked together but then Zechs put on the white hat and Treize the black and they split up. That's grounds for us to trust this 'deal' they made?"

"Zechs agreed to the stakes --"

"The stakes being us. Treize has backed the OZ sponsored band Epyon. Whoever wins the contest, buys the other a round of drinks?"

This time Heero cut in with the reply. "I believe the wager was for the winner to help the other reach his goal."

"I ain't fuckin' helping the syndicate!" Duo declared.

"Then we had better win," Heero muttered.

"Then you'd better be good."

In unison, the three boys turned toward the source of the comment. The new voice came from a young woman entering the room. She was smiling, but only in Wufei's direction.

"You know who you are competing against, don't you? The lead singer of Epyon is Mariemaia Khushrenada, Treize's daughter."

"Miss Po?" Wufei knocked over his chair getting up so quickly. "I didn't know you were coming over. How...how ...ah --"

"Unexpected? Yes, well. I wanted to see how you all were, particularly Quatre," Sally Po said. "That and I wanted to see the man who bested Treize Khushrenada with a sword."

"Oh, it wasn't really all me," he said humbly.

"Uh, huh, baby. Why don't you and I take a walk and you can tell me the whole story and let me decide, okay?"

From his expression it appeared his depression would now pass and he'd be back to fighting form in no time, just by meeting with Sally Po.

"Walk? Alone? Do you think that's proper?" he asked.

"No, but it's fun. Come on, just around the garden," she said. "I won't bite...hard. Ha, ha, ha!"

Wufei took her for a shorter walk, upstairs to his room.

Elsewhere, Quatre and Trowa played lovely music together. Trowa whistled with considerable skill as he zipped around the melodies. Far from limited to a virtuoso style, he was able to evoke sounds of yearning and sorrow from his instrument.

Quatre accompanied him both on the piano and by singing. Quatre's inspiring and affecting rendition of "Foggy Dew" was passionate enough to cause even the most deep-seated pacifist to answer a call to arms. The tunes they played had a lovely flow to them and the vocals were such that the voice became instrument. The gentleness of the music helped to underscore the intensity of the lyrics without fading away into the background entirely. Clearly, Quatre was not in the mood for anything but moving ballads, so the music they played quickly became comforting and soul-soothing; music to meditate to or unwind with after an especially harrowing week.

After the forth tune, Quatre stopped. Trowa lowered his penny whistle and tapped the spit out against his leg. "You're pretty soulful today," Trowa said.

"Am I?" Quatre looked away, smiling faintly. "I guess I am." His gaze returned to Trowa. "I just want to get loaded and forget everything. Before we left, Rashid packed me some superlative hashish."

"Rashid? When was that? He was busy hauling out those last remaining bodies in the nursery."

"We talked some about what had happened. My father's last stand. The corpsmen lost defending him. He gave me a...gift." Quatre's gaze included Trowa's face in a fleeting scan. His smile weakened. "Interested?"

Trowa shook his head. "You sure that's the best idea?" he asked, then knew, instantly, that it wasn't what he intended to say, and definitively was clumsy.

Quatre's force smile faded entirely. "I-I guess I should talk to Duo."

No! Trowa didn't want Quatre turning to Duo Maxwell. His voice hardened with sudden fear, surprising him with its harshness. "Why's that?"

"Oh, just for some lessons." Quatre's voice trailed off.

His eyes were unfocused on a distant spot beyond the window. The sun moved lower, the intense rays blocked by a garden gazebo, and cast the room in soft filtered light and dark shadows. The blue of Quatre's eyes deepened in intensity and shimmered.

Trowa waited for him to explain what he meant, but when nothing was forthcoming, he said, "Okay, you stumped me with that comment."

When Quatre turned, his eyes were brimming with tears. "I just need some company, and all I have to offer any more is some dope and...my body. There's nothing else."

"That's...just not true," Trowa said.

"Isn't it? I hardly interest you, do I?"

"Quatre," Trowa began, but as usual, the words he fought to say dried up in his mouth. It was so much effort to put into words how he felt and to sound convincing. It was easier to wait for Quatre to say it for him.

Quatre sighed. "It's okay. It's not your fault."

He stood and was halfway to the door when Trowa realized he had to move, and he absolutely had to make his voice operational. No one was going to do it for him, especially not Quatre, whose heart was damaged.

"Wait! Listen, I, ah, do care lots. You can tell, can't you? You can feel things the rest of us can't. So, hold up and I'll go with. We can get off together."

Trowa wrapped an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "I just wasn't in any hurry to go back upstairs. It's pretty hot in my room."

Quatre sighed and leaned into him. "I kept my window shut and it's cool."

"Then yours it is," Trowa said.

They shared timid smiles along the way, but once in Quatre's room, Trowa pulled him in for a kiss, more lingering than their first. The next, more still. The next found them settling on top of the bed, where they could be more comfortable. They became so completely occupied with one another that when Wufei started shrieking from his room next door, they only parted long enough to listen for the next outburst. When the next eruption of noise, they determined, was the sound of Sally's laugh, it didn't matter how much shouting Wufei did from then on out. Sally can murder him in his bed if that's what she was doing over there or downstairs or outside or wherever they were, Trowa thought. He was going to demonstrate to Quatre how he felt where all words failed him.

"Not this time, Chang," Trowa murmured into Quatre's fine neck. "Not. This. Time."

"Trowa! Get up! Something's wrong!" Quatre cried out, dragging the reluctant boy to his feet. "Come on!"

"What's gonna be wrong is Chang's face, when I get through with beating his skull in..."

"What was that? Hurry!"

Meanwhile, as Sally and Wufei left, Relena and Dorothy joined Heero and Duo in the living room. Duo delivered his version of the unexpected visit to L4, his first to that colony as a shuttle passenger.

"So I followed the noise to its source only to find all this carnage. I thought my band, my best friends were, well, they were surrounded by all these dead bodies and blood, and I hadn't been feeling so hot all day, and, ah, the upshot ?ell; perhaps I should find another word."

"Please do," Heero said with a frown, but ruined the effect of being mad at Duo by chuckling.

Duo extended his long legs to their full length on the floor then leaned his head back onto the seat of the couch. When he stretched his arms up to cup at the back of his head, it left his torso unprotected. Heero, a hand's width to his left and similarly extended and relaxed, closed his eyes against temptation. It did not help. He could imagine touching that firm flesh with his eyes shut just as well as when they were open.

"Hey, blood belongs in the body not painting a room!" Duo said.

"In a body, yes," Heero muttered.

Duo kicked Heero's foot, bare foot to bare foot.

"I understand," Dorothy said. She patted Duo's braid, which was snaked over the couch between the two girls. "What I saw at Lunar Recording was terrible, and I didn't do a thing! I'm just grateful Mr. Khushrenada dropped the charges against me."

"Don't be," Duo said. "He does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. He will extract his price, sooner or later."

"Oh, please, Duo," Relena implored. "Don't let us get into that argument again. I just wanted to have a nice relaxing afternoon with the people I like best, okay? Please?"

Duo grunted. Heero kicked him. "Okay, okay, sure. So, what do we talk about then? Fashion?"

"Silly. We don't know you very well. We can talk about you," Dorothy said.

Duo rolled his eyes and grinned. "Twist my arm."

"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Dorothy began.

"Nope!"

"That's a good start. Um, what do you look for in a girl?"

"Sense of humor, definitely. And smart. I like smart."

"Um, you are so sweet. And the hair. It's really hot."

"Thanks. It's especially hot in summer," Duo quipped.

"Funny boy. Tell us how you met Heero," Relena said.

"He met me along with the rest of the band and their handler --" he ducked a playful blow from Heero, but not the next. "Ouch!"

"Baby," Heero muttered.

"Go on, where were you?"

"I was singing and Zechs wanted me for the band, simple as that."

"Then you are from around here," Relena said. "I thought you were from L2."

"He is," Heero put in. "Interesting place, L2. I liked the club scene."

Dorothy's fingers stopped combing through the loose hair around Duo's face. "L2? You don't say? So, you grew up there and then moved here?"

"The day Relena moved back this summer, I think," Duo said. His eyes roved around looking for the massaging fingers.

She withdrew her hands as if scalded. "You just moved here!"

Relena slapped her friend's hands. "Oh, don't worry. Zechs had him checked out and everything. He's safe."

Duo's breath hitched. Heero replaced Dorothy's hand with his own; and found the feeling of Duo's hair sliding between his fingers to be incredibly soothing.

"Safe isn't at all the word I would have used to describe him," Heero said. He hoped that his level voice and continuing massage told Duo more about his state of mind than any words.

"Yeah, I got all the usual tests, 'course I don't get the regular AIDS test anymore. I get the roundabout AIDS test. Here's how that works: I ask my L2 friend. 'Solo,' I say, 'Do you know anybody who has AIDS?' And Solo, he says, 'No.' And I say, 'Cool, because you know me.' Get it? That means I don't have AIDS by inference."

Duo grinned and twisted around so he could catch Dorothy's horrified expression; at least, Heero guessed that it soon would be from the mischievous glint in Duo's eye. Heero hoped Duo would turn more so he could watch his jeans slip down further.

Duo's mouth opened. It was all Heero could do not to stick his hand down Duo's pants and jam his cock into that wide open mouth. Duo caught Dorothy's hand in his. "That was just a joke, by the way. So, you looking for some action? That why you're all curious about me?"

"What? No! I-I was just being nice, asking about you."

Duo ran a delicate finger up her arm and down, ending at her pulse point, which he kissed lightly. Then he ran his tongue over the spot he'd kissed, just a brief sweep. "Yes, you were."

Both Heero and Relena watched this seduction with fascination. "So, the kids like your band on your tour?" Relena asked.

Duo's look of incredulity cracked Heero's serious fa?de. He barked out a laugh that caught Relena by surprise.

"What's so funny, Heero? It was a perfectly well-intended question."

"You make us sound like a kiddy sing-a-long group," Heero told her.

"Oh, well, I'm so sorry," she said sarcastically and slapped playfully at his shoulder. "Maybe I should have asked how Sanc's hottest new boy band did on the road?"

"Sounds better to me," Duo said. "We were smashing, ladies. A smashing hit abroad."

Heero wanted nothing more than to kiss that smirk clean off Duo's smart ass little face, then work his way down. Instead, he kicked him again in a way that was becoming more a game of "footsie" than anything else. "Why don't you sing a tune for the girls, one from our act?"

"Ah --"

"Oh, yes, please, Duo? Something pretty and romantic," Dorothy begged.

Duo pretended to think over his answer, while the girls begged him. Heero jerked on his braid, "You know you want to," and ended up agreeing to sing with him, if he knew the words.

Duo rose to his feet and hummed a short introduction. His braid swung like a pendulum keeping time as he rocked from side to side. Eyes closed, lashes brushing his cheeks, lips full, Duo looked delicious. Heero moaned, barely restraining his need to crush his lips to Duo's, and then he started to sing.

"She's taking her time making up the reasons
To justify all the hurt inside..."

His voice was clear and his notes perfectly in tune. Heero wanted to wrap him in his arms and carry him away. Heero wanted Duo to himself.

"That's why she shies away from human affection,
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space,
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come.
And she'll say to him..."

Heero kept his voice low and soft so as not to compete with Duo's and moved close, very close, close enough to brush up against Duo's arm and shoulder, and then he joined him on the chorus.

"I would fly to the moon and back if you'll be...
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?"

His desire for Duo drove Heero to recklessness. Heero leaned in and was about to kiss his friend, while completely forgetting their audience, when a howl, originating from upstairs and continuing to draw closer, interrupted their performance. Wufei charged into the room; giggling in his wake was Sally Po. Heero had never heard her giggle before. Wufei, now, Heero had heard him shout and carry on many times, but to hear Sally Po giggle was alarming.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuo Maxwell! I will kill you!"

Duo scrambled around to face the oncoming attack, arms loose at his sides, taking on a defensive posture. "What is your problem?"

"That cat, YOUR damned cat has had her kittens in my underwear drawer, that's what!"

Trowa and Quatre tumbled down the staircase and ran into the room, panting. "Are you all right?" Quatre shouted.

"My underwear!" Wufei wailed.

"Trowa? W-what are you doing?" Quatre asked. "Wufei, you'd better run...NOW!"

Chapter 17 -- These Are The Days Of Our Lives

Zechs sat head in hands at the table. "Tell me again, in simple words, why it was that I came home last night, my first night out with my woman in weeks without a bunch of teenage boys hanging around us, to find mayhem -- MAY HEM -- in my sanctuary."

"Heero was going to kill me, I thought," Quatre began.

"I was not that out of control."

"It sure felt that way to me."

"You all were, it seems plain to me --" Zechs began.

"You shouldn't have tried to strangle me with Duo's braid," Heero explained.

"No he shouldn't but..." Zechs started to say.

"And he shouldn't have been sitting on Trowa's head with a knife at his throat!"

"Look, we only got the one drummer. You know how hard it is to replace 'Fei? Bass players are a dime a dozen," Duo said.

"Fuck you," Trowa growled.

"Well, I might have had that chance if you didn't keep barging in on me," Duo countered.

"Please, Duo, keep that to yourself," Zechs muttered.

"You think I'm the problem? Man, Chang's a virtual chastity belt around my neck!"

"Um, I think you gotta bigger problem if you think that's where those get worn, bud," Duo said in a serious tone.

Zechs sighed and stood. "Resolve this yourselves, then."

"It was that damninable cat!" Wufei announced. "Six... SIX baby cats are now lodging in MY underwear drawer. My clothes are spoiled! I can't sleep for all the noise."

"Oh, so that's why you were shacked up with Miss Po last night?" Trowa asked.

Wufei's mouth fell open.

"Okay, for that, JUST for that, I will personally drive you to town and buy you underwear," Duo said.

"Buy me...? Oh, no, you will pay for what I choose, Maxwell!"

"Fine, be a prude. Hey, Zechs! Can I borrow your Hog?"

Zechs pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them over his shoulder. "What the hell..." He paused at the kitchen door. "The rest of you clean up the house. Make it serene and spotless."

"Cool," Duo said, tossing an arm familiarly over Wufei's shoulder and marching out the door. "This is going to be great."

It wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad either. Duo gave Wufei the forty dollars he'd held onto since the drug-deal-gone-bad incident and waited outside the shop on the fancy motorcycle eyeing the passing girls and boys and accepting the envious glares with joy. Wufei made his purchases and they rode back without deterring off the path and without incident. They hung out just long enough to avoid participating in the cleanup task at home. They considered it a male bonding time and left it at that.

After the "fight," the band had fewer than two weeks to prepare for the Sanc Kingdom Battle of the Bands. What had appeared to be a long, lazy summer at the outset had turned out to be a short, action-packed one. The band practiced at home, intently, but their time wasn't completely work-filled.

For one thing, Duo had learned to swim and identify several plants by their blossoms. "Hey, I won't drown now if I fall in a lake, but if I do, I want these hydrangeas marking my grave, got that?"

The pounding Heero gave him for that not-so-funny remark unleashed more of their pent up passions. Duo found his attraction for Heero had developed into a deeper need for his company. From experience, though, he knew better than to dream of having some kind of a "meaningful relationship." His life wasn't a fucking romance novel, and what Heero was feeling, beyond the discovery and joy of unlimited excellent teenage sex at his beck and call, was all purely up to Duo's imagination, because words of love and devotion weren't forthcoming.

With Quatre's mood improving under Trowa's undivided attention and Heero's disposition lightening under Duo's ministrations, the band adjusted to home life and serious musical work. They had downtime, like when they ate, and sometimes with their friends.

The breakfast table had become a battleground of wits. It always helped to have Relena present to keep the conversation intelligent. One morning, Relena shook her packet of Nutrasweet into her tea and stirred as she related the highlights of her job and accomplishments.

"...And the State Senate approved measures that will benefit every Sanc citizen, whether they live near a landfill filled with waste, whether they hunt or fish, whether they drink water or breathe air," she said. Her smile glowed with satisfaction. "We're making great progress!"

Duo said, "That belongs on a bumper sticker so it's always moving off into the distance getting tinier and less and less significant, which it is." He shoveled eggs onto his plate, had second thoughts, put half back, and then settled on one piece of crispy bacon and a single slice of toast.

"That's untrue. We do good work!" she insisted.

"It sounds good," Quatre said diplomatically.

"I guess," Duo said. "Okay, you do good work, Relena, I'll give you that. You are a good person and aim high. The folks you work for put most of the money they collect into purchasing land and developing conservation areas."

"It's light-years better an organization than the Earth Liberation organization Dorothy works for," Quatre said.

"Well, there are people who believe in ELF's causes, too. ELF depends on individual contributors for funds," Relena said.

Duo laughed. "Man, that's not going to hold up under the jeweler's eyepiece, 'Lena. You ever see their website? They say they accept donations of cash, stock, or other financial assets. So, there's a tax-exempt foundation making a plea for corporate securities, on behalf of a group that claims to exist without any structure. Talk about lack of ethics."

"I don't know about that."

"You should know your facts, ma'am," Duo said, tipping his invisible cap. "And for your information, ELF headquarters, such as it is, is on L2, which is how I know stuff about them, like how a pal of Treize Khushrenada's, acting for OZ, has personally contributed to several of the radical environmental groups to get a free pass from ELF militants. Want an example? Okay. While a small neighborhood park was being cleared to build an OZ-owned slag-heap of some kind, members of the radical environmental group L2First, which is part of ELF, ignored that and instead protested mining on some nearby property. When a protester was asked why the group did not take on the park-destroying guy, he said -- and I quote -- 'We can't. That's where our money comes from.'"

"Pass the berries," Trowa cut in.

"Why?" Quatre asked him. "You don't like them."

"I put fruit on top of my waffles, because I want something to brush off," Trowa said, smiling. "Gives me something to do."

"We can leave the table and find something else to occupy you," Quatre suggested.

Trowa looked at Quatre from under his heavy hank of bangs. "Eat, then I'll hammer you on the tennis court."

Wufei sputtered into his tea as he attempted to breathe and swallow simultaneously, and choked anyway. Duo pounded him on the back. He couldn't believe Trowa would say something so deliberately suggestive as that in front of Relena, however, she didn't seem to read into his comment anything beyond its face value.

"I will look into what you say, Duo." Relena promised. "And pass it along to Dorothy."

"You do that."

"She likes you, you know."

Trowa dropped his fork and, to Duo's surprise, picked it up before Quatre could, dropped it in the sink, and picked a new one from the drawer. It was uncharacteristic amount of effort extended by the lanky youth, who normally would have made do with his spoon rather than move. And Duo noticed he wasn't the only one watching Trowa's activities. Quatre couldn't keep his eyes off him.

"I like her, too." Duo leaned over his plate and scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs. He was eating slowly, not chugging down his food and over-stuffing himself. He had had enough upchucking -- for whatever reason -- and, he reasoned, he didn't have to worry where his next meal was coming from. He could come back anytime to sample more.

Relena sniffed. "Don't be dense, Duo. I mean, she likes you, lots."

Duo looked up from his plate. "Um, I'm gay, Relena. I don't go around wearing a banner or anything, but I never hide or lie about it. Oh, man, from the look on your face I can see you didn't know either. Sorry. I mean, I'd go for her if I wasn't, and, well, if I could get past her job and all. Next time I see her I'll let her know, in a nice way."

"But you were flirting."

"That's the way I am. It's being friendly my style. Relena, I like girls, but I don't date them or sleep with them, okay?"

"She'll be disappointed," was all Relena said.

As she continued to mull over the information, Duo figured she was all right with it. He judged her to be a reasonable, level-headed young lady. Unfortunately, perfect for Heero, Duo added in his head. When he tuned back in, she was chattering about how everything would work out. Their band was wonderful and would win because their music was special.

"Not like that awful rap stuff."

Duo disagreed. "Not so bad..."

"If you listen to rap music, you're more likely to use alcohol and drugs and to behave in an aggressive manner -- at least according to a new study by the nonprofit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. And if you don't believe me, just look at how rap music and rap performers are being used in promoting alcoholic beverages," Relena said.

Duo stared at her.

"I think you impressed him," Wufei said.

"She made a good point," Duo conceded. "It fits in with what I know."

Relena assured them that Zechs was on their side with only their best interest at heart. "Treize is backing off and giving us a fair chance to beat him. That just shows that he is noble at heart. And when he leaves OZ, the foundation will collapse."

Duo's expression was mixed, but his eyes were hardened amethysts. "That 'backing off crap' is just a diversionary tactic. He's getting us to focus on that while we ignore his main attack."

"Another one of Maxwell's famous laws," Wufei drawled.

"He has laws?" Trowa asked.

"And what's that?" she asked.

Further discussion was cut off when Quatre turned abruptly toward the door with a sharp cry, "Oh!" His hands flew to chest and the blood fled his face.

Trowa lurched out of his chair to catch hold of Quatre and lend him a stable support. Duo mused how the friend had become attuned to Quatre's empathic reactions and wondered if love would affect such dramatic changes sometime in Heero.

"Quatre, what is it?" Duo asked, hoping the bad vibes had nothing to do with Quatre. He didn't need more sorrow in his life.

Lucrezia Noin ran into the room, waving the house phone at Duo. "It's for you! Sorry, Lady Une lost her cell phone and has been on this one all morning."

Duo stood and took the phone, "Howdy. Hilde? Slow down. What?"

He stopped his pacing and dropped to the floor, back to a cabinet, feet flat on the tiled kitchen floor. "I'll file a flight plan for the next available shuttle."

Heero was on his feet. "Duo --?"

"Don't tell me not to come. He's like a brother, damn it!" Tears trickled from Duo's eyes, inflaming his prickliness more. "They can't stop me from attending his funeral!" He sniffed back the tears and wiped his face with his arm. "Well, if they're baiting me, then they'd better be ready for what's coming!" He shouted the last words into the receiver as Heero swept it out of his grip.

Wufei and Trowa were on their feet ready to pin Duo to the floor, if necessary. Duo, however, seemed to have lost his fighting spirit, slid all the way, and lay listlessly flat on his back, eyes closed.

"Hilde. Heero. What's happened?" Heero demanded. He listened and nodded. "Agreed. You have my word."

When he hung up, Heero remained in place to collect his thoughts. The others wisely kept silent, waiting. "I'm sorry, Duo."

Duo nodded but otherwise made no move to get up.

To the others, Heero explained. "Hilde and Solo and a few other of the Sweepers have been part of a resistance movement on L2, opposing the syndicate." He didn't say whether or not Duo had been at one time or not. "There was a rally. Hilde believes now that it was staged by OZ, because it turned violent fast. Duo's good friend, Solo, died early this morning of injuries sustained in a firefight. Hilde believes --"

"Treize killed him as sure as gold," Duo bit off, "as a signal to me to back off and lose this contest."

"So he did recognize you on L4," Wufei guessed.

"Or L2," Heero muttered. "Although I don't know how."

Duo moaned and rolled to his side, his grief cracking his brave front. Heero helped him to his feet, walked him to his room. He'd need Zechs' cooperation to heal Duo, but for now he had to convince Duo to stay with him. No one was running off on his own again, especially not Duo, Heero decided.

Heero stayed with Duo the rest of the day, holding him in his room, not talking, but listening. Accepting loss was so much a part of Duo's life that Heero thought he was doing pretty good, and then he walked off to the bathroom and Duo broke down. He believed Heero was abandoning him. Heero hauled him along. They showered together and maintained constant contact. He took Duo to bed, early, and lay wrapped around him, pressed as close as possible, skin to skin, all night long. Heero hardly slept a wink, but knew Duo did, and that was all that mattered to him.

Late the next afternoon, he had the keys to Zechs' SUV, no driver's license but a promise to 'be careful', and Duo on his arm. The others saw them off at the end of the driveway. Heero chose a CD, turned up the volume, and opened the skylight. The cooling breeze blew his hair gently, but the air was still warm. The soft jazz instrumental music floated on the air around them; the car was carried with the tide, rising with the waves -- it was like a dream as they surged ahead into the falling sun.

Duo sighed, wordless, smiled, and leaned his head back on the seat. "Where are we going?" he thought to ask.

"The Inn at the Top of the World."

"That's nice," he said as if he thought Heero had made it up.

The continuous rise in altitude was noticeable as they wound their way up a mountain road. Every so often, the switchback revealed a breathtaking view of the Sanc kingdom valley below. The car decelerated past a row of neatly pruned tea rose bushes as Heero turned into a nearly full parking lot.

Duo straightened in his seat as he read the sign. "You were serious!"

"Yes."

"Just you and me... for dinner?"

"And the sunset."

"Thanks, Heero. I've never been to place like this. No one's ever --"

"Good," Heero said. "Then I'm the first."

The popular club was reminiscent of an old, big-city jazz club. The walls were lined with black velvet curtains, Antique jazz posters, and photos of local legends. The large open interior space provided for easy sightlines in crowds and offered first-rate acoustics.

"This is an instrumentalists' chapel," Duo said, awe struck.

A small ensemble provided the evening's liturgy.

Heero leaned toward his ear so he could be sure to be heard. "Zechs told me that generations of jazz fans have met here, including his father."

On this night, young players were injecting life into the local scene. The place was unique, from it's hidden-away, mountain-road entrance to the diverse crowd it attracted. They wound their way toward the picture window, where a reserved table awaited them.

"If you were looking to impress me," Duo said. "You have."

"I want you," Heero said as a blush tainted his cheek bones, "to know how much you matter, to me. And how massively thankful I am that you decided to stay here and not go to L2 after what's happened."

"S-Solo was a part of my life, Heero, but a part that was over," Duo said. "Now it's just more 'over' and never coming back."

"I can't compete with a memory."

"Don't need to," Duo said firmly. "Staying alive, winning this contest is what Solo would have wanted me to do. And so is choosing you to fall for. He always said I should go for the best."

Heero's blush deepened with the setting sun. He hadn't expected Duo to say that, to be so open and to reveal his carefully kept feelings, not like that. He knew he should say something more in return. Whatever drove him to gravitate towards Duo in the first place, lust most likely, was now being replaced by something stronger and more enduring. If he put a word to it, it would be "love," but not yet.

"The best deserves the best," Heero said with a wry smile.

"Here we are," Zechs said. He shouldered an equipment bag. "Sanc's largest concert hall."

The building fa?de looked ancient. Grand. Duo took a moment reveling in the grandeur. He noticed the details of the construction as the dome rose overhead tile after tile, brick after brick, herring-boned in place to be self-supporting. "Looks like the perfect place for a band battle, doesn't it?"

"Grab something," Heero said with a nudge.

Duo wrestled a gear bag and two cymbals out of the van. "'Fei? You have that dolly completely loaded?"

"Yes."

It was loaded with drum cases that Sally Po struggled to keep balanced until Wufei could secure the bungee cord holding them in place. Duo guessed he was embarrassed to rely on a weak woman for assistance and would start snarling momentarily. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised by Wufei's civil conduct.

"Thank you," Wufei told her. "I have it under control now. You had best go if you a want decent seat."

"Relena, Dorothy, Catherine, Lucrezia, and Lady Une are all saving me a seat, so I don't have to rush. But I can see you want to manhandle this alone, so I'll see you later," she said, kissing him in public for the first time.

Duo hoped Wufei would be able to keep his mind on his drumming after that indignity, and hid his smile. But, once again, Wufei surprised him. Wufei embraced her and returned the kiss, if only briefly.

"I'll look for you in the crowd," he promised.

Trowa had Quatre's keyboard stand under one arm, the keyboard under the other arm, and his bass in his hand. Duo thought he was really outdoing himself. Good, for him. Quatre was doing good, working through his feelings and dealing with the death of his father. He'd written to a few of his sisters and they had written back. Duo hoped they'd come visit him soon. But Trowa! He had never seen Trowa put out so much effort to impress Quatre before, and wondered if he had changed as much as Towa and Wufei had over the past few weeks.

Quatre helped Zechs load another dolly with amplifiers.

"Got it!" Quatre shouted. "I can wheel this as is."

He drew beside Heero and kept pace with him. Heero carried his guitar and a bag of cables in one hand and his amp, which must have weighed more than fifty pounds, in the other. He made it appear to weigh five. Duo skipped to catch up to them, where he could overhear their conversation should his name pop up.

"Heero, I just wanted to tell you that I'm really happy for you."

"Hn."

"For you and Duo."

Heero shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"At first, I kinda envied you. Duo seemed to pick you right off and I was a little attracted to him. But now, things are different. I can see he's right for you and you for him, and I found someone who suits me."

Duo was dying to know what Heero had to say and then again, he didn't. He liked Heero, and from what Heero had told him, he liked him, too, but Duo was experienced enough to know gay lovers came and went pretty fast -- the younger the faster. Solo had carved out a place in his heart and life, not that he would have admitted it to anyone, especially Heero. His death left a big hole to fill. Whether Heero wanted to expand his role to fill that gaping hole, to fit Duo's needs, was yet to be known, but for now, with the big contest minutes away, Duo didn't need a rejection from Heero to break his confidence. Best to hold onto some stupid dream, he decided. Duo slowed his gait, putting distance between himself and Heero's reply.

Zechs gestured for them to get moving. When they stepped inside the main concert hall the effected nearly gagged him. The entire interior was painted to within an inch of its life brilliant lemon yellow.

"Anybody bring sunglasses?" Duo asked, making a face.

"I wish," Heero said stoically.

Duo tried not to show his disappointment with Heero's indifference, figuring the guy was probably nervous about the contest. Instead, he turned to a harried-looking hall assistant, who had just joined them and was frantically flipping through a clip board of schedules and instructions.

"Gundam Wing?"

"That be us," Duo said.

"Thank God. Yes, I found you. This way," the young man said combing through his stringy, blonde hair, and then leading the band to the correct staging area.

They were instructed to leave their instruments in place until one hour before they were scheduled to play. At that time, they could complete their setup and conduct a sound test. They should stick to the schedule precisely and would get no second chances should they miss their turn.

"Any questions?"

"No." Zechs could read the timetable as well as anyone else.

"Super," the man said with an exhausted sigh. He turned on a heel and dashed off in search of his next assignment.

Someone was testing their microphone already; Duo could hear the whine of feedback in the distance. Canned music snapped on and off. Apparently, solo singers using backing tracks, prerecorded music for accompaniment, were squeezed between contesting bands. Duo strained to see who was up. From the nervous giggling of one girl as she clicked around on stage in too-high heeled sandals and pulling at the too-short hem of her clingy, sparkly dress, Duo guessed she was about to put her skills to the test. He wished her a silent "good luck."

Since the team had half an hour to wait, Zechs urged them to wander around, while he stood guard over the equipment. "Don't listen to the competition," he warned them, adding, "And stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," Duo waved as they took off. "Tell that to Mr. Trouble!"

"I need to get water," Wufei said.

"Refreshments thataway," Duo pointed, having established the whereabouts of all food sources upon entry.

"I read the article you told me about," Wufei said to Duo. "About the recording businesses relation to the underworld. I found it distressing."

"What was that?" Quatre asked.

"Several officials on L2 said the police were investigating whether Miss Mariemaia Khushrenada's music career was fueled with money from Mr. Khushrenada's drug trafficking. Apparently, they are still trying to put them together, one official said."

"It's so blatantly obvious -- the drug trafficking and money laundering," Duo said with a wave of his hand. "Treize followed the principles of mob figures and corrupt corporate organizations rather than the pure science of business to build Romefeller Recording and his other related economic activities. He worked his way to the top of OZ's drug-dealing world, negotiating with every low-life drug maker, allegedly using profits from record deals to buy heroin and turning it around for street sales on L2. More than enough to start up a record company."

Luck was with them. Near the refreshment counter, they found some caf tables and rounded up five chairs. Heero and Wufei ordered water in covered cups with straws then sat to people watch. Duo smiled at Heero as he chose the chair beside his. They could hear the performances in the background, but not very well.

Trowa winced. "That band's not going to make it."

"Not even in tune," Quatre agreed.

"We shouldn't listen," Wufei said. "Bad luck."

"I'm going for a soda," Duo said. He stepped the short distance to the counter, when he overheard someone talking to Heero.

"Gundam Wing?" a pretty, young girl asked in a way that managed to sound insulting. "Gundam's a metal and where are your wings? Ha, ha, ha..."

Heero shrugged. Duo's smile turned smug. They had run into Epyon, apparently, and the girl had chosen to pick on the least communicative band member. Good luck, babe.

The petite, pretty girl whipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "Is this seat empty?"

Heero answered in the stoniest tone Duo had ever heard. "Yes, and this one will be too if you sit down."

"How rude! I don't suppose you even know who I am, do you?"

Duo noticed that the girl hadn't sat down, though. His chair was still empty.

Heero replied flatly, "You are Mariemaia Khushrenada lead singer of Epyon."

"You'd better make room for us," a human mountain in leather intoned.

Mariemaia was tiny, but the rest of the band was huge, physically. Four, tall, blonde, hunks hovered near her that looked like a cross between an uber alles athletics club and a biker's gang. Duo estimated that any one of them could pound him into a grease spot. It might take them a little longer with Heero, but that was an insignificant detail. A fight wasn't what they had come for today, so Duo stepped up with a cheery demeanor.

"Hey, we were just leaving. Here, have my chair for starters. I knew you were decent guys, well-connected with people and who really care about great music."

From Wufei's expression, Duo could tell that he thought he was stoned or raving mad, but was sharp enough to start exiting the area without arguing. Trowa had Quatre by the elbow and was guiding him away from their table. Heero, however, stood, or sat, his ground.

"Oh, absolutely!" Mariemaia said, flushing with pleasure at being thought both decent and well-connected, Duo supposed. "You are so right about that."

One of the lugs brushed up against Duo and said, "You read my mind, about the leaving part."

"Can you read mine?" Heero growled, standing so that the other man would have to knock him over to get closer to Duo.

"I'm no mind reader. Don't need none."

Duo could see a clear evacuation path lining up from where they stood to where they needed to go, fast, and the other three members of their band making haste on the same path. He pulled on Heero's shoulder, steering him in the direction he wanted, then said to the ham-fisted bloke, "Look, don't go to a mind reader; go to a palmist; I know you've got a palm."

And while the dude worked that one over in his head, Duo made his exit, pulling Heero along behind him. "Move!"

By agreement, none of them talked about the incident when they gathered at their equipment with Zechs. They had met their competition and survived. No bother distressing Zechs. He was all business, which was fine with them.

"Here come the stage hands to help with the setup. Quatre, let them do the heavy work now. We don't want you to drop an amp on your foot. Heero, that goes for you too. Put everything down and let them... okay, your guitar is different. You can carry that. Fine. Trowa? Oh, what the hell. It's your back."

Because their band was already highly ranked, but had no charted CD, Gundam Wing was in the intermediate trials; skipping the preliminary selection process many other bands had had to go through the day before. Even so, they had two songs, two chances to prove themselves worthy to proceed to the finals.

They took their turn, first knocking out a loud, raucous rocker demonstrating one end of their range. Duo's honest and emotional, round and unabrasive rock vocals proved to be a welcome relief among singers with much less talent. The guitars and drums were loud and unrelenting, showcasing an amazing amount of energy and drive that was not really cock-rock, rather just a very 'bodily' song. So much passion, heat, fury, and power. Heero's ass-kicking guitar symphony brought the audience to its feet and Duo wailed like a rock Caruso to end their first song with a memorable performance.

They progressed to the semi-finals.

For their next performance, they chose to demonstrate that they had also easily mastered the ballad form. Wufei led off with a bongo drum sound, softening it more with a scratchy cha-cha. Quatre and Trowa came in with full cords, leaving Heero room to pick out an alternate tune. He would sing with Duo and simplified his guitar work accordingly. Duo emoted the introspective words with expression:

"Sometimes I get to feelin'
I was back in the old days -- long ago
When we were kids, when we were young
Things seemed so perfect -- you know?

The days were endless, we were crazy -- we were young
The sun was always shinin' -- we just lived for fun
Sometimes it seems like lately -- I just don't know
The rest of my life's been -- just a show."

Impeccable harmonies were the major highlight, chanted over a moody acoustic backing, and they actually sounded heartfelt:

"Those were the days of our lives
The bad things in life were so few
Those days are all gone now
But one thing is true --"

Beautiful, and then they had vocal hooks, too, like when Duo sang alone,

"When I look
and I find
I still love you."

Followed by Heero singing:

"You can't turn back the clock;
You can't turn back the tide."

They continued to trade off lyrical lines as if in conversation, with Duo asking, "Ain't that a shame?"

Other bands would kill for that chorus -- an artistic range of silky, young voices perfectly suited to the rather upbeat feel distinctive chords of the song -- possibly more than a few were harboring murderous thoughts, but the rest were in awe.

"Cos these are the days of our lives
They've flown in the swiftness of time
These days are all gone now
But some things remain
When I look and I find -- no change."

Duo's voice faded into the interlude of guitar against dreamy cords. Heero was possibly only a minor guitar god, with just two hands and ten fingers, but somewhere in the middle he played wonderful outbursts of licks and vibratos, showering the audience with an opus of sounds. Heero was actually playing to entertain the listeners, not just to show off his abilities or it would have gone over the top.

And Duo danced. Just Duo and his braid weaving around his band mates including them in his party on stage. The song ended with a return to the tight, evocative harmonies.

"Those were the days of our lives
The bad things in life were so few
Those days are all gone now
But one thing's still true..."

The music stopped and Duo sang alone, piercing the heart of everyone in the audience:

"When I look
And I find,
I still love you,"

Then he turned, casting his glance meaningfully over Heero and whispered the repeat:

"I still love you."

There were no lingering doubts that Gundam Wing had blown everyone away, or that Epyon remained their most threatening opponent. They had made it to the finals, at last, and all was well. Mostly.

Chapter 18 -- What I Know About Love

There was no choice but to listen to each of the four finalists, but it was clear to everyone that Epyon was Gundam Wing's only worthy opponent. So far, all the bands had performed tried-and-true covers, which guaranteed winning pieces to start out, rather than doing their own songs. The Gundam Wing boys returned from a bathroom and soda break and found seats in time to catch all the final acts. For their finale, Epyon chose a popular song with a great funk groove.

"Psychedelic," Quatre said.

"Loud," added Heero.

"And obnoxious with little attempt at meaning," Wufei said.

"Yeah, but heck! The song rocked as a whole." Duo sighed. "Damn."

"It was a real standout -- multi-layered and at times fucking confusing," was Trowa's final say.

Zechs pointed out that Mariemaia was cute, talented, and a favorite, especially with the male members of the crowd. If the judges preferred cheesecake to beefcake or had been bought off by the syndicate, then Epyon could win. Then he walked off to re-fill their water bottles.

Quatre waited until he was out of hearing distance, and then called for a change of plan. "Epyon's performance of that song was amazing, and Zechs was right. The judges loved Mariemaia from the looks on their faces," Quatre declared and the others concurred. "Okay, then, to win, we will have to be absolutely spectacular."

"Two of the judges are gay," Trowa revealed. "Saw them making out in the bathroom."

"And you didn't think to share that earlier?" Heero muttered.

"All right! We gotta break maybe, huh? Right?" Duo said. He pushed the two apart before Heero could throttle the tight-lipped Trowa.

"Well, that's something we can use," Quatre said. "I have an idea, then. We switch our last song."

Quatre made the suggestion and the others agreed immediately. Gundam Wing would do a new song, a very risky choice, because it was a song Duo and Quatre had co-written. And then Zechs returned, bringing each of the boys a bottle of chilled, purified, oxygenated, artesian water. Zechs could not believe that they had gone and changed the plan on him, but it was too late to change it back, because Quatre had handed the announcer the updated play list.

"It will be okay," Quatre assured the man. "Really, Zechs, we'll knock their socks off."

Zechs took one anti-anxiety pill and an aspirin, and washed them down with a bottle of venomous Green River soda Duo handed him. "Dear God almighty," he moaned.

"That's the spirit!" Quatre said cheerily. "Okay, guys, we're on!"

Duo took care of the between-song prattle. Nobody had ever assigned him that role; he just fell into it naturally. Just workin' the crowd, he said. No matter that he was a small in stature, his confidence spread like the fan of light coming from the high spotlight above him. His voice never shook and his face never revealed the state of his nerves. His smile was real, his braid outrageous, and his good-humored, spunky personality contagious. He slipped the tie off the end of his braid as he played with the tip and talked. He made it personal and drew in the audience.

"Song-writing isn't easy for me. It's work. Fun work, though, when I've got a real master musician like my bud Quat here to do the notes. Anyway, I discovered the best thing is that when you're writing songs, you aren't doing housework."

Ba-da-bing!

Wufei added the customary drum roll, and the crowd cheered and laughed along with Duo, his charisma drawing them in. Heero and Trowa began a musical background, ethereal and haunting.

"When I was starting out," Duo told his story, "I entertained little kids with my singing. And when you're doing songs for kids, when it's over they say, like, 'Is that a real song or a made-up one?'"

Duo paused to allow the murmur of laugher and chuckling from the audience to run its course, and began to unbraid his hair. He had mastered comic timing.

"Well, we already did some real songs, so now we're gonna do a made-up one tonight."

More chuckling. Another break. Duo closed in on the stationary mic, pitched his voice low and intimate, and finished the song's introduction.

"This is a made-up one called, 'What I Know About Love.'" Duo stepped back, cocked his head to the side, grinned, and added, "It's short, too."

The audience broke into laughter and the Quatre and Wufei crushed them right off the bat with a pure density of muscular sound. Duo swayed, shook out his mane of hair, and danced a little, marking his time. He dropped his head, sucked in his breath, then let out a heart-wrenching wail.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Seeing his body excited me
And filled me with longing.
That day was like a fever
In my memory
It made me wonder
What do I know about love?"

The rest of the band joined him in the chorus. The harmonies clean but still powerful.

"Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity.

Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity..."

Duo left off with the "pissed-off" balancing the mood with "wistful" -- for a few bars.

"I lifted my eyes to the reflection
Of my lips and wondered
And wondered what it would be like
In my experience

To kiss another boy
To kiss another's lips.
I kissed my reflection and it was cold.
It made me wonder
What do I know about love?

Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity.
Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity"

The bridge was tough, brain-crunching, with heavy, crushing riffs and explosive drumming. Duo danced, loosening his hair, setting it free to dance and whip around him as a partner might. The instrumentals wound back down and around to the haunting, evocative tune at the beginning.

"I lifted my eyes to the reflection
Of my lips and wondered
And wondered what it would be like
In my experience

To kiss another boy
To kiss another's lips.
I kissed my reflection and it was cold.
It made me wonder
What do I know about love?"

Crash! Wufei beat the cymbals, sending shock waves like bolts of lightening slicing through the throbbing beat, and launching a crowd of kids out of their seats to dance with Duo.

"Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity.
Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity

Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity.
Full of sex-u-al de-lir-i-um
Between bouts of sanity

It made me wonder
What do I know about love?"

The guitar tone merged with Duo's voice, ripping off skulls with its final ferocity. All feeling -- and it carried through to the end of the song. They were, without a doubt, the best, the winners of the battle of the bands.

The Gundam Wing boys were swept away by the wave of euphoria, the roar of the crowd. Wufei leaped from his kit to join in as they took turns embracing one another, slapping backs, whooping it up. The announcer couldn't be heard over the din, so he simply walked onto the stage and handed Duo the certificate and check accompanied by photographers flashing lights and flying underwear, boys and girls.

And then out of the pandemonium surrounding them on stage, his voice pitched low and menacing, Wufei growled, "Why is that man here?"

It wasn't entirely unexpected that Treize Khushrenada would choose this moment to put in his appearance. Zechs pushed to join the band just as Quatre stumbled backwards into Trowa's able arms.

"Okay, Quatre?"

Quatre nodded to Trowa, and then said, "Just okay, thanks. I feel...it's coming from that evil Treize man." Quatre looked over at Duo and asked, "Why do I get the feeling this isn't going down like we had hoped?"

"Because," Duo said. "If you think your attack is going really well, it means the enemy is about to ambush you. Mark my words. I know how these syndicate pricks work. The ambush is about to break concealment and launch the surprise attack."

"More of 'Maxwell's Laws'?" Wufei sniffed. "Appropriate."

"You mean Treize is going to screw us?" Trowa asked. "No surprise there."

Wufei strode to meet his arch nemesis; his curiosity, Duo knew, would have killed off the entire cat population of the Sanc kingdom. They met nose-to-nose on the stage, eyes narrowed to slits and teeth bared in daring grimaces.

"You think you won, but I have changed my mind," Khushrenada barked.

"You're reneging on Zechs' deal?" Wufei snarled.

"See? What did I say?" Duo yelped. "As a retreating enemy he's probably just falling back and regrouping. Instead of helping our cause, he'll be destroying us at twice the speed."

"Shut up," Heero ordered him. "You're making things worse."

Zechs spoke up to master his dependents before a fight began right there on the stage. "Stop this at once! Together we can stop this madness. Treize, don't let greed drive you to self-destruction. Listen to me. If you continue on this path acquiring only material wealth and ignoring the realm of the spiritual, you will lose your soul."

"Not more of that New Age crap. Don't you get tired of spewing forth that bilge water, Milliardo? Don't give me that. Go back to your scented candles."

"We can't let him get away," Quatre whispered to Trowa.

"Then don't. Go on. You supply the words and I'll back you up."

Quatre regained his strength and his feet using Trowa for support. "That's no way to speak to our friend, benefactor, and manager!" Quatre chastised Treize. "If Zechs' wisdom has no effect on your decision, then maybe what I have to tell you does."

"What fresh hell is this?" Treize looked down his nose at the short, blonde boy. "Oh, you are that Winner whelp that was thrown out of his house. What can you tell me that will change my mind?"

"Ah, forget it, Quat, He won't get it anyway." Duo put in his two bits worth of philosophy. "'Never attribute to malice that which can best be explained by stupidity.' That was Mark Twain's advice."

"You underestimate me, all of you," Treize said.

"I don't think so," Quatre said. "I think you will see the light when you understand completely. You see, we have the estate surveillance tapes showing you leading OZ operatives in command of the attack that killed my father. We have recordings where you personally admitted to Lady Une your intentions, your grand plans, and exposing your greed for everyone to see and hear and to judge for themselves what your role has been in the destruction of L5 and L4 and your other deadly, underhanded schemes. We have it all."

"Time to throw in your cards," Duo said with a cocky grin.

"Don't pretend you can best me at the life of crime," Treize said, his voice unsure. "How --? You have video with sound? Impossible!" Nevertheless, he stopped to look around. "Where are these tapes?"

"The sound system transmits both ways and our band has a couple of clever thieves," Quatre smiled at Trowa and then at Duo, "and some reliable men who collected these tapes and preserved them for us. They are real, do not doubt that, and safe."

And for once, Treize saw that he had lost. The blow couldn't have been worse if it had been physical. The man shrank, defeated, aged beyond his thirty years.

"Real? Safe?" Treize murmured.

"Yeah, now put those two words together and you'll be very close to what Quat just told ya," Duo said.

Zechs said, "You, Treize, are now forced to step down from Romefeller Recording or return and stop the flow of money from the recording business into drugs and arms build up. You will stop the..."

"No, no, say no more. I am not stupid, Milliardo. I know when to give up. However, before you start celebrating, remember that I can be replaced. Take me away and others will come and take my place."

In the meantime, Lady Une, Noin, and the other ladies had fought their way onto the stage. The tumult and cacophony of noise prevented them and anyone else from understanding the drama playing out between the band and Treize. For those who recognized Treize Khushrenada, Lady Une, or Lucrezia Noin, it appeared the Gundam Wing band was about to get competing and possibly lucrative offers for recording contracts. It was as good as any place to talk shop and share secrets.

Once Lady Une understood what had passed, she pointed out the main problem and offered her solution. "We have no single authority to go after the syndicate, link their crimes from earth to the colonies, to hold them, try them, and prevent them from reasserting themselves."

"My point, exactly," Treize said.

"Which is why I'm establishing one. I shall call it the Preventers and we shall contain the syndicate and bring stability to earth and the colonies." She placed a hand on Wufei's shoulder. "Treize, I'd like you to join forces with me, Zechs, and you, too, boys. What so you say, Wufei? Do you seek justice and retribution for what happened to your clan on L5? The banks of the world have syndicate money enough to fund its rebuild ten times over. And Quatre, the same goes for L4, and, Duo, L2 can be brought into the modern world, made comfortable and safe. What do you say?"

"The Maguanacs want me to lead them," Quatre said. "I have to consider their wishes."

"A rebuilding effort on L4?" Trowa asked him.

"The resistance. To join forces against the syndicate and OZ."

"To fight?" Trowa pressed.

"Yes, and I want to. I want avenge my father's death and my colony's destruction, but," his face searched Trowa's in earnest supplication. "You understand, don't you?"

"I guess."

"But, I don't want to leave you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, 'cause I was thinkin' I'd go with you. Lend a hand. I gave up the life of a mercenary years ago, but I haven't lost my skills."

Quatre reached for his hand, clasping it, and smiling with pride. "I'd be honored to have you join me and the Maguanacs."

Lady Une nodded her head. "Maybe we can work together, then. Join forces with your Maguanac Corps and share resources, facilities, and information."

Quatre nodded enthusiastically. "I'd like that."

"I shall join you at Preventers, my lady," Wufei said. "On my own I am weak, but as a team my contribution matters. Far more rests on the outcome than just a matter of pride."

"I am glad to have you on board, Wufei Chang," Une said.

"I'll not back off from a fight, you know that!" Duo chimed in.

And then he wondered about Heero and if he would want to follow him to war. Not likely. Don't go there, Duo, he told himself. But, of course, by the time he thought of that, he was already there.

"And I will watch your back, wherever you are going, although I would enjoy returning with you to L2." Heero twitched, as if unsure he said the right thing.

Duo grinned and flung his arms around the other young man, kissing him hard, and making it understood just how right Heero had been.

Zechs sighed and looked his girlfriend squarely in the eyes. "And you? What would you have me do?"

"I want them, those boys, for the good of the Sanc Kingdom, but you I want for myself. If the only way to achieve that goal is to fight by your side again, then I'll do it. Of course, you must join these Preventers, and I will, too."

"Lucrezia Noin, you are a surprising woman," Zechs said as he pulled her into a heart-felt embrace.

"Um, just one thing, Noin," Duo said.

"Yes, Duo?"

"Can we make that CD before we all do this? I mean, this means we're gonna part ways and I'd like to have that CD to listen to, ya know, to remind me that this all's been real."

"Absolutely," Noin said. "In fact, remaining in a band and touring together might make a fantastic cover for an operation. Something to consider, Lady Une. So, back to the CD, when do you boys want to start?"

"This week. We haven't much time," Zechs answered for them. "If I'm any judge of Lady Une's impatience."

"You'll have six months. It will take me that much time just to secure offices and startup funding."

"Less," Treize offered, "With my help."

Lady Une took his hands and hers and pressed them together. "I hoped you would say that. I accept."

"Duo, you don't look happy," Zechs remarked.

"Oh, I just don't buy Khushrenada's miraculous redemption. Anybody as corrupt as Treize rarely fights his demons, wrests control of his will, and becomes instantaneously restored, ready to set off on his new, righteous destiny. Sorry, but it ain't likely."

"Perhaps I can exert the control necessary with Treize as my most estimable husband," Lady Une said. The man's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't scoff at her suggestion.

"What?! No, you can't give up on Trowa... ah, well, I guess you can," Duo corrected. Trowa and Quatre were necking behind the wall of amps. "But still, you don't haveta go that far!"

Lady Une took Treize's arm in hers. "Sky's the limit." She strode away with the man doing his best to cover up his shock at the turn of events.

After a dinner out to celebrate, it seemed the band and their friends all wanted a little private time when they returned home. The boys had survived many trials, some tragic, over the last few months together and triumphed, transforming all of them into better, stronger individuals. Now they had months to plan their destinies. Tonight, however, their thoughts rested in the world of more earthly desires.

Quatre didn't even pretend getting laid wasn't the only thing on his mind. He would have carried Trowa up the stairs to his room to speed things up, if he could have. Trowa showed his usual reticence to move, until Quatre crept up to his chair fully intent on getting his man.

"I know you've pegged me as sweet, innocent, and curious, the perfect candidate for some future tutorial you've imagined. It's like I've walked whole cloth out of some boy-love website, isn't it? My corn-silk hair studiously uncombed."

Quatre leaned forward, his weight resting on the arms of the chair and looked coyly from beneath his fine, recently mussed up hair. He had Trowa's complete attention. It was fun.

"My eyes are like aquamarines under glass. I'm 5'4". I weigh 127 pounds. My voice cracks every time I say goodbye. I've been stuck in this eternal puberty so long that I've nearly come to accept it as my peculiar destiny." He dropped his voice to bare whisper. "Don't you want to find out for yourself what makes me tick?"

"Quatre, lets go for a swim," Trowa suggested, his voice cracking. He was out the door before Quatre ran a hand through his bangs.

Quatre winked at Duo and mouthed a "thank you" on his way to the pool. The lights were off. No one was there or was likely to disturb them. They undressed, slipping their clothes off side by side. Trowa dove soundlessly into the water and shot along the bottom like a seal before surfacing. Quatre followed, gliding up to where Trowa waited, standing chest-deep against the side of the pool. Quatre wrapped his legs around Trowa's waist, locked his hands behind his head, and nuzzled.

"This is so great, Trowa. I'm really happy."

Quatre pressed his lips against the other boy's and waited for them to part, and soon their tongues stroked and caressed. He could feel Trowa shudder in his grip and choke back a sob. That was Quatre's favorite moment: when Trowa broke down and cried.

Trowa heaved him up and out of the water like a rain-soaked puppy and wrapped them both in towel. He carried Quatre up the narrow, back staircase to his bedroom at the end of the long hall. Wordlessly, he laid Quatre in the middle of the bed, his hair still wet with pool water and skin mottled with goose flesh. The light from the full moon cut through the blinds striping his slender, naked form. For the longest time, Trowa stood just staring, tilting his head to examine his prize from multiple angles, posing the blonde boy in various tableaux.

Trowa lifted Quatre's dick off his thigh, marveling at its prominence, it seemed. "How can something so impossibly large be attached to someone so small?"

Quatre smiled and shrugged then gasped as Trowa lowered his lips to kiss the head, just peeking through its white sheath, and flicked his tongue across its redness. Quatre moaned when the tongue poked at the pee-slit. Trowa gathered the foreskin and sucked up, pinching it closed, holding it in his hand in a shaft of light like something recently blessed, a holy icon.

"Play with me, Trowa. Do that stuff again. With my dick and all. Make me feel incredible! I want to feel incredible."

Trowa followed instructions and more. He did everything Quatre hoped he would, up to a point. There was a point at which Trowa would go no further. Quatre assured him that he'd been penetrated before and urged him to use the lube, pressing a ready tube into his hand. Trowa took it, used it, and loved Quatre thoroughly without further need of encouragement. He took his time and then came inside Quatre and Quatre came all over him. They were awash in bodily fluids, sweat and tears and semen. Quatre could feel his lover shrinking inside him while growing in his eyes. He nestled his head on Trowa's hard chest and let Trowa wrap his arms around him as if he could save him from drowning.

Quatre felt the feather touch of Trowa's fingertips first, then the palm moving over his skin, caressing. He closed his eyes when Trowa touched him. No one had touched him so tenderly before, inside and out. Trowa's trembling hand stopped at the skin, but his touch went much deeper.

"I can feel your heartbeat," Trowa said, sounding innocent and wonderstruck. "I'm in love with you, Quatre Winner."

Quatre covered the hand with his own and opened his eyes. Trowa's shimmering, green eyes were glowing, and he was smiling as if he could not believe what was happening. Quatre couldn't believe it either. He closed his eyes again, drew a long, deep breath, and held it. In his mind he repeated the words "I love him and trust him" a few times before releasing his breath again.

When does a boy become a man? Since that summer with Trowa becoming a part of his life, Quatre was certain that he had become a man. Certainly a boy becomes a man, not in any one step, but in many, many steps. Like the first time Quatre took satisfaction in the work of his hands, becoming part of the band, culminating with winning the battle of the bands. Or relinquishing the guilt he felt over his father's death and coming to terms with his new position in the family. Or the first time he felt real, adult, male passion. He no longer envied Heero and Duo for their love or Wufei for his strength. He had everything he wanted and needed. He and Trowa hugged and kissed in silence, staring into each other's eyes, and the rest of the world ceased to matter.

Wufei considered starting an argument, but decided he could achieve the same end with less subterfuge; at least, he could try. He had bested Treize Khushrenada, won the band contest; he could lower his guard around Sally, surely. He could balance sensitivity and affection with politeness and arrogance, and he would prove it to her!

"Sally, I could use a little work out. Would you care to join me?"

Stilted with formality, yes, but his words did the trick. Although Sally wasn't dressed for sparring it wouldn't matter, because that wasn't the real objective, and if she understood that then all would be fine.

"I'd love to, Wufei. Good night everyone, in case I don't see you until the morning," she said brightly, leaving arm in arm.

He smiled feeling very grown up and manly, and she returned it, silently communicating her intention to see only Wufei for the rest of that night.

Heero did not want to sit around listening, while Relena, Lucrezia, and Zechs reiterated the events of the entire contest. He had heard enough. Duo was stretched cat-like along the back of the couch, braid dangling to the floor. Finally, when he could no longer endure the waiting, Heero grabbed Duo's wrist and tugged him to his feet.

"Heero? You can't just leave! We're not done!" Relena called after them.

Together, Heero and Duo ascended the old Jacobean staircase, stopping at the bend in the stairs to share a passionate kiss, growing more and more urgent.

"Heero?" Relena called out.

Heero felt Duo's body through the thin, silk shirt, longing for his touch, their jeans scarcely concealing their excitement. He could just barely make out Zechs words suggesting that the rest of them watch a movie in the screening room, and someone else telling him it had better not be the "The Song of the Whales" again. When Heero pushed Duo past his door, he waited a moment, letting Duo take in the surprise. The bed and the floor had been strewn with flowers.

Duo turned to Heero with a wild joy in his face. "I thought you'd been gone to the bathroom a little too long." Duo pulled his lover to him fiercely, wrapping his arms around his neck, kissing his hair, his forehead, and his lips, anywhere he could reach.

Duo leaned away, smiled, and took Heero's hand. "Do you have secret dreams about us?"

Heero glanced at him, and then away, gripping Duo's hand a little more tightly. "Sure."

"Like what?" Duo asked.

He glanced at Duo again, and bit his lip. "You'll think I've really gone overboard... over you... over us," he said, quietly.

Duo threw his arm over his boyfriend's shoulder, and pulled him into a sideways hug for reassurance. "We've been overboard on each other for awhile now. Tell me... what secret dreams?"

Heero shrugged under Duo's protective arm and looked away. "I think I'd like to be an architect. Well, I dream up houses in my mind," he said. "And we live in them together; you and me."

"That's cool," Duo said.

"We live in them, together," he said, glancing at Duo, "even after college."

"Still cool, Heero," Duo said. "'We've promised to work for Une, but that's not going to mess that up, not forever."

Heero cast his eyes down to the ground. "In my secret dream," he said quietly, "we live in those houses together... all our lives."

"Oh," Duo whispered, getting the point. He nodded thoughtfully, and pulled his shoulder tightly against Heero's. "Truth is, 'Ro, in my Revenge OZ dream, it's always you who is there back-to-back fighting with me. And in my rock star dream, it's you and me together... our band... getting rich and famous together. I dream about us staying together, too."

Duo turned Heero to face him in the darkness broken only by a sliver of light coming from the rising moon and then filtered by the curtains. "Stay overboard over me, Heero," Duo said, pulling him close. "Because I'm staying overboard over you."

The corners of Heero's mouth curled up, and so Duo kissed his lips. And then he kissed them again, and Heero's hands went up his back and into the back of Duo's hair. Their breathing grew ragged.

"Let's get on the bed, 'Ro," Duo said, brushing noses together.

He nodded, but when Duo turned to go first, he grabbed a handful of Duo's ass. "Damn, you look hot in clothes," he said.

"Yep... you're pretty damned sexy in clothes, too," Duo whispered into another embrace ending with a kiss. "I love you, 'Ro," he whispered, brushing his stubbly cheek against Heero's smooth one.

Heero kissed Duo softly and eased him onto the bed. When Duo scooted onto his back, Heero hovered over him. "I love you, Duo," he whispered. He unbuttoned the top button of Duo's shirt. "And... you're damned sexy in clothes."

YOU LOVE ME! Duo shouted in his head. He chuckled, intensely happy. "You already said that and now you're taking them off."

Heero lowered his mouth to the hollow of Duo's throat and kissed there while he worked on the shirt buttons. Duo squeezed Heero's shoulders as he opened the shirt, spreading it wide. Heero paused, looking Duo over, lowered his mouth to a nipple and sucked. A hand dropped between Duo's legs, and Duo parted his legs more.

Duo raked his fingers through Heero's wild locks, and Heero sucked until Duo clutched handfuls of his hair and started to moan. Heero kissed and licked down Duo's belly, fondling him lightly between his legs with his hand.

Heero stopped, rocked back, and took off his shirt. Duo's watched the supple movement of his torso through his eyelashes. "So much for the clothes," he muttered and added, "God, you are damn gorgeous."

Duo's eyes were riveted to Heero's exposed torso, watching him breathe. Both boys had grown lean and hard over the summer, but Heero was twenty pounds of pure muscle heavier than Duo. Heero knew he looked good to him. He let his belly heave with each breath and tightened the muscles of his arms and chest. He wanted to look very good to him.

Duo looked him up and down slowly, his jaw working. Their eyes met and he swallowed hard. Heero lay back down on Duo, and kissed his mouth hungrily. "Duo," he whispered.

"Yeah?"

"When we go ... fight ... you belong to me, okay? Just remember that you belong to me."

Duo smiled. "I already belong to you. You know that, right?" he whispered, running his fingers into Heero's bangs and brushing them out of his face so that he could tongue his ear as he rubbed his cloth-covered package over Heero's.

"And I belong to you?" he whispered, sucking Duo's neck.

"You belong to me, 'Ro. No matter what; you belong to me."

"And even if we do girls or other guys, we're sticking together."

"Heero," Duo said, Holding Heero's head firmly and tonguing in his ear again. "We're together now. No matter what."

"No matter what," he echoed.

Planting his knees between Duo's on the bed, Heero sat back, bending over Duo's middle, and unfastened his jeans. Duo lifted his hips for him to pull them down and off his feet. Heero backed away from the bed. He stood beyond the foot of the bed; appraising Duo's naked body.

"Oh, God, Duo..." he said, unfastening his pants. "Oh, fuck!"

Heero tossed his shorts aside, and then stepped into moonlight now shining directly through the window curtains. He stood at the end of the bed, hands down his sides. His almond-shaped, dark eyes moved slowly up Duo's body. His cock grew very hard with desire.

In an instant, Heero was atop Duo again. Their legs interlaced and their heated kisses lasted longer and longer. Their passion kept building and building. Their skin grew hot, hotter with rubbing, and their bodies grew hard; every muscle a rock glistening with sweat. Nostrils flared and their breathing grew desperate. The boys' mouths pressed hard together with tongues demanding. Duo rolled Heero to his back and moved up over him, the way he liked. He held his head in both hands and probed forcefully into his mouth with his tongue while Heero's hands clutched and pulled at Duo's back and ground his cock into Duo's.

Love may grow deeper with time, but Heero had never felt it more than at eighteen when his heart was full. And he never felt it more than that night naked and all tangled up in the breeze and moonlight with Duo, sharing their young bodies, their hearts, and their delight together.

He wrapped his arm behind Duo's back and turned his face to brush his cheek against his. He thought again about their future, their so unknown future. He wanted to pursue his dreams, but he'd give anything to just stay with Duo.

He squeezed Duo a little tighter and stroked his cheek gently as he kept one end of his thoughts in the warm, real present of Duo's body against his, and stretched out with his mind and dreamed about their future.

When does a boy become a man? Heero felt certain he had changed that summer since meeting Duo. Not only had Heero felt real lust, but for the first time he delighted in doing things for someone he loved, someone who he would trade the rest of his world to be with, someone he would give his life for. Perhaps when he made love, it was not simply to have sex, but for the intimate experience of surrender, union, and love; perhaps at that moment Heero became a man. Those things all happened to him that summer. And in that one night, the night of their winning the contest, Heero experienced two new emotions, very adult emotions: surpassingly deep contentment, and, later, holding Duo as he slept, that moment of transcendent joy. And that night he also had what were probably his first deeper thoughts.

With Duo's naked body lying so intimately against his, Heero held him and found himself thinking about their future. He wondered how hard life might be for them. He realized that there was so much more... so much more ahead for them two of them, so much more beyond our own lives.

For reasons Heero couldn't explain, he felt vaguely sad. He tried to recapture that so-brief moment when he had felt such joy just a short time before. But the joy was gone. He didn't want to be sad. Wrapping both arms around Duo, he turned his head so that his cheek gently touched Duo's again and took a deep breath, filling his nostrils with Duo's scent. He held him, and let his love for Duo flood his senses and fill his heart. For now, Heero decided, this was enough.

Author's note: Thank you for reading Band of Steel.
--KS

Chapter 3 note: "Gai" is Chinese for "whore"
Chapter 11 note: "GrubeHollenfeuer" = Hellfire pit

Song credits:

Chapter 1 -- Dandy Warhols: "The Last High."
Chapter 2 -- Shaggy: "Mr. Boombastic"
Chapter 3 -- Guess Who: "She's Come Undone"
Chapter 4 -- Rooney: "I'm Shakin' "
Chapter 5 -- Lola Ray: "Beautiful Boy"
Chapter 6 -- Dandy Warhols: "Bohemian Like You"
Chapter 7 -- Lyrics by Andy Razaf, Music by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks: "Ain't Misbehavin'"
Chapter 8 -- Weezer: "Island In The Sun"
Chapter 9 -- George Gershwin: "I've Got A Crush On You"
Chapter 10 -- The Magnetic Fields: "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend"
Chapter 11 -- William Robinson; vocals: Lennon, Harrison: "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
Chapter 12 -- Skye Sweetnam: "Tangled Up In Me"
Chapter 13 -- Cascade: "Sexy Sexy"
Chapter 14 -- Alanis Morissette: "Head over Feet"
Chapter 15 -- Rolling Stones: "Satisfaction (I Can't Get No)"
Chapter 16 -- Savage Garden: "To The Moon And Back"
Chapter 17 -- Queen: "These Are The Days Of Our Lives"
Chapter 18 -- Maxwell/Winner: "What I know about Love"