Duo kept his eyes on the floor, concentrating on putting one shaky leg in front of another until they reached the sanctuary of Purgatory. He wasn't sure what to say to either of his companions about...whatever had happened back in the emergency room. It had been weird enough to wake up to the strong emotions coming from the ring he was now wearing; not to mention feeling like the Libra had landed on his chest. But it was definitely weirder to have taken a shower with Zechs' help. His thoughts shied away from that even as the slow burn of a blush spread across his face. I mean... it's not like I haven't seen him...naked and...even having sex before ... but... damn....
"Duo...?" Dorothy's hesitant voice broke into his thoughts and pulled him back to reality, as his partners lowered him onto the couch. "Are you okay?"
"I...uh... think so." He ducked his head again, suddenly feeling incredibly shy and more than a little foolish. Oh get a grip... you've been sleeping in the same bed with both of them for two months...
"So..." Zechs settled down on the couch next to him, and after a moment, Dorothy sank down on the other side. "We should... probably talk... and then try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is likely to be...well... ugly."
"No shit..." Duo groaned. Talk. Yeah. That would... probably be good... Of course, it would help if I had any idea what to start with besides 'Hey, so were you guys serious when you kinda told me that you both loved me? Or were you just trying to save my sanity?' Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the wall. And do I want them to have meant it...? Okay... yeah. Stupid question. Face it... somewhere along the way, you fell for both of them too.... But why the hell would they want you? A street rat? Besides...what about Treize...?
"Yeah." Dorothy sighed, leaning back. "Go ahead, Zechs."
"I...oh Hell..." The taller man shook his head in frustration.
Before Duo had any idea what was happening, he found himself being thoroughly kissed. Hard. His eyes flew open, even as Zechs' fingers tangled in the damp hair that neither of them had bothered to put back in it's proper braid. What the fuck...? Okay... I guess Zechs meant it... At that point, he stopped caring about making sense of the situation and simply gave into it. Just when he thought his brain would overload for the second time that evening, Zechs let go of him to lean across and kiss Dorothy equally thoroughly. Duo couldn't help smiling at the startled look on her face, though she seemed to get over her surprise a little sooner than he had.
Zechs finally sat back and just watched them silently for a moment, the fingers of one hand tangled in Duo's hair, and the other hand gripping Dorothy's fingers as if he expected her to flee.
"Okay..." Duo finally managed, amazed that he could speak at all. "I guess that works too... though I was kind of expecting words when you said we needed to talk...."
"I just... I nearly lost you today... and I finally understood what Treize has been trying to beat into my head since we went to Jamaica," Zechs sighed, sounding a little uncertain. "I lost one person I loved out of stubbornness... I refuse to do it again. You two... are far too important for me to keep fighting this." Zechs shrugged a little. "But I don't want to lose your friendship either... so..."
Duo glanced at Dorothy out of the corner of his eye, trying to judge her reaction. He was still floundering with the idea of one of his partners wanting him, as more than just a partner or a friend. From the look on her face, the idea was just as new to her.
"I... figured you guys would eventually come to your senses and get together..." She finally muttered. "But... are you sure? I... didn't think you went for...girls."
"I didn't go for Noin," Zechs sighed. "She was like a sister to me, not a lover. And Leia... I was too jealous of Leia to get past that...." He laughed a little. "Besides...you aren't just a girl... you're part of Purgatory... and one of my best friends, both now and in the past."
"I..." She looked oddly close to tears again. "Dammit, Zechs..."
"What?" He let go of her hand, lifting his fingers to brush gold hair out of her eyes. "Treize was wrong? You don't love us?"
"Of course I love you guys...." She scowled at him in mock anger. "How could I not? This is just... a little much to process, y'know?"
"I know." He sighed and tugged lightly on Duo's hair. "What about you? Or have we scared you off yet?"
"Scared me off...?" Duo blinked. "No. Blown my mind out of the water, yes. I... Doro's right. This is a little much to process, when my brain already feels like Swiss cheese." He shrugged, and then moved to lean against Zechs wearily. "But if you guys are serious... I
uh... I mean..." To his mortification, he blushed again. "Shit. I'm not very experienced with this...love shit. I'll be honest there. And I... never... I mean... You guys are so.... Oh... hell. Yes?"
"Yeah," Zechs laughed again, softly. "It's okay, Duo. This... is going to be new for all of us. But when you think about it... nothing's really changing. Is it?"
"Yes... I mean... no." Duo shook his head. "I can't think. All I know is that there's no one else... I want to be with... than you two. Both of you."
"Good." Zechs leaned down to kiss him again, gently. "And on that note... much as I would like to keep working this out... You're about to fall asleep on us, and what fun would that be? Come on."
"You sure you guys want to sleep with me tonight?" Duo blinked as he was lifted off the couch. ,i>When the hell did he stand up...? "It's pretty much guaranteed that I won't sleep peacefully."
"And that would be unusual, why?" Dorothy followed them up, but hesitated at the door to the inner room. "Wait... I'll... I've got to...."
"Dorothy...?"
"You guys got to shower already," She grinned at them, the humor returning for the first time in hours. "Together I might add. I still feel slimy from that alley, though Duo's not reacting to my touch so I doubt I got much of it on me. I'll be there in a bit, okay?"
"Don't be long..." Zechs murmured.
"With two gorgeous guys waiting for me to come to bed with them? You must be kidding, right?"
Treize glanced around the open courtyard, and ruefully concluded that dawn had not improved the nightmarish scene any. The forensic teams sent by the Preventers were still hard at work sorting through the trash and debris, a task that they had spent the entire night doing; he couldn't see that it was going to be finished any time soon, either. The area beyond the fence had been used as a dumping ground for garbage for years, and it was going to take weeks to search through the mess of half opened trashbags and rotting filth. Needle in a haystack... without Duo, they aren't even going to know what is related to these murders and what isn't. I know from talking to the victims all night that a large number of the murder weapons were simply tossed over the fence. God only knows how many of them went into the harbor....
Turning away from the harbor, and the cluster of victims still milling around the fence, he looked around for Solo. The younger ghost was sitting to one side, perched on the twisted remains of a fire escape with his head buried in his arms. Last night was hell... for me. It must have been a whole lot harder for him, not being able to go with Duo. But damn I'm glad he stayed. He'd seen the conflict in the younger man's eyes as Duo was carried out of the alley, and knew that only the presence of Sister Helen at the stretcher's side had kept Solo in the alley last night. Torn between his friend and the newfound sense of duty that helping the living members of Purgatory had given him... it had been a hard choice to make. In the end, Treize suspected that it was only the knowledge that they needed to help the murder victims, and that he had the most experience with that, that had made the decision for him.
Moving over to Solo's side, Treize sat down next to the younger ghost, and rested one hand on the bent head. Solo flinched; shivering a little as Treize drew him close.
'I'm... 'kay....' The words were muffled.
'Bullshit.' Treize smiled sadly. 'I'm not okay... and I started a war. I've watched more people die than I care to remember... and this was...is....'
Solo shuddered again, instinctively leaning into the arm Treize wrapped around thin shoulders. God... he's just a kid.... I don't know how old he was when he died... but he was definitely too young by far to have to deal with this....
''m not that young.' Solo muttered, and Treize realized that the younger ghost had heard his musings. 'N'one who grew up on L2 is that young.'
'Oh? And how old were you when you died?' Treize turned the topic of the conversation onto something other than the scene around them gratefully.
'Dunno...' Solo raised his head, and stared up at Treize uncertainly. '... Didn't really keep track much... but older'n you think.'
'Right.' Treize shook his head.
'I don't lie, any mor'n Duo does.' Solo looked almost indignant. 'And I'd been in that gang for almost eleven years when we found Duo.'
'That doesn't tell me much.'
Solo snorted. 'Fine. I was prob'ly about the age Duo's now when I died. Brain found me hid'n in the back room of a store after a riot. Guessed that it'd been my parents that owned it...but who knows. Anyway... he guess'd I was maybe two or three at the time.' The ghost frowned pensively. 'Brain led the gang f'r a long time. He's smart, y'know? And he w's way older'n any of us. He died the year we found Duo. I doubt the kid remembers him much though, he was about the same age that I was when he was picked up.'
'How long was he... did you lead the gang?'
'Five years. Sister Helen said they guessed at Duo's age when he was taken to the 'phanage was maybe eight.'
Treize couldn't help eyeing his companion skeptically. 'You don't look seventeen, much less eighteen....'
Solo saw the look and smirked. 'How old'ya think I was?'
'Fourteen. Maybe.'
Solo rolled his eyes. 'Yeah...a life of bad food will do that. You go from looking young... to being dead real fast. I was practically ancient on the streets when I died. Prob'ly why I caught the plague in the f'rst place. The old'r ones... we gave the food to the little'ns most of the time.'
'I'm sorry.'
'S'not much to do bout it now. But thanks.' Solo glanced up, then looked away sheepishly. 'You're not so bad for a 'dult. Thought ya'd be a jerk or somethin...'
With a last sigh, Solo jumped off the chunk of twisted metal he'd been sitting on. 'Let's get this done... I want'a check on the kid soon. I know the nun s'd he was okay, but...'
'Alright.' Treize stood up to follow Solo to the fence. 'And you are still just a kid yourself.'
'Whatever...' The word drifted back to him over the other ghost's shoulder, but for some reason Treize thought he sounded almost amused rather than upset. 'I still know more about bein' dead than you....'
Trowa scowled down at the chart of the L2 colonies. With the exception of the half-built L6 colony, it was the smallest colony cluster; it was comprised of four of the oldest and poorest colonies. From the looks of them, routine maintenance of the control rooms had stopped long before the war, and maintenance of the hulls had occurred only when a breach was either eminent... or had already occurred. The image of L2- V08895 on the view screen behind them showed a scarred, patched surface. Sighing, he glanced at the group of Preventers gathered around the table.
"We'll be breaking up into four teams, one for each colony. Each team will make their way to the control rooms of their assigned colony and replace the environmental controls." He paused, pulling a schematic of the control rooms for the L2 colonies out of the stack of charts and spreading it on the table. "It is unknown how much damage the colonies sustained during the war. We'll be working in full environmental suits."
"Damn..." He heard someone mutter, the soft curse bitten off sharply as the speaker was elbowed sharply by a companion.
"Are there any questions?"
"Are we getting hazard pay for this?" Someone else muttered.
"Yes."
"How about overtime for doing this shit on Christmas Eve?"
Trowa swallowed a sigh and just stared at the man silently. There was a moment of tense silence as the Preventer suddenly remembered just who Trowa was; with a low mutter, the man sank back into the crowd and tried to look unobtrusive.
"Then let's roll." A tall man wearing Sergeant's stripes met Trowa's eyes, drawing attention away from his brasher teammate.
Trowa nodded sharply at the last speaker. "Here are your assignments. Lieutenant Crowley will be issuing you the maps for your colony and the replacement parts. We're still six hours out from the nearest colony, so I would advise using some of that time to go over the repairs that will be needed. Once each team is on site and heading into the core, I expect regular updates. If you can't reach me...you will be reporting directly to Captain Yuy. He is in charge of this mission, as well as overseeing the L1 teams."
"Yes sir."
Everyone in the room took a last look at the battered colony shown on the view screen.
"Be careful." Trowa sighed, and nodded to dismiss the men. "I expect all of you to come back in one piece." God I miss you Duo... You said that before every mission after Yuy self-detonated. Thoughts of Duo hurt. He hadn't been able to reach him for several weeks. All calls got routed through to his voicemail at Preventers HQ, and Duo had apparently been out in the field almost continuously, as he hadn't returned any of the messages Trowa had left. The one email he'd received had been brief, cryptic and completely lacking in any personal details. It had also been sent from Preventers HQ. What is he doing, living there?
"Hey, Frost... looks like you don't need to worry about working on Christmas Eve..." One of the men jostled his companion as they headed out the door. "We aren't even gonna reach our colony 'til Christmas Day..."
"Asshole..."
When they were gone, Trowa stood staring at the colony on the viewscreen. "Merry Christmas, Duo...."
Lowell glanced up at the hesitant knock on the door, a little surprised to see Duo watching him uncertainly.
"Hey." He nodded at his office mate's empty chair. "Sit down. I didn't figure you'd be up and around today. Zechs said you were still out when we met earlier to go over the case."
"Yeah," Duo shrugged. "Rough night." Flushing a little, he moved over to sit gingerly in the chair. Lowell had a brief moment of thinking he looked like a wolf about to bolt away from a trap. "Anyway...I... just wanted to say thanks. Again. I... last night didn't exactly turn out the way I had figured...."
"No shit." Lowell sat back, staring at the younger man thoughtfully. "But you look better than I expected."
"Thanks. I think..." Duo shrugged. "I just got out of Sally's clutches, though, so I must be doing better."
"Yeah. I was pretty surprised she let you go last night... after...well... everything that happened."
Duo just nodded. "She's making up for it now. I'm grounded for at least two days, and then I'm going to be stuck working with forensics under her direct supervision for a while. I think she's trying to figure out how this... uh... works and all. Maybe deciding whether to believe us, or to lock us up in a room with really soft walls."
"Lovely," Lowell shook his head. "Grounded, huh?"
"Yeah. Mama Po strikes again. I'm confined to desk work only until she is convinced I won't pass out. What about you?"
"I'm... getting shipped out to L6 in a day or two... working Security for Relena Peacecraft at the inauguration of the new colony." He shrugged. "Merquise apparently threw a fit about them taking Dorothy at the moment."
"Yeah." There was an odd look on Duo's face for a moment. "We're stretched kind of thin in Purgatory, as you might have noticed. And with me restricted from field duty...."
"I can see that." Lowell frowned at him, thinking over what he wanted to say. "You know... if you guys ever want backup again...." The minute the words were out of his mouth, he felt like an idiot. "I know I'm only a mere head-blind mortal... but...."
Duo looked almost stunned. "You... serious?" The younger man sat back in the chair and just stared at him. "You...actually... want to work with us again?"
"Sure," Lowell shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Why is that so surprising?"
"We're a bunch of freaks." Duo's voice was flat, and just a little bitter. "No one sane wants to work with us."
"Sanity is highly overrated. I thought it was... interesting." Shrugging a little, Lowell grinned. "And when I wasn't freezing my ass off or getting it kicked by a bunch of psychos... it was a refreshing change of pace."
"You didn't get your ass kicked." Duo grinned back, a little lopsidedly. "You were doing all right, from what I remember. And we were both still standing at the end... well... you were anyway."
"Yeah. That bit was a little freaky." Sobering a little, he watched the younger man for a moment. "I don't think you guys are freaks. My grandmother... had the Sight. So while I can't say I understand what it's like for you, I am hardly going to get all upset about it. I do have a lot of questions though...."
"I'm sure you do..." Duo sighed. "I...don't know that we can give you all the answers you want... we're still making this up as we go too. But it's nice that you aren't gonna hold it against us."
"If it works to get the job done and keep us from getting killed... I have no problem with how you do things."
"Good to know." Duo shrugged. "Guess I'd better get back. Zechs was heading back to the site to check in with... well... our other partners and talk to the witnesses. You going to be around when he starts interrogating the bad guys? It should be amusing. Normally, once he starts mentioning stuff we shouldn't possibly know, they fall apart and start confessing."
"I don't think I want to miss that." Lowell shook his head. "Though I'm not sure I really want to know what motivated them to do something this sick...."
"Yeah." Duo's face scrunched up in distaste. "No shit. See you later then." Standing up, he turned towards the door just in time to see Quatre Winner appear in the doorway. "Heya, Quat. When did you get back?"
"Hi Duo. And last night." Quatre smiled warmly at Duo, then glanced at Lowell. His smile became a little more strained. "Lowell. Good... I was about to ask Lady Une where I could find you. You've been assigned to Relena Peacecraft's security detail again. We have a briefing in two hours."
"I know," Lowell sighed. "I'll be there...."
Winner just nodded. "Fine. Merry Christmas, Duo. Got to run, we have to finish finalizing the setup before the briefing."
"That's cool... it was good seeing you again."
"Yeah," Quatre beamed at him, then vanished back out into the hall. "Take care..."
"Is he always that unobservant?" Lowell asked softly, as Duo sighed. "I'm starting to worry about having him as the head of the security on this detail."
"What?"
"I said you looked better than I expected... not that you looked good, Duo. Or is this look so natural for you that your friends think it's normal?"
"Quat's just got a lot on his mind. Don't let him fool you. He's a brilliant strategist."
"I'll keep that in mind." Lowell shook his head. But that doesn't mean I want to work under Winner. I think I'm much happier with you guys... in Purgatory.
A/N: Yes, this chapter is named after the Iron Butterfly song. (Yes, I am aware how much that dates me.) It just seemed to fit.
Words and Music By Doug Ingle
© 1968 (unp) Cotillion Music, Inc., Ten East Music & Itasca Music
© 1969 Cotillion Music, Inc., Ten East Music & Itasca Music
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, honey,
don't you know that I love you?
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, baby,
don't you know that I'll always be true?
Oh, won't you come with me
and take my hand?
Oh, won't you come with me
and walk this land?
Please take my hand!