Disclaimer: The characters belong to Sotsu, Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment, I neither claim them nor certainly make any money off them!
Pairing: 6x2
Rating: Lemony in places
Time Setting: Post-series, three years later (minus events in Ground Zero, Blind Target, Endless Waltz as when I started this, I hadn't seen or read about these yet)
Summary: A chance meeting leads to the recovery of a wounded heart.
In his new mansion on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Quatre Raberba Winner paced a couple times across the floor of the living room then stopped in front of both of his visitors watching him avidly from opposite ends of the couch. "Wow, guys, I'm really flattered... um, both of you want to be, er, my boyfriend!" He laughed a bit nervously, giddy.
Heero Yuy glanced over at Trowa Barton, who looked back coolly. Although he found the little blond appealing, Heero had to admit Trowa was easy on the eyes as well. But it had been a bit of a jolt to learn that his best friend was interested in the same guy he was.
Trowa tore his eyes away and looked up at Quatre again. "So if I'm reading you correctly, this is something of a surprise."
"Well, *yeah*!" Quatre ran his hand through his hair. "I mean, I'm really not... I had no idea either of you... er..."
Heero leaned forward; he'd suspected this about Quatre, but had hoped it wasn't true. "Let me guess - you're really not interested in being with a guy."
Quatre looked sheepish. "Yeah... sorry, but that's exactly it. I love having you guys for friends, and I have no objections to guys wanting to be together, but it's just not for me, really. Besides, I'm the only male Winner - my sisters would kill me if I don't marry a girl and have children. I'm actually looking forward to it, but I'm really too young, anyway."
Trowa sighed and looked over at Heero again. "Well, we tried. Want to go get a drink?"
"Yeah, I could use one," Heero muttered. "Quatre - you better find a good woman, that's all I gotta say." He and Trowa got up from the couch.
"I will, thanks," Quatre replied, sighing. "Still friends, I hope?"
"Sure, of course," Trowa smiled, and clapped Quatre on the back. "Want to come with us?"
Just then Quatre had caught Heero looking strangely at Trowa. [Aha, I knew it! Silly boys, they'd really rather be together. I know they're best friends. They just need a little encouragement...] He smiled at both of them. "No, please, you two go ahead."
Ten minutes later, Heero and Trowa were perched opposite one another across a tiny high table, sitting on stools in a local bar, untouched beers sitting in front of each. "I think Quatre might know something we don't," Heero ventured to say finally, studying the face of his friend, half veiled by the russet hair. [Although I've been wondering... ever since Duo made that crack about a threesome I've been thinking about Trowa more and more...]
"Yeah?" Trowa asked mildly, looking into the amber depths of his glass.
[He's so beautiful,] Heero thought, admiring the elfin features and the deep green eyes. [Why didn't I see it before? Oh, well, he's my best friend - I don't think that's going to change if I tell him. I hope...]
"Trowa, I..." Just then his pager went off. "Trowa..."
Trowa's mouth curved in a small smile. "You'd better see what that is. You've got a pretty important job, you know."
Heero glared at him, then took the pager out. There was a code number on the display. He raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, I didn't expect this already. There's a loose end from my last case, apparently. Damn... well, it looks like I'll be heading back to space." He glanced over to see his friend's eyes hard on him, intent. "Why don't you come along with me, Tro? It will be good for you to get back to a little field work."
"I'd like that," Trowa replied mildly, still smiling.
The dark-haired young man looked his best friend over again, thinking about what he'd wanted to tell him, but realized this tavern wasn't the place. [Perhaps on our shuttle...] "Let's get going, then." He took a long swig of the beer and stood.
"Where are we going?" Trowa, too, took a deep drink, then followed his friend out.
"Colony C-125 for starts, and by then we'll know where next."
As they rode in a rented car to the Cairo spaceport, Heero filled Trowa in on what the pager had revealed. He'd had it set back on C-125 to go off whenever certain transactions in the accounting system occurred, in this case, the transfer of a large amount of funds. Only Zechs knew the code to block the alert in case he'd needed to move a lot of the new Peacecraft Foundation's funds himself.
Someone else, therefore, was still up to no good. Heero had his suspicions.
Duo had died and gone to heaven. At least that is what it felt like to have his body consumed by loving attentions administered by the hands and mouth of Zechs Merquise. He felt worshipped, treasured, savored, every inch of his skin tingling! And though he was still frustrated that Zechs wasn't ready to fuck him yet, he really couldn't mind too terribly, considering everything else his gorgeous, attentive blond lover was doing to his body.
[It...it's like he can't get enough of me,] Duo managed to think. Between his legs, Zechs was gently suckling on his balls, a hand stroking his side at the same time. "Oh, that's... God! You... you're so good at that..." Duo gasped, fists clinging to handfuls of silken platinum hair. There was no answer; Zechs hadn't said anything in a long while, a fact that was still catching up to the younger man.
Then Zechs was surging back up his body again, taking Duo's mouth deeply in a kiss, a hand folding around his hard cock. [SHIT!] Duo thought, thrilling. [He keeps changing what he's doing to me; I feel like I'm on a roller coaster! I never want *this* ride to stop!] When the hand began to pump up and down on his cock, Duo moaned into Zechs's mouth. Unable to help himself, Duo thrust up into Zechs's hand repeatedly, the avid maneuvering of the man's tongue in his mouth bringing him close to the brink yet again, faster than ever before.
Abruptly Duo pulled off his lover's mouth in order to yell as he came powerfully hard, spurting onto his belly as Zechs's skilled fingers brought him through shivering waves of sensation. "Zechs! Oh, God, oh, GOD! Ahhhhh!" he gasped. As he caught his breath, he also caught the barest glimpse of a smile to Zechs's lips as the man went back down on him to clean him off.
Although Duo hadn't been allowed much opportunity to reciprocate, he planned to remedy that situation as soon as he got his breath back and his heart calmed to where it didn't feel like it would burst out of his body from pounding so hard...
It was after still another shattering orgasm that Duo finally thought to wonder exactly how *Zechs* was doing. Again he was cradled lovingly in strong arms close against the broad chest, but something about this time was different. Zechs was... still, unmoving, arms tightened about him but otherwise he was still, too still.
Duo needed to see the man's eyes suddenly, but his limbs didn't want to obey him, preferring to remain nestled in his tall lover's arms. "Zechs...?" he whispered tentatively after a long pause in which he listened to the strong, steady pulse of his lover's heart, wondering at the silence.
There was another long pause and Duo was just on the verge of getting truly worried when Zechs spoke finally with a tender kiss to his ear. "Are you all right, angel? I didn't hurt you, did I?" This last was barely audible.
"Never, Heart," Duo countered firmly. He decided against pushing out of the embrace, not wanting to communicate rejection of any kind. "I need to see you..." he added, reaching a hand up to touch his face.
When the arms loosened, Duo levered up on Zechs's torso and tilted his head back to look at him. The azure eyes were hidden by platinum tendrils, the pale lashes lowered. Wondering, Duo brushed the satiny hair away from the man's eyes. "Zechs, is something wrong?"
[I should be feeling more,] Zechs was thinking, fearful of revealing his inner chaos. [He's so beautiful and eager - shouldn't I be feeling love for him? I want to... but my heart is cold and numb. Something is terribly wrong with me... and I can't pretend to love him like this, not until I heal. I've got a long way to go before I heal enough to feel what I want to for him. He deserves the feelings I just don't have yet. What am I going to do? I feel so empty...]
To Duo's growing alarm, Zechs would not look him in the eyes. [Uh-oh, he's having second thoughts. About me? Couldn't be... and I couldn't have been that bad... perhaps he's still thinking he's going to hurt me? Damn... what am I going to do with him?] "Was I that bad?" Duo asked, cocking his head at him and giving him what he hoped was a teasing smirk.
"No, of course not," Zechs breathed quickly and firmly, frowning, his eyes still averted. "It's me." Abruptly he pulled out of their embrace, shifting to the side of the bed where he threw his legs over the edge and sat up, his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Duo. I thought that if I just made love to you, I would feel... more. I don't know why, but... I feel numb inside. Empty." He picked up his slacks from the floor, put them on woodenly, then sat back down again.
Duo felt his heart skip a beat. [I make him feel... empty? Oh, God... I *am* losing my touch... wait a sec, Maxwell, you know the story better than that...] "You think too damn much," he muttered, then scooted close so that he sat behind him, his legs to either side. Slipping his arms around Zechs's torso, he laid his head on the pillow of white hair, sighing. "Then we'll have to keep making love until you start to feel again," Duo whispered, rubbing his cheek against the satiny hair. "I'm not normally the most patient guy, but some things... and some people... are just so worth waiting for, you know?"
"Duo..." Zechs tried to break in, but the younger man wasn't finished.
"Zechs, you are not going to sit there and tell me not to wait for you, not to persist in loving you, not help you any way I can, so forget that right now!" Duo felt hot tears in his eyes and blinked. "I am very persistent and when I take on a mission, I push until it's completed or I'm dead, whichever comes first."
When Zechs's arms came up at last to clasp his closer, Duo tightened his embrace of the larger man, pressing his face into his back. "I love you, Zechs... Milliardo Peacecraft... my Heart. You are going to get used to being loved if it kills me. I know you love me... we just have to get you feeling again..." Now the hot tears spilled, wetting the pale hair beneath his cheek. "Don't care how long it takes."
The fervor in Duo's voice sent a spasm of anguish through Zechs, his expression twisting. [Don't deserve, shouldn't even try to love...] went the voices in his head. [Shut up and let me feel,] he retorted back.
But they weren't stopping. [You're hurting him already... that didn't take long. You can't love him as he needs to be loved... he's been hurt so much already and he certainly doesn't need more pain, especially from you. Send him away...]
[No!]
[Who are you kidding? Commander Milliardo Peacecraft, leader of the White Fang, destroyer of the Earth...]
[I didn't...]
[You were the cold, heartless Ice King, trying to rid yourself of your gentle nature. What did you do to protect your own sister from the harm you were doing?]
[No... I didn't mean...]
[Relena could have died on Libra. It would have been your fault. You killed Barge...]
[Epyon...]
[Stop leaning on that excuse, you weak and spineless excuse for a man. Do you think your Angel is going to forget what you did? He watched you do it...]
[He forgives me...]
[It's a horror he'll never forget...]
"ZECHS!"
Zechs started in surprise as Duo shook him insistently. Duo was now standing in front of him, hands on his shoulders, the cobalt eyes wide and frightened. "What's going on, Zechs? Talk to me, man!"
The older man stood suddenly, shrugging off Duo's hands. He would not let himself look at his lover's slim beauty. "They won't stop... and this is hurting you..." Zechs's eyes were wild and staring, fixed on horrors only he could see.
"Who won't stop? Forget about me for a minute! This is about you, Zechs," Duo persisted, trying to slip his hands around his lover's waist, but Zechs only backed away, his expression haunted.
"The voices..." Zechs bent over, his hands over his face.
[Shit, this calls for drastic measures if he's hearing voices,] Duo thought, resolute. [I've gotta do this...] "There are no voices!" he snapped, then pulled on Zechs's wrists to reveal his face. "Stop saying that, Heart, there are NO voices!" Hating what he had to do, Duo slapped Zechs hard.
Instantly Zechs jerked away in angry surprise, and Duo had a very bad moment in which he wondered if he hadn't pushed him over the edge. He gulped as a flush of rage passed through the beautiful features and he took a step back.
[You see, he is afraid of you. As he should be.]
[SHUT UP!]
The blue crystalline eyes were hard as ice. "I shouldn't be trying to have a relationship with anyone while I'm like this, don't you see? I'm no use to anyone!"
Duo, gulping, thought Zechs never looked more beautiful... magnificent... imperious... sexy. [Oh, I am in SO much trouble...] "Then if you won't let me help you," he managed to say, "go see a therapist. You have too many people depending on you. You have to get help with this, Zechs!"
Breaking the gaze, Zechs was still trying to grapple with the shift within himself. It stunned him how he could have gone to feeling nothing to feeling intense fury in a handful of seconds. He breathed slowly, deeply, willing himself to calm down. The voice ceased for now, but he could still feel it, sullen and contemptuous.
[He's right... I'm not letting him help and I'm hurting him. What therapist, though, would treat *me*?] Zechs ran his fingers through his hair nervously. [Is this really necessary?] He glanced back at Duo again; the younger man was hugging his arms to himself a bit protectively, his eyes still wide and worried. [Yes. I did that to him...]
"Very well," he muttered, his voice sounding hollow and cold even to himself. "I'll make some calls." He turned away and retrieved the rest of his clothes, dressing quietly.
Duo let him. When Zechs left the room, Duo sank back down onto the bed and pulled the covers around him. He was cold again.
A half-hour later, Zechs returned to his bedroom, chastened and hurting. He noted Duo had burrowed deep into the covers, apparently asleep. Feeling a tight ache in his chest, Zechs knelt down beside the bed and slipped his hand under the covers. He came into contact with a shoulder and rubbed it lightly, tentatively. "Angel..." he whispered huskily.
A noise issued forth, but sounded rather closer to a snore. Zechs gently peeled back the covers to reveal his sleeping love's face. [He is an angel, that much is certain,] Zechs thought, tracing a finger down the curve of the heart-shaped face. [I cannot abuse this gift...]
"Duo-angel," Zechs whispered and bent nearer. When the younger man didn't stir, he leaned in to brush his lips across his. "Angel..." he breathed.
The cobalt eyes flew open. Duo looked into his beloved's sad, ice-blue eyes, wondering. "Z... Zechs?" [Did he just... did he just KISS me?]
The man's mouth tried to work into a smile, but didn't quite succeed. "I have an appointment... and they're able to take me right away," Zechs said quietly.
"Oh, that's good, Heart," Duo murmured, folding his hand over the one still touching his cheek. "I see you're feeling a little better..."
Zechs shrugged, his glance sliding away. "I'm sorry I got angry -it wasn't at you."
"I know," Duo sighed as he levered up on an elbow. "I shouldn't have provoked you, but... I was scared."
The beautiful eyes closed. "I know. So was I. You might want to try another method of getting my attention next time."
"Right. You want me to go with you?" Duo took Zechs's hand in his and kissed the back of it. [If you didn't have to go, I'd pull you right back into bed...]
A small gasp escaped Zechs's lips, then he was gently taking his hand back. "No, I should do this alone. I shouldn't use you for a crutch."
[I'm not a crutch,] Duo wailed in the silence of his mind, [I'm your lover and emotional support!] "Okay... good luck."
Zechs looked up and into the deep blue eyes again, feeling the ice around his heart melt a little. "Thank you," he replied soberly. "I've left the information by my computer. I should be home before suppertime."
Duo grinned and lay back again, folding his arms above his head in a provocative pose, covers pushed down to his waist. "I'll be here... waiting..." [And can I be dinner again?]
The blond glanced over the finely muscled, bare torso of his lover, noting the dark pink, still swollen nipples from his earlier attentions, the sparse nest of silky dark hair of his lover's underarms, the creamy white skin, the chestnut braid spilled invitingly over one shoulder. A small sigh escaped him, then Zechs leaned far over him and captured Duo's mouth for one quick, but deep kiss. When he straightened, he looked back down into his eyes again. Once more the heat and electricity raced between them... then the blond lashes lowered as Zechs stood up and turned away, sweeping out of the room, the platinum blond hair swirling behind him like a fine, silken cape.
Duo found his heart pounding and a certain portion of his anatomy waking up. [He kissed me!! Shit, he does that so well - reduce me to a puddle of want with just a glance! Doesn't want a relationship, my ass...]