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.
"I'm going with you," Duo said tightly in the car on the way to Peacegarden. They would have to leave Deener there while Zechs headed for Denis Unter's hiding spot, prompted by Heero's swift call.
"No, you must stay with Deener," Zechs murmured, still clutching the little girl close. Deener had been remarkably quiet, preferring to cling to her Papa Peace in silence. "She shouldn't be left alone. I have to face Unter myself."
"I'm not leaving you, Zechs," Duo whispered. He was driving the rented car that they'd picked up at the spaceport.
"P...Papa Peace?" Deener spoke, her voice muffled against Zechs, who'd been about to fire a hot retort back at Duo.
"Yes, Deener?" Zechs asked, stroking her hair, subsiding.
"I can stay at the Peacegarden," she murmured, pulling away enough to look up at her benefactor. "I'll just make lots of new friends there."
"No, Deener," Zechs tried to say, but she put a finger over his lips.
"You need Papa Duo with you to face the bad man," Deener insisted. "I'll be just fine there!"
Zechs glanced over at Duo, who was trying not to smirk. The girl could be very persistent when pushed, they both knew, and if she continued to press the issue, there would be utterly no changing her mind. "Damn... are you all right, little one? You aren't afraid to be with strangers?"
Deener surprised them both by laughing. "What strangers? They're just like me! I'll be happy as a clam there, just watch!"
"I'm going with you," Duo repeated to Zechs, seeing success in his grasp.
"All right, all right!" Zechs exclaimed in exasperation. "But don't you two think you're going to be able to team up against me all the time. I can be just as stubborn."
"No kidding," Duo chuckled. Deener giggled, then snuggled back into Zechs's arms for the rest of the ride.
[I want to do that...] Duo thought, hoping this last bit of nonsense with Denis Unter would be the end of Zechs's past coming back to haunt him. [We've got a life together to get on with... God, I can't wait...]
At Peacegarden, Gunter Kausch was waiting for them. "Your friend Heero called while you were on your way," he explained. "I'll be happy to take care of little Deanna." He smiled broadly at the little girl at Zechs's side.
Deener was giving the big, gruff-looking old man a measuring stare when two more children abruptly popped out, one from each side of him. "Grampa K! Who's SHE??" a tiny boy with sandy brown hair asked, a toy bear in his arms. The other, an older girl with reddish-brown pigtails, was already reaching for Deener's hand. "Come play with us!"
"Fenny, Shella, you're supposed to be in bed!" Kausch remonstrated the children with a smile.
Deener giggled. "Papa Peace says that! But sometimes he lets us stay up late." She turned to Zechs, looking up at him. "I like them, Papa Peace. I'll be fine! I want to stay here." To reassure him further, she let go of his hand and boldly fit her little one in the big mitt of the old man.
"As you see, she can be difficult to refuse," Zechs murmured, touching the girl's chin fondly. He looked back up to Kausch. "We're going to go get Unter now. And I have no idea what we're facing."
Kausch turned to Shella. "Sweetie, go take Deener inside, won't you? You can play a while longer."
"Yay!" the girl cried, clapping her hands together. "My new friend!"
"*MY* new friend," Fenny insisted, giving her a little push.
"Hey!" Duo abruptly yelled, hands on his hips as he glared down at them.. The two children froze at the sound. "She can be both your friends! Get over it!"
"O-kay," Fenny replied shyly.
Deener gave Duo and Zechs each a last fervent hug. "Get 'em, you guys," she muttered, then dashed off with her new friends.
"Good luck," Kausch said gravely, sharing their hands.
"Thank you, we'll need it," Zechs replied solemnly.
In the car heading for the spaceport, Duo checked over their guns yet another time. "So... we burst in, tell 'em to reach for heaven... then what?" he murmured by way of making conversation. Zechs had clearly fallen into one of his silent reveries again.
"It will all depend on Unter," the blond man replied after a very long pause. Zechs did not seem to be looking at anything, just staring at the road ahead of the car. "And where he has the boy. And how many others there are. We just cannot know what to do until we get there."
[Wonderful, and you're not going to be a brilliant conversationalist for a while, are you?] Duo thought, but did not say aloud. "Zechs, we've got time. We'll make it. Meanwhile, it's going to take us a good two hours to reach the Dark Moon hideout. So... can we talk about something?"
As they'd arrived at the spaceport, he had to wait until they were on board the shuttle before he got his answer. Then, after Duo had to look expectantly at Zechs again, the man responded with a sigh. "Yes, you wanted to talk, Duo. I'm listening."
Duo shifted in his seat so that he could look at Zechs more closely. "I was wondering, Heart..." He rubbed his lover's arm beside him soothingly. "What happened after the war between you and Noin?"
Zechs stiffened minutely. "Why do you ask?"
[I don't know what this is, but I've got to get him past it,] Duo thought worriedly. He threaded his fingers into his lover's. "Because you should talk about it to me, love."
For a bad second Duo was afraid that Zechs was going to pull away and shut down on him again, but then his hand was tightening around Duo's. "No matter how painful, I want you to know everything. I owe you that."
Duo sagged with relief. "It's not about owing, Zechs. It's because I love you and want to help."
The crystalline-blue eyes widened minutely, then Zechs was leaning over to kiss him lightly. "You have no idea how much you help me," he murmured huskily, drawing back.
The sudden kiss both shocked and thrilled Duo. [Shit, when he does things like that out of nowhere, he turns me on so much!] He filled a hand with platinum hair and drew closer. "Can I have another of those, please?"
A small smile graced the older man's lips. "All you want..." He leaned over and took his mouth rather more deeply. Across the aisle, an elderly woman coughed discretely, causing the lovers to part, though each grinned at one another.
"You're really smiling," Duo observed, still petting the silky hair, winking.
"Am I?" Zechs murmured, studying the face of his little gamin treasure. "Maybe I'm happy or something."
"Really?" Duo's face lit up like a firecracker. "Wanna take me back to the lavatory and make me yours?"
Zechs actually chuckled. "You *are* mine, silly." He petted Duo's nose with a few playful taps, then sobered a little. "You said you had plans for while you were staying with me..."
"Which is going to be probably forever, if you can handle that," Duo purred, pressing a long length of the beautiful pale hair against his cheek.
"I may be up to that challenge," Zechs murmured, looking at Duo with love. "And you're diverting me... or do you not want to tell me about your plans?"
Duo's expression turned wicked. "Well, you very deftly diverted me from getting you to talk about Noin, so turnabout's fair play."
"Oh, that..." Zechs sighed and sat back, looking down. "She found me in a hospital after the war, threw herself at me... nearly... and I rejected her yet again. She made all kinds of noise about waiting for me and how what I'd tried to do didn't matter because she was sure I had a good reason..." He closed his eyes. "As I told you earlier, Duo, I'd put her off before, but she'd insisted I had to allow her feelings. I think she had convinced herself that I'd come around in time. But I don't love her like that. I never did. She got very angry with me... and I in my exasperation got angry with her."
Duo shook his head, having read between the lines. "She was angry with herself, I'm thinking, for having held onto something that couldn't be. And you haven't seen her since?"
Zechs shook his head. "No. I don't even know where she is. But maybe that's for the best. Hopefully she's let that go and moved on."
"And have you?" Duo looked up into his lover's face earnestly.
"I've definitely moved on," Zechs murmured. "Thanks to you. Duo... I told you I can be consuming... when I do give my heart."
"Works for me," Duo said in a low voice. [And I'd give you my body right now in a heartbeat,] he added to himself, feeling very warm. "When this is over and we're back in our house... and I have you all to myself... we have unfinished business."
Zechs's pale blue eyes widened. "Yes... we do indeed." Then he smiled. "Are those your plans?"
"Some of them," Duo chuckled. "Nah, I thought I'd go take some classes. Maybe even become a teacher."
The blond man melted visibily. "Oh, Duo, that would be wonderful! I understand fully your need to make your own way, and I never want you to feel that you're sponging off me... but if you do get certified, I really would like to hire you full-time for the Peacecraft Foundation. I'm not just saying this because I care for you, Duo, but I've seen you with the children and you have a natural gift for working with them. The Foundation could really use your talents."
Duo was floored. "Really? And you're not just saying that?"
"Yes, really, and no, of course I'm not just saying that," Zechs replied, genuinely puzzled. "That is, if you want to work for the Foundation."
Happy, Duo just pressed a kiss against his lover's shoulder.