The Storm 2/3
Story II of "Chasing Down the Moon"
Rating: PG
Series: Gundam Wing
Genre: General
Pairings: 1+2+1
Spoilers: ..? Not to my knowledge
Warnings: shounen ai, tiny angst, lil' humor
By Moon Faery

Disclaimer: A statement created solely to save one's ass from becoming lawn for the proverbial legal mower. I do not own Gundam Wing, nor does anyone I know own it. However, this story line and plot are MINE. (Holds fic close to her.) Grrrr....

Author Notes: I have decided! This is going to be a series. I may turn it into an Arc, so don't get mad at me yet. We'll see how you guys respond. If you really like it (and TELL me so), then an entire Arc will be created! (Well, there go all those other fics I was working on... Oh, well. ^-^) So respond! PLEASE?

***

Duo played hopscotch with Heero on their motorcycles as they raced down the interstate under the gathering clouds. His bad mood fell far behind as he threw himself into the moment, concentrating on the wind snapping his braid like a whip and the power thrumming between his legs.[1] Heero dodged past him again, and Duo found himself laughing. The hurt and neglect faded to a dull ache in his chest, still, painful but he could ignore it.

Heero's silvery colored bike slowed down enough to pull beside Duo's crimson one. Heero jerked his head at an upcoming rest stop, and the braided one nodded regretfully. He already missed the carefree moment, knowing subconciously that he was likely to get few like it in the future.

They turned off the main highway onto the shadowed lane. The rest area was deserted when they pulled into the parking lot; it looked like they were the first people to even see it in weeks. Trash dotted the cement, and there was only one lamp still working. It flickered in the final throes of death, barely holding onto the ghost. Even the crickets were silent, apparently having gone into hiding at their approach.

After parking his bike, Duo grabbed a seat on one of the better-concealed picnic tables, eyes hidden as he watched his partner approach in the darkness. A brief flash of sheet lightning illuminated the scene from above, reflecting back the deep blue of Heero's eyes as he slid onto the table beside Duo.

"Why'd we stop?" the chestnut-haired boy asked quietly, toying with the tassle on his braid absently, eyes locked on the suddenly fascinating piece of hair. "Weren't we supposed to meet Quatre?"

He could feel Heero's eyes on him like a lead weight. Finally, the other boy looked away, much to Duo's relief. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"I told you," Duo snapped, raising his head to glare at the offending pilot.

"No you didn't." The simple reply was pacient, showing only hints of Heero's usual uncaring monotone. "You said it's nothing."

"It is." Duo truned his glare to the ground, desperately trying not to cry in front of Heero. The wind began to grow stronger, making the trees whistle sharply.

"Duo, if it's bothering you, it's not nothing." There was a faint rustle of cloth as Heero slid over until his hip was brushing the loose black jeans that the other boy wore, leaning closer to hear his response over the noise of the coming storm.

"You wouldn't understand, Heero." Unconciously, Duo shifted closer to the warmth at his side.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It's just... I..." Duo took a ragged breath, almost chocking around the lump in his throat. The rain began to patter silently down, falling silently down his cheeks and hiding the tears. They glittered in the darkness as they dripped down Duo's chin infat drops. "Did you stop just to nag me?"

Heero blinked. That was not the response he had been expecting. "Duo..."

"Look, Heero," the pale American stood up and glared at his partner, acid lacing his voice. "We're not far enough away from the base we just blew to stop for chit-chat." He spun around on one heel and stalked back to his bike. "You can wait here and risk your skin if you want, but I'm outta here."

He watched as Duo left, eyes dark. Heero suddenly realized that he still had a lot to learn about Duo Maxwell.

***

"Honey, we're home!" Duo dumped his bag beside the door of the apartment, were it immediately began to make a large wet spot on the cheap brown carpet. Behind him entered Heero, thoroughly drenched and seriously reconsidering his newfound liking of wet weather.

"Guys? I'm in the kitchen!" Quatre's voice carried to them. "Are you hungry? I'll make up some plates."

Pilots 01 and 02 both went pale and memories of previous meals made by Quatre flooded back. "NO!" they yelled in unison, dropping everything and dashing for the kitchen. They rounded the corner to slip on time-smoothed linoleum, sending the two of them into one pile of arms, legs and soaking wet clothing. Heero found himself wrapped around a squirming Maxwell. Unaccountably, he blushed faintly, then scolded himself. There was nothing to blush about!

The little blonde pilot peered curiously at them, blowing his white-gold bangs out of his eyes. "Are you sure? The chinese place just delivered it a few minutes ago."

Duo just stared up at Quatre blankly. "You didn't cook?" he finally asked, blinking rapidly.

"At this time of night?" Quatre asked reasonably, turning around to scoop some rice out of a box. "Get up off the floor; I'll make the plates for you before it gets cold."

***

Quatre shooed Heero and Duo off to bed as soon as they had finished eating, then collapsed on the small loveseat in the den tiredly. He stared at the half-empty cartons visible on the counter dully for a second, and decided that clean up could wait until morning. Luckily, there were three small bedrooms in the apartment he'd rented under a false identity, using 'liberated' OZ funds. They'd each have their own room, with space for their clothes and a twin bed, if not much else.

And with the way Heero and Duo were acting, it was probably best that they were seperated. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt such tension in one room, and the glares Duo had kept shooting at Heero hadn't helped an iota. It was almost like a lover's quarrel.

'Aa, sure, Quatre. Heero and Duo lovers...' Some very interesting images flashed through his mind's eye, making him blush. 'Stop that! You need to get some sleep, and that won't help.'

'Even though they would look adorable together.'

"God defend me from friends and loved ones," the small pilot groaned, yawning widely and snuggling into the worn couch cushions. Quatre let his eyes slide shut 'for just a minute or two...'

***

Duo tossed and turned on the small twin bed, kicking off the stiffling comfortor that was at least three sizes too large. He switched positions again, punching his starched white pillow in annoyance before flipping over onto his side. Something was subtly wrong with the room, and it was driving him slowly insane.

The silence was so thick it seemed like a blanket suffocating him. Something was missing...

Breathing, that's what it was. They had been enrolled in the last school they'd infiltrated for a little over three months, and he'd gotten used to hearing Heero's little noises as he fell asleep, including his breathing. Now that they were gone, he couldn't concentrate on falling asleep, or even relaxing enough to rest a little.

'Damnit! I don't need anything from him!' Duo snarled mentally, curling into an L shape, his back to his pillow. 'Nothin'!'

It was a long, sleepless night.

***

Heero sat on his bed, leaning back against the wall. His battered black laptop was resting on his knees, but it wasn't even turned on. His eyes were focused blankly on the dead screen, not even registering what he was looking at.

'What's wrong with him?' Heero wondered, irritably pushing a strand of messy hair out of his eyes and raking it back into the rest of his hair. It immediately fell back down to tickle his nose. 'There's no reason for this illogical behavior, even considering Duo's usual state of mind.'

Unthinkingly, he scrolled down the screen, still staring at it. 'Worse, he nearly let it interfere with a mission. Unacceptable.' He clicked a link, ocean blue eyes scanning down the page without seeing it. 'I'll have to deal with the problem, before he gets himself killed by being distracted at the wrong moment.'

A light knock sounded at his door.

"Come in," Heero called, wondering absently why he had said it quietly. It wasn't like Duo woke up easily or anything.

Quatre slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, a small frown curling his lips down. I noticed the light under your door, and thought we could talk," he explained, leaning back against the flimsy plywood door.

"About what?" He glanced at the short blonde stoically, noting the rumpled state of his clothing. 'He must have fallen asleep on the couch after we went to bed.'

The Winner heir gnawed on his lower lip. "Heero, what's going on between you and Duo?" he asked bluntly, staring intently at the boy on the bed. "I know you two usually don't get along that well, but dinner was just... extreme." He shook his head a little.

"I don't know," Heero answered honestly, shrugging slightly.

His earlier thoughts came back to haunt him. "Are you sure of that?"

The question made Heero tilt his head to the side curiously. "What do you mean?"

Quatre's creamy complexion turned pink with embarrassment. "Well... Umm..." He kept blushing a deeper shade of crimson. He squirmed, lowering his gaze to where he was twisting his T-shirt. "I was just thinking... Ah... Did you and... Did you and Duo have sex?" Quatre finally blurted out, slapping himself in the face. 'Yeah, real smooth, Winner.'

Heero's jaw fell open slightly. "What did you just say?" he asked, blinking rapidly. He was, for once, at a complete loss.

Quatre squirmed some more. "Well, I just thought..." He turned a brighter red. "Forget I said anything," he muttered, making a swift exit, blushing brighter with every step.

The pilot of Wing watched his retreating back, still in shock. 'Duo and I... lovers?' He snorted, turning back to his laptop. 'Not likely.' The blank screen stared back at him. "Didn't I have this turned on?"

***

Duo glared into his untouched, soggy cheerios blearily, hair sticking out at all downward angles. [2] He hadn't slept at all the night before, and it showed in his red-rimmed eyes and the battered remains of what had once been a pillow that was on his bed. Across from him, both Quatre and Heero were being disgustingly awake morning people, even to the point of actually eating breakfast. It was not helping his mood one bit.

"We don't have to go to school," Quatre was explaining cheerfully, taking a bite of fried egg that Heero had cooked. The batch Quatre had tried to make had somehow exploded; probably because he put it in the microwave without even taking it out of the shell. Now they needed a new microwave. "So we won't have the problem of working around students and administration for once."

"Aa," Heero remarked, sipping some coffee that had so much milk it was nearly white. However, there was no sugar in it whatso ever. Duo would have thought that Heero would drink it black with sugar, or even just straight, but he had long ago learned not to expect anything from Heero Yuy. Nothing, especially not the slightest bit of attention. The stray thought made him frown more.

"Hn," the sleep-deprived God of Death grunted, stirring his cereal. He worked up the energy to look darkly at Heero for a second, but it took too much energy to be angry at Yuy so early in the morning. He switched his stare to the cheerios again, watching as yet another soaked up too much milk and broke into pieces.

"Duo, are you okay?" Quatre asked, frowning and munching on a freshly peeled orange, the one thing he was able to make without too much help.

In answer, Duo just growled and shoved his chair back. He dumped his cereal down the garbage disposal and washed the bowl.

"Duo?.." the blonde asked again.

"Sleep." That said, the braided one went back to his room, slamming the door.

Heero frowned. Duo hadn't even touched his coffee, even though it was just as he liked it; black with two teaspoon fulls of sugar. He added another note to his "Big List of Duo Maxwell".

"Heero..." Quatre bit into his orange, chewing thoughtfully. "Maybe you should-"

He was cut off by Heero. "After he gets some sleep. He was tossing all night long." The toussled-haired boy took his empty plate to the kitchen, and then retired to his bedroom, planning on doing some more work,[3] leaving Quatre alone in the kitchen.

The little golden haired Winner growled and took another bite of egg. 'They had sex, I just know it.'

***

[1] I just couldn't resist!

[2] Look Ma! Footnotes! Actually, if you've ever had long hair and a night of tossing and turning, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Like short-haired people, the hair sticks out everywhere, but the weight pulls it all down, except for the bangs and shorter hairs. It looks kind of like a well-used feather duster or a broom pointed down.

[3] Read: Staring blankly at his laptop while thinking about Duo.

[4] I promise to keep the footnote level lower in future fics!