Beautiful Stranger


Prelude 

Haven't we met?
You're some kind of beautiful stranger
You could be good for me -
I've had the taste for danger...

**********

/Airports are all hell./

The old American General had just been born too soon, or he would have come up with 
that line instead. At least, that's the way the thoughts of Zechs Merquise, 
the Duke of Sank, were headed.

Noin was headed for Africa, a reunion of old army buddies. When her jet was 
grounded for last minute repairs, and she'd turned those eyes on him, he knew 
he'd been in for a long haul and was it ever. He had spent the next two hours 
moving from one uncomfortable seating area to another, none of which seemed to 
have been made with his long, elegant proportions in mind. He was glad of the 
long walk back to his car; it was a good chance to stretch his legs before 
returning to the Palace.

Gods, the palace, he thought, considering for the tenth time that evening the 
option of just not going to Relena's well-meant but naively stupid reception 
for her "friend", Heero Yuy.

/That's got disaster written all over it. Relena will be fawning over Heero 
the entire time, showing him off like a stuffed stag to every friend and 
acquaintance she can while Heero does nothing but glare at everyone. How 
delightful./

His training over the past twenty years, first as a prince and then as 
a soldier, was ordering him to attend, if only out of a sense of noblesse 
oblige. Spotting a free communication unit, Zechs decided to delay the 
inevitable and check his personal messages. With Treize gone and Noin in 
Africa, however, he wasn't expecting much.

His had was poised above the retinal scanner button when he saw the boy. A 
part of him that he had thought dead, gone with Treize to someplace he 
couldn't follow, flamed into life. The combination of muscular shoulders 
and narrow hips was so enchanting. He had almost forgotten the familiar, 
delicious shock of exploring the body of another man, if only with his eyes.

/Well, almost a man...not quite yet...and so lovely...perhaps he'll turn 
around and I can get a glimpse of his face, too.../

The boy in question, who had been reading off of a taxi terminal screen, 
turned suddenly. The dramatic swing of a long, chestnut-colored braid made 
the Duke of Sank step back, startled.

/Duo Maxwell? What would *he* be doing here? Surely Heero wouldn't have 
invited him, not the way he's been following Relena around like a whipped 
cur for the past two weeks. I assumed that he and Duo were through, 
otherwise why would Heero have stayed so long and been so attentive...

/And why did I never notice how absolutely delicious he was? If Heero 
doesn't want him.../

Zechs moved away from the comm unit and made his way across the now 
deserted terminal. His voice, when he called to Duo, was surprisingly 
husky and full of unspoken emotion.

"Duo! I thought that was you. Welcome back to the Sank Kingdom. What 
brings you?"

As Zechs neared the slim American pilot, Duo looked up at him. His face 
showed clear signs of sleepless nights, not enough food, and very recent 
tears. Despite this, Duo broke into one of his famous grins at the sight 
of Zechs, his eyes struggling to look happy too, and not quite succeeding.

"Oi, Zechs! How ya doin'? I...I'm staying at the palace this weekend. 
Relena invited me."

Zechs tried hard to suppress a gasp, and instead managed to say, "What??" 
in a tone slightly below stunned disbelief. "Relena invited you? That 
sounds a bit strange, neh?"

He managed to pull the whole thing off with a casual chuckle at the end. 
In reality he was trying furiously to think of a reason his sister would 
have invited her long-time rival for Heero's affection to stay for the 
weekend.

"Yeah, I know," Duo replied, "maybe she's finally gotten a clue." Despite 
the off-hand tone of the words, Duo's voice sound uncertain and almost 
wistful.

Zechs changed the subject. For a reason he didn't yet want to fathom, he
wanted Duo's attention on him, not on the absent Heero Yuy. The Lightning 
Count had already surmised that it was Heero who was the cause of the 
American pilot's distracted air and he didn't like the idea that Yuy had 
made this lovely boy suffer.

"Duo," Zechs said. "Duo?"

But Duo, lost in his own thoughts, didn't seem to hear him. Zechs reached 
a long, slim arm out to the boy's face. He gently tilted Duo's chin up, 
and the boy seemed to come back to reality, his large violet eyes meeting
 Zechs' ice blue ones.

"What?" Duo asked, looking bewildered.

"I'm going back to the palace now," Zechs said slowly, not moving his 
fingers from the boy's upturned face. "I'll give you a ride, all right?"

Duo smiled weakly and nodded, allowing Zechs to move him toward the parking 
structure, an elegant arm under Duo's elbow.

/You've made a dreadful mistake, Heero Yuy. And I plan to enjoy every 
minute of your agony, as you watch me seduce the boy you love./

to Part 1

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