Lurking in the Shadows [complete]

A/N: You don\'t have to read Platinum to understand what\'s going on here, it\'s fairly obvious-- but it is recommended, if you\'d like a complete grasp of the plot.

I don\'t own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

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Lurking in the Shadows


It was cold, and dark, but it didn\'t matter-- not only was Milliardo rather used to both, but he could barely remember a time when he was up during the daylight hours on a regular basis. Plus, now, he had other things to wear, instead of ripped-up clothing that showed more than most bathing suits.

He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair, staring at the dark puddle his slick black shoes were about one step from entering. He didn\'t really know what to do... how to do it.

Frustration flashed across his pale face and he frowned, reaching into his jacket pocket. The man with platinum blonde hair drew a cigarette from a brand new pack, as well as a lighter, and brought both to his lips. He lit the cigarette, took a slow drag, then took it out of his mouth, exhaling as he tossed the cigarette into the puddle.

It wasn\'t flowers, but Treize had hated getting flowers. Treize liked cigarettes, money and power.

Milliardo ran his hand through his hair again, a nervous habit he had picked up, and looked away from the puddle as though there was somebody staring up at him from within it. He couldn\'t deal with this guilt, this pain.

This was the last time he\'d come back to this alley, where Treize had taken his final breaths-- and truthfully, the ex-trick didn\'t much know why he had to keep returning here every few months with a cigarette, or sometimes a bottle of Treize\'s favourite wine.

He didn\'t want to think about it. A quick movement of his hand sent the rest of the pack into the air, and it landed with a quiet splash next to the extinguished cigarette.

That was one stop done for the night... now for the second.

It was hard visiting Treize\'s \'grave\', but it always seemed harder standing a few feet away from the shoddy steps that led up to the apartment, that apartment...

Milliardo felt his chest tighten and he jammed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the alley wall in the shadows and staring at the windows of the building. The lights were out today; Heero was sleeping, or more likely, he was working.

Heero had been working a lot lately, and was barely home; Milliardo was worried about him. The brunette barely slept and seemed to have grown thinner, and his face-- on the rare occasions it was glimpsed-- had become drawn and angry, like a junkyard dog or a war veteran.

Well, what was standing around in front of an empty apartment going to do? The blonde sighed quietly and stepped out of the alley, headed back to his car, so he could get to the East side of town where his own apartment was. As he was opening the car door, he heard a shuffle close by, and looked over his shoulder to see what it was.

There was a young man with long dark hair and a slender frame staring directly at him. Milliardo frowned slightly, then decided to ignore it, getting into his car. He blinked in shock when the young man followed him, and got into the passenger side of the car as though nothing were wrong.

\"Excuse me,\" Milliardo began, slightly peeved.

\"I\'ve seen you come here every week for months now. What do you want with Heero?\" the brunette demanded cockily, crossing his arms and smiling from beneath the bill of his ball cap.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit! \"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about!\" Milliardo lied, rather well, he thought. \"Get out of my car.\"

\"Are you stalking him? Are you in love with him or something?\" the brunette demanded, still smiling in amusement.

\"Look, what I do is none of your business. Get out of my car before I call the police.\"

The cocky man laughed and leaned towards Milliardo, grinning wide now. There was an almost wild look about him. \"The police don\'t come to this part of town any more. You, however, look rather fancy to me-- I\'m absolutely sure you don\'t live around here. So that makes it even more interesting, this thing you have for Heero.\"

\"I didn\'t say I had a thing for Heero!\" Milliardo barked, gripping his steering wheel.

The brunette laughed. \"Fine, deny it. What\'s your name?\"

\"Wind,\" Milliardo lied, shooting daggers at the young man with his stare.

\"Wind,\" the man repeated, blatant disbelief in his voice. \"Fine, play it that way, I don\'t care. The name\'s Duo. Now, Wind,\" he made a face and shook his head after stressing the name, \"Take me to dinner, I\'m starved.\"

\"What?!\" the blonde snapped, fisting his right hand and preparing to shove the man out of his car and speed off.

\"You want to know more about Heero? I\'ve got the dirt on him-- all of it. You want him to fall in love with you? I can tell you everything he hates, and the very few things he seems to like,\" the brunette purred silkily, a small smile still curling on the corners of his mouth.

Milliardo hesitated. There was no way this was a good idea; hell, the first time he had opened his mouth to this guy had been a very bad idea.

Part of him did want to know more about Heero... and also, this long-haired man looked like he hadn\'t had a good meal in ages. Memories of street-life washed over Milliardo, and he sighed, looking away from the brunette, who smiled wickedly, knowing his request had been accepted.

\"Do you like Chinese, Wind? I like Chinese. Let\'s get some of that, and then head back to your place-- I\'m a little tired and haven\'t slept on a soft bed in ages.\"

The blonde felt a heavy knot resting in his stomach as he pulled the car onto the street and headed back to the east. What the hell was he getting himself into? The brunette put his hands behind his head, threw his feet up onto the dashboard, and got comfortable in his seat, still smiling to himself.


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