He goes running

Warning: I am not a fan of Zechs, this is reflected within this chapter. If you don't approve, I apologize, but there's always gotta be a villain.

Duo POV


“Hello, Duo.” My heart stopped, and my body clenched. Part of me hated him, part of me begged for him, but every single part of me remembered the last time I heard Heero Yuy’s voice.

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You know that special effect in movies where the camera zooms in on the character and it makes the world disappear except for what’s in the camera’s focus? I experienced that exact feeling sans camera. For one brief second, that felt like eternity, the only things that existed were me, the phone, and that tenuous connection to Heero Yuy.

The clamorous noise of plates and glasses, the murmur of everyone in the restaurant, even my newest companion sank into an abyss of silence. I was in a vacuum, no air, no sound, and there was so much pressure surrounding me it felt like my ears needed to pop.

All of a sudden, I was breathing too fast, so my voice was airy and not completely vocalized. “Heero.” It was all I could think; my entire world was him, and nothing else.

He chuckled softly. “Good, I was afraid you may have forgotten me.”

Wait, what?! And just like that, the world started again, on speed. The arrogance in his voice, the bastardly little chuckle, the abrasive, caustic, facetious words all served to douse me with reality like I walked under Niagra. I felt my insides go cold and recoil back painfully.

That son of a bitch! I felt all emotion drain away from me but ice, cold anger. “What do you want, Heero?”

I heard him hesitate; his words were more tentative this time. “I, um, I wanted to take you to dinner this weekend.”

“No.” My jaw was clenched, and I felt my face twist into an unpleasant partial-scowl. No explanation; he didn’t deserve one. He should feel grateful that he got an answer. Bastard. Who did he think he was?

“Oh, well, maybe we can meet for coffee?” The confidence was struggling not to fade, but he was questioning matters. The conversation had turned, and now he wasn’t sure where it was going.

I could tell him exactly where it was going: to hell; he could deliver it personally for all I care. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Heero.”

I heard him sigh in the background. “We need to talk, Duo. The setting isn’t important.”

Oooohh, he went all top on me, but, you know what, I’m usually a dominant-type personality, too. Whatever spell he had me under dissolved in the anger crackling along the icy surface. “No, Heero, we don’t. WE had chances to talk weeks ago; now its just you who wants to talk. Frankly, I couldn’t possibly care less what you want.”

“Duo…”

I don’t know what he was going to say, but it no longer mattered because the conversation was now over. “Goodbye, Heero.”

As I tucked my cell back into my pocket, I caught Quatre staring at me intensely. There was this weird mix of curiosity and hesitance on his face that he immediately tried to school, so it looked like he wasn’t listening to my half of the conversation. But he failed.

“Duo, are you ok?” He was genuinely concerned from what I could tell, but he still wasn’t sure enough of our blossoming friendship to know if he should press me to relieve his curiosity.

He shouldn’t. “I’ll be fine, Q.” I ran a hand through my bangs to try to pull them out of my face, nervous habit.

“That’s not what I asked.” He tried to soften it with a smile.

“I know, but I really can’t talk about it right now. I’ll give you a call later, Quatre; but now I just can’t…I need to…I gotta go.” There’s no other word for it. I stood up and all but ran out the door.

Yeah, I ran like a fucking coward, shut the door to my humble abode, and couldn’t get my hands to stop shaking for half an hour afterwards. But damnit, Heero didn’t know that, and he wouldn’t. I’m still fucking pissed that the guy had the nerve to call me one month, one month!, later. But I’ve also been secretly pining away in my little corner, hoping he would call.

Just when I’d given up hope, just when I’d started to pick myself up and move on, just when I’d started to find some of the pieces of myself I seemed to have lost; the bastard calls. His timing was fucking brilliant. By the by, that was sarcasm…

So I hid in my bedroom for the next three hours, laptop across my legs, doing nothing of emphasis because my head was still spinning, and I couldn’t think worth a damn. It took me a little bit, but I pulled myself back together, wrapped my righteous fury around me like a cloak and started doing something of import, namely scanning for any hacking attempts on my programs.

That’s one of the features of my defense software. Yeah, someone can try to bypass my firewall, or try to find a backdoor in, but you leave fingerprints. As that person is trying to access any information, my program is recording theirs, and I can track them down. Or, more likely, I can point the company and the police toward the perpetrator. Heh, I said perpetrator.

There was nothing at any of my established clients. Then boredom set in…fun. I wasted time cleaning, yeah cleaning, that bored.

Eventually, I made myself some dinner and sat down to waste some brain cells in front of the tv. As I’m eating dinner, my phone rings again. It was Heero again. I blew him off again, and this time I saved the number, so I could ignore it in the future.

Yeah, that’s totally the reason.

I called Quatre back then, assured him that I was ok. Had to have a ‘yeah, I’m gay, and Heero was my almost ex that burned me pretty badly, but I’m ok now, don’t worry’ conversation. Which royally sucked, but he eventually believed me and confessed to having a similar inclination towards the male sex. I would have laughed at the way he phrased it, but there wasn’t much I was finding funny that evening.

Heero began slowly driving me crazy. For the next three days breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Heero Yuy called me. He used several different numbers. I got tired of telling him no, so I just got lazy. Every time I heard his voice, I hung up.

He was stubborn, but so was I. I had no intention of caving just because he was persistent.

Life went on. Quatre’s people contacted me and got me their write up of the contract. I started taking applications and meeting with people in my own informal versions of interviews, but no decision was made. I guess I’m a bit protective of my program. I couldn’t really bring myself to show it to any of them.

And Heero still called. Three times a day, and I still ignored his attempts to talk and any message he left. But that didn’t mean I didn’t get damn curious as to what he wanted. Why now and not four weeks ago? Hell, two weeks ago would have worked. Whatever.

I met Quatre for lunch again, and it passed pleasantly. My phone was on silent, so Heero’s call went unnoticed by the perceptive blond.

That evening, as I scanned my software, I found something. The installation at Peacecraft and Peacecraft, of all places!, had a glitch. I tried to repair it remotely, but my attempts were unsuccessful. I would have to make a personal visit, get the program history from the mainframe, and repair the program on site. Great.

I called the company the next morning to announce my visit to the front desk. High and mighty places like that will not let you enter without an appointment, even if you don’t actually have to meet with anyone important. They couldn’t squeeze me into the books that day, so I’d have to come tomorrow at eleven.

As patiently as I could, I tried to explain that all I needed to do was to walk down the hallway to the mainframe, and hook my laptop up. She calmly told me I’d have to bring three forms of identification with me to be allowed access to the computer terminals, but I still needed to wait for my appointment or I would be escorted from the property.

Bitch.

So Friday at 10:55 a.m., I sauntered into the ostentatious office, slapped my ID’s down on the front desk, and winked at the chick behind the desk. She handed me a temporary photo ID badge, a key card to enter the room that housed the mainframe, and a clippie thingy that attached both to my shirt, and found my way to the elevators.

All the previous day, there was a sick feeling in my stomach. What if I see him again? What do I say? What do I do? Do I ignore him or tell him off? The thought of punching him flashed through my head before thoughts of how gorgeous that face was stuck in my head. Did I want to see him again? Hell no, this would be so much easier to deal with if I never saw him again.

Bullshit. I wanted to see my beach god again, I just didn’t want to speak to him, or have him speak to me.

I turned a corner, walking towards my destination, and was brought up short. Heero was leaning against the door I needed to go through to do my job. My hopes of avoiding him shattered.

I picked my jaw off the floor, and prayed that he didn’t see my shock. Maybe he did; maybe he didn’t. I couldn’t tell because he was leaning against the wall with head tipped down like a cowboy out of some old western movie. I never liked westerns despite the hot main characters.

Something about chicks in frilly dresses getting rescued by hot, sweaty guys in tight jeans and cowboy hats…wait, maybe I should give those movies another shot.

Can you tell I’m trying really hard to think of anything but the man waiting for me?

I tightened my grip on my laptop (and my balls) and made my way to the locked door Heero happened to be on and did my damndest to ignore him. “What are you doing here, Heero?” Shit. Ok, so ignoring him didn’t work.

“I work here.” All traces of the emotions I heard in his phone calls were gone. He was playing it cool. Damn his sassy mouth, but two could play that game. Yes, he’s still as hot as the sun, but I’m still pissed as Hell. We’ll see which heat wins out.

“Really? In this room? Then you should have a key to get inside instead of waiting outside in the hall like an ass.”

He met my eyes for the first time in a month, and my throat went dry. “I forgot mine, just waiting for someone to let me inside.” He was smirking, enjoying the wordplay between us.

“You’ll have to go to the front desk to check one out. I can’t let you in, something about unauthorized persons in restricted access rooms.” It wasn’t technically a lie because I really couldn’t let him in; I wouldn’t be able to work with him in the room with me. Technically I’m on the clock, and, well, if they wanted anyone to have access to the computers mainframe, it wouldn’t be a locked door, and the front desk lady wouldn’t be holding my forms of I.D. as collateral for the return of the key.

His smirk widened, and I wondered if he caught my round-about wording to avoid the lie. “Oh, don’t worry about that; I have authorization.”

Untrustworthy liar. I was getting more and more irritated, but I kept at the game. I refused to break down in front of him; I could play it just as cool as he could. “Then I need to see your papers.”

“I’ll show you whatever you want.” His voice was suggestive and his eyes dark as they flicked down to his moving hand.

Helplessly, my eyes followed the movement, watching as those fingers trailed over his leather belt and backwards, around his hip to reach towards his back pocket as an excuse to caress that gorgeous ass.

Game over. My eyes slammed shut, but it was too late. I remembered, and my body shuddered with the aftershocks of that memory.

I felt him move closer. “Duo.” His voice took on that tone he used a month ago, that sultry, bedroom huskiness.

My hand came up of its own accord, slamming into his chest and pushing him back into the door. “Don’t.” Rage filled me and washed away the lustful images, reminding me of the month I locked myself away from friends, lost myself in the misery he left me in. No.

My eyes opened, whatever they read caused surprise to paint itself across Heero’s face. “You selfish son of a bitch. This has been all about you. This has always been all about you. What you want, when you want it. You didn’t want me, then you wanted me, and you got me. But you didn’t want to call, so you didn’t. But now you want me again, so you call. I didn’t want to talk to you, but that didn’t matter because you wanted to talk. So you call me incessantly, driving me nuts until I cave and give you what you want again. But that hasn’t worked so you ambush me at work, at work, Heero! I’m supposed to be working, but that doesn’t matter because you want to talk. It doesn’t matter that I could lose the contract with your company for inappropriate behavior or shoddy repairs because I’m a psychological wreck right now. It doesn’t matter in the least because you finally want to talk!” I was breathing hard, and he looked shocked.

Silence took over for a second as I caught my breath. Regret took over his visage, and he opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to hear it, so I cut him off. “It was great, Heero. You were amazing, but it is over. You blew me off, just a one night stand. That’s all I was worth to you. Now, leave me alone.”

Sad blue eyes filled my vision. He looked apologetic, maybe even a little defeated.

“Am I interrupting a lovers’ spat?” His voice, after all these years, still curdles my blood. Zechs, the king of jackals, was behind me. I refused to turn around. Remember that little promise about me punching him? Yeah, not good for business.

Heero had stiffened with the sound, and his face went blank, not a thing readable on it.

“How interesting. I must meet this paragon of a man that managed to get into Duo’s…good graces.” I couldn’t help the snarl that curled my lip with his lewd pause and asinine insinuations. They were right, bastard, but he was still an absolute sleaze.

Maybe Quatre will have my back at the trial; maybe his hot-shot lawyers can get Peacecraft to drop the assault charges. It’d be worth it even if I broke my knuckles on the guy’s jaw.

Zechs took a step to the side, I could see his shadow in my peripheral vision. “Heero?! I…” I was tempted to look at him, but was tying to keep this peaceful. He laughed a little, trying to regain his composure. “I didn’t know you were…I didn’t know you were so inclined. You were always so devoted to Relena, and she bragged readily about your prowess.”

There it was, the off-key, almost sordid charm he oozed so easily. But it was the silences between that had me wondering. Zechs was surprised, like he really had no idea that Heero was into men. It sounded like a complete farce; Zechs was always aware of when someone was attracted to him. Whether they actually were or not. But then again, Zechs was a horrible actor. He never really had to, everyone had always given him exactly what he wanted.

He just thought he was unbearably charming. The depressing thing was, others agreed with him. Ugh. I had hoped that the reason Heero was so completely obsessed with him, the reason Zechs repetitively ignored him and his amazing looks, was because the man had some sense of business ethics. That the man had the decency to keep business and pleasure separate, but apparently I was wrong. Because I knew that tone, that sleazy, suggestive tone that oozed its way down your spine to your groin. Bastard.

“Only in special cases.” Heero was staring straight at me, not allowing me to hide from what he was saying. He looked away, glancing over my shoulder to Zechs. “Relena has an uncanny ability to create her own reality at times.”

A deep, confident chuckle resonated across the space behind me. “How true. Baby sister has been so protective of you, I just assumed. How asinine of me, I apologize. Perhaps, I’ll stop by your office later to further explore any other inclinations you may have to avoid future untrue assumptions.”

I felt my stomach drop out. Yes, I know; I’m pissed at Heero. Yes, I know; I just blew him off and made him feel about two inches tall. Yes, I know; I should want to have nothing further to do with him. But the thought of him with Zechs.

The thought of what men like Zechs do to people.

What the hell am I thinking? Heero did that to me! I should relish the heartbreak he has coming, but I can’t. My insides felt cold and slimy at the thought of Heero in Zech’s arms, let alone his bed. God, that thought made me nauseous.

“I’ve got quite a lot of work to do today, perhaps another time, Mr. Peacecraft.” Heero’s voice was cold.

“Are you sure? I believe Mr. Maxwell has made his opinion of you very clear.” His tone was temptation itself.

I actually flinched. His words and my actions hit me hard, the fact that Zechs was using that as ammunition to get Heero into his bed made my guts clench. I seemed to be living within that sick feeling in my stomach.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to change his opinion of me, but thanks anyway.” Heero was no longer looking over my shoulder, his eyes heavy on me. I couldn’t help but feel complete relief because of that.

“Charming.” Sarcasm dripped so thickly from the word that strings of it were probably hanging from his grit teeth. I almost smiled at the mental image. “Nevertheless, I do need to discuss some matters with you that can’t be put off long. I guess I’ll just have to make an appointment to fit into your so-busy schedule.”

Relief filled me for a brief second, but then Zechs had to speak again. I should have remembered that he wasn’t used to being denied. “Since you’re so busy, I suggest you take your leave. Duo and I have some business matters to discuss.”

Liar. Instead of the word games that I responded with when Heero lied, though, in his defense that was more playful than anything, I went on the offensive when Zechs did the same. “Bullshit. You have absolutely nothing to say to me, Peacecraft. When I interviewed with Relena, I made it very clear that I would not respond well to you, that any and all business that must be done would be conducted through her or her assistant not through you. She agreed to my terms, which means you’re full of shit.”

“Such language, we really must do something about that mouth of yours.” I watched his eyes linger on my lips and felt dirty. I couldn’t help but scowl at him as he continued. “And you’re right, the business to which I was referring was nothing in regards to the company, more like I was wanting to revisit old times.” He changed tactics then. “Heero, did you know Duo and I had quite the history together? It would be appreciated if we could visit in private.”

Everything he said was a proposition. Did anything but sex exist for this man?

“Actually, Heero and I hadn’t finished our conversation from before you interrupted, and I’m really not in the mood for revisiting history.”

“How is Carrie, was it? She was a very nice girl.” Sleaze dripped from his voice.

My vision went red. “Carly.” My teeth clenched so hard I felt my jaw pop. “Stay away from her.”

He laughed. He actually laughed. “Of course, I never revisit old lovers, its beneath me. But I have to say I’m tempted to look up her number just to watch you squirm. It is fun having such power over you.”

I felt Heero’s hands on my arms, and I realized I had my hands balled into fists and I was walking towards the bastard in front of me. Heero was preventing me from moving closer to Peacecraft.

“You do know that the only reason I dated her was to get closer to you, Duo.”

My body went cold and rigid as death. What?

“Its true. I appreciate the female form and what pleasure it can give, but a male underneath me is so much more satisfying. I wanted you, so I used her to show you how good being with me can be.” He closed the distance between us, his scent overpowered me, and I could see how someone could become totally enamored of him.

I felt Heero tense behind me, hands tight on my arms. I was so mad, my hands were shaking, and my eyes were burning. “So let me get this straight, you made her fall helplessly in love with you to get closer to me.”

He let his lips curl in what he thought was a seductive smile. I threw myself backwards into Heero’s chest, knocking him off balance, and bought myself enough time to throw a punch at that smiling face.

Or so I thought. I felt one of his strong arms across my chest and a hand tight on my elbow, preventing it from extending and knocking the son of a bitch out. I struggled in his arms trying to get enough leverage to damage him in some form or fashion, but Heero is really strong. Like really strong.

But I fought like hell anyway. “Duo, calm down.” Heero’s face was pressed hard against mine, his voice in my ear. His body was completely wrapped around me trying to subdue my rage.

Zechs had taken a step back. His eyes were hungry and not in the least scared. “You two are beautiful together. Have you ever had two men at once, Duo? Hate sex can be a very powerful experience.”

I renewed my efforts to break free and break his face.

“Damnit, Milliardo! Leave! Or I’m letting him go, and helping him beat the shit out of you!” Heero had to twist his body around, putting himself between me and Zechs.

“I see his mouth has rubbed off on you, Heero. How lovely.” He paused, lust apparent in his eyes. “Very well, I’ll take my leave of you, but my offer still stands.” His eyes were heavy on me as he continued. “You never forget the one that got away. Good day, gentlemen.”

He turned, and I made one last lunge for him, but Heero guided me toward the door he was leaning against earlier. He grabbed the key card that was attached to my shirt, held it up to the electronic lock, and pushed me into the locked room.

I was plopped, unceremoniously, onto the floor. Heero set my laptop case down next to me, and squat down in front of me. “We need to talk.”

“I can’t do this right now. Just leave, please.” I had to pull myself together and get to work.

“I’m not talking about us; I’m talking about that.” He flicked his hand at the door. “I know you’re protective of your friends, but that went deeper than someone dumping a girlfriend of yours.”

I narrowed my eyes, hating the fact that I was on the floor looking up at him. “Fuck you, Heero. I don’t trust you farther than I can throw you, so don’t expect me to confide in you. I’ve got to get to work, so get the fuck out.”

His face shut down, hiding. “I’m not giving up, Duo. I’m going to keep calling you, whatever it takes to get you to give me another chance, to trust me again.”

I stood up, grabbed my laptop case, and made my way over to the mainframe. “I already gave you two chances. That’s more than I’ve given to anyone else.”

“Then I’m already the exception. You’ve never even given me a chance to explain.”

I laughed; it was not a pleasant sound. “Are you waiting for an apology? Hold your breath for it.”

“I want you, Duo. I made a mistake, was too indecisive for too long, but I know that now. No one else will do, and I’ll wait as long as it takes, will do whatever it takes.”

I felt my head fall towards my chest. What was he? A glutton for punishment? Whatever. “Fine, will you leave now?” I pulled out the necessary connections from my case as the computer booted up.

“Yeah. Goodbye, Duo.”

I rolled my eyes. Now the prick knows how to say goodbye. I was royally screwed up in the head right now, but I know computers. I’m good with computers; computers are my home. So I lost my insecurities behind the figures in front of me, scanned my program from within the walls of the Peacecraft security system.

And then my insecurities came to the forefront. The glitch wasn’t a glitch. Someone had hacked my program.

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I'm sorry, I meant for this to be up this weekend, but I had to re-write the ending to this. It completely went against my outline, but the conversations didn't want to match up right. Blah. Anywho. I've gotta do some typing on Merc and my sequel to Two Sides (tentatively, possibly called Trinity) before this one comes back around. But on the bright side! I write faster in response to reviews. You can have an impact on my speed.

Just saying...

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. I'll have review responses on my author's page in the next day or two.

Xxx's and lovely OOoo's to you all. Til next time

A