Pull the Trigger and the Nightmare Stops�

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Gundam boys, I just like to imagine them in my own little world (which is totally of my making). No profits are made from this story, just gratuitous pleasure.

Summary: They were thrust together at the age of 14, members of an assassins guild, then rudely ripped apart at the age of 21. Now, three years later, Duo walks back into Heero's life. The rollercoaster ride has just begun as they must learn to live together once more and to love each other again. Life isn’t always easy, living with Duo, and Heero has to fight hard to remember that.

Rating: NC-17

Warning Codes: Anal,Angst,AR,H/C,Lang,M/M,OC,Oral,Violence,WAFF,WIP,Yaoi

Pairings: 1x2


Feedback is appreciated. I enjoy hearing from all of my readers. That you take the time to read is great, that you take the time to write is awesome. You are what makes writing worth while. I hope that you enjoy reading it.

My sincere thanks to the following:

Fujin: Once again, thank you for your support. It always leaves a small glow in an author’s heart when someone leaves words of encouragement for them. And your words are very encouraging. Fans like you make writing worth while, knowing that you are enjoying what you are reading, and then taking the time to let the author know of your pleasure. I hope you like the turn the story is taking.

~*~

Pull the Trigger and the Nightmare Stops…

“dear my friends in the time we've spent forever after beyond this when will our nightmare ever end?
pull the trigger and the nightmare stops...”

Part 15

Several more weeks passed before they got another early morning phone call, waking them after they’d only had a few hours sleep. Duo had kept Heero up late, playing hard to get, but Heero's persistence had paid off in the end, and Duo had succumbed to his amorous advances. Now Duo was tired and just wanted to sleep.

Heero murmured into the phone for a few minutes, then hung up. He reached over and dragged the covers off of Duo, who squawked and rolled up into a ball when deprived of their warmth.

“That was Simon,” said Heero. “He has information about our new assignment.”

“That’s nice, now give me back my blankets,” Duo demanded.

“This is important,” said Heero, glaring at him coldly.

“It’s always important. When do you think you’ll be home? I’ll keep the bed warm for you, if you give me my covers back. I’ll even wait for you naked,” Duo offered, yawning.

“You’re already naked,” Heero informed him.

“I know, that’s why I’m cold,” Duo complained. “Please, give me back my blankets? Please?”

“No. You’re going with me,” Heero said in an odd tone that stopped Duo's complaining immediately.

“What? I never go with you,” he responded.

“I know,” Heero replied, flatly. “You are, this time.”

“I don’t understand,” said Duo, confused. “What did he say?”

“Nothing. Just suggested that it might be, nice, if I brought you along,” responded Heero in that same flat tone of voice. “So you’re going. Get up and get dressed.”

“Sure, yeah, whatever you say, Heero,” Duo answered immediately, not liking the tone Heero's voice had taken. It was the voice that Heero used just before he was ready to kill someone, or, in Duo's case, to slap the holy hell out of him. Duo didn’t know what he’d done, but he’d been on the receiving end of enough of those slaps to know that he didn’t want to feel any of them today, so he jumped out of the bed, making sure to keep at least arms distance away from Heero. Suddenly, he felt very nervous and jumpy.

He was pulling on his shirt when Heero's hand landed on his shoulder. He spun around, made a small startled sound and jumped back, hitting the wall, his eyes wide with fright, panting slightly in his fear.

“Duo, why are you looking at me that way?” asked Heero, very softly, his hand going up to touch Duo's cheek, stroking it gently. His voice and hand were warm and soft, but his eyes were cold and hard.

“I… I don’t know? I’m scared?” Duo offered, trembling visibly.

“Of what, Duo?” asked Heero softly, stepping closer, crowding him up against the wall. Duo's lips parted, the tip of his tongue darting out nervously to lick his bottom lip, and he started to hyperventilate somewhat.

“I don’t know? I’m sorry, Heero. Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” he said, tears showing in his frightened indigo eyes. “I don’t know what it was, but I’m sorry. Please, don’t hit me.”

“Duo,” Heero whispered, “why do you think I’m going to hit you? I just want to know what you’re afraid of. Why you think I would have a reason to hit you. Tell me, Duo.”

“I don’t know,” whispered Duo, tears starting to trickle down his face. “Your voice? You only sound like this when you’re really, really angry with me, right before you hit me.”

“I don’t want to hit you,” Heero replied, stroking his cheek softly. “I just want to know why, all of a sudden, you need to go with me to see Simon. What happened between you and Mr Winner? What did he say to you?”

“No… nothing, Heero. Truly, nothing,” said Duo, sniffing, wanting to wipe away the tears, but afraid to move, afraid to provoke his angry lover even more. “He just said I was very beautiful, and… and that you were a very lucky man to have someone as beautiful and charming as me to grace your bed. And that he was envious of you. Honest, that’s all, nothing else.”

“And what did you say to him, Duo? What did you tell him?” Heero asked in that quiet, deadly voice. He moved a little closer and put his hands on the wall on either side of Duo's shoulders. His mouth was almost on Duo's. Duo could feel Heero’s breath bathing his parched lips and once more his tongue darted out to nervously lick at his bottom lip.

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything to him, Heero. I swear,” said Duo, tears now running freely.

Heero looked deeply into his terrified eyes, then gently kissed his lips. He wiped away Duo's tears and stepped back. Duo had closed his eyes and started to slump in relief when the sharp crack of Heero's hand across his face pulled him back into his nightmare.

He crumpled to the floor and his hand went to his mouth where blood started to flow, joining his tears. Heero looked down on him coldly for a moment, then turned away.

“He doesn’t touch you. You understand?” he demanded.

Duo sat mutely, unable to comprehend the sudden violence, unable to answer. Heero looked back, fury in his face.

“Do you understand me?” he asked coldly and softly.

“Yes, Heero. I understand,” Duo replied dully. “He doesn’t touch me, or you will.”

“That’s right. I will and you won’t like it,” said Heero, leaving the bedroom. “Finish getting ready. We have a meeting to go to.”

~*~

The rest of the morning, getting dressed, eating a hurried breakfast, the ride to the headquarters building, the wait, was all spent in a surreal silence.

Even Lady Une was unusually silent, looking away quickly after seeing Duo's face, simply opening the lift doors. Heero led the way in grimly and Duo stood trembling at his shoulder. Simon was waiting, unsmiling, when the lift doors opened.

“Please, come in and sit down,” he bade them, his eyes going to Duo's face briefly, the mark where Heero had hit him standing out vividly on his pale face, then his attention shifted back to Heero.

“Is this something I should know about?” he asked Heero pointedly, as Duo sat as close as he could possibly get to Heero, head down, trying to make himself inconspicuous.

“This is between my wife and myself,” Heero responded in his soft, cold killer’s voice. “You required both of our presence for a briefing on our next job. We’re here.”

“Heero, we can’t work you this way,” said Simon softly. “You know that. Your success depends on harmony between the two of you. All I see right now is anger and fear. What’s going on?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” responded Heero. “Why, all of a sudden, the interest in Duo? You’ve never needed him here for briefings in the past. Why now? And what was up with that little display by Mr Winner at the engagement party? I know he didn’t go out of his way to flirt with Duo just for the hell of it. What’s his interest in Duo? Excuse me for being blunt, and if I give offence, I’m sorry, but Duo belongs to me, and I don’t share him with anyone.

“If there’s some reason behind this, let’s get it out in the open, because it’s Duo, as you can well see, that suffers from my anger. And I don’t like to hurt him.”

Simon sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, then leaned back, shaking his head.

“I told Azrael this wouldn’t work,” he said, more to himself then to Heero. “I told him that we needed to talk with you. But no, he wanted to try to keep it all under wraps. I told him this was going to happen, but would he listen to me?”

“No. Of course not, Simon,” said Azrael softly as he walked out of his office, pausing to rub Simon’s shoulders before he walked around to sit on the couch next to him. He took Simon’s hand and brought it to his lips with a tender kiss. “You were right again, dear heart. You are always right.

“Heero, I’m sorry. I should have taken you into my confidence. I was wrong not to.

“Mrs Yuy, please, forgive me. I didn’t realize that he would take this out on you in such a manner. I underestimated Mr Yuy’s anger and jealousy. My words cannot begin to express my sorrow at the pain that I have caused you.

“Please, Heero, if I may explain everything to you?”

“Everything?” asked Heero, skeptically.

“Yes. Every last bit of it. It is quite involved and a bit exhaustive,” responded Azrael. “Simon, if you would please order up some refreshments, some lunch, perhaps? This will take some time. Mrs Yuy, would you like to lay down in my office and rest?”

Duo jumped and flinched at being addressed, starting to tremble slightly. Heero put a reassuring arm around him, kissed him softly and whispered something into his ear. Duo shook his head. Heero said something else and Duo shook his head violently, then buried his face against Heero's shoulder.

“No, thank you. He’s fine right here,” replied Heero softly, leaning back on the couch and pulling Duo into his arms. Duo cuddled up close to him like a frightened child, and Heero sat stroking his hair and back, a look of gentle remorse on his face.

Azrael sat, eyes downcast, and they waited for Simon to rejoin them. When Simon returned he sat and chatted with Azrael quietly, while Heero held Duo in his arms, whispering softly to him and giving him the occasional kiss on the forehead.

Azrael glanced at the two when Duo snorted softly at something Heero said to him, and felt a large weight lift off of himself. He hadn’t thought that Heero would react so violently, nor had he thought Heero would bring Duo in like this as an object lesson. He would do well to keep in mind what Heero Yuy had been trained to be from a very young age. No matter how suave and urbanely he presented himself, deep down Heero was still a trained assassin, a killer, and no matter what pretty title they gave it, or how loving they acted towards each other, Duo Maxwell was still the personal property of Heero Yuy, given to him at the age of 14, a sex slave. And Heero would tolerate no other man to lay his hands on his possession without his explicit permission, that was now obvious.

This visible reminder of what the two sitting on the couch before him were was causing Azrael to rethink his needed plan of action.

So, how did one man go about asking another man to send his precious bedtoy into the arms of yet a third man? In this case, very delicately, because they desperately needed Heero Yuy on their side, but most of all, they needed Duo Maxwell if their plans were going to succeed.

Their lunch arrived and Heero fussed over Duo, getting him his food and settling him comfortably in the corner of the couch before he got his own lunch. The love that radiated from Duo belied the fact that Duo was truly a possession, a sex slave to the man before him. And the tenderness with which Heero treated him spoke volumes about how hard he tried to bury Duo's sex slave status as deeply as he could. They loved each other as much as their up bringing and training would allow. And that love was desperate, passionate and all encompassing.

Once he had Duo taken care of, Heero sat and faced the other two men, ready to hear whatever they had to say, judgment reserved.

“This started a long time ago, I’d say at least ten years ago, if not longer,” said Azrael, starting the story. “At least this part of the treachery. The other part started 24 years ago, with the birth of my only son and heir. There is a rather large conglomerate that had hopes of taking over W.E.I. and all that it stands for when I was no longer in the picture. They hoped I would never father a son, leaving behind no male heir, but fate or Allah smiled on me and I was blessed with my rather headstrong son, Quatre.

“The other part started when a certain young sex slave was purchased by a rather influential man of the underworld as a gift to one of his most promising young students. It was the hope of the guild master to produce a second crack pair of assassins as good as his number one hit team. I believe he succeeded in his goal.

“When this young team was first sent into the field, no one suspected that two young boys could produce such cold-hearted results. These two rivaled even Zechs and Noin in their deadliness, and both boys were feared and sought after.”

Duo sat up with a jerk, mouth open, but Heero signaled him and he subsided into quiet watchfulness.

“He is good, isn’t he, Simon?” commented Azrael. “Instant obedience, no questions, eyes always on his master. He was very well trained.”

“What has this all got to do with Duo and myself?” Heero asked, settling back and relaxing. Duo, without seeming to, watched his every subtle move, senses heightened, every part of his being stretched tight like a bow string, ready to snap. And he waited, unmoving.

“Did you ever wonder about what happened to your guild? How a master such as Treize could be taken down like that?” asked Simon. “Your guild had two of the best assassin pairs, several excellent single assassins, some of the best mercs money could hire and plenty of shock troops at the snap of a finger. How could that all come crashing down in one night?”

Heero shrugged. He had wondered, but more of his time and thoughts had been focused on finding Duo. Duo was all that had mattered, not the guild, nor anyone in it. Truth be told, he had been glad to be free of the guild that had claimed his soul from an early age, trained and shaped his life and personality into the ruthless, cold individual he now was. It had been the introduction of the frightened, indigo-eyed boy, Duo Maxwell, into his life that had brought a trace of humanity back into his being. It was Duo who had thawed his frozen heart. It was to Duo and only to Duo that he felt any loyalty or caring. The rest mattered not at all to him.

“For such a small guild, with so few people, it was very powerful, rivaling even the largest and most powerful. Your guild master stood to become the most powerful and influential person in the entire region,” continued Azrael. “No one wanted a man like Treize being in power behind the scenes. Who knew what he would do? Look what he did with you and your sextoy, Duo. Did you know that you two were an experiment? Were expendable if you didn’t work out? But he succeeded beyond his wildest expectations. You two were invincible. Of course you, and he, had to be stopped.

“It was a combined and concentrated effort to get your entire guild involved in that single operation on that particular night, leaving your guild house and master virtually defenseless. If you and Duo had succeeded in your objective, everything would have come out differently, but they stopped you before you ever got to your target and wiped your people out almost to the last man.”

“We knew you survived, and we kept tabs on you, discretely, not wanting to lose track of such a talented young man as yourself,” said Simon. “Zechs, as you know, made it out and a young man named Jimmy. None of the shock troops made it out alive, they were completely decimated, and only a few of the mercs got out. We don’t know what happened to Noin, and we couldn’t find any evidence as to whether Duo was alive or not. We looked, we spared no expense. Finally, we figured he would come to you, if there was any possible way.”

“We were pleased when you met Quatre and he brought you into the company. He was unaware of your background or of any affiliation you might have had with your guild,” said Azrael. “He met and liked you for yourself. He chose you to be his friend, invited you into his circle of closest friends, in fact, on your own merit. We were happy that he made your chance acquaintance and were even happier that he brought you into the company. It made our job much easier. Now we only had to wait for Mrs Yuy to come to you.”

“We had no doubts that he would,” said Simon. “Someone with his conditioning and training had to. If he lived, he’d be driven to seek you out, no matter what. It was just a matter of time. And our time and patience was amply rewarded. Duo Maxwell is everything we had been led to believe he was. More, in fact. He is fantastic. And now, he is ours.”

“He’s mine,” stated Heero in no uncertain terms.

“Of course,” replied Simon. “I only meant that figuratively. You are two of our most valuable employees, next to my son, of course. None in this company have higher regard from us then you two.”

“Then why the deception? Why the subterfuge? Why not just tell me what you wanted from me? Were you afraid I’d say no because of Duo?” Heero asked.

“Quite frankly, yes. That is the only weak point,” admitted Azrael. “That you love him so much. He’s more then just the sextoy possession he was intended to be to you, and that’s what we need for this ploy to work: a sextoy.”

Duo flinched visibly at those words, but the only one who noticed was Heero. The other two men were too intent on Heero's reaction to these revelations. After all, it really came down to what he thought about all of it.

“Why Duo? Why not some other ‘sextoy’,” asked Heero, making the word seem distasteful.

“Please, excuse the word. It’s not really an appropriate way to refer to Duo, I know,” said Simon. “He is much more that that, we know. But it comes down to this: ultimately, they want the Winner heir out of the picture. And they will go to any lengths to accomplish this goal. Without Master Quatre, the girls are easy to manipulate. And they won’t move on him unless they are 100% sure of success. So we need to draw them out. He needs to be seen in a vulnerable position, momentarily unprotected. There needs to be a very minute window of opportunity, when Trowa is not in attendance.

“The only time and place where he would be assumed to be unprotected would be in the bed and arms of another man.”

“You still didn’t answer me. Why Duo?” asked Heero, holding out an arm for his lover. Duo crawled into his lap, hiding his face, hating to hear himself discussed like this. Heero could feel the tears, now that Duo felt sheltered and safe. He held him protectively, waiting.

“They’re the same ones that went after you ten years ago. The same group that sent Mac after Duo,” stated Azrael. “So, it’s personal for you. We got a lot of useful information from that gentleman before his untimely demise. We suspected the reason for him being here in our company was to watch you. We believe he was also waiting for Mrs Yuy to surface, knowing he would eventually come to you. As you know, we had those whispered threats and took steps to protect Mrs Yuy. We never thought that Mac himself would be the one to go in after him.”

“That, however, worked to our advantage,” said Simon with a small smirk. “We got valuable information that otherwise would still be unknown to us. He made a big mistake that day when he failed to take Duo out immediately. Now we want to rout out the rest of the vipers nest and take off the head of the leader of that group, once and for all.”

“Using Duo as bait again?” asked Heero, softly.

“Quatre is the bait,” Azrael reminded him. “Duo is there to sweeten the pot, so to speak. The two of them, together alone, distracted by each other? The prefect window of opportunity. But only if perfectly choreographed and orchestrated, then played out to it’s fullest.”

“Explain,” said Heero, flatly. Duo shivered at the tone, an inadvertent sob escaping from him.

“Shhh… It’s okay, baby. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise,” Heero whispered softly. Duo nodded mutely.

“Duo is the only one Trowa would leave Quatre alone with. We also know that Quatre disapproves of my, shall we say, flirtations. Any attention that I might pay to Mrs Yuy would only serve to draw his eye in Mrs Yuy’s direction. After that, Mrs Yuy’s natural charm and fascination would take over. We think that if Quatre is around Duo, the two will relax with each other enough to allow this ploy to work,” explained Azrael. “Then it’s only a matter of getting them into bed together. We know that one of the maids in the house is being blackmailed to pass on any information about what occurs within the household. It would be easy to send out the, ah, disinformation, about Quatre's interest in Duo.”

“Duo and Quatre, in bed together,” said Heero, flatly, a dangerous glint in his eye.

“They don’t need to actually have sex,” said Simon. “In fact, we would prefer that they don’t. We want Duo completely focused on one thing and one thing only: protecting the heir of Winner Enterprises. Duo will be our last line of defense. He is what will ultimately stand between life and death for Master Quatre, because we can’t even have them in Master Quatre's reinforced room. They know all about the security measures on that room. They might not feel the opportunity was right.”

“Duo needs to take Quatre to bed in your room, Heero, in your bed. Alone, no one else in the house, just the two of them,” said Azrael, finally stating exactly what they wanted.

Heero bowed his head over Duo's mulling over all that he had been told so far. Idly, his fingers played with the end of Duo's braid. They sat together, unmoving, except for Heero's fingers, for many long moments.

Neither Simon nor Azrael spoke, simply sitting with their hands clasped together. It was out of their hands now. All of the cards had been laid on the table and the ball was in Heero's court, so to speak. Now they waited to see if he would return it, or if he would just let it fly by. Silence stretched on and still, no one spoke.

Finally, Heero dropped Duo's braid and took his chin in his hand. He tipped Duo's face up and looked into the red rimmed indigo eyes for a minute, before giving him a soft kiss on the lips. He smiled at his lover and was rewarded by a return smile. He hugged Duo tightly to himself, his love evident in his every move.

“May I have some privacy to talk to Duo?” he requested.

“By all means. Take as long as you need. Simon and I will be in my office. Please, let us know what you decide, and Heero, we will respect your decision, no matter what it is,” said Azrael, standing. They departed, leaving the two young men alone.

“Well, babe?” asked Heero.

“Sextoy?” countered Duo. “I’m your sextoy?”

“Of course,” responded Heero. “But you are also my wife. Or does my ring mean nothing to you?”

“You hit me!” said Duo, outraged.

“I had to, babe. They had to know just who and what they were dealing with,” Heero explained.

“But you hit me!” Duo said again.

“It was a visual thing. They had to see it,” said Heero, patiently. “I’ll make it up to you. Anything you want.”

“Anything?” asked Duo, a sudden gleam in his eyes.

“Almost. I’ll want to know just what it is you want before I agree to it,” Heero qualified.

“That’s not fair,” Duo quibbled.

“Sorry, babe. It’s the best I can do,” Heero apologized.

“Fine. We’ll discuses that after we do this job,” said Duo darkly.

“You’ll do this?” Heero asked.

“He’s your friend. How can we not protect him?” asked Duo, shocked. “We have to.”

“Sextoy,” Heero reminded him.

“Yeah, whatever,” retorted Duo. “That’s what you think about me anyway!”

“But a very expensive, irreplaceable toy,” said Heero. “And one that I’m loath to loan out. You know how I feel about other men touching you.”

“It’s work, Heero Yuy,” said Duo adamantly. “If I have to seduce that brat and drag him to my bed to save his life, then that’s what’s going to happen. You just be sure to get there before I have to die for him.”

“You got it, babe,” said Heero, a slow smile creeping across his face. “I’ll do whatever it takes, just you be careful. I value your pretty hide, and want to keep it intact. Sextoys aren’t much fun when they don’t function properly.”

Duo made a strangled noise of outrage and launched himself at Heero, managing to sink his teeth into Heero's shoulder before Heero could fend him off. A couple of well placed smacks on his ass made him loosen his hold, and Heero pinned him back on the couch, dropping his head down to claim Duo's mouth for a long, passionate kiss.

“I love you, Mrs Yuy,” he whispered when they finally broke for air.

“I love you, too, Mr Yuy,” Duo responded. “Now, go tell them we’ll do it and let’s work out the details. Then I want to go shopping. I think I’m going to need some new clothes.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent in detailing the ambush, then Azrael sent the couple out to a nice restaurant for a dinner on the company. Duo agreed to forgo the shopping expedition until the next day in return for a promise of dessert in bed, served by Heero.

~*~

A week later Heero announced that he was moving back to the manse with Duo. His reason was that he had some jobs coming up that he had to attend to by himself and he didn’t want Duo to get lonely while he was away overnight. It seemed a reasonable explanation and nobody questioned it.

And so phase one of the plan to chop off the head of the viper went into effect. Now it was up to Duo to subtly seduce Quatre without being too blatant about it. It needed to be small things that a maid might notice in passing and pass on to the people that held her family’s lives in their hands. As a clean up to the operation, the maid’s family would be liberated and relocated with new identities, because no one could blame the woman for wanting to protect her three fatherless children.

~*~

Thanks for reading, hope your visit has been a good one. Please review, I enjoy hearing from you and every word of encouragement makes me want to write more.