Fire in the Hole Part 19
Trowa and Quatre returned shortly after dawn. Trowa looked in on Heero and Wufei, relieved to find them both asleep. Quatre went up to the tower to check on Duo. To his joy he found Duo sitting up in bed.
Duo was still weak and fuzzy-headed, but he made an effort to grin at his friend, and said, "Hey," when Quatre hugged him.
"How'd the mission go?" he asked in a rusty voice, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back.
"Very well. Either of us could have done it alone, but it's nice to have company." Quatre smiled and flashed his lovely eyes at Duo. "And you look much better today."
"I feel much better."
Quatre nodded. "I'm so glad, but I know you. You'll want to go leaping about immediately. Well, you're not going to, you'll only get sick again."
"Yes, sir," agreed Duo meekly. To be honest, he was glad to have someone telling him to be lazy for a while. He wasn't sure he could muster his usual bravado, tired as he still was right now.
"And how were Heero and Wufei?"
"I don't remember seeing them more than once or twice. They were... subdued... and kind of tense, but neither of them seemed angry with me." It seemed as if somebody should be angry with him, he just wasn't sure whom.
"Hmph!" snorted Quatre, blue eyes throwing sparks. "They damn well better not be! None of this is your fault! Look at me, Duo. None of this is your fault," he said firmly.
"Yes, sir," he agreed again and this time he smiled.
"How is he?" asked Trowa when Quatre came down the stairs.
"Much better. He just needed to rest without stress or anxiety." He stepped into the circle of Trowa's arms with a sigh. "I can't believe I didn't foresee this. I should have known! I was such an idiot!"
"But it's working itself out, little one. Not that what happened between the three of them was a good thing, but it cleared the air between Duo and Heero. It made Heero examine his own feelings and admit to them."
"There is that," Quatre admitted, his voice muffled against Trowa's chest. "The only other problem might be if Duo chooses the wrong one."
"But which is the wrong one?"
Quatre looked up. "Wufei?" he said tentatively.
"Is he?" countered Trowa.
"Oh, shit."
~*~
Duo looked up from eating breakfast two days later to cast surreptitious glances at Heero and Wufei. He wasn't angry with either of them any more, wasn't sure if he ever had been. Mostly he remembered feeling sick and exhausted and frightened. But he remembered Heero telling him that he loved him; that he was a fool for ever driving Duo away, and that he would do anything, ANYTHING, to regain Duo's trust and love.
The very thought gave him a tingle in his neither region.
On the other hand, Wufei made no secret of his affections from the beginning. Much as Duo tried, he couldn't fit the young Chinese with the title of rapist. Sure, he'd said "no", but without a lot of conviction. And however embarrassing it might be to admit it to himself, he didn't exactly hate forceful men. Sometimes he just liked giving up all control. So he couldn't blame it all on Wufei.
At that moment Wufei looked up, his dark eyes catching Duo's for just an instant. Duo blinked and looked down quickly, knowing that his face was flaming. Wufei was an extremely forceful man...
~*~
Quatre watched Duo watching Heero and Wufei. ::Which one does he favor? I felt it when he looked at Heero; the feeling is still there. But now he's blushing from meeting Wufei's look, and I feel THAT, too! I can't believe this is all my fault! What was I thinking?! Was I thinking at all?!::
He blinked and looked down at Trowa's hand resting on his leg. He slid his own hand under Trowa's and sighed as his love gave it a squeeze. Trowa didn't say a lot, but he observed and thought about what he saw, and he knew a great deal more about a great many things than most people realised. Trowa said it would all work out; he had to trust in that.
Heero caught the exchange between Duo and Wufei. His heart almost stopped when Duo blushed. That was no flush of anger or indignity; Duo only blushed like that when he was intrigued by something. Or someone.
::No, no, no! Not him! Please god, angel darling, not Wufei!::
He had a brief flash of himself years from now, smiling wretchedly as the happy couple exchanged vows, as proud new parents, as a family, with himself always on the fringe as the loser, the "best man", the godparent, "Uncle" Heero. He whimpered faintly, wrenching himself away from that nightmarish future.
Wufei felt something and flicked his eyes up just in time to catch Duo's glance. Duo looked away quickly, but not before he'd begun to color. Wufei blinked. Duo... blushing?
::For... me? Is he flirting? After all I've done, the harm I've caused? He IS absolutely stunning. This is killing Heero... What if Duo chooses me? I hadn't thought of that... What would I do? How do I really feel about him? Damn...::
Duo... Forever... The thought made him twitch and he dropped his knife with a clatter. All eyes turned his way. To cover his embarrassment he glared at them. Everyone returned to their food.
Duo finished first and excused himself to lie down for a while. Quatre followed, ostensibly to see that he didn't get light-headed on the stairs.
As soon as the door closed, Wufei and Heero glared at each other.
"Gentlemen..." warned Trowa softly. "Don't even think about it."
They glared at him.
"You've done enough harm to him, both of you. Just let him be. You'll know his feelings when he decides to tell you." He got up to pour himself another cup of coffee. "And stop sneaking around spying on him."
Both young men erupted in angry protests, but Trowa held up a silencing hand. "Glass," he said enigmatically, and walked out of the room.
Heero and Wufei stared after him. "What the hell was that all about?" muttered Wufei.
Heero glanced at the table, at the empty juice glass next to his plate. "Glass?!"
They looked at each other, forgetting for the moment to glare.
TBC...
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