The Variable
Part 28
by Artemis
When Duo left the science building in the early evening it was sprinkling. He decided to stop at the corner grocer's for a few items before heading back to his apartment. He was feeling alive again and it surprised him just how much tension he had been carrying all day. Damn, he would have to remember not to drink margaritas! Maybe tomorrow he would stop at the little boutique that sold postcards and find one to send to Heero.
In the grocery store he put a half carton of eggs, milk, box of pasta, and a chocolate bar in his basket. There were a couple other customers, but no one was checking out, so Duo chatted with the owner.
"This combination will make a strange dinner," the man said as he rang up the order.
Duo laughed. "The pasta is dinner and the chocolate is dessert. The rest is for tomorrow."
"I thought maybe you had some new recipe you were trying out."
"Not tonight. I'm gonna make a big bowl of pasta, sprinkle it with olive oil and parmesan and kick back to watch the storm."
"Yeah? Sounds like we could get a lot of lightning and rain."
Another customer approached and Duo stepped aside, and said goodnight. He didn't want to get caught in a downpour. He shoved his bagged groceries into his messenger bag and headed toward the door, noticing the newspaper rack just as he was about to exit the store. The headlines of one paper read: Bremen Enterprises Tops List of Best Employers. He wondered for the hundredth time if he was living in the Twilight Zone. Maybe he had gone nuts along the way and none of that had happened. He shook his head, not wanting to read further, and double timed it back to his second floor apartment.
He dragged his ass up the flight of stairs and realized how tired he was. His schedule was exhausting and his restlessness growing. He unlocked the door and pushed it open with his hip. The opening of the door caused a surprising whoosh of air current. He closed and bolted the door behind him and padded into the kitchenette. He could afford a bigger, nicer apartment, but this suited him fine. He had a great view of a wooded courtyard out back and a century's old oak in front of the building, and the place was cozy and close to campus.
The messenger bag was flopped onto the table and then he cringed, remembering the eggs. "Damn it!"
He opened the flap and peeked inside, pulling out the egg carton first. He had cracked only one egg and it wasn't enough to worry about. That'd be the first one he'd scramble in the morning. With his groceries put away, Duo set the water to boil on the stove. He grabbed the block of fresh parmesan from the fridge and used his cheese knife to slice it thin enough to melt on the hot pasta.
Another whoosh of cool storm air filled the room. He looked up, not recalling that he had left a window open. He put the knife down and went into the living room. Nope, those windows were closed and locked. In the bedroom he found the culprit. The jealousy window was cranked open. He scratched his head. Well, he was drunk last night, so maybe he opened it and hadn't noticed this morning. His hangover had left him cross-eyed most of the morning, but plenty of coffee and Tylenol shook off the symptoms.
He noted that the screen was on crooked like it wasn't set completely in the window frame. He gave it a little push and it popped into place. Turning the crank, he closed the window before the rain blew in with the wind. A thunder clap in the distance reminded him that he wanted to have his dinner while watching the storm's light show. Of course, every time the weather man predicted a storm it blew over. It was the ones they didn't warn you about that got you good.
He pivoted on the heel of his shoe and headed back to the kitchen. As he crossed the threshold into the living room he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked across the darkened room, the only light coming from the kitchen. Had a mouse gotten in through the open screen? Just then the floor creaked behind him, scaring a year off his life. He spun around to face the source of the sound and froze. His eyes widened as he stared at his unexpected visitor.
"Heero," he said with a gasp.
Heero stood just paces away head-to-toe in black spandex and paramilitary boots. Just like Duo had seen him in mission gear before except this time, Duo was the mission.
"I guess the code got through," Duo said.
"Yes, it did."
"And you're the Grim Reaper I was warned about."
"That's right."
Duo swallowed hard. He had foolishly let his guard down, thinking that in his drunken stupor last night he had not successfully sent the code. It seemed the Project had merely wanted him to believe that he had failed. Now he was faced with a reality he both wanted and dreaded.
Heero stared at him, his features cast in shadow and his eyes unreadable behind heavy bangs. The unmistakable silhouette of a gun was strapped to his waist.
"Why did you do it?" Heero asked.
"Aren't you going to kill me?"
"I'd like an answer first."
"Oh, a moment's reprieve," Duo said, trying to sound nonchalant even though it frightened him to the core to be facing Heero like this.
"Why did you attack the system?"
Heero's hands were at his side, but Duo knew he could draw that gun in a split second.
"It was the margaritas. One thing I've learned, never give a drunk access to a supercomputer." Duo laughed, but Heero didn't join him.
"Were you drunk when you sent me that greeting?"
Duo blinked. "Hello, Mr. Kaplan? So, you did get the message? Blondie told me you were on a mission and too busy to play."
"I thought you understood the importance of the Project."
"Yeah, I do," Duo said, sagely.
"Then why, Duo? You knew the consequences and you did it anyway. I never took you for someone with a death wish."
Hearing his name spoken on Heero's lips sent a shiver through Duo. God, he wished the lighting was better in here so he could see his face more clearly, look into Heero's dark blue eyes one last time.
"Because this ain't living out here," Duo said.
"But it's what you wanted. You were given your freedom back."
Duo snorted. "You can't give freedom that wasn't yours to take!" His face burned remembering how it felt waking to a locked room and his arms bound behind him.
Heero sighed, and Duo feared this interview was over. They could argue about this all night, but it wasn't going to change the fact that Duo had stepped over the line and had to be erased. He flinched as Heero stepped closer.
"I wasn't the one who kidnapped you," Heero said in an even tone. "I didn't want you that way."
"Then you should've released me right away!"
"You know that wasn't possible. God, how many times do I have to tell you? I wanted you willing. The way you came to me was a mistake, but I tried to make it work. Damn it Duo, I was the only reason you stayed alive. And now..."
"Yeah, now my time's up."
Heero nodded, but there was a distinct frown on his lips. "I had hoped I would never see you again." He unsnapped the leather strap that held the gun in place at his thigh. "Because I knew this would be how we would meet."
A hiss and splash sounded from the direction of the kitchen. The water had boiled over on the stove, spilling onto the gas flame. Duo instinctively turned to tend to it.
"Leave it," Heero said, sharply.
He looked back to see Heero attaching a cylindrical-shaped metallic tube onto the barrel of the gun. "Fuck," Duo said, his mouth going dry. "You really intend to shoot me, don't you?"
"We struck a deal... you, me and Treize. I thought you'd forget me and the Project and go on with your life, but Treize wasn't convinced you wouldn't become a threat. That's why the only way I could negotiate your freedom was to agree to kill you if you stepped out of line."
Duo shook his head. This was too much information at once. "You negotiated my release? Why would you do that?"
The cylinder locked into place on the gun, and Heero held it down at his side. He looked to Duo, his face unreadable again. "Because you were unhappy. Now, no more questions."
Duo gaped at the man before him. "W-what did you say?"
"No more questions."
He shook his head. "No, that wasn't it..."
Heero disengaged the safety. "This isn't about what either one of us wants. It's about a deal we had... and you broke."
"God, listen to yourself!" Duo's head swirled. "You don't even know what I want. Hell, I didn't know what I wanted until it was too late. That's why I hacked into the system. I knew they'd send you! I wanted to see you again! I wanted to know if I got under your skin the way you got under mine. And that makes me the chump of the century."
Heero's brow knitted and he stepped a little closer, the light from the kitchen falling on one side of his face. He was an arm's length away, and looking dangerously sexy and deadly.
"I got under your skin?"
The question sent goosebumps over Duo. "Y-yeah."
Heero's eyes narrowed. It was like he didn't trust what he was hearing. But with minutes, maybe only seconds left of his life Duo figured why not put it all out there?
"You think I'm trying to buy time? Hell, if I wanted time I wouldn't have dialed your number! Man, this story is so rich it should be a romance novel - guy falls for spy who made him a sex slave. Oh, but you don't read romance novels---" His confession was stopped short when he heard a click. His face paled thinking it was the trigger cocking. He looked down at the gun and saw Heero's thumb in motion. The safety was back in place. He lifted his eyes to Heero's. "What does that mean?"
"You tell me, Duo. You just said that our story belongs in a romance novel."
"Yeah, but I didn't mean I had sold the rights... It's so far fetched no one would believe it anyway. I can barely believe it." He laughed nervously, his heart pounding in his ears. "I can't have you. I know that. You've got your world and I'm out here... well, not for much longer... but even when you pull that trigger I'm not gonna be over you. The joke's on me, 'cause I fell for you, Heero. Fell hard in love. But we never could've been happy living
like---"
Heero swooped in, taking Duo in his arms in an instant, and covering his mouth in a powerful kiss. Duo's eyes went wide and his heart beat wildly. His body froze with Heero's touch. He didn't understand this aggressive, passionate touch, not in these circumstances. One of Heero's hands was on the back of his neck holding him pressed to the kiss, while the other hand, the one with the gun, was on Duo's back, the feel of cold metal sending a chill through him. When Heero broke away with a soft pop of the pressure of their lips releasing, Duo gasped.
"You gonna fuck me before you kill me?" he asked, stunned.
"No, damn it. I'm going to make love to you."
"W-what---"
Once again, Duo's words were cut-off. Heero's arms were around him, pulling their bodies together. Cl-clunk went the gun onto the wood floor. Duo's mind raced, swirling with the juxtaposition of this scene. What was happening? He tried to turn his face away to break contact, to ask Heero what this meant, but Heero's kiss was relentless. Fierce. He knew from experience that Heero was in peak physical condition, but he couldn't remember Heero ever holding him like this, like he was about to snap Duo in two or swallow him whole.
Somehow he managed to get his hands on Heero's collar bone and pressed his thumbs into the cavity as hard as he could. Heero growled and stepped back.
"What are you doing?" Heero asked, panting like a lion in the midst of his attack.
"I could ask you the same thing. What the fuck, Heero? You show up here to kill me and now you want to make love? That's sick!"
Heero laughed. "God, I've missed you, Duo."
"I'm sure you have missed all that regular sex." He was incensed. Heero was laughing? Toying with him before the kill? "I told you how I felt, because I've got nothing to lose, but I sure as hell don't want a pity fuck before you pick up that gun and finish the job."
"I won't be picking up that gun again at least not to kill you." Heero's hands slid up Duo's arms to cup his face. "Listen to me, Duo. I want to make love to you, because I am in love with you. I have been for a long time."
"You love me?" Duo asked, bewildered.
Heero nodded.
They looked into each other's eyes, both breathing hard like feral stallions on the range. The truth packed a wallop of a punch. But what had Duo done? If his impetuous actions had consequences, then so would Heero's failure to complete this mission.
"We can't live in the same world," Duo said, feeling Heero's breath on his lips.
"You were saying that you love me, right?"
Duo nodded, but he was scared as hell. Maybe more scared than he'd been when Heero was holding that gun.
"Then we're the same you and I." Heero held Duo's face, but the tension had eased and he caressed one of Duo's cheeks with his thumb. "We both realized how we felt too late. I was in Treize's office negotiating your release when the realization struck. But it wasn't fair to keep you any longer when I never had the right to keep you in the first place."
Duo was stunned. This is what he had hoped for even when he was a captive. He had wanted to believe that they could love each other. Now he was learning just how deep Heero's feelings ran, and that he had let Duo go at the very moment he wanted him the most.
"Shit, Heero. What a mess we've made of things."
"No," Heero said, brushing his lips over Duo's. "We haven't made a mess yet."
Duo grinned and it felt so good it turned into a genuine smile. "Let's make love and worry about the rest tomorrow."
"Roger that," Heero said with a smile.
Maybe it was a mistake, but Duo didn't care anymore. He loved this man and all he wanted was this night, to have Heero back in his arms and for the first time truly share what they felt for each other.
The kiss they shared next was in mutual delight, lips coming together and mouths opening to let each other in. If it was possible to die from a kiss this was it, Duo thought as he put himself wholeheartedly into this reunion.
He curled his hands around Heero's biceps, covered in the black spandex. Heero was hard, fluid muscle and Duo desperately wanted to be reminded of what his body could do. He stepped back toward the bedroom, pulling Heero with him. The movement was enough to break the kiss. Heero smiled again as he caressed Duo's cheek with his lips, and let Duo take his hand to lead the way.
"Wait," Heero said, suddenly.
Duo froze, looking on him with wide eyes. "Don't tell me you've changed your mind?"
"Don't you smell it?" Heero's nose went up in the air like a hound dog.
Duo sniffed, too. "My dinner!"
He let go of Heero's hand and darted into the kitchen. The water that had boiled over had doused the flame, putting gas fumes into the air. He shut the stove off and turned to rush back to Heero only to bump into him in the doorway.
Heero chuckled. "Emergency averted?"
"Yeah," Duo said, wiping his brow dramatically. "That got my heart pumping."
"And I didn't?" Heero smirked. His hands came forward, resting briefly on Duo's hips and then sliding up his sides.
Duo stepped into the touch and their lips met in a passionate kiss. The magnetism between them was still there, only stronger after the long separation. Heero pulled Duo back toward the bedroom, kissing and touching until they stepped into the room. Duo reached for the lamp on the dresser, but a flash of lightning made it clear that they had plenty to illuminate their love making.
"Is that how you got in?" Duo asked, nodding to the window across from the bedroom door.
"Yeah. Impressed?" Heero asked as he took the reins of this operation and guided Duo onto the bed.
"Don't spies use doors these days?"
Heero chuckled. "Too obvious," he said as he kissed Duo's neck. "And the sightline of the window was concealed by the trees."
"I would've liked to see you climb one of those trees." Duo chuckled and tilted his head back as he enjoyed Heero's tongue running over his Adam's apple. "I had no idea you were such a little monkey."
"Don't call me that."
"No?" Duo asked, playfully.
"No." Heero's tone seemed harsh until he lifted his head and Duo saw the twinkle in his eyes.
"But I can call you Mr. Kaplan, right?" He grinned.
Heero grinned, too. "At your service."
They were lying on the bed, their bodies touching from head to toe, their lips finding each other in kisses as fierce as Heero's had been. It seemed an impossible dream to be lying together, but with each touch, Duo wakened to the reality. Heero was here. Heero loved him.
Duo's hands glided over the spandex that clung so sensually to Heero's body. "You must be hot in this."
"I am now," Heero said, nipping along Duo's jawline.
He had seen Heero in a bodysuit once before in the Project's training salle. It had made him crazy to follow Heero as he walked with that confident gait of his, buttocks and thighs defined so clearly in the fabric's embrace. Duo's hands cupped Heero's ass now, squeezing, letting his fingers slide between Heero's thighs. Maybe someday soon he would ask... That is, if they survived the consequences of this rebellion.
Heero leaned up on his hands, his body held apart from Duo. He nodded to the mostly concealed zipper at his throat, and Duo reached for the pull. The soft zwip of the zipper gliding down to reveal Heero's naked torso was enough for Duo to harden fully. He couldn't resist slipping his hands between the fabric and Heero's skin. It was hot in there, but the fabric breathed and was designed to keep Heero comfortable. So, the extra heat had to be Heero's pistons working overtime.
Sitting back on his heels, Heero stripped off the spandex from his upper body. Duo was mesmerized seeing him like this again, so beautiful and perfect in the storm's light. Neither one of them wanted to waste time. They stripped out of their clothes and then knelt on the bed, facing each other, erections bumping together.
Hands traveled over naked skin as they admired each other in the semi-darkness. Then hands settled on behinds and the grinding began. Lips met, nipping, licking, tongues searching for each other.
"I missed you," Duo said, bending his head to kiss Heero's shoulder. "I can't believe you're here."
Heero lifted Duo's chin with his hand so their eyes could meet. "I would've come sooner had I known..."
Duo nodded. "Had you known that I love you?"
"Yes."
"God..." Duo closed his eyes and felt Heero's arms surround him. He was guided onto his back on the bed and covered with Heero's body. Duo's face warmed, flush with need. He leaned up to take Heero's lips in a possessive, eager kiss. "I gotta have you, Heero."
Hoping that his fantasy would become real, Duo had purchased lubricant at the pharmacy in town. He nodded to the night stand.
Heero looked over and saw the tube sitting there. "Should I ask?"
"It's for you... There hasn't been anyone else."
There was a rumbling deep within Heero's throat as he reached for the lubricant. He nestled between Duo's legs, causing Duo to mewl with the delicious memory of their couplings. Two slicked fingers pressed to Duo's opening and impatiently slipped inside.
"Ah," Duo cried out. It had been a long time, but it was good to feel Heero there again, fingers stroking him, knowingly.
"Shh," Heero said as he kissed him deeply.
It relaxed Duo further, making him meld to Heero's touch, to the curve of his body and the beat of his heart. Very soon the fingers withdrew, and Duo wanted his chance to touch Heero. He squeezed the tube and the warming gel covered his hand. He reached for Heero's hard sex, wrapping his fingers around it. His hand slid up and down, sending ripples through his own yearning cock and shivers through Heero.
"Yes," Heero said with a long, low moan. His lips brushed Duo's, sending the moan as a vibration through Duo as well.
"Oh, God... Heero." All the sensations were dizzying from having been deprived for so long. Duo was certain they might devour each other from the great need to be together.
Heero grabbed Duo's hand, taking it from his cock and placing it on his chest with a smile. "I need to be inside you to know this is real."
So, Heero was experiencing this dreamlike state, too.
Duo scooted forward to give Heero the best position. The head of Heero's cock pressed to Duo's opening, holding it there... hesitating. Heero looked into Duo's eyes.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said. "But I don't think I can hold back tonight."
Duo nodded. "I don't want you to hold back, 'cause I'm not going to hold back either."
Heero pressed more firmly. His cock slipped inside for that long slide to sheath himself completely and join them as lovers again. They moaned into each other's mouths and kissed sealing and creating a bond.
True to his word, Heero didn't hold back. His passion poured from him as he pushed into Duo, hard, deep thrusts that quickly built to an enthusiastic pace. Heero grunted and moaned, vocalizing his pleasure as much as Duo vocalized his.
Duo gripped Heero's ass enjoying how the cheeks tightened with each thrust. There was an incredible possessive quality to this lovemaking as though each was claiming the other as his mate - once and for all. The floor creaked beneath the bed, creaked with the steady rhythm of hot, needy sex. Duo had noticed creaks in the floor before, but never in here. He'd never done anything this energetic to get a creak out of these sturdy oak floors. All it had taken was for Heero to show up and pounce him, fuck him with his depth charge, turn him inside out. Pound his ass into the mattress and through the floor if he liked.
Tonight, their lips constantly found each other, sometimes in a kiss and sometimes merely brushing together. It was as if each kiss re-ignited their connection. Duo's hands skimmed up Heero's back to nestle in his hair. He loved to hang on by gripping that muss of hair. Loved the feel of the short hair at the back of Heero's neck, and to breathe the musky scent of an alpha male needing to be sated and tamed.
Heero embraced Duo tightly, wrapping his arms around the base of Duo's back. His thrusts came harder and faster, and were powerful once again.
"Yeah... harder," Duo said, moaning with the continual thrust of the hardness inside. It was incredible to feel Heero hot and hard for him, filling him completely.
The orgasms arrived all at once, in a rush. One second Duo's was tingling in his toes and then it was spurting from him and between their bellies. Heero's followed closely as his body tensed and he climaxed with a shout. "Duo!" He held his body up, still moving, still hard, seeming unwilling to stop.
When a drop of sweat from Heero's brow landed on Duo's cheek, it was time to calm his lover. Duo caressed Heero's back. "Easy, big fella."
Heero groaned. "I could keep going all night."
"Making up for lost time, huh?" Duo chuckled.
"Guess so." Heero relaxed, nestling into his arms.
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