Smells Like Teen Spirit
by Link Worshiper

(x) X (x)

Game 53
The Righteous and the Wicked

(x) X (x)

“You are probably the most impatient person on the face of the planet,” Heero commented, leaning back on the bench. His feet were kicked up on the lowest rung of the boardwalk's wooden guardrail, his arms spread out on either side of him on top of the bench's back as his eyes tracked Duo's movement back and forth on top of the guardrail. He found it amusing to just watch Duo in his natural element, intrigued by the way the braided mechanic could keep such perfect balance while being in such an agitated state. It certainly highlighted Duo's more feline qualities.

“I am not impatient,” Duo asserted, pausing in his track up and down the guardrail. “I'm just a little anxious, that's all.”

Perched high above Heero in the dying sunset, with the wide ocean crashing behind him and his braid flipping all over the place in the sea breeze, Duo was quite the sight--one that Heero couldn't help but shake his head at.

“And I am not funny!” Duo snapped in addition, gesturing wildly with one arm. The jerky movement almost made Duo lose his balance, and he teetered for a few moments, flinging his arms out on either side to regain it.
Heero just laughed at him.

With a huff, Duo blew his long bangs out of his eyes, his hands on his hips. The low tones of Heero's chuckles and the ocean were actually quite soothing, and Duo was easily able to relax a bit. Leaping off the guardrail, he landed on the wooden planks of the boardwalk with a hollow thunk, and then flopped down on the bench beside his lover. Hands folded on his stomach, he slouched low on the bench and rolled his head in Heero's direction. “You know, I really don't get you sometimes, 'Ro,” he said.

“Well, I don't get you all the time either,” Heero said frankly, his dark blue eyes darting over towards Duo. “So there.”

“You're a weird guy, you know that?” Duo countered, just for the sake of hearing what Heero would say to that.

“You too,” he replied.

Duo supposed he should have expected that.

“Quite the pair we make,” Heero commented, casually raking a hand through his thick, spiky bangs.

Duo hoped he wasn't being too conspicuous with the way he was openly entranced by even Heero's slightest of mannerisms. “Yeah,” he whispered, liking the way the sunset painted big, golden streaks on Heero's cheek and around the edge of his profile. Whether it was the light or the mood, Duo wasn't sure, but he was suddenly struck with the impossible need to kiss Heero right then. Twisting himself around, he draped one arm over the back of the bench and reached for Heero's chin with his other hand, two of his fingers dancing across the pulse under Heero's jaw.

Neither really had to say anything anymore, their communication now on a completely instinctive level. Duo guided Heero's lips a bit closer to his, tilting his head slightly. Just as their mouths were about to meet, Heero hummed softly, “All that matters is love. Love... your love.” The corners of Duo's mouth twitched upwards, parting his lips just slightly, as if he wanted to swallow the words.

“Duo~o!”

The shout broke the spell, and Duo crinkled his nose in annoyance as he glared over his shoulder. Running towards them was Hilde, the person they had been waiting for. Pressing her pink hat to her head, she raced toward the bench, her feet pounding on the creaky boardwalk. Duo rolled his eyes and groaned, thrice damning his luck. Of course she would show up just as he was about to taste one of Heero's kisses.

Whether or not Heero was annoyed at the interruption would forever remain a secret, as he immediately switched into his businesslike manner as Hilde came to a breathless halt beside their bench. “Did you manage to get in touch with him?” he asked simply.

“Yeah,” she heaved as she fought to breathe normally. Dashing halfway across town had really taken quite a toll on her respiratory system. She groped through the pockets of her jeans and produced a tattered, folded piece of notebook paper. “Here,” she said, presenting it to the pair. “It took a couple connections and had to pass through quite a few hands, but there it is.”

Heero snatched the paper from her hand with frighteningly efficient accuracy, the sudden movement of his hand startling both Duo and Hilde slightly. He hastily unfolded the paper and looked down at it, his eyes scanning and memorizing the information there before he handed it to his partner. “Good work,” he said to her with an approving nod. Satisfied that she had done her job, he was more willing to hear details. “Was it a lot of work?”

“Sort of, kind of, not really,” she said with a shrug.

“How was your old friend?” Duo asked, his eyes on the paper.

“Fine,” said Hilde with a nod. “And he got the guy he works with to find some buddy of his, who in turn went off to talk to an old girlfriend, who was going out with someone else who was still in with those old Sweepers.”

“And Howard was still with them?” Duo queried, looking up at his friend and folding the paper again.

“Actually, no,” she said, leaning against the guardrail. “Howard left to start his own garage a few years ago, but he's since retired--apparently, he was complaining his back couldn't take the stress anymore. In any case, he still keeps in touch with all those guys with the Sweepers business. They were able to find his address easily.”

“See, 'Ro? What'd I tell you?” Duo said, turning to Heero with a grin as he pocketed the paper with Howard's address on it. “It's all about knowing where to look and who to talk to.”

“I never doubted you,” Heero said with a shrug. He paused thoughtfully, and then asked, “But who are these Sweeper people you're talking about?”

“Oh, they're a group of local mechanics that Howard had rallied together way back when,” explained Duo. “When I had nowhere to go after White Fang ditched me, it was them who helped kinda give me some direction. Taught me all I know about cars and stuff, and well, the rest, as they say, is history.”

“Ah, so that's how you know this Howard so well,” Heero mused with a sage nod, his fingers curled beneath his chin. Once again, he was silent and contemplative before speaking again. Looking up at Hilde, he asked, “Is that address where he normally lives, or just where we'll find him?”

She just shrugged helplessly. “I delivered what they gave me. I honestly don't know.”

“I, for one, honestly can't imagine Howard owning his own digs,” Duo commented, twiddling the tail of his braid around his long fingers. “Anyway, I think we should just scope it out first, then figure out what we're gonna do.” He paused, watching Heero's profile for any signs of a differing opinion, but Heero seemed to be in agreement with Duo so far. Duo then asked, “Are Wu-cakes and the Tro-meister gonna be in on this scheme too?”

“I would gather as much,” Heero responded casually, pulling his legs up onto the bench and hugging them close to his chest. He rested his chin on top of his knees.

Duo then turned to Hilde, saying, “What about you, sister?”

“Oh, no, not me,” she said, waving her hands in front of her face. “I've done my part for you, pal. I feel like I'd be a burden anyway.”

Duo beat the back of his hand with the end of his braid, one of his legs jiggling restlessly. “Well, I suppose that maybe you're right about that,” he said, not intending to be mean, but merely to state the facts. He probably should have expected as much from Hilde anyway; she had always been the type to just go with the flow and hated stirring up trouble if she could help it. That made her pretty easy to hang out with, but sometimes, it didn't quite serve Duo's more explosive impulses.

This is going to be dangerous enough as it is.

“Yeah, tell me about it, Heero,” sighed Duo in response, hanging his head over the back of the bench and staring up at the fluffy, rum-soaked clouds above. His eyes flicked over towards Heero, and from his odd angle, he was just able to make out Heero's rounded, smiling cheeks. “What?” Duo demanded, snapping up. Sometimes, when Heero got that certain smirk on his face, Duo couldn't help but feel he was on the outside of some grand joke at his expense.

“Look, Duo, I know you like talking out loud to yourself and all, but don't drag a sane person like Heero into your personal conversations, okay?” said Hilde with a roll of her eyes. She and Duo may have been excellent friends, but there were many things about the longhaired teen that made absolutely no sense to her. “Keep it between the ears next time, right?”

At Hilde's comment, Duo snapped away from admiring Heero's smile to stare at her awkwardly. “What the crap are you talking about, Hilde?” he said, arching one eyebrow at her. “Heero was just saying something about how uber-dangerous this is gonna be.”

Confusion was apparent on Hilde's face as she tried to figure out what was going on. She stared at Duo for a few seconds, and then flicked her eyes over to Heero, who was still smiling contentedly to himself, like he was thinking of something particularly pleasant. Hell, it didn't even look like he was paying attention to their conversation at all! “Yeah, it sure will be,” she said, turning back to Duo, “if they drag a crack-addict like you along! Really, Duo, I think you're starting to lose your marbles.”

“Sarcasm not appreciated, Hilders,” Duo deadpanned.

“Weirdness not appreciated!” Hilde countered almost immediately.

Duo, just let it be.

At the sound of Heero's voice, Duo turned to his lover and sighed loudly. “Fine, fine, Heero,” he said, slumping his shoulders. “But only because you asked.” He shot a dirty glare over at Hilde, who was mouthing the word 'crazy' at him, while twisting her finger in circles around her temple. “I am not a crack-addict!” he snapped, really starting to lose his patience with Hilde, who just threw her arms over her head in defeat. Duo slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead and dragged it down his face, asking in a pained tone, “Look, man, are you gonna hang around here all day, or are you gonna go over to the Winners' mansion like we'd talked about?”

“Yes, Master and Commander. I'm bringing Dorothy with me, thank you very much,” she said, rolling her eyes yet again. “I figured a smooth-talker like her who's been in with that family for so long would be perfect for getting Mr. Winner to understand what true danger his only son is in.”

“Excellent. You may prove your worth yet,” Duo said with an approving nod of his head. He smacked the tail of his braid into the palm of his hand, as if to finalize the conversation.

“Speaking of which,” Hilde went on, pulling up her left sleeve to glance at her watch, “I'm meeting Dorothy at Gifford's in, like, ten minutes, so I kinda gotta go.”

“Okay, well, good luck with all that,” said Duo, resisting the urge to tell her not to fuck up. Deep in his core, Duo knew how good it was of both Hilde and Dorothy to help out the way they were. Hopefully, Hilde also knew that he meant nothing by his harsh banter. He jarred himself out of his inner thoughts just in time to see Hilde turn away and start to head down the boardwalk in the direction of the ice cream parlour. “Hey, Hilde!” he called after her, causing her to pause in her retreat. “Thanks, you know?”

“Anytime, Duo,” she said with a bright smile, and by that expression, Duo knew that she wasn't offended by anything he had said. She waved and then started walking away again.

You're a real smooth talker, there, Duo.

“In a weird, way, I guess, yeah,” replied Duo. Back turned towards Heero, he was still watching Hilde walk away, waving at her slowly diminishing form as she headed further down the boardwalk.

No, you always were good at talking, that I know. Even when we were kids.

“D'ya really think so?” Duo asked incredulously, whipping around to face Heero, who was now sitting sideways on the bench, one leg folded up beneath his crooked arm. He looked quite peaceful like that, as if there was nowhere in the world he would rather be than right there in that moment.

I know so.

Duo blinked. He was certain he had heard Heero's voice, just as he had been all the while. And yet, he had been sitting there, watching Heero's face, which hadn't moved at all, even as the words filled Duo's head. Not even the slightest twitch or whisper from Heero's mouth, which was simply spread in that ambiguous smile. “Heero?” he queried slowly.
Yes? Once again, no movement of his lips, but the sound of his voice was definitely there.
Duo furrowed his eyebrow and stared intently at Heero, pondering what was going on. “Are you... also a telepathic?”

Not a very strong one, but yeah. The thought flickered through Duo's mind as if it was his own.

“Since when?” Duo asked, crossing his arms and eyeing Heero carefully. “You never told me you were... and you definitely weren't when we were brats!”

Heero laughed, shaking his head a bit, his long bangs swishing in front of his eyes. The sight of Heero laughing like that was always quite a beautiful one; Duo loved the way Heero's flesh crinkled around the corners of his mouth and eyes when he did, the way his nose crinkled just a little and the shape of his lips. “I didn't ever quite know it until recently. It was an accident, really,” Heero admitted, his plush lips still molded into that amused grin. “I started noticing Quatre looking at me strangely from time to time, and he always seemed to come out with things I was sure I'd never said out loud to anyone... so....”

“So you put two and two together, and that's what you concluded?” Duo finished for him. He was now sitting in the same position as Heero, watching him as if he was the most entrancing thing in the entire universe, even more so than the gorgeous sunset painted across the horizon.

“Well, it's not like I just decided I was, but after a little more observation, so to speak, and some tentative experiments, I kind of figured it out,” said Heero with a tiny, almost unnoticeable roll of his eyes. It was small quirks like these that Duo found most attractive about Heero; things that went almost unheeded by most, but were most telling of Heero's every mood.

“Like, what do you mean?” asked Duo.

A faint blush that was almost washed out by the bright orange off the sinking sun coloured Heero's cheeks as he clenched a fistful of his tee shirt. “Like all those dreams you'd been having about your childhood were... my thoughts...” he said quietly, as if he was unsure as to how Duo would react to this piece of information.

Heero's eyes widened slightly when Duo sat up straight, like a great epiphany had overtaken him. “Well, that sure explains a hella lot!” Things suddenly became clear to him, like how he was able to remember events he hadn't even been present at, or why Heero was always lingering somewhere in those memories, even if he was only in the background.

As if in one breath of air, Heero explained quickly, “It's not like I was trying to play with you!” After getting that out, he took a few moments to center himself again and continued in his usual, calm, collected manner. “It was an accident the first, time, really,” he said. “I didn't even know what I was doing until you started telling me what sorts of things you were dreaming. It would be too much of a coincidence if we just happened to be thinking the same things at the exact same time.” He chuckled a little, that sound that Duo never tired of hearing.

Another thing suddenly made sense to Duo, recalling a comment Heero had made when Duo had gotten angry with him for not mentioning their childhood together. “Oh... piss it,” Duo muttered, realizing that he'd been acting rashly yet again as he met Heero's eyes. “You were trying to tell me, weren't you?”

Heero opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out for a few seconds. With a small roll of his shoulders, he finally managed to say, “You know I have trouble talking about things sometimes.... I had no idea how to even begin to approach the subject, if it was really something that you'd care about at all.”

“Well, I can't say I'm the most slack-jawed person about my years as a brat, even if I do think about my past more than I'd ever say,” said Duo thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “I guess I couldn't really expect you to know that.” It was Duo's turn to let out a small chuckle.

“I did know that,” Heero answered easily, his expression hardly flinching. “You don't have to be telepathic to know it either.”

“How d'ya figure that?” Duo baited, actually curious as to what Heero meant, even though his voice was teasing.

Ready with an answer almost immediately, Heero said, “For all the chaos that surrounds you, there certainly is quite a pattern in everything you do.” Seeing that Duo wasn't quite buying that simple explanation, Heero elaborated. “You hold quite the grudge, Duo Maxwell. Woe be to anyone who crosses your path--I would know!” He straightened his bent knee and laid it flat on the seat of the bench, leaning forward and resting his weight on his elbows. “If the past didn't matter to you, then why dwell on it? Just forget it and move on.”

Scratching the back of his neck, Duo stared out at the rolling ocean, which was now dyed dark purple and highlighted with soft, tangerine daubs across the tops of the waves. “Yeah, I guess you're right... as usual,” he sighed, knowing that what Heero said was exactly true. “But, even with people like Solo and all plaguing my mind, my past still is important to me. My past still has people like... like you, Heero.”

Wordlessly, Heero rearranged his body, slipping forward and twisting himself around so he was leaning back against Duo, his legs stretched out across the bench. He toed off his sneakers and socks and let his bare feet hang over the edge, cooled by the comforting night wind. Duo had a way of saying so much, yet revealing so little, that Heero often found himself wondering what Duo truly felt for him. As of late, he had really begun to notice how much Duo had opened up to him, telling him things that Heero knew he would have never exposed even a few weeks before. Despite Duo's seeming unpredictability, Heero found a balance, a stability that made Duo the most normal, real person Heero had ever known. And it was because of that consistency that Heero knew that Duo was still the same cheerful, mischievous, loving child he had known before.

“A past makes a man, doesn't it?” Duo said, trying to be discreet as he slipped an arm around Heero and held him against his side. His long, pale fingers played lazily across Heero's chest, twiddling the cloth of his shirt and toying with its little buttons.

“A past can also break a man,” Heero pointed out, laying his head back upon Duo's shoulder. He could already see the first couple stars beginning to peak out in the dusky sky. “You may laugh a lot, Duo, but you are still--”

“Okay, I know! I'm a broken, weirdo creep,” Duo cut him off a bit abruptly. “I dug my own hole and threw myself in headfirst--I know that! It's just how I am!”

Heero's body heaved with the large breath he took in. “And I know that. I'm not asking you to change, Duo,” he said carefully, folding his hands over his stomach, glad that he could still feel Duo's palm pressed against his chest. “But do you really think it's worth it to bury yourself just for the sake of a few memories?”

“Doing like I have got me you, found you, brought me closer to you,” Duo stated resolutely, his fingers curling into Heero's chest again. “I wouldn't trade a single petty theft or street brawl to change that. I mean... what if I had done even one little thing differently? Would I still have you?”

Lifting a hand, Heero placed it on top of Duo's and guided it above the thudding pulse of his heart. “You'll always have me. Nothing you do can change that.”

Words failed Duo right then, and he found himself unable to come up with a decent response to that. However, instead of going on to say something anyway, just for the sake of having the last word, Duo just let it go, something he probably never would have done even a few weeks ago. He simply let his fingers lose themselves in Heero's messy, brown hair and reveled in the salty smell of the ocean air.

“I don't understand much, anymore,” Duo went on after a few moments of silence. It was a hard thing for him to admit, considering his reluctance to be open about his weaknesses. “I don't know why Meilan had to die or who even really benefits from it, but frankly, I just don't care. All I want is to kick the ass of whatever son of a bitch killed her.”

Heero's eyes were closed, and the peaceful relaxed posture of his body didn't match the bitter sound of his words. “You mean the same son of a bitch who treated me like a lab rat because I was an unwanted mutant child.” A soft lull hung in the air. “Believe me Duo, I know exactly what you feel.”

“I know,” murmured Duo, staring absently out over the beach.

Heero paused, mulling over what he wanted to say next, and unsure if it was something he should even frighten Duo with. He decided it would be best not to shield Duo from the truth of his fears. “I don't doubt that J will want to use Quatre in the same way he used me. Unwanted, forgotten mutants that no one will miss are hard to come by.”

“Q isn't unwanted or forgotten,” said Duo gruffly.

“He will be if J manages to convince enough people that Quatre is some kind of bloodthirsty animal,” Heero countered, his voice grimly slow. “Let's not forget that his father isn't going out of his way to help Quatre any time soon, and J is more influential than you might think.”

“Fuck,” was all Duo could think of to say. Still, the word managed to sum up the situation quite well. Another thought then popped into Duo's head. “But I don't get why Meilan had to die. It makes no sense.”

Heero made a small noise of agreement in the back of his throat. “I had speculated that J had plans to pin Quatre with a double homicide, but the means in which she was killed don't really coincide with such a theory.” Heero's hands clenched fistfuls of his shirt in frustration. “There is more to that than either of us are seeing right now. We just have to find the pieces that are missing, and it will all fall into place.”

“You make it sound easy,” Duo darkly mused.

Still lying back against Duo's side, Heero just shrugged as best as he could. “Everything is easy in theory.”

“You're telling me,” Duo agreed with a low, humming sigh.

Footsteps soon filled the air, beating a soft, creaking rhythm beneath the sound of the gently crashing waves. Heero propped himself up on his elbows so he could see over the back of the bench, and Duo turned his head in the direction of the noise. Both were startled to see Wufei limping towards them, holding his torn sleeve over a bloody wound on his bicep. A bruise decorated one eye, and his lip was painted in red blood as well.

“Holy crap, Wufei!” Duo exclaimed, leaping off the bench when it finally registered that Wufei was seriously injured. “What happened to you!?”

The limping Chinese youth hobbled over towards the pair, strongly favouring one foot. Duo noticed that his unfavoured leg was the one that had been injured in Wufei's lacrosse accident.

“I ran into one of those White Fang losers,” Wufei said, trying to sound as casual as he could, though it was painfully obvious to all of them that he was doing a bad job of pretending. He shrugged it off, saying, “No big deal. That guy wasn't anything I couldn't handle.”

Heero arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, while Duo glared darkly at Wufei. “Not a big deal?” Duo repeated, definitely not pleased. “You're fulla shit, Chang. Quit messing around and say what happened!”

“Okay, so we got into a bit of a brawl,” Wufei admitted, wincing as if doing so was physically hurting him. When Duo's glare intensified, he added quickly, “But the bastard was trying to get Relena mixed up into all this, and I just couldn't stand for her to be deceived any more than she already has been.”

“And?” Heero pressed, looking rather unimpressed with the story.

“And I beat the crap out of the stupid shit!” snapped Wufei, who immediately regretted his harsh movements when a wave of pain shot through his body.

“Well, Hilde helped us track down our one lead to J, if it makes you feel better,” said Duo, raising a tentative hand as if he meant to pat Wufei reassuringly on the back, but was thinking better of it.

“It does, thank you,” Wufei said curtly. On an afterthought, he added, “But what really makes me feel good is the idea that I left that White Fang fuck in even worse condition than I'm in.” Wufei slowly cracked his knuckles, as if he was taking a gross amount of pleasure in reliving the fight.

Having kept silent for most of the conversation, Heero finally felt compelled to speak up. “You didn't kill him, did you?” he asked blankly.

Wufei started to shrug, but seemed to realize about halfway through the motion that it would be less painful to just give a verbal answer. “I have no idea,” he said, simply. “Quite frankly, I don't care if his body rots where I left it.”

“Sick!” Duo exclaimed, looking positively enthralled by the notion of a White Fang gang member being completely pulverized. “Did you beat any useful information out of him while you were at it?” he wondered.

His face darkening, Wufei moved towards the bench and plopped down in a boneless mass of exhaustion. Staring up at the twinkling stars overhead, he said, “He let it slip that Meilan had been killed by a form of the old plague that J had been incubating.”

“So using the drug on Meilan had been like some kind of twisted experiment?” Duo queried, looking disgusted. He kicked the bench in frustration, the urge to break something attacking him at full force.

“He kept going on about revenge or Solo or something,” spat Wufei, who was now rubbing his temples in frustration.

“It seems like their main motivation was just one-for-one… though J is definitely the sort to use such a tactic to win more people to his side,” Heero commented thoughtfully. He didn't mean to seem callous, but was merely stating facts aloud as they came to mind. “Relena, for instance, would probably be coerced into their scheme if she thought J was helping her get revenge for her friend. Like it or not, Relena did consider Solo more than just an acquaintance.”

“I suppose that makes sense in a sick, twisted, arch-villain sort of way,” mused Duo, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Your Doctor J sure seems to have quite an interesting selection of this town's youth on a string,” Wufei said to Heero, who had sat down at the other end of the bench, his lips moving silently as he thought to himself.

“You're telling me,” said Duo. “I still don't get it, though.”

Heero reinserted himself into the conversation again, his logic so simple, it was a wonder he was the only one to think of it at all. “If you were a genetic scientist hoping to have a real mutant to test on, would you not take advantage of this situation too?”

“I suppose so.”

“From J's demented perspective, this makes perfect sense,” said Heero bitterly. “He's always operated according to his own whims, damning everyone else around him. If killing Meilan to atone for Solo's death got White Fang and Relena on his side, there would be no moral issues to discuss. He is an overly ambitious man.”

“Well, that sure shows,” grumbled Duo, sitting down beside Heero. “I can't wait to rip his fucking head off.”

“Join the damned club,” grumbled Wufei.

They certainly made quite a cheery group, the three of them brooding as they were. Each of them knew what had to be done, and while there was a sense of eagerness to it, there was also a certain air of fear that hung over their situation. To think that not only the lives of their friends, but the lives of all mutants were in their hands was quite a concept to swallow. Defeat meant that J would be able to harm Quatre and take his corrupted case to whatever higher authorities might allow for more conservative mutant laws.

Suddenly, Heero spoke up, wrenching the other two from their thoughts. “Tomorrow,” he said resolutely, discreetly covering Duo's hand as he stared out at the ocean. “Tomorrow we'll do this.”

Somberly, both Duo and Wufei nodded their heads in agreement.

(x) X (x)

a.n.: Sorry this took forever. I would never abandon you all, promise! I was just very lazy about sending this to the beta, and with school and all winding down, things have been hectic. But I'm finishing the story as we speak, so don't you worry hard about it! The chapter title for this one is an old Red Hot Chili Peppers tune. I feel like I haven't paid them due tribute in this story, lol.

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