*Based on the song 'Animals', by Nickelback
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warnings: Male/Male sex, graphic, language, violence.
"Mr. Maxwell?" Mr. Hutch raised a cold eyebrow and looked down at Duo disapprovingly. "You're straying from your designated areas."
Duo glared up at him. "I went on two missions, Hutch, and both of them were thousands of miles away from here. I don't get what's so special about a couple of windows in the Preventer rec hall."
"You were not my charge, during those missions," Mr. Hutch explained. "On these grounds, however, I most certainly am."
"I killed eleven men, Hutch," Duo told him. "I used my bare hands to kill two of them. I had five men under my command and I piloted a jump ship into a fire fight. If you think someone like me needs a 'mother superior', you'd be wrong."
"Is that a threat, Mr. Maxwell?" Hutch's tone was a warning.
"Facts, Hutch. Just facts." Duo fingered his trainee jump suit. "I'm a Preventer, but I'm treated like a trainee. I have adult missions, but I'm still treated like a child. I don't get it. What do you think's going to happen? I've carried laser rifles into battle, killed scores of men, and made life and death decisions for other people, but having sex with another person my age is somehow too horrible to allow? Doesn't that sound stupid to you?"
Hutch sighed, and that surprised Duo. His composure didn't crack, though, as he replied simply, "At least they saved that part of your childhood."
Duo blinked, caught of guard, but then he said sourly, "Then it's all about your guilt, because I don't care about that any more."
"I think you do," Hutch replied. "But if it makes you feel better, then, yes, we all feel guilty. At least, I do like to think everyone feels badly for using you."
"You act like I never had a choice," Duo snorted. "I've always had a choice, Hutch, even to be a Gundam pilot. It was always up to me."
"Children are always eager to grow up too soon," Hutch replied. "Now, if you please, we must leave this area."
"I'm one year from being legal, Hutch," Duo said as he turned from the window, "but, I've done more in my seventeen years than you have in your entire life."
"Then we'll have saved something for you to do, when you reach eighteen," Hutch replied.
Duo glared. "You can't stop what me and Heero have between us, Hutch. I promise you that."
"I believe that you were the one to threaten Mr. Yuy, that you wouldn't wait for him," Mr. Hutch pointed out coolly as he led the way from the rec room.
"That was about sex," Duo replied. "I'm talking about the long term. Maybe he won't get me first, but he'll have me the rest of our lives."
"You're young to be so sure of that." Hutch opened a door that led to a high level gym. "Young men change. I've seen it often. Perhaps you and Mr. Yuy will have grown apart, when next you meet?"
Duo thought about that, imaging Heero changing into someone that he couldn't live with. He shook his head sharply. "You are full of shit, Hutch. Me and Heero have something, together, that you will never get.He's mine."
"If he's a forgiving man," Hutch replied as Duo took off his warm up jacket and stood in shorts and a loose t-shirt.
"I already have a psych doctor," Duo retorted. "I don't need you to try and play head games with me. If you got something to say, say it."
"You are so sure of yourself," Hutch replied as he watched Duo climb onto a jogging machine and start it up. "You're even surer of Mr. Yuy. I believe that you are making a grave error in judgment."
"Yeah?" Duo upped the pace and started jogging quickly.
"Mr. Yuy may not be as understanding of your infidelity as you imagine," Hutch said bluntly.
"We're not girls," Duo snorted. "Guys do it all the time. We have urges. It doesn't mean anything."
Hutch frowned. "Your chauvinism is showing."
"My what?" Duo looked confused.
"My job would be a great deal easier, if you would understand that fidelity and commitment are a necessity in any long term relationship," Hutch explained. "Mr. Yuy is wisely planning a stable life. You are only planning on satisfying your urges of the moment. He can't help but see that as an unwillingness on your part to truly have a real relationship."
Duo rolled eyes at Hutch. "Listen, talking about this with you, is seriously creeping me out. All I can say, is that Heero is the one who wants to wait two years after we become legal. I see that as not wanting me around. If he wants to change his mind about that, he knows where to find me."
"Yet you still want a relationship?" Mr.Hutch was perplexed.
"Like I said, sex is sex, but Heero's the one I want to spend my life with," Duo replied. He shot Hutch an evil look. "And, no, I won't make your job any easier, Hutch. You'll just have to ride, shotgun, with a known gay boy, who has the hots for another gay boy, and deal with it."
"'Boy' being the optimum word," Hutch replied with annoyance.
"That's not what I meant..." Duo began and then decided that he'd had enough talking about sex with Mr. Hutch.
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He was a nice guy, and damned sexy, and Duo thought that he had waited long enough. Slipping away during a mission was easy, without his constant chaperones from headquarters, and no one, it seemed, bothered to imagine that Duo Maxwell would decide to lose his virginity a stone's throw from a target.
The jungle was thick, and dark, and they couldn't chance a light. The men were bedded down, waiting for false dawn to make their final approach. The lone guard had snickered and given them an encouraging wink. He would look the other way, while two young men let off some battle steam.
Dark hair, blue eyes, and shoulders that could lift a tank, Duo had already nicknamed Kevin Thompson 'suction mouth'. The man kissed as if he wanted to suck Duo into himself. Duo was hoping to find out how good those lips were on other parts of him. Screw Heero. Screw waiting. Screw Thompson. He leaned against a tree and let the man pull his fatigues down to get ready for action.
"That's a handful," Thompson chuckled in the barest of whispers as a part of Duo sprang to attention.He proved it by wrapping his hand around it.
Duo had always heard that 'dicks had no conscience or morals.' This was supposed to be the part where he stopped thinking about Heero, about his future, and about the enemy a few clicks away.This was just about getting off and getting rid of that overwhelming need that had been torturing him for years.
"Permission to dock, sir," Thompson purred as he tapped a tube of gun grease on Duo's bicep. The moon over head just picked out his grin and the faint glitter of eyes.
So much for foreplay. They really didn't have the time and Thompson was wise to that. "What's wrong with me piloting?" Duo wanted to know.
The tube ceased its tapping and Duo felt the tension as Thompson replied, "I am older and..."
"And what?" Duo said with a scowl.
The grin widened. "Well, I do have the hair."
"So... that makes you the man?" Duo snarled. "Just 'cuz you're as hairy as a gorilla?"
Thompson leaned into Duo, pressing him tight against the tree. Duo could feel his very large erection pressing against him as well. "Hey, no body's a lady around here, sir, but... well, I've got the bigger cock, too."
Duo shoved him off with an expert move. "Maybe I just want a blow job?"
"Yeah?" Thompson stood, hands on hips, as he glared down at Duo. "Okay, that sounds good. You first."
"I've already lost on that one," Duo retorted. "I'm getting it first, this time."
Thompson didn't say anything for a long minute and then he swore something under his breath and was on Duo again, hands clamping down hard on Duo's arms."I just want my rocks off now," Thompson hissed at him, "so stop playing this stupid mind fuck game, like we're going to the prom or some shit, and get on with it."
"Troop movement, sir," a tentative voice said.
Thompson shoved away from Duo, with a frustrated growl, but Duo was already pulling his clothes back up and replying to the sentry, "Get the men ready to move. Thompson, radio jump point and tell them we may have to have fast reinforcements, if the target is wise to our position."
"Sir!" They both said in unison and went back into camp.
Duo stood for a few precious seconds, shaking, and understanding something fundamental at last. He had seen himself in Thompson and he hadn't liked that reflection. Then he was moving and taking command. Personal epiphanies would have to wait until after the mission.
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"I get to see who I want now... and go where I want?" Duo asked.
Mr. Hutch raised an eyebrow. "You are your own man now. I am no longer your guardian." He began to turn to leave, but then paused and added, "Use your freedom wisely."
Duo scowled, but then he said to the man's stiff back. "As weird as this sounds... I'm going to miss you."
Mr. Hutch smiled and replied, "You'll forget about me, soon enough, I'm sure. They all do."
"Maybe not this time," Duo said. It was hard to know how Mr. Hutch reacted to that, but his back seemed less rigid, suddenly, as he left Duo standing in the training area.
"Hell if I know what to do now," Duo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he went back to his room. What he found there renewed his sense of purpose, though it did nothing for the turmoil in his personal life. The starched Preventer uniform, adorned with the several medals that he had won for service above the call of duty, was layed out on his bed, along with a note of congratulations from Une.
Welcome to the ranks of Preventer Agents, Captain Maxwell, the note read in very fine script on a white linen card. Duo stretched out on his bed, note in one hand, and uniform fisted in the other. It shouldn't have made a difference, since he had been working as an agent, without the title, for years, but that note was acceptance, finally, and it was more than just a notation in a computer. It was recognition, that he really was part of the team, that he really was an adult now, with all that implied. When he gave an order now, no one was going to wonder why a trainee was giving it.
The door to his room buzzed. Duo started a little and then, not liking his moment ruined, growled, "Come."
Heero Yuy stood framed in the doorway when it opened. His dark gaze looked over Duo with a mix of emotions, longing front and foremost.
"I'm older than you, remember?" Duo said to him, even though his heart had constricted and was a hard lump in his chest. "You're still under age."
"Une said that I could congratulate you," Heero replied uncertainly.
"As long as you have your own, personal guard dog with you?" Duo wanted to know sourly.
Heero's eyes flicked aside, briefly, and then he nodded.
"Well, so much for molesting you," Duo said sarcastically and then raised the uniform for Heero to see. "It looks like I have my career before you do, Man With The Plan."
"I'm proud of you," Heero replied. He swallowed hard and looked as if he longed to step into the room. Duo guessed that he wasn't allowed to. Still, Heero's hands were gripping the doorframe hard enough to break it.
A great many things flitted through Duo's mind, good and bad. Words danced behind his lips, and many of them went unsaid. At last, frustrated, he said simply, "Thanks."
Heero started, confused.
Duo pulled the uniform over his chest and smoothed hands over it. "I mean... I wouldn't have gotten this if we had... you know... done the nasty. It was worth all the cold showers. It doesn't mean that I'm not still pissed as hell, but I can see that this made a lot of sense."
Heero took a shuddering breath and then said, "I don't want to wait two more years!"
Duo blinked at him, uniform suddenly clutched tight in both of his hands. His heart and mind were ecstatic, relieved, and ready to rush to Heero and...
"No? Why not?" Duo almost didn't recognize his own voice. It was tight and low, almost dangerous.
Heero's eyes searched his, needing something. "I- I love you too much, to be without you any longer," he replied. "I want you in my life. We've both grown. We're not boys any longer. Why wait? Why-"
"Can I ask a question?" Duo broke in.
Heero nodded shakily.
"What were you planning on doing in those two years?" Duo wanted to know.
Heero licked dry lips and tried to focus on the question as he replied, "I wanted us to focus on our careers, establish ourselves as law abiding adults in the eyes of the government, and...work towards owning a home... where we can have a stable life together... but, now that I see you, I don't think I want to wait for that part of the plan. It's too long after waiting years... I can't do it, Duo."
"Am I not worth it any more?" Duo wanted to know, scowling. "You see me and just want to get into my pants, right, without all the caring and planning, and wanting a future with me?. A quick fuck... fifteen minutes if we're lucky... and then we move in together in some run down apartment... and screw all the time... and mess up our careers because we'll do stupid shit for each other...because we're still dumbass too young..."
"You are worth it," Heero protested. He almost stepped into the room, but an older hand gripped his bicep and prevented him. the anger flared and he almost turned, almost threw that punch his fist was tightening for, but Duo brought him up short.
"Stupid shit like that," Duo said, and he had Heero's attention again."You'll end up in the brig for throwing a punch, a mark will go in your record, and you'll kiss any hope of advancement goodbye. If I'm worth it, if I'm more than someone to get off with, then get back on the plan Yuy."
Heero blushed, and was at a loss for words for a long moment, and then he managed, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Duo cocked his head to the side as he played with his medals on his uniform. "Sorry that I was able to get these? Sorry that I finally found where I belong? Sorry, that I'm-"
"No." Heero took a shivering breath and then said, "I'm sorry that it's been so hard."
"Life's been hard all around,that's nothing new," Duo replied and then stood up. Leaving the uniform and the note on the bed, he approached Heero until they were barely three feet apart. He was two inches taller than Heero, now, and wider in the shoulders, but Heero looked stronger just by the way he stood. "When we do, finally, get together," Duo warned, "you better make this worth it, got that?"
Heero nodded shakily and then dared to reach out a hand. The grip on his bicep tightened.
Duo touched fingers, feeling warmth and a faint electrical something, pass between them. Then he was backing away, and saying shakily, "Better run along before your nanny calls in a swat team."
"I love you," Heero blurted out.
"I love you, too," Duo replied. "Still... even after everything... so you better appreciate that."
"I do," Heero said. He looked frustrated as a voice murmured beside him, out of sight, and then he said, "I have to go. We can see each other in a few months... without the guardian.
"Should we?" Duo wanted to know and it hurt to ask.
"When the time comes, we'll find out," Heero replied softly.
And then he was gone and the door was sliding closed. Duo put fists to his eyes and threw himself onto his bed. Wrapping his arms around his uniform, he didn't find it much comfort. The hard edges of buttons and pins, though, reminded him of why he didn't run after Heero and change his mind.
TBC