Author: CalicOcat
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
See Part 1 for warnings

'Thinking'
"Speaking"
************ Time passing or scene change
*~*~*~*~*~* Major POV shift

Mission: Marriage + Chapter 15

Heero nodded and accepted congratulations from yet another vaguely familiar person, scanning the area for a certain unmistakable head of chestnut hair the entire time. 'Where did he go? Last time I saw him, he was headed for Howard, then I lost track of the two of them. But that was quite a while ago. And now Howard's over there talking to Une and I still don't see Duo...

'Stop worrying, Yuy. Duo's a big boy, he can take care of himself. But I wish I knew where he disappeared off to...'

"Hey there, husband-mine. Gettin' tired of all this nonsense yet?"

A long arm wrapped around his waist as Duo slipped up beside him. "A little," Heero admitted, wrapping his arm around Duo in return. 'I like the sound of that. "Husband-mine" is one nickname I certainly won't be objecting to.'

Taking Heero by surprise, Duo shifted his hold, wrapping both arms around his neck and pulling him into a brief but tender kiss.

"Not that I'm objecting, but what brought that on?" he asked, enjoying the feel of Duo snuggling up against his side. 'Guess he's planning on staying put for awhile. Good.'

"Just because," Duo shrugged. Flashing Heero a gamine grin, he demanded, "What, I need a special reason to kiss you now?"

"No, never," Heero assured, holding him tightly against his side and ignoring the looks, both of approval and disapproval, that their public display of affection was drawing. 'This is a wedding reception for a gay couple, people, what do you expect? I'll never turn down a spontaneous show of affection from Duo simply because it makes someone else a little uncomfortable!'

"So how long do we have to hang around?"

"Our ride to the spaceport should be here in..." Heero checked his watch, "...just under two hours. Allow an hour or so to change and get ready, so if we stick it out for, say, another three quarters of an hour or so? Unless you're getting tired and want to go rest for a while first?"

"Nah, I'm okay. Well, I am tired - didn't sleep too well last night for some reason..." Voice trailing off, Duo gave him a rueful grin before continuing, "...but I can catch a nap on the shuttle, and Quat put a lot of work into all this so I hate to run out on it ahead of schedule."

'He had trouble sleeping?! And he admitted it?! Oh Duo, you just made my day even more perfect and you don't even know it...'

************

"Not even a teensy-weensy little hint?" Duo coaxed.

"No," Heero said, smirking. "Besides, you've had a 'teensy-weensy little hint' already. I told you it was on Earth and that it's one of Quatre's places."

"What kind of hint is that?! Q's got places all over the bloody planet!"

"That's all I'm telling you - you'll just have to wait and be surprised."

"Hmmph," Duo snorted. "In that case, I might as well catch up on that missed sleep on the way." With that, he grabbed a blanket from the overhead bin, tilted his shuttle seat back and flipped the blanket over himself. Sneaking a peek from under his bangs, he saw Heero staring at him in surprise. 'Guess he didn't think I'd give up that easily. It really doesn't matter, though, Heero wouldn't have picked someplace that he knew I wouldn't like.' Deciding that this was the perfect opportunity to squeeze in some more cuddling, Duo reached over and hit Heero's seat controls. Heero yelped in surprise as his seat suddenly flipped backwards.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?"

"Can't sleep without my pillow," Duo said solemnly, retracting the armrests out of the way. An instant later, he was curled up, half on his seat, half on Heero's chest. 'Hmm, like his shirt better with him in it... The whole "slept-with-your-shirt" thing is kinda embarrassin' to admit to, but maybe I should anyway... If things were reversed, I'd be ecstatic to find that out, so I guess it sorta counts as romantic...'

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Guess I could use a nap too," Heero decided, shifting a bit to get more comfortable and wrapping his arms around the braided figure snuggling against him. 'I don't know what's got into him today, but I like it. First the change in the ceremony, then getting all cuddly and affectionate during the reception, admitting he had trouble sleeping without me, and now this.'

"Mmm, much better," Duo purred sleepily, rubbing his cheek against Heero's shoulder. "Couldn't sleep at all last night till I thought to check the hamper, but your shirt's way better with you in it."

Heero's arms tightened involuntarily for a moment in response to the sleepy confession. Unsure of his control of his voice, he simply tilted Duo's face up and kissed him warmly. Then, equilibrium regained, he murmured softly, "At least you had my shirt. I was stuck in a guestroom, remember? I didn't have anything of yours to sleep with."

Violet eyes widened slightly, then Duo did something that shocked Heero into complete immobility.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"At least you had my shirt. I was stuck in a guestroom, remember? I didn't have anything of yours to sleep with."

'Oh shit, I haven't given him anything. He picked out and bought the engagement and wedding rings for both of us. Maybe he'll guess I'm in love with him, but this is the closest I can come to the level of meanin' he put into the rings... And I was such a total jerk that night, so fuckin' busy tryin' to hide from my own damn emotions, that I don't think I ever even thanked him for the ring...'

Reaching up, Duo unfastened the chain from around his neck, lifted the cross out from under his shirt, refastened the chain around Heero's neck, then slid the cross underneath Heero's shirt. Keeping his gaze lowered, he patted the lump of the cross below the shirt and said, "There. Now you've got something of mine to make up for it." Darting a quick look up at Heero's stunned face, he quipped nervously, "Just remember, it's still mine - you've just got it on loan."

Dropping his head back down on Heero's chest, he ordered, "Now let me go to sleep! I wanna be rested when we get wherever the heck it is that you're takin' me!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Heero reached out and tapped the switch to dim the cabin lights, distantly noting that his hand was trembling as he did so. Right now, he was intensely grateful that they were on a private WEI shuttle, not a public flight. 'I'm wearing his cross. He gave - no, loaned - me his cross. I don't know if I've ever even seen him take it off before. That has to mean he cares about me one hell of a lot more than just as a friend, doesn't it?'

Closing his eyes, arms securely wrapped around his new husband, and intensely aware of the slight weight of the cross, Heero made his decision. 'No more waiting. As soon as we get to the "cottage" - which, knowing Q's idea of a cottage, is probably more like a very large house - I'll tell him.'

************

"Fuck," Duo swore. "What the hell is that fuckin' bitch doing here?"

"Please tell me you're joking," Heero said, freezing in the midst of unloading the car.

"Unfortunately, no. Call Q on the mobile and tell him so he can take the necessary action," Duo said grimly. "I'll go make nice till somebody shows up to serve the papers."

"Ryoukai."

Leaving Heero to take the luggage in through the garage as an excuse to avoid Relena and Pargan on the front porch, Duo made his way towards the house. 'Stupid fuckin' bitch. Shoulda known she gave up too easy. How the hell did she find us? I didn't even know where we were going. What am I talkin' about, she's always been able to find Heero when he really didn't want to be found, and we've never really bothered to figure out how. Now I think we'd better find out and take care of the problem. Hmm, come to think of it, she never showed up when we were usin' Sweeper safehouses, or even regular safehouses, she really only showed up at schools or Winner safehouses. That should narrow things down. Or maybe Dorothy can tell us! Baka, you should have thought of that before, then this little confrontation could have been avoided or at least delayed. So much for not actually makin' an enemy outta her. I don't think she's gonna be too forgiving once she's been served with restraining orders to keep her off WEI corporate and Winner private properties and away from Heero and myself - though I still think addin' me wasn't necessary, but Heero kinda insisted...'

"Why if it isn't Minister Peacecraft. What a surprise. Did you come to offer us your congratulations and wish us a happy honeymoon?" Duo asked. 'Oops, told Heero I'd make nice. Guess that probably doesn't quite qualify. Oh well, it's way nicer than I'd like to be. I didn't even swear once.'

"Don't get smart with me, Maxwell. I'm here to see Heero."

"It's Maxwell-Yuy now, Ms Peacecraft. And Heero doesn't want to see you."

"Not for long it isn't. I'm sure Heero will see the error of his ways. I am a far more suitable spouse for him than you could ever be."

Suddenly feeling very tired, Duo said, "Relena, grow up and face reality. Heero and I are married. Let me spell it out for you - M-A-R-R-I-E-D. It was his idea to start with. I did not trick him or pervert him or do anything to force him into it. He doesn't want to see you or talk to you, let alone marry you. Why the hell would you be a more suitable spouse?"

"You'll never love him the way that I do," Relena hissed furiously.

*~*~*~*~*~*

After speaking to Quatre and being assured that someone would be there to serve the restraining orders in less than an hour - this was not exactly completely unexpected, after all - Heero decided that it would not be fair to leave Duo alone to handle Relena. 'This was definitely not how I intended to spend the first part of our honeymoon!' Not wanting to take the chance of Relena getting into the house, he went out the side door onto the porch and followed it around to the front of the house. The entire conversation between Relena and Duo was clearly audible as he walked. Almost against his will, Heero slowed slightly, part of him wanting to hear Duo's response to Relena's claim while the rest of him was screaming in protest that eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves. The result was that he did hear Duo's response, but was in full view by the time Duo finished speaking.

"No, I won't, and thank god for that!"

Suddenly, the simple act of breathing was excruciatingly painful. Coming on the heels of all the encouraging things that had happened in the course of the wedding, reception, and shuttle trip to Earth, those words were absolutely devastating. His defenses were totally down and he had just been blindsided by hearing the one thing he feared most. Duo's eyes left Relena's to meet his and he knew beyond a doubt that his emotions had to be written in painful clarity on his face. From glittering anger, those amethyst depths changed to momentary puzzlement, then just as swiftly softened into something he didn't dare believe. That small corner of his consciousness that permanently belonged to the soldier became aware that Duo's fingers were flickering in silent instruction. 'Wait. Hold position. Further data.'

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