Right Under Our Noses

-----part 1-----

Wufei shuddered as his orgasm coursed through him. Looking up at the blond man who hovered over him. "My love." he whispered. "You amaze me. You've known our location for a long time now, yet you do not attack us. Why?"

"I could never harm my love." Treize whispered, his lips touching Wufei's as he pulled his now-softening member from the enemy he loved so dearly. "Besides, it is difficult to find worthy opponents. You and your fellow pilots are the only ones nowadays who I'd say fits that description." he kissed Wufei as the Chinese pilot drifted off to sleep. 

As soon as Wufei was sleeping, Treize slipped out of the room and into the corridor, making sure, first, that everyone else was sleeping, too. He checked each room, and soon found Duo and Heero's room. Both the braided pilot and the Perfect Soldier were sound asleep. Taking a rope and a newspaper from his bag, he tied Duo's arms behind his back. Then he covered the boy's mouth and eyes with duct tape. Then, he stripped Duo from the waist down, pulled the sleeping boy up onto his lap, first spreading the paper out beneath them, so Duo's legs were on either side of him and they were facing each other, guided the tip of his erection to Duo's opening, and plunged, powerfully in, as he pushed the sleeping pilot's body down onto his thick, hard shaft.

Duo's eyes flew open, or would've flown open if they weren't taped shut, and a scream of pain failed to make it past the gag. He tried to stand up, but his attacker's grip on his waist was too strong and the pain was too disorienting. Each time he was lifted up, Duo prayed that would be the last time. But each time, this prayer went unanswered as the cruel hands plunged him back down onto the hard, thick member.

Duo gave in, tears falling from his eyes as he waited for the man to finish. The last thing he felt, as darkness claimed him, was the man's hot seed spurting into him. 

He woke the next morning and looked around in confusion. The bed was perfectly clean, no sign of any attacker having been there. But he could still feel the pain from the assault and he knew he hadn't been imagining it. With a sense of urgency, he raced around the safehouse, checking for any sign that they'd been broken into. If an enemy had been there, it could mean trouble.

But there had been no forced entry. Or, rather, there had been no forced entry into the safehouse. Duo felt sick to his stomach. That could only mean one thing.

The other four pilots were already having breakfast in the dining room when Duo stormed in looking like he was ready to kill someone.

"Which one of you bastards raped me?" he demanded.

-----part 2-----

Quatre nearly swallowed the spoon he'd just been putting into his mouth, Trowa's one visible eye went wide with alarm, and Heero looked like he was ready to kill whoever was stupid enough to confess to the crime Duo was accusing one of them of.

Wufei was grateful for the fact that he was currently hidden from Duo's view by the refrigerator door. If Duo had been able to see him, he'd have seen the look of heartbreak and horror on the face of Shenlong's pilot.

//Treize, you son of a bitch.// he took a deep breath, closed the fridge door, and brought his cereal over to the table. "I'm sure justice will be served." he told Duo. 

"What do you remember?" Heero asked. "Did you see anything?"

"I was gagged and blindfolded. I think they used duct tape. What I do remember is being woken up by this guy ramming his cock up my ass. It felt like he was trying to split me up the middle. I tried to scream, but the tape was in the way and all I could do was cry and wait for him to finish."

Heero's knuckles were white with his fury. In a blaze of rage, he knocked Quatre's, Wufei's, and Trowa's breakfasts off the table, glared balefully, at all three pilots, and stormed out of the room.

*****

"Come on, my little dragon." Treize traced a fingertip over the back on Wufei's neck.

Wufei squirmed away and glared. "You raped Duo." he said, darkly.

"I swear I never touched him." Treize began to nibble on Wufei's ear. "You saw the condition I was in when you and I finished making love. I couldn't have raped anyone even if I'd wanted to. "

Wufei sighed. He did have to admit that Treize had been rather sated when he'd drift off to sleep. He wanted to believe Treize. Needed to believe him. "He was raped last night." he told Treize. "If you didn't, then who did?"

"Heero Yuy?" Treize suggested.

"No." Wufei shook his head. 

But Treize continued. "Let's look at the facts, they are roommates, right?"

"How do you now?"

"Was looking for the bathroom to freshen up before leaving." Treize shrugged.

"Yeah, they are. Your point?"

"Don't you find it odd that they could be in the same room and Heero didn't hear Duo being raped?"

Wufei nodded, then laid back as Treize's lips closed around his erection.

*****

Heero stood in the corridor glaring at the door. "It's my room, too, Duo." he told the braided pilot, who had barricaded him out. "Now open the door."

"No one's sleeping in here until I find out who raped me." Duo replied. "You can bunk in Wufei's room until then."

Heero took a long breath, then headed down the corridor to the Shenlong pilot's room.

-----part 3-----

As he approached Wufei's room, he could hear voices coming from within. "Who the...?" he paused and listened.

"That feels soooo good." Wufei groaned. He started to say something more, but his words were swallowed up by his orgasm.

//He's masturbating.// Heero assumed. He was about to walk in, since Wufei was obviously finished, when he heard another voice. One that he recognized. It was whispering words of affection to Wufei, even though it was the voice of an enemy..

Eyes burning with rage, Heero kicked the door open and stared, angrily, at Wufei and his lover.

"How can you sleep with that bastard?" Heero demanded. "He's our enemy... and Duo's rapist."

"You're the one who raped Duo." Wufei accused. "You were in the room with him. If you weren't the rapist, why didn't you stop him?"

"He thought I was just having a nightmare." Duo repeated Heero's earlier explanation. Duo had a lot of them, so this was very plausible.

-----part 4-----

"Duo, don't you see how flimsy that excuse sounds? 'I thought you were having a nightmare', 'You weren't whimpering or screaming and I'm supposed to be trained to wake at the merest sound, but I figured you were having a nightmare.'" Treize's voice had an accusing tone to it. 

"How *dare* you assault Duo and then blame someone else for your heinous crime!" Wufei glared at Heero.

"How dare *you* bring an enemy into our home!" Heero shot back.

Duo didn't know what to believe any more. Treize's words had struck a nerve. Why hadn't Heero come to his rescue? Did he really not care? He looked up at Heero, a world of hurt in those tear-filled eyes. "I... I thought you loved me." he whispered as a tear escaped and trickled down his face.

Heero reached forward to brushed the tear away, but Duo batted his hand aside. "I do love you." he whispered, softly. "Duo, I'm sorry." Guilt beat at him from every possible angle. He hadn't raped Duo, but he had been right there, and he'd let it happen. He had been sleeping less than five feet away while Duo's virginal body had been violated. He cursed himself for his lapse in judgment. 

Treize went over to Duo and handed him a tissue. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Duo snatched the tissue away and was started to turn. Then paused as he recognized the faint scent of Treize's cologne. His nose had been too blocked from crying to smell it from a distance, but the scent lingered upon his hand from its application.

"It was you." Duo's eyes narrowed as he allowed Shinigami to emerge. He drew his knife and lunged at Treize, anger, hatred, and vengeance darkening his eyes. 

Treize grabbed Duo's wrist as they went down and there was a brief struggle before he stood up, leapt out the window he'd crept into earlier that evening, and fled into the night.

Wufei started to go after his now ex-lover. He was outraged. One of his best friends had been violated. And he'd led the rapist to him. "He told me he loved me." he growled. "He used me. He betrayed me!"

"Let him go for now." Heero said, his voice full of urgency and concern. "Go wake up Quatre. Tell him we need his medical team immediately." He was kneeling by Duo, pressing down on gash in his throat. He couldn't press too hard or he'd suffocate Duo. But he had to press hard enough to stop the bleeding.

Wufei raced out of the hallway and wasn't entirely surprised when he found Quatre coming toward him. "We need your doctors." he told the blond empath. 

Quatre nodded quickly and raced to the phone. While they waited for the medical team to arrive, he turned to Wufei. 

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was." Wufei replied. "I'm the one who brought Treize here. I brought an enemy into our home."

"You brought a lover." Quatre corrected him. "That was your intention, right. To be with the one you loved. You were blinded by your need for love. You're not the first that's happened to."

The medical team arrived and Quatre lead them to Duo and Heero's room. They wanted to take only Duo, but Heero remained firmly plastered at the braided boy's side and refused to let anyone alone with him. Heero had already let Duo be hurt once, and he was determined to never let happen again.

Heero even insisted on being allowed into the operating room, the doctors allowed this but insisted, in turn, that he scrub down and stand back so they could work.

He watched, protectively, as they worked on saving Duo's life. //This is my fault.// he thought. //I let it happen. Please, kami-sama, don't take him from me. Don't take him away. I know I don't deserve a boy as wonderful as Duo, but please? Let him live. Don't take him.//

He sat down in a chair in the corner, his eyes still locked firmly on the surgeons as they continued their work.

He didn't know when he'd dozed off, but when he woke, the operating room was empty. A nurse walked in. He suspected she had been coming in periodically to check on him. "Where is Duo?" he asked.

"He's in recovery." She replied. "It was a close call, but the doctors managed to save his life."

"Take me to him."

The nurse lead Heero into the room where Duo was resting. 

Heero sat on the edge of the bed, and took Duo's hand in his own. "I don't blame you for hating me." he told the braided pilot. "I promise I'll never let you down again." he waited, but Duo did not answer him. "You have every right to be angry." Heero admitted. "I let you get hurt. But I swear, I'll do everything I can to make up for it. And I do love you, Duo." He kissed Duo's lips, felt Duo's response, but Duo remained silent. "Duo, please, talk to me."

"He can't." the doctor who'd entered the room a moment earlier explained. "His vocal chords were severed when his throat was cut."

Heero felt a tear fall down his face. He wanted to take back all those times he'd told Duo to shut up. He wanted to hear that sweet voice again. But that voice had been silenced. 

Duo reached up to him, beckoning him closer, looking into Heero's eyes with a silent gaze that spoke volumes. Though his voice was silenced, his eyes conveyed a message of forgiveness and love and his lips spoke their own message, without words, in the kiss he placed upon Heero's lips. 

-----part 5-----

Duo watched the window of the safehouse with a worried look on his face.

"I'm sure Heero will be home soon." Quatre assured him.

Duo stood there a moment longer, then turned to Quatre. He wrote two words down on a slip of paper and handed it to the blond pilot.

<Help me.>

Quatre studied the message for a moment. He wondered what Duo wanted, and why was he asking him. What could Quatre do for him that the others couldn't? After a moment, it dawned on him what Duo was asking.

"It's not that easy, Duo." he explained. "I'm not saying we shouldn't try. But I don't want you to get your hopes up. It's very likely you'll be disappointed."

Duo scribbled down something else and handed it to Quatre.

<I'd rather fail than not try.>

Quatre nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "We'll start tomorrow. I need to prepare first."

Duo relaxed, then turned as Heero walked in.

"I got you something." Heero told Duo. "To make up for failing to protect you." He pulled out a long satin box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful black velvet choker with a violet gem at its center that matched the color of Duo's eyes. "It'll cover the scar on your neck." he explained. "I thought you might be self-conscious about..."

Duo threw his arms around Heero and hugged him warmly. He mouthed the words 'thank you', knowing that Heero could easily read his lips, then made sure Heero understood by giving Heero a soft kiss. 

"So," Heero asked, seeing the paper in Quatre's hand, "what were the two of you discussing?"

"There may be a way for Duo to communicate, other than writing or sign language." Quatre explained. "There's absolutely no guarantee, and the chance of failure is high. But there's also no risk, and Duo wants to try."

Duo handed a slip of paper to Heero.

<It was my idea.>

"So, what, exactly, are we talking about? An electronic voicebox of some kind or what?"

"Telepathy." Quatre replied.

-----part 6-----

"Just relax, Duo." Quatre said, soothingly. "I know you're nervous. This is a very important thing for you. I understand. But remember not to push yourself too hard, and try not to be too upset if it doesn't work."

Duo tried to relax, but he was far too anxious.

Quatre reached out the braided pilot, soothing him as much as as he could.

Duo felt the other boy's calming influence and let himself be pulled into a state of relaxation.

"Duo," Quatre said, "I want you to try to think to me."

Duo started to write something down, but Quatre shook his head.

"Don't worry if it doesn't work the first time. Just try." the blond pilot clasped Duo's hands, to calm the other boy. "Close your eyes, that might help you concentrate." he waited for Duo to close his eyes, then closed his own.

There was complete silence for several minutes, then Duo rose and hurled a nearby book across the room in frustration.

"We can try again later, when you're more relaxed." Quatre suggested.

Duo shook his head and wrote down a message which he thrust at Quatre.

Quatre took the paper and looked, quietly, at it.

<Forget it. It's not working. I give up. Damn it all! Why did that bastard Treize have to do this to me? If Heero hasn't killed him yet, I am going to. He's taken far too much from me. ::sigh:: At least I still have my braid.>

Quatre nodded. "Your braid, and Heero's love." he said to the door as it closed behind Duo, who had been walking out of the room as he'd been reading.

Quatre felt sad for Duo. He had been hoping Duo's idea would work. He would be able to 'speak' to them again, if it did. But Duo was just too hyper and too anxious to even attempt it. 

-----part 7-----

"He wanted so badly for it to work." Quatre told Trowa as he helped the unibanged pilot with the dishes. "I really wish I knew how to cheer him up."

"Quatre, I know you're trying to help him. But he needs to learn to accept what's happened." Trowa put the last pan away and grabbed a couple sodas from the fridge. He sat at the table and held up one of the sodas invitingly.

Quatre accepted it and sat down . He sipped at the cola and frowned. "Trowa, I don't know what to do. I just know I want to help Duo through this."

"The best thing you can do right now, is just stand back and let him come to terms with it."

*****

Duo watched Heero pace the room. The Perfect Soldier was still beating himself with a mental sledgehammer over that had happened to Duo. 

"My fault." Heero muttered as he paced, stopping every now and then as he passed the mirror to mutter "Omae o korosu." at his reflection.

Duo held up a hand, summoning Heero to him.

Heero sat on the edge of the bed, next to Duo, and drew the Shinigami pilot into his arms. After a moment, Duo pulled away and stood up. At first, Heero thought Duo was rejecting him. But then, in a gesture of ultimate trust and affection, Duo removed his clothes and laid back on the bed, pulling Heero down on top of him.

Heero removed his spandex shorts and his tank top. He rolled Duo onto his stomach and laid back down on top of him, his arms resting atop Duo's arms, his fingers entwined with Duo's fingers. He freed one hand and used it to rub a bit of lube onto himself and guide it into Duo. Then, he guided his erection into the braided pilot, making love to Duo until the braided pilot was trembling beneath him in a silent but powerful orgasm. His own orgasm followed soon after. As he came into Duo, he felt content. 

"Ai shiteiru." he whispered as he withdrew from Duo's sleeping form. He rolled over and started to pull Duo into a gentle embrace. Then he frowned. His laptop was open nearby, and he could see the specs for a new mission on the screen.

-----part 8-----

"Just remember," Quatre said as the neared the OZ base. "We're here to carry out a mission. Not to get revenge."

"If we can do both, I say let's do both." Heero growled.

"Justice must be served." Wufei agreed.

Duo's eyes narrowed and his fist clenched. It was pretty obvious that he, too, disagreed with Quatre.

They made their attack run destroying several buildings before the OZ troops got their fighters off the ground. 

Duo took out several with Deathscythe's thermal scythe while Quatre's scimitars took out a dozen or so more. Shenlong's dragonhead flame thrower incinerated a phalanx of oncoming ground troops who died in a screaming heap of melting flesh while Heero blasted a number of Aries fighters .

The battle waged for what seemed like forever. Then, Duo spotted Tallgeese heading directly for Heero. He wanted to help, but he was too busy fighting a trio of Aries and the other pilots were currently unaware of the danger Heero now faced. His mind instinctively reached out to Heero's ...

Heero had the Aries in his sights when he heard Duo's voice in his mind. 

//LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!//

Heero spun the Gundam around and blasted Tallgeese's cockpit. He didn't have enough left to destroy Zechs's Gundam, but he was able to temporarily blind Zechs and use the added time to get away.

//Thanks.// Heero didn't know why he chose to think it rather than say it.

//Any time.// Duo thought back.

Quatre, sensing the connection, smiled. "Let's head home." he said, turning his Gundam from the remains of the OZ base.

-----part 9-----

"Try again, Duo." Quatre prompted.

Duo tried to transmit a thought to Wufei, but, like his attempts at sending to Trowa and Quatre, nothing happened. He shook his head, apologetically.

"It's okay." Quatre assured him. "Try to link with Heero again. Let's see if you can establish a connection with him away from the urgency of battle."

//Heero, I'm getting a head-ache.// He sent effortlessly to the Perfect Soldier. 

//It's okay, Duo.// Heero reassured his lover. He looked up at Quatre. "It's starting to give him a head-ache." he said. "Let's take a break."

"We're finished." Quatre told him. "You're the only one he can communicate with on a telepathic level."

"Why?" Heero wanted to know.

"You and Duo already had a powerful bond between you before he lost his voice. The link formed from that bond."

"Link?" Heero asked. "Are you suggesting that we've suddenly become connected to each other?"

"The link's been building up since you two met." Quatre told them. "But until Duo's injury, it's been fairly dormant. Now necessity has awakened it."

Heero nodded. "Can it be turned off?" he asked. "If I'm caught and tortured, I don't want Duo to suffer."

"It can't be turned off." Quatre told him. "But I can shield him if something becomes too painful."

*****

Duo gazed into Heero's eyes, his body still trembling from his recent orgasm. He was lying on his stomach with his head on Heero's chest, gazing affectionately into Heero's eyes.

Heero's eyes darted to the side and spotted the mission statement on the laptop computer.

//Is there some kind of rule that says that we have to go on a mission every time you come in me?// Duo asked.

//I hope not.// Heero answered. //It'll ruin our honeymoon.//

Duo's eyes lit up in joy. //Oh, Heero....//

//I'll be right back.// Heero stood up and went over to the laptop, drew his gun, and shot it.

-----Owari-----