The instant Duo was through the door, Wufei knew something was wrong. It had been the Asian's day off, which he'd spent readying a little surprise for his American husband. Romance had not always been his strong point, and he was sure that he'd outdone himself this time, but now he wasn't quite sure that tonight was such a good night for his attempt.

Sighing, Duo let his briefcase fall to the floor, slowly stripping his uniform jacket off overly tense shoulders, hanging it on the coat rack. When slender fingers found their way onto his shoulders, he moaned in delight.

"Have a bad day, love?" Wufei knew Duo was well aware that they both knew something was up. He'd long since learned not to try and hide anything from his beloved. They were open books to one another, anyway.

"You have no fucking clue." Dropping his head forward, Duo allowed himself to bask in the bliss that came with the shoulder massage for a moment, before dropping the five words they both knew meant something really, really, really bad. "Love, we need to talk."

Wufei blinked at the profanity as he worked at the American's tense shoulders. It really had to be bad, if Duo was resorting to such language, which he'd weaned Duo from using quite so often. A feat he was quite proud of, though he'd never say so. When those last five words hit his ears, though, he felt his own shoulders turn into a bundle of tension. "I'd suggest we go to the sitting room, but I'm afraid I've done a bit of rearranging today. Perhaps the den, instead?"

Shaking his head, Duo couldn't suppress his smile. "Show me the sitting room." He replied, straightening his shoulders, turning to face his lover. "You've gone and done something horribly romantic, haven't you?" He grinned at the blush the Asian was sporting.

"Ah, well, I've tried." He replied, and led Duo over to the sitting room.

The coffee table that had been there had mysteriously disappeared, replaced by pillows that Duo was not even aware they owned, all over a black winter blanket studded with silver embroidered stars. The fireplace had a low fire going, casting shadows across the room, and catching on the ice in the bucket near the blanket, the wine bottle, and the two flutes. Nearby, a familiar wooden box, which Duo knew held the best chocolates money could buy, and which was, subsequently, only brought out on special occasions. Wufei'd really pulled the atmosphere off, right down to the lit candles scattered across the room, the dark drapes drawn to block out the sunlight.

Feeling as though he might melt into putty at the sight, Duo turned to his lover, pulling Wufei into a warm embrace. "You could not have picked a better night for this, love."

When the words were whispered directly into Wufei's ear, despite the sweetness of them, the Asian felt an icy fear coil around his heart, threatening to steal his breath away and never return it. "It's that bad?"

The breathless whisper nearly made Duo cringe. "Yeah." He pulled away, kicked off his boots, and moved into the little nest of pillows Wufei had prepared, patting the blanket next to him.

Settling onto the blanket, Wufei faced Duo expectantly, even though he really didn't want to know.

With another heavy sigh, Duo ran a hand through his bangs. "Une's sending me out to L2, on a stealth mission. The guy we're after, he's one of the big ones. She's sending me because I'm the best of the best, and even that may not be enough to get my ass out alive." He swallowed heavily. "She won't let me tell you who we're going after, but trust me when I say there is no one else that can even come close to pulling this off." He forced himself to meet Wufei's eyes.