Author: Asuka Kureru
Beta-readers: Christy and Mikkeneko (whee!!)
Warnings: Yaoi, romance, sap, love triangle, threesome, heavy lime to nearly full lemon, dunno yet; the POV is shifting between the boys.
Couple (trio?) : 1+2+5, 1x2x5x2x1 and diverse combinations ^__^
Disclaimer: They're sharing, why can't we do the same? ;_;
The Footsie Episode is All Ponderosa's Fault. *nodnod* She didn't have to write such a well-done footsie scene in "That Which is Not His". So there. You see! It's all her fault I've been obsessed with that since then! Yes it is.
Thanks to ChibiGaki and Mikkeneko for the help with the movie ^__^

Walking the Tightrope + Chapter 6

When Duo saw the car drive down the path and park in front of the little house, it was dawn already. He jumped up, letting the covers he had been nestled in fall on the steps in front of the door without a thought, and ran to the vehicle, his initial relief already fading. He didn't see Heero in the car.

He got to the car just as Wufei was stepping outside. The Chinese boy glanced up at him and put his finger across his lips to shush him.

"Heero's sleeping in the backseat."

"What happened?" Duo asked, still worried but not frantic anymore. He was relieved by the fact that Wufei didn't seem overly concerned, but bothered by the fact that Heero would be sleeping the mission off. It didn't compute. Heero was usually the last to go to sleep, he couldn't not be vigilant. To go to sleep in an unsafe place was against his habits.

"He took a hit to the head and some bruising to his ribs…" Wufei informed him quietly. "No concussion, I checked, so he laid down to rest his ribs. He fell asleep after one or two hours on the road."

Duo nodded, absorbing the information. A corner of his brain noted the strange way Wufei was talking about the Wing pilot, the unusual little something in his voice, but his concern for the Japanese boy was too insistent to worry about it just now. He'd analyze things later. For now, Heero had been hurt. Ok, not much compared to what he could take, but knowing that his lover could take serious injuries well didn't mean that Duo didn't care when it did happen.

He opened the door to the backseat as quietly as he could. Heero was on his side, against the back of the seat, his arms tucked close to his body, his legs bent up, and half covered by the cover he was laying on; it made him look small and vulnerable. It was frightening.

"Heero?" Duo whispered, at the same time he saw the boy's eyelids flutter.

Heero opened an eye and glanced at him. Duo felt relieved. He looked sleepy and tired, but his irises didn't have that glazed, not-totally-there look they had when he was in severe pain or totally out of it.

"You're home, love. How's the ribs?"

Heero sat up, wincing discreetly.

"Still sore," he grunted while pushing himself out of the vehicle to sit with his feet outside. He had to lean on the front seat for a second; he had gotten up too fast and was now slightly dizzy. Heero berated himself when he saw Duo's concerned face. The boy was worried, he should have hid his little troubles better than that…

"Oh, no, you don't, Yuy," Duo growled when he saw the messy-haired boy's face go carefully neutral. "Don't hide how you're feeling, I'd rather have some warning before I have to pick you up from the floor, ok?"

Heero sighed and gave a rueful, barely-there smile. Smiling down at him, Duo brushed his hair out of his face softly, tenderly.

"Hey, Wu?" Duo called, intending on asking for help.

The Chinese boy had been waiting out of the car, a few feet away. Duo felt guilty that he had not even asked if he had been injured too, even if it was obvious that Heero's bruised ribs was the most serious thing between the both of them or Wufei wouldn't have been driving.

"Yes?" prompted the boy, looking toward them.

"You ok, Wufei?"

"Yes," answered the black-haired boy curtly, shrugging, as if dismissing the notion that he could have not been.

"Good. Then, could you get the medical supplies ready in the living room? I'm going to take Heero there."

"I can walk," the brown-haired boy said testily.

"I don't give a rat's ass if you can walk, you're hurt so I'm not letting you. That's all. Deal with it."

"Duo, I can…" the Japanese boy tried to protest.

"I said I knew you could walk. I said I wanted to help you. You don't like me carrying you? Or do you think I'm too weak for that?" the braided teen asked, firing his questions too fast for Heero to answer.

"You're going to carry me?!"

"I am. Wanna make something out of it? You afraid that I'll drop you? You think I'm too weak to bear your weight, is that it?"

"No, Duo, I know you can lift my weight and more, but…"

Duo grinned. Heero understood that he'd been had.

"Then there is no problem. C'mere."

With a lengthy sigh, Heero slid to the edge of the seat and let Duo carefully embrace him.

"Arms around my neck, love."

Heero complied in silence, and felt Duo's arms tighten and press him against his lover's torso. Obediently, he let his legs be guided around Duo's hips, and crossed his ankles over his butt. Duo's arms were tight around his hips, not putting any pressure on his ribs, and preventing him from touching the ground. With a grunt, the braided boy straightened up, made sure his hold on the short haired boy was secure, then began to walk back to the house.

Heero snorted. He had to admit that it felt kind of nice, being carried by Duo, his strong arms around him, but still, he was not at all used to being so much in someone else's power. Duo could take him anywhere, put him anywhere, could just throw him down and hurt him, or keep him prisoner… And he couldn't even see where they were going. Damnit. Ok, he knew that he could trust Duo, but still, he had absolutely no measure of control over what was happening to him while he was being moved around like this.

But this was Duo. Sighing, he let the tension flow from his muscles and tried to get comfortable for the short trip to the living room.

He had to admit that being helpless was kind of …interesting. Usually he was the one to carry Duo around, to use his strength ; he forgot sometimes that Duo, too, was very strong for a teenager, because Duo usually didn't use it on him. Heero did, sometimes, never hurting him but physically restraining him or blocking him, even manhandling him sometimes. Roles reversal… hmm.

Must test that at a later date. For now he was too tired to be horny.

He chuckled. It was all Duo's influence, that, to think about sex when there were other things to attend to, even when he wasn't in the mood. But he no longer needed hormones to justify his attraction to Deathscythe's deadly and fiery master. It was Duo, and it was Duo with him, and that was enough justification for that sort of thoughts. Anytime, anywhere, it didn't matter.

He pressed a little kiss to the base of Duo's neck, and after a nearly imperceptible faltering in the braided boy's steps, felt his arms tighten minutely around him in answer.

Gently, the braided boy sat him down on a chair, beside the living room table. Wufei was busying himself with getting the medical supplies sorted out. He glanced up at Heero, then lowered his eyes again on the gauze he was unwrapping, guilt written all over his face. Heero suddenly felt like swearing.

"Duo?"

"Hmm?"

"If you don't want me to move, then get me a glass of water," he grunted with just a touch of grouchiness, hoping that Duo wouldn't question the errand's justification. But Duo gave him a puzzled glance before leaving, and Heero knew that he had failed at hiding the fact that he wanted the braided boy to leave for a short while more than he wanted water.

"Wufei," Heero whispered.

"Hmm?" The boy didn't even look up from his task, just lifted an eyebrow to indicate that he was listening.

"Look at me, you thick-headed moron," Heero hissed, startling Wufei into staring at him. He could hear the hiss of the tap of water in the kitchen. There wasn't much time left.

"Not your fault I was hurt, and the rest never happened as far as I'm concerned. So stop looking like someone skinned your kitten."

Wufei opened his mouth to answer just as Duo was coming back from the kitchen. He closed it with a nearly audible snap, and lowered his eyes again.

"Ok, guys, want to tell me what happened?" Duo asked.

"It's over, Duo, it's nothing," Heero said.

"I'd rather not for now," Wufei mumbled at exactly the same time.

Duo's eyes went from one to the other, but he chose to not question them just then and to take care of Heero first.

Taking hold of the cream for bruises that Wufei was giving him, he began to massage it into Heero's side, in silence, puzzling over his lovers' behavior. He noted that Wufei hadn't offered to do it himself. Afraid to be pushed away by Heero? Heero himself was glaring at Wufei, and Wufei was looking at the table, busying himself with small things not to look too much like he was avoiding his eyes.

"Going to bandage your ribs, 'Ro. Wu, help me to keep his arms high, I don't think he should contract those muscles just now."

Glaring, Heero reached out, beginning to lift his arms. Before he could pull on a muscle, Wufei took hold of his elbow and walked behind his chair to be able to hold it without getting in Duo's way. The braided boy began to bandage the boy's torso, making sure that the band was tight enough to maintain the ribs if they decided that they were broken all the way, but not so tight that it didn't let him breathe comfortably.

He had to change places with Wufei to tuck the ends of the cloth at Heero's back. Wufei stepped in front of Heero, still clasping his elbows, still looking away. Duo gave them a worried glance before busying himself with the bandage.

A yelp from Wufei made him jump and stare, puzzled.

"Are you finished already, Duo?" Heero asked in a neutral tone.

"Err, nope, not yet," the braided boy answered, kneeling to access he area he was working on more easily.

Out of Duo's line of sight, Heero slid his knee higher between Wufei's thighs, his face as unexpressive as ever, his fingers tightening on the Chinese boy's biceps to prevent him from stepping out of reach. Wufei's face was turning a pretty scarlet.

"Something the matter, Wufei?" asked the Japanese teen in a detached voice.

Wufei's eyes were bulging out of his head. Heero's knee was nearly up to his crotch now. He squeezed his thighs together to prevent it from going higher, totally embarrassed.

Heero's knee fell just as Duo was putting the finishing touch to the bandage and standing up, and when the braided boy stepped around the chair to face his short-haired lover, the messy-haired boy's position was totally innocent once again.

"No, nothing," Wufei stammered. He felt so totally out of balance, it wasn't even funny. Who knew Yuy could be that sort of …minx? He let Heero's elbows go in a hurry.

"I'm going in the kitchen, if you don't need me anymore…"

"You hungry Wu? I made something already," the braided boy said. "Not as if I had something else to do while you were away… Want something, Heero?" he asked, walking past Wufei to the kitchen.

"Just a sandwich if you have that, Duo," the short haired boy answered.

"I have it! Wu, sit down, I'm taking the food to you in a second!"

The Chinese boy sat down gingerly, eyeing Heero in a suspicious way, in case the boy decided to jump on him any second and… what? ravage him? He blushed and bit his lower lip, flustered.

Duo came back with the food and they began to eat, the braided boy wolfing down twice as much food as the two who had been on the mission. He hadn't eaten anything since the second they had left, and with his fast metabolism, that wasn't something he should do.

Wufei kept glancing at Heero all along the meal, worried that he was going to do something outrageous again, but the boy didn't even acknowledge his presence or Duo's, just ate, his face serious and inexpressive.

Until the moment Wufei took his glass of water and began to drink.

And then, there was a sock-covered foot on his crotch, pressed snugly against him. The water came back up through his nose. His coughing fit lasted for at least ten minutes, and Duo had to give him light pats on the back, looking worried.

"Wu? What happened? You ok?"

"I'm ok," he managed to answer. "Just went down the wrong pipe." He glared at Yuy venomously. The boy was eating his sandwich as if he didn't have a care in the world… and as if his toes weren't wriggling against Wufei's belly!

Giving him a suspicious look, Duo sat down on his chair and began to eat once again. His brain was working fast to understand what was happening in front of him, but he was having difficulty. What he had managed to find out was that Wufei looked reluctant to look at or touch Heero… as if… ashamed? And that Heero looked indifferent… But he had wanted to speak to Wufei alone! What had happened? And why had Wufei begun to glare at Heero once again if he had been ashamed before? Heero hadn't done or said anything at all to make him change his mind…

…that Duo had seen.

He caught a glimpse of Wufei's hand sliding under the table. The boy was trying to keep his face neutral, but he was becoming redder by the minute and that cute little vein on his temple was beginning to pulse wildly. And Heero was too carefully not looking at him.

And Wufei's hand was in his lap, his shoulder muscles moving as if he was trying to push back something…

Duo gaped at Heero, astonished. He COULDN'T be doing what Duo thought he was doing! It was just his dirty mind!

He was ready to plunge under the table to verify that he was wrong, ready to look like a fool in front of his innocent lovers just to make sure that his world wasn't dancing the samba on its axis, but Heero caught his eyes and winked discretely at him, his face still as neutral as ever. Wufei was now death-glaring at his own lap.

Duo excused himself as innocently as he could and ran to the little pilot's room to laugh his ass off out of earshot.

"Get your foot off my lap, Yuy," Wufei hissed as soon as Duo was out of earshot.

The Japanese boy abandoned his sandwich and turned to face him, his eyes intense.

"Why?" Heero asked, pressing his foot against Wufei's crotch a little bit more.

"Yuy…!!" the Chinese boy growled, ready to fling the offending foot off his lap.

"You're going to hurt my ribs if you make me move too fast," Heero informed him calmly.

"Why…?"

Heero smirked and didn't answer. His toes began to clench and uncurl, tickling Wufei's belly, gripping the cloth and dragging it lower, less than an inch at a time, maddeningly, tantalizingly slow. His big toe brushed against the first black hairs of the dark line travelling up toward Wufei's bellybutton.

"Heero… Why are you…"

"Teasing you?"

[cont]