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 4

During the trip back from the circus, Heero had reviewed his mission's progress to date. He was right on schedule so far. His first goal had been to get Duo to notice him in a sexual way. Strictly sexual attraction was pretty safe ground - Duo hadn't fled L2 till Hilde went from flirting to declaring undying love, so he had hoped the same would hold true for him. So far, so good.

At the circus today, he had seen Duo watching him eat and altered his - err, method - of eating accordingly. Duo had been shifting uncomfortably on the hard bench by the time he had finished his corndog. 'Who knew you could suggest so many things just by the way you ate a corndog?'

And he thought that his response to Duo's insistence on him trying the cotton candy had been truly inspired. Once again, he had managed to reduce "Motormouth Maxwell" to wordless sputtering. Instead of taking the cone of cotton candy that Duo thrust at him, he had caught Duo's other hand, with its sticky, cotton candy covered fingers, and painstakingly licked every bit of cotton candy off.

'For a moment there, I thought I might have to hold him up - he seemed to be having a little trouble with his knees,' Heero smirked to himself. 'I'm actually enjoying this. Who knew that keeping Duo off balance and reduced to wordless sputtering could be so much fun?'

Gazing unseeingly out the car window, he thought, 'I'll get Quatre to suggest another night of clubbing in a couple of days and this time I'll make sure to dance with Duo. A close dance. A very, very close dance. Maybe when we're plastered groin to groin, he'll finally figure out that no, I'm not straight - I'd really like to know where the hell he ever got that idea from to start with! - and yes, I am attracted to him. Another couple of days to let him get used to the idea of a relationship with me, and hopefully a healthy dose of hot and heavy sex will sweeten the idea of marriage to get me out of Relena's clutches and keep me in his. That still leaves me with another two weeks to get him to agree to marriage and get the actual marriage taken care of. Once we're married and I'm free of Relena, we'll be living together all the time and I can gradually work him around to the idea of love.'

That, unfortunately, was the one part of the plan that he had very limited control over. He was pretty sure he could manage to talk Duo into marrying him, based on a strong physical attraction ('Oh, be honest with yourself Yuy - it's just plain straightforward lust, stop trying to pretty it up with fancy words') and loyalty to a friend and comrade trapped in a bad spot. He was also reasonably sure that he had a pretty good handle on a number of ideas that should be sufficiently romantic to make Duo fall in love with him given the slightest natural inclination in that direction. But he could not guarantee the existence of that natural inclination. He hoped it was there. He even suspected that he had seen signs of that possibility in things that Duo had said and done over the past week. But he could not be sure.

'But I do know that at the very least he loves me as a friend, and he desires me. Even if that's all I ever have from him, it will be more than I would have had if I just sat back and did nothing.'

Lost in his own thoughts, Heero had automatically climbed out of the car and started for the steps. Not having heard Rashid's warning, he was caught completely off-guard by the sound of his name being screeched in an all-too-familiar voice. Horrified, feeling all his plans collapsing around him, Heero turned his panic-stricken gaze towards Duo, hoping desperately that by some miracle of imagination and creativity Shinigami would pull this mission out of danger as he had so many others during the war, despite the fact that he didn't even know that this particular mission existed. And once again, against all odds, Shinigami came through for him.

Amethyst eyes hardened with resolve then, in one quick bound, Duo was at his side. Long arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him reassuringly as a beloved voice rang out, "Oi, look who's here guys! Isn't this great! 'Lena-babe, you can be the first to congratulate us! Heero and I are gettin' hitched!"

Lifting his hands and threading them through Duo's hair to press against his scalp, Heero breathed a heartfelt "Arigatou" before pressing their lips together to express his thanks in a more tangible form.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It took all his years of training in proper social decorum, but Quatre managed not to gape in shock at Duo's bold announcement. 'Heero, you still have the devil's own luck when it comes to "missions". Or maybe that should be Shinigami's own luck since he's the one who has the habit of pulling your ass out of the fire.'

Relena's stuffy and disbelieving exclamation of "That is not a joking matter, Maxwell!" turned to a shriek of outrage. Wincing at the sheer volume and pitch, Quatre turned to see what had her so upset just in time to see Trowa "accidentally" miss catching Relena as she keeled over in a dead faint.

"Oops. Missed," his lover said, giving him an unrepentant smirk.

Wufei's shocked shout of "Yuy! Maxwell!" drew his gaze to the cause of said faint. Heero had Duo in a very thorough lip-lock, and Duo didn't seem to be in any hurry to break away.

'Peaceful vacation? Well, that's definitely not in the picture. But Heero's plans appear to have just taken a gigantic leap ahead of schedule.'

*~*~*~*~*~*

Distantly aware of shrieking and shouting taking place somewhere in the background, Heero reluctantly realized that he had better break off the kiss before he pushed things too far, too fast and panicked Duo. 'He takes the "runs and hides" part of his motto a little too seriously sometimes,' he thought, regretfully drawing back from his new fiancé and looking around to see what all the fuss was about.

"I don't suppose we managed to give her a heart attack?" he asked Trowa, who was crouching beside the unconscious form of The Pink Menace.

"No, sorry. She just fainted," Trowa answered. "Better luck next time."

"TROWA!" Quatre exclaimed, evidently trying very hard to sound properly horrified but ending up sounding amused. "Rashid, take Miss Peacecraft up to her room, please, and inform either Pargan or Miss Catalonia that she has had a fainting spell."

Stealing a quick peek out of the corner of his eye, Heero noted Duo was just staring at him, a couple of fingertips pressed to his lips, and a very dazed and confused look on his face. 'Hmm, guess some sort of explanation for that kiss may be in order...'

Before he could speak to Duo, however, a very firm grasp closed around his elbow. "Yuy, I need to speak with you. Alone. NOW."

One quick look at Wufei's determined expression assured Heero that he could not put this off. "Very well," he agreed.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo stood staring blankly as Quatre and Trowa helped Rashid carry Relena away while Wufei marched Heero into the house. That kiss was - unexpected - to say the least. Oh, a kiss certainly made sense in light of the announcement he had made, since it would serve to cement the reality of it, but that kiss... It wasn't "just a kiss". It was warm, and tender, and passionate, all wrapped up in one. And that was without any tongue even being involved! Suddenly realizing that he had his fingertips pressed tightly to his mouth, he pulled them away. His lips were still tingling.

Duo abruptly sat down at the foot of the steps, staring off into the distance. 'What if... What if I'm wrong about Heero? I thought that whole cotton candy thing today was just revenge for me throwing caramel corn in his hair earlier during the show... But what if it wasn't? What if he isn't straight?

'Where did I get the idea that he was straight? I... I don't remember. I've just always assumed...'

Wrapping his arms around his legs and drawing them up tight to his chest, Duo dropped his head to his knees, muttering under his breath, "Yeah, Maxwell, and you know what you do when you assume - but this time, the only "ass" around here is you if you've been wrong about this all along..."

Voice trailing off, he thought, 'I must have got the idea somewhere. But I don't remember where. Okay, then when did I decide he was straight?'

Unable to come up with an answer to that question either, Duo decided to let it go for now, knowing his subconscious would keep chewing on the question until it came up with an answer. There were more important issues at the moment. 'If Heero is genuinely attracted to me, that changes everything. A three-year paper marriage, even if it was filled with sexual frustration, I could handle. I wouldn't be particularly happy, but I could handle it in order to help out a friend. If it's not just a paper marriage - if we're lovers as well as spouses - can I handle that? Am I ready to make that big a commitment, even if it's only for three years? I... don't know...

'But I've already said we're getting married,' he realized, groaning. 'I didn't even say we were engaged, I said we were "gettin' hitched". And unless I wanna make a liar out of myself, I can't very well take it back. I've already made the commitment. Oh shit. Dammit, Duo, now you've really gone and done it.'

Lifting his head from his knees, Duo mouthed softly, "Married. I'm getting married to my best friend. I, Duo Maxwell, am marrying Heero Yuy. Oh hell."

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