Mair: *glares at rembrant* You told us there would only be about 8 parts... What in the hell are you doing?
Rembrant: Making it longer. Deal.
Mair: Rem! We can't make it much longer!
Rembrant: Yes we can. And it's about time to toss in another wrench.
Mair: Not in this part! *posts before rembrant can do something to it*

Title: Everyone's Dream
Author: Mair
Pairings: 2+1+2
Warnings: Hmmm... Drinking... so far... OH! And AU
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Fanfiction purposes only.

Everyone's Dream + Part 5

They were there. They weren't supposed to be here. Not this early, it wasn't even ten yet. How could he sign things when they were looking at him? How could he sign things when... how could he work with two crazed fans? Especially a crazed fan who looked as good as he did last night.

"Heero? Is something wrong?" Relena looked almost too innocent for her own good.

He glared at her and picked the bag with the posters and the shirt up from their spot in one of the chairs. He turned to leave.

"Heero, you might as well do that here, then they can take everything when they find their hotel rooms. It doesn't make sense for you to take it to your room only to bring everything back in but a few seconds." Relena said, smiling now.

"There isn't any table space here."

"We're done aren't we ladies and gentlemen?" Relena asked.

Duo grinned. "I think so, but I have to agree with Heero." He picked up his plate to reveal a messy table top. "I'm a messy eater though and he's gonna need the whole table for those posters." A whimsicle smile surfaced on his face. "I know I don't want a poster with jam on the back..."

In his mind, Heero thanked Duo while he frowned.

"Besides Relena, I can always pick things up when I tag on over!" Duo grinned at Heero, setting his plate back down.

Heero glared at the occupants of the table. "I don't need an assistant."

"Sure you don't, but you're getting one anyway." Duo gave him a searching look. "Do you pick out your own outfits?"

Startled, Heero looked down at his clothes, then back at Duo. Duo grinned at him and warning bells shot off in his head. "The green tanktop and spandex really doesn't do you justice." Heero felt his eyes narrow as Duo continued. "Part of the selling point of the band is your look. On stage, you look pretty good but obviously you have help. You need ordinary clothing that isn't going to look out of place I think. Well... you may have it but I don't know yet."

Duo looked over at Relena. "Does he have anything else other than what I've seen him wear in the past twenty four hours that's different?"

Relena shook her head. "Not really."

"Well great!" Duo got up from the table and walked over to Heero, looking him up and down. "Ok... so you aren't much bigger than I am in the shoulders... I bet you wear a pantsize up from me..." Duo palmed the top of Heero's head only to have Heero swat his hand away. "Jeez chill man, just checking your hat size." He smiled looking down at Heero's feet. "Size... ten right?"

Heero nodded, still glaring at the figure.

"Right. I can have sneak out clothes for you in an hour, maybe two." Duo looked over at Relena. "You have anything or should I go shopping for you as well?"

Relena hid her smile as Heero looked over at her. "I'm fine, so is Dorothy. It's really just Heero and Trowa that we have to worry about. Wufei has clothing he just doesn't know how to wear it."

"Chang does, he simply does not know what is required to escape or blend in with the crowds today." Meiran replied.

Duo shrugged. "I can help. That's why I'm here!"

Heero grunted and took the opportunity to flee from the room. Duo watched him leave. "Is it just me or does he really resent us being here?" He asked.

Noin smiled. "He doesn't relate well to people from what I can tell. Give him time and he'll be fine."

"I hope so." Duo said looking over at Quatre and grinning.

* * *

Once safely back in his room Heero dumped the bag on the table and drew out one of the posters. A pen rolled out of the bag and he caught it before it rolled off the edge of the table. This would be hard. The seven years of superstardom, thanks to a movie they had two songs in, had taken their toll. He loved his music. But after he and Relena broke up, he threw himself into the life of the band. He became the band. He still remembered Relena's reaction to why they had to break up.

~flash~

Relena's eyes filled with tears. "But why? Everything's going so well!"

Heero sighed. "It isn't. Listen to me. I can't love you the way you want me to. You want me to hold you, care for you, kiss you and tell you that everything is going to be fine. You want me to save you and I can't. Relena, I can be here but I can't love you. I'm sorry this carried on like this for the past two years but I can't hide anymore. Relena... I'm gay. I can't be something I'm not just so you're happy and I'm dying."

Her face hardened through her tears. "You can't mean this. Heero, I love you."

"And I love you like a sister. Nothing more."

She struggled to contain her tears, to deny the fact that they were falling. She turned away from him and sat down on the edge of the fountain in the hotel plaza. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with her fingers but they kept coming. "I... You owe me Heero Yuy... I knew you were reluctant about some things but I never thought it was this..." She looked down through tear-blurred eyes at her hands. Hesitantly she wrapped her arms around her. Slowly gaining control. "Are you going to break up the band too? People thought we were together... Half of the band's success has been the fact is the look we project. Me, female and available for a good man, you able to worship the right woman... If you..." Tears started to flow again. "Heero, if you come out we'll loose a large part of our audience and that isn't fair, not to the rest of us. This band is all Trowa has and though I have my parents, what future do I have in politics after this?"

She turned to look up at him, tears streaming down her face. "Singing is one of the few things I do well! It's bad enough that you have to break my heart but do you have to break the band as well? I deserve an answer..."

Heero's face was a neutral mask. Slowly he reached out and brushed away one of her tears. "I promise I won't break up the band Relena... But I can't promise that I won't fall in love. If that happens I don't know what I'll chose."

Her eyes glittered through her tears. "Is there someone else already?"

"No."

~end flash~

Heero frowned at the poster now unrolled on the table. He tossed the pen down and walked over to his suitcase. He opened the top and brought out the bottle inside. He walked back to the table unscrewing the cap. He took a swig of the vodka, making a face as he swallowed. He screwed the cap back on and set it down on the table. He wiped his mouth and picked up the pen.

Duo was too good looking for his own good. He knew Duo missed the backward glance he gave him as he left. He wondered if Duo knew what all the words on his shirt meant. He wanted to know. The band had to come first though. Better to let Duo do whatever Relena wanted him to do so he'd go away sooner. But as he thought about the ride back to the hotel, watching the man rattle on about everything that came to mind, he felt... He felt like time stood still.

He shook his head and scrawled his name Quatre's poster. He capped the pen and rolled up the poster. He reached for the next poster and unrolled it. He scrawled his name next to his picture, then reached for the shirt. He shook it out and signed next to his picture. He re-folded the shirt in quick practiced movements.

What was it that kept bringing Duo to mind? Last night everyone on stage admired the two dancing in the wings. Both Quatre and Duo dressed to be noticed. Trowa watched the slender blonde most of the night, while he... He tried not to look at the androgynous figure that projected energy and sex. When he saw Duo back stage and he got a good look, he fought himself struggling to stay in control of his bodies natural response. When he left the room it was all he could think of to get away from the quick whited fool to jack off and forget. The ride back to the hotel with Duo hadn't helped at all.

He couldn't believe the singular effect that Duo had on him. He shook his head. Duo was a fan. He was now a business associate. He couldn't afford a liason in the past six years and he didn't need to break the celibacy now. He closed his eyes, steeling himself for the invitable.

He needed his guitar. He could use another drink. He needed to loose himself.

* * *

Duo knocked on Heero's door. He waited. He knocked again. "Come on Heero, open up." He listened at the door. He jumped when he heard a latch move at ear level. He blinked as the door opened. He pushed at the door to see Heero walking back into the room. Duo frowned and went in, kicking the door closed behind him and flexed his bag filled hand. "I don't suppose you'd give me a hand with these?"

"Leave your shoes at the door." Was Duo's only answer.

Duo rolled his eyes and set the bags down. "You do know that boots are a bitch to get untied right?" He heard Heero start playing his guitar again. He shook his head and started unlacing the boots. He removed them and picked up the bags again.

He grinned as he entered the main portion of the hotel room. "Ok, here are your costumes for every day life. Some of them look weird but hey, they're based after the people that attend your concerts." He set the bags down next to the table. "I got you some t-shirts, they're close enough to tank tops that it shouldn't be to traumatic of a switch for you. Some tidy whites, some black ones and a denim jacket. I figured you wouldn't have too much of a fit if it was blue." He unpacked the bags as he talked, laying out the items on the table. "I know you've got plenty of stage costumes. Relena mentioned that was about all you had aside from the two pairs of jeans and spandex and the tanks. So the pants I got you are pants that are nice but not concert nice." He looked up to see Heero frowning.

"Look, if you're worried about me suddenly running up and down the halls screaming "Oh my God I'm Heero Yuy's assistant' you've got me all wrong. Yes, I have been a fan for a really long time and yes I loved the concert and acted like a fool but hell, if you'd just had an amazing concert experience, wouldn't you act a little nuts?"

"No."

Duo sighed. "Ok, how about this. I still can't believe my luck but I'm not going to go all rabbid fan on you and smother you in affection and worship ok?"

"Hn."

Duo rolled his eyes and shook his head. "What ever, believe what you want to but may I remind you that I run, I hide but I never lie? Feel free to ask Quatre." He turned back to the bags. "I bought you some shoes, check and see if they fit. What ever your sneak out outfit is you'll have a pair of appropriate shoes. The wrong shoes will make you stick out like a sore thumb. Got it?"

Heero nodded as Duo flopped down on the end of the bed Heero reclined on. "So whacha doin'?"

"None of your business." Heero muttered, frowning down at his hands. He looked over at the sheet of music next to him then played something.

Duo watched him struggle and frowned. "Is that a new song?"

"Hai."

"It sounds like 'Splinter in the Mind'."

Heero looked up and glared at Duo. "If you don't shut up I'll kill you."

Surprisingly Duo grinned. "I'd like to see you try and take a street brat from L2. It might be fun. You'd lose but it'd still be amusing."

Duo blinked as he suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of a .22. He grinned and shifted slightly, causing Heero's eyes to narrow. "Look down Heero."

Heero glanced down to see a short, extremely slender knife almost touching the veins on the top of his foot.

"You threaten me, I'll threaten you..." Duo grinned and removed the knife and slipped it back inside his sleeve. "You know, you're cute when you get ticked."

Heero glared at Duo and lowered the gun.

"So how come you're writing a song that sounds like one you've already done?"

"I'm not."

"Oh please. That part you just played was straight copy from the first stanza of 'Splinter' and don't try and tell me it's not."

"You don't know anything about this."

"Like HELL I don't." Duo sat up and folded up his legs, starring at Heero. "Look. Fans of your work know your work better than you do. Around school I did costumes for the plays and the renfair groups. Someone wanted an original work so I sketched something out for them. They told me that wasn't original because it was basically two costumes combined. The embroidery was from a costume I drew for 'Sleeping Beauty' and the cut of the fabric was from 'Robin Hood'." Duo smiled and tapped the page. "This is 'Splinter in the Mind'."

"Go away."

Duo grinned and shook his head. "Look. I grew up in a church. The tune you had going before you broke into 'Splinter' sounded new... kinda like a hymn. So what if you borrowed a bit from here and something like this..." He hummed a couple bars of a song. "That would fit and it wouldn't sound like you're getting stagnant."

"I don't need your help to do this. Why don't you take Quatre's poster to him and leave me alone."

Duo's smile faded slightly. "Right. Just think about it." He got up from the bed and reclaimed Quatre's poster from the table. He noticed Heero's room cards and grabbed the spare, shoving it into his back pocket. He grabbed his boots and sat down next to the door. He tied his boots, never noticing the eyes that tracked his every motion.  

[part 4] [part 6] [back to Mair's fic]