Author: May Chang
see prologue for warnings. disclaimers

/.../ = thoughts

The Path Between + Chapter 2

What the hell is Trowa and Heero's problem?! I mean, all through our ride out of town, they've been staring at me. If I was a girl, I'd find it flattering, but seeing how I'm a guy, and not to mention straight, this is pissing me off.

Shit. Now I'm thinking sex. This is what happens when you hang around two extremely horny people. Bad, Duo, bad. At least Heero and Wufei both have their own horses, Wing and Nataku. The thing is, both of them are females. And Shinigami seems to be extremely attracted to Wing. Oi...

Well, we all decided to camp out tonight, seeing as we won't get to the next town for another two days. I like it just fine, except I won't get a bath. I've got to hand it to Wufei, though. He knows how to pick a spot, right next to a lake. Bath!!! In fact, I am very impressed with Wufei. He uses a sword, he can fight barehanded, he's fucking gorgeous and he's an amazing cook. No wonder Quatre's attracted to him.

+

I love staying clean, so sue me. I just didn't take Heero and Trowa to be peeping toms. All through my bath, they kept staring at me. If Quatre hadn't pulled them away, I would've thrown some fireballs at them.

That night, before I went to sleep, Quatre walked over to me, blushing faintly for some reason.

"Um, Duo? Could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, glancing at Wufei, who was busy distracting Heero and Trowa at the moment. I nodded and the two of us walked over towards the lake.

"So, what's on your mind, Q-bean?" I asked, twisting my braid in my hands. Quatre was still blushing faintly for some reason. Did Wufei do something to him?! I'll kill the son of a --

"Trowa and Heero are in love with you," Quatre blurted out.

Wait a minute... what????

"They think you're very beautiful," Quatre went on, blushing redder with every word, "and they both want to... um..."

"What???" I asked, extremely confused. Heero and Trowa... in love... with me... "I thought they were together!"

"They are!" Quatre said, then looked down at the ground. "They just want you to... um, how should I put this...? Join in on the fun?"

I stared at Quatre. "You're not serious."

"I'm serious," Quatre replied. I started to pace. This is way too much for me. Maybe I should just tell them that I'm straight.

"Maybe you should tell them you're straight." Quatre echoed my thoughts, looking rather concerned. I stopped and looked at him.

"Do you think it'll work?" I asked, trying to keep hope down.

Quatre nodded, though he looked kind of doubtful.

+

Actually, it didn't work. And for the first time in my life, I'm thinking about switching my sexual preference. I mean, have you ever been kissed by Heero and Trowa? They are such good kissers.

I swear, they're just as good as Hilde.

You see, Quatre and I both returned to camp after our little talk. Then Quatre goes over to Wufei and leaves me all alone with Heero and Trowa to fend for myself.

Then again, I could tell that Quatre was fucking horny and really wanted to get it on with Wufei. Sheyeah... Anyway, I walk over to the fire, sat down and glared at the two.

"OK, lemme get this straight," I said, glaring between Heero and Trowa. Heero glared back at me, while Trowa just looked at me with something akin to amusement. "I don't do guys. Sorry to burst your bubbles."

Heero and Trowa looked at each, then at me like I'm nuts. Which really isn't far from the truth. Of course, the next thing I know, the two of them had crossed over and settled close to me. Settled very close to me.

"Um, what are you guys doing?" I asked, extremely nervous as of now.

"We're going to show you what you're missing out on," Trowa said, smiling at me.

And that's when the fun started.

+

I woke up to giggling and a tangled mess. The giggling was done mostly by Noin; the tangled mess was literally a tangled mess of legs, arms and my hair.

I knew I should've kept it braided.

"And I thought I was the horny one!" Noin giggled.

Heero and Trowa decided to wake up finally, and the two of them glared at Noin. Noin giggled some more, got up and left to go find Zechs. I just sighed and tried to get out of the mess. Of course, Heero and Trowa decided to get me all hot and bothered by kissing me.

"Ohh... um, down, boys, down!" I moaned out, finally getting myself out and flinging off the blanket. My clothes were thrown across from me and I crawled over Heero to get to them. Heero began to nibble my shoulder-blade while Trowa decided to crawl over to have some fun of his own.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Wufei asked dryly as he appeared.

Heero and Trowa stopped groping me, leaving me with enough time to get my boxers on. I actually gave Wufei a grateful look.

"Yes, until you came along," Trowa replied, sourly.

Heero and Trowa both sighed and went to get their clothes. Wufei turned and smirked at me.

"Hey, thanks Fei. I really want to get out on to the road and to the nearest town for some beer," I said, grinning at the blademaster. Wufei shook his head in exasperation, then turned as Quatre entered, fidgeting with his belt.

"Oh! Good morning Duo!" Quatre said, smiling at me. He then looked over at my rumpled clothing, then at Trowa and Heero dressing. He quirked an eyebrow. "I see we all had fun last night."

I stuck my tongue out at him. He just sniggered back. In fact, he began to be quite crude at that particular moment.

"So, did they play a Duo sandwich on you?"

"Quatre! Shut up!"

"Oh! They did! How was it? Well, I want details!"

"Quatre! Omae o koruso!!"

"Hey, that's a very good imitation of Heero. EEP!!"

+

It was at the roadside inn, the Blood Bear, that the dangergelders first heard of the great chaos-master Trieze. It would seem that Trieze has been going around this part of the world, feeding the hungry.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Quatre said over dinner. He looked at me, then at Zechs and Noin. For the first time since the dangergelders had met us, this would be the first time they've saw Zechs and Noin not horny. It was also the thing that actually clued them in that this chaos-master was not good.

"I do not understand why you do not like this chaos-master," Wufei said, taking a sip of tea. I looked at Zechs and Noin; they looked back.

"Zechs, how about you explain this whole thing to our friends, seeing as you've had first-hand experience with chaos-masters," I said.

Zechs sighed, and looked at the others. "Let me start off by asking you how much you know about order and chaos," Zechs began.

Quatre shrugged. "What's there to know?" he asked, looking puzzled. "Chaos is white and evil, while order is black and good."

"There's actually more to that," Noin said. "Do you know why chaos is always white and order is black?"

Quatre shook his head no. Wufei leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, looking at Zechs and Noin with great interest.

"Chaos is white because it is the combination of color," I said. "Black is the absence of color."

"Ok, but I don't really see the point of knowing this," Heero said.

"In between white and black, there is gray," I said. "That's who we are. Even white magicians and chaos-masters are just a little gray."

"Why?" Wufei asked, fascinated.

"Because we all have limitations," Zechs responded. He then looked out the window into the dark. "I suggest we continue this discussion tomorrow." With that, he stood up and left with Noin following.

Quatre blinked after them in surprise.

"Did I miss something?" he asked.

I watched as Zechs and Noin disappeared up the stairs, then I looked at him. "This chaos-master, Trieze, was a good friend of Zechs," I said. "In fact, I wouldn't say that his real name is Trieze."

"I don't quite follow," Trowa said. I took another sip of my wine before I started up again.

"Nobody can handle pure chaos, because in the end, it'll wreak havoc on the internal order. That's why white magicians die young." I frowned. "The only way they can stay alive is the transfer of conscience to another body."

"Interesting," Wufei said.

I snorted. "Interesting, my ass," I said. "Trieze was a friend of Zechs before his body was taken over. This chaos-master's just using Trieze's name for now, since he's so damn evil."

"Oh? Who is this real chaos-master then?" Quatre asked.

"His real name is Dekim Barton, the White Plague."

Quatre paled, while Wufei scowled. Heero and Trowa just looked on impassively at me.

"Him?" Quatre whispered. I nodded. "Aw, crap. I thought he'd be long dead."

"No, he's still alive and fucking with everybody's lives," I said bitterly. Then I looked at Trowa. "By the way, are you related to him?" Trowa shook his head, while Heero gave me an amused look.

"He just took his name," Heero supplied.

I blinked. "What do you mean he took his name?" I demanded, quirking an eyebrow.

"The real Trowa Barton was related to Dekim Barton; he was his great-grand nephew, or something like that," Wufei said. "From what I understand, our blackstaffer friend just killed him and took his name."

"I didn't kill him; S did," Trowa protested. I rolled his eyes. "Seeing how he was dead, and I don't really have a real name..."

"Ah," I replied, my mind reeling a bit. What had I gotten myself in, sleeping with this guy?

+

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