---------------------------
   Obligatory Bully Scene
~ A Moment in a Dorm Room ~
---------------------------
	He had been waiting for it for so long that, when it finally 
happened, he was no longer surprised.  The only thing that caught him 
offguard was the reason for it.

	"Hold it right there, punk."  The loud, arrogant voice rang out 
behind him in the space between academic buildings.

	Duo rolled his eyes, then turned around to face his accuser.  It 
was no surprise that the teenager standing with his hands crossed 
aggressively over his chest was Rick.  The guy was a rebel without a 
cause, looking to pick an easy fight, and though Duo had been a rebel 
himself, he had had a cause -- a damn good one, in fact -- and hence had 
no sympathy for the moron.  Duo had known it was only a matter of time 
before the jock's attention turned to him.  Finding the situation to be 
slightly absurd, he would have turned around and left, only he could 
hear the sound of footsteps closing in behind him.  Without a doubt, 
Rick would not attend a confrontation without his cronies to back him 
up.

	Duo was irritated, yes, and in no mood to deal with this sort of 
nonsense, but in a twisted sort of way, it reaffirmed his faith in the 
universe.  He had been expecting this, and it was good knowing that some 
things never changed, no matter what crazy direction the world was 
trying to go.  He borrowed a page from Yuy's book and lifted an eyebrow 
at the boy as if to say, 'who, me?'

	From the way Rick's jaw tightened, Duo could tell that that was 
not the anticipated response.  "Who the hell do you think you are?"

	Duo blinked innocently back at the jock in response.  There were 
simply far too many amusing ways in which he could have answered, but 
most of them were rather inflammatory, and he'd hold off on those until 
he needed them.

	"I'll teach you not to mess with me," Rick continued, eyes 
narrow as he overdramatically smacked his fist into his opposite palm.

	"You and all your flunkies, you mean," Duo finally said.  At the 
pause in the boy's step, Duo gestured vaguely over his shoulder at the 
others, whose slow approach had halted with the momentary hesitation of 
their leader.  "Since it looks like this will be a group effort, I 
assume I'm supposed to learn not to mess with the whole lot of you 
lumped together."

	That was a lovely insult to Rick's ego, and naturally he did not 
take it well.  The bully's hackles unsurprisingly rose with the need to 
reassert authority, and he cast a commanding look at his subordinates.  
"A little runt like you?  I could take you myself, easy."

	"Yeah?" Duo answered flippantly.  "And why?"

	He managed to pull another confused look from his opponent.  
"What the fuck?"

	"Exactly," he agreed amiably.  "If we're going to commence with 
the pounding, I'd at least like to know what it's for."  Not that the 
reason was particularly important, nor that he couldn't think of one 
himself; only a morbid curiosity compelled him to ask, as if that way he 
could keep a better score.

	The bully rallied again.  "You better stop shittin' with me, 
man," Rick growled.

	"No, seriously.  To what do I owe this pleasure?"

	"You fuckin' made a move on my girl's what you did!"

	Duo blinked, suppressed a snicker, and then he couldn't help it.  
He laughed, good and hard, and tried decently to keep it from becoming 
uproarious.  Of all the reasons in the world, the guy thought he was 
making a move on his girl?  It wasn't because he was a gundam pilot, or 
he had long hair, or he looked like a pansy, or he kept strange company, 
or he was a street rat, or he smelled, or he was a charity case, or he 
was getting special treatment, or any number of things.  All this 
bluster, because of a girl?

	It wasn't even the truth, and that just made things more 
amusing.  Duo was familiar with Rick's slut of a girlfriend.  He had 
just rebuffed another of Nora's advances this very afternoon, in fact.  
She'd been making eyes at him for weeks now, and it had graduated to 
outright flirtation when Rick hadn't been around.  Duo wasn't 
interested.  He had played the game at first, just because it was 
something new and normal, but the appeal of it quickly evaporated as the 
incredible shallowness of the pursuit became evident.  It wasn't just 
Nora, either.  Duo had gone through the motions with a handful of girls, 
and found each encounter disturbingly and increasingly unsatisfying.

	As he put a stop to his laughter, he had to wonder if Rick had 
just become jealous of his girlfriend's fixation on another man, or if 
Nora had run off pouting to her boyfriend with allegations of 
misconduct.  This last time Duo had refused her, she stomped away with a 
very sour look on her face.  He was certain it wouldn't take much for a 
girl like that to get vindictive.  "For the record, I'd like to deny 
that," he choked out with good humor, knowing it would do nothing to 
deter the coming fight.  He just didn't want the accusation hanging 
there in his silence, with assumed guilt.  He had enough things he was 
guilty of without having to deal with ones undeserved.

	Rick snorted.  "Whatever, man."  And the way it was dismissively 
stated made Duo think that Rick didn't believe it either.  It was an 
awfully convenient excuse to start the fight the bully had been itching 
for anyway.  The teenager bounced once on his toes, then rushed forward, 
arms positioned for a tackle.

	The move was easily read far in advance, and Duo dodged nimbly 
out of the way with ease, thinking idly to himself about the social 
implications of the attack.  In all honesty, he'd been expecting 
something a little more refined, like a punch, not something in a crude 
brawling style, but he supposed that was his own fault.  He'd been 
fighting or sparring against people with some degree of martial skill 
for far too long, and forgotten that boys in a schoolyard usually tried 
pushing each other harmlessly around until someone ended up on the floor 
getting pummeled.  Or maybe preppy schoolboys just knew better than to 
get into fistfights.  They were, after all, more difficult to overlook 
than a little 'friendly roughhousing', and knowing that Rick was related 
to some wealthy businessman, Duo got the feeling that a lot of the boy's 
indiscretions would be overlooked.

	Rick stumbled, but recovered his balance with a clumsy finesse 
that spoke faintly to Duo of prior training in fencing.  It was just 
something in the way he centered himself, no matter the degree of 
unsteadiness.  With a scowl and a glare, he came again, a little more 
warily this time, leaving Duo to contemplate just how he should end the 
fight.  Even though he wasn't the one that had instigated the 
altercation, he knew he'd get in trouble for it with the government 
watchdogs if it became something significant enough to catch their 
attention.  He had just been on his way to meet the others and head on 
over to the base for their scheduled evaluations, so he was constrained 
even further.  Suspicions would definitely be aroused if he was sporting 
any visible bruises or soreness.  He knew he could get out of this 
without anything of the sort, but he needed to find some way that would 
both put Rick down with only minor injuries, and hopefully keep him from 
coming after him again.  The limitations only served to increase his 
annoyance levels.

	He grabbed Rick's arm as it flew out at him, instinctively 
stepping to the outside as he did, but simultaneously repressing the 
instinct to strike open-palmed at the boy's elbow and break that arm, 
followed, perhaps, by a judicious jerk to dislocate his shoulder.  
Instead, he spun with the movement and struck with a knifehand at the 
side of the boy's back, aimed unfortunately at the kidneys, but still 
with the presence of mind to avoid striking with enough pressure to 
cause any lasting damage.  He released his opponent and let the boy 
lurch nearly to his knees, still mindful of the other three boys Rick 
had brought along with him.  They seemed content enough to let their 
leader suffer the abuse for them.

	When Rick regained his footing and turned once more to face his 
'victim', his expression reminded Duo of Nora's as she had walked away.  
Maybe they were a good match.  Not failing to take a hint, Rick was a 
little slower in the next round, and they circled each other, Duo in 
easy confidence, and Rick in attempted divination of Duo's weak points.

	Duo got antsy as their stalking placed his back to Rick's 
cronies, but taking his eyes off of Rick would have been a bad decision, 
so he kept himself in a slightly turned ready position that left him 
better able to defend on both sides.  His focus, honed to a perfection 
in the midst of a battlefield full of distractions, did not waver in the 
slightest when an unexpected voice called out behind him.

	"Duo?"

	"Yeah?"

	"You're late."

	Even if the voice had not been instantly recognizable, Duo could 
have identified the speaker as his roommate merely by the words he 
uttered, or the flat tone in which they had been delivered.  Duo's 
attention did not wander as he responded.  "Yeah, sorry about that.  Got 
distracted, as you can see."

	Rick, on the other hand, was not so professional, and so 
diverted his eyes to the newcomer, leaving an opening Duo wished he 
could take advantage of without doing something unwise.  "Do you mind?" 
the jock said with anger and a pinch of petulance.  "We're in the middle 
of something."

	Heero's eyes flicked assessingly over all participants and the 
audience, an action unnecessary since he had surveyed the situation the 
moment he had come across the scene, and then deliberately returned his 
gaze to Duo's side, which had managed to come back around again in the 
course of circling.  "How much longer do you think you'll be?" he asked 
his roommate, having to work to keep the terseness from his voice.  His 
head was aching annoyingly, as it seemed to at some level all the time 
these days, and already in a less than pleased mood from having to visit 
their parole officers, his tolerance for fools was a little lower than 
normal.

	"Dunno.  Just gimme a minute, would ya?"

	Heero decided that now would not be an appropriate time to point 
out the slang that had crept into Duo's words.  "Hurry it up.  The 
others are waiting."

	"Got the message already, sheesh."

	"What the fuck?" Rick said again, more weirded out by their 
casual demeanors than anything else.  "You guys are both such freaks!"

	There was a single word that went ringing through both pilots' 
minds, and it was something suspiciously like 'duh'.

	"Make sure he doesn't get in the way," Rick commanded his 
troops, getting back on track.  His stance lowered a notch to return to 
a ready position.

	Heero merely raised an eyebrow at the fools that closed ranks in 
front of him, then proceeded to ignore them.  Despite his exhortations 
for a quick finish, he was well aware of why Duo didn't just take the 
boy out.  For a moment, he thought he was surprised by Duo's restraint 
and good sense, then realized he wasn't.  "What's this about, anyway?" 
he asked, wondering if it was about all of them, or just Duo.  If it was 
personal, he'd gladly stay out of Duo's way, but if it was relevant to 
the situation of all of the former pilots, he'd take a slightly more 
active role in the confrontation.

	Duo chuckled darkly, his attention never wavering.  "He thinks I 
was trying to steal his girlfriend."  He had stolen a lot of things in 
his time, but a girl was not one of them.

	"Were you?" Heero asked bluntly, aware of his roommate's social 
tendencies, and of how the girls cooed over him.

	"If I were, I'd have gotten her."  She probably would have 
jumped into his arms without his even having to try, considering she was 
the one doing the pursuing in the first place.  Given the opposition of 
their dispositions, however, Duo refused to catch her, but that was 
completely irrelevant.

	"Good point."

	"Dude, will you guys shut the fuck up?!" Rick shouted irritably.  
He directed his next words to his cronies.  "Shut him up!"

	Rick went diving towards Duo again, and one of his henchmen 
suddenly developed a feral grin.  The other two hung back with a wary 
anxiety that reflected their wisdom.  There had been good reasons for 
why they had never messed with these two scary freaks before.  They 
would let their foolishly brave friend test the waters first.

	Said foolishly brave friend threw a punch at the completely 
unimpressed Heero.  The former Wing pilot did not even waste the effort 
to dodge.  Instead, he caught the boy's fist and held it immobile.  He 
did not squeeze it in a smug display of power, nor apply strategic 
pressure to certain nerve clusters; he simply made it quite improbable 
that the boy could retrieve his hand from the rock-solid grip, much less 
move it at all.

	Over the struggling boy's shoulder, and past the boy's two 
wide-eyed compatriots, Heero observed the primary fight.  Duo was 
dancing circles around the bully with effortless grace, his style a 
deceptively loose one that could trick an opponent into thinking he had 
no style at all.  While Duo could utilize the stricter forms of more 
ancient arts, he chose not to, and Heero approved, whether the decision 
was conscious or not.  Fighting with a street-wise, seemingly 
undisciplined sense would not be as conspicuous as something common 
knowledge held would require years of rigorous training to perfect.

	Only as an afterthought did Heero consider that perhaps 
immobilizing his 'assailant' was conspicuous as well.  He shoved off on 
the boy, releasing him to the custody of his comrades, but consoled 
himself with the idea that, though he had shown them something odd and 
impressive, it, too, did not qualify as something popular media would 
label a martial art.

	In the way that teenage boys can sometimes be silly creatures, 
the two previously intelligent creatures that had refrained from a 
direct encounter with Heero then chose to rush forth and engage him.  
Although the first attack had been judiciously thwarted, their friend's 
bravado apparently inspired their own.  Heero was unable to assess their 
brawling skills with any degree of certainty since the two of them got 
in each other's way, and he was able to neatly sidestep and use one's 
stumbling momentum to trip him with a foot and nudge.  Then, reacting 
much more quickly than the last boy, who swayed with a stunned blink for 
a couple seconds too long, Heero timed a throw and sent him careening 
into Rick, just as the jock had been about to launch yet another 
unsuccessful lunge in Duo's direction.

	Duo met his eyes over the bodies of their fallen schoolmates, a 
strange mix of emotions flitting across his face.

	Heero shrugged.  "Are you done yet?"

	Duo glanced disdainfully down at his sparring partner, who was 
still trying to get himself untangled from henchman number three, and 
who apparently thought copious amounts of swearing would assist him in 
that endeavor, then looked over at the other two, one of whom simply 
stared at them, and the other of whom had his hands held up in a backing 
off gesture.  Duo snorted.  "Yeah, sure."

	They extracted themselves from the mess and continued on to 
their intended destination, but once they were safely away from the four 
stooges, Duo spoke to his companion without stopping, or even looking at 
him.  "I could have taken them by myself, you know."

	"I know," Heero answered truthfully.

	"Then why did you get involved?"

	"We're late.  And they're the ones that dragged me into it."

	"Which brings us to our next excellent point: why the hell did 
you pick just then of all times to get all talkative?"

	"I was not distracting you.  If Rick had been a threat to you, I 
would not have spoken until he had been taken care of."  And the jock 
had found it rather obviously aggravating.  That may have been a small 
factor as well, whether because it was simply satisfying to piss him 
off, or because it gained them a tactical advantage.

	"Yeah, until he had been taken care of by *me*," Duo continued 
to emphasize in a tone laced faintly with accusation and defensiveness.  
"You didn't have to go taking him out for me." 

	"I did not do it for you.  The opportunity merely presented 
itself.  If you had been in serious danger, I would have assisted in a 
more deliberate manner."  Just as he was considering how many ways the 
fight could have turned ugly, and coming up with more than he really 
needed, he realized that the little tussle had somehow served to clear 
up his headache.  Well, perhaps he'd just been cooped up a little too 
long.  He preferred that possibility to the one that proposed he had 
needed a fight or a surge of adrenaline to clear his head.

	"But I wasn't in any danger from him."  It was very important to 
Duo that they get that clear.  "I didn't need your 'assistance'."

	"Of course not," Heero answered levelly.  "But if you had, it 
would have been yours."

	Duo regarded him a little skeptically out of the corner of his 
eye, but let the matter drop as they closed in on the rendezvous point.



_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
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The basis for this fic, i.e. Gundam Wing, 
Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
of someone else.  The author can be con-
tacted at jchew@myrealbox.com.  This has 
been an entirely automated message.
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 1/27/2004 02:02:42 PST