FicWad

TITLE: CAPTAINS
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: 1x2 and some het pairings in the background
RATING: R (will eventually be NC-17)
GENRE: AU, Adventure, Historical, Romance
WARNING: yaoi, crossdressing, swearing
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything save for the story, so please don't sue poor little me
SUMMARY: The Caribbean in the time of pirates. Duo Maxwell is an infamous captain pirate bored with easy lays. His life will get much more interesting when he meets the dark Navy Captain Heero Yuy in the most unusual circumstances.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to apologize for being so tardy with this part. You might think there isn't much going on in this chapter but it was a bitch to write. Till now I had managed to avoid taking a stance as of historical exactitude but I finally had to take the plunge. So, I rest my case that the story takes place in the Caribbean most likely in mid 17th century. However, that is just a standpoint as I chose to not stay faithful to accurate history but to go AU instead. You will have to consider the background as being somewhat similar to Caribbean history but with a few twists as I was too lazy to search in depths for real dates, events, politics, etc... The historical has turned around to become fiction and as such I hope you will forgive occasional discrepancies or other anachronisms. All you have to know is that the Kingdoms cited in this story: Sank, Lagrange, Oz and Romfeller are loosely based on the four real powers of this era, respectively Great Britain, France, Spain and Netherlands. However the interaction between the countries in this story aren't a real reflect of how History really went.

Chapter 10 : The Military Frigate

Heero had passed the point of frustration for a while now and he was leaning toward full blown fury fast. Despite the relative promiscuity that was one of the major inconvenience of the life onboard a ship, every soldiers managed to give him a permanent wide berth. It wasn't that unusual but had taken ludicrous proportions as of late. Lieutenant Noin and Trowa were the only ones brave enough to approach the seething beast. As the second in command, Noin didn't have much of a choice but to interact with the Captain no matter his mood. The dark-haired Lieutenant appeared like a level-headed individual anyway, there wasn't much that fazed him. Trowa wasn't afraid of Heero either and had committed himself early on on being Heero's supportive friend whatever happened. That entailed being there even when your efforts were vastly unappreciated. With his quirky sense of humor though, it was more of a guilty pleasure than a chore and he found the whole situation hysterical.

The Captain Lowe had been so enthusiastic in the beginnings that his troupes had been worried about his sanity. He had managed to round a crew, freight the Wing and depart Sank in under an hour. That was a feat. Mean observers would argue that as he hadn't bothered with authorization from his superiors it wasn't all that impressive. However, Heero knew that Admiral Noventa wouldn't be angered by his impulsive actions. The old man had been in the Military long enough to know that at times urgency was required above pointless legalities. The Admiral had every confidence in his Captain's decision making and knew well the young man wasn't the sort to abuse that kind of trust.

The person more likely to be outraged by his hasty departure on the other hand was the Colonel Lowe. Regardless of the fact he was in the Infantry and as such shouldn't have any say in the affairs of a Navy officer, Heero's grandfather made it a point to always know of his grandson's assignments and usually managed to terminate them when they weren't to his liking. This time, the news would come to him too late for him to do anything about it and his reaction would probably be bad. Would Heero have gone to inform him of the situation, the Colonel would have most likely forbidden him to depart, wary to have the lad away from his imposed fiancée before the deed was done. That's part of the reason the Captain hadn't bothered to tell anyone. There hadn't been enough time as it was. Too bad, so sad and all that.

Heero was eager when his heavily armed Wing sailed away from Sank. He was very proud of the frigate which had been given into his command years ago. Wing was the fastest ship of Sank Navy and had participated in many a battle always victorious in the end. Its elegant lines and angel-shaped figurehead were well-known in the Caribbean and buccaneers and privateers alike had learned to keep clear of it. Heero was certain that so equipped, it would take no time before he catch the Sandrock, even if he hadn't the slightest idea as to which direction the brigantine had taken.

One week later and with naught a sign of his goal, the Captain's mood had taken a one-eighty. Wing was still sailing fast, but without direction it was mostly pointless. They were going in circles, literally, hoping they would find a lead, stopping at times to hail another boat and ask if someone had seen the elusive brigantine. They didn't have much success as it was likely that the only ones who would have had interesting information were the same buccaneers and privateers who were avoiding the Wing. It was like a rehearsal of Heero's stunt on the docks when he was looking for Helen and he had a perfectly clear memory of how well that had gone... If that hadn't been such a silly idea Heero would have believed Sandrock was a mere costume like Helen had been. Shows how much fantasies one's brains can come up with when sufficiently desperate...

The sensible thing to do would have been to turn sail and go back to Sank when it became clear that the Sandrock had escaped. Alas the Captain Lowe wasn't ready to give up. He didn't know if he ever would be. Catching Shinigami had became a great deal more personal since the prank he had played on him personally and Heero wouldn't rest as long as he didn't have the pirate at his mercy. He was long past reasoning anyway as, when he was completely honest with himself, he wondered whom of Shinigami or Helen did he want to catch the more. That was insanity obviously as he had come to terms with the fact that Helen Winner wasn't real and yet in the privacy of his cabin, he sometimes indulged in imagining meeting her again. The dreams that ensued were the most vivid he had ever had and also the most lurid. The only good thing that had come from all this mess was that his "Holy Maiden" as Trowa had dubbed her wasn't all that holy anymore. The incident had given her flesh in his imagination and the will to touch her as a man should without fear of sullying her. He met her often at night and didn't refrain anymore from taking what he wanted, showering her alabaster skin with passionate kisses and avid caresses. It was convenient that in those indecent encounters his mind kept abstracting her being a male.

Even if he had gotten the will to give up on his pursuit, there were too much arguments in favor of him keeping away from Sank. As long as he was sailing, he didn't have to worry about what his grandfather would do to him when he got back. He could also savor being away from Relena even if he was somewhat curious as to what she would say about Shinigami's presence near her apartments. The peculiarity of that event hadn't escaped him, nor that Trowa seemed to have drawn his own conclusions explaining Shinigami's visit. Heero would have shared the belief in most circumstances but he had trouble picturing Duo Maxwell with Relena. The man mustn't lack for offers and had no reason to go for the Governor's daughter. Regardless of what Heero had said in defense of the woman to reassure Trowa, when you got down to it and aside from being another human being, Relena didn't have much going for her as far as picking a lover went.

Heero was brooding on the bow of Wing as he had been for the better part of his days. His eyes were fixed upon the horizon as if he was expecting to catch a glimpse of his prey any moment. As each day past though expectation had given way to weary habit. He heard footsteps behind him. He identified his visitor at his gait and braced himself for the upcoming intrusion. He knew it would be Trowa, he would have known even if the man hadn't been deliberately making noise to announce his presence. His friend had been relentlessly pursuing his company for days. Any pretext was good enough for him to come chat with Heero. If he had been in any other sort of mood, the Captain Lowe would have find humorous the length at which his usually silent friend went to drag him into conversation. As it was, it was annoying.

It was painful enough to have to deal with Noin's clockwork visits when he was given report of their progress -or lack thereof- in a clipped tone that exuded disapproval. The Lieutenant was a conscientious officer and had a great dislike for all infringement to military discipline. That was the reason why Noin worked so well with the Captain Lowe as he was himself to be commended for his seriousness. This time however Heero was behaving in an irrational way that grated on the Lieutenant's nerves. It wasn't like him to go on a wild goose-chase nor to disregard protocols. It was only by force of will and thanks to the great deal of respect Noin had toward his Captain that his pointed advice to get back to port hadn't turned into real arguments. It would have been untoward to lecture one's superior officer. However, he found other means to show his opinion and Heero was under no illusion as to what his Lieutenant was thinking about the situation.

That's why he was so wary to speak with Trowa as he knew that his friend wouldn't be as subtle in admonishing him. Worse even he might be coming to see how Heero was doing and if the Captain was reluctant to justify actions he didn't himself fully comprehend, he was completely resolute not to talk about his feelings. The Captain Lowe didn't get emotional. It had been drilled into him since a very young age that men of means don't advertise their feelings, it was uncouth and unmanly. Still, Heero had recently discovered that it was much more easy to hide one's own feelings when you didn't have them at all. In his present state of mind and with such a shrewd man as Trowa Barton it got much more problematic. The Captain was expecting a blunt approach from his friend as the previous times had gone and was thus surprised by the opening platitude.

"Nice weather we're having, don't you think Heero?"

Unbalanced, he turned toward the intruder and seeing the smirk on Trowa's lips, gathered it had been the desired effect. He didn't even try to dim his small smile, grudgingly acknowledging his friend's astuteness. Heero knew when he was beaten and would let the other be smug. Though he wouldn't go as far as to respond with more than an arched eyebrow. If Trowa was set on talking with him he would let him, but he didn't have to make it easy. The spy shook his head with a rueful chuckle and got the conversational ball rolling, ignoring his interlocutor's continued silence. Once again his choice of topic managed to surprise Heero. He was much too good at that.

"Were you aware that your First Lieutenant is a woman?"

He debated internally about the virtues of answering but guessed that as long as they weren't discussing his feelings there wasn't much point in keeping silent. He shrugged. "How did you come to this conclusion?"

Trowa gave him a penetrating glance, trying to assess what he knew himself before sharing his own observations. "For one, she has too fair features for a male even with the stern expression she's always maintaining. She speaks in a husky voice but it gets high-pitched at times when she's distracted. I never caught her changing nor bathing with the others and yet obviously it's not because she's not bathing at all, only that she always does it in privacy. She never takes off her uniform vest no matter how hot it is while even you do it on occasion. It seems she wants to hide something like for example the bindings she kept her breasts in. Oh yeah and she blushed an interesting shade of red when I accidentally on purpose let her catch me stark naked and masturbating. That's the kind of thing common enough in such close quarters that a male wouldn't even have blinked."

The Captain studied his friend a moment and observed wryly: "You must be pretty bored..."

"What can I say? I always loved a good mystery. You don't seem surprised?"

"I'm not."

"Doesn't that bother you to have her as your second in command? I thought it was bad luck to have a woman onboard."

"She's qualified enough to do her job and as far as I'm concerned that's all that matters. And anyway, if I was inclined to give faith to such silly superstitions, the figurehead would be female and half-naked instead of a warrior angel."

"You used to despise liars so why so lenient with her?"

Heero looked away briefly and appeared contemplative before saying in a self-depreciative tone: "Trowa, for years I have pretended to be the respectable Captain Lowe, last descendant of an old Sancian house when in truth I am the bastard son of a disinherited convict and a Japanese prostitute, so tell me what rights do I have to judge the morals of anyone?" He was blunt and didn't wait for an answer. "She must have her own motives as I have mine, so I won't do anything to confront her. I know and she knows I know. That's all that matter. Anyway, she's all the more loyal for it."

Heero had a faraway look. Trowa hadn't expected the discussion to turn so gloomy so he was prompt in orienting the topic in the direction he had hoped it would go. "What is it around here with all the people crossdressing? Is it some custom I wasn't aware of?"

They were finally on the subject that mattered, namely Helen, even if Trowa had used convoluted means to get to that point. The Captain Lowe made a show of looking blank, expertly avoiding the green eyes. The spy sighed, he had expected as mush but was tired of this game and decided to push. However, before he had time to call his friend on his avoidance, they were interrupted by a shout from the crow's nest.

"Sail ahead!"

All noises that had stayed unnoticed to this point were silenced. All sailors stopped what they had been doing and turned their eyes to the sea. You never knew who you would encounter around here and you better be prepared for the worst. Nobody was at war per se, not yet anyway, but the most mundane of conflicts brewing in the faraway Europe tended to ignite fast under the unforgiving sun of the Caribbean. Colonies might call themselves New Sank, Nuevo Oz, Nouvelle Lagrange, Nieuw Romfeller but their homelands were just too far to dictate them their politics. An ocean away from the European court intrigues, the Governors were playing at being Kings in their own rights and were more preoccupied with gaining new territories to boast about to their home countries when the time of elections came than with keeping tracks of all the changing allegiances. Alliances were fickle while old enmities of wars past were often rekindled.

Heero himself was watching the horizon with a different kind of trepidation. He wasn't worried about going into battle, he knew his Wing could take on anyone if it came down to that. Rather than fret about a possible enemy, he was still hoping against all odds that the blurry shape he could barely discern ahead would be the elusive Sandrock. The second cry of the lookout who had a far better view from his perch on the mainmast dashed this irrational hope.

"Oz's ensign. It's a galleon. 1500 tons at the least."

And just like that Heero was the composed Captain Lowe again. "Everyone at your post! Noin take the helm! Cannons at the ready but don't open the scuttles! Give more sails, we want to reach them fast!"

The soldiers scattered away with quiet efficiency and before long only Heero, Trowa and the lookout were still watching the approaching ship. The Captain was squinting hard to identify the galleon as soon as possible, he had to know if a battle was coming. Barton had a far lesser eyesight than his friend and wasn't yet acquainted enough with all things sailing that he could be of any help in this instance. Rather than wait for feedback and confident his inquiry wouldn't be enough to distract Heero, he quietly asked: "So, friend or foe?"

Without breaking his concentration nor taking his eyes off of the galleon, the Captain answered distractedly. "That's the question. Oz and Sank are allied as of late, but not everyone respect the non-aggressive consensus. I have to know who..."

He hmmed thoughtfully and frowned at the same time another shout was coming down from the crow's nest. "That's the Tallgeese, Sir. They wish to parley."

Heero himself had seen the flags at the mizzenmast and knew the galleon had proclaimed its good intentions and requested an audience. Still, he didn't like it. The Tallgeese accused almost two thousands tons and one hundred cannons, half of which being the deadly culverins. It was of an ancient make as most nations had stopped producing galleons a few years back and favored frigates which were fastest. However, as old as it was, the Tallgeese had been built to last and if Wing could out-sail and out-maneuver it anytime, at close range the heavier galleon could badly damage Heero's ship should there be a battle.

There wasn't any reason to believe the request to parley was anything but honest if not for Captain Lowe's military experience which told him that getting close could be walking into a trap and forfeit any speed advantage. Lesser men had been lured by such deception before and Heero didn't know if he could place his trust in the Captain of the Tallgeese when he knew that Treize Kushrenada was a privateer known to be cunning and ruthless. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice. Turning sail would be cowardly and could be taken as an offense from Sank, while attacking first without provocation would be an act of war his country wouldn't condone. The only thing to do was to accept the request hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Heero hated politics.

"Give them the okay. Reduce the sails, we will wait for them." After a moment he added. "Stay ready to defend in case of fool play, but don't be obvious about it."

His orders were followed with the same diligence as earlier. The faces were grim but set in determination. All soldiers knew the danger they were in and what they were risking by playing at being defenseless. They also knew better than to disobey their Captain and as much as they disliked and feared him as a man, they respected him as a commander.

Heero didn't have the time nor the will to go back to his cabin to put his dress uniform on. It should be the appropriate courtesy to give his visitor as explained in all diplomacy manuals. Alas, the Captain Lowe wasn't one to play such games. In his opinion soldiers shouldn't be bothered with such ludicrous things and as his grandfather wasn't anywhere near to give him a lecture, he would do without starched collar, pressed pants and pom-pom epaulettes. He was sure Kushrenada himself would probably be dressed as pompously as could be. He sneered at the thought, Tallgeese's Captain sure was the sort while Heeero knew better than to judge a man at his frills.

There wasn't much to do for now but wait, he thus turned his idle thoughts toward his silent companion. Trowa hadn't moved from his side but looked tense, the poor man had probably no clue what to expect and wasn't used to feel so useless. Taking pity, the Captain reassured him at best he could.

"Kushrenada's an Oz privateer. I don't think it's in his best interests to attack us, but however it goes I'm sure this meeting will prove to be a wealth of information for your little investigation."