sweetestsurrender | { The AU meme }

Duo had pretty much noticed everything. What those things meant were nothing he could dwell on just right then. For example, he'd noticed the blood, it was why he'd asked if he was able to walk. Being told he was uninjured let Duo know that Wufei was lying to him. Lying and possibly more injured than he would have liked... So he'd have to keep a closer eye on him.

For now just freeing Wufei and getting the hell gone was good enough.

"Here." Of course there was a gun. He pulled one out and handed it over before taking point and checking the hallway himself. A little gesture and he slipped out. "Lets get outta here before they start swarming." Then he was off and running, back down the hall, gun in hand to make sure the coast was clear.

She accepted the gun, checking it over out of instinct and habit. When Duo slipped into the hall, she followed like a shadow. Silent when they could be, and lethal when they couldn't. She was a little more tense than normal, but she didn't limp, and threw herself against walls without hesitation or flinching whenever the need arose.

She was more than a little relieved there weren't a whole lot of people left in the path Duo had taken. One less thing for her to worry about while her mind was racing over how she was going to handle the conversation that awaited her once they reached safety.

It was easier getting out than in, he'd already demolished most of the complex after all. Fire and rubble and dead bodies littered their path and Duo didn't seem to care one little bit. The bastards should have known better. They never seemed to learn. Either kill a Gundam Pilot on sight or don't bother. If you keep one locked up, the others were just going to come over and ruin your day. In fact, don't even try and kill one. The day that happened would be the day the Heavens would fall and Hell would rise up and take them all out. Missions be damned.

Duo took Wufei through to where he had a vehicle waiting for them. Thankfully it had escaped the worst of the blasts, he's actually worried he might have had to spare a precious minute or two hotwiring another. He jumped into the drivers seat and had the truck roaring to life the moment Wufei's ass was in the seat beside him. Then they were off. Tyre's screeched, the tail end crashed into another car before Duo got them straightened out and then they were off.

She dropped into the seat, bracing herself as the car peeled away. They were out, safe, relatively speaking, and though she kept glancing into the rearview mirror, she started to relax, looking around for a discarded bag or some sort of barrier she could put between her bloody pants and the seat, before the stain spread.

"I don't suppose," she was still a little breathless as she continued her search, "that I can sell you on the idea that this is someone else's blood."

"What're you doing? Sit the hell down, I've just risked my ass to save your ass, we're not outta the woods yet." He barked over at Wufei, only flashing him a brief look. "Belt up... We're heading to a safe house. Crash the night and by morning our ride off the station should be read." And with luck some of the heat should have died down. The first place they'd look would be the spaceport expecting them to try and escape that way.

With the next question, Duo was quiet for a long moment while he focused on driving.

"Alright... Go on. Sell me. If it doesn't work, I want the truth." That was good enough, right? Give him a chance to explain himself, though how he was going to do that, Duo didn't know.

She managed to get a discarded grocery bag under her hips, then belted herself in, sighing heavily and scrubbing both hands over her face. She came up with the best lie she could, but it rang hollow even to her own ears as she told it. "I snapped a man's neck with my thighs. He coughed up blood, right on my groin."

She waited a beat, because she knew it wouldn't fly, knew that even if she'd come up with a good one, Duo would know. He was way too smart, it was a damned miracle he hadn't discovered it on the lunar base. "And I definitely have nothing in common with Hua Mulan," Which sounded an awful lot like Fa Mulan, grumbled under her breath.

He listened with half an ear as he drove. Duo was a bit too focused on making sure they weren't being followed so the 'Mulan' comment went over his head.

"Then why the bag? What the hell's going on, Wufei?" Duo risked looking over, shooting him a confused frown. "And what's a Hua Mulan?"

She sighed heavily, slouching down in the seat and fixing her gaze on the ceiling of the car for a few long moments. She debated about what to do, how hard to make it on Duo, on herself, before sighing again as she came to a decision.

"This is classified information," she announced firmly. "There are only three living people in the earth sphere who have knowledge of this, and you will be the fourth." So it went without saying that Duo would be in deep shit if he spread it around, not that Wufei thought he was likely to. "I'm not Chang Wufei. He died in 194 and I took his place. My name is Long Meilan, and I'm menstruating." She didn't tell him it was her first time doing so, or why she'd been able to go so long without having to deal with it.

Okay. Okay. This was a bit more than he was expecting and he wasn't entirely sure how to fully process what he was being told. Duo had been going out on a limb thinking that somehow Wufei wss actually a girl... But to find that the girl wasn't even Wufei was mind boggling. And it made him feel just a little angry.

"Classified my ass." He muttered in a voice that was near a growl. "How the hell could you keep something like this a secret? It's not like you're hiding a food allergy or somethin here, I don't know who the hell you are." Because suddenly Duo felt like he was sitting in a car with a stranger and not the friend he had expected. Not the friend he'd risked his life to rescue. But someone who could lie about something so serious, so life changing.

And yet why the hell was he looking for a fucking store he could double back on and raid for him...for her.

She closed her eyes for a long moment, sighing heavily. "You know exactly who I am, Duo, you just didn't know what was in my pants. If what was left of my family found out, I'd be married off to some old politician in mainland China, probably," she folded her arms tightly over her chest. "Aside from that, I'd spent so long hiding it I didn't know how to tell any of you. Sally and Une only know because they had to help me obtain my documents," and Sally was her doctor, who put in the IUD that was suddenly not working anymore.

"I'm sorry," she said, eventually, finally opening her eyes to risk looking at Duo.

"Sorry you lied... Or sorry I found out?" Duo asked, still not looking over at her. His head was hurting. He just needed a minute. Just one damn minute to think this through and get his head around the whole idea that a friend, someone he had fought beside, was not what was advertised.

"... Would you have ever told us? Told me?" he asked, some of the anger in his tone making a sudden shift to hurt.

"Sorry that I had to, that I didn't find a way to tell you, any of you, after," she admitted, sighing again. "I was afraid it would change things, that you'd think I was... All the things I'd called other women."

She grimaced at the questions. "Probably not unless I had to. It's one of the many reasons I kept my distance, even during the war. What do you think Yuy would've done if he found out?" she scoffed.

"The fuck? You thought we've think you were weak? I always thought you were an asshole for saying all that about women. All the women in my life have been strong, asskickers every one of them. Nothing weak about them." It had really pissed him off hearing Wufei make comments about women, had made a few backhanded comments about the kind man who would say stuff like that to women. Only now he finds out Wufei was actually a woman. So it all just seemed even more crazy to him.

"Who the hell cares what he'd think? He's not the one who just... Yknow, nevermind..." Duo sighed and, after a quick glance in the rear view mirror, he pulled the car into an alley and killed the engine. "Stay put. Unless someone gets close. Then get the hell outta here."

She didn't have any sane, logical justifications for what she'd done, just a ball of pain and insecurity that she was still trying to ignore. She glanced in the mirrors more out of instinct than anything when they pulled into the alley, and sunk lower into the seat so the car would look empty from behind.

"Alright," she agreed, folding her arms over her chest. "And Duo?" she asked, as he moved to get out. "Thank you. For coming to get me."

"Someone had to." He closed the door, took a quick look around, and then he ran. He left the alley as quickly and quietly as he could.

He tried to be as quick as he could, but he'd also needed to take his time to make sure that he wasn't being followed. By the time he returned to the car almost half an hour had gone by. He rapped lightly on the side of the car with his knuckles to let Wufei know he was there before he went and opened the back door and shoved in a few paper bags full of things.

Door closed he hopped into the drivers seat again with a sigh. "Coast clear? On to the safe house. Its a few minutes away and just for the night. Our rides gonna be ready early morning. I've just checked in, so far so good." Duo actually grinned. "They're being nice enough to cover if all up for us."

She'd adjusted the rearview mirror so she could see out the back window more easily while Duo was gone, and adjusted it back as he loaded the bags into the back. When he came around to the front and grinned, she managed a smile, too. "They're patrolling the area, they pass by this spot about every ten minutes, so they're not due to roll past for another five," and they hadn't given the alley much inspection at all, aside from rolling past slowly the first time. They probably didn't even know what the car looked like.

"Good. Did they say who the driver is?" she asked, straightening up a little and barely concealing a grimace as she did. This was not how she wanted to find out what menstruation felt like, not at all.

"Me." The 'duh' was implied in his tone. Of course it was going to be him. He was lucky to have gotten a ship like he did, he'd had to call in several favours to do it but had deemed it worthy of the effort.

"We'll hunker down for the night and be off the station in the morning. I'll have you home, safe and sound soon." He was backing out of the alley even as he spoke. They had five minutes so he didn't want to wait around and push fate any further than he already had. Sooner they found a hole to hide in for the night the better.

She snorted softly. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time I bumped into a familiar face during exfil," she replied lightly. "Trowa picked up me and my backup the last time a mission went to shit." Which thankfully wasn't a very common occurrence, but the last six months had seen their intel take a nosedive in quality and reliability. It was why she'd been picked for this mission -- it had been way below her pay grade on the surface, but had turned out to be too much even for her to handle solo.

"Let's just say I didn't trust anyone else..." Duo replied quietly. He'd asked for help. He had. But no one had been available or unwilling to drop everything at a moments notice like he had been. Though maybe he was being a bit harsh too. Most everyone would have taken days to get there and Wufei would have remained locked up... Duo hadn't wanted to waste any time.

"If you want someone else... I can make some calls." Duo kept his eyes on the road ahead, open and searching for his turn. "Just lemme know before morning or you're stuck with me."

Both her brows went up at the first reply, and shook her head at the rest of what he had to say. "Why would I want anyone else, when I have the best pilot in the earth sphere at my disposal?" she asked, smirking a little and sticking her chin up in that arrogant way she had. "As long as you don't mind being stuck with me, anyway."

"Just checking." Flattery aside, he'd started to worry maybe she'd want someone else who didn't know her secret. Maybe she'd want to keep him at arms length now? Only time would tell.

"Depends... What the hell do I even call you now?" he risked a look across at her. "Do I still call you Wufei or... What?"

She smiled a little, and sighed at the question. "Wufei. It's... natural now. Sally and I have been discussing medical procedures to make this sort of situation impossible, but..." She sank down a little in the seat. "I just want to be free," she admitted softly. "If I'd really been him, no one would think twice about his choice to walk away from rebuilding the Clan. Let the few of us that remain be absorbed into other clans. But because I can create an heir..."

It was nice, to be able to talk about it with someone who didn't have a stake in the outcome either way. Someone who cared about her and didn't give a solitary shit about anyone else. "At the same time I can't bring myself to undergo sterilization. I do want children. I just don't know how I'll ever make that happen."

It was vaguely uncomfortable hearing these things from Wufei, but Duo knew it was because he was still struggling with separating who he knew to who was sat across from him. He shifted a bit, cleared his throat and attempted to wade in on a topic he didn't know much about himself.

"You uh...couldn't go the Winner route and skip the whole carrying to term thing in favour of test tubes?" or however Quatre's siblings had been born. Duo thought it was all a bit weird if he was honest. But then again, he was partly of the opinion that if he was ever going to have kids they would be adopted. Why bring more lives into the world when there were still so many needing homes?

She hummed softly. "If I can manage to get some eggs frozen without anyone realizing, I suppose so. Assuming I can find someone else willing to wait, willing to put up with my secret," she leaned her head back against the seat, gazed up at the sky. "I was supposed to die in the war. It's the only reason they let me take his place at all. We were all meant to die."

And now all she wanted was a life of her own, she just wished the terms weren't so goddamn ridiculous.

"Sure places like that can do it without asking questions? Least without broadcasting who you are. No one'd know." Forge some documents, a little disguise, no one would be the wiser.

Duo had began turning down a few quiet back roads before he pulled up in the drive of a small house that, from the outside, had seen better days. "Live or die. We made it out against the odds, Wufei. That counts for something."

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