sweetestsurrender | { The AU meme }

"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."

"Maybe," Wufei agreed, but with Duo in the know it was opening her up to the possibility of telling the others. She was sure if Quatre knew, he would let her use the same facility his family did, and that would be one place her large, sprawling family weren't likely to have anyone placed.

When they arrived at the house, she let out a sigh of relif. "I hope you weren't planning to shower first," she was a mess and a half, and the clothes would probably need to be burned. "And despite everything, I'm glad I survived. I just wished it was without pretending to be a man." She made sure no one was out or looking, that the giant bloody patch on her pants -- which had grown, so thank goodness for that plastic bag -- hurrying into the safehouse.

He had, until things went sideways. Now he was happy for Wufei to go ahead of him.

While she did that, after he'd tossed the keys her way, Duo went ahead and grabbed the bags from the back seat and carried them all inside. There was food which he began pulling out, nothing flash since it had just been a basic store. A couple of ready-to-cook meals he ripped the packaging off and shoved in the oven which he was glad to see actually worked.

After that he dropped himself down in a chair at the kitchen table, folded his arms across the table and dropped his head into his arms.

He was exhausted.

She didn't take long in the shower, and since this was a Preventers safe house, there were clothes ready for her to change into, though she wasn't at all sure how it was going to go, because she was bleeding excessively.

Enough that she stuffed half a roll of toilet paper into her underwear and didn't risk putting on pants when she emerged, padding out to the living room in just that and a shirt. Without the binder her breasts were very obvious, and her hair down meant she, well. Looked like a she.

"I don't suppose you happened to pick up any feminine hygiene items? The bathroom was out of stock," which was just her luck. "I think there's enough toilet paper to make do until tomorrow if you didn't."

"Huh? Uh yeah... Yeah I grabbed some things. Not sure what I got." He'd made another call to Sally about the whole thing and she'd given him a bit of advice on the subject. He'd still panicked and grabbed what he could. "There was way too many types. But I was told the padded type...uh...would be best?"

He pushed the paper bag that contained it all over to her. There were even painkillers and chocolate because wasn't that a thing too? Or was that a stereotype he was buying into?

Duo finally looked up, he had to force himself to lift his head, and froze. Wufei...didn't look like Wufei. She looked like... She'd always been a pretty man. But as a woman? He dropped his gaze and pushed himself away from the table. "If the bathrooms free now...?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject