Work Text:
"So Heero and Duo finally ran?" Po leaned against the doorframe of his office as Wufei hung up the vid call with Winner and Barton.
"Don't you have better people to gossip with, woman?" Wufei snarked in return.
"You're right, I do. I can't imagine what I was thinking," Po replied sarcastically. "How ignoble of me to check on a friend."
Agent Po was the only person left who knew he'd been mated before, not that Wufei shared any of the details. He forcefully kept his hand from unconsciously straying to his neck. Early in the war, a piece of shrapnel had torn up the area, effectively disguising his mating bite to the point where you couldn't tell that it had existed at all.
Everyone else who'd known about it was dead.
"Yuy almost didn't go for it, brooded for about forty minutes before shooting his shot," Wufei replied.
Po grinned, clearly taking his statement for the apology it was. "Good for them".
"Good for me, you mean!" Wufei huffed. "They were being ridiculous."
Po laughed.
*
Wufei completed his second bow to his elders before turning back to complete his third bow to the girl across from him, Long Meilan.
Now, his omega wife.
Wufei sat up straight, his posture impeccable as the small group of assembled clan members watched them take their bows as instructed and serve tea to each other's parents as was proper. There would be no red finery, no feast, no celebration. Just this. Just duty. Just honour.
Wufei was thirteen years old.
Old enough to know the next part—the mating bite—was a deeply personal and intimate act not meant for public viewing. And yet...
And yet.
He turned to his wife when instructed, and she glared at him while baring her neck as she was told.
Wufei felt his face heat in embarrassment. He had never wanted this. The marriage, this mating bond, the fight that she had signed up for. And now here he was, tying himself to her as her second, as her backup, as her husband. Dreams of a scholarly life being snuffed out as quickly and cleanly as blowing out a candle.
Wufei could not smell Meilan's feelings, even up close, so strong were her scent blockers. He was under no delusion, however, that she sat here for any reason other than duty. For both their sakes, he did his best not to touch her other than to press his teeth into her mating gland, which was harder to find than he anticipated. He'd heard that the mating gland could swell and expand, that people begged to be bitten in the heat of passion.
Under the watchful eyes of Master Long, their parents and other clan members, in an austere and spacious temple room, Wufei bit down.
At once, her rage, fear and embarrassment flooded his mind, and he rocked back onto his heels, surprised. Rage and embarrassment he could understand; he didn't think he'd been redder in his whole life. But fear?
Then she was leaning into him, to deliver the matching bite. Wufei felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then the bond between them—one he already thought was strong—snapped together in full and became overwhelming.
He closed his eyes briefly to try and centre himself, reaching for that quiet place in his mind he often retreated to in meditation, martial arts, and academia. He could not reach it. Had he lost a fundamental part of himself? Anxiety started to bubble up inside of him, only for her to quickly and ruthlessly soothe it down. A panic attack stopped in its tracks before it had a chance to grow legs. They would deal with that later, together.
He opened his eyes to find her staring back at him. Much less angry than she had been before.
As one, they turned to bow to their parents, assembled clan members and Master Long.
"It is done," they intoned.
"Very good. You are dismissed." Master Long nodded.
They bowed and retreated.
*
They had never consummated their marriage in the traditional way. Meilan had once joked that if he ever tried to touch her in that way, she'd rip his dick off and stuff it down his throat. She was mostly joking. Mostly. He had quickly assured her that he had no such desires, and would be keeping his manhood intact. They'd spent their heats and ruts apart.
They'd trained together mentally and physically until they were extensions of one another, moving fluidly to cover any weak spots or open areas in their defence. He tempered her rage, and in turn she kept his anxiety at bay. Clan members would comment on how strong and beautiful they were when they fought —that they looked as if they were dancing. It didn't matter if they were in person or in mobile suits; they moved as one. It was a celebrated match. One the whole colony could be proud of.
And then, less than a year later, it was over. She'd died in his arms. The presence in his mind —one that he had never wanted in the first place, but now could not imagine his life without—was ripped away from him, rendering a jagged, bleeding wound in his mind and heart. One that would never truly heal.
Just over a year after Meilan's death, he met Treize Kushrenada.
*
Wufei felt the adrenaline spike through him as he recognized General Treize Kushrenada's challenge through the window of the ship. Finally, a true warrior had stepped up to fight him! Wufei unbuckled his harness, grabbed his sword and opened the hatch, climbing up onto Nataku's arm and racing to meet his opponent face-first.
Wufei was unimpressed with the coiffed aristocrat with his fancy clothes, perfumed hair and genteel manners—that was until they crossed swords. Within seconds, the man had outmanoeuvred him and placed his blade against Wufei's neck, against his mating bite.
"The duel is mine," Kushrenada said imperiously, looking down his sword at Wufei's neck. "So young yet mated already!"
Wufei snarled, forcefully pushing back against a wave of grief that tried to overwhelm him. It was still so raw, even a year later. How dare his enemy reach to the heart of him so quickly! How dare he defeat him so easily! Wufei stood carefully, Kushrenada's sword never leaving his skin. "Kill me!" he demanded. Death was preferable to this humiliation.
"It was a good fight," Kushrenada replied, calm superiority rolling off him in waves, and then he caught Wufei's scent and his face changed. The bastard turned his back, as if taunting Wufei to attack him again after being defeated, like a coward. Or maybe he knew that Wufei wouldn't, and held no fear of him at all.
"Kill me now or I will come back and kill you," Wufei threatened.
"That sounds interesting, young dragon," Kushrenada replied easily.
It was then that Wufei realized that Kushrenada's hair wasn't perfumed at all—that was his scent! He was an Omega! Who wasn't wearing scent blockers! Wufei had sweated through his hours ago; this man had no such excuse.
Now that Wufei had noticed the other man's scent, he realized it had drifted from smug superiority into remorse. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Defeated. Shamed. Pitied.
It was more than Wufei could handle.
"Fuck!" Wufei cursed and threw down his weapon, rage, embarrassment and shame coursing through his body and bleeding into the room through his scent. How could he dare face Nataku after being so weak?
To add insult to injury, Kushrenada let him go to wallow in his failure.
It didn't occur to him until later that he could feel the general's ship moving away as he sank to the bottom of the ocean.
*
Unlike Maxwell, who was willfully ignorant about the itch in the back of his brain that told him where Yuy was, Wufei knew what the itch in the back of his brain meant regarding his relationship to Kushrenada Treize.
He'd used it to find the other man a handful of times during the war, challenging him to duels, and losing each time.
Wufei had snuck onto the property in the middle of the night, easily avoiding the patrols, the dogs, the staff, and the security system. He slipped into Treize's suite, wondering if he would have to wake the man before they could duel, only to be confronted with the overwhelming scent of an omega in heat. His would-be-mate in heat. Startled, Wufei stepped back, awkwardly reaching for the door behind him. Now was not the time for a duel. A small voice in his head disagreed; this would be the perfect time for a duel —just a duel of another kind.
"Leaving so soon?" Treize asked, drawing Wufei's attention to a high-backed, ornate chair by the window, where Treize sat in nothing but a robe, holding a glass of red wine. A giant bouquet of roses sat next to him on the coffee table, half of the bulbs missing. A quick glance at the bed revealed where they had ended up.
"You are indisposed," Wufei replied as calmly as he could manage while trying not to breathe in more of Treize's scent. "It would be dishonourable for me to take advantage." Treize raised an eyebrow at him, while his scent filled Wufei's senses, doing its best to drown out his rational thought. His body reacted automatically. His mouth watered. His pants became tighter. "…Of your current state," Wufei corrected himself, and breathed out, trying to center himself. "To duel."
"Would it?" Treize hummed. "I find myself disappointed, Wufei, given what we are to one another."
Of course the other man had noticed as well.
"We. Are. Enemies!" Wufei hissed between clenched teeth.
"Yes. But that is not all that we are, is it?" Treize said with lidded eyes.
No, it wasn't. Wufei's inner Alpha, a usually quiet part of his psyche, howled at him. It was his duty to take care of Treize during his heat and relieve him of his symptoms. It was his job. Fuck. Knot. Bite. Breed. Make this Omega his mate.
"It's the only thing that matters," Wufei snapped. His duty was to his clan. To his wife. To the cause. His hand finally grasped the doorknob, his palm sweaty. After one more long look at his enemy, his would-be mate, the barely dressed omega redhead in heat, Wufei was gone. A shadow in the night.
*
Wufei sliced through the mobile dolls separating him from Treize. The itch in his brain pointed the way through the chaos and debris.
After a series of blows that only made him angrier at the futility of it all, Wufei opened his comms to the other mobile suit.
"You're only fighting to satisfy your own ego!" Wufei accused Treize. "How many people do you think have died for you?"
Treize responded right away. "Shall I tell you? As of yesterday, 99,842."
Wufei sat stunned, the answer unexpected.
"I remember everyone who's sacrificed their lives in battle. How could I forget them?" Treize continued and began to name the dead.
It might have been surprising, but it did not lessen Wufei's impression of the size of Treize's ego. Such a horrific death count, and yet the man persisted in his goals. To what end?
"Understand this, young dragon, not one of those people died in vain. And—"
Treize attacked, and Wufei's reflexes moved on their own, spearing Treize's suit right through the middle.
"That was beautiful, Wufei," Treize said, the static over his comms muffling his voice.
"Treize! How could you?" Wufei yelled, horrified by what had just happened. What he had done. Wufei had never beaten Treize, not once, and this time, he had, in one single strike.
Treize had left himself open on purpose. There was no other explanation.
Wufei withdrew his weapon immediately, despite knowing it was too late. A wound of that magnitude meant Treize had mere seconds to live before his mobile suit exploded.
"I am honoured to have met and fought against you, my stubborn, beautiful, honourable, mate," Treize said warmly.
"No! This can't be true! I won't let this happen!!" Wufei shouted in return. They were not mates. They had never been mates. They hadn't had the time. They hadn't had the space. These were luxuries that only existed outside of war. There was no way to reach the other man in time.
"Milliardo, I'll be waiting on the other side," Treize said as he died, his mobile suit exploding into a spectacular fireball a moment later.
Wufei couldn't see or hear the explosion of light and sound on his viewscreens, so loud was the screaming in his head, and his heart, so blurry were his eyes filled with tears.
"Fuck!" Wufei slammed his fist against the console, his emotions too great to be contained. No amount of centring would aid him now. Not even Nataku would have been able to soothe him this time. "I didn't expect to win!" he whispered as tears poured down his cheeks.
He didn't know what he had expected.
Maybe that Treize would win again and let him go, free to fight another day.
Maybe that this war would end and then they could have a conversation about something other than duels. Other than battle.
Maybe was gone.
His future was gone. Again.
*
Wufei didn't know a lot about mating runs. He didn't know about begging to be bitten in the throes of passion. He'd staved off his rut with others before, but it had been perfunctory. Something he needed to do, like brush his teeth or shower. He'd never felt the desire to chase. And now with a destroyed mating gland, a dead wife and a dead would-be mate, he was not sure he ever would.
He was not sure he'd ever want to.
Wufei took a moment to centre himself the way he learned as a child, soothing himself in the way he'd done for years, both before and after Nataku. His method subpar to hers. His everything subpar to hers. No one could ever replace her.
Treize had tried. Wufei had failed him.
Wufei opened his eyes to see Po still staring at him from the doorway, now looking concerned. The beta's senses weren't as keen as her alpha and omega counterparts, but her attention to detail was unmatched.
Wufei made a dismissive gesture.
Was people wanting to get to know him and form a bond with him such a bad thing? Even if it never led to a mating run or a mate, friends were important too. The other pilots had taught him that.
"Coffee? Before everyone else comes to ask you about our mutual friends too?" Po grinned, her relief apparent now that he had refocused. What had she seen as he'd momentarily gotten lost in the past?
It wasn't anything he would share, but that didn't mean he had to shut everyone out either.
"Fine, the Commander can't expect me to complete my work in a timely fashion when she's added Yuy's and Maxwell's share to my plate. Let's go. But we're going to the far one so no one invites themselves to join us." Wufei stated firmly.
"Works for me!" Po smiled and followed him out the door.
Wufei would focus on his friendships and his work, and leave the mating dramatics to other people. He'd had more than enough of that for one lifetime. And if it were to happen again… he'd deal with it the same way he'd dealt with everything in his life.
With duty and honour.