Chapter Text
They moved into their new house just two weeks before Christmas, on a cold, gray day that promised snow flurries later on.
Une’s help had proven invaluable, much as it chafed Heero to admit it. Their paperwork sailed through the system. Within weeks of first filing, they had their license and a grant for a mortgage bigger than what they had expected. The dominoes began to fall rapidly after that. Hilde found a buyer for her scrap business. Howard accepted their offer and said he would come as soon as he could. And they found a place that would comfortably house all of them and then some.
Duo pulled his motorcycle up the driveway of their new home, his heart swelling as he realized that it was truly theirs. He and Heero had come to inspect it twice after they had initially viewed it, but it was a different feeling now that he was holding the keys. This was the start of their new life as the Maxwell hive.
A blue four-door sedan pulled in beside him, and Heero got out, opening the back door to retrieve his duffel bag. On the other side, Hilde was already scrambling to pull her scarf free of the seatbelt. “Oh my god!” she gasped when she finally got a look at the house. “It’s gorgeous!”
“Gorgeous” wasn’t the word Duo would use. It was a tall, narrow brownstone with battered wood trim, scraggly brush in the tiny front yard, and one corner of the roof sagging inward. But it had its charms. Duo had vexed the realtor with his requests to see the older neighborhoods, which he thought had more character than the cookie-cutter housing developments being built around the city center. He liked the look of the place, and it was adequately updated.
This neighborhood was a little farther from Preventers HQ than the others they had been shown, and it was farther from any bus stops (necessitating the purchase of the sedan), but there were trees here, and the buildings didn’t all feature the same gray and white paint. There was a mixture of new families and old folks who had lived here for many years, and Duo was drawn to the atmosphere of it. It felt like the kind of place where they could put down roots.
“Is there a back yard?” Hilde asked, coming over to grip Duo’s arm.
“Yup! And a basement. It’s three stories plus an attic space, so there’s lots of room.”
She practically squealed, stomping her feet excitedly. “Oh, Duo, it’s perfect! Just think of how many kids we could raise here!”
“Heh, yeah, it’ll be a little roomy for just the four of us.” He gave Heero a brief smile, which was ignored as the alpha grabbed the box of cleaning supplies from the back of the car. Duo moved to help him, with Hilde swiping the broom from the floor of the back seat.
“So, when is Howard coming?” Hilde asked as they trekked up the L-shaped walkway to the front steps.
“Whenever he gets here,” Duo shrugged. “Y’know how he is.”
Heero reached the door first, and Duo passed him the key. As he put it in the lock, Hilde reached out to grasp his hand. “Wait a minute!”
There was a slight twitch in Heero’s jaw, but he didn’t pull away. He only cast her a searching look. “What?”
“We should open it together,” Hilde said. “This is our home now, yeah? So we should all three be the first inside!”
Heero obviously didn’t understand what she was talking about, but Duo got it. Chuckling softly, he placed his hand over hers and Heero’s, nodding to Heero. “Alright, on three. One.”
“Hn,” Heero grunted.
“THREE!” Hilde turned Heero’s hand, and they all spilled forward into the entryway.
It had been some time since they had been back here, and the house exhaled a breath of cold air as the door opened. They shivered, Hilde pulling her white scarf around herself a little more tightly. “Jeez, it’s cold!” she complained.
Wordlessly, Heero set down the box of supplies and went to the thermostat on the wall. As he adjusted it, Duo piled a box on top of the one Heero had dropped and heaved them both up, carrying them the rest of the way inside. “Come on, I’ll give ya the tour!” he said as Hilde followed with the broom. “We’ll start at the bottom.”
“Sounds good to me.” She was already looking all around at the gray walls and brown floor. “But please tell me we’re gonna redo it. This color is awful with the carpet!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll do painting and carpeting and all that fun stuff.” Duo grabbed her hand and led her into the kitchen as the first blast of warm air came from the wall vents. “Here we have a gorgeous reproduction of a pre-colonial kitchen, with all the modern upgrades! There’s the fridge, there’s the stove, there’s where my microwave is going so I can make my pizza pockets.”
Hilde rolled her eyes. “I can see all that for myself. Is this the basement?” She nodded toward a closed door next to the fridge.
“That is indeed the basement, and you’ll find it’s very basement-like.” Duo opened the door to darkness. “We can go down now if you want, but it’s probably better at night. That’s when the ghosts come out.”
“Oh, Duo!” She swatted him on the arm as he shut the door again.
“The laundry’s downstairs,” he said. Water heater’s in that closet there. Back door just out here.” He rapped the glass panes that looked out into a little yard walled in with brick. “Heero’s gonna grow a garden.”
“We’ll need that space for the kids,” Hilde said.
“Well, seeing as we don’t have any kids right now, I don’t think we gotta worry,” Duo retorted, “Now, around here, we’ve got a dining room.”
“Oh, nice!” She seemed to approve of the space, which was painted a rusty red color. “We’ll definitely have to update these walls… But it’s a good size.”
They moved on to a small area beyond the dining room. “Here we have a little sun room facing the street.” This space boasted a padded seat built into the large arched window.
“This would be a great playroom,” Hilde noted.
“Then we come to the front entrance again, and loop back to the living room!”
Heero was sorting through the boxes, removing cleaners and toilet roll and packaged snacks. “Need any help, babe?” Duo asked. When Heero merely shook his head, Duo shrugged and took Hilde up the stairs.
“Second floor! Ding ding!” he announced. “Here we have a spacious landing and the stairs to the third floor, all conveniently located. On this level we’ll find four bedrooms and two – count ‘em, TWO – bathrooms.”
“Stop talking like a showman,” Hilde laughed.
“No! It’s fun. In here is a little nook – I’m thinking Heero can have a reading nook here. It’s kinda private, and we can put a curtain in.” He didn’t mention it, but Heero would also appreciate the wide window overlooking the street in front. He would be able to observe the comings and goings of the house as well as their neighbors.
“Where’s the master bed?”
“In there,” Duo pointed. “Bathroom’s attached.”
“Nice, nice. How many upstairs?”
“Let’s go up and see!”
“Don’t you already know how many there are?” But she followed him, anyway. “God, this wallpaper…”
“Yeah, it’s pretty vintage,” Duo admitted, though he liked the look of it. It reminded him a bit of one of the homes he had stayed in as a child, one of the nicer couples who had taken a stab at adopting him. They had had one of the oldest houses on the colony, and he’d found it to be endlessly fascinating for the brief time he’d been there.
Hilde was apparently lost in her own bout of nostalgia as she stepped into one of the smaller bedrooms on the third level. She stood in the middle of the bare wood floor, looking around at the cracked plaster, and when she turned to him again, she seemed close to tears. “Is the wallpaper really that bad?” he joked.
She shook her head, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s just… This house is a lot like the one I grew up in.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, in a good way.” She smiled. “I mean, it was bigger, but… This place feels like home to me. I love it.”
He went to her and put an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her back soothingly. “Welcome home, then,” he said.
“Dammit, Duo,” she laughed. “Don’t say such corny shit to me! You’re gonna make me cry.”
She had told him a bit about her past – mostly the good things. Before the conflicts started between the Alliance and the colony rebels, she had lived a peaceful, happy life in a moderate hive with her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. It had been her dream, ever since losing them, to reclaim that kind of life.
“Anyway… it’s gonna be pretty empty until we get you knocked up,” she said with a sniffle. “Have you and Heero been…?”
“Don’t even start,” Duo said, giving her a squeeze before letting her go. “Heero’s not comfortable with you being in our business like that just yet.”
“I’m your beta. He’s gonna have to get comfortable with it!”
“That’s why I said ‘yet’.” He held up a hand. “Just cool your jets, OK? I’m not in any hurry. We go at his pace. If you start pushing him about it, it’ll just put him out of the mood entirely and you’ll be stuck forever.”
Sighing, she unwound her scarf, rolling it in her pocket as the heating system began warming the house. “I guess I keep forgetting that he wasn’t raised in a hive.”
“Neither was I,” Duo pointed out. “So you’ll have to be patient with both of us. It’ll be worth it in the end, right?”
“Yeah…” She pouted. “I’m just excited. You know how rare it is for a beta without a hive to find one willing to take them in?”
He hadn’t really considered it before, but it made sense. As important as they were to the hive structure, a beta without one was in just as unstable a position as an alpha. Most betas stayed with their natal hives for their entire lives. A hive could reform itself around a new queen if it lost theirs, and alphas were always coming and going; but no hive could survive without betas, and betas without a hive were adrift.
Some liked it that way, Duo supposed. He had met plenty of alphas, omegas, and betas who preferred a more transient lifestyle. Even he hadn’t thought of himself as someone who wanted to be tied down, and if it wasn’t for Heero, he probably would never consider doing what they were doing now. But Hilde needed this. She wasn’t one to stay on her own for long, even if she was more than capable of it.
“There’s a reason we got a house this big,” Duo said. “Heero’s really leaning toward wanting kids, and I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to have a big family. So don’t worry, you’ll get your kids!”
“I know, but I’m impatient! I wanna see you pregnant before the end of next year!”
“Just wait!” he groaned as they went back downstairs. He could already hear the rumble of the moving truck pulling up outside. “Let’s at least get moved in first.”
“Alright, but don’t get too tired.” She grinned at him. “You and Heero need to be ready to go at it tonight!”
“Hilde…!”
>>><<<
Moving was an exhausting endeavor, but it left Duo feeling energized at the end of the day. He was still wide awake as he and Heero settled into bed. “Ya know, this is a new experience for me,” he said, curling up at Heero’s side. “Same bed, same sheets, different place.”
“Hn.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever taken my bed along with me anywhere.”
“…”
“Heero.” He shifted onto his stomach, halfway lying on Heero’s chest, examining his face in the darkness. “Talk to me. What’s going on? You’ve been even quieter than usual tonight.”
Their bond had grown stronger over the years they’d been together, and Duo was now fairly certain that they could sense each other’s moods. Generally, Heero was far more attuned to Duo’s feelings than the other way around, but Duo was beginning to learn how to reach for the thread that connected them. It was said that a hive queen could detect the bonds between their family members, as well; he thought of that now, trying to feel out the tenuous connection between Heero and Hilde. Somehow, he felt that the issue lay there.
Heero didn’t seem eager to talk, but he did reach out to stroke Duo’s hair, drawing a few strands away to run between his fingers. Duo nuzzled him, kissing his jawline, his heart heavy with emotion that he knew was simmering below the surface. “You sore?” he murmured. “Need a massage?”
“No.” Heero rolled so they were face to face. “Hilde’s pretty excited, isn’t she?”
“Well, yeah. Of course, she is.”
He could see the frown on Heero’s face. “She was talking about bringing in more alphas again.”
“As a possibility,” Duo said. “She’s not gonna bring anyone in.”
“I know.” There was a long silence as Heero seemed to plan his words. Duo waited, his hand curled in Heero’s, eyes tracing the faint curve of his jaw. Finally, Heero said, “I’m not… opposed to it entirely. She’s just moving fast. Talking about children and more alphas and renovations to the house… It’s unnerving.”
“She’ll settle down. She’s been waiting for this for a long time.”
“We only asked her to be our beta a few months ago.”
Duo hesitated. How much should he reveal? It really wasn’t his business, but…
“She has her reasons,” Duo said. “She’s always wanted to belong to a hive. She grew up in one.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. Pretty big, from what I understand. She had something like four or five dads, and lots of aunts and uncles around.”
“Siblings, too?”
“Sure.”
Heero seemed to want to ask more, but he hesitated. Perhaps he could feel Duo’s apprehension about the subject. Duo could practically hear the unasked question: If she wants a big family so badly, why didn’t she stay with her own? And the answer to that was obvious. It was the reason the Healthy Hive Initiative had been proposed in the first place.
“It’s all new,” Duo said. “We’ll settle in. Just give it time, OK?”
“Yeah.” Heero scooted closer to him, pressing their noses together, breathing out slowly and evenly.
Hilde had been staying on their couch for the past week as they packed up their apartment and waited for the OK to move into the new house. With everything going on, they hadn’t had much time to themselves. Now there seemed to be a break in the tension, a lifting of the weight that had settled on them throughout the process. Heero’s desire had been building for days, and it was strong tonight, an almost physical presence.
“You tired?” Duo muttered against Heero’s lips.
“No.”
That was as good as a green flag, and Duo shifted his leg over Heero’s torso, climbing atop him and sliding down to press his ass to Heero’s groin. The alpha groaned and held onto Duo’s waist, sliding his hands up beneath the black tank top he wore, pressing calloused fingers to chilled skin. “You’re complacent tonight,” Duo remarked as he wiggled slightly, enticing Heero to stiffen and buck upward.
“You’re my queen, aren’t you?” Heero teased. “I have to obey you.”
There was something to that tone – playful though it was, Duo could hear the request in it. Heero needed the kind of reassurance that only actions could give. He had been taking the changes in stride, even seeming to be excited about some of them, but he was very raw now. Moving house, inviting someone else to live with them, leaving himself open for new bonds to form, knowing that soon they would possibly start trying for children…
Maybe Heero had gotten used to stability since the end of the war. Maybe he just needed to know that he was still loved. So Duo loved him, assertively, leaving no question in his mind about where they stood.
The release of pheromones was an automatic thing, but Duo silently encouraged himself as his scent filled the air. Heero took a deep whiff, his eyelids sliding shut, looking almost intoxicated. This was the effect of an omega’s sexual hormones on an alpha, and Duo reveled in it quietly, smirking down as his mate submitted willingly to his spell.
“Get nice and big for me,” Duo said, shifting up onto Heero’s chest as the alpha reached down to move his pajama pants aside. “That’s it… Work yourself, Heero.”
A shiver wracked Heero’s body at the use of his name, his back arching as he took himself in hand, lower lip bitten as he opened his eyes to look up almost worshipfully into Duo’s face. “You’re all I need,” Duo said, repeating what he had said all along, hoping it would sink in a little further each time. “If we never welcome another alpha, I’ll be happy.”
“Not… a bad thing…” Heero groaned as he started to move his hips.
“Oh, yeah?” Duo grinned. “What, are you actually thinking about watching another alpha take me?”
“Hngh… Maybe…”
Slowly, Duo reached between his own legs, shifting his erection out of the way to touch along the slick folds below. “Who?” he asked, his gaze almost hypnotic. “Who’re you thinking about doing me? You got someone in mind?”
“Nh… Nobody in particular…”
“Heh… Maybe Wufei, you think?” He noted the way Heero’s pupils dilated at the name. “Ooh, you like that idea. How about… Hmm… Relena?”
The alpha moaned, his chest vibrating with the force of it. Duo chuckled softly, slipping a finger into himself. “You wanna see both of them on me? Maybe all three ‘a you taking me?”
“Duo…”
“I’m surprised. I thought you’d hate the idea of any other alpha touching me.”
“Only someone I trust.” Heero let go of himself and gripped Duo’s ass, palming his cheeks and spreading them slightly apart. “You think Relena would?”
“Hey, I meant what I said,” Duo murmured, lying atop him to press their lips together. “You don’t have to share me with anyone, ever.”
“I know. But I want to.” There was no doubt in Heero’s gaze now, no fear weighing down their bond. “Everything Hilde’s talking about… I want it.”
The bonds between alphas and their omega were only part of the story of a hive; another large portion were the bonds between the alphas themselves. An alpha-alpha bond was said to be one of pure trust, something unbreakable once they solidified it. Some alphas hopped between hives, servicing different omegas at their own whims, but an alpha who stayed with one hive became as close to the other alphas as they were to the omega.
It was a thrilling thought, both for Duo’s loins and for his heart. That Heero could someday trust someone else so completely… It was a dream of his to see that. He kissed his mate deeply, fervently, conveying to him how happy he was that Heero felt he was ready for it.
The sudden surge of energy enlivened Heero, and he grabbed the seat of Duo’s sweatpants. Before Duo could say anything, they had ripped. “C’mon, again?!” Duo whined, but Heero was already lining himself up, adjusting Duo with a firm grip around his waist. Duo’s whine turned into a moan, and he moved to help Heero, angling himself for penetration, working with Heero until they fit together perfectly.
“Fuuuuuck…” It was a slow glide downward as Heero filled him, and Duo had to rely on the alpha’s strength to hold him up, so powerful was the urge to slam down on him. It had been a while since they’d done anything. He could feel the slight burn as his walls were parted, as hard flesh worked its way inside him.
He couldn’t have stopped himself if he’d wanted to, and Heero was having difficulty slowing him down. It was no time at all before he sat fully impaled, back straight and head tilted, his hair falling down around him as Heero unwound the braided strands. “Fuck, Heero…!” he gasped. “God DAMN, that’s good…”
It had been a very interesting day when Duo had discovered Heero’s praise kink. He indulged him now, leaning forward to run his hands along Heero’s chest, up his shoulders, cupping his face and running his thumbs along his cheeks. “God, Heero, you’re perfect. You know what I’m gonna do if we ever recruit another alpha?” He smirked wickedly, his eyes glowing almost malevolently. “I’m gonna make them watch you fuck me. Do you think you’d mind?”
If the helpless sound he made was any indication, Heero didn’t mind one bit.
“How about if I made you watch us?” He rocked on him, his voice wavering with every inward push. “Wufei… Relena… Ah… You could watch as they both take me. You wanna see her spread me open?”
The only answer was a powerful thrust upward, almost dislodging Duo from atop his mate. “You fill me up so good.” Duo’s voice was a harsh whisper. “I wanna feel you in me for days, got it? Don’t hold back. I know you can give me what I want, so do it – fuck me good, OK?”
The darkness tumbled about him, and he found himself pressed to the bed, flat on his back as Heero loomed above him, growling now as he pulled out and slammed back in. Duo let out a yelp, and Heero repeated the motion, pushing the limits of Duo’s endurance but never going past that point. He was so controlled that he unconsciously knew exactly how much force he could apply before he caused harm. He trusted Duo to handle what he gave him, and to stop him if it was too much.
“That’s it,” Duo gasped as Heero set up a brutal pace. “That’s it, good, wreck me, just—Ah, fuck! FUCK!”
It really had been a while. The moment Heero’s hand wrapped around his shaft, Duo was coming, the world dissolving into nothingness around them as Heero continued to pound into him. “K- keep going!” Duo cried. “Aaahh, fuck, keep going…! Keep… Ah…”
His own orgasm subsided quickly, and already he was building to another. He reached down and gripped himself, though, squeezing hard to keep himself grounded and to prevent Heero from touching him. “Come on,” Duo panted. “You can come for me, can’t ya? Fill me up.”
Heero obliged promptly, crying out harsh and low, curling around Duo with a full-body shudder that Duo felt in the roots of his hair. The omega clung to him, feeling the quick jabs of the small barb at the end of his cock, dipping in and out of his deepest place, pumping him full of semen. Loosened by his own climax, his body accepted it all, the entrance to his womb enveloping the pulsing barb and drawing in every drop.
The alpha was trembling as he came down from the high, and Duo took the opportunity to reclaim his position on top, pressing down on him to keep him firmly lodged inside, squeezing him purposefully with powerful strokes. He could feel it twitching, struggling to go down even as it was enticed to remain hard. “Can you keep it up for me?” Duo practically purred. “Think you can give me one more?”
“Hn- Nnh…” Heero nodded, unable to respond verbally anymore. He had totally succumbed to the haze of pheromones between them, the overpowering allure of Duo’s hormones that switched off his worries and invited his baser instincts to come out.
Duo moved up and down experimentally, mindful that Heero would be sensitive so soon after coming, but the response was a soft groan and a stirring of arousal between them. Smirking, Duo set up a smooth pace, slow and sensuous, allowing the head to just barely pull at his entrance before he sat back again.
“This is all mine,” Duo said between soft, hungry kisses. “You’re all mine, you got that? I’m never letting you go. I’ll never leave you, Heero.”
There was a flash of lucidity in Heero’s gaze as his consciousness peeked through the drugged haze. He took Duo’s face between his hands and kissed him deeply, prompting Duo to sigh and nearly swoon. Heero was hard again within him, the fleshy barb retracted but nudging at the swollen entrance, as if politely knocking to be let in. “You got more for me?” Duo murmured. Heero nodded, tilting his hips upward, moving along with Duo as their mutual pleasure mounted.
This time, they reached the peak together. Duo bit Heero’s lower lip to stifle a cry as Heero growled into his mouth, his hands bruising Duo’s hips as he held him flush against him, both of them straining toward each other as Heero offered himself again. This time, he softened almost immediately, slipping out with a slight pop and a groan as he lay boneless on the bed. Duo rolled to Heero’s side, catching his breath before speaking.
“Just watch, I’m gonna get pregnant already,” he sighed. Heero chuckled, moving his arm along Duo’s back to stroke his hair. “You OK?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Mm-hmm. Thanks for the meal.”
Heero winced. “I hate it when you call it that. You sound like a cannibal.”
“Maybe I am.” Duo nipped Heero’s shoulder. “Maybe I just wanna eat you up!” He gave another, slightly harsher bite, then yelped as Heero slapped his ass. “What was that for?!”
“For being weird.”
“Hey, buddy, you wrote the book on weird!” Duo huffed. “I don’t even wanna hear it!”
“I don’t go around biting people.”
“Neither do I! Just my incredibly handsome mate who I wanna gobble up.” Duo fluttered his eyelashes at him playfully. Heero’s severe façade cracked at once. They both laughed, nuzzling each other, feeling their bond settling around them like a warm blanket. “Hope Hilde doesn’t mind it,” Duo said after a moment. “She’s gonna hear us a lot up there.”
“It was her choice to sleep in the room above ours. If she hears us, it’s on her.”
“Maybe she’ll move rooms after this.”
As if on cue, there were three rhythmic thumps on the ceiling – it sounded as if Hilde was stomping on the floor. She shouted something, though Duo couldn’t make out the words. “What’d she say?” he asked.
Heero had no trouble with things like that, given his enhanced sense of hearing. “She said, ‘You’d better not be finished yet.’ I don’t think she minds.”
Groaning, Duo buried his face in Heero’s shoulder. “She’s gonna make me take a pregnancy test next week. I just know it.”
“Yeah.” Heero’s smile was evident in his voice. “But I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do!”
“So tell her no.”
“Then she’s gonna assume I’m pregnant and start buyin’ baby shit!”
Heero merely shrugged. It seemed that he had made peace with Hilde’s baby mania already. Duo tweaked his ear. “Man, if I knew sex was the way to calm your nerves, we’d have done it weeks ago. I should’a combined sex with a heart-to-heart talk all along.”
“I’m still nervous about how it’s going to work,” Heero said. “But I feel better about it. Thanks for reassuring me.”
Duo kissed his cheek. “Any time, babe.”
It most likely wasn’t the end of Heero’s worries, but Duo was glad he could soothe them for now. Their new life as a hive was off to a good start, he thought. He wasn’t too concerned about other alphas or even about children. Those things would come in their own time. For now, he curled up with Heero, happy to have his warmth there, content with his mate and his friend right where he wanted them to be.