TITLE: CAPTAINS

FANDOM: Gundam Wing

PAIRING: 1x2 and some het pairings in the background

RATING: PG-13 for now

GENRE: AU, Adventure, Historical, Romance

WARNING: yaoi, crossdressing

SUMMARY: The Caribbeans 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: Aside from being about pirates, doesn't have much in common with the popular movie currently airing and was actually begun before the first movie so don't expect a crossover or whatever else like that.

Chapter 1 : The Governor's Daughter.

In a luxurious room on the second floor of the Palace of the Governor of Sank, a young man stretched leisurely while slowly escaping sleep. Contrary to popular beliefs, he was always alert on mornings, but he was used to hide it, preferring to slowly assert his surroundings before opening his eyes.

In just mere seconds he came to terms with four unusual things. First, he was clearly not in his own cabin, second, he was not sleeping alone, third, it was much later than his usual wake-up time, and finally, the only real unusual thing, he was completely rested. This last fact surprised him enough to push him to dispel the last remnants of slumber gripping at his consciousness. He opened his eyes to discover the identity of the woman resting beside him... Relena!

He stopped himself from laughing out loud. So, the little princess was finally good for something. That was the only logical conclusion when waking for the first time in years from a night without dreams, or more exactly without nightmares. She managed to tire him enough to keep the darkness at bay, he almost wanted to hold her... almost. Finally recalling the events of the previous night, he concluded however that the eve's exhaustion resulted more from the acute boredom of her inane chatter rather then from her actual sexual prowess.

He pondered a moment. Did the need of restful nights weigh more than the horrendous idea of Miss Peacecraft's regular company? ... No! Definitely not! He would end up strangling her and didn't give himself more than a few days, at the most. God have mercy upon the poor soul she would marry.

He suddenly felt a bit petty criticizing the poor girl when he had shamelessly enjoyed her advances. He might have been too used to these spoiled rotten girls, supposedly innocents, who tried to seduce him, attracted by his dangerous aura, like moths to a flame. They liked the pirate/captive game, smitten by his rough and cruel, yet winning and playful manners, never totally sure that they would come through unscathed.

As for himself, he accepted these attentions wholeheartedly, glad to be able to satisfy his needs without having to hire prostitutes. He knew there was less chance to catch some shameful disease in these satin sheets than in some brothel. Not because the "ladies" were chaster, but because they had the good taste to favor a much needed hygiene, and to choose their lovers on this same criteria. He wondered when he became so cynical. Or had he always been?

In all fairness, he had some other reason for doing "ladies" rather than whores. The same exact reason for which he attracted the "ladies" in fact: the taste of danger. He liked to seduce honest women, not for the pleasure of dirtying them, but for the adrenaline he felt each time, slipping in their bedrooms, daring to be caught by their father, husband or brother. Risking being maybe recognized and being hanged at sunrise. Not that he was willing to die, but he had always found dancing with death kinda exciting. After all, he knew many women who enjoyed much more twisted preliminaries.

This time however, with the Governor's daughter, he might have pushed it too far. Most of the garrison might have been away on maneuver, but introducing oneself in the lion's den was still suicidal. If he learned of his latest whim –and he inevitably would- his friend Wufei would lecture him good. Blah... anyway, that wasn't like he really listened his friend on such occasions.

A loud bugle stopped his thoughts cold. Relena didn't even twitched, she slept like the dead. He needed a few moments to get out of her embrace and a few more to free his braid she had come to grip during the night. All the good thoughts he had for her evaporated at once: restful night or not, NO-ONE was allowed to touch the braid.

When he finally managed to escape Relena's hold, he walked to one of the windows, naked as the day he was born. He had a dreadful foreboding, like the ones which often saved his life. The bugle meant Military presence and they shouldn't be here for yet two or three days. That is what Relena told him the previous week when he met her at this sweet -what's-her-name- dressmaker. She couldn't have lie to him. It would be entirely too stupid of her. She wasn't much in the brains' department but there had had to be some instinct for self-preservation in this pretty scatterbrain.

Relena knew how dangerous he was and that he wouldn't hesitate to slit her throat should he think she lured him in a trap. What's more, even if she hoped he'd spare her once her betrayal unveiled, she wasn't in a much better position. As the respectable Governor's daughter, recently engaged to a promising officer of the navy, being caught in bed with a pirate wasn't the best way to attract attention. Even if she succeeded in convincing everyone he forced her -which was a blatant lie, he still remembered the shameless way she threw herself at him- her reputation would still be forever ruined, and she wouldn't have any choice but to go hide herself in the country, far away from Society. This time wasn't kind with women who didn't care about their reputation.

It was hard to think that even Relena had done something so stupid. Not that he understood anything about feminine logic. In truth, he didn't know that much women. He wasn't interested enough in his lovers to take the time chatting with them, and the only other woman he had frequented on regular basis since the sisters of the catholic orphanage who raised him, was Meiran. He honestly doubted that the latter was a good model of femininity, as she was almost as arrogant, vindictive, bad-tempered and sarcastic as Wufei himself. And that was a feat in itself.

However, as he looked down in the courtyard through the window, he had to accept the truth. The entire Infantry's regiment was there, lead by the Governor, probably on their way back from maneuver. The "lady" was really an idiot and he was in an impossible situation. Even an infiltration's expert like himself would be hard-pressed to fool two hundred soldiers while exiting the Palace. This time, Wufei would really give him a hard time... well if he managed to escape and go back to Deathscythe anyway.

He needed a plan, and he needed it fast. First, getting rid of the "lady". She could still be of use alive but he didn't want to risk her shouting or trying to escape. Logically, if the soldiers hadn't yet invaded the room, it should have been that they didn't know he was there. So, it was no use to attract attention when it wasn't yet necessary.

He deftly untied the curtains' rope and grabbed a scarf before silently getting back to the bed. She still slept soundly. Without letting her the time to react nor even to wake fully, he solidly tied Relena's wrists and ankles to the bedposts, while an improvised gag forbid her to utter the slightest word at the risk of choking her. Calmly, he dragged a chair to the bed and straddled it to observe her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, if somewhat still glazed by sleep. She didn't appear worried at all, but rather aroused like it was all a new game. Slightly incredulous, he asked:

"Miss Peacecraft? Would you, by chance, know why the Infantry's regiment which isn't expected before Monday is presently entering the main courtyard following the Governor himself?"

The woman's eyes opened wide in obvious surprise and she seemed to get panicked fast. Both reactions didn't look fake and he doubted that Relena was so good an actress –such talent would have required more cleverness than she possessed. Well, Relena wasn't guilty. That was comforting in a way. His pride would have been dealt a severe blow if he had been fooled by this idiot. That said, the problem remained: how could he get himself out of this?

The annoying thing when one is the infamous Captain Duo Maxwell, also known as Shinigami, and when one is wanted dead or alive with his face on all the walls of the Caribbeans on top of an enticing reward, is that when happening on two-hundred soldiers, one is bound to be recognized.

While scanning the room in the hope of a solution, his eyes stopped on a mess of boxes and fabrics. There were Relena's latest purchases which had been delivered the day before. The previous night, he had spent an especially boring half hour while she showed him her new dresses, coats, hats and other such frills. A particularly evil idea came suddenly to his mind.

Twenty minutes later –the best he could do in such unknown territories- Shinigami, terror of the oceans, was carefully studying his new appearance. He looked rather convincing, yet would have prefer a second opinion to reassure him. He would have to rely on his legendary luck and on the sheer stupidity of the soldiers, who shouldn't suspect his true identity upon seeing him in such a dress. While turning back to the bed, he noticed the expression Relena wore: amazement and... yes something akin to jealousy. He smirked broadly, it looked like his little subterfuge could work after all.

Deciding that the poor girl didn't deserve to be ostracized by her peers, Duo took the time to slacken her ties. With some effort, she should manage to untie herself, but by that time, he would be crossing the iron gates. Finally he walked to the door with careful steps, already immersed in his role.

A little further, while rounding a corridor, he crashed on a muscular chest. For a day which had begun so well... Looking up he dove directly in the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. A dark blue, with a slight touch of metallic grey, which reminded him of the color of the sea before a storm. Silent eyes, undecipherable, speaking of depths and dangers. He thought with humor that if he had such eyes instead of his laughing demon's ones, he wouldn't need his evil grin to terrorize his enemies. Coming back to reality, he took a step back.