Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. Not mine.
Author's Notes: A thought for the day. Never take financial tips from a porn movie.
Dedication: To the members of our roleplaying game. You all are the craziest people I have ever met and I love every single one of you.
****
A Thing More Precious
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
A calm, somber question. *....stay with her in good times and in bad, promising to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her until death do you part?*
*Yes. I do.*
*Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife.*
Nervous anticipation. *...don't really have to carry me over the threshold, Heero.*
*You want me to, don't you?*
Sated and pliant against his body. *....want you to stay inside me, forever. Just like this. Please don't ever leave me, Heero.*
*I won't. I won't leave you. You're everything to me."
A hint of mischief. *...just bought a little something to wish you a happy Father's Day.*
*Father's Day? Relena...are you....*
*We are.*
Exhausted, but joyful. *...meet your daughter, Heero.*
*Is she supposed to be this small....this perfect?*
*You wouldn't think she was small if you had just pushed her out of your body.*
*I'd still think she was perfect.*
Quiet reflection. *...what are you thinking about, Heero?*
*Your arms. When I'm in them, I feel like I've found my way home...*
Heero's eyes opened suddenly. He was greeted with the sight of the waterstain on the ceiling of the motel room. From the other bed, he could hear Duo snoring. Heero turned his head to look at the window; there was a faint light peeking through the drawn curtains. Dawn was upon them.
He knew he should get out of bed and wake Duo....complete the mission and then get off of L1. But when he went to move, he found that he had no will to do so. Rather than fighting it, Heero allowed himself to relax for another minute.
His thoughts immediately drifted back to his dreams. She had filled them. The moments in their life together, all combined to create a kaleidescope of memories. If he closed his eyes again, he could almost feel her arms around him.
Without warning, his chest began to ache. He wanted her badly. He needed her beside him. Waking up next to her was what he woke up for. Without her, there was just an empty hole. Without her and the girls, he was all alone.
Duo's snoring slowed down as the braided man began to wake up. He yawned and stretched. "You awake?", he mumbled, sleepily.
Heero sat up. "No."
"Man..." His best friend propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I had the most fucked up dream. I dreamt that you and I left our wives and our own beds behind and went on a crazy mission throughout the galaxy." He blinked and looked around the sparse motel room. "Aww, shit. I hate when this happens...."
"It's nearly dawn", Heero replied. "Be ready to go in twenty minutes."
Duo threw back the covers and swung his legs around. "Keep dreaming, Yuy. It takes me that long just to wash my hair."
Heero turned on the lamp between their beds. "Twenty minutes. I don't care if you wash it or not."
"But..." Duo held up the end of his braid. "It needs to be conditioned, too!"
"Twenty. Minutes."
Heaving a great sigh, Duo stood up and started for the bathroom. "Will you at least give me time to brush my teeth? Maybe take a leak?"
"Only if necessary", Heero muttered, earning him an upturned finger. The bathroom door slammed behind Duo and the room was quiet. Forcing himself to get up, Heero glanced at his watch. It was still the middle of the night on Earth. She would be asleep. His gaze fell on the room's cheap communicator.
The overwhelming desire to see her face on the screen nearly consumed him. He was like a junkie. Just one little peek. But he instinctively knew that if he saw her, he would never be able to let go again. His eyes traveled the room, eventually landing on Duo's duffel bag. The old-fashioned mobile phone Duo insisted upon carrying in case Hilde needed him.
Hearing her voice wouldn't be as torturous as seeing her, he decided. Before he could talk himself out of it, Heero had retrieved Duo's phone and was dialing. After two rings, he heard her.
"Hello?" Her voice was low and tired. He could picture her blinking the sleep from her blue eyes. "Hello?", she repeated.
Try as he did, he could not make his mouth work. "Is anyone there?", he heard her ask. After a second's pause, he turned the phone off, disconnecting.
He stared at the floor for several long minutes, collecting himself, until Duo emerged from the bathroom. "Made it in ten", Duo pronounced. "Does that mean we have time for coffee?"
Heero wiped his sweaty hands on the jeans he had forgotten to take off before he fell asleep. "Yeah...coffee. I'll buy."
"Damn right, you'll buy. And I fully expect to be compensated with chocolate sprinkle donuts, too."
"Don't push your luck."
****
"Fine....I didn't want to talk to you either", Relena told the unknown person as she hung up her phone. Sighing, she laid her head back down on her arms, willing sleep to descend upon her. But she was not the slightest bit tired. Her body was wide awake; sleep would have been too much of a distraction.
She faced the choice no one should ever have to make. Either path she took, she ran the risk of losing the most important people in her life. Tears clouded her eyes, but she brushed them away. Crying would do her no good.
Her stomach churned, reminding her that she had not taken the time to eat much of anything in the past two days. At dinner with Millardo and Noin, she had pushed her food around her plate, trying to make it seem as though she had eaten more than two bites. She wasn't sure if they had fallen for it, but they had left her alone.
Alone. That was what she was. All alone. Relena glanced at the clock on her desk. Two fifteen in the morning. Too early to call her office and order the summit meeting to be rescheduled. She closed her eyes. That decision hadn't even been entirely made yet. It was too big. Too massive of a choice for her to make entirely on her own. She needed help. She needed someone who could at least listen to her.
Her heart wanted Heero. Her fingers dialed Quatre.
"Winner residence."
"This is Relena Peacecraft-Yuy. May I please speak to Mr. Winner?"
"The master is in bed, ma'am. Would you like to leave a message?"
"No...no message. I need to speak to him. Now, please."
The man on the screen sighed. "I'll put you through, ma'am." The screen darkened and was replaced by Quatre's familiar face. His cheeks were flushed.
"Relena?", he asked.
"Quatre, I'm so sorry to wake you." Relena bit her lip in apology.
"You didn't wake me." Sheets rustled in the background; Quatre looked off to his side for a second before returning his attention to Relena. "Is there something you need? Are you all right?"
Her face crumpled. "I need to...talk to someone."
"Oh, Relena." Quatre touched his communicator screen in comfort. "What's happened?"
Relena shook her head. "I can't tell you. I want to, but I can't. I just..." She took a breath. "I need to ask you something."
Quatre's eyes took on a wary look. "All right."
"Where is Heero?"
Silence followed her question. The blonde man sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled, biding time before he answered. "Relena....I can't answer that."
"You can't or you won't?"
He sighed. "Both." Quatre leaned forward. His pale, bare chest gleamed with a thin coat of sweat, caught in the light of the artificial colony moon. "Heero made it very clear that this was the way he wanted things. I've already put my friendship with him on the rocks. I can't risk it any further. As much as I want to help you, I just can't."
Relena's shoulders sagged. "Please don't put me through the Gundam pilot solidarity bit. I just...need my husband. I shouldn't have to go through this alone!"
"I'm so sorry, Relena." His blue-green eyes revealed the sincerity of his apology. "I don't think you should have to do this alone, either. But I have to believe that Heero..." He paused. "...has his reasons."
Her head lifted. "What about Trowa? Will he help me?" Quatre opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. "Trowa...I know you're there. Will you tell me where my husband is? Or are you afraid of going against his *master plan*, as well??"
Trowa's face appeared beside Quatre; a bare arm wound around his lover's shoulders. "I have no compunctions about going against Heero's wishes....indirectly."
"Indirectly?"
"Duo always carries a mobile phone with him. Only Hilde has the number." Trowa looked straight into her eyes through the communicator screen. "How you choose to use that information is up to you."
"So he is with Duo." Relena closed her eyes; a faint smile played across her face. "Thank you, Trowa. Thank you so much."
The former Heavyarms pilot nodded before shutting down the communication. Quatre's normal peaceful eyes were stormy. "What was that?", he demanded.
"That was me doing the right thing", Trowa replied, calmly.
"Do you know what Heero is going to..." Quatre was once again cut off, but this time by his lover's lips.
Trowa pulled back. "Don't tell me that you have any doubts that Heero is fucking miserable, lying in the bed he made for himself."
"Yes, but..."
His words were smothered with a second kiss. "I think it's time we stopped paying so much attention to what Heero wants and start thinking about what Heero needs." He looked down at his half-naked lover. "Actually....who gives a damn about what Heero needs?" He captured Quatre's lips again and pulled him back to their bed.
****
"Four...three...two......one."
There was a small explosion as the door to the wall safe burst open. Duo uncovered his ears and waved away the smoke. "God, I've missed blowing shit up!"
Heero looked at his watch. "Five minutes before security arrives. You take the files on the top; I'll get the others."
"You know...", Duo began after a minute of flipping through the Sylvester Corporations financial records. "This is really boring." Heero made a noise of agreement. With a loud sigh, Duo threw one file back into the safe and reached for another. "There's something I gotta ask you, man."
"Ask me later." Heero looked up from a file. "Security's here." He tossed his file down and reached for what was left of the safe's door.
"Fuck!" Duo helped him slam it closed. "I thought you said we had five minutes!!"
Heero blinked. "I was wrong."
"That's just...great. Escape options?", Duo asked, an edge of panic in his words. His friend pointed to the plate-glass window. "Oh hell no. We're fifty stories up!!"
"Fortuantely, I've thought of everything." Heero pointed to the bag on Duo's back. "Just don't forget to pull the rip cord." He pulled a small device out of his pocket and threw it at the window. It exploded a second later and Heero ran for the hole in the wall he had created.
"Fucking hilarious, Yuy!" Duo followed him. They stood on the edge of the windowsill together, looking out over L1. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a sadistic bastard?"
Heero gave him a rare smile and jumped out the window.
****
"Please Hilde. You're the only one who can help me."
Hilde exhaled a slow breath and looked at the woman on her communicator screen. "All right. I'll give you Duo's number."
Relena smiled brightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
After telling Relena the number, Hilde paused. "Have you heard anything about the girls? I've been watching the news, but I guess the story hasn't broken yet. Talk about being thankful for small miracles."
Her friend nodded. "Yes. The truth is..." She hesitated. "I haven't heard anything."
"Hang in there." Hilde smiled sadly. "It's all going to be okay."
Relena touched pad of paper on which she had written Duo's mobile phone number. "I want to believe that. I really, really do."
****
"How are they doing?"
"The older one has pretty much stopped talking. The little one cries all the fucking time unless we feed her like every two hours."
"And the call to their mother?"
"Everything went according to plan."
"Really? Then why hasn't she announced the new date for the summit meeting yet?"
"Um...well...I don't really..."
"Shut up. She hesitating and you know it." The man on the screen pressed his manicured fingers together. "But why? We have her children...and yet, she stalls. What is she protecting?"
"Or who."
"What did you say?"
"Uh...I just said maybe it's not a thing she's protecting, but a person."
"A person...." The man began to laugh. "Of course. It all makes sense now. Why didn't I figure it out until now? I should have listened more closely to the rumor mill...."
"What are you talking about, sir?"
"I'll be stopping by tomorrow, around noon."
"Um...okay."
"The older child....she's about six, right?"
"I guess."
"Who was the one person you looked up to most in the world when you were six?"
"Well...my dad. I used to think he was the most important person in the entire..."
"That's nice. I'll see you at noon. Have the older girl ready when I get there."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"Really...I'm shocked and offended. I'm not going to do anything to her. We're just going to have a little talk...about her daddy."
****
"Okay. I never, *ever* want to do that again!!"
Heero bent over, supporting his weight on his upper thighs as he caught his breath. "You could stand a few more close calls like that. You're getting out of shape."
Duo gulped for breath, trying to speak at the same time. "I'm married with children. I'm supposed to be out of shape!!"
"I'll be sure to mention that to Une during evaluation week."
"You wouldn't!"
"I wouldn't?"
Duo slapped a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "I just followed you out the window of a fifty story building and ran across half a colony! I'm the best friend you're ever going to have and all you can think about doing is narcing on me??"
Heero shrugged. "Don't overdramatize. We got away, didn't we?"
"Barely", Duo muttered. "I thought it was all over when that semi-truck pulled out from that alley."
"First rule of escape. If you can't go around, go over." Heero sat down on the grass.
"Tell that to Hilde when she asks why we can't have anymore children." Duo flopped down beside his friend and stared up at the enclosed colony skyline. An artificial, but pleasant breeze blew over them.
Heero was quiet for a minute. "I haven't been here in a long time."
"Yeah. It's been awhile since I was on L2." Duo shook his head. "Too many memories. Most of 'em bad." He paused. "Earth is my home now. But I guess what they say is true. You can take the boy out of the colony, but you can't take the colony out of the boy."
"I actually meant this particular spot." Heero touched the grass. "I used to come here a lot. But then I stopped."
"Why?" When Heero didn't reply, Duo sighed. "Fine, fine. No childhood talk. I get it."
"Thank you."
Duo blinked; Heero's thanks were rarely given. "Sure, buddy."
Heero laid back on the grass beside his best friend. "Before security came, you were going to ask me a question."
"I was?" The memory hit Duo. "Oh yeah! I was." He plucked a blade of grass and set it between his lips. "I was just kind of wondering...all this research and investigation we're doing. Well...if you know it's Houghton who took your kids, why aren't we banging down his front door, introducing him to your semi-automatic?"
His friend made a noise of amusement. "I've been wondering that myself."
"So....what's the deal?"
"I'm not an assassin. Not anymore." Heero tucked his arms behind his head. "When I married Relena...no, even before that...when the war ended, my whole world had to change. I don't think I really knew what that meant until Ame was born. I'm not a soldier anymore. I can't think or act like one, because it's not justifiable anymore. Yeah, I could storm Houghton's office and hold him at gunpoint until my girls are returned, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do. So...we get the evidence to put the son of a bitch away for life."
"She'd be really proud of you."
Heero stood up. "Let's get the hell off this colony." He started to walk away.
Duo smiled. "I'm kinda proud of you, too." With a sigh, Duo stood up and brushed grass from his jeans. There was a loud ringing from the phone in his pocket. Puzzled, Duo pulled it out and opened it up. "Hilde?", he asked once it was raised to his ear.
There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Duo?"
All color drained from his face. "Relena?"
Her voice relaxed into what he recognized as her frosty politician's tone. "Hello Duo. May I please speak to my husband?"
****
Author's Notes: A thought for the day. Never take financial tips from a porn movie.
Dedication: To the members of our roleplaying game. You all are the craziest people I have ever met and I love every single one of you.
****
A Thing More Precious
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
A calm, somber question. *....stay with her in good times and in bad, promising to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her until death do you part?*
*Yes. I do.*
*Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife.*
Nervous anticipation. *...don't really have to carry me over the threshold, Heero.*
*You want me to, don't you?*
Sated and pliant against his body. *....want you to stay inside me, forever. Just like this. Please don't ever leave me, Heero.*
*I won't. I won't leave you. You're everything to me."
A hint of mischief. *...just bought a little something to wish you a happy Father's Day.*
*Father's Day? Relena...are you....*
*We are.*
Exhausted, but joyful. *...meet your daughter, Heero.*
*Is she supposed to be this small....this perfect?*
*You wouldn't think she was small if you had just pushed her out of your body.*
*I'd still think she was perfect.*
Quiet reflection. *...what are you thinking about, Heero?*
*Your arms. When I'm in them, I feel like I've found my way home...*
Heero's eyes opened suddenly. He was greeted with the sight of the waterstain on the ceiling of the motel room. From the other bed, he could hear Duo snoring. Heero turned his head to look at the window; there was a faint light peeking through the drawn curtains. Dawn was upon them.
He knew he should get out of bed and wake Duo....complete the mission and then get off of L1. But when he went to move, he found that he had no will to do so. Rather than fighting it, Heero allowed himself to relax for another minute.
His thoughts immediately drifted back to his dreams. She had filled them. The moments in their life together, all combined to create a kaleidescope of memories. If he closed his eyes again, he could almost feel her arms around him.
Without warning, his chest began to ache. He wanted her badly. He needed her beside him. Waking up next to her was what he woke up for. Without her, there was just an empty hole. Without her and the girls, he was all alone.
Duo's snoring slowed down as the braided man began to wake up. He yawned and stretched. "You awake?", he mumbled, sleepily.
Heero sat up. "No."
"Man..." His best friend propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I had the most fucked up dream. I dreamt that you and I left our wives and our own beds behind and went on a crazy mission throughout the galaxy." He blinked and looked around the sparse motel room. "Aww, shit. I hate when this happens...."
"It's nearly dawn", Heero replied. "Be ready to go in twenty minutes."
Duo threw back the covers and swung his legs around. "Keep dreaming, Yuy. It takes me that long just to wash my hair."
Heero turned on the lamp between their beds. "Twenty minutes. I don't care if you wash it or not."
"But..." Duo held up the end of his braid. "It needs to be conditioned, too!"
"Twenty. Minutes."
Heaving a great sigh, Duo stood up and started for the bathroom. "Will you at least give me time to brush my teeth? Maybe take a leak?"
"Only if necessary", Heero muttered, earning him an upturned finger. The bathroom door slammed behind Duo and the room was quiet. Forcing himself to get up, Heero glanced at his watch. It was still the middle of the night on Earth. She would be asleep. His gaze fell on the room's cheap communicator.
The overwhelming desire to see her face on the screen nearly consumed him. He was like a junkie. Just one little peek. But he instinctively knew that if he saw her, he would never be able to let go again. His eyes traveled the room, eventually landing on Duo's duffel bag. The old-fashioned mobile phone Duo insisted upon carrying in case Hilde needed him.
Hearing her voice wouldn't be as torturous as seeing her, he decided. Before he could talk himself out of it, Heero had retrieved Duo's phone and was dialing. After two rings, he heard her.
"Hello?" Her voice was low and tired. He could picture her blinking the sleep from her blue eyes. "Hello?", she repeated.
Try as he did, he could not make his mouth work. "Is anyone there?", he heard her ask. After a second's pause, he turned the phone off, disconnecting.
He stared at the floor for several long minutes, collecting himself, until Duo emerged from the bathroom. "Made it in ten", Duo pronounced. "Does that mean we have time for coffee?"
Heero wiped his sweaty hands on the jeans he had forgotten to take off before he fell asleep. "Yeah...coffee. I'll buy."
"Damn right, you'll buy. And I fully expect to be compensated with chocolate sprinkle donuts, too."
"Don't push your luck."
****
"Fine....I didn't want to talk to you either", Relena told the unknown person as she hung up her phone. Sighing, she laid her head back down on her arms, willing sleep to descend upon her. But she was not the slightest bit tired. Her body was wide awake; sleep would have been too much of a distraction.
She faced the choice no one should ever have to make. Either path she took, she ran the risk of losing the most important people in her life. Tears clouded her eyes, but she brushed them away. Crying would do her no good.
Her stomach churned, reminding her that she had not taken the time to eat much of anything in the past two days. At dinner with Millardo and Noin, she had pushed her food around her plate, trying to make it seem as though she had eaten more than two bites. She wasn't sure if they had fallen for it, but they had left her alone.
Alone. That was what she was. All alone. Relena glanced at the clock on her desk. Two fifteen in the morning. Too early to call her office and order the summit meeting to be rescheduled. She closed her eyes. That decision hadn't even been entirely made yet. It was too big. Too massive of a choice for her to make entirely on her own. She needed help. She needed someone who could at least listen to her.
Her heart wanted Heero. Her fingers dialed Quatre.
"Winner residence."
"This is Relena Peacecraft-Yuy. May I please speak to Mr. Winner?"
"The master is in bed, ma'am. Would you like to leave a message?"
"No...no message. I need to speak to him. Now, please."
The man on the screen sighed. "I'll put you through, ma'am." The screen darkened and was replaced by Quatre's familiar face. His cheeks were flushed.
"Relena?", he asked.
"Quatre, I'm so sorry to wake you." Relena bit her lip in apology.
"You didn't wake me." Sheets rustled in the background; Quatre looked off to his side for a second before returning his attention to Relena. "Is there something you need? Are you all right?"
Her face crumpled. "I need to...talk to someone."
"Oh, Relena." Quatre touched his communicator screen in comfort. "What's happened?"
Relena shook her head. "I can't tell you. I want to, but I can't. I just..." She took a breath. "I need to ask you something."
Quatre's eyes took on a wary look. "All right."
"Where is Heero?"
Silence followed her question. The blonde man sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled, biding time before he answered. "Relena....I can't answer that."
"You can't or you won't?"
He sighed. "Both." Quatre leaned forward. His pale, bare chest gleamed with a thin coat of sweat, caught in the light of the artificial colony moon. "Heero made it very clear that this was the way he wanted things. I've already put my friendship with him on the rocks. I can't risk it any further. As much as I want to help you, I just can't."
Relena's shoulders sagged. "Please don't put me through the Gundam pilot solidarity bit. I just...need my husband. I shouldn't have to go through this alone!"
"I'm so sorry, Relena." His blue-green eyes revealed the sincerity of his apology. "I don't think you should have to do this alone, either. But I have to believe that Heero..." He paused. "...has his reasons."
Her head lifted. "What about Trowa? Will he help me?" Quatre opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. "Trowa...I know you're there. Will you tell me where my husband is? Or are you afraid of going against his *master plan*, as well??"
Trowa's face appeared beside Quatre; a bare arm wound around his lover's shoulders. "I have no compunctions about going against Heero's wishes....indirectly."
"Indirectly?"
"Duo always carries a mobile phone with him. Only Hilde has the number." Trowa looked straight into her eyes through the communicator screen. "How you choose to use that information is up to you."
"So he is with Duo." Relena closed her eyes; a faint smile played across her face. "Thank you, Trowa. Thank you so much."
The former Heavyarms pilot nodded before shutting down the communication. Quatre's normal peaceful eyes were stormy. "What was that?", he demanded.
"That was me doing the right thing", Trowa replied, calmly.
"Do you know what Heero is going to..." Quatre was once again cut off, but this time by his lover's lips.
Trowa pulled back. "Don't tell me that you have any doubts that Heero is fucking miserable, lying in the bed he made for himself."
"Yes, but..."
His words were smothered with a second kiss. "I think it's time we stopped paying so much attention to what Heero wants and start thinking about what Heero needs." He looked down at his half-naked lover. "Actually....who gives a damn about what Heero needs?" He captured Quatre's lips again and pulled him back to their bed.
****
"Four...three...two......one."
There was a small explosion as the door to the wall safe burst open. Duo uncovered his ears and waved away the smoke. "God, I've missed blowing shit up!"
Heero looked at his watch. "Five minutes before security arrives. You take the files on the top; I'll get the others."
"You know...", Duo began after a minute of flipping through the Sylvester Corporations financial records. "This is really boring." Heero made a noise of agreement. With a loud sigh, Duo threw one file back into the safe and reached for another. "There's something I gotta ask you, man."
"Ask me later." Heero looked up from a file. "Security's here." He tossed his file down and reached for what was left of the safe's door.
"Fuck!" Duo helped him slam it closed. "I thought you said we had five minutes!!"
Heero blinked. "I was wrong."
"That's just...great. Escape options?", Duo asked, an edge of panic in his words. His friend pointed to the plate-glass window. "Oh hell no. We're fifty stories up!!"
"Fortuantely, I've thought of everything." Heero pointed to the bag on Duo's back. "Just don't forget to pull the rip cord." He pulled a small device out of his pocket and threw it at the window. It exploded a second later and Heero ran for the hole in the wall he had created.
"Fucking hilarious, Yuy!" Duo followed him. They stood on the edge of the windowsill together, looking out over L1. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a sadistic bastard?"
Heero gave him a rare smile and jumped out the window.
****
"Please Hilde. You're the only one who can help me."
Hilde exhaled a slow breath and looked at the woman on her communicator screen. "All right. I'll give you Duo's number."
Relena smiled brightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
After telling Relena the number, Hilde paused. "Have you heard anything about the girls? I've been watching the news, but I guess the story hasn't broken yet. Talk about being thankful for small miracles."
Her friend nodded. "Yes. The truth is..." She hesitated. "I haven't heard anything."
"Hang in there." Hilde smiled sadly. "It's all going to be okay."
Relena touched pad of paper on which she had written Duo's mobile phone number. "I want to believe that. I really, really do."
****
"How are they doing?"
"The older one has pretty much stopped talking. The little one cries all the fucking time unless we feed her like every two hours."
"And the call to their mother?"
"Everything went according to plan."
"Really? Then why hasn't she announced the new date for the summit meeting yet?"
"Um...well...I don't really..."
"Shut up. She hesitating and you know it." The man on the screen pressed his manicured fingers together. "But why? We have her children...and yet, she stalls. What is she protecting?"
"Or who."
"What did you say?"
"Uh...I just said maybe it's not a thing she's protecting, but a person."
"A person...." The man began to laugh. "Of course. It all makes sense now. Why didn't I figure it out until now? I should have listened more closely to the rumor mill...."
"What are you talking about, sir?"
"I'll be stopping by tomorrow, around noon."
"Um...okay."
"The older child....she's about six, right?"
"I guess."
"Who was the one person you looked up to most in the world when you were six?"
"Well...my dad. I used to think he was the most important person in the entire..."
"That's nice. I'll see you at noon. Have the older girl ready when I get there."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"Really...I'm shocked and offended. I'm not going to do anything to her. We're just going to have a little talk...about her daddy."
****
"Okay. I never, *ever* want to do that again!!"
Heero bent over, supporting his weight on his upper thighs as he caught his breath. "You could stand a few more close calls like that. You're getting out of shape."
Duo gulped for breath, trying to speak at the same time. "I'm married with children. I'm supposed to be out of shape!!"
"I'll be sure to mention that to Une during evaluation week."
"You wouldn't!"
"I wouldn't?"
Duo slapped a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "I just followed you out the window of a fifty story building and ran across half a colony! I'm the best friend you're ever going to have and all you can think about doing is narcing on me??"
Heero shrugged. "Don't overdramatize. We got away, didn't we?"
"Barely", Duo muttered. "I thought it was all over when that semi-truck pulled out from that alley."
"First rule of escape. If you can't go around, go over." Heero sat down on the grass.
"Tell that to Hilde when she asks why we can't have anymore children." Duo flopped down beside his friend and stared up at the enclosed colony skyline. An artificial, but pleasant breeze blew over them.
Heero was quiet for a minute. "I haven't been here in a long time."
"Yeah. It's been awhile since I was on L2." Duo shook his head. "Too many memories. Most of 'em bad." He paused. "Earth is my home now. But I guess what they say is true. You can take the boy out of the colony, but you can't take the colony out of the boy."
"I actually meant this particular spot." Heero touched the grass. "I used to come here a lot. But then I stopped."
"Why?" When Heero didn't reply, Duo sighed. "Fine, fine. No childhood talk. I get it."
"Thank you."
Duo blinked; Heero's thanks were rarely given. "Sure, buddy."
Heero laid back on the grass beside his best friend. "Before security came, you were going to ask me a question."
"I was?" The memory hit Duo. "Oh yeah! I was." He plucked a blade of grass and set it between his lips. "I was just kind of wondering...all this research and investigation we're doing. Well...if you know it's Houghton who took your kids, why aren't we banging down his front door, introducing him to your semi-automatic?"
His friend made a noise of amusement. "I've been wondering that myself."
"So....what's the deal?"
"I'm not an assassin. Not anymore." Heero tucked his arms behind his head. "When I married Relena...no, even before that...when the war ended, my whole world had to change. I don't think I really knew what that meant until Ame was born. I'm not a soldier anymore. I can't think or act like one, because it's not justifiable anymore. Yeah, I could storm Houghton's office and hold him at gunpoint until my girls are returned, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do. So...we get the evidence to put the son of a bitch away for life."
"She'd be really proud of you."
Heero stood up. "Let's get the hell off this colony." He started to walk away.
Duo smiled. "I'm kinda proud of you, too." With a sigh, Duo stood up and brushed grass from his jeans. There was a loud ringing from the phone in his pocket. Puzzled, Duo pulled it out and opened it up. "Hilde?", he asked once it was raised to his ear.
There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Duo?"
All color drained from his face. "Relena?"
Her voice relaxed into what he recognized as her frosty politician's tone. "Hello Duo. May I please speak to my husband?"
****