Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Business Proposition ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Three      "You're awfully calm about this," Tim muttered irritably, pacing across the apartment to look down at the parking lot. He fingered his lip a moment, then turned and paced back to where Trowa was finishing his supper. "How are you so calm about this?"

"Because this party isn't for me, it's for you," Trowa flashed him a smirk. He'd said it before, and Tim didn't seem to appreciate the humor of it.

The thing about it all was that Trowa meant it. He didn't care if the sots all thought him a raving lunatic—actually, it made for some pretty amusing exchanges. The dumbasses were scared of him though, to varying degrees, and since he'd gotten back from space, they'd been repeatedly interrupting any conversations that Trowa was having with the guy.

He had to admit that the interruptions were timely. There was an amusement to getting in Tim's face, in eyeing him. They were little stunts of mannerism that Heero threw around when he got in his moods. Timothy wasn't put off by them at all—granted, he'd never said if he was straight or bi—he didn't seem to care. Half the time he thought the moves were funny. That just always happened to be when someone like Anthony would come into the break room, or someone else would need a word in his office.

So, the party in the penthouse...s...penthouses, meeting the roommates, being reassured that Trowa was merely an asshole...all of it was so the others would lay off Tim.

Saying it in a joking manner had been the only way Trowa knew to approach the subject. The former pilot wasn't sure how much of himself Tim actually got...if Tim realized how staccato his emotions were. Though really, he conceded to himself, when he was with his friends it was happiness and fun.

He crammed the last bite into his mouth, then looked around as the house phone rang.

"Yeah?" Quatre asked, moving from the laundry room—the phone was on the wall near that door. "Oh, hey, Sean. You saw a car pull in? All right, thank you." He set the receiver back on its cradle and nodded to Trowa before disappearing back into the laundry room.

"You speak a whole different language," Tim noted, studying Trowa's face.

"I speak several languages," Trowa retorted, moving around to rinse his plate. "All I heard there was English though."

Tim snorted. "Then what did he say?"

"He was just letting me know I was right," Trowa noted, looking up to his friend. "You could see as much."

"I saw him hang up the phone and nod at you, then disappear."

Trowa smirked at him. "That's all he did."

Timothy gave him a mildly disgusted look, then seemed to connect what Quatre had said with reality. He darted across the living room to look out the window anxiously. "I don't see them."

"They're parking in the parking-garage," Trowa reminded him. "On the ground floor. That means there's this big hunk of cement," he measured a good two feet between his hands for example, "in the way of your vision."

Timothy gave him another look.

Trowa laughed, drying his hands off and turning to the pantry. "Let's get the rest of the crap over there."

"Why aren't we having the party in here?" Tim muttered, moving up to take the extra bags of chips Trowa'd bought. "You live on this side mainly."

"Yeah," Trowa noted, moving back toward the sleeping area. "Half of this side is a bedroom, the furnishings are meant for our comfort, and everyone will want to go up to the gym. This is our sanctuary," he grinned over his shoulder at his friend. "Besides, the new place needs a welcome-home party."

Tim closed his eyes briefly as he followed the other. He had a feeling that for all the explanation Trowa'd come up with, the reason was as simple as that.

"They coming?" Heero asked, moving from his personal room.

"Sean called and said that someone was pulling in," Trowa agreed, setting the jar of salsa he'd been holding on the counter.

"All right," Heero disappeared again.

"So if I run away and hide," Quatre noted happily, bouncing into the kitchen with them, "don't follow me."

"You'll be pulling Duo off to a corner for a little play time?" Tim asked happily, pouring his chips into a bowl.

Quatre snorted. "I wish. Duo's a partier to his soul and won't want to wander off until things start to quiet."

Tim looked up at him blankly. "You don't seem that antisocial."

Quatre blinked back at him just as blankly.

Trowa had to blink a few times himself before he looked to his friend. "Oh..." he muttered. "Oh...we haven't talked about it at all, have we?"

"What?" Tim asked, looking back to Trowa.

"Wow," Trowa blinked to Quatre. "We haven't even talked about Heero."

"That's strange," Quatre noted, thinking back over the time Timothy had been around. "Does he not know?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Trowa agreed. "We may not have said anything about it, because we all know it."

"Stop talking like I'm not here," Tim retorted, turning to the fridge to pull the pitcher of juice they'd made out. "Explain it to me."

"I'm a space heart," Quatre shrugged.

Tim stopped completely, raising his eyes to look at Quatre. If he didn't half-suspect it was true, he'd have guffawed and told them to drop the jokes.

Quatre scratched at his dark hair as he considered the man, then looked almost uncomfortably to Trowa.

"It is real," Trowa said almost irritably. He set the jar down and gave Tim the same sort of annoyed look. "Not only is it real, but Quatre knows how to use it—at least better than most. You're gonna stand here and not-believe us? I may bullshit, but I wouldn't pull this sort of joke."

An uncomfortable sensation of guilt, embarrassment, and contrite acceptance flowed from the man as he looked up and met Trowa's eyes.

"Love-sick," Quatre piped happily, turning to bounce away as Trowa looked to him sharply. He stopped, realizing how that had sounded and snickered, turning back to them. "I make that sort of joke without thinking about it," he noted, grinning at the man. "You're acting like it, but it's not...really...love sick." He grinned at the pair and bounced back to find Duo.

Trowa studied the hall before looking back to Tim.

Tim shifted uncomfortably back a step, not meeting Trowa's eyes.

"You never did say if you were bi or straight," Trowa noted thoughtfully. He shrugged after a moment and turned back to the counter, pulling open a package of cups. "You done with that? We only have about a minute before they're up here."

Tim watched him warily a moment, realizing that the guy had moved on.

That was strange.

"I hear the elevator!" Wufei called, moving from his personal room. "Ready to be un-imaginary?" he added down the hall.

"Your words cause me physical pain," Matt noted as he moved from his and Heero's room. "You realize that, don't you?"

Wufei smiled almost proudly at him, then bounced over to take a cup from Trowa and start pouring juice.

"If any of them ask," Trowa informed the boy happily, "we bought you from Zanzibar."

Matt changed focus from Wufei to him, disbelief clearly written on his face.

"I bought you for Max," Trowa went on sweetly, dipping a chip in the salsa. "He wanted a new boy-toy because his old one wore out—or started looking legal."

Heero moved from the room, leveling Trowa with a dirty look.

It actually made Trowa mildly uncomfortable. He forced his grin a bit more, munching happily on more chips.

There was a knock on the door.

"You know you aren't funny," Heero said in a low voice. "Why do you try?"

"Because that was funny," Trowa retorted. "He's just so..." he met Matt's eyes and realized how demeaning the conversation was. He smiled at the boy, "Male," he decided, moving around the end of the counter. "That's gotta be what it is."

"What?" Matt demanded in disbelief, staring at Trowa.

"I watch the little girls your age avidly," Trowa retorted, moving past him. "Think of how much fun it'd be if they decided to play with me...but you're a boy, and I think I might have some weird homophobic shit going on."

"You've lived with me for years," Heero protested that in confusion.

"You and Duo both," Trowa agreed happily. "But you don't look twice at me, do you?"

"Oh, I've looked," Duo reassured him with a wicked grin. "Believe me, I've looked."

Trowa focused as Wufei pulled the door open, noting that Duo'd gotten the last word. That was okay, though, because he didn't want to think about them looking at him like that. He had no comeback.

"Hey, Travis," he greeted the man. "Welcome to my place..."

"I knew you weren't full of shit," the man returned happily, tossing a small bag into Trowa's hands. "Though...two...penthouses? Seriously?"

Trowa flashed him a grin, appreciating that. "We want the whole upper floor, but we're not up to booting out the neighbors."

The man gave him a look that suggested he didn't know if it was a joke.

Wufei shrugged happily, moving back to the bowl of chips. "I don't think they'd let us buy them out anyway...come in, come in...get something to eat, something to drink. We can turn the tv on," he gestured to the big-screen Heero'd decided to buy. It was a good five feet square, and about an inch thick. They'd mounted it on the wall where the former entertainment system had been. It was a new and stupidly expensive brand. Trowa didn't follow the releases, but he'd heard enough to know that the tv was sought after in all quarters—something about the sound system and a special screen.

"I know it's small," Heero said, frowning at the thing, "but it had to fit between the windows," he indicated the things as the man stared at him. "I didn't measure, either."

"Well..." the guy returned, obviously confused. "Um..."

"Come on," Trowa said happily. "We can put a movie on or something until people really get here."

- -

The apartment was well full before Anthony made his appearance. The various people who'd shown up had settled on a boxing match, and were ooing and awing over the blows—and Trowa had to admit the tv almost made it look like they were at the match.

They'd left the door open after enough people had entered that the apartment was warm, and then they'd been accosted by their neighbors who were mildly offended that they hadn't been invited.

Overall, there were probably twice as many people as Trowa had expected, but Tim looked ten times less stressed than he had been, and that had to count for something, right?

"Rigel."

Trowa turned to blink at Anthony, then grinned widely at him as he offered his hand. "I was almost thinking you weren't coming."

"I wasn't going to until Bill called and noted that Kim was already here," the man noted raising an eyebrow as he looked to the tv. "That yours?"

"No, it's Max's," Trowa indicated Heero. "I don't pay much attention to electronics. "You want something to drink? Ooh," he blinked at the counter. "I'll have to get more chips in a minute."

"You really live here?" Anthony demanded, looking the place over. "It's not much like I remember you describing. I thought you said it was vaulted."

"Oh," Trowa flashed him a wicked grin. "I didn't mention it...this is new. We only started buying it at the end of January."

"You've always said you lived in a..."

"This one is new," Trowa cut him off, then indicated the hall. "The old one is over there...let me introduce you to my roommates, then I'll show you when I'm getting more snacks."

"Hey," Quatre chirped happily, bouncing out of the woodwork with bright eyes. "We totally need more drinks...should I run or should we send someone?"

"Oh, hey," Trowa shifted back slightly. "Jase, this is Anthony. Anthony, this is Jason Wire."

Anthony focused sharply on Quatre's eyes as he offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Quatre muttered. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd bother showing up at all—so what do you think? Me or a concierge?"

"If you wanna get out of here, that's fine," Trowa reassured him.

Anthony gave them a confused look.

"I'm a space-heart," Quatre shrugged, then looked back to Trowa, starting to open his mouth.

"On earth?" Anthony demanded skeptically.

"I was born on D17622," Quatre retorted, giving him a skeptical look. "If you don't believe me, just think a second. We're buying two penthouses."

Anthony stared at him.

Quatre gave the man an almost disgusted look and focused back on Trowa. "Okay, that means I am going. I'll be back...anything special?"

"More 'I don't give a shit' with your breakfast cereal," Trowa returned, grinning at him.

Quatre grinned back at that and looked to Anthony, offering his hand again. "I'm sorry. I should have held my tongue. Excuse me," he nodded to him, then looked around the room—spotting Duo, Trowa realized.

"He's been...going through some changes," Trowa noted happily to Anthony, who looked a bit confused. "He got over himself a few months back and ever since then he pops off at...interesting...times."

"If you don't want me..."

"Please, Anthony," Trowa cut him off with the suave sort of charm Quatre could pull out his ass at the drop of a dime. "This party is for you...and him," he pointed at Tim, who looked up and spotted them, bouncing to his feet with a happy smile. "Don't let something as little as a temper tantrum chase you away...Max! Max, you remember Anthony, don't you?"

- -

"I'm sorry," Sally muttered tiredly to Lucretzia, rubbing her temple. "I don't know what it was. It was a strange anomaly..."

"Didn't you just repeat yourself?" Lu asked skeptically.

Sally raised her eyes to the screen skeptically.

"Sorry," the dark haired female muttered, grinning at the other. "I was just asking."

"Just watch the colony," Sally retorted, rolling her eyes. "It might have been a communication, which means something might come at you from behind."

"All right, all right," Lu returned in an almost reassuring tone. "I'll watch my ass."

"You have plenty of other people watching your ass," Sally retorted, meeting eyes through the camera. "You need to watch your back and the colony at the same time. Can you do that?"

Before she could answer, the woman cut the line. Lu snorted slightly as she tucked her hair behind her ear, then blinked at the flashing red light that meant she had an incoming message. It was too soon to be Sally, so...

She hit the button.

"Lu," Marsh muttered, looking her over. His expression was suppressed surprise. "I wasn't expecting you out here...you seem...well."

"Only friends call me Lu, Gerrange," she snapped back. "What do you want?"

"As one friend to another," he started, his expression skeptical.

"You're hardly my friend."

"Because one ship?" he retorted. "I don't understand how..."

"Actually," Lucretzia cut him off, "it's more because my boyfriend."

He fell silent.

"Yeah," she smiled slightly at the screen. "Something about your men knocking him out with the butt of a fucking firearm and hauling him off in an SUV. Then something about calling one of my dearest friends for the ransom."

"I didn't ransom him," the man snapped.

"You wanted something for her to get him back," Lu noted pointedly. "That's ransom"

"What are you doing here?" the man asked with a sigh, starting to rub his face. "Aren't you too close to the situation? Don't they enforce the rules about this shit?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Lu noted pointedly. "I'd only be called into question if it was someone I loved."

He frowned at her a long moment. "Fine. I'll give you my warning then. If the barricade hasn't been removed from around this colony within the next hour, then we're going to attack it."

"And you know very well that we'll do no such thing," she pointed out.

"I'm warning you, Lu. Get out of there. I don't want you getting hurt because of this."

"Then surrender," she replied smoothly.

"Lu, come on," he protested in a more cajoling tone. "You know you're as dear to me as..."

"Then surrender," she repeated darkly.

Marsh's eyes narrowed at her and he shook his head. "So glad to talk with you, too."

"Just remember," she noted, "you do me one, I do you one. You took my man...and I will return that favor."

"It wasn't personal," the man snapped.

"Maybe not at first—but you did it, and that made this personal. That's not even mentioning how unhappy I am about your supposed prisoners of war. Actually, I consider Williams a friend."

"Williams?" he stared at her in confusion. "Who..." he blinked, looking away a moment. "That boy Ranger was obsessed with?" he snorted, then rolled his eyes. "It wasn't under my orders that he got hurt."

"But it was under your watch," Noin pointed out. "And that's all the blame any leader needs."

He shifted back slightly, blinking at her.

"So do me a favor," she muttered, reaching over to set her hand on the line button. "Surrender already."

"Why don't you?" the man returned in an almost evil voice, then turned his head toward the room behind him. "Send out the hounds."

"Oh, Marshal," Lu breathed, leaning forward to be directly in front of her camera, "breaking your word won't hold you in very high standing now, will it?"

He turned to sneer at her...and cut the line.

A door began opening in the side of the colony.

"Be ready," she snapped to her men as she watched that. "He threatened us to leave within the hour or he'd do this..."

"Some hour," her second noted. "I'm calling backup."

"You haven't yet?" Lu snapped back. "Everyone...be ready!"

- -

Heero turned as a sharp beeping sound came from the screen. It made the people in the room shudder and jump, but he knew he wasn't alone in stepping closer to the thing.

"What is that?" Tim demanded skeptically.

"Shit," Trowa muttered.

"Turn it down..." someone else started as words flashed on the screen. "What sort of...military HQ?"

Before anything else could be said, the screen flashed over to a man in uniform, his expression set. "This is a general military call," he said evenly. "This call has been ordered directly from General Une. The rebels of A02227 have attacked the containing line in force."

Heero stepped closer as the other people in the room stared at the screen in blank confusion.

"One Lucretzia Noin has been critically injured."

Matty gasped.

"General Une is sending a request for military aid."

"Understood," Duo said evenly from where he was sitting—he was on the couch.

"Very well," the man looked the room over. "Are you having a party?"

"You're the one who tapped our tv," Duo returned evenly. "We'd have taken it in private if given the choice."

The man looked around until he focused on the American, his expression skeptical.

"I'd love to leave you with the pleasantries," Duo added, rising to his feet with the remote in his hand, "but that would be tacky. Let Une know we'll arrive tomorrow evening."

"Une is requesting immediate aid," the man noted, raising a post-it note from in front of him and looking back to the camera. "Immediate."

"I understand," Duo said quietly, looking around to Quatre.

"I understand," Quatre agreed quietly.

"I understand," Trowa said in a level voice.

"I...I understand," Wufei muttered, clear enough to be distinguished from the group.

"I...understand," Heero agreed, looking to the others.

Immediate—how long had it been since they'd had an immediate summons?

"I can't say the rest of this with civilians," the man added, pursing his lips.

"This call should have been directed first to our private line," Duo said levelly. "The mistake was yours, and you'll be properly chastised."

The man flinched at that and nodded, setting the post-it down again. "Please return this call in a private manner."

"I will," Duo agreed levelly, taking a step.

The line cut, flashing back to the fight in time for a spectacular knock-out punch.

No one was watching the fight anymore, though, they were all watching Duo as he moved from the room—then looked around to Trowa.

Trowa laughed his slightly empty laugh. "So, who wants more punch?"

"What was..." Anthony started.

"That was a full-on militaristic summons," one of the other men in the crowd noted, looking around the room at the five of them. "For who?"

"For all of us," Trowa returned in amusement. "My roommates and I."

"Have you been doing stuff for the military?" Bill asked in disbelief. "That's why you've been missing so much work?"

Heero met slightly wide eyes with Duo as the man headed toward their personal apartment. The disbelief was clear in his eyes, too. Lu was hurt and Une wanted them immediately—that was bad. That meant things were going very bad.

"So..." Trowa said quietly, moving to stand in front of the tv. "I hope you'll all understand...why...I have to ask you to leave."

"You really are from the military...how are you active and working at the same time? What was it saying about...27?"

"27 is the colony that Relena Darlian was advocating for," Anthony noted, rising to his feet. "The one she suddenly stopped supporting."

"We don't have the clearance to discuss the matter," Trowa said evenly. "You'll understand that the very phrasing of the message we were given is classified. We cannot explain anything that was just said to you...and we have to leave."

The group started muttering as they looked to each other in confusion.

"All right already," Wufei snapped, rising up himself. "Get out."

As rude as that was, the people started milling for the exit.

That was just wonderful. At least they hadn't gotten out the alcohol.

"I cannot believe the idiot didn't code the call anymore than the alarm," Quatre noted darkly as he moved to Heero's side. "At least he had enough sense not to announce who the message was for."

Heero nodded, shaking hands with people who were leaving.

"I'm gonna go get packed and call my boss," the raven-haired male muttered, starting around Heero to the hall. "God...I hope Lu is okay."

- -

"I need to stop by my dad's," Matty muttered, moving forward and grabbing Heero's wrist. "Can we stop?"

"We're taking one car," Heero returned, licking his lips.

"I guess they'll give you the benefit of the doubt now," Tim was muttering glumly to Trowa as they moved to the exit. "That's wonderful."

"I'll give you a hundred dollars right now if you agree to clean the apartment," Trowa returned, digging out his wallet.

"You're not even going to say anything?" Tim protested, looking almost scandalized.

"There's not much to say," Trowa returned, shrugging. "Since we busted into the colony to get Helen," he indicated Matty over his shoulder, "we're part of it whether we give a shit or not."

Timothy looked around to Matty, his eyes considerate.

"We have the clearance for you to come, if you're so inclined," Duo informed the man casually.

Trowa swiveled his head around to look at the American sourly.

"Really?" Tim asked, looking to Duo with interest.

"Significant others are allowed," the man explained with a casual shrug.

Trowa rolled his eyes. "I didn't know you were that open," he noted to Quatre, who was moving from the laundry room.

Duo gave him a sour look of his own.

"What?" Quatre asked, giving him a confused look.

"The threesome with Duo and Tim," Trowa explained.

"Ass," Wufei snapped as Quatre's cheeks flared and he looked around almost helplessly. The Chinese man shoved Trowa away a step, shaking his head to Quatre. "He's an idiot, don't even try to make his joke."

Quatre licked his lips almost nervously, glancing at Duo.

Heero wondered what that was supposed to mean. Wufei stepping in had given Quatre a moment to gather himself before blushing even worse than he had been—that was nice of Wufei—but his comments?

"That's why I get to come?" Matty asked, looking up to Heero in confusion. "I just thought..."

"Une specified that intimates could be brought along," Duo noted, also having recovered himself. He turned away from the group, heading back to the bedroom area. "You really can come," he added to Tim. "You've been around here often enough that I wouldn't have to piss Quatre off by claiming you as my lover so they'd sign off."

"You're a prick," Tim returned evenly. "And I have a job."

"Funny, so do I," Duo noted, tilting his head slightly before disappearing.

"I hope Lu is okay," Quatre muttered, leaning against the counter.

That would be what had Duo on the edge—and adding in his relationship with Quatre probably made things hard for him. He was used to having one emotional attachment at a time, but things between he and Lucretzia were never as straightforward as 'friends.'

"So, money?" Trowa pressed, waving a bill under the man's nose. "If not, we have to call the concierge crap."

Tim snatched the money, giving him a glum look.

"The code for the alarm is 2915," Heero noted quickly. "I'll set your phone to disarming it, but in case you don't have it on you or something...try to keep it on you. We'll keep you updated. I'll be using the military's computers and what have you, so I'll send you an update to pan when I get a chance."

"Pan?" the man asked, obviously thinking about it.

"The patch we put on your phone last time we headed to space," Heero returned with a grin. "I think you said more or less the same thing then."

The guy grinned, then looked around the apartment and sighed. "If half of what you told me was right, you could get killed."

"Could trip over our shoelaces and fall into traffic just as easy," Duo informed him happily, moving from the room again while settling his duffel bag against his hip again. "Ready?"

"You sure you don't want to come?" Trowa asked Tim easily. "I could use your bullshit."

"While running around training special-ops hopefuls?" Duo demanded. "You wouldn't have time for him, and you'd be so...dignified...you wouldn't notice a civilian."

"At least I wouldn't be hitting on soldiers in full-regalia," Trowa snapped back, glaring at him. "Can you take your aggravation out on someone else, please?"

Duo's mouth snapped shut as he stared at the other.

Trowa considered the others in the group, and realized why he was receiving the active end of the American's displeasure. His and Quatre's relationship was almost like a new flesh-wound, still tender. Wufei was starting to act more himself again, but his emotions had been scoured after they'd visited the L-5 memorial to his colony...and Heero wouldn't understand Duo's temper. There was never a question of Matty being that person...and that left Trowa, and Timothy.

"If you asked me a week ago, you might talk me into it," Tim noted, leading the way into the hall. "As it is, my heart is thundering in my chest because an immediate summons means that something went bad...I don't want another war," he met Trowa's eyes a long moment, then turned the earnest gaze onto the others. "I don't understand enough about the eve-wars, and in all likelihood, this is some continuation for that."

Trowa sighed, moving to stand against the back of the elevator as the others joined them.

"This will not come to war," Heero said firmly. "But we can't talk about it now," he added as Wufei locked the apartment. He looked sadly to the pair of doors, then shook his head and moved to follow the others. "I know everyone at work will be trying to pump you for information," he added as they packed into the machine. "But pretend that all you knew is that we were war-ricks, and then what they heard."

"Isn't that all I knew anyway?" the man asked skeptically.

"You know all about Troy," Duo reminded him. "And all about...the Trojan horse," he cast an amused look to the others. "Rather blond, that horse. Do you think I should break his nose?"

"Trojan..." Tim blinked as he thought about that, then evidently connected the blond comment to Zechs Marquise. He ran a hand down his face.

Heero grinned at that. "There are other things you know about us that you need to pretend you don't," he focused on the elevator door as it dinged their arrival on ground-level. "I think things will start leaking to the news any day now, so you should get a decent progress-report on our doings as soon as they realize we're around."

Tim nodded, biting his lip.

"Yo, Allen," Trowa added happily to the doorman as they exited. "We're off on another travel-stint. Space needs us," he posed, then snickered. "I need you to make him a copy of our apartment key," he added in a serious tone, grabbing the notepad in front of the man. "He can come in and out as much as he wants—but no parties," he looked to Tim with a brief grin. "I'm not sure when I'll be back...and because some of you may be uncomfortable...I say no more than three guests with him," he jotted something else on the sheet and signed it, sliding it down the line. "Right?" he asked as Heero signed.

"Sure," Duo muttered, taking the pen himself. "Witness," he added to the startled doorman. "If we have need of delegation, Timothy will be put in charge, funding and the like. Right?"

The man nodded slowly as Quatre signed as well, then Wufei.

"Sign this," he added, flipping the paper over and shoving it at Timothy.

"Take care," Timothy instructed as he set the pen down, extending his hand to Trowa. "Really."

Trowa pulled him into a brief hug, then stepped back and obviously thought a moment. "I'll have...more paperwork for you in the next day or so," he noted quietly, starting away. "You'll be a benefactor of my estate."

Timothy's jaw dropped.

"I'll also mark you next-of-kin," Trowa added, stopping in the door a brief moment...then disappeared.

"Forlorn lover..." Quatre cooed, then snickered and hugged Timothy. "Or something."

Timothy mouthed at him as Heero took the former-blonde's place, then Matty and Duo.

"Take care," Quatre said in a sincere tone, then followed Trowa from the foyer.

Wufei pulled back from his hug, noting that the others had already darted. "If you look in his closet, he has a file-case," he noted, grinning more. "His bank statements are in there—you can see how much you'll inherit if he croaks," he winked at the man, winked at the doorman, then turned to follow the others.

It was time to go.