Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Business Proposition ❯ Six ( Chapter 6 )

Six      "Hey, Qingfu?"

"Yeah?" Qingfu muttered, moving down the hall and rubbing his eyes.

"Something's up with this," he indicated the computer. "Your download stopped."

Qingfu frowned, moving a bit more quickly to look at the screen. He snorted, though, sitting down. "How annoying, the connection was reset...let me just..."

Ranger looked around, listening. J'd slept until noon, and then they'd gone out to eat after everyone had showered. The man had taken a nap then, but where was he now?

The computer made a noise.

"What?" Qingfu demanded. "Don't be retarded, my access information..." he trailed off, starting to type again.

The computer made that same noise.

"What?" Ranger asked.

"This is...something's weird," Qingfu muttered, then raised his eyes to frown at Ranger. "What's weird?"

Ranger thought about that a moment, but the thoughts escaped him. He focused on it more and felt a moment of amusement, but then it was gone again.

So what had been amusing?

He looked back to Qingfu and shrugged. "No clue."

The man sighed and started typing again...then again.

"What?" Rab muttered, moving into the area. "What's wrong?"

"I can't log in," Qingfu explained as that sound came again. "It's telling me my access is denied."

Rabid stared down at the man a long moment, then looked around the room nervously. "Do you think they..."

"Are you kidding?" Qingfu retorted, glancing up at him. "To change the access codes...that'd be insane. They'd have to deny mine specifically, and they can't do that really without my card."

"Well...what is this then?" Rab gestured at the screen.

"Probably a mess up in the connection," Qingfu returned. "I'll start checking that in a minute...I mean...in order to just...they'd have to have just changed the entire...and then they'd have to go card by card," he looked nervously up at Ranger and shrugged. "You see what I mean, don't you?"

"Sure, just like clouded glass," Ranger agreed, turning toward the main area of the house. "J?"

"Yeah?" the man called from the kitchen.

"I'll get you some gloves...wanna go on a walk?"

"You want to go on a walk with me?" Jaden asked dryly.

Ranger sniggered at that. "Dude...the ocean, come on."

Jaden hesitated, glancing toward the windows of the place. "Good point."

- -

Quatre smirked slightly as he followed Une into a small room. For some reason, he couldn't help but wonder who'd been annoyed by Heero's re-code. It was the type of random notion that made him wonder how vindictive he really was—and also had no way to measure if it was part of the space-heart crap.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Une said, running her hands through her hair. "You're here because Winner needs some lackeys and you've all tested positive in the space-heart stuff."

"That sounds professional," Quatre noted, raising an eyebrow at the woman.

"We can have this conversation from front to end later, Brigadier," she informed him with far too much cheer. "I think I insist," she added almost dryly, smiling back to the other people in the room. "I have...a lot," those words were directed at Quatre, "of stuff to see to this morning, so please cooperate with the good...with Winner. Excuse me," she smiled at the people in the room, then glared at Quatre a moment longer and left the room.

Quatre grinned again.

"Wow, she's...chipper," Soung, one of the males noted quietly, looking back to Quatre. He was one of the few friends Quatre'd had before they left the military that was still around. Actually, Quatre could see other old friends sprinkled through the gathering—that boded well, really. Enough people who could do what he needed, and it'd take them one day to test everyone involved.

The former-blond smirked, looking to Soung. "Chipper?" he asked sarcastically. "You call that chipper?"

"I'd be warmer on a glacier," a female he didn't know noted, rubbing her hands together. "...sir."

He gave her a look, and she had the good grace to look abashed.

"He's wearing his rank like a sign, and you add the respect in as an afterthought?" another male asked in amusement. "May as well have neglected it like Soung."

"Soung," Soung noted sardonically, "is an old friend of the Brigadier."

"And Soung," Quatre noted happily, "really needs to remember that people don't refer to themselves in the third person...much."

"Soung," the male returned pleasantly, his eyes sparkling, "thinks Winner needs his ass kicked."

Quatre laughed at that, moving forward to clasp the man's hand and half-hug him. "You look just as Asian as ever," he noted, looking the man over.

"Something happened to your hair," Soung noted, giving him a skeptical look. "I'm not sure what yet, but it's different."

"You're smart," Quatre retorted, turning to focus on the rest of the group.

"I know," Soung agreed, completely nonplussed.

Quatre snorted, gave him a look, then focused back on the others. "Before anyone else makes an ass of themselves, I'll note that I've been friends with Soung, Matsuda, Gabai, Helin, and Leiva for several years now." He looked back to the man who'd spoken up. "Who are you?"

The guy gave him an embarrassed look and stood at attention. "First..."

"I didn't say I wanted your rank," Quatre cut that off quickly. "If you give me your rank, then I won't see you, I'll see what you're supposed to do. At this point, I need you, not your title. What's your name?"

"Sonam," the guy returned, almost seeming shy. "Sonam Pham."

"I'm Quatre," Quatre returned, offering his hand as he studied the guy's eyes. "And I can already tell you'll be working with me." He looked the room over again, at the myriad hopeful faces, and the ones not-so pleased. "I only need twenty," he noted quietly, amazed he could say that. "And you lot already know you're in," he gestured toward the people he'd hung out with before. "So get out of the way so I can pick my other ducklings."

"So what does that make us?" Soung demanded, reaching forward and grabbing Pham's arm.

"Goslings," Quatre retorted, then pointed at the guy. "Duck, duck..." he pointed at the female who'd spoken before. "Duck..."

"We aren't in a circle," Matsuda protested, her eyes sparkling as she moved to look at Quatre from the side. "If you say goose, how are we supposed to run to catch anyone?"

"We can run," Gabai noted in amusement. "We have a whole base to run—the question that really matters is, if he says goose, how do you know when you've made the full circuit?"

Quatre rounded on his old friends, happily indignant. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Gabai reassured him happily, making a flippant gesture with his hand. "Keep going, you're not interrupting us."

Matsuda started giggling.

"Good," Quatre returned with a truly warm smile. "I was hoping not..." he turned back to the confused looking people that remained. "Duck..."

Gabai started giggling, there was no other way to refer to it...and turned to move to the back of the group.

Quatre laughed himself, pointing out another person.

There were some things he wouldn't change for the world—and some he'd have to think about.

- -

"You look good," Hilde muttered, studying Duo over with interest.

Duo nodded distantly, thinking things over. He hadn't picked himself a task, which he assumed meant he got to do the presentation about 27...but he couldn't seem to care. It had been bad enough that they'd gotten summoned in the first place, let alone to have it announced Lu had been hurt.

He'd thought he was okay with that whole situation...

"You look...really good," Hilde noted, resting her hand on his forearm as she studied his eyes. "I..."

"You look healthy," he noted, forcing himself to focus on her and smile. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I've been floating around, trying to find something to do," she shrugged. "I ended up here, and Une grabbed me and shoved me into her little jigsaw. Are you...okay?"

"I thought you said I looked good," he retorted, grinning slightly at her.

She frowned at him.

He laughed lightly, looking around. "You have no idea what my life has been like lately," he muttered quietly. "I'm just waiting for the straw that'll break my back."

"I think we should talk," she said quietly, looking around herself. "Alone."

"Quatre's upset enough about my focus on Lu," Duo noted, studying her face. "We only saw you for a few minutes and it stressed him."

"What does that mean?" she asked blankly. "Quatre..."

"My boyfriend," Duo said in a quiet and pointed way, "has absolutely no self-assurance to speak of when it comes to relationships. He's never been in one, and he knows me better than I want him to."

She blinked, thinking about that.

"We do need to go have coffee, though," he noted, starting for Une. She was moving from one of the three halls, her expression dark. "I'd like that very much."

Hilde stared after him.

"You loom at me and I'll make soldiers grab you," Une informed him without preamble. "Yuy's done quite enough to stir up the hornet's nest, and I don't need to be worried if you'll attack me besides."

"That's below you," Duo retorted, his irritation returning. "You pull us out of our homes in a fit of panic, then tell us that you don't really need us...and oh, by the way, let soldiers play with the information gathered from the most advanced killing-machines made in the last millennia, and now you're accusing me of...of wife-beating."

She stopped, swinging around to stare up into his face. "Don't even pretend that you aren't intimidating, Maxwell," she snapped. "Don't even act like your temper never gets the better of you. I know you'd never purposefully hurt me, but in the one moment it takes you to snap, you could do damage." She raised her hand to wrap it as much around his bicep as she could, squeezing.

She wanted to be like that?

Duo's annoyance got the better of him, and he snatched her into the air by the waist, raising her above his head. She squeaked much like Reg had before, and clung to his wrists like the other woman had too. ...and she started giggling like Regina as well.

"Put me down!" she squeaked at him, almost kicking out before she remembered her skirt. "Duo!"

Duo laughed and lowered her down as it occurred to him that he'd very much proven her point in a moment of pique...and as her feet touched the ground, his instincts had already taken over. Une was on the ground before he even realized he'd dropped her, and he had a firearm by the muzzle before he realized any of the soldiers around them had pulled their weapons.

Une groaned.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wufei demanded skeptically, breezing into the middle of the area as Une sat up. "General?" he asked, offering her his hand cordially.

"They pulled their weapons," Duo retorted, still holding the firearm so it was pointed at the ceiling. His eyes were scanning the men and women that encircled them, and he didn't like what he saw.

Too many of them had their weapons, and he and Wufei had none. Une had never carried one, and that meant it was up to them...

"He grabbed the general!" the boy Duo was facing half-squeaked to Wufei, still trying to pull his weapon away. "He grabbed her!"

"I saw what he did," Wufei noted casually, looking the circle over in amusement. "But my question was directed at you lot," he looked the people over again. "You could have gotten yourselves killed and wounded, drawing on Maxwell like that."

A group chatter erupted at that.

Duo got annoyed with the boy's struggles—he could be no older than Matty—and yanked the firearm from the guy's grip. It sent him toppling to the ground as Duo took the moment to disassemble the piece.

"They only saw him grabbing me," Une noted, regaining her dignity. "I don't think any of them realized I started laughing when he did it—he just grabbed me up, and they've been well trained. Thank you," she added, meeting eyes around the circle. "I do appreciate the effort, but when you're dealing with the brigadier generals, the safest course of action is quiet demands."

The kid had cursed as she spoke, and moved to his knees to put the weapon back together.

"I'm going to find Heero," Duo informed the woman and Wufei irritably. "I have my phone if you need me." He turned and stormed down the hall.

No one trusted him.

Une had always been a little scared of him when he got annoyed, he'd never have called it 'scared' before the previous night's display, but he'd known it was true. She'd always been intimidated by him—and he supposed there was some merit to it. He would never have hurt her, and he was pretty sure she knew that...but the fastest way to shut most women up when you wanted to was to startle them. He'd had to shut her up several times over.

Beyond that, though was the lovely little bit of fluff he called a boyfriend. It didn't matter that he knew full-well that Quatre was insecure. Quatre was scared to lose him to anyone, despite the fact that Duo didn't more than glance at anyone. Their night had been spent in a mostly pleasant way before Quatre had asked him if he was thinking about Lu or Hilde.

Duo stormed down a side-hall.

Quatre had seen him juggling three lovers at a time before. Quatre'd seen him manipulate them to no end before...and Quatre didn't trust Duo not to play him.

That was bitter enough without the emotional turmoil. Lu was definitely getting better, but it had torn his heart out to hear her say she may have been pregnant...and it had stung to see the engagement ring on her finger. He'd known for years that he wasn't going to be with her, and he hadn't realized he'd harbored any hope at all until that ring—and on top of that, Zechs knew and understood. He'd very specifically wanted Duo with the woman, trusted that Duo did care as much about her as he himself to see that she got the proper care and that she wasn't alone when she woke up.

He didn't need Hilde worming her way back into his life. She'd done her yo-yo trick more than enough for him to know she wasn't someone to put faith in—no, Quatre was the one to carry the faith. Quatre was neither in love with someone else, or able to run off on him because he got bored.

Actually, he was glad of that. Quatre's focus could calm him down out of his evident fits of rage, Quatre's influence could turn his depression into a smile...and he hadn't wanted Quatre to leave the hospital for that long the day before.

Duo rested a hand on the door he'd stopped in front of, then considered briefly why he was there. He'd been going to find Heero, where even was he? It was almost like the door opened of its own accord. Half expecting to be called-out for interrupting a meeting, Duo flowed after his arm into the room...and stopped as a group of twenty or thirty looked back at him.

"Duo," Quatre said, startled. "What's up?"

Duo stared at the dark-haired male in confusion before realizing that standing there gaping might look a little strange. He gestured to the hall with his head, sliding back out.

That was weird. He hadn't even known where Quatre was holding his meeting, let alone how to get there from the front.

"So you lot look the information over," Quatre muttered, "and I'll be back as soon as I can." He slid through the door and smiled at Duo, pulling the thing shut. He glanced up and down the hall surreptitiously, then leaned up to wrap his arms around Duo's neck and kiss him. "What's up?" he muttered, studying Duo's eyes.

"I needed you," Duo returned, studying him back. "It's a lot of stupid shit that happened before I realized what I was doing, but I wanted to be with you to calm back down."

"So you come interrupt my meeting for a kiss?" Quatre kissed him again, then gave him a mildly reprimanding look.

"You're the one doing the kissing," Duo retorted, studying the other's mouth. Heero'd said something about a cute bow, and Duo definitely understood what he meant. He leaned down, "or were."

It took them both a few kisses to remember they were in a base in uniform, and Duo drank in the moment before Quatre finally pulled away. He liked the feel of the former-blond in his arms, but there were more appropriate times to play at lovers.

"Are you okay?" Quatre asked, messing with Duo's hair. "Are you sure?"

"I am," Duo agreed straightening himself and running his hands through his own hair.

"I like it that length," Quatre noted, touching the ends again. "You shouldn't grow it out more."

Duo smiled at that, ruffling Quatre's hair. "I'm not sure if you should keep this or not—it looks good, but..."

"But you like your blond?" Quatre retorted, then kicked his shin.

"Hey!" Duo protested, starting to laugh as he backed up, brushing at the leg. "You're abusive."

"I can be when I have cause," Quatre retorted, then grinned and leaned forward, kissing him again. "You really need to go away before I get completely distracted from what I'm doing."

"I'm sure there's an empty office around here somewhere," Duo noted with a wicked grin, not quite moving his mouth. "This lot won't miss you for a few more minutes..."

To his surprise, Quatre actually considered the offer. His blue eyes moved around the hall thoughtfully before he shook his head. "That won't work," he noted. "Getting in might be annoying, and getting caught would be more than embarrassing. There's always lunch, though," he met Duo's eyes. "Go back to the hotel? I don't think anyone will be there then."

Duo grinned at that and leaned forward, kissing Quatre again. "I need to go find Heero."

Quatre smiled at that and nodded, moving back to the door. "Lunch," he whispered, then disappeared.

Duo smirked at that, then started righting his uniform. Quatre's hadn't looked out of place, but he could feel that his own had shifted.

Maybe five minutes, and he felt good again...and even better, he had something to look forward to.

- -

Matty couldn't help but bounce as he moved through the base. He'd insisted he not be left at the hotel room again—which he still didn't understand. Every other time they'd been at the base, they'd had rooms in the building itself. This time, they weren't even on the base property.

It didn't matter, though, not really.

He turned toward a commons area where he knew vending machines were available.

Matty had been given the right of wandering. He also had access to a few privileges by Heero's rank. He hadn't been allowed to talk to Une in the room earlier that morning—they'd chased him out—but he'd heard her crying out in alarm before the anger had set in. She'd started tearing Heero a new asshole for re-coding the access without her permission...and that argument had promised to get volatile when he'd noted that she had given him her laptop.

The teen grinned to himself, digging his wallet out of one of his pockets.

What he'd done instead of hovering in the hall, had been to find out where the uniform bits were kept. He'd already been wearing a white t-shirt, but he'd always liked the color of the military-issue cargo-pants. It was a nice shade of green and a comfortable-looking material. The man in charge of the area had been more than willing to get him a few pairs after seeing his visitor's badge, and had been insisting the ones he'd gotten were the right size.

He had a feeling Heero would kill any man who looked at him in that size—they'd been comfortably snug, but he had no doubts that it had accentuated...bits of his body that Heero might appreciate, but Heero wouldn't want anyone else appreciating.

Matty grinned, studying his reflection in the glass of one of the machines.

In the end, the deal had been that he got one size larger than he should. The guy had also dug out a pair of combat boots for him, but those hadn't been comfortable. They needed broken-in before they would be, so they'd been sent to some place where they'd be in the car when they left for the evening.

His visitor's pass dangling around his neck from a thick white lanyard, and the thing could probably get him into any room in the whole building. Heero's name and rank were typed very large at the top of the pass, and Matty's own picture and information took up the rest of the space—but the back had a barcode that, once scanned, controlled what he could do or get into.

He leaned over to pull his drink out of the bottom of the slot, wondering why the machine dropped a bottle of carbonated liquid. The drop shook them up, and the point of the vending machine was quick...

"Oooh..."

Matty straightened, turning to look at a man in much the same outfit as himself. The guy had one of the over-shirts, though, and his badge was clipped to one pocket. He was a broad man, and his eyes sparkled wickedly.

"Bend like that again," he muttered, moving closer with an appreciative grin.

"Hahaha," Matty retorted, moving away from the machine. "Funny."

"No, no..." the guy moved after him quickly, grabbing his upper arm. "Don't take it like that...come on, was just having a little fun."

Matty gave him a sour look and yanked away, starting off again.

"Yeah," the man chuckled wickedly, having stopped. "Just like that, huh? You sure you don't wanna come back here?"

Matty flipped him off and started for the nearest corner. The man had far too much of Ranger's build to him.

"Come on," the guy coaxed, jogging to catch up. "Okay, fine," he added, grabbing Matty's arm again. "I'll stop with the lewd...what's your name?"

"Leave me alone," Matty returned, starting to yank away...and trying not to gasp when the grip tightened.

It was going to hurt any moment now...

"Calm down," the guy protested, swinging him around so his back hit the wall. "I'm just asking your name..."

"I said leave me alone," Matty snapped, starting to pull away. His heart was pounding in his chest, and as soon as he could get that step away...

"Matt!"

They both turned to a blond man who was moving up the hallway quickly.

"Mattox!" he repeated. "Brigadier Barton was about to have a fit...what's keeping you?"

The man let Matty go almost as if burned.

"Come on," Cardle added, grabbing his arm. "Let's get out of here before one of the brigadiers pop a seam..."

"Yeah," Matty agreed weakly as they swept off up the hall.

"You okay?" Cardle asked in a low voice as they turned the first corner they came to. "Weston's a little slow to understand he's not wanted. He seems to think he's god's gift to man-kind, and anyone who's reasonably attractive will happily fall into bed with him."

"He's...like...the same size as Ranger," Matty admitted, rubbing at his arm as Cardle released him.

"Ooh," Cardle muttered, his tone understanding as he grabbed Matty's left arm as well—his hands were careful though, as they moved the sleeve up. "Damn...you'll have a bruise for that."

Matty shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself. He nearly stopped walking, but at the same time, he had no idea if that man was still back there. "What does Trowa want?"

"Trowa?" the man echoed blankly.

"Barton?" Matty said pointedly. "You know? Your superior?"

"Oh!" the guy laughed a little at that. "Sorry, I didn't even think he had first name...but he doesn't want you."

Matty gave him a curious look.

"I saw Weston chasing after you," Cardle explained, gesturing back the way they'd come from. "I was going to come up and say something about Yuy, but I work with Barton, so that name just came out of my mouth," he laughed a little. "Weston tends to hunt after the people who deny him, but noting that you're tied up with Barton should give you some leeway," he looked at Matty sidelong. "I got the impression Barton wouldn't mind being tied up with you."

Matty focused on him sharply, distracted. "What?"

"I can see by the flush in your cheeks," Cardle noted, sweeping a finger across Matty's cheek before starting to walk again, "that I don't really have to answer that."

Matty blushed more, then shook his head and started after. "You can think what you will," he noted, "but I can't help it if every damn man in the world thinks I'm hot."

"No," the man agreed, grinning wickedly, "but you could come walk in front of me."

Matty drew himself up.

Cardle half-giggled, darting out of arm's reach. "Okay...okay...that was so called for, but I'll stop now."

Matty gave him a look.

"Come on," Cardle added, grinning again. "I'll take you to whichever pilot we find first and run really fast away so I have a chance of escaping before I'm caught."

Matty grinned at that, not able to help himself. He believed the man would do just that...and sort of wanted to see what the others would think of it.

"Let's...let's go find Yuy."

Cardle cringed, but didn't stop walking.

- -

Trowa snorted, starting off down another hall. Heero was running around the damn base somewhere, it was just a matter of finding the man. Cardle, Raymond, and Ricci were off in other directions looking as well.

It wasn't like he needed Heero for anything particularly urgent. It was more a matter of a signature before proceeding. On top of that, he needed to get Duo and go over the information to present with him—Trowa and his three had spent the morning going through the files to see which would cause the most havoc...at least as far as they'd be able to tell.

As far as he knew, Quatre was still finding his space-hearts, and after he got what he needed, it'd take him a while to get his shit together.

That was the time they had to prepare their case.

Trowa thought it was stupid he needed Heero's signature at all. Heero'd talked them all into his plan before he even started to implement it—he'd said something about a united front that was all well and good, but it didn't make any of them like the notion any better. Duo'd noted that the five war-gods proclaiming that everyone else could shove it up their collective asses would be much easier to get away with...and things had degenerated from there until he and Wufei had decided to go get snacks.

Things hadn't gotten any less lewd, though.

All in all, he himself felt he came out worse for the exchange...though his stomach muscles still ached from how hard he'd been laughing.

At any rate, the morning had started off with a bang, because as soon as they'd walked into the base, Une had passed Heero her laptop. He'd expected as much, though, so he'd had his re-code mostly worked up. It'd only taken him a half hour to implement it...and then he'd called down to the black-room, demanding that all work be saved and exited. He'd given them ten minutes to do it, and then had...reset the coding.

Trowa had to grin, because it was about that point that Une had caught wind of what he was doing.

She'd absolutely had a fit about it.

She had given him the laptop wordlessly, though. Heero'd said she'd said something about putting her full faith into him, so she couldn't have not expected him to do it in the end.

He shook his head, turning down another hall.

He would find Heero, no matter where the idiot was hiding.

- -

"So the auditorium is set up," Une summed to Wufei, looking around the room curiously. "He was in my office last I checked, but Maxwell probably found him and they went off...though I suppose assuming that doesn't work."

"Not really," Wufei agreed, looking down a hallway that led deeper into the base. So far, he'd seen Duo wandering alone, Matty with Cardle, Trowa, Raymond...and the other guy that tagged along after Trowa.

He had not, however, seen hide or hair of Heero.

Quatre should still be with the space-hearts, and it was about time the auditorium had been made ready.

"Go find him," Une added, turning back from the man she'd been talking with. "And if you see Maxwell, let him know I'd like a word at his convenience."

"Right," Wufei agreed, turning and starting off down another hall.

The exchange with Duo hadn't made any sense to him. He'd seen the pair talking to one another, and Duo'd obviously been annoyed. Une had rounded on him at one point and grabbed his arm—and then Duo'd scooped the woman into the air.

He knew Duo did that to tease the various female he dealt with—one and all they broke into giggles and insisted he put them back down—but in the middle of about a half-ton of soldiers, it hadn't been the most thought-out action the other pilot had ever made. Seeing the weapons being drawn had caused Wufei a moment of panic, because the notion of Duo being...of Duo...

Wufei shook his head, poking his head into Une's empty office.

He felt no personal shame for knowing his own worst fear. He didn't feel anyone else needed to know it, though. He'd lost more than enough people who were important to him. The idea of any of his friends dying, let alone dying like that...

He thought he'd dealt with his panic rather well, considering that the sight had seemed like a nightmare. He'd had the like before, though it wasn't usually Duo standing in the middle of the ring. It was usually Trowa, having gotten himself in over his head while infiltrating—and really, Une wasn't in those nightmares either.

He shook his head, taking another turn.

There was really no telling where Heero'd gotten to...but there was no point in mentioning that until Trowa had the information ready.

He may as well wander the premise; at least it was something to do.

That was the rub about the situation, though. Heero covered the electronic front, Trowa covered the information, and Quatre pulled the heartstrings—yes, that had to be said at some point. He'd have to find a way to work it into the conversation. He could already see the look of...disgust...Quatre'd give him, and Duo'd guffaw. Those responses were worth twice the effort. But the fact that the three pilots covered all the angles meant that he and Duo were just wall ornaments. They were neither needed or very useful...but they looked pretty.

Or something.

Wufei smirked very slightly, wandering down another hall.

He needed much less time to think.