Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Seasons (Part Six of the Family Sagas) ❯ Part Seven ( Chapter 7 )

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Changing Seasons, Part 7

Duo watched Randy covertly from his office door as she took calls. She worked in the office at the mill, despite his protests, but he couldn't turn her down. And Hilde had helped. Both women badgered him until he gave in and let Randy work in the office. She had been home for three weeks now. He had to give her credit though; she really worked hard at what she did. He frowned a little when she turned her chair, showing her legs from under her short black skirt. He sighed and went back into his office.

Randy looked over her shoulder. She knew her dad had been standing there watching her. She swung her legs back under her desk. Her knee high black boots tapped on the floor as she set up a meeting with a potential client. She put down the phone and wrote it down. She loved working here. She liked the activity that went on around her. She clicked the pen absently as she looked at the list of calls that she had made in the past four hours since lunch. "Man, you would think that these people would have nothing better to do on a Thursday," she mumbled as she straightened the pile of papers on her desk that her dad would have to look at. She pushed away from her desk, taking the papers with her and going into his office. "Oh, dad, I got some papers for you," she said as she plopped them down on the for once clean surface of his desk.

He looked up at her. "Done all of that already?"

"Yeah, it wasn't hard. I made all the necessary calls and checked over all the papers that you had to sign. Oh and I also made sure that mom got those large orders that two clients made today. She said she wanted to have a look at them before we filled the order," she replied as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"What orders were those?" Duo asked as he looked up at her. Her hair was French braided and only a few strands escaped, dangling against her ears. The dyed blue locks stood out in the darkness of her hair. They were in braids of their own.

"Oh Lydek Construction needed some sheet Gundanium for those office parks of theirs in North America. And Winner Corp. needed some sheet steel/Gundanium alloy for their routine repairs for the outside walls of the Colonies in the L4 cluster," Randy said as she pushed forward the copy of the ordering form. "See," she said as she pointed to the numbers.

"Yeah, I suppose your mother would want to look at this large of an order," he sighed. He looked back up at his daughter. She wasn't wearing her glasses, but contacts. He leaned back in his chair. "So do you have plans this evening?" he asked casually.

Randy frowned. "No, Miles took Megan out to Corsica to see the base of the former Alliance before Trowa so nicely destroyed it. They won't be back until late."

"I see," Duo said softly. He noted her deepening frown. "Jealous, baby?"

"Gee can you tell, dad," she said sarcastically as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's spent time with me, but when he doesn't he's showing her somewhere else or working. One would think that the girl wants to get away from the history lessons."

"Calm down there, Randy. Megan is a history major," he said, noting the color flaring on Randy's cheeks, a sign that she was going to lose her temper any minute.

"So? Who gives a damn!" she snapped as she hopped off the edge of the desk. "That's no excuse!"

"You're the one who insisted that he show her around. She is his friend and guest by the way," he said mildly. He couldn't help but smile slightly at her perturbed expression. It was the same one Hilde would get when he was being his outrageous self. He so loved to drive his wife insane.

"I thought it would only last for one week, but she wants to see everything! And I thought I was only being considerate!"

"Did you ever hear the phrase, "Give them an inch and they walk all over you."

"Yeah that's the term Wufei uses to describe how mom and I walk all over you," Randy said as she stopped her pacing to look at him. A slight smirk curved her lips when she saw his face color a little.

"That's beside the point, you let him do it once, he thinks it's all right to do it again. Why don't you set him straight on that," Duo said as he stood. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Come on, Randy, you know that Miles is too afraid of me to do anything stupid."

"That's reassuring," Randy said with a mock frown.

"Hey, you think I would really hurt him," he said innocently. He would if Miles dared to hurt her, but so far he wasn't complaining on how he treated his only daughter. He had seen the young Barton treat her as good as gold. Just like a princess, just the way he expected her to be treated by any man that dated her.

"Yes," was her honest reply.

"You wound me, baby," Duo said dramatically, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, dad," Randy said, laughing.

"Come on, it's time to go home anyway," he said, chuckling along with her. He tugged playfully on her braid.

"All right," she said as she followed him out of the office, grabbing her black sweater that was draped over the back of her chair. She climbed into the passenger side of the dark blue Suburban that had replaced the black one this year. She looked out of the window at the greenery that lined the road. "You better not be doing anything stupid Miles, or I'll make what my dad does to you seem like a holiday."

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Miles walked around the Corsica base that had once manufactured mobile suits for Oz and the Alliance. He looked back over his shoulder at Megan who was looking at the plaque that told of the suits that had been made here. "Hey, stuck there?" he laughed as he walked back over to her. The sun was beating down on the back of his neck. It was hot out today, making his shirt stick to his skin.

"No, I just find it interesting that's all," Megan, replied as she looked up at him. "Sometimes it's hard to imagine that one mobile suit could destroy all of this in a matter of moments."

"I know, it seems even a little hard for me to imagine as well," he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Miles, did your dad ever really go into detail about what it was like to fight in a Gundam mobile suit?" she asked curiously.

"He's never really talked about that. But how can one not know what a Gundam is and the young men that piloted them. The names of the Gundams are listed in history books and the names of the pilots. My dad fought in Heavy Arms and from what I know is that it possessed an insane amount of firepower. More then enough to take out an entire base," he replied as he knelt down on the concrete and traced his fingers over the cracks.

"Or that the fact that Gundanium is practically indestructible without the use of a beam weapon," Megan said as she knelt down next to him. She traced her fingers over the cracks as well.

"My dad had to destroy one," he said softly as he looked back up into her eyes.

"Which one?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Randy's dad's," Miles replied as he looked away from her.

"Duo's? By what?"

"A beam cannon."

Megan glanced down at his hand that had stopped moving on the ground. It was a few inches away from hers. Her fingers touched his.

Miles felt her touch. At first he was startled. It wasn't the touch itself, but what it felt like. It was more then just friendly. The late sun hit her hair, making it turn a fiery red and her deep brown eyes were concentrated on his face. He looked away again. The silence was almost palpable. It was making his heart pound rapidly and stirrings that he very strongly suppressed were coming to life. "You baka! What the hell are you thinking! You have a girlfriend at home remember!"But the strength of the stirrings couldn't be ignored. "We should head back to the airstrip where my uncle's jet is," he mumbled as he stood.

She followed him, watching him shove his hands into the pockets of his shorts and his shoulders hunch over a little. She had seen the flicker of interest in his emerald eyes before he took his eyes away. She clasped her hands to her back, still tingling from their brief touch with his. A shot of electricity had gone up her arm and down her spine from his touch. Longing to run to him and throw her arms around him, she stifled the impulse and followed him, with a thoughtful look upon her appealing face. She looked down at her sandaled feet and sighed. "What dreams may come," she whispered to herself.

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Donavon waited at the airport for his brother and Megan. It was getting later and later. The sun had set a while ago and the evening stars of summer were glistening brightly in the sky. His cousin stood next to him.

Vaughn studied Donavon. He glanced at his watch. "It's going on eight o'clock, shouldn't they be back by now?"

"They should," Donavon replied glancing at his. He looked back up into the night sky. "What do you think about Megan? Just out of curiosity," he asked.

"A pretty girl. Smart, seemingly sweet, and I'll even add, sexy," Vaughn replied as he looked over at him. "Why?"

"No reason," Donavon said nonchalantly.

"Bull, I know you're asking for quite another reason," Vaughn said knowingly. "You want to know if Miles would cheat on Randy with Megan."

"I am not," Donavon protested halfheartedly.

"That's a lie and you know it and you know I know it. You want the truth even though you're denying it, I'll tell you anyway. Yes, I think Miles would cheat on Randy. Not consciously of course, but Megan is like the girls he liked to date before her. And since we know that his sex life has been nil since he started dating Randy, he's missing that part," Vaughn stated as he crossed his lightly tanned arms.

"And you would think he would go to another girl to get what he hasn't been getting from Randy?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he. He did it before to Belinda James. He wasn't getting any from her so he went to Donna Tiangelo. He's done it before. Well wouldn't any guy? Randy walks, talks, and dances sex. If anyone were blatantly honest, she's a femme fatale. Would you blame Miles for taking cold showers constantly? If I were he, I would be too. Who wouldn't want to jump in bed with her?"

Vaughn's words caused Donavon's eyes to swing towards his cousin. They were narrowed. "Vaughn, be careful what you say," he said warningly. "You don't talk about Randy that way. Period. She's not anybody's to jump into bed with."

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. "What? For telling the telling the truth? Get over it; you would have to be a monk not to have any sort sexual attraction to her. And I know you do, whenever you're close to her, you're aura is flashing hormone overload. And I know you kissed her that night too. So admit it, your mind visits the gutter every now and then," Vaughn pointed out, ignoring his cousin's warning. "And furthermore, if she was to offer it to you, I know you wouldn't turn her down. You're human. You have wants and desires like the rest of us. And you want her as much as you would like to deny it. You would want her whispering your name in your ear. You would get into bed with her in a heartbeat. And since I know how you feel about her, I know you wouldn't turn down her request. I know I wouldn't."

"Will you shut the hell up!" Donavon hissed as glared malevolently at Vaughn. "If you don't I'll…" He clenched his jaw, knowing that his cousin was so close to the truth. He did want her, but he wanted her love too. Having her arms and body wrapped around his was only secondary. But now because his nosy empathic cousin brought it up, all he could think about was the way her voice would sound as she whispered his name in his ear. His teeth grinded.

"You'll what, beat the living shit out of me? I'm sure you would because you know I'm right and it grates on you," Vaughn said in a low voice, his eyes hardening like amethysts. "So if you do, you'll just prove I'm right and I know all you want to do is deny, deny, deny."

"Just shut the hell up!" Donavon snarled, his gray green eyes darkening. He gave his back to his cousin. His heart was lurching hard in his chest from anger, but not all of it was directed at Vaughn. Some of it, he was directing at himself for what Vaughn said was true. He pegged him so accurately and he felt exposed. He knew that he would never tell anyone about his feelings for Randy. And he would admit to himself that he had fantasized many times about her. He scowled and raked his hand through his hair.

Vaughn felt anger radiating off of him like a space heater. He smirked to himself. He knew Donavon well. He looked back up at the sky and noticed a place coming in. "I think they've just arrived," he said casually.

Donavon looked up and saw the flashing lights of the plane, as it made it's descent to the runway. The tails of his shirt blew in the strong breeze as the plane came towards them. He shoved his hands in his pockets and waited for his brother and Megan to alight from the jet.

Vaughn looked at his cousin out of the corner of his eye. He knew that Donavon was good and mad now. He looked back towards the jet as he saw Megan, followed by Miles walk down the steps. His eyes widened. "Something's off." He scrutinized Megan closely as she walked towards them. "She's apprehensive about something. What is she trying to hide?" He eyed Miles, who looked a little unnerved. "Now I know something really is wrong. He's trying to hide something too. He's too guilty looking to be innocent. What did you do or think of doing, cousin?"

Donavon could see that Miles looked a bit agitated by something. "Everything all right, bro?" he asked.

Miles looked up at his brother. He shook his head. "Naw, everything's fine. I was just thinking, that's all," he replied, cracking a slight grin. It faded, however, when he saw Vaughn looking at him with arched brows. "Shit, he knows something's up. Damn him for being empathic." "So you were the ones recruited to pick us up?"

"Yeah, mom asked me too, Vaughn only came along for the ride," Donavon replied, as his gave his cousin a hard look.

Megan smiled, unaware of the undercurrents of tension among the three men. "That was very nice of you, Donavon. And Vaughn."

"Hey, it was no problem. Who doesn't want to meet a beautiful woman off a jet," Vaughn teased as he opened the car door for her.

"You are a flatterer, Vaughn Winner," Megan laughed as she got in the back seat of the Saab.

"Vaughn, stop flirting and get in," Miles said as he climbed behind the driver's seat.

"Whatever you say," Vaughn said innocently, meeting Miles's green eyes. "I know what you're up to now. You were a hairsbreadth from cheating on Randy with good ole' Megan."

Miles looked away, flushing under Vaughn's steady violet gaze.

Donavon got in. He felt like there was something wrong, but he couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was. He started up and began driving back to the Maxwell's house, where Megan was still staying. He watched his brother in the review mirror as he drove. He looked a little guilty. He glanced briefly at Megan. Her eyes were closed as the wind blew through her hair. She was smiling. His eyes went back to his brother. "Miles what the hell are you up to?"

Miles felt his brother's eyes on him. He met the other pair of green eyes in the review mirror briefly before he looked away again.

Donavon frowned when he saw Miles's eyes flicker away. "Yup, something is definitely up." He reached the street where Randy lived and turned down the driveway. He pulled to a stop in front of the second garage. "We're here," he said as he opened the door. He could see the lights from the kitchen flooding the lawn.

Vaughn climbed out and helped Megan out of the back. They followed the two brothers through the back gate and to the kitchen door. It was opened by a pajama clad Randy. "Hey, sweetheart, didn't know you would come to the door like that?" he teased.

"Didn't know it was you or else I would have worn a burlap sack," she said mockingly. "Come on in." She backed up and let the foursome into the house. "Hello, Miles," she said as she looked up at him.

"Hey there, imp," Miles said, smiling faintly as he pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Where your parents?"

"In the study looking over some paperwork," she replied, shutting the door behind him. "So how was Corsica?" she asked as her eyes went to Megan.

"It was wonderful. A little hot, but very interesting and very informative. This is going to make a splendid report for my final paper," Megan replied as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Glad you liked it," Randy said as her bare feet whispered across the linoleum floor on her way to the fridge. She pulled out a carton of orange juice. "So anyone want anything to drink while you're here?" she asked as she poured herself a glass.

"I'll take one," Donavon said as he walked over to her. He pulled out his own glass and held it as she poured his. "Thanks," he said as he took a sip. He could smell her freshly showered skin. So clean. So sweet. So completely beautiful that it made his heart turn in his chest.

"Anyone else?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the trio behind her. She noticed that Miles was looking at the floor.

His head popped up, his green eyes snapping to hers. "No, thanks Randy. I'll just get myself some water," he said as he stood up and got himself a glass of water.

"No, I'm fine thanks. If it's all the same, I think I'll go on to bed. It was a long day," Megan said as she stretched her arms out in front of her. She let out a brief yawn as she stood. "Good night all," she said as she made her way to the back steps. "Thank you again, Miles," she said over her shoulder. She flashed him a brief smile before continuing up the stairs.

"It was no problem, it was my pleasure," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't dare meet her eyes in front of Randy and the others; afraid they might see something.

Megan nodded her head, noticing that he wasn't looking at her directly. She sighed and walked up the steps to the guest bedroom.

Vaughn felt some tension mount in the room He could feel some jealousy wafting off of Randy and suspicious vibes coming off of Megan and Miles. And Donavon still had some residual anger left at him, but he looked like he also noticed something was off between Miles and Megan. Also adding love to the list of his cousin's feelings. "Well, I really hate to leave and as much as I like you in pajamas, Randy, I think its time we go too."

"Will you stop flirting, Vaughn," Miles replied, glaring at his cousin.

"Hey, I flirt with all the beautiful women, just like you used too," Vaughn said innocently. "And apparently you still are."

Donavon rolled his eyes as he drained his juice. "Well Vaughn's right, we should probably go." He put his glass in the sink. He looked at Randy. "Thanks for the juice."

"You're welcome," she said as she smiled at him.

"Good night then," he said, smiling back at her. He pressed a light kiss on her cheek. His lips lingered on her cheek a bit longer than normal, just savoring the smooth feel of her skin under his lips. He could just imagine what she would taste like. So good. So sweet. Just like the luscious peaches and cream she smelled like.

Vaughn arched his brow a little but said nothing.

Miles frowned a little. "All right you two, I would like to say good night to my girlfriend in private if you don't mind."

"Hey whatever you say," Vaughn said as he raised his hands in front of him. He grinned at Randy. "Night, beautiful," he called out.

"Night to you too, Blondie," Randy answered, smirking a little because she knew he hated that nickname.

The young Winner stuck his tongue out at her as he opened the kitchen door.

Donavon chuckled to himself. He smiled at Randy. "Night once again," he said as he squeezed her shoulder. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the cotton. It made him want to pull her into his arms and damn the consequences. His fingers fell away as he followed Vaughn out the door.

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Miles put his glass down in the sink and walked over to her. He leaned forward to place a kiss on her lips, but she turned her head so he kissed her cheek instead. He frowned once again. "What was that for?"

Randy looked up at him. "I felt like it," she retorted. "So how was your day with Megan at Corsica?"

He raked his teeth across his lips and sighed. "It was fine. She spent most of the day running around, taking a few digital photos and jotting down some notes. I could barely keep up with her."

"And what were you doing when she was doing all of that?"

"I was following her and showing her the important stuff. Otherwise, I was pretty much left on my own."

"Is that so?" Randy asked archly as she crossed her arms.

Miles sighed. "Are you jealous?"

"Maybe," she replied shortly.

"You don't have to be. I'm all for you," he said as he bent his head and kissed her cheek, "Always."

"You better be," she said lightly, but it carried an undertone of warning. She kissed his lips briefly. "Now you should go, don't keep your brother and Vaughn waiting."

"All right," Miles said as he caught her lips in a long kiss before he released her, trying to dispel any lingering thoughts he had about Megan. Randy was all he needed. "Good night, baby, I love you."

"Love you too," Randy said softly as she looked up at him. She watched him go out the kitchen door, closing it behind him. She let out a long drawn out sigh and locked the door before walking back into the family room, flopping back down on the couch. She stared at the flickering screen, frowning a little. She had felt something when Miles hadn't looked up at Megan directly, like he wanted to hide something. She curled her knees up to her stomach; her head propped up on a pillow. She sighed as she flipped to another channel. "What was he trying to hide from me and everyone else?" she asked herself.