Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo's Dilemma ❯ Chapter 5

Disclaimer- It's not mine. Never was.

A/N - I have a feeling that not too many people are actually reading this story. I'm getting absolutely no feedback......

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Duo's Dilemma

Chapter 5

"Have a good day, ya'll." Bella said, wiping her hands on a dish towel she had tucked into the waist of her jeans. "Good luck at the meetings." Her father smiled and closed the doors behind him as he and Relena exited the room along with Mr. Covington and his wife. It was Tuesday morning and the politicians were leaving for the second official day of meetings. Bella turned back around to finish the large amount of breakfast dishes that had accumulated due to the mansion's occupants and sighed. "Might as well get to work." she mused. "Not like I can do anything else constructive." She suddenly thought of her office building and wondered if her red headed vice president had encountered anymore problems since yesterday. Daniel was definitely capable of handling pretty much any dire situation that could come up at the office, short of what had happened yesterday of course, but she was still worried.

It had been nearly six months since the last time anything that majorly detrimental had happened at the office, and this latest attack had unsettled her. Bella knew she had made a number of enemies over the years because of her ruthless business ways, as well as the rumors of her purposely stealing already trained workers from other major companies. It was not her fault people left their positions at other corporations and came to her for work. She treated her employees with respect, and as human beings, not just some number in an overly large system.

She stared at the phone hanging on the wall for a few decisive seconds, weighing her options.

She could call the office and find out if everything was okay. Of course, that ran the risk of Gracie hanging up on her the second she realized who it was.

She pulled her hands out of the sudsy dish water and wiped them dry, walking over to where the cordless phone hung on the wall. She picked it up and quickly dialed the number to her office, waiting for Gracie to pick up. She did not have to wait long.

"Ms. Saucier's office. This is Gracie speaking. How may I help you?" came her secretary's perky voice.

"You can help me by telling me if my company is still standing." Bella said, leaning up against the wall. There was a moment of silence before the woman on the other end recognized the voice of her boss.

Unfortunately, the next sound she heard was not Gracie's voice....but the monotone sound of the dial tone coming from the phone line.

Bella blinked in surprise, wondering if the line had been disconnected by accident

somehow, but the she realized that the line had not been disconnected.

She'd been hung up on by her own secretary! She frowned and hung up, re-dialing the number to her office directly. Daniel would be in her office going over the last of the month end reports before they had to be sent off. After two rings, he picked up the phone.

"SaucierCorp. Daniel Marks speaking." he said crisply.

"Why did Gracie hang up on me?" Bella asked tartly.

"Because you're supposed to be on vacation and not worrying about this place." Daniel answered. "I thought we covered this already, boss."

"What's going on down there?" Bella asked, ignoring his rhetorical question. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." he said firmly. "The world has not come crashing down because you were not here this morning."

"What about the month end reports?" she asked. "Are they finished?"

"Boss, if you call this office again, I'm going to tell everyone in this damned place to hang up on you." he said. "I'll get the police to bar you from this very building if I have to in order to make you take some time off."

"You wouldn't!" Bella exclaimed.

"That's what you think, boss." he said happily, and Bella could almost see his mischievous grin. "Try me."

"Daniel...." she started, but was cut off by the sound of the dial tone once again.

She'd been hung up on.

Again!

"This is ridiculous!" she all but shouted, slamming the receiver onto the charger. "The nerve of that man!"

"Hey, what's all the noise about?" came a sleepy voice from the doorway opposite of her. Bella turned around and spotted Duo coming into the kitchen. The Preventor had been on night patrol again, and he looked like he needed to catch up on the hours of sleep he missed while he had been working on the computer system yesterday at her office.

"My employees have apparently banned me from my own office building." Bella growled. "I tried to call them, and got hung up on. Twice!" Duo just chuckled and began searching for something to eat for breakfast. His shift 'officially' ended every morning once Heero and Wufei had gotten Relena on the road to the conference hall, so he used the next half hour or so to get something to eat.

"Breakfast over already?" he whined, finding nothing but a stack of dirty dishes in the sink. Bella nodded and turned back to her sudsy water and plates.

"You missed it." she said. "Give me a few minutes and I'll fix you something. You look like you could use some rest. You can eat and then go to sleep."

"Thanks for being so sympathetic." Duo mumbled, watching as she pulled out a couple of eggs and a pack of bacon from the refrigerator.

"I told you it was going to take a while to fix the problem at the office." she scolded him. "It's your own fault for coming with me, not that I'm ungrateful, mind you. We'd have never gotten everything back together without your help. I just didn't want to take you away from what you were supposed to be doing, guarding Relena." Duo just grinned and shook his head.

"Heero sleeps with Relena every night." he said with a yawn. "Even if someone did get past me during the night patrol, they'd have to contend with a very murderous Heero Yuy."

"Not exactly the nice type when 'Lena's involved, is he?" Bella asked, smiling at the braided man.

"He'll go from Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected to cold-blooded-no-emotions-protector in about 1.2 seconds." Duo said. "It's not a pretty sight, especially for someone who tries to get their hands on Princess." Bella nodded, dishing up the eggs and bacon for the man after a few more minutes of companionable silence.

"I still owe you for what you did yesterday." she said, grabbing for her mug of half-cooled coffee. "What can I do to show my appreciation. You name it, you got it." Duo quirked an eyebrow, but refrained from suggesting something that would more than likely wind up with her throwing a frying pan at him.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Anything."

"I want brownies." he said with a grin. "A whole bunch of them." Bella eyed the man curiously, wondering if he was so sleep deprived that his mind was not functioning correctly.

"Brownies?" she asked. "That it?"

"Yep." Duo said. "Ones with lots of nuts on them. Walnuts preferably, but I'm not picky."

"Okay, brownies with walnuts." she said, nodding her head. "Any other specifications."

"I want'em by dinner." Duo said.

"Somehow, I figured that." Bella said, grinning as she finished off her coffee and turned back to her sink of dishes. "I'll have them for you." Duo grinned once again and finished off his breakfast in record time. By the time he had finished, Bella had loaded the dishwasher and started it. The braided man stood up from the bar and stretched, pulling the weary muscles back into working order.

"I'm going to catch some z's." he said, picking up his plate and taking it to the sink.

"Good, you look like Hell warmed over." she teased. Duo just grinned and saluted her, not really in the mood for the bantering they usually had.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Work on my speech for the Summit Meeting." she said, shrugging. "Then go brush down the horses in the stabled." Duo nodded and shrugged.

"Later." he said.

"Sleep well, Duo." she answered absently.

****** That evening.....******

Once again, Bella found herself in the kitchen, but this time, she was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. She had finished her speech, but there were still some rough spots in it, and she planned on polishing it up after dinner. Duo had been absent since earlier that day, and she figured he was still asleep.

It was five o'clock already, and she knew her father and the others would be home soon enough.

'Well,' she thought, pulling out a mixing bowl and the ingredients needed to make a salad, 'I might as well get to work.' She turned up the radio that her step mom had placed in the kitchen window and got to work.

~Half and hour later...~

Duo descended the stairs quickly, following the enticing scents that were emanating from the general direction of the kitchen. 'She's cooking again.' he thought, grinning. 'Good, cause I'm hungry.' He walked down the small hall way and was about to enter the kitchen when he heard the strains of music coming from the kitchen. He walked over to the door and peered in, a huge grin coming to his face when he saw Bella.

The young woman was prancing around the kitchen, bopping her head and swaying her hips to the fast, up beat tune that was playing on the radio. She was wearing a pair of cut off khaki shorts and a black wife beater, which was currently covered in flour as far as Duo could see. Bella held a large silver mixing bowl in her hands, but he couldn't see what she was mixing, although he had a fleeting suspicion it was the brownies she had promised him because he saw the bag of chopped walnuts on the counter.

There were already a number of pots and pans on the stove, bubbling away, the pungent smell of Cajun spices filling the air. It looked like she had been hard at work for a little while, but Duo's attention was resting only on the young woman in front of him, who had just changed her dancing movements as another song came on the radio, still completely oblivious to her audience.

Duo saw her grab a paper towel and turn to throw it away in the garbage can, but he ducked out of the way and managed to not bee found by her. When he stuck his head back into the doorway, he saw that the shirt was practically colored white from the flour she was using. She continued to dance on, mixing the contents of the bowl.

'This is so out of character for her.' he thought, smiling at her childishness. 'It's almost cute. Where's a camera when I need one?' He watched for a little longer, taking in her form and just generally enjoying the lighter side to the woman. She was definitely a pretty woman, with brown, slightly wavy hair and big, expressive blue eyes. She was healthy, not too thin, but with enough meat on her bones to make her body curvy.

Duo suddenly caught himself comparing her to Hilde, and just as quickly realized that there was no comparison between the two women. Sure, they were both independent, and hard headed, but there were a number of things completely different about them, and he was beginning to think he liked the differences Bella presented.

The latest song ended, and another quickly came on to replace it. And the nosey Preventor's eyes bugged out when Bella's motions turned a more...provocative when the opening bars of the song started and he heard the heavy bass of the beat.

~~Says he wants you~~

~~Says he needs you~~

~~It's real talking when I make him wait for you~~

~~If he really wants you~~

~~If he really needs you~~

~~Take your time and feel him out.~~

~~ When is a good boy~~

~~I mean a really, really good boy?~~

~~Why not let him lay with you?~~

~~That's when you give it to him good~~

Duo stood there, watching the owner and C.E.O. of one of the world's foremost companies pull dance moves out of thin air that would put choreographers to shame. 'This should be illegal!' he thought, his eyes glued to her hips as they dipped down and moved suggestively from side to side. 'Where did she learn to dance like that?' He felt a little guilty for watching her, knowing that she didn't realize he was standing there. But he was a guy.

What was he supposed to do? Ignore her?

Not likely!

~~Dip it low~~

~~Pick it up slow~~

~~Roll it all around~~

~~Poke it out like your back broke~~

~~Pop pop pop that thing~~

~~I'ma show you how to make your man say 'Ooo'~~

Bella continued to dance, her mind completely seated on the brownie batter in front of her, and not the song she was dancing to. She had always played a radio while she cooked, and dancing along with the songs had become second nature to her, ever since she had taken those couple of Contemporary Dance classes when she was in finishing school just so that her GPA would get a decent boost. She absently grabbed the bag of walnuts and poured 3/4 of them in, saving the others for the topping on the brownies she had promised Duo.

~~You getting bold~~

~~He's growin' cold~~

~~It's just the symptoms of young love~~

~~Growin' old.~~

~~You think it's time ~~

~~And your thinking of leaving~~

~~But give it time~~

~~It's late at night~~

~~He's coming home~~

~~Meet him at the door with nothing on~~

~~Take him by the hair~~

~~Let him know what's on~~

~~If you understand me~~

~~Ya'll come on~~

Duo still stood there, his arms crossed across his chest as he regarded the woman before

him, shaking his head as he wondered if she would be doing this if she realized that he was standing there. 'Probably not.' he thought. 'So I had better enjoy this while it lasts. So much better than looking at the ceiling in my room.'

~~All my ladies wind it up ~~

~~If you know just how to move~~

~~All my fellas jump behind~~

~~And show her what you want to do~~

~~Show her what you got daddy~~

~~All my ladies wind it up~~

~~If you know just how to move~~

~~All my fellas jump behind~~

~~And show her what you want to do~~

Bella finished mixing the bowl of batter and began searching around for a pan to bake them in. She had made a big batch, knowing that Duo would eat half of them on his own before anyone else ever got some. She bent down and stuck her hand into a drawer where the baking pans were. When she found the one she wanted, she stood up and turned around to get some non-stick cooking spray to put on it when she spotted Duo in the doorway. Surprised, she dropped the pan onto the tiled floor, reaching to turn the volume down on the radio behind her.

The look on Duo's face was a mix of a grin of surprise, and a smirk of knowing appreciation. She flushed crimson and turned around, putting her back to him, and trying to calm down from her embarrassment of getting caught acting so childish.

"How long have you been standing there?" She managed to croak out. Duo only folded his arms and grinned even harder, quickly picking up on her embarrassment and uncomfortableness.

"Oh, I got here about....three or four songs ago." he said teasingly. "Nice moves, by the way." Bella just turned around and glared at the ex-pilot, but found no justifiable reason to get angry with him. It was her own fault for being caught prancing around the kitchen.

"Thanks for the compliment." she said airily, quickly regaining her composure. "It's amazing what you can learn in a finishing school."

"You learned how to do that in finishing school?" he asked, his eyes wide in shock. "I thought they taught girls to be polite and all that junk."

"I learned that, amongst other things." she said with a mischievous grin and a wink in Duo's direction. The braided pilot, picking up on her banter, pulled up a barstool.

"So, what ya cooking this time?" he asked.

"Food." she said simply, turning to rescue her pan from the floor where she had dropped it.

"What kind of food?" Duo asked, wanting more of an answer.

"Food you eat." she said, still not completely answering his question.

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"Yes."

"Will you?" he queried.

"No."

"Why not?" he whined.

"Because I don't want to." she said simply, cocking an eyebrow at him and spraying the pan to keep her brownies from sticking. Duo, who knew she was only joking with him, got off the barstool and was about to pick up one of the lids off a pot on the stove when Bella popped his hand with a metal spoon.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Duo asked, shaking his hand in mock defeat.

"Payback." she answered primly. "For not telling me you were standing in the doorway." She put the spoon into the batter and was about to pour it into the baking dish. "That's what you get for spying on me!" Duo smiled and decided that he wanted to see exactly how far she would take his teasing before she retaliated.

"You were the one dancing around." he pointed out smoothly. "I was just watching the show." Bella's face once again flushed red, but she said nothing in her defense because he spoke the truth. "Too bad I didn't have a camera."

"Maxwell...."

"Wait a minute.." he said, striking a thoughtful pose. "I forgot! Heero and I installed the security cameras in the main rooms when we got here!"

"I'm warning you....."

"That means I've got a taped copy of your little performance."

"Duo...."

"Wonder what your employees will think when they see it?"

"You're stretching my patience, Maxwell....."

"They should get a good laugh." Duo said, turning as if he was going to leave the kitchen. "In fact, I'm going to go get that tape now. I probably need to make a few copies for safety purposes."

"Don't you dare!" Bella said, eyeing him critically. Duo just turned around and gave her a devilish smile.

"And what are you going to do to stop me, Ms. Saucier?" he asked. When the fuming woman said nothing, Duo grinned and turned to walk out once again. He was almost out the door and into the living room when Bella stopped him.

"Duo?!" she called out helplessly, her voice begging him not to go anywhere near a tape of her dancing.

"Yeah?" Duo asked, walking into the kitchen backwards, and turning to face Bella. Splat! "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!!!???" Bella laughed as her spoonful of brownie batter hit the pilot smack in the middle of the face, causing the gooey liquid to start running down his nose. She picked up the rest of the bowl and sauntered over to the ex-Gundam pilot.

"Now, about that tape." she said, one hand on her hip and the other holding the batter.

"You hit me with brownie mix, then expect me to hand you the tape?" he asked skeptically.

"Unless you want the rest of this bowl in your head," she threatened, "you'll give me that blasted tape." Duo, who had no intention of listening to her, sighed in mock defeat and nodded, acting as though he would comply with her ultimatum.

"Fine, just hand me a dish towel. This stuff is burning my eyes." he said. Bella, who believed she had won the little battle, smirked and set the bowl of batter on the counter in order to get him a towel.

Big mistake.

As soon as her back was turned, Duo swiped the bowl of mix and unceremoniously plunked it down on her head. He burst out laughing at her surprised face, slowly turning into anger in front of his eyes.

"Maxwell..you are going to die for this." she said evilly, pulling the bowl off of her head. Brownie batter was dripping down her head and Duo used his finger to nab a bit off her cheek and taste it.

"You're not going to do anything." he said, doubling over from the force of his laughter. "You're out of brownie mix!" Bella, who quickly spied her next weapon grabbed a canister and walked over to the laughing Preventor.

"Who said I only used brownie batter?" she asked wickedly. Duo stopped laughing and was going to look up when he felt something cool hit his back, and a cloud of white surround him. "Flour works just as well. And look, I got it all in your braid......Oopsie!" Duo stood and pulled his braid over his shoulder, assessing the damage she had caused the precious strands. Sure enough, there was flour all over it. He looked back at Bella, who was staring at him, a confident smirk on her face, despite the rivulets of chocolate batter running down her neck.

"You brought the braid into it now." he said, the playful glint back in his eyes. "You do realize, this means war."

"Bring it on, pretty boy." Bella said, taking refuge behind the counter and arming herself with a number of bags and canisters. "If you think you're man enough to take me down, that is."

"Oh, I'm more than enough." Duo smirked, grabbing the egg carton from the counter top and ducking behind the kitchen table. "You're going down, right now."

"We'll see about that!" she yelled.

~~Half an hour later....~~

When Senator Covington and Relena finally arrived back at the plantation mansion, they were more than ready for some relaxation. Unfortunately, the sight that greeted them was anything but.

As soon as they all stepped out of the vehicles, they heard the yells and screams of Duo and Bella coming from the kitchen, along with the crashes and bangs of breaking plates and glasses.

"What in heaven's name is going on?" Rita Covington asked, walking over to her husband. "That's Bella's voice!"

"Get back in the car, everyone." Heero ordered, pulling out his gun from the holster and nodding to Wufei. "Chang! Watch them. If you see anything suspicious, get them out of here. I'll go see what's going on." Another crash was heard, along with the breaking of glass, and Bella's angry voice.

"TAKE THAT!!! YOU BLOODY MORON!" she screamed.

"GET BACK OVER HERE! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!!!" Duo's voice rang out. Heero shook his head and made for the door, checking quickly for signs of forced entry. He rushed into the house, gun drawn and ready to fire. The struggle was emanating from the kitchen, so he made his way over, only to hear laughter coming from the other side of the open doorway. 'What's going on?' he asked himself. 'What the Hell has Maxwell done now?'

"Can't catch me!" came Bella's taunting voice. "You're too slow Duo!"

"Slow?" came Duo's outrageous reply. "I'll show you who's slow! Come here!"

"Ahhhh!!" came Bella's scream. Another crash was heard along with Duo's triumphant cheer. Heero peeked around the corner of the door, only to find the once pristine kitchen a disaster area...and Duo and Belladonna lying in the middle of the floor of food. Seemed like they had started a food fight, and at the moment, Heero believed Duo was winning. The braided man had Bella pinned down on the floor with his knees, preventing her from retaliating in any form, other than yelling at him.

"Got ya now!" Heero heard jovial partner say, . "Payback time."

"Duo, don't you even think about it! You're in enough hot water with me as it is!!" she threatened.

"You should have thought about that before you dumped flour on my head." Duo said, reaching up on the counter and grabbing something. Apparently, it was something bad, because Bella started protesting loudly, causing Duo to laugh.

"Not that! Anything but that!" she cried, trying to wriggle free of her captor.

"Begging for mercy now?" Duo taunted.

"Yes!" Bella yelled. "Not that! Please not that! You can keep the damned video tape if you want to! If I'd have known they were in here, I'd never done it to begin with! Duo! AHHHHHH! THAT'S COLD YOU BASTARD!!!!" Heero put his gun in his holster and leaned up against the wall, waiting for one of them to notice him. 'There's no camera's in the kitchen.' he thought. 'What is she talking about?'

"Give up yet?" Duo taunted.

"Get off of me!" Bella yelled. "And get rid of that dammed ice cube!"

"Say uncle, and I'll let you go." he teased. Apparently, she refused, because the head PReventor heard the girl yell again. He also picked up the sounds of approaching footsteps behind him. Whirling around, he found Senator Covington and his family, as well as Chang and Relena coming into the hallway.

"What is going on?" Kenneth Covington asked.

"Where's Bella?" Rita Covington asked, the concern evident on her face.

"Never mind her." Marguerite snapped. "Where's Duo?"

"They're in the kitchen." Heero said morosely. "Nothing's wrong. It's those two goofing off."

"GET OFF OF ME, DUO!!!" Bella yelled, and another crash was heard.

"No! I'm not finished with you yet!" came Duo's amused voice.

"Like Hell you aren't!!" Bella screamed. Heero stepped aside as the Covington's made their way to the doorway that led into the kitchen.

Their reactions were immediate. Rita Covington looked horrified, Marguerite looked utterly pissed, and Senator Covington tried to hid a snicker. Wufei was regarding them with obvious disdain, and Relena had to put her hand over her mouth to stop the laughter from escaping at the sight.

At the moment, Duo was lying down on the floor, covered in food, and laughing at a struggling Bella, who was sitting on his chest, trying to break his grip on her flailing wrists. Bella was covered from head to toe in food. And the kitchen floors, doors, cabinets, and appliances were just as coated. The table was overturned, and the refrigerator and cabinet doors were open and dripping with food. Everything was a disaster, and the culprits were blissfully unaware of them.....until Marguerite's angry voice caught their attention. Apparently, the younger sister was not happy with seeing Duo and her older half sister in such a compromising position, and laughing at each other.

"What happened in this place!" she yelled, causing Bella to stop her struggle and Duo to look at the doorway full of people.

"Damn." Duo mumbled, catching Heero's intense glare.

"Shit." Bella grumbled. "I forgot about them." She quickly scrambling off of Duo and standing up , her face as read as a tomato. "Uh...hey everyone. How were the meetings? Everything go well?"

"What. Happened." Marguerite questioned, glaring at her.

"Uh...well...." Duo said, "It started with a bowl of brownie mix, and....."

"We had a food fight, Marguerite." Bella said sternly, her happy mood utterly gone, and ice in her voice. Marguerite was about to say something else when her mother jumped in.

"This place is a disaster!" Rita Covington exclaimed, turning to the guilty pair. "What do you have to say for yourselves? Two fully grown adults, rolling around on the floor in piles of food!"

"Leave'em alone, honey." Kenneth Covington said. "No need to get on them. They're adults, and perfectly capable of rectifying their mistakes by cleaning the kitchen up." Rita immediately backed down and frowned, turning to look at the damage in her kitchen. Bella mouthed a silent 'thank-you' to her dad, but he only winked at her in response.

"Really, Belladonna!" Rita said, drawing the attention back to herself.

"Sorry, Rita." Bella said, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, sorry, Mrs. Covington." Duo said. "Didn't mean for it to get so out of hand."

"And they call me the immature one!" Marguerite fumed. "This is something a couple of six year olds would do, not two grown people!"

"Oh, freeze up, Marguerite!" Bella snapped. "You're not the one cleaning it up. And you wouldn't know fun if it slapped you in the face!"

"Why you...." Marguerite started.

"That's enough!" Mrs. Covington said firmly. "Don't start you two! I want this mess cleaned up tonight. Is that understood?"

"It'll be cleaned up, Rita." Bella said placatingly. "Even if I have to make Maxwell eat every bit of it off the tiles." Duo stiffened in outrage, but said nothing, reading the warning signs of Heero's disapproval from where he stood.

Rita and Marguerite whirled around and left the kitchen in a huff, but everyone else stood there, looking at the two people covered in food.

"Maxwell." Heero said.

"Yeah?"

"Get this cleaned up and report to your patrol." he said stoically.

"Yes, sir." Duo said, grinning at his superior. Bella looked over at Relena, who was turning red from trying not to laugh at them. She sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Let it out, 'Lena." she said. "You're about to burst over there." Laughter was suddenly ringing through the kitchen as Relena let out the pent up humor.

"I'm sorry." she said, calming herself down a few moments later. "I just....seeing you two....I couldn't help myself."

"Obviously." Bella said, picking shreds of lettuce out of her hair. Duo pulled his braid over his shoulder, only to find it covered in sugar, flour, egg shells, and a number of other unidentifiable foodstuffs.

"You better get this cleaned up before Rita has a heart attack." her father said. "Do you need some help?"

"No. It's okay, daddy." Bella said. "We'll clean it up. But, you guys are going to have to order pizza or something, seeing as how my dinner was turned into charcoal about half an hour ago." Her father just laughed and shook his head, herding Relena out of the filthy kitchen and into the living room. When they were out of earshot, Duo turned to Bella, a grin on his face.

"So, you think they were mad at us?" he asked.

His only answer was a handful of jello thrown at his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time they had gotten the kitchen clean, about three hours later, Duo had just enough time to grab a shower and get ready to take his nightly patrol positions. He was still grinning from ear to ear with the victory he'd won over Belladonna during the food fight. The girl had spunk, that was for sure.

He pulled on a jacket and stepped out into the cool February night air, watching as his breath clouded in front of him. Everyone was much calmer now that the kitchen had been restored, and he and Bella had removed the remains of the food from themselves. Everyone except Marguerite, who had angrily stormed out of the plantation house, telling her father she would meet them at the conference hall tomorrow morning. He was not sure why she decided to pick up and leave, but it was no skin off his back. Marguerite annoyed him to no end, and not having her around for the night guaranteed he would have a peaceful patrol, unlike the other nights when she was waiting somewhere to ambush him A cold wind blew across the yard, and Duo pulled his jacket closer around him to ward off the chill.

"Looks like you could use something hot to drink." came a soft female voice from the porch behind him. He spun around and saw Bella standing there, holding a steaming cup of what he instantly recognized as coffee.

"It wouldn't hurt." he shrugged, walking up to her and taking the cup with a nod of thanks. "It's cold out here."

"I know." she said. "It's not exactly warm anywhere this time of year." Duo nodded, and continued to sip the drink. "Uh..Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to apologize for the food fight." she said, not looking at him. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble with Preventor Yuy because of me."

"Don't worry about it." he said. "Everything is fine."

"I'm glad." she said, smiling at him. Duo nodded and looked down at the cup.

"Mind if I take this with me while I watch tonight?" he asked.

"Go ahead." she shrugged. "There's a whole pot on the stove. Fresh made."

"A step ahead of me, aren't you?" he asked, grinning. Bella smiled and nodded.

"And if you look carefully, there is a plate of walnut brownies next to the microwave. But you didn't hear that from me." she teased.

"You actually made some..." Duo started to ask, but was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. He fished the phone out and looked at the screen, recognizing the number instantly. He groaned and frowned.

He did not want to talk to Hilde right now.

"Problems?" Bella asked, sensing his hesitance to answer the phone.

"Big problems." he ground out. "In the form of a cheating ex-girlfriend who won't leave me alone." He stayed silent for a few moments, hoping that Hilde would give up and hand up.

No such luck was with him tonight, though.

By the fifteenth or sixteenth ring, Duo wanted to wring Hilde's neck. Apparently, so did Bella, cause she took the phone away from him and frowned.

"Do you want to talk to her, or not?" she asked, looking over at him.

"Need you ask?" Duo said. "I'd be better off is she dropped out of my life completely."

"That's all I needed to hear." she said, pushing a button on the phone to answer it. "Hello?" she asked sweetly. Duo walked over and put his ear to the receiver, waiting to hear what Hilde would do.

"Who is this?" Hilde's suspicious voice asked.

"This is Bella." She answered, a grin on her face. "Who's this?"

"My name is Hilde, and I'm looking for Duo." Hilde said. "Is this his phone, or do I have a wrong number?"

"Oh, no, this is Duo's number." Bella said, a saucy little catch in her voice. "But he can't exactly come to the phone at the moment. He's kinda tied up at the moment, if you know what I mean."

"Tied up?" Hilde shrieked. "Is he alright?"

"Oh, he's fine. In fact, I'd venture to say he's enjoying himself rather immensely." Bella said, winking at the dumbfounded Duo. "In fact, I'm beginning to think he has a fetish for leather collars and whips."

"WHAT!!??"

"Oops, sorry, hon." Bella said. "Gotta go. Can't keep my man waiting, now can I? Bye-bye now." And with a smirk at Hilde's outraged voice, Bella hung up the phone, handing it back to Duo, a small grin on her face. "Well, that should keep her away for a few days, unless she's like Marguerite and can't take hints."

"Tied up?" Duo asked, looking at the woman in front of him. "Leather collars and whips?" Bella grinned and shook her head. "Couldn't you have thought of something else?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind." she shrugged.

"Perverted woman." he said, his grin widening.

"I am not." she stated primly. "Anyways, it's good to make the ex's furious, especially if they were the ones that cheated. Make them realize what they lost." Duo just shook his head and tried to figure this woman out in front of him. It seemed like every time he had her pegged, she jumped out of the box he had placed her in and surprised him even more.

"I've got to get back to patrols." he said. "Or Heero will skin me alive."

"Try not to catch a chill." she said, looking up at the clear, star filled sky. "About this time of the month, the only way to warm up is cuddling up with someone under a blanket. Seems like it's the only way to ward off a chill after being outside for a long time." She turned to him and smiled evilly. "And Marguerite is gone for the night, so you're out of luck, and I just pissed off your ex. So you are in trouble if it gets any colder."

"You'd let me freeze." Duo whined. "Cause Relena is taken, and so it your mom. And I am not about to share a blanket with Heero or Wufei." Bella just smiled and winked at him.

"No, I wouldn't let you freeze." she smiled. "Night, Duo." The braided Preventor watched her walk into the house with barely concealed amusement.

She wouldn't let him freeze, huh? Well, that could lead to some interesting....situations if he handled his cards correctly.

Suddenly, a memory flashed before his eyes, and he saw Hilde's face the day he had caught her with the other guy at the junkyard. His trust in the female part of the population had been shattered by her, and he was wary of trying to build it up again for the fear of someone else breaking his heart with their deceit and dishonesty.

He shivered, not wanting to remember the way he felt so betrayed and used. 'No point in getting into something like that again.' he told himself sternly, stepping down into the yard, cup of coffee in hand. 'Last thing I need right now is getting myself caught up with another woman. Especially one that doesn't even live on the same CONTINENT as me!'

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A/N - Okay, things are starting to heat up with the two. And Hilde's out making trouble now. You can expect her to pop up a few times in this story, so don't count her out just yet.

Later,

A.A.

Oh, and remember to leave a review. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be getting any feedback on this story.