Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo's Dilemma ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was. The only characters I own are the ones that have never originally appeared in the Gundam Wing manga or anime series. I’m making no money

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Duo’s Dilemma

Chapter 13

Pasts Revealed

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Dawn’s bright light broke through the windows of Bella’s apartment, causing Duo to groan and roll over, pulling the pillow over his head. His foggy brain registered the smell of bacon and eggs wafting in from the small kitchen, and his stomach gave an audible growl. He groaned again, and slowly sat up, looking over the back of the couch at the clock on the wall.

9:00 A.M.

“Are you awake yet, Duo?” came Bella’s voice. Duo scanned the area and found her standing in the small doorway that led into the kitchen, a glass of juice and two aspirin in her hands.

“I’m up.” he grumbled, falling back down onto the couch. “Not coherent, but up.”

“Take these. It’ll make you feel better.” she said gently, handing him the pills and juice.

“You’re an angel, babe.” he said, downing the medicine.

“I try.” she said with a grin. “Think you’re up to eating something? It helps with the headache.” Duo nodded and Bella got up from the couch, heading back for the kitchen. The still half asleep Preventor yawned, stretched, and scratched his head, trying desperately to get his mind into a functioning mode. Duo never had been much of a morning person, and it showed.

When he finally got there, Bella was sitting a plate of scrambled eggs and toast on the table. He took his seat, and immediately reached for the large mug of black coffee in front of him.

“So, you got plans for today?” he asked after gulping down some of the hot liquid. Truth was, he wasn’t even suffering from a hangover, but his stomach wasn’t complaining about the nourishment.

“I’m going to Benelli’s church, actually.” Bella answered. “I need to speak with Father Benelli about some things.”

“Aren’t they reporting today on the new renovations that were done?” Duo asked, remembering that he had saw the headline on the colony paper the day before.

“Actually, yes. Since I helped fund much of the renovations, he asked me to be there for it.” Bella said with a shrug, taking a bite of her eggs.

“Do you do a lot of work with the orphanage?” Duo asked.

“I do what I can. I’m more of a financial backer than anything. But I do like to go see the kids when I’m here. They’re absolutely precious.” she smiled.

“When did you start working with them?” Duo asked, trying to search his memory for what her file had said when he’d first met her. “I know the background information we got said you helped out a bit.”

“I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for it.” she said. “Even when the Maxwell church and orphanage was there all those years before the war, I went to Sunday Mass with my mom anytime we weren’t traveling with Marshall Noventa. When it burned down, my mom helped to have it rebuilt, but the man who was the major financial backer at the time didn’t want it to be renamed as Maxwell church, so the name was changed when Father Benelli took over. And ever since my company got on its feet, I’ve been watching out for it. Heck, to be honest, if my dad hadn’t took me after mom died, I’d have probably wound up there.”

“Mind if I come with you?” Duo asked.

“I don’t mind, but are you sure you want to go?” Bella asked, seemingly skeptical of him. “I usually stay there all day, since my visits are so infrequent.”

“Yeah, should be fun.” he said, shrugging. “I just need to change clothes. Can we stop by my place for a second?”

As promised, after a quick five minute delay at Duo’s apartment on the other side of town, the Preventor and C.E.O. headed for Benelli church. It was a little before noon, and since it was a Saturday, there were a large number of children outside playing when they got there.

When the taxi pulled up the driveway and Bella got out, the children in the large fenced in yard immediately swarmed her. Duo stepped out of the yellow taxi and took a good look at the sight before him. The woman in front of him had no less than eight children between the ages of four years old and nine years old, handing all over her, with huge grins on her face.

“Ms. Belle! Ms. Belle! Come play with us, please!” begged one little boy, tugging on her shirt.

“We’s playin’ baseball.” another little girl said, holding up a worn, white baseball as proof.

“Pretty please.” another little girl begged. “The boys are beating us!”

“They are?” Bella asked, acting utterly astonished at the concept. “Well, we’ll just have to fix that, won’t we?” The little girl tugged on her shirt, trying to get her to come out in the yard and play.

“How about we let Ms. Bella and her friend speak with Father Benelli first?” came a slightly amused voice from an older girl that had just come out of the huge doors which led into the church. “Then I’m sure she’ll be happy to play with you.”

“That’s right.” Bella said, sending a slightly grateful smile to the blonde teenager.

“But they’re winning!” someone whined. “Peter’s playing on their team, and we can’t beat him! He’s too big!”

“I’ll play until Ms. Bella can come out.” the teenager said, taking one little girl’s hand and smiling. “How’s that sound?” The children didn’t seem to happy, but Bella smiled and winked at them.

“I won’t be long.” she said, ruffling one little boy’s red hair. “Go on with Violet, and I’ll be out soon okay? I’ll even see if I can get my friend to play, how’s that?” The congregated children turned their eyes to Duo, as if they had just realized that he was standing there. They seemed to take a collective step backwards, unsure of what to make of the stranger that had come with their friend. But one little black headed girl stepped forward and regarded him slightly.

“Who’re you?” she asked.

“Duo Maxwell.” he said, grinning. “Who’re you?”

“Cordelia.” she said simply. “Are you Ms. Belle’s boyfriend? Cause if you are, you better be nice to her!”

“You know about that stuff?” Duo asked, completely shocked that a child as young as her grasped the concept of ‘boyfriend’.

“That’s enough, Cordelia.” came a man’s voice, pulling Duo out of having to answer a tricky little question. He looked up, only to see an elderly man dressed in the black and white robes of a priest. His hair, which had obviously been black at one point in his youth, was graying slightly, and he had a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, Father.” the little girl said quietly, hanging her head at her gentle chastisement. The others had remained quiet, not sure of what was going to befall their visitors. “Violet, would you take them to play? Bella will be along shortly.”

“Yes, Father Benelli.” the blonde said. “Come on, kiddies. Let’s go play.” The children gave a halfhearted grin and followed her back out to the yard where another teenage boy stood, apparently he was the Peter that the girl had whined about.

“You are early, my child.” Father Benelli said, turning his attention to Belladonna. She smiled and hugged the old man in greeting. “And you brought a friend. What a surprise.”

“Better early than late.” Bella said happily. “Father, I’d like you to meet Duo Maxwell. He’s a good friend of mine who insisted on coming today.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Maxwell.” the priest said, shaking Duo’s hand. “Bella usually doesn’t bring anyone with her when she visits.”

“Likewise, sir.” Duo answered, nodding politely.

“Did you manage to finish up the paperwork, Father?” Bella asked. “The zoning committee is satisfied now with the new renovations?”

“More than satisfied, child.” the old man said with a nod. “Everything is finished, and the committee is ready to approve the extension. Nothing is left to do now but wait.”

“That’s good to hear.” she said. “And the interview?”

“This evening, right before dinner.” the man said, motioning for them to walk beside him. “I know you had hoped not to work while you were on vacation, but the reporter asked for you specifically.”

“It’s okay.” Bella said, her eyes drawn to where the kids were playing baseball in the yard. “I’m glad I can help. Was there anything else?”

“Not now.” the priest said with a chuckle, seeing where her attention was. “Go on, I know you want to get out there with them. I’ll take you bag inside. Go on.” Bella smiled like a little kid and turned to Duo.

“I hope you like kids.” she said, leading him over to where the children were playing baseball.

“Never really been around them.” Duo said. Which was true. He wasn’t exactly the first person anyone would call if they needed a babysitter for the evening.

“Well, if you’re as good with kids as you are with computers, then you should survive today.” she said with a good natured smile as the children noticed them walking over. Duo saw the masses coming and felt the blood in his body go cold.

“And if I don’t survive?” he asked.

“Then I’ll ship your body back to your boss.” she said with a wink. “First class even.”

“Gee, thanks.” he mumbled.

“Just play with them.” she smiled. “Kids are easy to get along with. Heck, they’re not all that different from you when you start teasing and goofing around.”

“We’ll see.” Duo said, taking the baseball glove from one of the kids that had handed it up to him. “We’ll see.”

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Duo had wound up playing baseball, basketball, football, and every other kind of ‘ball’ there was within the first few hours of being there. Of course, Bella was never far away from him, right along with her little semi-permanent redheaded attachment, also known as Charlie. The boy had latched onto Bella when she’d got out to the game, and absolutely refused to get more than twenty feet away from her.

Of course, Duo seemed to have acquired one of his own…in the form of the little black headed girl Cordelia that had asked him whether or not he was Bella’s ‘boyfriend’. She was actually a very shy little girl, or one of the nun’s had said. So it amazed many of the adults when the little girl latched onto Duo’s braid and proceeded to ‘make it pretty’.

They had eaten lunch around noon, and then wound up playing tag for a couple hours, interspaced between the tickle wars and ‘let’s jump on the adults’ game that the neither Bella nor himself had figured out yet. All he knew was that the game seemed to be over when both he and Bella, as well as some of the older teens, were pinned onto the ground by a pile of giggling, laughing kids.

Now, he was standing right outside a small room where Bella had managed to get all the younger children into while she was telling them a story. Beside him, the blonde girl that he’d been introduced to was standing. Violet had been out there with them all day, and was looking none the worse for wear, unlike himself.

“Have they worn you out already, Mr. Maxwell?” the girl chuckled, looking into the room where Bella was telling her enraptured audience the story of Dorothy, and the Wizard of Oz.

“Where do they get all their energy from?” Duo asked. He’d been on two week long missions and never been this exhausted before. “I don’t know how Bella keeps up with them!” The girl just laughed and watched as the elder woman drew her audience in even further into the story.

“The nuns have a hard time keeping up with them, even the younger ones.” Violet said with a grin.

“How many children are housed here?” Duo asked, turning to face the young woman with blonde hair and big brown eyes.

“Nearly forty-five.” she said, shaking her head. “Most of them are orphans from the war. “The rest of us older ones have already left, but come back to help out when we can.”

“There wasn’t even that many when I lived at Father Maxwell’s.” Duo muttered.

“You grew up at the Maxwell orphanage?” she asked, pining him with a questioning glance. “I was under the impression that all the children and clergy died during the attack.”

“I got out.” Duo said glumly, not really wanting to discuss such a touchy subject with the young lady. She seemed to sense his reluctance to talk, and switched to another topic.

“Ms. Bella is good with the children, isn’t she?” Violet asked. Duo nodded, watching as one little boy climbed into her lap and situated his head on her shoulder. Bella just smiled, missing nary a word of her story while he situated himself on her lap. “Sometimes I think the Lord took away her ability to have children simply because he saw fit for her to care for all the ones that do not have parents.”

“Belladonna can’t have children?” Duo asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

“Oh, I thought you already knew.” the girl said, blushing red. “My big mouth…”

“Tell me.” Duo said. “Why can’t she?”

“You know she had an accident a few years back, right?” the girl asked, testing the waters slightly.

“Yeah, and she had a miscarriage.” Duo said, nodding. “I know.”

“Well, when the doctors performed the surgery to stop the internal hemorrhaging afterwards, one of the surgeons said that it would be a possibility that the scar tissue that formed could cause her to never have another chance at conception.” Violet said sadly.

“Do they know this for a fact?” Duo asked.

“They’re not 100% sure, or so she says.” the girl said, shrugging. “Of course, I doubt she’s experimented to find out either.”

“That’s….”

“Horrible. 221; Violet said. “I know. She was so upset when they told her. But can you blame her?”

“No, I guess not.” Duo said, looking in at the woman with a new found respect.

“But it seems like the children take her mind off of it, at least when she’s here.” the girl said. Overhead, a bell sounded four o’ clock, and the girl smiled. “Excuse me, Mr. Maxwell, but I must be off to my afternoon duties.”

Duo just nodded and waved her off, then turned to see that Bella was finished with her story, and the children were slowly starting to file out the room and head off in different directions.

One of the younger nuns came in and took the little boy from Bella, a small smile on her face as the C.E.O. stroked the little boy’s wavy hair. The expression on Bella’s face was one of utter love and contentment. There was no doubt in Duo’s mind that she was thinking about her own son, the one she had never gotten to hold and cuddle like she was doing to the little boy in her arms at the moment.

When she finally handed him over, the nun walked out, leaving Bella in the room by herself. Duo watched as she just stood there, looking around the room. Her back was to him, but he could see her arms wrap around her shoulders in an impromptu hug. She walked around the room, seemingly inspecting the scattered toys and books all around her. After a few minutes, duo cleared his throat, and she turned around. There was a slight smile on her face, but he could see the moisture collecting in her eyes.

“You okay?” he asked, walking into the room.

“Fine. Just thinking.” she said, looking over a building block she had picked up from the floor.

“They mean a lot, don’t they? The kids, I mean.”

“Yes, they do. I’d take everyone of them home with me if I could. It’s just a shame that their families gave them up. No child should have to go through that.”

“They’ve got each other.” Duo quipped. “And trust me, being an orphan is not so bad when there are others like you all around.”

“I suppose not.” she said with a sigh, placing the block in a toy box. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, neither one really sure of what to say. Finally, a discreet cough brought their attention back to the present, and they turned to find Father Benelli standing in the doorway.

“Yes, Father?” Bella asked.

“I am sorry to intrude, my child.” he said, a small smile on his face when he saw how the two young adults quickly put some space between themselves. “But the reporter who asked to interview you about the renovations to the church and the orphanage is here.” He placed her duffle bag at the doorway.

“I’ll be down, sir.” she said. The priest nodded and walked away, leaving the two alone once again. Bella walked over and picked the bag up, unzipping it. “I need to get dressed.” she muttered. Duo nodded in understanding and left the room so she could change. She came out a few minutes later, stuffing her jeans and shirt into the small duffle bag. After dropping the bag on the ground beside the wall, she looked over at Duo and smiled, turning around.

“Do I look presentable?” she asked. She’d changed into black pants and dark blue shirt, along with a pair of boots that seemed to make her a little higher. She’d brushed her hair out and touched up the little bit of makeup, but it was hardly noticeable.

“Looks fine to me.” he said. “I’d have kept the other clothes on. They looked just as good. More comfortable at any rate.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” she mumbled. “Oh well, the things I do for people.” She picked the bag back up and nodded towards the front of the church. “Let’s get this over with.”

“In much of a hurry, are we?” Duo asked, walking beside her.

“It’s almost dinnertime, are you kidding?” she asked, beginning to descend the stairs down to where the cameraman and reporter was. “Sister Theresa told me that they’re having spaghetti tonight. That stuff is the best! Besides, this shouldn’t take long. Violet said that the reporter is new, so it won’t be long before the poor guy starts sweating, gets uncomfortable, and then leaves.”

“I’ll take your word for it, babe.” Duo grinned. Bella just smiled sweetly and broke away from him to go talk to the young man who was speaking with Father Benelli. She greeted the man warmly enough, and Duo caught the appreciative glance that the man sent her way when her attention was directed towards Father Benelli. He frowned and was about to go interrupt when there was a tug on his pants leg. Duo looked down and found little Cordelia, holding a coloring book and some crayons.

“Color?” she asked, holding the multi-colored writing tools up so he could see. “Pwease?”

“Okay, princess.” Duo grinned. “Sure. Why not?” Cordelia grinned and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards another room away from the foyer. The Preventor took one last glance over at Bella, only to find her frowning deeply at the young reporter and shaking her head at something he had said.

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Dinner had been pleasant, and Duo found that Bella had not been kidding when she’d said that the food was good. After they were all done, and the plates picked up, Bella had taken a bit of time to talk to a couple of the older teens, including the blonde girl Violet.

One of them told him that Bella systematically hired some of the graduating teens for work on the colony. And some of them she even flew to Earth to fill the positions left open by retiring employees, or people she’d been forced to fire. The positions were welcomed by the graduates, no matter what they were. Especially since many of them wanted to go to college. And having a resume that had SaucierCorp.’s name on it, along with a personal recommendation from Belladonna herself in many cases, looked good to college entrance examiners.

While she was taking care of business on that area, Duo had been roped into helping get the little boys bathed and ready for bed. It had went fine mostly, except for the fact that one little boy named David had decided to get in the water and start a water fight with him. The nun had come in there and found Duo, along with an immobilized David -complements of a number of strategically tied towels- dripping wet.

Instead of berating Duo for letting it get out of hand, she’d simply told him to take his own clothes off and wrap up in a towel while she dried his clothing.

Twenty minutes later, when he was once again dry and dressed, Duo had come down the stairs to find Bella finishing up her conversation with Violet.

Unfortunately, before he could get down the steps to her side, a gaggle of pajama clad children came out of the other room and surrounded Bella, causing her to break out into a huge grin. Duo walked on down and was attacked by Cordelia and another little girl with mousy brown hair and big blue eyes. After sufficiently tickling them enough to get them to let go of his braid and clothes, Duo walked over to Bella’s side.

“Can we have a story?” one little girl asked, stifling a yawn. Bella looked over at the nuns, who smiled and motioned for her to go on.

“I guess.” she said. “Everyone gather around and tell me what you want to hear.” They walked over into a large room and Bella sat down on a couch.

“Robbers!” one boy called.

“Dragons!” said another one.

“Princesses!” cried Cordelia.

Bella smiled and waited for them to settle down around her. When the last one was safely tucked in between their peers, Bella motioned for Duo to come sit by her.

“Mr. Maxwell gets to help me with this.” she said with a smile. Duo, who had never in his entire life told a child a bedtime story, just looked worried. “Just help me make something up.” she whispered.

“What’s the story about?” one little girl asked.

“Well, it’s a story about a pair of thieves.” she began. “One boy and one girl. And they lived on opposite sides of a large forest.”

“What were their names?” one boy asked. Bella looked over at Duo, as if expecting him to answer.

“Solo.” Duo blurted out quickly. “Solo and…” He looked over at Bella, who just smiled, refusing to help him out. “Angel. Solo and Angel.”

“Right.” Bella grinned, turning back to the story. “Now, these two were the worst of enemies, always trying to out do the other. Well, it came to pass that the king of the land needed help. A rogue dragon had kidnapped his youngest son, along with stealing a large chest of valuable jewels….”

“Of course, the king was a mean guy, and didn’t really care what happened to his son, so long as he got the jewels back.” Duo said mock seriously. “And that made the thieves mad.”

“Yes, it did.” Bella continued on. “You see, they were thieves, yes, but they never had hurt anyone the entire time they stole from the mean king.”

“Of course, it’s not like they hadn’t wanted to.” Duo stressed, causing some of the children to laugh. “They were just really nice people. Really”

And so it continued for the next few hours. Bella would weave a tale, and Duo would run commentary. The kids had a good laugh, and they were

“…and that is how Solo and Angel saved the little prince, adopting him as their own, and learning that sometimes the person you love the most is right in front of you. Sometimes you just can’t see it.”

By the time she was finished, it was close to ten o’clock, and most of the younger children were asleep, curled up next to their older friends. Even the little red head that had been hanging onto Bella all day, and was now sitting in her lap fast asleep, was snoring lightly.

A few nuns came forward, along with Father Benelli, and began picking up the two dozen or so toddlers and bringing them to their beds. Bella stood up and motioned for Duo to hand Cordelia to one of the others.

“Give her to Violet.” Bella whispered, adjusting her hold on little Charlie. “You can help me with the boys if you want.” Duo nodded and picked up one of the little boys at his feet when Violet managed to untangle Cordelia’s hands from Duo’s thick hair.

They climbed up two sets of stairs before finally coming to stop at a set of doors that led into the boys sleeping room. Father Benelli pushed open the door and walked in, gently placing the boy he had on the bed that was assigned to him.

The older boys came forward and took some of their schoolmates from the nuns, putting them to bed. Most of the older boys grinned in acknowledgement to Bella while she help put the sleepy ones to bed. A couple had woken up, and were fussing and whining, but she quieted them down with a few gentle words and a kiss on the forehead.

When they were all secured, Duo and Bella followed Father Benelli down to the foyer of the orphanage.

“It is getting late, children.” he said. “Are you leaving?”

“I think so.” Bella said, giving the man a hug. “I’ve got work to catch up on tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure Duo has things to do as well.”

“Well, be safe, and I will look forward to your return.” he said, shaking hands with Duo. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Maxwell.”

“You as well, sir.” Duo answered.

“I won’t be able to come by tomorrow, Father.” Bella said as he walked them to the door. “But be expecting some supplies to come by tomorrow after Mass.”

“I will.” he said, waving them off into the night. She smiled and linked her arm with Duo’s, smiling at him.

“Goodnight, Father.”

“Goodnight, my children.”

They were nearly a half mile down the street from the church before Duo broke the comfortable silence they had lapsed into.

“It’s about to rain.” he said. “We should call a cab.”

“I didn’t bring my cell phone with me.” Bella muttered.

“Me neither.” Duo said, looking up at the swirling night sky. “We should be able to make it to my place, though. We can call from there.”

“Sounds good.” Bella said, wiping a few stray droplets of water off her face. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“Nah, don’t mind.” he said, pulling her over to his side.

Duo’s apartment was about as close to a junk yard as Bella had ever seen. There were spare parts to all kinds of machines lying around, intermixed with computer components and piles upon piles of technological magazines.

“Nice place.” she commented, grinning when he scratched his head awkwardly.

“Sorry, ‘bout the mess.” he said. “I usually don’t have company over, unless it’s one of the guys.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Bella laughed. “I’ve seen worse, much worse.” Truth be told, her own place had been just as bad when she’d gotten to the colony, but she’d managed to get it cleaned up a bit before Duo’s unexpected arrival.

“Just push the junk out of your way.” he said distractedly. “And I’ll get you another shirt to wear.” The rain had started pouring about a quarter mile away form his apartment complex, and they had been forced to run the rest of the way.

Duo pushed open his bedroom door and went over to his closet. After changing into some dry clothes, he dug around until he found an old t-shirt and some gray jogging pants that might fit Bella. When he walked back into the small living room, he laughed at the sight of Bella standing in front of a small mirror and trying to untangle her hair. The usually wavy brown hair had turned into a mass of chocolate curls thanks to the rain and wind, and Duo watched as she fought, trying to contain them with a hair tie.

“You’re fighting a loosing battle, babe.” he commented when she took the dry clothes from him. “Bathrooms first door on your left.

“Thanks.” she said, disappearing into the small bathroom. A few minutes later she came out, dressed in the black shirt and gray sweatpants. Her curly hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, but there were still a few stubborn curls that remained clinging to her neck. She tried to pull them back into the band, but they just sprung back into place, causing Duo to grin at her.

He thought she looked absolutely adorable, dressed in his clothing that was too big for her, especially when her blue eyes narrowed in frustration as she continued to fight with her hair.

“Better?” he asked when she finally gave up the struggle with her locks.

“Loads.” she said. “Thanks.” The thunder crashed outside, and lightning lit up the sky. “God, it’s storming outside.”

“You sure you need to get home?” Duo asked skeptically, pulling aside one of the window blinds, only to see the city being pounded by huge rain drops. “You can crash here until morning if you want. It doesn’t look like this is going to let up anytime soon.”

“Thanks, but I need to go and finish some paperwork to send back to Daniel and Corey.” she said. “And I need to get the supplies for the church on order so they’ll be there tomorrow morning.”

“You sure?” Duo asked, grinning at her. “I’ll be good. I promise.”

“I’m sure you would, Duo.” she said, biting her lip to keep from smiling at him. “But I really need to go.”

“You sure?”

“Yep, sorry.”

“No worries.” Duo said, shrugging. “Let me call ya’ a cab then.”

“Thanks again.” she said, sitting down on an arm chair and stuffing her wet clothes into the duffle bag she had been carrying. Duo disappeared into his room and grabbed the cell phone he had left there earlier that day. He punched in the number to the cab company around the corner, waiting for someone to answer. The doorbell to his apartment rang, and he called out to Bella to answer it since he had just been brought off of hold.

A few seconds later, after he had given the cabbie the address, he heard Bella’s angry voice arguing with someone else. He shut the phone off and walked back into the living room.

“….I can’t have him, then you sure as hell won’t!” cried an angry female voice that Duo knew all too well.

“What the hell…..Hilde!” he yelled, spotting the dark headed German girl in the doorway, glaring at Bella. He walked over and got between the two women. “What are you doing here?” he growled. The girl in question broke her stare down with an obviously pissed Belladonna and looked up at him.

“I was coming to see what you were doing tonight, and if you wanted some company.” she said coldly. “But it looks like your evening entertainment is already here!”

“Where’s you tag along, Kennan?” Duo asked. “He’s usually not far away, go entertain him.”

“He’s gone on some business trip.” Hilde said, grinning.

“I don’t want to see you, Schbeiker. I thought I made that perfectly clear.” Duo said coldly, sensing Bella step to the side and walk shoulder to shoulder with him. “Get out.”

“But….”

“Out, Hilde!”

“Duo…it was an accident!” Hilde said desperately.

“He asked you to leave, Ms. Schbeiker.” Bella said angrily, stepping in front of the taller woman when Hilde reached out for Duo. “Please do so, or I’ll call security myself.”

Hilde glared at the other woman and backed up.

“Duo is more than capable of getting me to leave if he wants to.” she spat.

“I don’t manhandle women, and you knew it.” Duo said sternly. “But I can’t say the same for the security guards. Get out, before you cause more trouble, Hilde.”

“What’s wrong, Duo?” the German girl prodded. “Has the God of Death lost his throne? When did one of the most feared Gundam pilots have any reservations about getting rid of someone in your way?” Duo’s anger shot through the roof, and all he could see was red. At his side, Bella was shock still.

He hadn’t told her he was a Gundam pilot before now, really hadn’t planned on it, to be honest. He looked over at Hilde, who had a satisfied smirk on her face, and hung his head down, more ashamed than he had ever been for what he’d done during the wars. He didn’t even look up when Bella turned to him, confusion and hurt on her face.

“You’re a Gundam pilot?” she asked.

“He didn’t tell you?” Hilde asked. “Duo was the pilot of Gundam 02, Deathscythe. The very one that the OZ trainee blew up in space. Quite a shocker, isn’t it?”

“That’s enough, Hilde.” Duo said darkly, grabbing his jacket from behind the door and putting it on. “Let’s go. You wanna talk? Then you’re coming with me to do it!”

“Duo?” Bella asked, her hand on his forearm. “Where are you..”

“There’s a cab on the way, babe.” he said glumly, still not looking at her. “Go home.”

“But….”

“Just go.” he growled, grabbing Hilde’s forearm and pulling her down the hallway and out of sight, never uttering a word.

Duo watched as Bella left his apartment complex…..three and a half hours later. He had climbed onto the roof of a small building across the street from his apartment and watched as Bella continued to pace back and forth in front of the window, apparently waiting for him to come back. She had given up though, and finally called a cab to come get her after sending the first one away.

The rain was still pouring when she dashed out of the building and to the waiting yellow car, but Duo could swear he’d seen tears in her eyes, even from the distance he was at.

I thank God everyday for what they done…..

Once she was out of sight, he headed back to his apartment with a morbid feeling that he was going to find something he didn’t like once he got in there. He felt horrible, knowing that up until this point, he’d been able to keep his past exploits as a Gundam pilot under wraps, and away from the people around him. Hell, the only ones that knew he had piloted Deathscythe were either working as Preventors, or dead.

I felt safe again…..

It had not taken long to realize that some people still felt that the pilots of the Gundams should be convicted as mass murderers and shot down, despite what they had help to make. When he’d been with Hilde, one of their suppliers had somehow found out about him being a Gundam pilot and her being a traitor to OZ, and it had taken Duo going as far as threatening the guy’s life to get him to shut up about it.

They really are amazing pilots, and extraordinary people…..

He still hadn’t been able to piece together why he was so mad about Bella finding out his dirty little secret….especially when he’d already dug into her own past and found out about her child and relationship with that American Preventor, Gaylan. Whether it had something to do with the fact that he was probably the one that had inadvertently caused her mother’s death when Romefellar had tricked them into attacking the New Edwards base, or whether he was feeling guilty for not telling her sooner, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he highly doubted she’d ever speak to him again after that bomb that Hilde had dropped on her.

I’m relatively sure that whomever it is, had enough on their conscious from that day at the base. No need for me to add insult to injury…….

He pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door to his apartment. He scanned around the rooms, seeing if anything had changed since he left. Everything was still a mess; so he had no clue if Bella had thrown a fit after he left with Hilde, and started throwing things around his apartment. He did notice a piece of folded up paper on his refrigerator though, and went over to see what it was.

His hands were shaking lightly as they unfolded the crease, and his eyes scanned over the four simple words that were written in Bella’s flowing handwriting.

It’s okay. I understand.

The weight on his shoulders seemed temporarily lifted when he saw that she had scribbled the number to her cell phone and her apartment phone underneath her initials, along with instructions to call if he got the chance.

The note had said she understood, that it was okay; and Duo took that as her saying that she was willing to hear his side of the story….right along with an explanation as to why he hadn’t told her already.

Duo knew that what he had done during the wars was for the good of the people, despite what it may have seemed like. The true intentions of the original Operation Meteor had never been revealed to the general public, and he was beginning to wish that the remainder of the Barton Foundation’s members had been forced to confess what they had been planning after the incident with Mariamea had come to an end. Then the public would have known that despite what it may have looked like, that ‘yes’, they were the good guys.

Duo just groaned and slumped down onto a barstool, his head in his hands as he decided what he was going to do about Bella. He liked the young woman. Now, whether he actually wanted to admit to it or not was another thing entirely. He’d even defended her against Hilde’s accusations that she was some tramp.

‘She’s a tramp, Duo!’ Hilde had told him after they had gotten away from her. ‘You’re nothing to her! A toy, nothing more! Christ’s sakes! She’s the C.E.O of one of the world’s foremost mining companies, why would she worry herself with some no-name Preventor?!’

Duo had used every ounce of his will power not to reach out and hit Hilde. He’d told her that Bella was no tramp. That she wasn’t toying with him, and that it didn’t matter if she was the Queen of the Earth, or if she was the C.E.O. of a company, Bella was a nice woman….so unlike herself.

‘What’re you going to do when she realizes that you were more than likely the one who killed her mother? Then what?’

He’d told Hilde that Bella had already forgiven the pilots for that mistake, even though he was beginning to wonder if she’d forgive him for not telling her who he was.

‘Even if she did forgive you, it wouldn’t work out! You live on different sides of the Earth for God’s sake!’

That’s when Duo had went overboard and yelled at Hilde, telling her that he could get a damned transfer to New Orleans if he wanted to solve that problem. Hilde had remained quite after that, mainly because Duo had refused to put in for a transfer when she had asked him to move out to the colony with her before things had gotten rocky between them.

The German girl had left after that, saying nothing to him, but instead crying in her hands. Duo had no doubt that he’d finally gotten the point he was trying to get over to her, and headed back to his apartment, only to be forced to take refuge on the room of the building across the street from his apartment because he didn’t have the guts to face Bella….at least not at that time.

He got up off the barstool and headed to the bathroom to take a shower as the thunder boomed outside and the lighting lit up the outside sky. He’d worry about the consequences of Hilde’s actions tomorrow, and Bella’s reaction to the news that he was a Gundam pilot. He just hoped she was as understanding as she’d said she was.

Because as far as he was concerned, if it would have been him in her shoes, he’d try to take off the head of the people responsible for killing his parents.

…

A/N - Hey everyone. How’s it going? Hope you enjoyed this newest chapter of Duo’s Dilemma. I finally got my outline redone, and according to it, there are only five or six more chapters to go before it’s finished. Yeah!

Any how, remember to review, I want to know what you think.

Later,

A.A.