Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Round ❯ Epilogue ( Epilogue )

Epilogue

"Lu!"

Duo and Heero both looked up to the screen. They'd been sitting around the kitchen of the old apartment looking at a motorcycle magazine. Matty had been coerced into baking for everyone again, and the vid had beeped. Matty had answered it because the others waited until the beeping annoyed them to do so.

"Hey, guys," Lu smiled at them. "How are you doing? Well, don't tell me now. I have to talk to you."

"Okay?" Heero asked, blinking at her.

"Well...you know how the E.S.A. had to sell some ships off and the like back in 197?"

The pair nodded, confused. They hadn't talked to her in probably a month, and what was she doing?

"Well," she sighed, sitting down—she'd been standing. "Here's the thing...there's a ship called Illicit."

"You really named some ship Illicit?" Duo asked in disbelief. "Like...seriously?"

"Oh harhar," she retorted. "I didn't do it, I have no idea who did or why they did...the fact of the matter is that Illicit is a smaller craft with less military functionality, so the E.S.A. dismembered it and got rid of the weapons. It was all set up to be a cruise ship and sold to an independent buyer."

"A space-ship," Heero noted skeptically. "An independent buyer could afford a space-ship."

"Would you let me finish?" the woman demanded, smacking her hand on the desk.

The pair grinned at her.

She sniffed at them, sitting back. "At any rate, for reasons that we haven't fathomed quite yet, Illicit landed in that base."

The amusement left the pair in an instant as Matty leaned against the counter and crossed his arms again. That had been where Jaden and Qingfu had been headed.

"Yeah," Lu muttered, running a hand through her hair. "So...it landed there for probably fifteen minutes tops...and the whole base broke into a war-zone."

Heero looked from Matty to Duo, blinking.

"People at the base were trying to prevent others from getting on that ship. They had their own civil war with probably a hundred casualties...in fifteen minutes."

"Jaden?" Matty demanded, stepping forward.

"I knew you'd ask," she muttered dryly. "Our people were only able to find out that Illicit is his," she noted, looking back to Heero. "The ship got signed over to him earlier this summer. Timorre left Gerrange...and the break-up was spectacular."

"Wow," Heero noted intelligently.

"Really wow," Duo agreed, running a hand through his hair.

"Where are they now?" Matty demanded, moving forward. "With the frickin' network the E.S.A. has up around the world, you can find a ship."

"They didn't leave the atmosphere," she retorted. "And what are you doing asking questions? You're not even supposed to hear this."

"I'm Yuy's espoused," Matty retorted. "Soldiers salute me."

She blinked at that a moment, then looked back to Heero and Duo. "Why is he the one asking the pertinent questions?"

"If he wasn't, we would be," Duo reassured her.

She snorted at him, looking back to Matty. "They're in the ocean somewhere."

"Somewhere?" Matty asked dryly. "How specific."

"Pacific?" she asked happily, thinking about it. "It was the really big one between the Americas and Japan."

Heero covered his face with his hands.

Lu laughed. "I have the actual GPS coordinates if you care, which I doubt. They're down in unclaimed waters and have been since this afternoon."

"Afternoon?" Matty asked. "When did this all happen?"

"This morning around six," the woman returned easily, shrugging at him.

Heero focused on Matty sharply, and Matty blinked back at him.

"Why?" Lu asked with interest. "What is that look, Duo?"

"I have no frickin' idea," Duo retorted easily. "I've been too busy bangin' Quatre to figure them out."

Lucretzia started laughing wickedly. "You're horrible."

"Horribly sated?" the man snickered happily. "What? What, you two? Why aren't you telling me I'm sick and stupid or something?"

"I woke up at like...almost six this morning," Matty returned, looking back to Duo. "I had a feeling something bad was happening and couldn't sleep...until almost seven."

"Which, if I remember correctly," Lu noted happily, flipping some papers around, "is about when they got out of restricted air-space."

Duo stared at Matty.

"I think there's a reason our young casinova got along with you guys so instantly," Lu added happily, pulling out a piece of paper and showing it to the camera. "All this stuff started happening...right before ten, Timorre made some big announcement over their P.A., Illicit landed in the docking area, and all hell broke loose. At about ten after, they closed the doors—our men were torn about going or staying with Gerrange...and then the ship went up and collected soldiers from the rooftops. We have no confirmed information about that ship, its contents, its intentions...nothing. Not one of our people got onto it, Une is having kittens that not one of them could be stupid and abandon their posts. The ship flew over Peru and what have you, out into uncontrolled waters, and landed somewhere off the port-bow of nowhere around eleven...which, reversing the hours, is just before six to about seven. We need to get you tested, dear youngling. You might very-well be a space-heart."

"But I'm from earth," Matty protested. "I...I was born in China and raised in New York—the first time I went into space was when I got taken hostage."

Lu tilted her head at him a moment, thinking. "Didn't you say your family came from space, though? I thought you said your uncle had gone back when 27...happened...uh...where's Fei?"

"The other room," Heero reassured her. "Your lack of tact is beautiful. I'm amazed you didn't say 'asploded'," he made a hand gesture like a ball exploding.

"I don't say that," she retorted primly, then frowned. "We can look into your heritage and pray you're not some earth deviant trying to fuck with the order of things...how have you been? I wanted to come help them find you when Timorre grabbed you...are you okay? I couldn't get around yet then."

"I'm...fine," he noted quietly, focusing on the middle-distance. "How are you? I wouldn't expect you to be back at work yet."

"I'm not really supposed to be," she admitted with a grin. "I can walk around and stuff, but I still get tired easy. I'm not supposed to strain myself at all for another like...month or something. It's annoying. I have to use a cane, can you believe that shit? I feel like a gimpy old lady out trying to find her teeth or her cats."

Matty snorted at her.

She laughed and shook her head. "Anyway, even off-duty I have the clearance to pass you lot information. Somehow when I do it, things get across...and you don't complain. Whoever it was that called you when I got hurt got, he got bawled out for whatever he did."

"Tapped our vid-line through our TV when we were in a party," Duo explained happily. Lu flinched. "Not only that," Duo went on easily, "but he didn't even try to call. He just linked to the line and gave us a urgent warning—in the middle of a boxing match with about thirty of Trowa's co-workers around the area. Fortunately, he had enough sense not to say our names."

She groaned, running a hand down her face.

"Oh yeah, it was beautiful. We got the 'get here now' message, and by the time we got up there things had quieted down...except for them breaking atmosphere."

"Qingfu did that," Matty noted as the thought occurred to him. "He told me one of the times we were all talking. He said that he'd scrambled the codes for the satellites, but whatever you guys did broke his access."

Heero smirked slightly.

"Anyway," Lu muttered, shifting where she sat. "It was decided that calling you and giving you information wasn't a strain on my person body or soul, so I could do it. I was also told that we couldn't chat for more than an hour, and I think there's some bored soldier around here with a stopwatch."

Matty giggled, moving forward. "Okay...chatter! Trowa fucked Blake."

Lu stared at him.

"Matty!" Duo protested as Heero started laughing.

Matty bounced more. "Oh my god! Trowa's like, trying to date my sister!"

"Sister?" Lu asked blankly. "You have a sister?"

"And she just turned seventeen," he agreed wryly. "My dad is all sorts of exasperated."

"Wait a minute...Blake?" Lu shook her head. "Who's Blake? That guy you work with? Trowa fucked a guy?"

Matty nodded as he laughed happily.

"It wasn't only once?" Heero offered when the woman looked to him in confusion. "It was like... a couple months worth...until the guy got a boyfriend. Now they've broken up and I think he's been here daily since."

Lu started laughing wickedly, covering her mouth with one hand.

"And yeah?" Duo muttered, "the seventeen year old only turned seventeen maybe two months ago...at the most."

The woman snickered more.

"Wufei espoused Jinli," Heero added. "We haven't set up this apartment for anything proper yet," he gestured behind them, "and...oh! Matty started college!"

Lu squeaked, processing all of that before looking to Matty. "Why haven't you called me?"

"You want me to?" Matty returned. "I mean...where it's not all official? I forgot that part when noting Trowa was plowing my best friend."

She started laughing and nodded. "Call my cell and we can chitter about it all—and I can complain to you about my damned body. If I mention it to Zechs he informs me that its fine and tries to screw me."

Heero snickered—he'd probably say the same thing if she said that to him.

Lu gave Heero a level look.

"So...officially...what?" Duo muttered.

"We're not sure yet," she sobered, looking back to him. "Officially it's all under investigation pending nightfall. At that point we should have something to tell you—but it's looking like there are only ten thousand men in Brazil now."

"Would you consider Brazil under eighty feet of jungle?" Heero asked sweetly.

The woman gave him a blank look.

Duo laughed and waved it away. "Don't ask—we have some special friends. We'll wait for your return. Please note that as the espoused of Heero Yuy, Mattox Williams can take these calls and information, and as the espoused of Chang Wufei, Wong Jinli is also able to take these calls."

Lu grinned at that and nodded her head, starting to write on a piece of paper. "So...noted..." she looked up. "Mr. Williams, please be advised that calls of a sensitive military nature may contain orders that you are therefore expected to convey to your espoused and his comrades. If it is deemed necessary, you will also be expected to go to the base itself and give the orders to the commander there-of, and or relay orders, messages, or specific instructions to military operatives, police officers, or specific soldiers. The people contacting you will clearly state any and all expectations, and barring acts of god, you are expected to follow these orders as if you yourself are Brigadier General Heero Yuy."

Matty nodded.

"For recording purposes, legal records, and consistent data, we ask for verbal confirmation," she added. "If you have any questions at all, please ask them now."

"Will I have to act in place of Heero?" Matty asked, moving closer to the screen.

"Only in-so-much as conveying orders or information. Code-words will be supplied if the information is of a suitable nature, and your phone will shortly be connected to the military database so information can be exchanged."

"Alright," Matty muttered, pursing his lips as he thought. "Am I considered part of the E.S.A.?"

"Yes," she returned. "With rank nearly equal to your espoused. Understandably, without the training, your rank only extends to intellectual purposes, not actual action, though orders coming from you issued from Yuy or the E.S.A. will be acted on as if you are the general in question."

"Can I relay orders from Maxwell, Winner, Chang, or Barton as well?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about that. "In this situation, as you're all roommates, any order they give you will be approved of by Yuy," she returned. "And therefore of Yuy, so yes."

"If I went through basic training and those training courses necessary...would I be...considered the same as Heero?" his eyes were sparkling.

"Yuy is a war-rick, Mr. Williams. He's had years of service in-field...and his training was specific. I don't think there is a way you could fully act in his stead—and you would not be given missions...aside from the aforementioned conveyances."

"You're hot when you're all legal," he whispered at her.

She flashed him a brief grin.

"I...I understand," he added, running his hand through his hair.

"Do you accept this responsibility?"

"Yes, willingly and under no duress," he agreed.

"Thank you, Mr. Williams-Yuy," she smiled at him. "Within the hour you will receive a text message from central. Follow those instructions and you'll be connected to our database."

"Alright."

"Is...Mr...Wong around?" she added. "I may as well kill two birds with one stone."

"Unless you're gonna eat it," Matty noted dryly, "I suggest you kill no birds."

"Oh haha," she retorted.

"Jin!" Duo shouted toward the new apartment. "Connect your vid!"

There was a moment of silence before the screen split in two, showing Jinli sitting on the couch in the living-room. "What?" he asked blankly.

"Hello, Mr. Wong-Chang," Lucretzia returned happily. "I'm not sure if you remember me or not. I'm Colonel Lucretzia Noin. As the espoused of Brigadier General Chang Wufei, I need your visual and audio confirmation. With this confirmation, we will add you to the military network, and..."

- -

"We're seriously espoused."

Wufei stepped back from Jinli blankly. "Yeah, I know..."

"No...like seriously," Jinli protested, studying him. "You really are paying my taxes, aren't you, fucker?"

"Our taxes," Wufei returned dryly. "What's this about?"

"Colonel Noin contacted me today."

"Ooh, she did?" Wufei perked up. "How is she? Is she...wait...colonel? It was official?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "I am now certified to carry your orders, their orders for you, or their orders for the base here."

Wufei smirked.

"And...on the network," he showed his phone to Wufei. "How in the fuck are we espoused?"

"We haven't fucked yet," Wufei pointed out, moving around him into his room properly. "Is that what you're doing in here?"

Jinli gave him a look.

Wufei laughed, tossing his bag down and sitting on the bed. He'd gone into the doctor, and had bronchitis of all things. His chest was aching and his throat hurt, his entire body was sore, and he wanted to lay back down.

"So...what?" Jin asked, looking to the bag he was holding. "What did they say?"

"I'm contagious, and we're all going to die horrible deaths in three-days time. They've quarantined us and so we may as well fuck before we die."

"Just because you're horny doesn't mean I'm interested," Jinli retorted. "And I wouldn't fuck you if you were the last man on earth—now it's the principal of the thing."

Wufei laughed weakly, dropping over onto his bed. "Bronchitis. I get to stay home from work and take nasty medicine and feel like shit."

"Joy," Jinli sat on the bed next to him and sighed, making the gesture for him to roll over.

Wufei obliged, closing his eyes as the other started massaging his back.

"I don't understand what the hell happened to my life," Jin muttered after a while. "I barely got things normal and the girl I thought was the one runs off on me...and not even six months later I'm espoused of one of the biggest fucking names in the military and can now order soldiers around."

"At least I'm not alone," Wufei said quietly, wondering if his lungs would ever stop hurting. "I was with them and alone...I don't want to be alone..."

Jin didn't say anything, realizing again the extent of things he'd missed. Wufei had been so beyond depressed it was scary, but since they'd started hanging out again, he'd come out of it...but then again, Wufei's mother had baked them cookies and taken them to a movie when Wufei hadn't gotten the marks he'd wanted on a test, and his own mother had...had...

Wufei turned to look up at him.

"Why can't I forget?" Jin hissed, leaning over beside his friend. "Why can't it all just go away?"

Wufei draped an arm over him briefly, then rolled over so they could lay back to back. "Trust me when I tell you that alcohol doesn't help."

Jin made a vaguely amused sound, then pressed his face into Wufei's back.

Wufei was right...they weren't alone...and that made all the difference in the universe.

- -

Trowa sighed as he sat back in his car, watching Blake head up to his apartment. He was staying the night again, and Trowa was getting that foreboding feeling that he had to talk to the guy about their relationship. He didn't want to do it, it'd only been a week since the breakup, and the other asshole couldn't even make it clean and just go away, and what with transference of emotions...

Someone tapped on the window—well, Trowa'd seen him moving up but thought he was admiring the car. He wouldn't be the first one to want the stats on the machine.

He rolled down the window.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" the guy snapped—he looked about twenty-one.

"I think I'm bigger'n you," Trowa noted with interest. "So what's it matter?"

"You're the fucker that Blake ran to?" the guy snapped.

Oh.

Trowa felt a delicious thread of malice course through his system, slamming the car-door open and rising as he studied the younger man.

The guy stepped back slightly, but only slightly.

"You're the fucker who was cheating on him?" Trowa snapped, closing his car door.

"Shit!" Blake snapped, coming from the apartment and dropping his bag. "Darren, get out of here!"

"Don't want me hurting your bitch?" Darren asked snidely.

Blake started to open his mouth.

Trowa decided on expedience. He didn't feel like petty insults or a bitch-fight...so he grabbed the guy by the throat and slammed him against his car. "You best leave now, boy," he growled.

The guy focused on him in disbelief, and after a moment Trowa realized he was struggling against his grasp.

He let go.

For all that the guy looked about as big as Trowa's thumb, he must have had small-man syndrome, because he knew how to fight. Trowa blocked the first punch with ease, feeling a thrill, then started laughing as the guy kept moving. From form to form he was trying to attack, but it was far too much form. It wasn't quite the same as either Wufei or Heero, but there was a definite hint of formal Asian training.

After a few minutes of being amused by this, Trowa realized that Blake was railing against them both. He had grabbed his bag and tossed it into the car, and seemed to be begging Trowa to end the fight.

For all that Trowa didn't want to deepen their relationship, this guy had cheated on Blake, and he did like Blake. Not only that, but the wiry little fucker thought he could out-fight a war-rick bastard who'd been on the battlefield as long as he could remember...and Blake wasn't clarifying if he was scared for Trowa, or for the other.

Trowa turned into one of the guy's forms, ducking the arm that came up and seeing the alarm in the man's eyes...before slamming him to the pavement. They rolled for a time, but Trowa knew full-well that cop-involvement would land him in deep shit, so he couldn't kick the guy's ass.

He really really wanted to, though, dammit...

Whoa!

Trowa dodged away backwards from a blow he would have never expected, getting chased for the effort until he landed on the hood of his car, squatting down over the wheel-well and studying his opponent with a grin. "Okay, you're fun."

Darren stopped totally, staring at him in disbelief.

"Just get in the car..." Blake begged for the millionth time.

"You want a real fight," Trowa suggested, ignoring the other, "then you'll need to waive your civilian rights. I've been trained in hand-to-hand since I was six, fought before there was a war, was a part of both wars, and am now in the military proper. I'm sure you've noticed my lack of...inclusion in this little foray," he gestured at the ground. "Because legally if I strike you it's my head on a platter. You wanna fight me? Waive those rights."

"Waived," Darren snapped at him.

Blake stared at him in horror.

"I wave those rights, fucker."

"Wonderful," Trowa purred...and launched off the car.

- -

"Winner!"

Quatre looked up from the file he'd been scanning to Colonel Kiardane.

"Winner!" the man moved into the room and slammed the door shut. "Barton is in a street-fight with Blake's ex."

Quatre started laughing, slapping his hands to his face. "Don't worry, Trowa can't do..."

"He waived his civilian rights."

The amusement was gone as soon as it came. Waiving those rights meant freeing Trowa from the penalties that would come for attacking a civilian. Waiving those rights meant that the civilian courts would handle no part of it.

Waiving those rights gave Trowa rights just shy of killing.

"Blake is freaking out and doesn't know if he should call the cops or not..."

"Well then," Quatre muttered, moving past the man. "It's far past time for us to move."

It didn't take him long to have a handful of his men with him as they headed for the residential area Blake lived in. The man's father was a ball of stress in the passenger seat, but no one else was very bothered. Quatre himself wasn't more than exasperated that he had to go order his friend to stand-down...poor Blake.

He shook his head as they turned onto the road and parked the car so it blocked traffic. It didn't matter anyway, because with the way Trowa and the guy were moving across the pavement, the only thing safe was fucking Blake.

Blake gave Quatre a heart-broken look, gesturing at the pair.

"Trowa," Quatre said casually.

Trowa stopped, pulling back from the fight and wiping at his mouth, blocking the other man. "Already?" he demanded. "But I haven't kicked his ass yet."

"You're the one who was playing," Quatre retorted.

"I'll stop that now," Trowa informed Quatre with a look of seething pride, excitement, and something darker. He moved in on the other man, and the guy was backing away. The other guy wasn't half-bad, actually. He avoided most of the strikes, but he still had to back away.

Quatre sighed and Blake moved to cling to his father.

When the violence fully exploded, Quatre was ready. As Trowa started his last series of strikes that could kill a man, Quatre slid into the breach and blocked. The other man fell to the ground, winded, and Quatre stopped reacting to give Trowa a dirty look.

Trowa started laughing. It was the laugh he had when he'd pissed someone off, or when he'd said something he thought was hilarious...a true heart-felt laughter, but very cold...very distant. Trowa'd disengaged himself from the full situation, which meant he'd been fully involved at one point. He'd probably scared himself by caring.

"Okay...okay," Trowa muttered, backing away. "I wanted to put him in the hospital but Blake had to call his dad and not the cops..."

"You'd be in jail all night if he called the cops," Quatre retorted.

"He thinks he's hot shit," Trowa returned in a low voice, eyes locked onto Quatre's. The duality of Trowa was very evident in that look. His eyes were intent, his mind was intent that Quatre understand, but his emotions were not...he didn't care.

"You're such a bastard," Quatre whispered back. "If you don't stop, I'm going to walk away."

Trowa's amusement evaporated like smoke, and the smile faded from his face. He stepped back, dropping his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I didn't say I needed you contrite," Quatre noted pointedly.

"He hurt Blake," Trowa returned in a quiet voice, looking away. "This shit is getting too deep, Quatre..."

"You to Heero's point I take it?" Quatre muttered with a sigh, moving away and running his hands through his hair. "You don't know what you're doing?"

Trowa didn't reply.

"Take them in," Quatre ordered Kiardane. "Blake, get in the car and I'll take you to the apartment."

"What?" Blake asked blankly. "Why..."

"Your ex waived his civilian rights, right? So he and Trowa can both go into fucking confinement for an hour until they calm their shit down, and we'll go from there."

Blake stared at him.

"Get in the car," Quatre ordered levelly, then looked around to the ex in question who was watching the soldiers who'd grabbed him in confusion. Trowa was staring Patel down, but none of the others would approach him. "Trowa," Quatre snapped. "If you cause any more shit, I'll kick your ass myself."

"I will not stand down to them, Quatre," the man returned coldly. "Don't even pretend that shit with me."

"We have to get your god damn car back to the house, don't we?"

"The keys are in the ignition, and Blake can drive."

"Can he drive stick, asshole?"

"Very well," Trowa purred.

Quatre laughed in spite of himself as the soldiers exchanged skeptical looks.

"I had him drive my car," Trowa snapped, looking up to Quatre again, pointedly.

"I can...drive it, Quatre," Blake said quietly.

"Then go," Quatre hissed, staring back into Trowa's eyes. "You don't need to see what I'm going to do to him."

Blake fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, then looked helplessly to his father. When no other help or instructions came, he turned and moved to the car. He started it right up, and after a moment, drove away.

Quatre pointed at the van they'd driven in.

Trowa snorted, looking scathingly to the other male, then moved with all pride to the van and climbed in without a backwards glance.

"He really would have made me subdue him, wouldn't he?" Patel demanded, rejoining Quatre.

"You couldn't subdue him," Quatre returned dryly. "He's the strongest of us five. He'd have put you on the ground and made you stand down."

Patel blinked at him.

"Never underestimate the power of a pissed off apathetic," Quatre suggested as he climbed into the driver's seat. "It's all sorts of asshole."

"And you wouldn't have done the same?" Trowa retorted as a solider climbed in next to him.

"I wouldn't have fucked around," Quatre retorted.

"You also don't fight," the brunette agreed dryly. "If you did, you'd understand the draw of someone you don't know who can hold their own."

"You know what, Patel?" Quatre muttered, sliding from the driver's seat. "He's being a dick. You drive. I might have to kill him."

Patel snickered, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Um, Sir," Kiardane muttered, "you realize I have to report..."

Quatre flashed the man a dirty look.

"Uh, nevermind," Kiardane looked away.

"That's a good call," Trowa noted.

"You are just a fucker," Kiardane retorted, giving him a look. "You just did that...why?"

"Blake told me he didn't want to see me anymore," Darren said quietly.

"And why is that?" Trowa prompted.

"Fuck you."

"You cheated on my son," Kiardane said quietly. "I'm not talking to you."

The other men in the car exchanged looks.

"Let's just get to the base," Trowa sighed, sliding down in his chair. "I want to go talk to Duo."

"You're feeling all sorts of interesting things," Quatre noted dryly in French. "And you can't tell which is which."

"Leave me alone," Trowa retorted in English.

"Sir?" Kiardane asked hesitantly.

"I know very well what I'm feeling," Trowa noted pointedly to Quatre, also in French. "This is not the place to talk about it."

Quatre rolled his eyes and focused forward.

- -

"So, in the end," Une muttered, shifting back in her seat, "we have some five thousand men on a space-ship doing god knows what for god really knows what reason. No one can tell for certain if it was an orchestrated detachment or if it was a real split, and that ship is in unchartered waters...as Noin muttered, off the port bow of nowhere. Basically, we have nothing."

"Which is about what we had when this all went down," Duo snorted slightly. "And we get Trowa picking a street-fight for good measure to make it a beautiful day."

"He didn't," she protested, staring at Duo a moment, then rolled her eyes. "You five will be the death of me yet..."

"Even if it's only because we pulled the trigger," Duo agreed dryly.

She gave him a level look.

He shrugged innocently at her.

"Get some men to infiltrate," Heero ordered, gesturing vaguely at the screen as he thought. "Probably two of the men with Gerrange. We don't want anyone going in alone, but we also don't want too many fingers in the pot."

"And just how do we get them to Illicit?" Une asked levelly, narrowing her eyes at him. "What's your great master plan for that? And where do you get off giving me orders?"

"Une," he said levelly, meeting her eyes, "in case you didn't understand, I was giving the orders...and not to you. I assumed you'd pass them off to someone else who could pass them off to someone else, who might think about getting something done before passing them off to someone else."

Duo sniggered.

She tsked at them.

"So," Heero added, rising to his feet, "I'll get my orders to the base and someone there can hand them off."

"I already gave those orders, Yuy," she pointed out.

"Then why in the world are you claiming we have nothing?" Heero protested as he sat again. "We need at least a week to verify that."

She snorted at him.

"You know you love me," Heero retorted dryly, giving her a look. "And you know I get shit done."

"Okay, fine," she muttered. "Now that I've had my inferior throw my orders back in my teeth and been told to shove it, what do you think that leaves us?"

"You need to lay off the caffeine," he informed her dryly, looking through his notes. "And get laid."

"So kind of you to suggest," she snapped.

Duo covered his face with one hand.

Heero flashed her a grin. "I'd offer," he noted happily, "but I'm rather happily taken...maybe Trowa or Wufei will oblige you."

"Don't you dare think I won't come down there and kick your ass myself," she informed him.

"Ooh, good idea," he met her eyes brightly. "Then we can take you out to a bar and get you laid. What else should I say? How much pushing will it get for you to come chase me down?" He smirked wickedly at her. "You'll forgive me, of course, but I highly doubt you'd hurt me much."

The woman covered her eyes with one hand as well.

"This is all him," Duo informed her happily. "This is absolutely no outside influence."

Une started laughing weakly.

"No?" Heero protested, looking between them. "Do I have to get chauvinistic? Or should I do the bastard one? I suppose I could cajole you...sex is wickedly wonderful, and one-nights can be delightfully naughty."

She started laughing a little harder.

Heero grinned, glad he'd managed to get that right, at least.

"I really want to hate you sometimes, Heero Yuy," she informed him, sitting up again. "But somehow I can never quite manage it."

"It's my charm and charisma," Heero reassured her easily. "I...confuse peoples emotions."

She slapped her hand to her face again as Duo groaned audibly.

Heero laughed himself, grinning at his friend a moment before running a hand through his hair as he considered his notes. "So what are the actual GPS coordinates? And how much are they moving?"

She sighed, sounding a little disappointed. "And here I thought we were having a conversation..."

"You call that a conversation?" Duo asked blankly, studying her in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

Une started snickering.

End