Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The 6th Gundam Pilot? ❯ Ralph Loves Chess ( Chapter 8 )

Series: Gundam Wing

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, and 5xOC

Rating: R (Language, sexual situations, fluffiness and anything else I see fit to add)

Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters. I'm not making any money from this. Besides the only thing I actually own is a cat… and you can't have him!

Review Thankies:

Setty - Unique? You really think so? *grins*I've got a couple of people I get to e-mail when I put out new chapters *feels special* I've never thought of myself as very talented, but thank you very very much!! *hugs!!*

Battle Mage - Yipe, Flames are bad! Oh, ha ha, funny *sticks tongue out* Hai! I will continue just for you! (And everyone else…)

Youko Demon - I need to plead for reviews because I'm going for 50! Yesss 50! Actually… When I first posted this story I only got a couple, I was feeling like a crappy writer. Reviews are like my ego boosters to keep me goin!

The Black Gatomon - Lol! I know I know!! He was blushing like crazy… but how cute would a blushing Wuffie be?! Come on now… you know you wanna see it too!! Kidnapping?! How horrible… *evil grin*

Straycat - Me so glad you liked! I couldn't take it anymore… and I figured you guys knew it was gonna happen anyway. Must give the reviewers what they want! When you can!

Lain-Fujimiya-Tsukiyono - Holy cow… that was a lot to type. How bout I just call you Lain or Fujimiya or Tsukiyono? Lain is only four letters we'll go with that! I feel bad for Milliardo too but some sacrifices must be made! Besides… he'll be coming back. I have to apologize though, I've given it a lot of thought and I don't think it would be right for me to add in your character. I appreciate the idea, but Zechs has a purpose somewhere along the lines in this story and if I added Marina in it wouldn't be part of my story any longer. You could of course write your own little side story *wink*

UK - Hai! I will continue! Please keep reading!

gundamsquirrel - I love puppies too… but I can't have one *cries* Erm, yea, so they get one instead, maybe. As for Tal and Wufei, they'd be a lot cuter if they weren't at each other's throats so often. *sighs and shakes head* some things can't be helped. Ah, spring break, heh. My spring break was in March and that was the week I got Chapter 7 out. Summer is coming though!

:) - Yesssss… Kawaii is good!! At least most of the time.

Hannio - For you… I have added in some Heero. I will keep it in mind to put him in more often. Uh, I wrote him while craving a certain kind of food and after drinking a few cans of Cherry Pepsi, so don't kill me for his actions. I don't write him often cause even though I'd glomp him in a second ^_^ he kinda freaks me out!

Natasha - Yippy! Still keeping ya happy over there! *feels all proud* Thankies a bunch for putting me on your favorite authors list! I appreciate it!! *starts cranking* Believe me, I'm trying!

Author Notes: Geesh, sorry you guys. I knew it was going to take a while for this chapter to get out but I didn't mean for it to take over a month. *hangs head in shame* I had this killer 400 point research project that nearly killed me... seriously. Then, I was having some problems with actually putting my ideas down. And then when I finally put them down I wasn't happy with it. Needless to say this chapter has been changed and reviewed and changed again... more than a few times. Hopefully it was worth the wait though. At least summer vacation is coming so I'll have more time to write!!

If you would like to receive an e-mail alerting you when I post the next chapter, please e-mail me at scoobydoobubbles@hotmail.com ^_^

/…/ is a memory

'…' Is a thought

--…-- is a written statement

~*~*~*~

Duo woke up at what he thought must have been the crack of dawn. Something wet persisted in touching his cheek no matter how much he tried to sweep it away. He could also feel the vibrations of movement on his blanket to his side. He forced one eyelid open only to close it again as a bright pink tongue came close to licking it. "Ralph!" He cried, gently pushing the puppy away with one arm and wiping his face with the other. He sat up and glared down at the wriggling ball of black fur. "Don't you know that normal people sleep in late?" The puppy wiggled furiously and let out a little sound that was half whimper half bark. Duo put a finger to his lips, "Shhhh! You'll wake up Talia." But when he looked over her blanket was vacant.

He shrugged figuring she'd gone inside to use the bathroom. Opening the tent flap he found the sun just beginning to rise. He glared down at the fluff ball, "You're EVIL! Sunrise is evil! Only people like Heero like being up at sunrise." The puppy whimpered and lay down looking thoroughly dejected. Duo scooped him up and cuddled him to his chest, "It's alright. Just don't do it again." Ralph wriggled in answer and was released. "Well I may as well get up." Orange juice sounded good and so did sneaking in on Heero in nothing but his boxers. That could be fun. He grinned evilly and stepped from the tent closing the flap behind him. Halfway to the house a mournful howl sounded from the tent. In one leap and a bit of a slide the violet-eyed boy was back at the tent. Only when he opened the flap did the forlorn sound stop. He stared at the happily panting pup and rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can come with. But you have to be quiet." How were they supposed to keep him secret when he had to be so noisy? Besides no one would be up yet and Tal should be done by now. Once to the kitchen door though he stuffed the puppy under his T-shirt. 'Just in case. I'll say I had a big breakfast.' He looked down at the large moving lump under his shirt and laughed. "I've said stranger things than that before." He stifled another giggle as the rascal squirmed and his tail tickled him.

He'd nearly finished his juice when he realized there were still no signs of life in the house. Not even the sound of running water or someone walking around upstairs could be heard. Securing the precious bundle in his shirt and folding his arms under it he went upstairs. Not wanting anyone to see or hear him he was trying to be stealthy. Of course he was pretty damn good at that but for some reason he started humming the Mission Impossible theme in his head. It seemed pretty improbable that he'd make it back downstairs and outside without someone catching him.

'Where is she?' The bathroom was empty, the door wide open. 'She wimped out and went back to bed.' That didn't make much sense since the Gundams' cockpit was more uncomfortable than the ground and they'd all slept in them numerous times. But where else would she have gone? Everyone's doors were closed so he crept to the end of the hall and with a tiny click opened the door. He very nearly dropped poor content Ralph. He opened his mouth but it snapped shut of its own accord when Wufei glared at him. It was a glare that could rival any of Heero's. "Go back to bed Maxwell, and don't say a word about this to anyone. Understand?" Duo nodded slightly surprised he'd gotten out of that so easily and slipped out the door. Suddenly he was very thankful the other boy hadn't even noticed his odd little bundle.

He had crept halfway through the living room before he heard a door open upstairs. His slow creep was quickly replaced by a quick sprint out the back door followed by a dive into the tent. He pulled the flaps closed before depositing the now half asleep puppy on the ground. With a sigh he flopped down on his blanket, "That wasn't exactly what I'd call fun. First you wake me up early like a fuzzy rooster, then you whine when you're left behind. And because I had to carry you I probably just missed seeing a bedraggled, shirtless Heero." He grinned at that thought for a moment then frowned. If she had been sleeping here in the tent he could have spent some time with Heero this morning. Heero was usually pretty fun in the mornings. 'Talia had better get up soon. She's got some serious explaining to do. I mean I just thought she liked Wufei… I didn't know they were sleeping together! Geesh!' After mumbling about "best friends" and "secrets" for a bit the braided boy eventually drifted back to sleep.

~*~*~*~

Talia woke to find herself wrapped nearly completely around something warm. She was half laying on it with one leg thrown over it. It wasn't exactly soft but it wasn't quite hard either. Realization dawned on her as she felt an arm wrap around her and she sighed with content. Feigning sleep she curled in closer. She had to fight the urge to grin like a fool as the arm about her tightened for a moment. She opened one eye just enough to see Wufei's face above her. He seemed deep in thought staring at the ceiling. Closing her eye she had an evil thought. Of it's own accord her left hand began to slowly move upward from its place on his chest. It found his shoulder and then the soft skin of his neck. He shifted at the contact and she let her hand lay relaxed against it. After a few seconds though it made a jump from the side of his neck into his hair. She smiled finding that it was let down and ran her fingers through it. 'So soft...'

Wufei snorted, "I knew you were awake. Don't think you're that sly, little girl."

She lifted her head from its place in the hollow of his shoulder and grinned at him, "And yet you let me get away with it. You're not usually so indulgent of my whims." He shifted again and she moved her leg back so it was only laying over one of his. But she couldn't stop herself from continuing to run her fingers through his hair. She was still enjoying its silky texture.

"Let's just say I'm feeling..." He paused looking for the right word, "patient." The fingers in his hair stopped moving and the girl propped herself up on an elbow to look him in the eye. "Hmmm. I see... patient," She tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner.

Feeling somewhat self conscious Wufei furrowed his brows, "What?"

She smiled again and shook her head, "Nothing." Then she leaned forward and planted a kiss right on his lips before rolling to the side and hopping off the bed.

"What was that for?"

"Huh? Oh. Just a thanks for being, 'patient' with me. And for helping me get back to sleep. I'm sorry I couldn't stay awake with you. I didn't mean to fall asleep." She tried to look apologetic.

"It's alright. I needed time to think anyway. But I thought you said you couldn't sleep after having those nightmares."

"Well, I normally can't. But see, this was different. I felt, well safe, and..." She paused feeling out of her element explaining it like that so instead she grinned, "And you're just so soft and warm!"

"Hmmph. Soft, you're one to talk. That reminds me though, Duo was poking around earlier. I assume he was looking for you." He pushed himself off the bed, systematically stretching his back and neck.

"He saw us? Like that?" She nearly doubled over laughing, "I'm going to have to straighten him out. He's not going to believe me. He's going to think something went on. Well, something serious."

He scowled and pointed a finger at her, "He better not say anything. Make sure he understands what he saw. I do not need to hear his smart-ass remarks.

She waved a hand at him, "Easy boy. I'll take care of it. What happened to your patience?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from her, "It was only for you." His voice was so low she barely caught it. She couldn't help was stare at him a bit stunned. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she actually found something to say, "T...Thank you Wufei." That was most definitely the nicest thing he'd ever said to her and here she was at a complete loss of words. He turned his head and smirked at her. Her mouth dropped and she blinked a few times before hurling a pillow at him. "You just said that to throw me off balance you jerk!" He smiled as he caught the pillow, "I did no such thing. I just found it amusing that it caught you by surprise."

She rolled her eyes dramatically at him before grabbing her new adorable teddy bear.

At that moment a platinum blonde haired head popped in the room. Quatre surveyed the scene and momentarily looked disappointed before smiling. "Good Morning. Duo said you were up here with Wufei all of last night, in the same bed."

His eyebrows came together in frustration and Talia laughed, "Duo's hallucinating. I can guess what he told you. But I just came up here to sleep in my own bed, cause he snores a lot louder than Wufei and was doing it right in my ear." She grimaced and rubbed her ear for effect. A glance at the onyx-eyed occupant of the room told her that he was torn between feeling uncomfortable and jumping out the window to exact his revenge. Tossing Quatre her new teddy bear she started out the door with her hands on the shorter blonde's shoulders ushering him along. "Now how about we get some breakfast and go sit in the tent. I'll bet it's nice out this morning." Quatre gave her a blank look before nodding as a light went on upstairs. "Right, we can get some muffins. Duo said he wanted to talk to you as soon as it was convenient anyway."

She shoved him gently before poking her head back in the room. Wufei was looking extremely relieved and pissed off all at once, looking out the window. "Don't kill him yet," She said softly and the raven-haired boy turned to look at her, still glaring. "Please?" She gave him her best pleading look before heading downstairs.

~*~*~*~

Wufei went downstairs a short time later, still cursing the braided baka and his big mouth. Trowa and Heero were the only ones present at the kitchen table. Heero was munching on some toast in one hand and clicking away on his laptop with the other. Trowa was apparently attempting to eat syrup-drowned pancakes and read the newspaper without making a mess. Neither even looked up when he went to the back door to look out.

"They're having a tea party." Heero's voice found its way around a mouthful of crispy, buttered bread.

"A what?" He asked getting a pancake and sprinkling it with some sugar before sitting down with the other two.

"A tea party, in the tent. I assume it was Talia's idea," He sent Trowa a half-threatening look that said - it had better not have been your boyfriend's - before continuing, "Quatre provided the tea and Talia took all of the muffins." He sounded slightly peeved about the missing muffins.

"If you want one, why don't you go out and get one?"

Heero sighed and shook his head mumbling something.

"What?"

The corners of Trowa's mouth turned up and he swallowed his pancake, "They won't let him in and refuse to give him one. Said they're all gone, two dozen of them."

"Since when do those three eat that many muffins? I mean I know Maxwell is a bottomless pit but surely he would have shared with you, Heero. And what's the sudden intrigue with the tent?"

Heero looked up from the computer screen, "He told me their party didn't include me so I couldn't have any muffins even if there were some left." Both the green-eyed boy and Wufei had to fight back the urge to laugh at what was the closest thing they'd ever seen to the Perfect Soldier pouting.

Finally collecting himself after a glare from said Soldier, the Chinese boy stuffed the rest of his pancake in his mouth. Standing put his dishes in the sink. "I'll go and get you a muffin." With that he strode out the backdoor, leaving the other two to simply shake their heads.

~*~*~*~

"Right! We'll make lunch and..."

"No, if we make lunch they'll know we're up to something."

"Can't we be nice once in a while?"

There was a moment of silence in the tent before the three burst out laughing. Their plans were interrupted as the backdoor slammed shut.

"Duo. Maybe we really should give Heero a muffin. He's been out here twice before and he's coming again." Both blondes had been trying to talk him into at least giving him one. They still had almost half a dozen left.

"He's in a rut! He eats these every morning! A little cereal wouldn't kill him." The braided boy stuck his head out the tent flap and looked up, "Hee... Oh hey Wu-man! Sleep well last night?" He suddenly tumbled backwards as a knee struck him in the forehead. Talia promptly took his place, to find Wufei about to crawl into the tent. "No visitors allowed." She smiled, receiving a frown. "What's going on it there? Why are you hoarding the muffins and just plain acting strange?" He was still on his knees looking her straight in the eye. She fidgeted for a second, "We were just REALLY hungry! And Duo thinks that the Perfect Soldier needs better breakfasts than muffins, uh for his health. And we're not acting strange!" Quatre and Duo head's popped out beside one another, just below hers. "Yea, we're not acting strange." They chimed in unison.

Positively sure something bad was about to happen Wufei stood up and dusted off his pants. With one last look at the grinning trio he walked back to the house quite calmly. Trowa and Heero looked at him expectantly and he held up empty hands. "I think Maxwell's insanity has started to effect the other two. I'd keep an eye on shiny items." He sat down at the table and took a part of the newspaper. 'Whatever they're planning, there's safety in numbers.'

~*~*~*~

They somehow managed to let Ralph out to 'do his business' without being caught. Sure that he wouldn't leave any messes in someone's shoe, they went inside. They set their plan into motion. They weren't even going to give the others a chance to say 'No'. Quatre stood watch at the doorway so the fur ball wouldn't howl. He was quite content to sit there wagging his little tail, looking up at the blonde haired boy. Duo and Talia found their targets still sitting around the kitchen table. Duo cleared his throat over-dramatically, "We need to have a serious conversation."

The three looked up each with their own version of a bored expression.

"There is going to be a new addition to the house." Talia stated bluntly. This caught everyone's attention and they straightened in their chairs.

"His name is Ralph, and we want him to live with us from now on."

"The compromises all our security measures, besides we have no room." "Are you all nuts?!" "If he knows where we live, he either has to die or we have to move, now."

"HOLD ON!" Duo screeched, everyone closed their mouths. Quatre figuring that was his queue opened the back door. "Ralph! Come here!"

Little scratching noises were heard from the backdoor as a little black ball of fur came hurtling around the corner to launch itself at the braided boy. He was promptly picked up, licking the boy's hands and face in the process. "This is Ralph."

Quatre came in wearing a pout, "Please? He's really sweet!" Trowa immediately broke down and shrugged. He never had a problem with animals and if his little lover wanted it, he could have it.

"Someone is always home! He'll have lots of company and we've got some extra cash for food and toys." The girl was pleading as Duo had seemingly disappeared. No one even noticed when Heero jumped in his chair before nodding.

'Last one...' She grinned and moved around the table to Wufei. "Please?"

"No. I do not want that... thing... waking me up in the middle of the night."

She set herself gracefully in his lap and put her arms around his neck, "He won't wake you up, I promise!" To make matters worse she nuzzled his neck.

Refusing to look in the direction of anyone in the room Wufei finally nodded curtly, "Fine but you three had better take care of him. I refuse to clean up after it." He gently but forcefully pushed her off his lap and marched upstairs determined to keep the red from his cheeks.

"HURRAY!!!" She and Quatre were doing a little dance around the kitchen when Duo was tugged from under the table. He was grinned like a cat as he yelled, "HURRAY!!" And up the stairs he went after Heero.

The two blondes looked at each other blankly before bursting into laughter, "I suppose that's one way to get what you want." "I think he got two things." They grinned and plopped onto the floor with Trowa who was already playing with Ralph. A few seconds later Quatre leaned over, "I guess Duo wasn't hallucinating after all." The girl's cheeks went red as she smiled at the floor.

~*~*~*~

Within a few short days Ralph had made himself at home. He found Heero's shoes to be quite a delectable treat. So they'd bought him some toys and a cute collar with an identification tag. It was a little big so it jingled as he moved about. He'd also taken to sleeping inside of Wufei's pants. No! Not while he was wearing them! The soft fabric made a perfect bed while in a heap on the floor. The little puppy was fitting in quite well and even Wufei was starting to warm up to him, in private. However, not all was going well, since the evening of her nightmares Talia had been toting around her teddy bear. She rarely set it down, and got upset when anyone in the house commented on it. Her previously good mood had quickly gone sour and no one could figure out why. The only person with even the slightest clue was Duo, though he was still confused.

The blonde girl curled up under her covers snuggling with her bear. 'So what if I feel like carrying him around. They don't understand.' It seemed odd even to her the way her mind worked. But the bear was the same as a safety blanket to her. The phase would pass and she'd chill out about carrying it around, it always happened like this. She sighed as she heard her roommate enter the room closing the door so only a small amount of light filtered in. She smiled to herself knowing that he didn't close it all the way so that Ralph could come in to sleep. A moment later she heard him crawl into his own bed across the room. He still hadn't actually given her any answer about his feelings. But, every now and then she did get to cuddle up with him. Everyone in the house already assumed they were together after the incident at the table. They were the only ones still on unsettled terms about the situation.

"Talia? I need to talk to you." Wufei's voice carried across the room. She tensed and turned over to face his direction.

"I don't mean any disrespect," Well that was new, "but why this sudden attachment to the bear? You've always loved teddy bears but it seems like you won't even let this one go."

She opened her mouth ready to yell something along the lines of 'it's none of your damn business' or 'bug off' but it was Wufei. And he was being nice, which meant he really wasn't trying to upset her. She sighed, "It's a long story, it has to do with my past. Let's just say I feel better having it with me."

Not to be brushed off he pressed her, "You know about my past and I have time to listen, so let's hear it."

"Jerk." She mumbled, though she didn't really mean it. "Fine. But if I have to tell you… I get to sit on your lap next time we all watch movies downstairs." 'Ha! He'll never agree to that! I won't have to tell him.' She smiled in the dark.

"Deal, now quit stalling. From the beginning I don't want to be confused by the end of this story."

It took her a full ten seconds to pick her jaw up off the floor. 'How in the hell did that backfire?' The sound of her roommate clearing his throat impatiently brought her to reality. "Oh right. From the beginning, well, my father was a military commander so we moved around a lot. My mother was something of a housewife I guess. I never really understood what my mother did." She paused, 'I still don't know what she did.'

"Anyway, my parents, they always wanted a boy. So he could grow up under my father's tutelage and become a great mobile suit pilot. Of course, they got me instead, and were unable to have any other children. My father couldn't handle the fact that he had a little girl. So he simply acted like I was a boy, just inferior to other males." She sighed and let out a small laugh, "I didn't mind it as a little girl. I was trying to please my mother. But she was even worse. She looked at me like I was some little ant, insignificant and worthless. I tried so hard to please her!"

She pounded the bed with a fist in frustration, these were things she'd never voiced before. Actually hearing them out loud was almost worse. "The best I ever got was, 'I see, have you finished the laundry?' I figured it out pretty quick that she was never going to accept me so instead I started trying to please my father. I learned to fight like a man. After a few hard lessons I found out I had to be quick since my size is a disadvantage. I was always around base and the soldiers were always trying to get under my skin. They started fights and I got better and quicker. To get them back I learned to pick locks and hack computers. I got into their sleeping quarters and stole valuables, hacked computers to dig up their pasts so I could throw it in their faces. My father eventually let me pilot one of the Leo's. It was mostly because I begged him constantly. I think he had assumed that I would find it too difficult and give up. Instead I caught on, I excelled in piloting the mobile suits. I had to become the best to prove to the soldiers that I was just as good as them. My father finally saw me as his little girl, but he was proud." She grinned and wondered if her listener was even awake. She tossed a pillow at him. It was promptly thrown right back, smacking her in the head. "Just making sure you're awake."

"Don't worry. But you still haven't explained…"

"I'm getting there, it's your fault, you said you wanted the WHOLE story. Anyway, during that entire time I didn't have anyone to talk to. I just talked to this old scruffy bear that my father had given me when I was very young. It was like my only friend. My mother had thrown it away more than once. Telling me I was too old, that I didn't need it. The day that I was finally able to out-maneuver and out-pilot the soldiers she took the bear again. I really wasn't too worried about it. I knew it would be in the trash and I'd get him out again. But she knew father was proud of me and she knew that the bear was my dearest possession. A few days later she called me into the kitchen where she proceeded to set that bear aflame. I felt like my only friend died before my eyes. I know it's silly but it was all I had. The nightmare I had the other night, was about my mother. That's why I've been so protective of the bear."

"I suppose that makes sense. I'm curious as to how you ended up as a Gundam pilot if you finally received your father's approval."

"My father was offered a position with OZ. He accepted it immediately. I knew it was the wrong decision, but he wouldn't listen to me. I had the choice between the 'right thing to do' and my father. I chose the right thing, and ended up as a Gundam pilot."

She heard the sound of blankets rustling and soft footsteps before Wufei reached her and sat on the edge of the bed. Surprised and confused by his actions she sat up in the bed. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his fingertips on her cheek. "Each of us has been through our own trials. It is what made us perfect candidates for Gundam pilots. You have to understand though that no one in this house will try to take anything from you. We have to trust each other to some degree." There was a small pause, "Thank you for telling me. You should know that I will always be here for you." He smiled gently still caressing her cheek.

The shock wore off pretty quick and the girl leaned up and pressed her lips against his. The hand on her cheek moved into her hair. She smiled when he didn't pull away, this was most definitely progress. Her lips parted as they suddenly had a mind of their own. She thought she might melt into a puddle as he deepened the kiss accordingly. 'Much better sober.'

A jingling sound interrupted the moment as the boy pulled away. Helplessly Talia whimpered at the loss of his soft lips before looking towards the door and scowling. 'Evil Puppy!' She wanted to bang her head against something. Why was he so paranoid about being seen? A voice in her head piped up, 'It would ruin his image as an ass.'

'Yes, I do suppose that makes sense. But he's already screwed, he promised to let me sit in his lap downstairs while we all watched movies.' She smirked triumphantly at the thought even as Wufei stood up.

"Hey, wait a second, you can't just leave in the middle of that," She whined and was surprised to see him turn his head with a strange smile.

"It wouldn't be proper to do such things in front of one so young." He jerked his thumb towards the puppy already burrowing into a discarded pair of pants.

'He's teasing me!' She growled at him, "You asshole." Pulling her blankets over her head she turned to the wall grumbling about revenge.

~*~*~*~

After a surprisingly peaceful night's sleep Talia slipped out of bed, grabbed the sleeping Ralph off the floor, tossed the pair of pants he'd been sleeping in across the room into the clothesbasket and hurried downstairs. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her mind after talking to Wufei. 'Even if he is an jackass.' But she planned to get revenge on him soon enough. She'd planned it all out before drifting off to sleep. Downstairs she found Duo and Quatre playing a game of chess. Trowa was watching the game intently. He looked up momentarily at her, "I'm playing the winner."

"Ah, trying to figure out their strategies?"

He nodded returning his attention to the board. It looked like Quatre was winning. Of course, he was excellent with strategy and battle tactics. His violet-eyed opponent wasn't losing by much though.

She released the now squirming puppy and the black and brown ball of fur went to sit at Duo's side. He whimpered pitifully and made a feeble jump, trying to reach his lap. Instead he ended up settling with balancing against the boy's leg with his front paws, standing on the rear ones. Still small enough to fit in a person's lap, Duo picked him up. The pup grabbed one of Quatre's captured bishops and began trying to chew it apart.

"Hey! He can't do that! Get my bishop back!" The little blonde stood up from his chair and made a move to retrieve the piece.

The braided boy lifted a hand to forestall him with a treacherous smile on his lips, "He was already captured. Consider this torture."

"Torture?! Duo, he'll ruin the piece or break it!"

"That's the idea. Break its will so he'll tell us your plans." He said in a sinister voice, wriggling his eyebrows with a devious look. Quatre looked at him as if he'd lost him mind before bursting into laughter as the puppy lost its grip and the bishop dropped the floor.

Trowa smiled and Talia laughed, "It seems the bishop was more loyal to his King than you anticipated! He jumped to his death before your little minion could get information out of him."

The blue-eyed boy smiled smugly as he returned to his seat, "I treat my subjects well."

Duo moved his knight and took a pawn. With a serious expression he studied the piece then looked at his opponent, "If you're not careful they will all suffer the bishop's fate." He dangled the piece enticingly above the puppy in his lap.

Still standing beside the table the girl cleared her throat, "Don't tease him. And don't feed Ralph any more objects that are needed to play board games, I'd like to play sometime. And I'd like to play with whole pieces if you don't mind." Straight faced once more, he put the pawn down.

"Thanks. Now, where's Heero? We were supposed to go speak with the principal at the school nearby about all of us enrolling."

"School? I was enjoying this vacation!"

"You're going to go stupid if you stay home and do nothing all the time."

He thought about it a moment before speaking, "Well, I guess it would kind of suck to be here by myself almost everyday and I'd get bored." He sighed heavily in part because Quatre had just taken his rook. "Heero's out with Wing Zero. He wanted to fix some little glitch with the vid-screen."

"Thanks Duo!" She paused and looked at the board once more then patted his shoulder sympathetically, "Just give up. He's got ya." Then she was out the door.

~*~*~*~

"Yuy!" Talia called as she leaned on the toe of Wing Zero. From this angle she wasn't able to see into the open cockpit but she thought she saw movement. "Yuy!" She yelled again, louder this time. She used his last name since yelling 'Heeeeeeerrrrrro' since it reminded her too much of Relena's insistent calls. A head popped out from the cockpit, complete with messy brown hair. "What?"

"You about done up there? I thought we had an appointment today?"

Heero wiped his hands on a rag before coming down. He looked dirtier than someone who had just been working with wires. "Get a little carried away?" She asked as he landed a couple of feet from her with more than a few smudges of dirt and oil on his clothes.

"Just made a few adjustments, checking systems."

"Ah yes, of course."

"It wouldn't hurt you or Duo to do the same while we've got this time off. I called a little while ago and cancelled the meeting with the principal." He leaned against the mobile suit comfortably.

"What? Why? I thought we had to enroll?" She ignored the comment about working on her Gundam, though she knew she'd been neglecting it lately.

"Before I called I received an e-mail. We won't be staying here much longer."

The girl straightened, no one had mentioned anything while she was inside. Since when did Heero keep information like that to himself? Apparently the boy noticed her reaction, "Relax."

"Do what? Do you even know the meaning of that word Heero?" She grumbled a moment. "So?"

"It was some general information. On rebel groups and their movements. Including that there do not appear to be any active near this location. Therefore it's likely we'll be relocating soon."

She sighed, "Now I remember why we don't keep many extra luxuries around. Moving sucks."

"Hn." He moved around to the other side of the foot and bent down. He came up holding his laptop. A moment later he started off towards the house leaving her standing there.

"Hey. You're just going to leave me here?"

He paused and looked at her with an impatient sigh, "I assumed you would follow." She grumbled something about being treated like Duo before following at him towards the house.

~*~*~*~

"Wonderful! I was beginning to wonder if people just didn't cause trouble anymore!" Duo was grinning as he grabbed some food from the fridge.

"You and Talia need to be quiet about this. Take them from the inside if possible."

The violet-eyed boy looked at the girl packing her own things as she looked up at him. They grinned at the other four pilots, "We're great at being quiet!" Wufei put a hand over his eyes and shook his head.

Upon reaching home Heero had called a meeting of sorts. Evidently when he'd retrieved his laptop he'd found a mission waiting. After briefing all the pilots on the contents of the e-mail earlier that morning, he informed Duo and Talia of their new mission. Apparently a rebel group calling themselves the "Red Claw" had seized control of a large factory complex. It had been previously used for mobile suit construction and could be again with very few modifications. They were to infiltrate and take out the key members and if possible leave the factory in one piece. Other authorities would take over once the leaders were gone and the group was in chaos. The group was believed to have a number of Aries and Leo suits, along with skilled pilots. The factory was at the Northern tip of South America.

"Tal, I think we ought to bring sun tan lotion and our bathing suits. After we finish we'll take a short vacation." Duo shoved one more thing in his small pack before zipping it up.

"We're supposed to be back here in about three weeks. We'll have to rush if we wanna do that." She already had her pack ready and was tying up her hair to keep it out of the way.

"Most of that time is to get there, set up and do surveillance. This'll be a snap. We'll have plenty of time to relax."

Grinning they said some quick goodbyes and headed off towards their respective Gundams. Long good byes didn't happen since this was a regular occurrence. Getting all sappy just ruined the mood. The fact that Wufei had already given his roommate a nice going away kiss, along with a lecture on being careful made it easy as well.

~*~*~*~

A little over an hour later a black Gundam accented in silver was jetting along over the countryside it's pilot singing while a little behind and to it's right a red Gundam accented in black seemed to be chasing it down. Each carried what appeared to be a staff (of course appearances can be deceiving). In actuality they were taking the quickest route to an abandoned airfield so they could put the mobile suits on a carrier there. It was a little less conspicuous that way. "On the road again…" A singsong voice came through to her. She grinned and sung along with her friend.

Within a few days the two pilots had reached their destination. They left their Gundams a few miles from their target. Covered in camouflage and hidden in the dense trees the giant machines were difficult to spot. They then took up positions to either side of the complex during the day, meeting to exchange information over a quick dinner. At night they took turns keeping watch, moving locations again when they switched guard/surveillance duty in the twilight.

The place was large enough so that from any one angle all the structures couldn't be seen. The only building in view from nearly anywhere was the one in the center. It was larger than the others and also the only one with its doors closed. They'd been watching for almost a week and there was no sign of life. As the sun dropped low on the horizon they came together and agreed to go in to search. Still wary they slipped in as darkness fell. Soft footsteps and low whispers were the only sounds, "Where the fuck are these guys? Did take the place and then leave?"

"Wouldn't be very bright. Let's circle around and move in on the main building. Maybe we'll find something in there." Talia nodded silently, pulling the pistol from her boot as they separated.

Slipping in and out of shadows they slid around the different structures, peeking in windows. Both reached the main building on opposite sides and started towards the main door. "Shit!" and "Fuck!" were yelled simultaneously as each felt a sharp pain in one arm. Each plucked from their shoulder a small dart. From nowhere men seemed to appear, surrounding them quickly as if they'd been drilled. Dressed as soldiers, almost every one of them carried some form of weapon. As their vision began to blur a large man with long black hair streaked with blonde stepped forward. The drugs were quickly taking effect and the two pilots leaned against one another for support just barely able to stand. "Welcome to our base. I certainly hope you enjoy your stay." The big man smiled wickedly as the pilots slumped to the ground.

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LOVELY REVIEWERS!! I HAVE A QUESTION!!

I've noticed lately while reading other fanfiction that almost all of my chapters seem longer than most others. So my question is... is that a good thing or a bad thing? Should I keep making my chapters long (meaning they take longer) or shorter (they'd be posted more frequently)?

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Sorry, this chapter got a little out of control with the length. I just couldn't find a good place to stop! Didn't mean to make you guys wait so long! Tis a hard job to keep up with. ^_^ sorry for the cliff-hanger there… I know everyone hates those. *sighs* But please… Review, Review, Review… I love reviews! ^_^