Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ True North ❯ True North, Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

True North

Chapter 5

Pairing: 2x1

Category: AU

Warning: OC kid

Gundam Wing copyright Bandai, Sunrise, and Sotsu Agency. "Eien no Rhapsody" copyright Midori Saiha/Ringo Zaidan. "Da Dip" copyright Freak Nasty. "Extraordinary" copyright Liz Phair.

Much thanks to Diamroyal for beta reading and giving me info on how cons are run, and to Rich for supplying me with the idea in the first place and giving extra help as I went along.

"I put my hand upon yo' hip, when I dip, you dip, we dip..."

"Honey, could you turn that off for a sec? I need to talk to you for a moment." Duo stood in the doorway of Moira's room, leaning against the doorjamb. He'd heard that song-an old, old one-played over and over for the past September, and much as he considered himself laid-back, it was extremely disturbing to see his daughter listening to a song that encouraged the listeners to have a good old makeout session right on the dance floor.

He was turning thirty-one next month. Technically, that was in the prime of his life, but feeling disturbed about that song made him feel a lot older.

"Hold on," Moira said. Her fingers typed furiously on her laptop for a few seconds. "There. Needed to get that done. What is it?"

"Well," Duo began, walking into her room, "you know about the con that's coming up in a week or so, right?"

"Uh-huh..." Moira's eyes looked wary. "What about it? Is there something you want me to do while you two are gone?" The middle finger of her right hand tapped nervously on the steel desk where she was sitting.

"You're almost right," Duo said. "This time," he held one finger up in the air, "you're going with us."

Moira's middle finger stopped in mid-air. "What?"

Duo put both hands on the edge of the desk and leaned over to look her in the eyes. He needed her full attention for this. "You're in college now, Moira, and it's a good time for you to start networking. This is one of the biggest cons, and there are tons of good contacts to pick up. It's gonna be real important for your future."

"But..." Moira said, "that's when my fall break is. Are we going to be gone for the entire time?" She kept her voice modulated, but Duo could tell that she wasn't too happy.

"Yes, we are," Duo shrugged, surveying the room. "Is that a problem?" Moira was messier than usual today. Normally she was tidy, with everything more or less in place-definitely something she'd gotten from Heero-but right now her room resembled a war zone right after a tornado had taken place. Her sneakers were right next to Duo's feet, carelessly kicked off from the looks of it, papers and the special e-books for her classes were scattered all over the entire desk, and in the middle was the laptop, which still looked okay, but if she kept taking her coffee upstairs, would probably have some nasty spills on the keyboard. The quilt Relena had made for her was tossed aside, some of it spilling onto the floor and some of it crumpled up on the mattress.

The growing heap of clothes near her dresser was the highlight. A few more days, Duo estimated, and there wouldn't be any visible floor space in here at all.

Finally, Moira sighed, leaning back in her chair and cracking her knuckles. "I've just been busy lately. I thought it'd be a good idea to take a rest before midterms come up."

"Sorry, kiddo." Duo patted her upper arm, squeezing it through the sleeve of her cardigan. "See if you can hold out, okay? Oh, and clean up your room."

"I would, but I'm /busy/," Moira grumbled. Duo shrugged again, gave her one final pat, and then left. She'd come around when it was time to go, and if she didn't, well, she'd come with them anyway, because this was an opportunity not to be passed up.

******

Heero found Moira up on the roof, with her laptop instead of the guitar this time. Despite the cool weather, she didn't have a jacket on; only her polo and cargo pants, with her sneakers at her knees.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked. He didn't climb up onto the roof, after all, he wasn't one to try and invade her space if she didn't want it.

"It's fine, Papa," Moira replied absentmindedly. She seemed intrigued by whatever it was on the laptop, judging by her intense stare.

"It's not fine. Come inside," Heero said. That got her to only cock her head in his direction, with the expression that usually meant she was in deep thought. It meant she was about to ask some questions that he might not want to answer. He'd seen it on Duo before.

"Can I ask you something? What made you so happy in that picture?" Moira asked.

"What picture?"

"The one that's hanging up at the labs you established. You know, this one," she said, turning the laptop around. The screen showed the portrait they'd taken of Heero when the labs had started running. Moira circled her index finger around the portrait's face and handed it over to him. "Look at that. You look like you couldn't be happier. What did that?"

Heero took the laptop, gazing at the picture thoughtfully for a few seconds. "Duo came into the room at that moment. I was happy to see him," he finally said. "The photographer asked me to smile, but I told him that wasn't necessary and Duo walked in. That's all." He shut the laptop. "Now, will you come inside?"

"So Dad makes you happy?" Moira asked.

Heero sighed. "Of course he does. Why wouldn't he?"

"Well, I haven't really seen you smile since you've been here," she pointed out, scooting closer to the windowsill.

"I'm not that sort of person, Moira." The truth was that sometimes he thought he was dreaming; that it couldn't possibly be true that now he had more time, that he was able to see Duo again, and that he was healthy. He always had to assure himself that this was real, that he was here, and that he wouldn't wake up from this. It was some odd form of logic; if he acted too happy, then either he, Duo or Moira would disappear.

"I know that," she said, her face serious in the moonlight, and for a moment, Heero thought he was looking at his reflection, the resemblance was so uncanny. "I guess there's been a lot to deal with since you've woken up. Maybe because it's sixty-five years ahead of your time, maybe it's because you're still recovering from Dad's gene therapy, and maybe it's because of me."

"That's not true and you know it," Heero snapped. "I'm not as expressive as Duo and that's that."

"I /don't/ know," she replied. There wasn't a trace of her usual impishness; no quirk of the lips or eyebrows; a grave, watchful expression had taken its place. "If I did, I wouldn't ask."

"Why do you want to know? Moreover, what makes you think this has to do with you?"

"Because you don't seem to like me." Moira was now sitting on the windowsill, dangling her legs inside. "Because if Dad makes you happy," she pointed at Heero, "then you'd be happy. Screw expressiveness, people would be able to tell. But if Dad's here and you're not happy, then it's got to be something else."

She paused, looking at Heero thoughtfully for a few seconds with an unblinking stare, tilting her head this way and that. He found it unnerving.

"You're healthy," she began slowly, "so that leaves the disease out. But you've never really talked to me unless you had to, and I swear to God I've seen you look at me like you wouldn't know what to do with me at all. And I'm not saying it has to be a happy family reunion, but where's the love?"

He /didn't/ know what to do with Moira, he realized. It had been simple when she was a baby and he could cradle her in his arms, feed her, or bounce her up and down to keep her occupied. She was teething and sitting up on her own when he was put into coldsleep, and he'd woken up to find a teenage girl in her place with no hint of the baby he'd left behind. And since, really, he was a teenager himself, he didn't know where to start with her and actually be a father. Hell, it probably wasn't possible.

"I don't know what to do with you. But that doesn't mean you should take it personally," he said, placing the laptop in her hands.

"That smile of yours is really something," she said, just as he was about to walk off.

"Moira, it's late and we're leaving for the convention tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know." Moira slid off the windowsill, sneakers in one hand and the laptop in the other. "But I was so /captivated/ by that picture. Your smile really has an effect on people, y'know? I can't describe it, but there's this warmth that I felt that made /me/ want to smile too. And I thought that I'd be able to see the real thing from you." There was a wistfulness to her voice that he hadn't heard before.

"But if I don't make you happy, I suppose I was wrong. You learn something new every day," she said. "I'm turning in now. Good night." With that, Moira slipped past Heero, out of his room, and down the hall.

All he could do was stare after her, long after their conversation had ended. There was something wrong, and he had a feeling that if he didn't figure it out soon, the tension between them would come to a head, and when that happened, there was a possibility that the resulting damage would be irreparable.

******

"Here we are." Duo slipped the keycard into the lock of the hotel room. The light on the lock's screen turned blue, accompanied with a soft musical tinkle, and the door slid open.

The hotel room was spacious, with two queen-sized beds side by side, with a desk and television set across from them. The far wall had a large window that displayed a sprawling view of L3. Duo whistled. This was a very nice hotel that they'd gotten to lodge in, all because he was the featured speaker for the convention. Unfortunately, since it was overbooked, the entire family had to stay in one room. Moira hadn't been too happy when she heard that.

"So, what do you think?" Duo asked, turning to the other two. Moira didn't say anything, but walked right past him, thumping her bags onto the bed closest to the window.

"It's nice," Heero muttered, blinking rapidly. He was still getting used to the colored contacts that Duo had suggested getting. Heero wanted to go investigate the lectures that this con had in great detail, but if he was going to talk with some of the theory professors that would be in attendance, he couldn't go as who he was. They planned to announce his revival shortly after Duo's lecture, but in the meantime, Heero needed to disguise himself. For that, he'd not only gotten brown colored contacts to disguise his eye color, but Duo had made him go without shaving for a week before they'd left for L3. Luckily, the glasses he'd worn before when working in the labs were still around thanks to Relena, so those had come along with some of Duo's old clothes for him to wear.

Duo thought about telling Heero that the beard was coming off as soon as he gave the lecture. It wasn't very flattering on him. He guessed Moira thought the same thing, given her suppressed giggles throughout the entire trip.

"You can take out the contacts after dinner, you know. We all gotta rest, and I need to start looking over my notes for the lecture," Duo said, gesturing Heero to move ahead. They'd need to start thinking about dinner right about now, Duo thought. He was hungry, and if they didn't get something to eat, his stomach was going to make sure everyone knew that. But just as he was about to suggest that, he heard a scraping sound against the wall. As he walked further inside, he saw Moira adjusting the painting that hung between the two beds.

"Moira, what are you doing?" he asked, exasperated.

"This picture isn't /straight/." She sounded peeved, concentrating on tilting the frame more to the left.

"It looks fine to me," Heero said.

Moira snorted. "No, it's not. It's three degrees to the right. Well, it /was/," she corrected, examining her handiwork.

"How do you know it's exactly three degrees? It could have been four or two."

"Whoa, whoa. Let's get something to eat, all right?" Duo made a "time-out" gesture with his hands, just as Moira had opened her mouth for what would have likely been a smartass remark. "It's been a long ride in the shuttle to L3, and I know," he turned to Heero, "that those contacts are really bothering you, and," turning to Moira, "you're on the worst day of your period, so let's find some dinner and go to bed, because we've got three big days ahead of us. Okay?"

Heero shrugged. "Fine." Moira just huffed and tossed her head.

"Just because you're on your time of the month doesn't excuse your attitude, young lady. Change it," Duo warned, shaking a finger in her face. "Let's all get washed up, and head downstairs to the hotel restaurant. Then everyone gets a shower and bed." He left for the bathroom, leaving his gaping daughter behind. The sooner they were all in bed, the better. He was exhausted from the shuttle ride just as much as the other two were, and if he was going to be in any condition to talk with all those high-up theorists and scientists on the first day, he was going to need all the rest he could get.

******

The first day hadn't gone well. Duo had been amazed by the sheer amount of people that had been there in the convention hall; he hadn't realized that there would be so many in attendance, but then again, it was one of the most famous science conventions everywhere. Still, he hadn't thought that it'd be crawling from top to bottom with people.

The opening speech had been from Rob Bollman, one of the most respected scientists who'd just become an emeritus in the University of L4. Bollman was responsible for research that had made great leaps and bounds towards a possible cure for Parkinson's disease. For someone who had been one of the highest mucky-mucks in the field according to Dr. J, Duo had been pleasantly surprised by his down-to-earth attitude; it was a welcome change from previous conventions where the opening speakers had spent time droning on and on while he could /feel/ their arrogance coming off of them like cartoon stink waves. With Bollman, both he and Heero had had their eyes riveted to the podium, the man had been so excited about his work, and even Moira perked up when he'd literally bounded onto the stage. For someone in his seventies, Rob Bollman was going to be around for a long, long time if his energy was any indication.

After that, the three of them had gone their separate ways, planning to meet up at one in the afternoon for lunch. Duo had been barraged almost immediately by the theorists from the top universities on Earth and the colonies, so all he could do was watch as Heero and Moira wandered off in opposite directions.

With the exception of two people, the theorists had been absolutely excruciating to talk to. Because it was a convention, they were all smiles, but every now and then, Duo got veiled remarks that tried to poke his research apart, like asking for viable results, or any evidence that he would happen to have on him that they could look at. He had to keep his tone pleasant and modulated while telling them that if they were that interested, they were more than welcome to attend the presentation he was giving on the last day. When he'd said that, one of them, a rotund man in his fifties, smirked and asked him if this was the first one that he'd given in his entire life. By the time Duo was through with them, he'd learned something else; pettiness never went away, no matter how old you got.

Never mind getting his research poked apart; Duo needed more than his fingers and toes to count how many jabs he'd gotten for discovering the cure for a disease at the age of thirty. Just before he'd managed to get through the crowd, an old woman pulled him aside with a tight little smile and whispered, "Don't let the bastards get you down, son."

Duo had smiled gratefully and said, "Thanks, I'll remember that," before rushing off to a lecture on his program that was starting down the hall, with the crowd following him. He'd only managed to glance at that one abstract in the schedule right after the opening speech before he'd been mobbed.

Now back in the hotel room, he snorted to himself. Maybe /he/ needed a disguise too, he thought, looking at Heero, who had just come out of the bathroom rubbing his eyes furiously.

"Contacts still bothering you?" Duo asked. "They're the soft kind, you know."

"I don't like them," Heero grumbled. He sat down on the edge of the bed that he and Duo shared, picking up his schedule on the nightstand.

"Looks like you really got around today, huh?" Duo scooted over, trying to look over Heero's shoulder. "Where did you go?"

His answer was an elbow to the ribs. "If you're patient, I'll let you see some handouts once I'm done. I haven't been able to read some of them yet, thanks to those stupid contacts. Did you know that I nearly tripped and fell down the stairs today?"

"What, because of your eyes?" Duo flopped onto his side and turned the TV on for the news. He decided that he could wait a little bit before hopping in for a shower and then heading off to bed. His hair felt like it could use a good rinsing.

"That, and wearing clothes that /don't fit/." Heero flopped an oversized sleeve in Duo's face. "Your size and mine are at least two apart."

Duo grinned, flopping it back. "At least you've grown. If you hadn't, I'd just put you in Moira's clothes. You two were about the same size for a while."

Heero punched Duo hard on the shoulder while Moira, who was on the other bed, looked up from her laptop and yelled, "Dad, that's /sick/!"

"Honey, I know you own at least one pair of pants that aren't bootcut and at least one shirt that's not form-fitting," Duo said, giving her a cursory glance in her direction before turning back to grin up at Heero.

"You wouldn't," Heero said dangerously as Moira howled in the background. His fist was up again, prepared to strike Duo if he said "Yes, I would." Duo gave him a level stare for a few seconds before shrugging and turning towards the TV screen.

"Well, not now, of course, but before you were a half-inch shorter than Moira, you know. I never saw you happier than the day you found out you could finally see over the top of her head," he said, ignoring yet another anguished squawk from his daughter. The TV was on commercial, displaying an ad for a local department store.

"It wasn't right," Heero muttered. At this point, he seemed really interested in his schedule for the lectures he'd attended, or, judging by some of the dates he'd circled within its numerous pages, would attend tomorrow. The lecture Duo had managed to go to before stumbling over to meet the others for lunch had talked about blue roses and how the researchers were trying to get them to grow in other shades beside sky blue. It had been interesting, to say the least, because so far, Relena had an entire bush of the things growing in her garden, and he knew that she'd be tickled to learn that they were planning on making more in different tones.

That, and it was also one of the only lectures he could attend that wasn't by someone who was a jealous prick due to his research.

Finally, the news came on, with a pretty Indian anchor lady at the desk reporting on a story about a scandal on L4; the local branch of Wong Industries had been caught in an embezzlement scheme that had possible leads to its home location on Earth. Wong was a company that dealt in Earth-colony trade. This wasn't the first time that they'd been caught in a scandal; two years ago they'd been nabbed for importing counterfeit food products.

At least they weren't covering the convention, Duo thought. He didn't need the media following him around too.

The report changed to the weather forecast. The weather machines with colonies were always random with rain and snow to create an Earth-like atmosphere, except there weren't any storms or tornadoes. If there was a blizzard, it meant that the weather machine needed to be fixed. As he'd spent more time on Earth, Duo had found the whole colony weather thing a bit crazy.

"So," he asked Heero, "what lectures did you attend today?"

Heero paused, picking up his notebook, also lying on the nightstand, and then riffling through it. "These," he said, pulling out a few handouts and giving them to Duo. He skimmed them, looking at the titles, and whistled. Heero had gotten a lot done with catching up; so far, the lectures he'd attended were the latest developments in botany and medicine. Duo knew that if he glanced at the notebook in Heero's hands, the pages would be filled from edge to edge with notes.

"How far have you caught up?" he asked. The news had now gone on to sports; but since they hadn't covered American football yet, Duo wasn't really paying attention.

"I can't say," Heero replied, absentmindedly. "There's still at least a ten year gap, but it's closing in. I learned a great deal, though, so I think I'll be prepared for retaking cert by April."

Duo nodded approvingly. "I didn't think you'd have much trouble. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to attend some lectures myself," he said. He groaned, as the TV displayed a fumble for one of the American football teams. "Oh, come on! You can do better than that!"

With that, the program ended, only to segue into the Late Show with Ron Holkins. Duo turned the TV off, because anything that came out of Ron's mouth was usually crap, along with the unfunniest stuff he'd seen in his life. He liked Erick Geffen a lot better, but that wasn't coming on for another hour, and he felt dead tired.

"You know, I sat in on a lecture that talked about the physics in football," Moira began. "It was pretty cool, but hunting down the assistants was really hard work."

"Terrific," Duo said, lurching off the bed and stumbling towards the bathroom. Man, was he ever exhausted. Tomorrow had /got/ to be better.

"I wasn't finished yet," Moira snapped.

******

Heero's hand was still gripping Moira's elbow as the two of them got to the hotel room, despite the girl's frequent attempts to break free. Even though it had taken some getting used to, he now saw that the extra height and weight that he had gained as an advantage; without either, there was no way he'd have been able to drag her all the way down one flight of stairs, out of the convention hall, down a few blocks to the hotel, and then up the elevator to their room.

"You can let me /go/ now," Moira grumbled, twisting her arm this way and that.

Heero waited until he'd unlocked the door before releasing her. She stalked past him and plopped down on the foot of her bed in a huff, rubbing her arm. "What the hell was that for?"

"You could have damaged your reputation. You know that," he said quietly, taking off his glasses.

"I didn't /say/ anything," Moira said peevishly, taking out her digital camera and scanning through the pictures on the tiny viewfinder screen on its back.

"Maybe not, but if I hadn't gotten there in time, you probably would have." He polished one of the lenses with the hem of his polo shirt and then shuffled into the bathroom. The contacts needed to come out /now/ because his eyes felt wretched. Heero hadn't even looked in the mirror yet, but he knew that they'd probably be bloodshot by now.

The lectures he'd attended today focused on the latest medical research; yesterday, he'd attended ones that had been more general-they'd just focused on biology as a whole. Tomorrow, he'd zone in further on the medical research, because that was when Duo was giving his lecture on curing what was now dubbed Yuy Disease, and while he'd had firsthand knowledge of what the whole thing was all about, Duo had had some notes on how this could lead to curing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which was a stronger variant of it.

Duo had said that they hadn't found out about the connection until about AC 212 or so, and that while they'd been able to develop a test to administer on babies for both diseases, there still wasn't a cure for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This was his next research project, and he'd asked Heero to partner up with him as soon as he'd been recertified.

Luckily, today's lectures had proven to be very enlightening and like yesterday, he'd gained a better understanding of what he'd been looking through in all those old science journals he'd gotten in the library or online on Duo's laptop. He'd taken so many notes that there was only a quarter of the notebook's pages left blank.

There. Now both the contacts were out and floating in their individual capsules, and he hadn't dropped one on the floor like yesterday. He'd found the missing lens hanging on the edge of the countertop, and almost forgot to clean it off before putting it in. Heero sighed in relief and rubbed his eyes. This was the last time he was wearing them, and the last time he'd be keeping the stubble on his chin; he wanted a shave, and badly.

Tomorrow, Duo was going to announce that he'd been revived shortly after the lecture. They'd both decided that was best because then it would keep mobs down to a minimum, though obviously, there would be at least one press conference with the media to contend with.

As for Moira, Heero had found her on the verge of a heated argument with one of the assistants from an astrophysics lecture. He'd come in right when said assistant, a man in his thirties, was making some crude remarks about Moira's age while she was trying to ask him some questions about the lecture with her handouts in front of her. She'd managed to keep calm for a while, but when the guy had told her to go back to kindergarten and leave the big kids' sandbox, Heero noticed her entire body tense, like a coiled spring. That was when he made his way through, grabbed Moira and muttered, "Let's go" before turning the other way and taking her along with him.

It was a good thing that he'd gotten there in time before she'd come up with a smart-aleck retort; much as that man deserved it-and he did-Moira couldn't risk damaging her reputation this early, even though she'd been trying very hard to keep a low profile here with who her parents were. Of course, Moira hadn't appreciated it at all. She'd muttered angrily about how she was able to take care of herself the entire way back. And maybe she /would/ have been able to, but it wasn't something Heero wanted to risk at this point.

"See me jump through hoops for you, you stand there watching me performing...what exactly do you do..." Heero had heard Moira playing that song on her guitar often, while she was taking a study break. Of course, now she was listening to it on the Seashell and singing along; he'd seen that, along with the compact stack of mp3 sticks, in her bag when they'd left for the spaceport.

The door to the bedroom slid open, and he heard Duo come in with a loud, satisfied "Ahhhh."

"You're back," Heero said.

"That I am, and it's been a better day than yesterday." Duo walked into the bathroom, putting his hands on Heero's shoulders and massaging them. "I talked to business people, and when they weren't trying to compete for my attention, they were terrific. I've got more offers than I know what to do with."

"Are you going to take any of th-ow, that hurts." Heero winced; Duo's fingers were pressing too deeply into his shoulders.

"Sorry." Duo grinned sheepishly and lightened the pressure. "I still need to look over what I got and then decide, you know? Got approached by universities and private companies, and the amounts they're offering for funding are unbelievable. The best part, though, was that I got to attend more than one lecture today. Finally!" He grinned again, ear-to-ear, and gave Heero an enthusiastic bear hug.

Once he could breathe again, Heero asked, "Will there be time for you to prepare for yours tomorrow?"

"My what? Oh, my /lecture/. Yeah, I don't see why not. I'll need to go over my notes tonight, but I don't present until about five tomorrow, and I've got until then to prepare, really. I think I can do it." Duo shrugged. "I want to look over the notes on the lectures I attended today first, though. So, what about you? I suppose you're enjoying the con."

"It was like yesterday. I covered a lot of ground. If you want, you can take a look at my notes, they're inside the schedule on the nightstand."

"Oooh, I think I'll do that, then we can go to dinner." Duo rubbed his hands together excitedly and left the bathroom.

"When can I shave?" Heero rubbed his chin, scowling at his reflection in the mirror; even though he'd gone unshaven for five days, there wasn't /that/ much growth, but it was definitely visible and definitely irritating.

"Not now," Duo said from outside. He could hear him flipping the schedule's pages rapidly. "You can go without the contacts, I think, but keep the beard until we get back from dinner unless you're planning to use the pool or take a walk around the hotel."

"That'll do."

"Good. Give me some time to look over these and we'll pick a place to eat." The mattress creaked as he heard Duo sit down and lean back. A glance at his watch told Heero that if Duo wanted to have time to go over notes for tomorrow's lecture, they had to start looking for a restaurant in thirty-five minutes.

******

"I'm so glad that's over with," Duo said, putting down his glass of water after taking a long, deep drink. "I thought they'd never let us out of that convention hall. You'd think that one press conference would have made `em happy, but..."

"At least we /got/ out," Heero pointed out. Duo groaned, glancing at the dark sky outside their window. It was almost ten and they'd just finished eating; that's how late the mobs had kept them. He'd nearly passed out from hunger when they'd entered the restaurant in the hotel, and the other two hadn't been much better. In fact, Moira had pretty much collapsed face first at the table once they'd found seats.

"Yeah, well, I hope that's it." Duo leaned back in his chair. The mobbing had reached its peak on the last day of the con, and he hadn't fully realized it until he saw the lecture hall packed from corner to corner with audience members, and probably a lot more outside trying to hear him.

The lecture itself went off without a hitch. He'd been a bit nervous, especially after the other scientists were at least ten to twenty years older and giving him the evil eye. Duo would have thought he'd imagined it if he hadn't known any better. And of course, most of them had to be sitting in the front row with a look that said, "I'm watching you, Maxwell."

But then he spotted the theorist who'd talked to him on the first day sitting in one of the middle rows and remembered what she'd told him. Then he'd spotted Heero a few rows behind her and finally decided that whatever a few bitter old men and women thought wasn't worth a damn.

He'd planned two and a half hours for the lecture: one and a half for the lecture itself and the remaining hour for the question and answer session. The lecture had sped by, since he'd spent forever earlier today going over and over things again, making sure the projection equipment worked, and formulating answers to any odd questions that could come up. The real thing made him feel like he was doing it in his sleep. Even now he couldn't really remember what it was like up there. The same could be said for the question and answer session. He could weep with joy over how smoothly it went. Even the old bastards in the front didn't give him any trouble.

No, it was the announcement of Heero's revival that had started causing the ruckus. They had both braced themselves for the reaction among those present, but it still was, as a dazed Moira put it, "absofuckinglutely batshit insane." Once they'd managed to get out of the lecture hall, there'd been an ocean of people barraging them with so many questions that Duo couldn't understand anything. He felt like he'd get knocked down by the sheer amount of sound that these people produced if not trampled outright.

Within an hour they'd already had the major news networks staging a press conference. After an hour, though, Heero had had enough and broke it off. The three of them had to literally swim through the crowd to get to an exit and haul ass to the hotel, where, thankfully, they finally got to eat some dinner at nine.

They'd known that there was going to be a press conference, but Duo had somehow forgotten what a pain in the ass they could be. There was something very irritating about having to answer the same questions over and over again for different people. Duo couldn't blame Heero for ending it so abruptly. While he'd gotten less spontaneously aggressive with age, by the time the interviews were over he was ready to hit something. The only thing preventing that from actually happening was the imaginary headline "Maxwell Goes Berserk At Press Conference" flashing in his head.

The waitress came by to pick up their empty plates. After she left, Duo rose from the table and headed to the card swiper next to the entrance, taking out the labs' payment card and sliding it through. The total that appeared on the swiper display made him flinch; he was damn glad that this wasn't on his own tab, because while they hadn't had any choice for where to eat, it was a hell of a lot more than he'd ever be prepared to pay for.

He waved Heero and Moira over from their table. Now they could go back to their room, but there was still the issue of packing. They had to leave for the spaceport at nine in the morning, so everything had to be done tonight.

******

Of course, Duo hadn't counted on Moira immediately locking herself in the bathroom, only to emerge in a huge plush bathrobe with an equally plush towel over her arm.

"Stop right there, kiddo. Where do you think /you're/ going?"

Moira exhaled loudly in that way only teenagers-or those who thought they were still teenagers-could, and said, "To the hot tub. I thought I'd soak in it before it closes."

"Honey," Duo began, "we need to pack, because tomorrow morning we're going straight for the spaceport. We don't have much time."

"I can pack my things in less than half an hour, so don't worry about /me/," Moira retorted, one hand on her hip.

"Moira-"

"Look, it's been a hard day for everyone here. And I know you're going to say that you and Papa had it the worst. But in case you've forgotten, I'm still here and I was still involved in all the chaos that ensued, and I am /tired/," Moira said, clenching both fists. "I have been quiet about this whole thing, not really complaining about it even though I /told/ you that I was in need of a break from college. Well, this is the only time I'm going to have it before I go back to my labs, classes and nine-to-five schedule, and I'm taking it /now/." She stabbed a finger at the ground.

"I've gotten contacts, I've learned more about physics, so yes, I do appreciate the educational value of the con, but if I don't get to soak in that hot tub there is going to be hell to pay, so help me /God/." With that, she spun on her heel and stomped out of their room, leaving Duo dumbfounded.

"That's the most I've heard her talk since we came here," Heero said dryly, going to the doorway. He'd apparently been quietly packing during the whole thing; Duo saw the sleeves of a shirt tossed over his forearms.

"It'll blow over," he finally said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just watch, she'll come back all relaxed from the hot tub and pack and it'll be like the whole thing never happened. Speaking of relaxing," he took the shirt from Heero, "why don't you let me pack? Go take a nice shower or something. You deserve it."

"Duo..."

"C'mon," Duo pushed Heero towards the bathroom. "Leave it to me. I'll be fine, honest."

He'd be damn fine. The convention was finally over, leaving the knowledge that he'd never have to do that again for a long time in its wake.