<b><u><font size=+1><center>LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST </b></u></font>
By Stella and the Black Rose</center>
AN: I know. You all thought we had died, or forgot, didn't you? Well, this chapter is so delayed because it's all Stella's fault. Yep. All hers. I sent it back in May, mostly written, just waiting on a simple scene. And she sends it back in December, still minus that same scene. You just can't get good help these days.
Stella: Yeah, I know. I have the same problem with Across Enemy Lines.
Rose: *whistles and looks at ceiling* Uhhhhhh.
So, as I was saying. We've had a lot of real life issues come up between the two of us, that I'm sure you'd rather not hear about and get on with the fic. Right? Right. Gotta run!
Stella: Oh no you don't! *chases after Rose*
Thanks for reading, guys! Love, Stella and Rose
PS - Happy birthday to Stefy and Eli. I know, super late, and I'm sure I owe you another chapter of something for the delay, but ummmmm.it's a start?
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Disclaimer: There is a bit of lime scattered throughout. PG-13 rating (for use of the words 'breasts' and 'nuzzle' and 'coffee', though not together and not in that order)
Chapter 13
She was wearing that white satin nightgown that he hadn't had time to fully appreciate the first time she wore it, only it seemed a bit shorter, and more translucent. He could vaguely make out the curve of her breasts through the silken fabric and felt his body tighten with anticipation for the words that would fall from her beautiful lips.
"It's time. I've waited so long, and I can't wait another moment." Relena's voice breathed in a husky tone as she floated towards his prone position on the bed. In an instant, she was on top of him, her scent drugging his senses as his hands traveled over her soft curves and pliant form. They lay there afterwards, she was trembling in his arms and whispering admissions of her love. He smiled, and moved his arm to pull her closer. It came up empty.
Heero shot upright in his bed, his gaze quickly finding what he was seeking - the soft glow of light playing on golden hair and wide, laughing green eyes..He let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. <i>Wait a minute, GREEN EYES?</i> He blinked.
"What the hell do you want, Vash?"
* * * * *
Quatre sipped his tea and sent a wary look in the direction of Heero's bedroom. Vash had gone in there five minutes ago to wake the sleeping company president and ask him to come out here so they all could talk.
<i>"Don't worry," the lanky blond had told them. "I'm gonna give him a nice little wake up call, bring him a cup of coffee. ya know, gently prepare him for what we all have to say. I know we're not very happy with him right now, but we're all still friends. And who knows? Maybe he just needed to sleep on it and he'll realize what an idiot he's been."
Quatre gave him a look. "You really think that's possible?"
Vash shrugged and started towards the bedrooms. "Stranger things have happened." Without a backward glance the tester threw open the door and marched inside while the CFO was left to hold his breath. </i>
One minute passed. And then another. Could it be that Vash and Heero were having a nice, civilized discussion about the pact and PCC and all the things that GLLC partners had yet to discuss? Quatre's eyes darted around their small apartment. It really was. too quiet.
Van sat across the table, shuffling and folding this morning's edition of <i>The Wall Street Journal. </i> There was a smile on the marketing VP's face. Quatre felt pretty certain that it didn't have anything to do with the stories on the neatly printed pages. The CFO suddenly felt a rush of heat move across his cheeks and he lowered his gaze back to his tea cup. He had a reason to smile, too.
"How's the war injury, Quatre?"
"Hm?"
Van glanced over his newspaper. "The bump on your head from last night. How do you feel?"
"Oh, the stitches hurt a bit, but I'm ok, thanks."
The marketing VP gave his friend a wide grin. "I didn't get the chance to tell you, but it was beautiful when you broke that idiot Kaduo's sunglasses."
"It was?" In a flash, Quatre flipped through mental images of the hacker/playboy talking to Dorothy. Dancing with Dorothy. TOUCHING Dorothy at the PCC charity ball. A slow smile krept across the blond's features. "Yeah. It was, wasn't it?"
Without warning, a loud crash accompanied by screams and swearing funneled down the hallway and into the kitchen. Quatre jumped up from his place at the table, staring wide-eyed at the source of the noise while Van simply turned to the NASDAQ reports and lazily inched his fingers towards a mug of coffee.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Quatre asked, having to nearly yell to be heard over the rapidly increasing racket. "Maybe if we all went in and-"
"Come on, boss, don't shoot the messenger!" Vash screamed. A series of dull thuds followed and the tester spoke up again. "We just want to talk."
Quatre winced as another barrage of what sounded like very heavy objects rattled the apartment.
"Aw, boss. Come on. I even brought you a nice cup of coffee."
Quatre scooted back from the table and looked from Van to the end of the hall. "Poor Vash. Shouldn't we at least try to help him?"
"Eh, he can handle it." Van got up and poured himself another cup of coffee without so much as a glance in the direction of the racket. "I have the utmost faith in him."
Quatre blinked. "In Vash?"
Van nodded as another series of shrieks echoed through the rooms. "Besides - better him than us."
* * * * *
The abused messenger could have sworn the walls shook. Vash squinted through the dim morning light of Heero's bedroom, half-expecting the company president to start spewing fire. "Sheesh, I just came in here to wake you up. Sor-ree!"
"Get out!"
Vash jumped. Again. "Man, you are one horrible grouch when you wake up. I always thought Van was joking."
"Get the hell out, now!" Heero's eyes blazed despite their tired appearance. With his sleep-mussed hair and gnashed teeth the overall effect was frightening. The tester took a step back. Vash couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that it was going to get a whole lot scarier.
"You have until the count of ten." The sound of his friend's sleepy voice was on a level far above just 'irritated.' "One."
"All right, all right, I'm going. Damn, you need a woman, Yuy. ARGH!" Vash ducked as a host of computer tools flew by in quick succession - three screwdrivers, a pair of wire cutters and a ratchet. Thinking the coast was clear, he picked himself off the floor, and began dusting off his pants leg, only to dive back to the ground a second later as all the ratchet heads launched themselves across the room. They bounced off the wall and then rained down on his head and upper back, evoking several groans from the spiky haired blond. He sat up and threw his friend a black look, only to see him unplugging the alarm clock for more ammunition.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Vash shouted and lunged into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him just in time to hear the timepiece shatter into a million pieces. "Damn he throws hard. That was a close one. No wonder Van and Quatre sent me in to wake him up. It's hazardous for your health!"
He stood up from where he had been leaning against the door and took a step towards the kitchen, his hand coming up to rub a sore spot on the back of his neck - where one of the ratchet heads had landed a few moments before. A thought registered in his mind and he stopped, throwing a quick glance back at his friend's door. "Ah, well, can't really blame him, I suppose. I'm not anywhere near as pretty as Relena." His grin widened a bit before he set off whistling down the hallway.
"Good thing I didn't tell him he talks in his sleep, or I'd really be a dead man."
* * * * * *
Blurry shapes rested in various positions about the living room. One with dark hair sat on the couch, an obvious scowl aimed directly at Heero. There were two blond haired shapes in the chair near the window, and a taller, blond shape just outside the kitchen. Heero blinked. One, two-three, four. The software exec shook his head and the two shapes in the chair became Quatre. He wore a scowl that matched the darker blur Heero identified as Van.
Van spoke first. "So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence?"
"Hn." The software mogul took a staggering step towards the kitchen.
"Ah. I know, a certain blond VP kept you up all night? You came to your senses and went back, begging at her door?" The tall blur named Vash grinned down at him. Heero glared back. "You can deny it all you want, but I'm not buying it."
"Deny what?" Heero stumbled passed him to the kitchen.
Vash turned and followed, still grinning all the way. "That you're in love with her."
The software mogul froze in his tracks. A tremor rolled through his body and he felt his jaw tighten. "It's Sunday." He cast a fierce look at his friend from the corner of his eye. "I have to wait until tomorrow to have the papers severing our partnership drawn up."
Vash shrugged, opened the fridge, bent down, and the top half of his body disappeared inside the appliance. It looked like he was trying to climb inside.
"Ha. That's fine." The tester's muffled voice laughed. He emerged with a slice of pizza, which he folded and began to devour.
"I made my moice," Vash chewed around the food in his mouth while wagging the remainder of the snack at his friend. Heero shot him a look. The tester blanched, swallowed, then continued his scolding.
"and I'm not afraid of the consequences. Can you say the same?"
"You don't know what you're talking about." Heero pivoted and bent over the sink; he turned the water on and splashed cool liquid over his face.
"Oh, I don't, do I? I think you're the one that doesn't know, Heero."
The software exec continued to ignore his tall friend's angry rambling. He reached for a paper towel to dry his cheeks while Vash continued to buzz around him like a gnat.
"You're in love with her, Heero. Anyone with two eyes can see it. Except maybe for her. And you're not even going to tell her?"
Heero closed his eyes and kept the paper towel pressed against his face. "What's the point?"
"What do you mean..Heero, it's over. You won. You get all our shares and now you can go get your girl. Why are you still being stubborn?"
"This wasn't a game, Vash." The software exec stood up and turned away. He balled the paper towel up in one fist. The sound of Vash letting out a breath made him flinch.
"Don't tell me you're still."
Heero marched back out of the kitchen. "Just because the rest of you broke it, doesn't mean it's all right for me--"
"What are you, out of your mind?" Vash shouted from only a few steps behind him. "Do you think she's going to wait three years for you?"
Heero tightened his fist. "This isn't about her."
"Well, it should be. You're an idiot if you let her go."
An image of her - from last night.or was it from his dream - appeared in his mind. Heero snarled and willed it to go away. "Thanks for your concern. But the only idiots here are the ones throwing away everything they've worked for, for dates with Vash's flavor of the week." He hurled the paper towel at the trash can and stomped towards the hall, passed his other scowling partners, and into his room.
"She's not like the rest of them! I'll prove it to you! I'm...I'm going to marry her, and then you'll... Geez, you're hopeless."
Heero leaned back against the door to his room, listening to his friend's protests die away.
<i>"I'm going to marry her."
"Do you think she's going to wait three years for you?"
"I'm not afraid of the consequences. Can you say the same?"</i>
He shook his head and pushed away from the door. "Who's really the idiot? Them? Or me?"
* * * * * *
Hitomi hummed and flitted about the apartment, making sure the finishing touches were on dinner for the evening. It was early, and Van was coming over. Her cheeks grew warm at the thought that he might not leave until the next morning.. Again.
<i>She hadn't meant to invite him in. The words just slipped out before she could stop them. "Would you like to come in? I could.make some coffee."
"I'd like that." Van smiled and his eyes seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. Hitomi swallowed back her nervousness and unlocked the door.
He stepped in behind her and she felt his palms come to rest on her shoulders. They smoothed down her arms and pulled her back into his embrace; Van's head bent down to nuzzle her neck.
"Hitomi, I." His hands moved across the fabric of her dress, holding her tighter. Hitomi's breath caught and her pulse raced.
"I have a confession." His palms moved up, tracing the lines of her ribcage as his mouth nibbled at the side of her neck. Her head lolled back against his shoulder and she closed her eyes. One of his hands stopped just below the swell of her breast, while the other traveled down to her leg. He finished kissing his way up to her jaw. His breath hushed against her ear and sent a million tiny shivers through her body.
"I didn't come in for the coffee." </i>
The doorbell rang, and Hitomi jumped. She quickly placed the bread on the table and dashed towards the door. Trying to be casual, she opened it to reveal a smiling Van holding a dozen red roses. Without a word, he handed them to her and closed the wood panel behind him.
"Van, they're beautiful."
To her surprise, his smile disappeared. He opened his mouth to say something, but then appeared to change his mind.
"What's wrong?"
"Just.just read it." He turned and sat down on the couch; the marketing VP placed his hands on either side of his head.
"Hitomi,
I should have said this last night: I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being dishonest with you. I'm sorry for hurting you. But most of all, I'm sorry for not telling you how much you mean to me.
I love you.
Forgive me?
Van"
Hitomi smiled and sat down next to him on the couch. She placed the roses on the table and put a hand on his shoulder. He made no movement as the girl leaned in close to whisper in his ear.
"No."
His hands dropped to his lap and he turned to stare at her. She grinned. "But how about I'll let you make it up to me?"
* * * * * *
Moonlight streamed in through the window and lit the bedroom where Hitomi snuggled nice and toasty warm, despite the winter chill outside, closer to Van. His skin was still feverish despite the fact that their exertion had ended a good half hour before. She smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're a human heater, I swear."
Van smirked. "I wish. It would come in handy in this weather." He rolled over and pulled her tight against him.
<i>"What's the weather like outside?"
"Rel, why are you avoiding the question?"
"What question? I'm the one that just asked you about the weather. The news report said it might snow."</i>
Hitomi sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." Hitomi laid her forehead against his bare chest and breathed in his scent. It was warm and soothing. It made her feel better despite her worries for her friend.
"You sure? That definitely wasn't a sigh of contentment. Did I do something wrong?"
She looked up and met his gaze. "No, no, it's not you."
"But it's someone."
"Yeah, I guess. Your soon to be ex-boss."
Van groaned and flopped his head back down into the pillow. "I should have guessed."
"He's done something or said something. She was.different today."
Van sat up in the bed. "She didn't tell you?"
Hitomi shook her head. "That's the thing - she doesn't usually hide anything from me or Dorothy - we've been friends for years. But I can't get a word out of her that's not business related. It's strange."
"Hm."
A lump caught in Hitomi's throat. "She really didn't need this, too. She's got enough to worry about."
"Yeah, the launch is coming up," Van murmured.
"That, too." Her eyes burned and her skin went cold all over. Milliardo's condition was supposed to be a secret, but.
She could feel Van's eyes searching her face. "Hitomi? Hitomi, what is it?"
"I just wish there was something we could do." She buried her face into his shoulder and blinked back tears. "Can you talk to him?"
Van pulled his arm away from her to wrap it around Hitomi's waist. A scowl had settled across his features. "He's in stubborn mode. I can try, but I don't know that it'll do a lot of good."
"She really deserves to be happy for once." Hitomi looked away and took a deep breath. <i>To tell him or not tell him...</i>
Van sighed and cuddled her closer. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
She pulled away and looked him in the eye. "No, Van, I don't think you do..."
* * * * * *
Relena stared out the window at the New York skyline and felt.nothing. She was numb, completely numb. She'd passed worn and frazzled, and even left exhausted in her bed at home. She was beyond it all, and even looking at the picture of her and her brother that she kept on her desk..
She picked it up, and stared at the image of the two of them. They were so young. She had been fifteen, just out of braces, and he had been home from college that winter - working with their uncle to learn the ropes of the family business. They had gotten their picture taken together for gifts to give to their parents and other relatives. The kind that always complained about young people who never came to visit.
She had only reluctantly agreed to have her picture taken. Milliard had settled on the idea. Relena wanted to knit potholders or buy bubble bath or something, anything, that wouldn't seem so self-gratifying.
<i>"You don't find that arrogant?"
"Relena. These people are aunts and uncles and relatives with the words great and grand in front of them. They have everything but time to visit us. It eases their guilt complex to have a picture of what we look like just so they can say 'oh, look how much she's grown' to other old people who ask our names."
"I see."
"Besides. A picture of you is a gift to the rest of us. It's just me who shouldn't get too cocky."</i>
A tear landed on the glass of the picture. <i>My brother...</i> Another drop fell and joined the first. Then another. She let go and brought both hands up to cover her face.
<i>If I hadn't promised you... If this company wasn't so important to you... I hope, I hope you know that I'd be there with you. I'd rather be there with you.</i>
She laid her head on the pillow of her arms and cried.
<i>I'd rather be with you.</i>
Sometime later, she picked herself up off the desk and made a pathetic attempt to repair her makeup. She clicked her compact shut and placed it back in the drawer. She had just shut it, and turned back to her pc when a sharp knock at the door caused her to practically jump out of her seat.
"Y- yes?"
Quatre's blond head poked into the room. "Relena, may we come in?"
Relena glanced up and counted two more guests: the dark hair and scowl of Van Fanel and Vash's towering silhouette. The tester grinned and waved. At least they hadn't brought Washington's best candidate for Jerk of the Millennium with them. She sighed. The VP had already had an unproductive morning - what difference would a few more minutes make?
"I'm pretty busy, but I'll always have a second for you guys," she said with a weak attempt at a smile. "Come in."
"We won't take up much of your time," Van said as he pulled up a seat. Quatre sat next to him, and Vash turned a third chair around backwards and straddled it. The lone dark-haired man glared up at his friend. Vash ignored him, propped his arms up on the back of his chair and settled his chin on his hands.
A long silence ensued. Relena busied her hands with shuffling some papers on her desk. Van coughed; Quatre crossed his legs. The PCC executive sighed, again. "So, what can I do for you?"
Vash's head bobbed up. "I think it's more what we can do for you." He smiled and his green eyes twinkled.
"Uh-huh. I don't really need any favors, thanks for the offer." She shuffled a few pages and then racked them against the top of her desk.
Vash's gloved finger traced a line on his chair. "Miss Relena, you see the pact, um, what Heero told you."
She winced and hoped no one saw it.
"It wasn't a lie."
Her head snapped up. "Excuse me?"
Van spoke up for the first time. "We really had a pact. And we're really losing our shares. Heero's a stubborn son of a bitch, but the rest of us have thrown in the towel."
Relena blinked and met his gaze. Brown eyes glittered beneath his mop of dark hair. She looked away.
"I see. And this is supposed to mean what to me?"
"He's in love with you. I.don't know really what else there is to say about that. But we thought you should know," Quatre said.
"Even if he is a stubborn ass," Van added.
"I appreciate your concern, but that piece of information means nothing to me. If that's all you came to tell me." She swallowed and was glad the others couldn't hear the heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Vash stood up from his seat and went around the side of her desk. His gloved hand turned her chin up towards him. "Relena, the heart is very tender, and easily wounded. I understand why your defenses are so tough, but I don't believe you don't care for him."
She pulled away and spun to face her computer. "I don't really have time for this. The launch is coming up, and with the time your." She ground her teeth together and couldn't force herself to say his name. ".former employer wasted, it's put us behind schedule."
The tester rose to his feet and leaned over her desk. "Maybe we can convince him to sign the contract and make the code revisions?" Vash somehow managed to sound like he wasn't talking about moving a boulder made of granite with two hands.
Relena shook her had. Van snorted from across the way. "You know that he won't."
"Maybe he will." The tallest blond turned back to Relena. "Relena, if I can get him to agree, will you give him another chance?"
"Vash, you shouldn't." Quatre's protest was drowned out by Van's much louder one as the marketing VP shot to his feet.
"I thought we.."
Vash's expression turned solemn. "We did. But you know as well as I do, if he won't make the code revisions, it's a meaningless effort."
"He didn't send you here?" Relena glanced over at the group of men still in her office. Van shoved his taller friend back a few steps then sat back down in his own chair.
"Are you kidding? He'd kill us all if he knew we were here."
Hope she didn't know she had been holding onto deflated. <i> He really didn't send them. He really doesn't care.</i>
Quatre's voice floated back to the top of her thoughts:
<i>"He's in love with you." </i>
She met the blond accountant's gaze from across her desk. He smiled and nodded as if he had somehow guessed her thoughts. She turned to Van and Vash. "If he really wants another chance, contract or no contract.."
Vash's whole face turned into a smile. "You're a wonderful lady." He bounded around the desk in two steps, grabbed her around the waist, and squeezed all the air from Relena's lungs.
The sour-faced marketing VP never changed expression. "Too good for him, really."
"Van! He's still our friend," Quatre said.
"Yes, and as his friend, she's too good for him, really."
"Never mind that." Vash finally let go of his hostage. She coughed as she tried to regain her breath. She blinked up at the tester, then looked at each of the men in turn. "Was there something else? I'm sorry to be rude, but I do have things to do."
Vash sat down. Quatre opened his briefcase and began shuffling papers. She glanced again from one to the other as Van continued to stand, shifting his weight from toe to toe.
"We brought you something.."
* * * * * *
Heero trudged into the lobby area of the Lion's Gate apartments and found himself wondering for not the first time that day - more like the five hundred and thirty-second time - what the hell he was doing there. He hated his classes. They were boring. The professors. most of them either resented him or admired him. The rest flat out didn't give a damn. He preferred the last option, to be honest, but even that wasn't ideal. They still KNEW him or of him, and either were out to show they weren't going to treat him different from any other student, or had decided that it was their mission in life to humble him.
And all of them, absolutely all of them, were incredibly boring, uptight windbags in love with the sound of their own voices. Heero scowled and flung open the door to the apartment.
The sight of all three of his friend gathered around the kitchen table, apparently waiting for him to arrive home, startled him from his gloomy train of thought. He stared at his soon-to-be-former business partners for a few moments, then shook his head. "You're all here."
Vash grinned. "Hey boss! How was school?"
"Hn." The software mogul turned away from his too-damned-cheerful friend to hang up his coat.
"That good, huh?"
"Vash, do you think you can not annoy me for about twenty minutes?"
"No. Because I know that what I'm.we're about to tell you isn't going to make you very happy. But, at this point, I think making you happy is a lost cause anyway."
Heero closed his eyes and slowly turned back to face his friends. They all looked.anxious. Van stared at the door; Quatre doodled on a notepad; Vash kept going.
"We have a last action that we took this afternoon, on behalf of the company. I believe you should be aware of the details."
The words would have made Heero's blood run cold if he wasn't still freezing from the walk home. Instead it just made him really really want to hurt Vash. A lot. "So help me."
"We signed the licensing contract with PCC and had it filed immediately." Quatre's quiet voice beat the loudmouth to the punch.
"You what?" Heero's briefcase hit the ground with a loud clatter.
Quatre glanced up and finally met his eyes. There was no sense of apology there, more like.a challenge?
"Executive decision. We met with Relena and she convinced us beyond a doubt that this was what was best for both our companies." Van's voice remained even and steady as he spoke. Heero's glare flitted from Quatre to Van, and got the same response. Defiance. What the hell? Had they all gone crazy?
"Oh, there was one tiny adjustment that we decided to make." Vash, the instigator, Heero was sure of it, piped up.
"Actually, it was our suggestion," Quatre said.
"Yeah, it took a bit of persuasion on our part to get her to accept it." A smirk formed on Van's face.
"I'm going to strangle you. All of you."
Vash, as usual, was seemingly unfazed by the threat. "See, in the version you two last discussed, the changes were going to be assigned to a group of developers in Seattle."
"We convinced her to go back to the original proposal," Van cut in, "where you made all the changes yourself and reported directly to her."
"You have no authority." Warm air hissed between his lips. He could feel the angry heat start to pulse through his body.
"No one has signed the dissolution papers, yet," Van said. Heero's heart lurched dangerously close to a dead stop. "We have all the authority as full partners until those documents are signed and filed."
Heero felt about ready to collapse. He leaned backwards onto the countertop and just stared at his friends. Vash sauntered up to his side and smiled widely, like he was trying too hard not to laugh. Heero scowled up at the lanky blond. "Is this a joke?"
"No. But you haven't heard the best part, yet."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Something that will make me want to kill you twice?"
Vash continued to grin while he rocked on his heels. "I doubt it. I think you'll like this part."
"Try me."
"If you get the revisions done on time and to her satisfaction, she's willing to let you take her out to dinner, and try to make things up to her," Quatre spoke up from across the room.
"Better be a quick study in how to satisfy a woman, Heero," Van called from his place at the table.
"Make things up to her?"
Vash nodded and draped an arm around Heero's sagging shoulders. "Yes, you have some groveling to do, friend. Kissing Relena and then telling her you can't see her because you swore off women for three years.She's kinda not real happy about that."
"Of course it did wonders for your case that we confirmed the existence of the pact," Van said.
Heero let out the breath he had been holding. "Give me one reason I shouldn't throttle you where you stand?"
"Because there's no conjugal visits on death row - unless you consider being raped by Big Ted a pleasure."
Heero glared at Vash. "There's only two weeks until their launch."
"You can get the changes done. I looked over the specs Relena gave us. You could use some help in test, though."
"I have classes.."
"You hate your classes," Vash snorted.
Heero frowned. "How would you know?"
"Because you've always hated going to class," Van said. "Why you thought going to college was the answer to everything, I have no idea. That's why we formed this company, to avoid having to listen to stuffed shirt professors teaching us about out-dated technology, just so they could listen to the sound of their own voice."
"And besides," Vash added. "If you're not going to do it, you're going to have to call Relena and tell her."
"Go on, Heero, break her heart again." Quatre held out the phone.
"You've done such a bang up job already." Van's voice jeered.
Heero snatched the phone from Quatre's hand. "I will."
"Hey, before you do, there's something else you might want to know." Vash put his hands up behind his head in a carefree manner.
Heero raked his eyes over his friend. "What's that?"
"Her company's on the line on this one. They had a bad year, and some other financial setbacks - primarily due to lack of leadership and a downturn in the economy."
Heero shrugged. "Sounds like Zechs's problem." He started dialing her number.
"It would be if he were CEO."
"What?" A loud beep sounded in his ear as his finger pressed a wrong key.
"He's not acting CEO any longer. I had Meryl do some checking. She's really cute when she does her investigating thing." Vash smiled, turning a little pink. "Anyway, they kept it quiet, but Milliardo Peacecraft turned the company over to his little sister four months ago.. When he stopped responding to his cancer treatments."
"Bally's bait and tackle. Home of the tasty barbeque flavored worm! Guaranteed to catch-" Heero hastily hung up the phone.
Van crossed his arms and glared from his place at the table. "Still want to make that call, Heero?"
"It's none of my concern." Heero took a step back. "This is business."
Van shook his head. "You'll let her lose everything, then."
"She needs you." Quatre added. "Your help."
"I." He lost the words he was going to say. Cancer. She was losing her brother. That was why she had had to rush off to Seattle. That was why she had looked like she was about to cry. That was why--
"She loves you."
His head jerked up. "She what?"
Vash grinned. "Well, duh. Why else would she put up with you and be willing to forgive you?"
Heero looked away. He couldn't quite place the feeling that was coursing through his body. "Hn."
Vash shook his head. "I'll take that as you love her, too."
Love her, too. He couldn't deny that anymore. He was tired of denying it to everyone, even himself. But how could he say it? How could he express it? He glanced up to see three pairs of amused eyes staring at him and scowled."I'm still going through with the paperwork once the revisions are complete." Heero said in a clipped tone, leveling his most threatening gaze at the spiky-haired tester.
"Is that your way of asking for our help?"
"You got me into this mess."
Vash rose to his full height and stared down at the shorter man. "How did we get you into it? You chose to swear off women for three years and then fall in love with one of our clients. I don't remember anyone putting a gun to your head."
"Vash." Quatre said in a tone similar to one he would use when chiding a two year old.
The taller of the two blond men huffed, crossed his arms, and stuck his nose up in the air. "All right, all right, we'll help. Sheesh, I can't stand to watch you beg."
Heero's three friends closed in around him, all of them smiling widely despite the serious expression he knew was etched in his features. He had lost, but he didn't have to let them think he was happy about it. "You're overclocked beyond your threshold."
Van and Quatre looked at each other, then to Heero and Vash. "Uh, translation for us non-geeks?"
"Skating on thin ice," The tester explained.
"Skating on no ice," Heero growled. "I don't suppose they're offering to let us borrow one of these Epyon servers?"
Vash smirked and switched on the pc in the living room. "It's being delivered first thing in the morning. Shall we order a pizza and get to work?"
*******
Thanks so much for reading! *hugs*
Numena and Angel are faster readers than i am, hahaha...love ya guys.