There's No Such Word as Won't (Chapter 8)
Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2003 4:01 am
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, don't have money, so don't sue me.
Authoress notes: Thank you again for posting! I told you I would make this something very confusing indeed... *blinks* Or did I? I am very sorry this is late... but there were a lot of other distracting things... *glares at p03*
Warnings: I have decided from now on that warnings are utterly stupid and completely useless. There. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.
There's No Such Word as Won't
Chapter 8
Heero winced as his injured stomach gave another twitch of pain. But at least, the pain had lessened. The doctors had said (even if Duo had to drag him down to the hospital, he still found the information useful) that it would be healed in twenty-four hours.
Duo stretched luxuriously in his seat and grinned at him, but before he could say anything, the video phone rang. He accepted it without even looking at the number. Heero swiveled around in his chair to watch the screen flicker as it connected. He had been trapped in Duo's office for hours - with the stoic Trowa glancing at them every few moments from behind his desk - as Duo had insisted. Yet, he had no clue why.
"Trowa, would you mind leaving us for a few minutes?" Duo asked, his eyes on the screen. "After all, all's fair in love and war, right?"
Trowa got up silently from his chair, apparently feeling no need to waste words. He closed the door quietly behind him, and the latch clicked just as the video screen gave a final flicker and came to life with Wufei's scowling face.
"Chang." Heero's voice sounded. Wufei glared at him, but the glare immediately shrunk as Heero glared back. Duo snickered, but when Wufei's black eyes rounded on him, his laughing stopped abruptly, and the braided boy cleared his throat.
"Report?" he asked.
"Winner reported that phase two is complete." Wufei glanced curtly at Heero. "Phase one is no use anymore since Yuy decided to join the team to get his onna." He moved his eyes away and instead stared at a point somewhere between the two men. "Catalonia has planted an idea in Peacecraft's mind..."
"Hey, hey, Wu," Duo said. Wufei's upper lip curled in a snarl at his current nickname, but Duo ignored it. "Speak in first names. When you're in this team, you're going to have to do it."
Wufei's expression suggested that he found calling everyone by their first names as tempting as Super-gluing his nostrils together, but Sally soon overrode that. "Wufei, do it. Or you won't get anything," her voice sounded from behind. Wufei turned red.
Duo looked as if he were about to snigger, but when Wufei's eyes suddenly turned onto him, full of fire, he managed, with what looked like all his willpower, to force down the laughter and continue. "So, you were saying?"
"DOROTHY," Wufei managed to snarl, "has managed to plant an idea in RELENA'S mind..."
"Woah, man." Duo held up his hand. "You don't need to go that far as to pronouncing every syllable. Say it nice and slow. Relena. Dorothy."
"Fine," Wufei practically yelled. "Dorothy has managed to plant an idea in Relena's mind and the plan is going according to...plan. Yes. What is the next objective?" He glared at Heero as if it were all his fault that Duo had forced him to say it. Heero wasn't looking. Instead, his gaze was fixated on the ceiling, listening.
"The next objective is. . ." a patented 'Duo smirk' explode on the braided boy's face, ". . .I'll inform Noin, Wufei. The brother isn't out of the way yet. We'll have to put him out of the way. There's one chink in his armor. We'll see you at the party tonight." The screen buzzed in the silent room.
*
Zechs adjusted the straps on his jacket and glared at himself in the mirror. "Braided...baka..." he muttered to himself, just as Noin came out of the bathroom, dressed in a dull military uniform she always wore to parties. "Hi, dear," he said, erasing the scowl from his face and smiling at her. "Not dressing in one of your gowns?"
She shook her head and patted his shoulder affectionately while padding over to the bed. She sat down on the covers and pulled her shoes up. They were also military boots. "I could never find a use for them. It's a lot more comfortable in these."
He smiled again. Then he frowned as another thought occurred to him. "Noin..."
"Zechs..." she mimicked his wary tone.
"Has Duo made any mention of Relena lately?"
She sighed. "I see... Has Duo, by any chance, pissed you off by mentioning Relena?"
"Well, yes."
"Honestly, Zechs, you're worrying too much about your sister." Noin sidled up to him and slipped two arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He responded by snaking an arm around her shoulders. "She's old enough, you know? She can make mistakes sometimes..."
"That's exactly why..."
"...and she knows that Heero Yuy is not a mistake." Noin put a finger to his lips to hush him. "Duo Maxwell is not a mistake, either, in a friendly way. He'll do anything in his power to get his two best friends together."
Zechs growled. "I'll stop him."
"Oh, no, you won't." Noin smiled, pretty much and evil smile, as her hand slipped down to his pants and began stroking his length through the cloth. He gave a small gasp of surprise, which instantly turned to a moan of pleasure as her busy hand rubbed over his weak spot.
"That's a bribe, Noin," he panted between small sounds of pleasure. "That's..." His head lolled back, a groan escaping him.
"Evil? Back-handed?" Noin's smile turned even more evil. "Isn't it pleasurable? If you don't say it, Zechs, you know what will happen? You'll come in your best pants, and you won't be able to go to the party. And, in turn, you won't be able to protect Relena..."
"If I give permission," he said through clenched teeth as Noin's hand went up and down teasingly, "she'll still go and have her virginity lost, won't she?"
"Oh, yes," Noin said softly. "But she'll feel much happier without the guilt that she had betrayed her brother. Don't you want her to be happy, Zechs? She wants this."
Her thumb brushed over the tip, and he shuddered. She passed it again...twice...thrice... "FINE!" he yelled. "Just stop the teasing!"
Quickly, she pushed him over to the bed, where he landed with a soft thump. "This won't hurt a bit," she whispered, unzipping his flies and pulling his pants down. "See, I'm just helping you so none of the other politicians will notice the bulge while you're giving your speech. I don't think it'd make much of an impression if the great Milliardo Peacecraft is caught with a hard-on, right?"
"Won't they be impressed?" he ground out, watching Noin hover slightly over him.
"I'm impressed," she whispered. Well-endowed, indeed. Whoever thought that a politician could be this good? She grinned, and soon, Zechs was writhing underneath her. This good indeed.
*
Relena spotted Milliardo make his way into the room with Noin on his arm, and she weaved her way toward them anxiously. "Do you think the..."
"They'll show up, don't worry," Noin replied unconcernedly. Milliardo, or Zechs, interestingly enough, looked down at his feet and mumbled something uncomprehensible, turning red. Relena opened her mouth to ask why her normally 'cool and composed' brother was now acting as though he had been dancing in woman's underwear when Noin winked at her.
Realization dawned, and Relena clapped a hand over her mouth. Milliardo shot her a horrified look and turned the brightest shade of red before hurrying away, leaving Noin and Relena behind. "Couldn't you wait until after the party?" Relena asked, still wearing a slightly shocked look.
Noin shrugged. "I had to help him, Relena. His. . .erection looked quite painful. It wouldn't make a good impression if your Milliardo Peacecraft went onstage and was caught sporting a bulge, would it?"
Relena laughed. "I guess it would be, Noin." She hugged the dark-haired woman. "By the way, when are you and Milliardo getting married?"
Noin held up a hand, on which a delicate ring showed. "There you go, Relena. Probably in the summer. A few months away. After all, it is Christmas, isn't it?"
"It would have been nice if your wedding would have been at Christmas," Relena said. "All the gifts and snow." She glanced outside longingly, where a blizzard was blowing like mad. "It's quite a comparison outside compared to this." She gestured at the dry and stuffy insides of the room, swimming with people.
"You'd prefer the outside," Noin laughed. "Whatever the weather, you could always be found outside...with a couple of papers in your lap and a pen in your hand," she added, remembering Relena's workaholic habit. "All the work might be bad for you, so be careful." Then she lowered her voice conspirationally. "What about Heero?"
Relena stiffened at his name. "You mean his presents?"
"Naw," Noin grinned. "You know what I'm talking about. Not just presents. Have you come together with him again?"
"I don't think he wants to."
"Well, he came to me asking for help. What do you make of that?"
'Well,' Noin told herself, 'it's not exactly a lie, is it? He came to Duo for help, and I was helping Duo... It can't hurt to stretch the truth a bit.'
"He did?" Relena looked puzzled, but actually quite intrigued and pleased at the piece of information. "What did he ask help for?" She took a glass of champagne from the nearby waiter and tossed down half of it.
"Careful." Noin grabbed the glass from her hand. "You wouldn't want to get drunk before the speeches, do you?"
Relena, ignoring Noin completely, asked again, "What did he asked help for?"
Noin sighed. "He wanted to ask help to bring the two of you together again."
"But how could he?" Relena pressed. "Did he say that he was the one who said we were over?"
"He came to me before that," Noin said impatiently. Wait a minute. She came to him, not him to her. Oh, well. Lies could sometimes gain things. She pushed forward bravely. "He said that he wants the two of you together again but he just can't say IT."
"It?" Relena looked quite puzzled before her face lightened, and then darkened as a shade of red hit her cheeks. "Well, I can't really blame him for hesitating to say IT, because I was the one who said we were over in the first place. But does he really, um, 'it' me?"
"That's for you and him to find out," Noin replied. "He needs help to say it because, indeed, you made it difficult for him. And also because he doesn't even know if he loves you, and he can't love you if he doesn't know you don't love him. Now he's thinking you don't love him at all, so he's hesitating."
"But I told him I did!"
"You merely said that you wanted the two of you together." Noin drained the champagne glass in her hand. "To get back to the point, you told him, but he's still not sure. It would have been better, perhaps, to tell him you loved him before he was shot?" Noin eyed her shrewdly. "He thinks that you said that you loved him only because he saved your life and got shot for you."
"But..."
"I know that's not the reason, Relena, but he needs convincing."
'Oh, why am I being such a liar? Heero knew he loves her, but has problems coming together. That's all. Why he can't say it is totally out of this world for me.'
"How exactly do I convince him?"
"You can do it, Relena," Noin said, before she swept away to mingle in the crowd. "I have faith in you."
*
Heero scanned the thriving crowd of bald-headed politicians and scowled. It seemed that only three people had a full head of hair down below...Relena, Zechs, and Noin. It also seemed that somehow, judging from one of Noin's descriptions, there was a guy swimming down there named Chris Walker. Relena's would-be suitor. Heero would have liked to somehow crush the guy, which he could have easily done with one hand tied behind his back, but he would not risk that. It would make Relena suspicious. He was content with glaring at the guy when he met his eye...for now, at least.
"Have I come at a bad time, Heero?" someone inquired from behind.
He spun around and came eye to eye with the Silencer himself: Trowa. His lip curled menacingly and uncontrollably. Although not wishing to show any violence, Heero suddenly had the urge to beat Trowa to a pulp onto the floor. "What did you mean by not backing off?" Heero asked Trowa with a growl.
Trowa looked slightly amused before answering. "Nothing, Heero," he answered quietly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with a bet, is there?"
"That bet may ruin my chances with Relena."
The tall former Gundam pilot studied him closely. "Do you really want to have a chance with Relena, Heero?" he asked in a soft voice. "Are you sure?"
Heero looked slightly taken aback. "Of course I do," he snarled. "She's..." Then he paused. What was she exactly? He glanced down at Relena, who was talking with Noin, unsuspecting of anyone else watching her.
"The woman you love?" Trowa's voice was so quiet that Heero could barely hear him.
"I...yeah..." Heero said hesitantly.
"I'll ask you this, Heero." Trowa paused as if to recollect his thoughts. "Let's see. Relena doesn't want you, then you're shot, and then she wants you back. You say you don't want her back, but you really want to. Is it such a curse to your pride? Or is it because you think that she only cares for you again now that you've protected her from possible death?"
Heero stared at him numbly. Trowa had put it into a language he had understood, not like the garbled message Duo had delivered. "Listen, what has this all got to do with...with my chances?" Heero demanded.
It was Trowa's turn to stare at him. "It has everything to do with it, Heero. It might ruin your chances, might improve them, and I have every intention of messing up your plans tonight."
"This isn't about me having...having..." Heero couldn't get the words out.
"Yes, I know," Trowa said simply. "You want to tell her you love her. That is your objective. And your objective is also to have sex with Relena, right?"
Heero couldn't reply. His heart was beating against his throat so badly that he almost shook. Sex? Maybe... He hadn't thought of it before. But wait...if he needed to tell Relena he loved her, he didn't need a stupid plan for it... What the hell was Duo up to?
'Make you have,' said a sly, and now too familiar, chibi-Relena's voice inside his head, 'sex with her? Do you object, Heero? Do you? Huh? Do you?'
Trying to ignore the high-pitched voice, he said in a tone that was certainly not his, "Trowa, do not meddle with my plans. I am warning you."
Trowa merely stared at him, stoic as usual. "I have every right to meddle in your plans," he said in a low voice. "They may be good or bad, Heero, but I beg you to watch out. There is a time when I will strike when it is most unexpected."
Then he was gone, and Heero was left staring at thin air, wondering what Trowa had meant, and also trying to ignore the voice in his head.
'DO YOU? DO YOU? DO YOU? DO YOU?'
The answer came soon. 'No.'
The chibi inside his head grinned impishly at him. 'Good.'
*
Duo grinned as Hilde slid down the banister into his arms. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before sweeping her into the car. "We'll be late," he said excitedly. "The fun should have already started. Noin phoned me..."
"I could hardly recognize her," Hilde grinned at Duo. "Her lips were swollen..."
"Zechs must have had a good time," Sally commented, as she and Wufei slipped into the car next, followed by Quatre and Dorothy.
Duo looked back at them in the car seat and grinned once more. "We'll see at the party just how much Noin messed up his brain."
"Presumably a lot," Dorothy commented. "Miss Relena might be able to get what she wants."
"Why not?" Quatre smiled at her. "Duo is on the case. He'll prevail soon enough."
*
Relena glanced worriedly at her watch. The rest of the group hadn't turned up yet. Maybe they had a flat tire or an accident or something... Something flashed out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes snapped through the crowd, searching. Someone was watching her. She glanced up and saw him. Prussian blue eyes peering out of the shadows of the balcony overlooking them.
Her throat tightened, and her hand clamped around her champagne glass so hard that she thought it would break. She quickly looked away and was relieved to see Duo assisting Hilde out of the car.
"Duo!" she exclaimed, rushing toward them.
"Hi, princess!" He beamed at her, looking especially pleased to see her. Something about that nagged at her, but then again, Duo was always cheerful. There was nothing wrong with that. That look from Heero Yuy must be driving her paranoid. He hugged her tightly, rumpling her clothes.
"What took you so long?" she asked them, hastily rearranging her clothing as people looked their way.
"Nothing," Hilde said, slamming the door shut after Sally, Wufei, Dorothy, and Quatre got out. "Duo had to do up his hair...he insisted taking a shower before the party, and I had to help him blowdry it."
"Must have been a nightmare," Dorothy commented, in her back-handed, face-slapping way.
"Don't insult the hair." Duo stuck a tongue out at her, and Dorothy replied by slowly extending her middle finger behind her back as she marched away with Quatre.
Duo muttered something under his breath, but his smile brightened as he turned to the party. "It's time to liven things up, Hilde," he murmured in her ear. "Go for it."
She grinned at him. "You betcha."
*
TBC
Wingnut...you let p03 get away...I will get you for this...
*ahem* Merry Christmas, everybody, even if Christmas is already over for me!! And season's greetings!! This was a little late because someone keeps distracting me from my work...take a guess...
Authoress notes: Thank you again for posting! I told you I would make this something very confusing indeed... *blinks* Or did I? I am very sorry this is late... but there were a lot of other distracting things... *glares at p03*
Warnings: I have decided from now on that warnings are utterly stupid and completely useless. There. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.
There's No Such Word as Won't
Chapter 8
Heero winced as his injured stomach gave another twitch of pain. But at least, the pain had lessened. The doctors had said (even if Duo had to drag him down to the hospital, he still found the information useful) that it would be healed in twenty-four hours.
Duo stretched luxuriously in his seat and grinned at him, but before he could say anything, the video phone rang. He accepted it without even looking at the number. Heero swiveled around in his chair to watch the screen flicker as it connected. He had been trapped in Duo's office for hours - with the stoic Trowa glancing at them every few moments from behind his desk - as Duo had insisted. Yet, he had no clue why.
"Trowa, would you mind leaving us for a few minutes?" Duo asked, his eyes on the screen. "After all, all's fair in love and war, right?"
Trowa got up silently from his chair, apparently feeling no need to waste words. He closed the door quietly behind him, and the latch clicked just as the video screen gave a final flicker and came to life with Wufei's scowling face.
"Chang." Heero's voice sounded. Wufei glared at him, but the glare immediately shrunk as Heero glared back. Duo snickered, but when Wufei's black eyes rounded on him, his laughing stopped abruptly, and the braided boy cleared his throat.
"Report?" he asked.
"Winner reported that phase two is complete." Wufei glanced curtly at Heero. "Phase one is no use anymore since Yuy decided to join the team to get his onna." He moved his eyes away and instead stared at a point somewhere between the two men. "Catalonia has planted an idea in Peacecraft's mind..."
"Hey, hey, Wu," Duo said. Wufei's upper lip curled in a snarl at his current nickname, but Duo ignored it. "Speak in first names. When you're in this team, you're going to have to do it."
Wufei's expression suggested that he found calling everyone by their first names as tempting as Super-gluing his nostrils together, but Sally soon overrode that. "Wufei, do it. Or you won't get anything," her voice sounded from behind. Wufei turned red.
Duo looked as if he were about to snigger, but when Wufei's eyes suddenly turned onto him, full of fire, he managed, with what looked like all his willpower, to force down the laughter and continue. "So, you were saying?"
"DOROTHY," Wufei managed to snarl, "has managed to plant an idea in RELENA'S mind..."
"Woah, man." Duo held up his hand. "You don't need to go that far as to pronouncing every syllable. Say it nice and slow. Relena. Dorothy."
"Fine," Wufei practically yelled. "Dorothy has managed to plant an idea in Relena's mind and the plan is going according to...plan. Yes. What is the next objective?" He glared at Heero as if it were all his fault that Duo had forced him to say it. Heero wasn't looking. Instead, his gaze was fixated on the ceiling, listening.
"The next objective is. . ." a patented 'Duo smirk' explode on the braided boy's face, ". . .I'll inform Noin, Wufei. The brother isn't out of the way yet. We'll have to put him out of the way. There's one chink in his armor. We'll see you at the party tonight." The screen buzzed in the silent room.
*
Zechs adjusted the straps on his jacket and glared at himself in the mirror. "Braided...baka..." he muttered to himself, just as Noin came out of the bathroom, dressed in a dull military uniform she always wore to parties. "Hi, dear," he said, erasing the scowl from his face and smiling at her. "Not dressing in one of your gowns?"
She shook her head and patted his shoulder affectionately while padding over to the bed. She sat down on the covers and pulled her shoes up. They were also military boots. "I could never find a use for them. It's a lot more comfortable in these."
He smiled again. Then he frowned as another thought occurred to him. "Noin..."
"Zechs..." she mimicked his wary tone.
"Has Duo made any mention of Relena lately?"
She sighed. "I see... Has Duo, by any chance, pissed you off by mentioning Relena?"
"Well, yes."
"Honestly, Zechs, you're worrying too much about your sister." Noin sidled up to him and slipped two arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He responded by snaking an arm around her shoulders. "She's old enough, you know? She can make mistakes sometimes..."
"That's exactly why..."
"...and she knows that Heero Yuy is not a mistake." Noin put a finger to his lips to hush him. "Duo Maxwell is not a mistake, either, in a friendly way. He'll do anything in his power to get his two best friends together."
Zechs growled. "I'll stop him."
"Oh, no, you won't." Noin smiled, pretty much and evil smile, as her hand slipped down to his pants and began stroking his length through the cloth. He gave a small gasp of surprise, which instantly turned to a moan of pleasure as her busy hand rubbed over his weak spot.
"That's a bribe, Noin," he panted between small sounds of pleasure. "That's..." His head lolled back, a groan escaping him.
"Evil? Back-handed?" Noin's smile turned even more evil. "Isn't it pleasurable? If you don't say it, Zechs, you know what will happen? You'll come in your best pants, and you won't be able to go to the party. And, in turn, you won't be able to protect Relena..."
"If I give permission," he said through clenched teeth as Noin's hand went up and down teasingly, "she'll still go and have her virginity lost, won't she?"
"Oh, yes," Noin said softly. "But she'll feel much happier without the guilt that she had betrayed her brother. Don't you want her to be happy, Zechs? She wants this."
Her thumb brushed over the tip, and he shuddered. She passed it again...twice...thrice... "FINE!" he yelled. "Just stop the teasing!"
Quickly, she pushed him over to the bed, where he landed with a soft thump. "This won't hurt a bit," she whispered, unzipping his flies and pulling his pants down. "See, I'm just helping you so none of the other politicians will notice the bulge while you're giving your speech. I don't think it'd make much of an impression if the great Milliardo Peacecraft is caught with a hard-on, right?"
"Won't they be impressed?" he ground out, watching Noin hover slightly over him.
"I'm impressed," she whispered. Well-endowed, indeed. Whoever thought that a politician could be this good? She grinned, and soon, Zechs was writhing underneath her. This good indeed.
*
Relena spotted Milliardo make his way into the room with Noin on his arm, and she weaved her way toward them anxiously. "Do you think the..."
"They'll show up, don't worry," Noin replied unconcernedly. Milliardo, or Zechs, interestingly enough, looked down at his feet and mumbled something uncomprehensible, turning red. Relena opened her mouth to ask why her normally 'cool and composed' brother was now acting as though he had been dancing in woman's underwear when Noin winked at her.
Realization dawned, and Relena clapped a hand over her mouth. Milliardo shot her a horrified look and turned the brightest shade of red before hurrying away, leaving Noin and Relena behind. "Couldn't you wait until after the party?" Relena asked, still wearing a slightly shocked look.
Noin shrugged. "I had to help him, Relena. His. . .erection looked quite painful. It wouldn't make a good impression if your Milliardo Peacecraft went onstage and was caught sporting a bulge, would it?"
Relena laughed. "I guess it would be, Noin." She hugged the dark-haired woman. "By the way, when are you and Milliardo getting married?"
Noin held up a hand, on which a delicate ring showed. "There you go, Relena. Probably in the summer. A few months away. After all, it is Christmas, isn't it?"
"It would have been nice if your wedding would have been at Christmas," Relena said. "All the gifts and snow." She glanced outside longingly, where a blizzard was blowing like mad. "It's quite a comparison outside compared to this." She gestured at the dry and stuffy insides of the room, swimming with people.
"You'd prefer the outside," Noin laughed. "Whatever the weather, you could always be found outside...with a couple of papers in your lap and a pen in your hand," she added, remembering Relena's workaholic habit. "All the work might be bad for you, so be careful." Then she lowered her voice conspirationally. "What about Heero?"
Relena stiffened at his name. "You mean his presents?"
"Naw," Noin grinned. "You know what I'm talking about. Not just presents. Have you come together with him again?"
"I don't think he wants to."
"Well, he came to me asking for help. What do you make of that?"
'Well,' Noin told herself, 'it's not exactly a lie, is it? He came to Duo for help, and I was helping Duo... It can't hurt to stretch the truth a bit.'
"He did?" Relena looked puzzled, but actually quite intrigued and pleased at the piece of information. "What did he ask help for?" She took a glass of champagne from the nearby waiter and tossed down half of it.
"Careful." Noin grabbed the glass from her hand. "You wouldn't want to get drunk before the speeches, do you?"
Relena, ignoring Noin completely, asked again, "What did he asked help for?"
Noin sighed. "He wanted to ask help to bring the two of you together again."
"But how could he?" Relena pressed. "Did he say that he was the one who said we were over?"
"He came to me before that," Noin said impatiently. Wait a minute. She came to him, not him to her. Oh, well. Lies could sometimes gain things. She pushed forward bravely. "He said that he wants the two of you together again but he just can't say IT."
"It?" Relena looked quite puzzled before her face lightened, and then darkened as a shade of red hit her cheeks. "Well, I can't really blame him for hesitating to say IT, because I was the one who said we were over in the first place. But does he really, um, 'it' me?"
"That's for you and him to find out," Noin replied. "He needs help to say it because, indeed, you made it difficult for him. And also because he doesn't even know if he loves you, and he can't love you if he doesn't know you don't love him. Now he's thinking you don't love him at all, so he's hesitating."
"But I told him I did!"
"You merely said that you wanted the two of you together." Noin drained the champagne glass in her hand. "To get back to the point, you told him, but he's still not sure. It would have been better, perhaps, to tell him you loved him before he was shot?" Noin eyed her shrewdly. "He thinks that you said that you loved him only because he saved your life and got shot for you."
"But..."
"I know that's not the reason, Relena, but he needs convincing."
'Oh, why am I being such a liar? Heero knew he loves her, but has problems coming together. That's all. Why he can't say it is totally out of this world for me.'
"How exactly do I convince him?"
"You can do it, Relena," Noin said, before she swept away to mingle in the crowd. "I have faith in you."
*
Heero scanned the thriving crowd of bald-headed politicians and scowled. It seemed that only three people had a full head of hair down below...Relena, Zechs, and Noin. It also seemed that somehow, judging from one of Noin's descriptions, there was a guy swimming down there named Chris Walker. Relena's would-be suitor. Heero would have liked to somehow crush the guy, which he could have easily done with one hand tied behind his back, but he would not risk that. It would make Relena suspicious. He was content with glaring at the guy when he met his eye...for now, at least.
"Have I come at a bad time, Heero?" someone inquired from behind.
He spun around and came eye to eye with the Silencer himself: Trowa. His lip curled menacingly and uncontrollably. Although not wishing to show any violence, Heero suddenly had the urge to beat Trowa to a pulp onto the floor. "What did you mean by not backing off?" Heero asked Trowa with a growl.
Trowa looked slightly amused before answering. "Nothing, Heero," he answered quietly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with a bet, is there?"
"That bet may ruin my chances with Relena."
The tall former Gundam pilot studied him closely. "Do you really want to have a chance with Relena, Heero?" he asked in a soft voice. "Are you sure?"
Heero looked slightly taken aback. "Of course I do," he snarled. "She's..." Then he paused. What was she exactly? He glanced down at Relena, who was talking with Noin, unsuspecting of anyone else watching her.
"The woman you love?" Trowa's voice was so quiet that Heero could barely hear him.
"I...yeah..." Heero said hesitantly.
"I'll ask you this, Heero." Trowa paused as if to recollect his thoughts. "Let's see. Relena doesn't want you, then you're shot, and then she wants you back. You say you don't want her back, but you really want to. Is it such a curse to your pride? Or is it because you think that she only cares for you again now that you've protected her from possible death?"
Heero stared at him numbly. Trowa had put it into a language he had understood, not like the garbled message Duo had delivered. "Listen, what has this all got to do with...with my chances?" Heero demanded.
It was Trowa's turn to stare at him. "It has everything to do with it, Heero. It might ruin your chances, might improve them, and I have every intention of messing up your plans tonight."
"This isn't about me having...having..." Heero couldn't get the words out.
"Yes, I know," Trowa said simply. "You want to tell her you love her. That is your objective. And your objective is also to have sex with Relena, right?"
Heero couldn't reply. His heart was beating against his throat so badly that he almost shook. Sex? Maybe... He hadn't thought of it before. But wait...if he needed to tell Relena he loved her, he didn't need a stupid plan for it... What the hell was Duo up to?
'Make you have,' said a sly, and now too familiar, chibi-Relena's voice inside his head, 'sex with her? Do you object, Heero? Do you? Huh? Do you?'
Trying to ignore the high-pitched voice, he said in a tone that was certainly not his, "Trowa, do not meddle with my plans. I am warning you."
Trowa merely stared at him, stoic as usual. "I have every right to meddle in your plans," he said in a low voice. "They may be good or bad, Heero, but I beg you to watch out. There is a time when I will strike when it is most unexpected."
Then he was gone, and Heero was left staring at thin air, wondering what Trowa had meant, and also trying to ignore the voice in his head.
'DO YOU? DO YOU? DO YOU? DO YOU?'
The answer came soon. 'No.'
The chibi inside his head grinned impishly at him. 'Good.'
*
Duo grinned as Hilde slid down the banister into his arms. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before sweeping her into the car. "We'll be late," he said excitedly. "The fun should have already started. Noin phoned me..."
"I could hardly recognize her," Hilde grinned at Duo. "Her lips were swollen..."
"Zechs must have had a good time," Sally commented, as she and Wufei slipped into the car next, followed by Quatre and Dorothy.
Duo looked back at them in the car seat and grinned once more. "We'll see at the party just how much Noin messed up his brain."
"Presumably a lot," Dorothy commented. "Miss Relena might be able to get what she wants."
"Why not?" Quatre smiled at her. "Duo is on the case. He'll prevail soon enough."
*
Relena glanced worriedly at her watch. The rest of the group hadn't turned up yet. Maybe they had a flat tire or an accident or something... Something flashed out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes snapped through the crowd, searching. Someone was watching her. She glanced up and saw him. Prussian blue eyes peering out of the shadows of the balcony overlooking them.
Her throat tightened, and her hand clamped around her champagne glass so hard that she thought it would break. She quickly looked away and was relieved to see Duo assisting Hilde out of the car.
"Duo!" she exclaimed, rushing toward them.
"Hi, princess!" He beamed at her, looking especially pleased to see her. Something about that nagged at her, but then again, Duo was always cheerful. There was nothing wrong with that. That look from Heero Yuy must be driving her paranoid. He hugged her tightly, rumpling her clothes.
"What took you so long?" she asked them, hastily rearranging her clothing as people looked their way.
"Nothing," Hilde said, slamming the door shut after Sally, Wufei, Dorothy, and Quatre got out. "Duo had to do up his hair...he insisted taking a shower before the party, and I had to help him blowdry it."
"Must have been a nightmare," Dorothy commented, in her back-handed, face-slapping way.
"Don't insult the hair." Duo stuck a tongue out at her, and Dorothy replied by slowly extending her middle finger behind her back as she marched away with Quatre.
Duo muttered something under his breath, but his smile brightened as he turned to the party. "It's time to liven things up, Hilde," he murmured in her ear. "Go for it."
She grinned at him. "You betcha."
*
TBC
Wingnut...you let p03 get away...I will get you for this...
*ahem* Merry Christmas, everybody, even if Christmas is already over for me!! And season's greetings!! This was a little late because someone keeps distracting me from my work...take a guess...
i like this story sooooo much