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"Bounty Hunters: The Case of the Stolen Yacht"Written By: Yanagi Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to
[Gundam Wing]. Those rights belong to [Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu
Agency]. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However,
this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it. Warnings: the usual Beta: rogue53 Pairings: 1x2 Authors notes: The next in the Bounty Hunters
series and my NaNo for 2009. "Bounty Hunters: The Case of the Stolen Yacht" Chapter Seven Anne Robards liked her job, very much. She was a top PR representative for WEI as well as being contact person for most of the visiting VIP's. As a usual rule, she wasn't allowed to talk about the people she worked for. Now she'd been asked to spread word of her latest contact far and wide. She thought carefully then smiled, a rather vicious one. She knew exactly who to tell her story to. There were four young ladies on the secretarial pool who were the worst gossips on the colony. All Anne had to do was make sure that they knew about the goings on. She planned for a few moments then called her secretary into her office. “Celia, I need a favor, sort of. So, you're sick...” She held up a hand to stave off the coming objection. “I know. But ... all cards on the table and this goes no farther. OK?” When Celia nodded, curiosity shining in her eyes, Anne continued. “I need a certain rumor to circulate. The best way to do this without getting into problems I don't need to deal with, is for you to go home sick and me to give a false report to a certain loose lipped person to type up for me. See?” “I sure do. And I know which one to get for you. I'll ... can I borrow your mirror?” Anne just handed the requested mirror over and watched as Celia wiped off her blusher and re-powdered her face. She smeared her mascara a bit, then examined her face. “There. I don't look like I'm on my last legs but I don't look like going home is out of the question. So...I get a full story when I come back tomorrow. Right?” Anne nodded, smiled and replied, “You will, and I owe you lunch. Now Shoo!” She flapped her hand and Celia went out the door. Anne wrote up her report and grumbled, “I don't know why I can't just do this myself, but ... rules are rules and, in this case, it's a help. So ... off we go.” She wandered out into the pool and approached her target. “Gladys, Celia went home sick, in case you hadn't noticed. I need this typed up on the proper form and returned to me on paper.” She handed over her handwritten notes and walked away, completely 'forgetting' to tell Gladys not to discuss what she read. Gladys picked up the notes, typed them into her terminal and grinned. Anne had forgotten to tell her not to gossip about what she was reading. That meant that all the information was fair game. She immediately turned to her best friend and started talking. This friend pulled up the records that Anne had carefully planted and read avidly. “Oooo, what bad boys. And cute, see?” She turned her monitor so that Gladys could see the pictures of Heero and Duo that they had provided to Anne via email. They were the typical bad boy pictures that silly girls liked. Duo and Heero, dressed in leather and sneers. “Mmm, yummy! Tell you what. Why don't we see where they're stuck. I bet it's some stuffy ol' hotel hell on Level 300. We could sneak a peek at their address. And, I'll call Jillian and Shirley.” She tapped her chin in thought. “Oh, and Marcus and Andy and Connie.” “Ok, get them to meet us for dinner, we can give them the scoop then. Wonder if those two are awake yet. ... but we better give them a day to get themselves together. Don't want them all grumpy due to a time change. Get on the phone and see who all you can dig up. I want to call my sister.” And with that, the rumor mill began to grind. The rumor was that Heero and Duo were very rich, very bored and very, very bad. Not bad as in evil but bad as in up for any prank or trick, party or adventure. All the right people heard about them before they got up the next morning. . One of the results of the gossip mills workings was that, when Heero and Duo went down to breakfast, they were shown to a class 1 table at once. This table was in the most desirable position in the restaurant. They could see and be seen but were protected from annoyance by a carefully arranged screen of floating panels and flower arrangements. Duo pointed out that all the flowers were silk, Heero reminded him that this colony wasn't set up for a lot of live foliage. Duo sulked a bit and announced that he was really ready to return to Earth. It seemed that the colony born couple were becoming more and more acclimatized to Earth and less and less used to colony ways. Something with which they were both very happy. They were just getting ready to order when someone approached their table and said, “Hi! I'm Jillian. You're 'Max' Maxwell and Heero Yuy. Can I sit down for a moment?” Heero nodded, gazing at the girl rather warily over his menu. Duo just stood up and pulled out a chair, seated Jillian and returned to his own seat. Jillian gave him a smoldering look over her shoulder, then accepted the menu that Duo pushed in her direction. “Here, breakfast, lunch, whatever; on us. So, what brings you to our corner of the world?” Duo gave her a bright smile in counterpoint to Heero's narrow eyed look. “Well, ... I'll have a fruit salad and tea. Girls got to watch her figure, you know.” She smiled at Heero. “And, I have to ask, Heero? Yuy? As in, the guy who was such a pacifist, well, you know.” Heero just shrugged languidly. “My folks named me after him. There's only about a million Heero Yuy's out there. Very boring. I've considered changing it but I'm sort of used to it.” Duo interjected, “And really, really tired of the same stupid question, time after time. I'm considering changing my name too. Max? Max what? Sex appeal? Wealth? Max skills? And who, exactly, are you anyway?” Jillian snickered at the snarking and shook her head. “I think you'll fit in with my friends quite well. That's what I'm doing here, sticking myself into your breakfast like a total dweeb. We've heard a few things. Like how you got here. Liberated a courier? Very nice. Intense. Just the sort of thing my gang likes. So, ya wanna come to a party? It's on for tonight only.” Duo glanced at Heero who nodded. He turned back to Jillian. “Sure, but why tonight only?” “Rave. We find a warehouse and fix it up. But ... rent? What's that? So we have one night to party, then we have to find somewhere else. But it's fun while it lasts and no clean up. So, you up or chicken.” Heero snorted, then leaned over, giving Jillian his best sulky glower, he snarled, “I'm no chicken but I'm not stupid either. We'll see what's up; but, if we don't like what we see, we'll be leaving.” Jillian's retort was put on hold as the waiter came up to find out what they wanted. Duo ordered his usual, Heero did too, and Heero ordered Jillian's food. Jillian just sat back in her chair, trying to keep up a brave front, but Heero's expression and Duo's had scared her badly. These two were way above her level, she just hoped she could deliver on her promise of fun. Duo gave her the creeps, that smile hid something nasty and Heero was just plain bad, with a capital B. She really hoped that Ameena appreciated all that she was doing. She didn't mind recruiting, it was fun and interesting. She had met some very interesting people along the way, but she'd also met some really weird ones. And a few that had scared her, like these two. She hoped she wasn't getting herself into something she couldn't handle. Heero eyed Jillian over a fork he was pretending to examine for cleanliness. She was nibbling at her lower lip in a way that proved she wasn't happy with what she was doing. Why, he wasn't sure, but she was. He'd have to consult with Duo later to figure out why. Duo flicked a quick look between Heero and Jillian and thought the same thing Heero did. A significant glance and a short nod put them on the same page. They'd analyze this later. They sat, drinking the coffee the waiter brought and mouthing polite nothings. Duo monopolized the conversation, telling witty jokes and asking about the social scene. Jillian didn't hold anything back, happily answering Duo's questions. Heero limited his remarks to a few questions and appropriate 'yes' and 'no' answers. He left the complicated stuff to Duo. Duo didn't mind as it added to the mystique of Heero’s bad boy image. He, Duo, was much happier being the slightly hyper chatterbox. People were always very surprised when he went Shinigami on them. Their food came and Jillian started on a bright, sparkly story about the group she ran with. Little did she know that both Heero and Duo found the whole thing pathetic and depressing. The whole bunch seemed to be substituting drugs and liquor for friendship and respect. Heero ate calmly, dissecting his eggs into need morsels while Duo tended to pile one thing on top of another and put it all on toast. Heero gave Duo a sideways glance and caught his eye. Duo frowned and Heero nodded, they needed to get rid of Jillian, politely but quickly. Both of them were on the verge of losing their tempers. She had no idea that they were annoyed by her foolishness and they couldn't risk making her angry or hurting her feelings. Duo managed to pick a comment out of Jillian's chatter and use it to get rid of her. “Clothing? Well, shit. We have to go see if our luggage was forwarded yet. We haven't got a decent stitch between us. Then we need to go shopping for something that your bunch won't consider rags. Where should we go?” Jillian squeaked and said, “Oh, you poor dears. Well, the best place to go to get something respectable is Joyce's. She's a good designer and knows who's wearing what. But if you bought anything at Hidalgo's while you were on L4-33359, it's fine. Silk is in, wool is out. Too itchy. Linen is nice but wrinkly. Not in. leather in any form is top stuff. Now you know as much as I do. Tight is better than loose and belts and buckles are the new jewelry.” She looked at her watch and announced. “I've got to scoot. You need to check on your stuff and I need to be somewhere else in ... thirty minutes. Bye!” And, with that, she stood up and hurried off, waving over her shoulder. Duo finished his food and drank another cup of coffee while he waited for Heero to finish his. Heero ate calmly, drank his juice and told Duo to drink his. Duo grinned and did as he was told, smirking around the rim of his glass. After paying their tab, then went in search of the Day Manager to ask about their luggage. He replied that it had come during the night and they were only holding it until one of them asked for it. Heero asked that it be brought up to their rooms and was surprised when he was told that the bags could come but the larger pieces were too big for their rooms, never mind the closet. “Well, what the heck is it?” Duo gave the manager a blank look. “It seems to be two hang gliders. The boxes are much too big for your rooms. I'd advise a storage compartment near the docks.” Heero nodded. “Ok, will you take care of that for us? We'd really appreciate it.” “Yes, I'll be glad to. One storage compartment, I'll have to find out the cubic meters before I know how much it'll cost. How long do you need it for?” Duo shrugged. “’Til called for.” “Very well. I'll send the details up along with the key.” “Thanks. We'll unpack then we'll be leaving to go shopping.” “If you'd like, I can have someone from whichever shop you favor bring samples to your room.” Duo shook his head. “Shopping is an experience. It's no fun to have some stuffy clerk bring stuff to the room. Thanks for asking though.” They made their way to their rooms and spent two hours unpacking and taking inventory. Duo was of the opinion that they only needed to go shopping to make sure everyone knew they were on colony. Heero accepted this but announced that he wanted a new pair of boots as the pair he'd bought on their last shopping trip didn't fit very well. “Ok, boots it is. And I could use a couple of shirts. Let's go.” . Heero looked at the boot the man was holding out to him. “No.” That one flat negative made the man sigh and put the boot back in its box. This was the 20th pair he'd shown Heero, none of them had met his standards. “What is wrong with that one?” He'd asked that question after every pair that Heero rejected. “The toe is too flat.” Heero gazed around with a bored expression on his face. The fact that he was bored only helped him. Duo sighed and fiddled with the end of his braid. “Will you please pick something! I'm bored out of my skull. I need some excitement soon, or I'm going to start banging your head against a wall.” Heero just curled his lip at Duo. “Try it.” Duo made a grumpy little noise in the back of his throat and muttered, “Bored, bored, bored. And I'm HUNGRY!” The clerk jumped, Heero just eyed Duo out of the corner of his eye, then pointed at a pair of boots in the window. “Those.” “Excuse me?” The clerk blinked. Heero had rejected those boots with every evidence of scorn the second he'd seen them. “The one's in the window. I want to try them on.” Heero's tone of voice implied that the clerk must be an imbecile. Duo snorted. “I told you those were exactly what you wanted.” “Ok, you're right. I bottom. Shut up.” The clerk just rolled his eyes, got the boots in Heero's size and helped him put them on. Heero decided that he wanted them, paid for them and had them delivered. The clerk later told his best friend, “I swear they were just bored and wanted something to do. I really thought they were going to get into a fight at least once. But they just snarked at each other, then quit. They were kissing, right out in the middle of the street, ten seconds after they left the store.” The friend just nodded, “You know how that sort of person is. Anything for entertainment. They'll both be dead in a year. Swear!” If Heero or Duo had heard that, they'd have agreed with the two friends. . It didn't take Ameena long to get word of the two newcomers, newcomers who seemed to be just her sort. Bored, bad, and ready for her sort of entertainment. She decided to invite them to her next party. It looked to be very interesting and entertaining. She was going to take the Azeera out on a short cruise to sort out which guests seemed most likely to pay for a visit to Outer 7. The two young men looked to be just the sort but you could never really tell until you got them under a microscope. Then the scaredy cats tended to fall by the wayside rather quickly. She tapped a reminder into her PDA, she had to remember to reward Jillian for this one. A new dress, maybe. Or some really nice shoes. She'd check her closet tomorrow. Everyone knew that she gave them her cast-offs, but they were all very expensive and Ameena declared that she never, ever wore anything more than twice, which was true. She decided on sending the to men tickets to an exclusive dance club. One that everyone who was anyone wanted into. She would send them the most highly sought after gold tickets. She just hoped they accepted them. Some people just didn't realize the honor she showed them until someone in the know told them. She settled back in her chair and sipped at her coffee, trying to decide what delights would most tempt her new targets. . Heero opened the envelope with his name inscribed on it in lavender ink. Duo had on just like it which he was eyeing like it might explode. “Ok. Lavender ink? I'm officially creeped out. That's just so ...” “Ostentatious?” “Not the word I was looking for, more like fucking weird but more polite.” Heero snorted, opened his envelope and read the card. “Well, it seems that we are invited to a party. Not a rave, but some special event in a new club, gold tickets.” Duo extracted his card and ticket from their envelope and eyed them with visible disfavor. “What's wrong?” Duo shrugged. “I just have a very ... I dunno. I just feel like it's ... never mind, just the hair on the back of my neck is standing up.” “Mine too. I think it's just that we know Ameena is more dangerous than anyone, except us, knows.” Duo nodded. “Yeah, I think you're right. I just don't like the whole thing. A whole station dedicated to nothing but drugs, sex and booze. Even a Sweeper would be freaked out. It's just not natural. Heard from Wufei?” “I did. His last email was ...” Heero smirked. “A bit incoherent. He's just hoping that we get enough evidence to close the place down.” Duo nodded his understanding then rubbed his face with both hands. “How the hell did we get involved in smashing a drug ring? I mean ... yeah ... we're supposed to repo a yacht, not ... do whatever this is.” Heero tugged Duo into a hug. “I know. I don't really like it either, but we're the only one's set up to do anything about it. Preventers can't do anything about it until they get solid evidence and no one in Preventers can get in there.” Duo put his head on Heero’s shoulder and grumbled, “Fate's a bitch and I hate her.” Heero held Duo for a bit then remarked, “We need to get dressed, that invitation included dinner at seven, it's 5:30 now. And it's going to take me half an hour just to decide what to wear.” Suddenly Heero realized what he'd said and shot Duo a look of such horror that Duo nearly hurt himself, he laughed so hard. Heero snarled wordlessly at him and stalked to the closet. “See if I help you braid that mane of yours, then.” Duo just cackled like a hen laying an egg, he knew Heero didn't mean that so he didn't bother to try to stifle his laugh. After he got himself together, Duo joined Heero in the closet to pick out his outfit for the evening. Together, they decided on matching leather one-piece coveralls, skin tight and liberally sprinkled with belts and buckles. Heero finished buckling the last buckle, then groaned, “Man, we're going to be dancing. We're going to sweat like pigs.” Duo shook his head. “No, the fashion in clubs right now is to keep the temperature cool. The girls complain but all the guys like it as it gives them a good excuse to put their arm around their date. And I'm glad. You'll put your arm around me, won't you, Heero?” His flirtatious sideways glance and fluttering eyelashes made Heero laugh. “I will. All you have to do is ask. You know how I am about PDA.” Duo shrugged. “Me too, but they will expect it.” Heero took a look at Duo's face, he looked a bit sad. Heero reached out and snagged him around the waist. “What is it?” Duo nibbled at his lip for a moment. “You know, all my life I wanted family. And then family does something like this. What's up with that?” Heero nuzzled Duo's neck. “I don't know. But we're family, you and I. Right?” “Right. And ... I don't know. I just feel so bad for Q. You and I ... we've made our own family; better, I think than his. And it's sad.” “Yes, it is. We'll just have to be extra nice with him for a while. So ... enough heart burnings. Let's get on the road.” Duo kissed Heero's cheek, then turned to finish getting ready. Chapter Seven Their trip to the club was interesting as they went from a very nice area to a rather bad one then on to a worse one. Heero wondered, and asked Duo, “Why the hell do people always start clubs in the worst neighborhoods possible? I'd think...” Duo interrupted him, “You would. But these people don't. Think that is. The rent is cheap, the buildings are big and, if you're that scared, hire one of our bodyguards. They make money coming and going.” Heero sneered. “Well, I just hope someone tries something. I'm in a mood.” Duo made cheering noises, then started bouncing from foot to foot. “Fight! Fight!” Heero just poked him in the ribs, making him 'eep'. When they reached the club they saw that the line was a block long. Heero sighed and said, “Well. It looks like we wait.” They tacked themselves to the end of the line with some grumbling on Duo's part. The girl in front of them took pity on them and turned around to ask, “Have you got tickets? If you don't you might as well just go back home. You can't get in without one.” Heero displayed his ticked. “We have tickets. How long do you think we'll have to wait?” She eyed the tickets for a moment. “Not any longer than it takes you to walk to the front of the line. Gold tickets don't wait in line.” She sighed and shifted from one foot to the other. “Don't I wish. My feet are killing me and I haven't danced one bit yet.” Duo just smiled. “Well, come on. I'm sure we can get you in as our guest. Right? We're allowed one each. The ticket said so.” She brightened and gave a little hop. “Thanks. That'd be so great.” Heero offered her his arm and they walked up to the head of the line. The doorman looked at their tickets, consulted a list and waved them in. He didn't even blink at the girl, who had introduced herself as they walked to the head of the line. Her name was Tracy. “Tracy, do you want a drink?” “Please. Something warm, it's freezing in here.” She shuddered and hugged herself. Heero eyed her flimsy dress for a moment, then said, “Why didn't you bring a sweater or something?” “It's not fashionable. You're supposed to get your boyfriend to put his arm around you.” Heero shook his head. “That's not logical. A woman should depend on herself first and some accessory man second.” Duo nearly bit his tongue in half to keep from laughing his ass off. Trust Heero to come up with something like that when some girl was trying to flirt with him. . Ameena turned to listen to her aide, who whispered in her ear, “the gold tickets are here, with some hanger on they got from the line.” “Oh, good. I'll deal with the girl. Is she pretty?” “Yes, but not our sort. Although, I'd be a bit careful about angering those two. They're not the sort to be managed.” Ameena inclined her head to show she'd understood. “I think the best thing is to have Roger just ... edge her off. Offer to dance with her, then take her to dinner. That'll separate them and make us look good. Do you think she might be useful?” “No, copper ticket. Pretty, helpful, floor dressing but very white bread.” “Oh, well. Just see that she has a good time and spreads the word then.” “Yes, ma'am. I'll see to it at once. If Roger is busy already, who else?” “Anyone, but make sure that they know that she's not on the menu.” “Fine. Excuse me.” And the aide walked away to find Roger or some other suitable escort. Tracy, meanwhile, was doing her best to coax Heero out of his jacket without being obvious about it but he was being singularly obtuse. Duo watched this with some amusement. Heero was neither as thick nor socially inept as most people thought. But he had always been rumored to be cold and socially retarded. He wasn't, he was just singularly focused on his mission. Now that he had no mission and had been in therapy, he was fairly social and very adept at picking up on signals, when he bothered to pay attention. He didn't pay attention to very many people either. Buck, the other pilots and two or three others and that was it. So Duo was amused as Heero deftly avoided Tracy's hints and one actual touch. Everyone was relieved when some blonde man approached Tracy and asked her to dance. She asked if Heero or Duo minded, when they said no, she took the man's arm and walked to the dance floor. They overheard the man say his name was Roger. “You think she'll be ok? I kind of feel like we tossed her to the wolves or something.” “Ameena is way too smart to shit in her nest. She's not about to allow a copper ticket to get into any kind of trouble. If you like we can take turns checking up on her.” Duo thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “I think we should, if only for my peace of mind. How did you figure out about the tickets?” Heero leaned against a railing and looked over the dance floor. “Simple logic. We're gold tickets, so there have to be silver and some other metal. I got a good look at her ticket when she showed it at the door even though the door man barely glanced at it. It was copper colored. And I got a real good look at ... 'Roger?' I think that was his name. He was looking at her with curiosity but no lust. She's safe with him.” Duo ran a mental movie of what he'd seen. “I think you're right. We'll check up on her though.” Heero just nodded once. “It would make me feel better too.' But before they could do more about it, Roger brought Tracy back to the table with a slightly disgruntled expression on his face. Tracy couldn't see it but both Heero and Duo did before he could wipe it away. “Guys, I know I don't really know you but you got me in... so it's kind of like I came with you. And it's not polite to bale on someone without letting them know. So ... Roger wants me to go to supper with him. I kinda thought I would. So, we're going to leave the club and I wanted you to know, so you wouldn't worry or anything.” Heero smiled at her. “Ok, thanks for letting us know. And ... Roger?” Roger nodded, a slightly wary look on his face. “If anything happens to her, anything at all. I will find you and you won't like it. Got me?” Tracy looked a bit startled, but Roger just nodded and remarked, “She's a nice lady. I'm not so nice but I know better than to pull a stupid stunt.” He smiled in a disarming manner and nodded behind Duo. “You're about to be summoned. Excuse us.” With that he put a hand in the small of Tracy's back and eased her away. Duo didn't even flinch with the aide cleared his throat and said, “Miss Ameena would like to invite you to sit at her table. This way?” Duo just let Heero lead off. They reached Ameena's table without too much trouble, there seemed to be some kind of taboo attached to the two levels below her table. There were only a few people seated at the tables there and they stayed out of the way of people who were walking around. Of course, some of them were so stoned that they could barely move for any reason. Duo checked out some of the closer tables and saw a few things he wished he hadn't. Heero saw them too and knew that he was going to have to call Wufei as soon as they left the club. The raid would be postponed until after he and Duo had gone on to the next step in their search. He wondered how the hell they'd gotten mixed up in all this, from a simple repo to whatever the hell this was. He wasn't sure he was happy with it either. After a mental grumble Heero turned his attention to the small group around Ameena. They were all a bit older, a bit more bored and a lot richer than they pretended to be. But they were all giving Heero and Duo plenty of space. It seemed that Ameena did run a tight ship, in some ways. Evidently, she didn't want old customers running off the new ones. Heero couldn't help but be glad of that. He didn't feel like fending off the panting attentions of some of these people. Nor did he feel like killing one for bothering Duo. Not that Duo couldn't do that for himself. Duo plopped himself into a chair by Ameena and arrogantly scanned the nearby tables. Heero settled for sitting down and putting an arm around Duo's shoulders. This was going to be a pain. Ameena started out by trying to pry, not something they were going to put up with. “Do I know you? You look familiar.” Ameena put on her brightest smile Heero scowled at her. “No.” Duo gave every evidence that he was bored beyond description, twitching at a buckle until it sat just so. Ameena sighed, she really hated dealing with this sort. They didn't realize who she was and she couldn't snap at them. It would only put them off. “Well, I'm sorry if I insulted you but you look so familiar. Somehow.” Duo resolved to find out how she'd gotten into Quatre's private files. That was the only place she could have seen pictures of them. There hadn't been a picture of them in the news for a long time. “It's ok, Heero’s just a bit sensitive about that sort of thing. We both hate being in the news. So ... what's the what?” Ameena sighed, this was going to be difficult but she really wanted the two beautiful boys to come to her 'vacation spa' they would be jewels in her crown. She wouldn't have to do much for them either. And she would make sure that they didn't get jaded too quickly. They were 'eye candy' and a temptation to others to come see if they couldn't entice them into their bed. She just hoped they didn't spoil the image too soon. “Well, I just thought, as you were new to the colony, that I could help you make the right connections. Here, here's Charity. She's one of my ... girls. She'll entertain you tonight.” Duo eyed the posing woman with clear distaste. She was standing too close, one hand on her hip, foot cocked just so to show off her assets to the best. Her perfume was too strong, her skirt too short, her bodice too tight. Heero curled his lip. “I don't like girls.” Duo snorted, “Especially Miss Peanut Butter Thighs.” They had to establish their relationship quickly. They wanted Ameena to view them as bored, restless and ready for almost anything, but also establish that they were not willing to have sex with anyone but each other. Duo had announced that he didn't want whatever 'clap' was going around this week. Ameena chose the easy way out and allowed herself to be distracted. There were some that would take any drug she offered but wouldn't have sex with anyone but their stated partner. She wasn't about to queer her deal by suggesting otherwise. But she couldn't help questioning, “Peanut Butter Thighs? What do you mean?” Duo patiently explained. “Girl has thighs like peanut butter. They spread for anyone. And I'm not interested in getting bugs or clap.” Ameena stifled another sigh. “I see.” She waved a hand at the indignant looking girl and settled into some serious seducing. “Would you like a drink?” Heero just said in his most flat and nasal tone, “Guinness.” Duo shrugged, setting buckles to jingling. “Me too.” Two expertly drawn pints of Guinness showed up at the table only minutes later. Heero picked his up, sniffed it, then took a sip. He looked at Duo, nodded and said, “Good.” Duo lifted his glass off the tray and took a gulp, he sighed and agreed, “Yup. Nice.” Ameena blinked, “Ok, I'm glad you like it but...” she turned to look at Heero. “Only one sip?” Heero pinned her with a flat glare. “I like to know what drugs I'm taking and how much.” Duo nodded over his glass. “Yeah, we've been slipped one mickey too many.” Which was true, as far as it went. “Mickey? We don't do that here. In fact, you can't buy drugs here.” Duo gave her a skeptical flick of the eyes. “Yeah, sure, then what's the point of all that?” He pointed to a pile of pills on a near by table. “It's not what it seems. That's all free, and legal on this colony. I know a place where you can get anything you want and it's all free.” Heero raised an eyebrow at her but kept his mouth shut. Duo nearly sucked in his breath in a gasp, things were moving very fast now. He wondered if this as a test. It was, Ameena felt that no one could hide their true thoughts from her. She'd know if it was a set up, cops couldn't keep their expressions under control. She gave both Duo and Heero a very close look but neither one of them seemed startled or disgusted. They both still seemed bored nearly to tears, she was determined to change that as soon as possible. The music had been quiet while Ameena was talking to Duo and Heero, but now it started up again. Duo sat, bopping his head up and down in time to the music. Heero unbent enough to tap a finger on the table. Ameena nearly gritted her teeth, but refrained; ladies didn't grit their teeth. Heero noticed Ameena's expression and decided it was time to loosen up. The start of the music was as good an excuse as any. “Dance.” Heero stood up and held out his hand to Duo. Duo took it, smirked as several nearby women glared at him and said, “Of course.” They both heard Ameena grumble, “All the best one's are either queer, or taken. Damn it.” When they got to the dance floor Heero glowered at the DJ until he sent someone down to find out what music they wanted. He knew which side of his bread the butter was on. Ameena paid him a small fortune to keep the newbies happy and that was what he intended to do. The gofer hurried back with the single word, 'Samba'. The DJ sighed, he seldom played music like that as so many of the dancers were so bad at it. A true Samba required a level of athleticism and flexibility that even most of the younger set didn't have. When the music started Duo began to sway, slightly at first, until Heero joined him. Then they seemed to explode into motion. Samba wasn't called the forbidden dance for nothing. Duo writhed like a snake, grinding against Heero. Heero possessed Duo, taking his braid in one hand and nearly leading him around the floor, hips twisting in a way that suggested he didn't have a spine. It didn't take them long to clear the floor and take possession of it. This gave them room for a moving Sashay that changed into several walking turns and a samba roll that made everyone there wonder where they performed. The music went on for several minutes, in which Heero and Duo essentially had sex on the floor. Then the DJ faded the music out and went into a quick patter. “Ok, ok. Thanks, guys, but let's let the less talented back on the floor. Everybody dance!” And he changed the music to something modern and techno so that everyone could dance. This didn't bother either of the two, they just danced to whatever the DJ played, and did so for the rest of the evening, returning to the table to have drinks and snacks. They spoke to whoever was at the table, Ameena introduced them to everyone in her circle over the course of the evening. They left shortly after 2 in the morning, sweaty, tired and overloaded with information. But Duo had seen one of the hangers on selling pills to a boy with a copper ticket pinned to his shirt. This seemed to be some sort of convention as he'd seen that most of the copper and silver invitees had their tickets pinned to their clothing. Gold tickets didn't bother as the staff knew them all by sight. So, Duo had clear evidence that there was selling going on on the premises. He would turn over his pictures later. He knew Wufei was going to be really happy about being able to close up this club, it had been a thorn in his side for much too long. They met Wufei for breakfast, or brunch as it was nearly noon, and Duo gave him the little camera he'd hidden in his hair. Heero had not approved of the pouffy do, but it had proved to be a handy place to hide the digital device. It had been easy to run the shutter trigger down the back of Duo's head and hide it in his collar, a quick squeeze, disguised as fiddling with the collar took a picture. And Duo had plenty of them. All evidence that there was a lot of selling going on in the club. The closing of this particular club as a done deal. Wufei grumbled about having to wait until Heero and Duo were off colony but agreed that they shouldn't do anything until they were gone so as not to blow their cover. “But the second there's no chance of endangering your cover, it's getting raided. I swear, I don't know how the hell she managed to keep it relatively clean this long. How she thinks she's going to keep them from making profits, I don't know.” Duo had his mouth full of eggs so Heero replied, “She's arrogant and stupid. She's sly enough to plan this but not smart enough to pull it off. She thinks because she's a Winner everyone is going to do exactly what she says. And she hasn't got sense enough to check up on things. But she is smart enough to make sure that no one gets raped, not even by ruffies.” Wufei shook his head, eyed the turkey bacon with disfavor, and grumped, “That's not much to say in her favor. Once the people are out of the club, they're fair game to any thug, masher or creep out there.” Heero nodded. “That's true. I'm just hoping we get an invite soon, I don't like the club scene much. Unless I know the place really well.” Duo agreed with that, thinking longingly of the little club near their place that they frequented. It was small, the music wasn't too loud and they knew nearly everybody in there and all the staff. Ameena's club was huge, loud, and crowded. And it stank like a locker room in a cheap gym. On top of that, the floors were sticky. All Duo could think was, “Yuck!” He wondered how anyone could truly enjoy themselves in such a place. He voiced this question just to get Wufei off the rant he was on. Wufei replied quite logically, “They don't. They're just so jaded and bored that they don't pay attention to the faults. They're looking for a reason in life and can't find one. So they replace proper behavior and a useful existence with drugs, liquor and sex. It's sad.” Heero sighed, he hated it when Wufei got reflective, it just led to one of his more long winded lectures about proper behavior and karma. This time Wufei surprised them both by just saying, “You know my feelings about that. I'm not going to go off so get that look off your face. I know that you really want this over as much as I do. I just hope you're not in over your head.” Duo gave him a fierce, cold stare. “We're not but Ameena is. Here's the thing. We're prepared to do whatever. I don't think they really understand what they've gotten themselves into. It's a wonder one of the combines hasn't taken it over yet.” Wufei rubbed one arm wearily. “They're looking at it. There's rumblings. Some of our snitches are warning us to get it shut down before it's taken over by people we'll have real trouble up rooting. Be really careful. Ok?” Heero just grunted. Duo nodded and went back to his food, eating like it was the last good meal he was going to get for a while, a sure sign that he was more worried than he wanted to admit. Wufei hated the fact that, somehow, his friends had wound up mixed up in this mess. All because Ameena couldn't keep her hands to herself. Stupid onna. They finished their food, visited about nothing much for a while, then went their separate ways. Wufei admonished them to be careful and told them that, if they needed equipment, no matter what it was, all they had to do was ask. Heero thanked him while Duo got 'that' look in his eye. Wufei was sure that there was going to be a requisition for something that went boom, very soon. He left with a slight smile on his lips. Duo would never change, nor would Heero; not in any significant way. Wufei climbed into his car and drove away, Heero and Duo standing on the curb watching him, both thought that he was looking well. Duo remarked, “He looks a lot better than he did before his cover got blown. He was looking so tired. I bet Une had him really hopping to keep up with everything she wanted him to do.” Heero nodded. “Yeah, she'll chew you up and spit you out the wonder why you're not in top form.” Duo just hissed, “I know, believe me, I know. I don't trust her farther than I could throw Wing.” Heero blinked, gave him a sideways look then asked, “Not Deathscythe?” Duo shrugged. “With 'Scythe, all I'd have to do was ask and he'd jump over the moon. I really miss him.” “I miss Wing, but what were we supposed to do?” “No idea.” He ran a hand through his bangs, ruffling them into untidy disarray. “I just feel ... guilty? Something ... but enough of these heart burnings. Let's go see what kind of mischief we can get into. Something Ameena is sure to see.” “Yeah, but what?” Duo nibbled at his lip for a moment. “Dunno, let me think about it a bit. I'll come up with something.” And come up with something he did. It seemed that all the group were fans of racing; dogs, horses, men, cars, motorcycles, anything. It didn't matter what as long as it was fast, could be tracked and bet upon, someone was interested in it. Duo calmly came up with the idea of racing old Taurus mobile suits. There were plenty of them on colony. While the gundams had been destroyed, most of the other suits had been converted to more productive pursuits, such as construction. Duo managed to get his hands on six of them. He used two to part out for the other four and had them all going strong. He stripped off a lot of the armor and all the handling mounts. Now the suits were nothing but humanoid speed demons. He beefed up the verniers and improved the navigation computers then dared anyone to beat him with one. He even had documentation to prove that all the machines had the same specs. Heero just rolled his eyes and signed on the dotted line. They were both more than a little surprised to find that the list was ten names long. That meant that Duo would have the announced drawing, to pick the names of his first three opponents. Of course, Heero was one, Duo didn't know the other two, but their names were Dillon Fallon, and George Wilkins. He didn't even bother to try to meet them. He just sent them the address of the docking bay he kept the suits in. . The four contestants gathered in the bay along with a small ship that carried cameras to supplement the one's that were positioned all over the colony for use by the control tower and other interested parties. The race was sure to attract the attention of all the news feeds just by it's very existence. Duo cheerily called out to the crews, “Hi, guys! We're here. Fire things up, will ya?” The crews, certified mechanics hired off the streets and turned loose on the suits under Duo's supervision, did as they were told and started the suits gyros spinning up to speed. Heero watched for a moment, then asked, “What about them? After we're done, I mean.” Duo just said, “Q” and left it at that. Heero gave a satisfied nod and turned to the next part of the race. Duo got Dillon and George to join them near a small canon shell. “Ok, I've put all our names in this shell.” He looked around then called, “Hey! Come here a sec.” A man walked over, a questioning look on his face. “Hand this around so everyone can take a chip.” He picked up the shell and held it out to each contestant in turn. Duo nodded to him so he put the shell back on the table and went back to what he'd been doing. “Ok, everyone show their chip. It's the number of your suit.” Dillon showed his chip which was number 1, Heero got 2, George got 3 and Duo had 4. Dillon asked, “What’s with the numbers?” “All four suits are exactly alike, so it just seemed to be the best way to pick who got which suit. That way no one can say the race was fixed.” Dillon and George eyed the suits for a few moments then George said, “What if I want to trade?” Duo cheerfully tossed his chip at George, who caught it one handed. “Fine by me. Just hand your chip over to me and we're good to go.” George handed Duo the chip and headed for the suit. Each pilot climbed into the suit they'd drawn and started their checks. After the checks, the crew called them back out of the suits to get into their vacuum suits. Duo had insisted that they have real vacuum suits instead of the universal suits most people were familiar with so this caused some trouble as the suits had to be refitted to make sure all the seals worked properly. Duo and Heero didn't have that problem as they'd gotten suits from WEI just for this purpose. Only really bad boys would have their own racing vacuum suits. After the crew fitted Dillon and George, they all got back in the suits which were properly warmed up by now. Duo had snickered to Heero that that was one of the reasons that they'd had such good luck against them. They were never properly warmed up when a gundam came to call. They'd laughed softly at the joke. It didn't take long for them to launch, all they had to do was open the docking bay doors. Duo had hired a navigator familiar with the colonies environs to set the course for the race. That way no one could accuse him of winning because he knew the route ahead of time. At Duo's signal, the route was sent to all the racers and they launched into space. The route used the local navigation transponders for guidance but one of the obstacles of this race was the need to switch from transponder to transponder quickly. The rest of the route was just as complicated, it twisted through an antenna array, into a new construction sight and around the axis of the station, and into the core. Duo kicked his Taurus in the ass, figuratively speaking, and shot out of the bay like someone was shooting at him. He flicked the switch to change transponders and tipped the MS over in a sideways dive into the antenna array, immediately jerking the controls over to avoid diving right into a strut. He swore softly, it was way to close for most pilots. This was proven at once when Dillon hit the strut head on, snapping it and ripping off the arm of his suit. The antenna the strut was guying shivered as if in a high wind. Heero snarled as he dodged the lash of the strut and jammed his controls into reverse, then flipped the suit into a cartwheel, leveled off and took off in pursuit of Duo. George managed to make it through the first leg by clinging to Duo and Heero’s exhaust. Duo hit the switch to change transponders again and glanced at his course readout. This leg dodged the crane, spiraled around a major support column and dodged in and out of a half completed complex of unloading equipment. Duo made it through without even scraping the paint on his suit. George just missed a real disaster as he didn't see a cable running from a crane to it's winch until the very last second. He had to brake heavily then accelerate. Heero kept up with Duo and shot out of the leg a split second ahead. Duo whooped with glee, this was getting better and better. He forgot completely about George and Dillon. The only thing he was thinking about now was keeping ahead of Heero. Heero grinned. It was like old times, training with Wing. Without the fear of being punished for any mistakes. He found himself whooping and hollering just like Duo. Heero realized that he was going to have to do something or he was going to lose to Duo. He was right on the suit’s heels but he couldn't quite overtake it. He thought quickly, as he always did, and realized that the few rules there were didn't ban what he had in mind. He reached out, hit the accelerator for one burst of speed that red lined the verniers and grabbed Duo's suit by the ankle. He jerked back on the ankle and jammed the accelerators to their stops. This produced a slingshot effect that put his suit ahead of Duo by a slim margin. Duo swore and screamed. Heero's stunt had nearly sent him into a support strut. It wouldn't have damaged the strut any, nor would it have harmed Duo, but the suit would have been out of commission. Duo managed to get back on course and chase after Heero. Forgetting that this suit was not 'Scythe, Duo jammed the throttles over until the suit screamed in an agony of overexertion. Heero knew he had enough of a lead that he could take it easy for a few seconds, long enough for the verniers to cool off. They were both a bit disappointed when Duo's suit just quit, the overheated, over stressed verniers shutting down in self-defense. Duo cursed furiously and kicked the forward console. All he could do was watch as Heero zipped through the last leg of the race like he was the only one in it, with George struggling just to stay on the convoluted course. He as still stewing when the tender picked him up and returned him to the docking bay. They return to the docking bay was all they could have hoped for. There were dozens of reporters and admirers, and three Preventers, one of them Wufei. They were immediately stripped out of their vacuum suits, then arrested; all four of the participants clapped in handcuffs and led away, to the jeering of the crowd. Wufei turned on them the second they were in an interview room. “All right. Who planned this little piece of idiocy?” Heero glowered, but George and Dillon both broke under the fury of Wufei's glared. They both pointed to Duo. Wufei snorted. He motioned to George and Dillon and snapped at the officers at his back, “Get those two out of here, charge them with reckless endangerment, obstructing traffic and trespass on a construction zone. Go! I'll deal with these two.” The two, now terrified, racers were hauled out of the room and taken to booking, where they were met by lawyers, parents and an entirely too irritated booking officer. They were in for a very scary few hours before they were let off with a thundering warning by a judge who was in on the whole thing. Wufei just shook his head at Duo. “What happened? I was sure you'd win.” Duo grimaced in disgust. “I forgot I wasn't in 'Scythe and overloaded the verniers. They shut down and left me floating. Stupid.” He took the bottle of water Wufei handed him and passed it to Heero, Wufei then handed over another. Duo took a long drink, emptying half the bottle in two gulps. Heero smirked at Wufei over his water, then took a drink of it. Wufei snarled at both of them, curling his lip in a familiar manner. “Ok, how's this particular stunt going to hurry things along.” Duo capped his water and explained, “Simple, you're going to make an example of us. In order to avoid a hefty fine ... and some time, we have to be off the colony in ...” Duo glanced at Heero. Heero consulted his computer. “Forty-eight hours. There's no transport out of the three unit cluster before then, and we're not allowed to stay in L4-632. We'd be in real trouble if Ameena wasn't leaving in six. She'll take us with her for the asking.” Wufei nodded his understanding. “I'll drop word in the proper places. She'll probably be in contact in a couple of hours. You can stay here until then. I'll be back in ...” He glanced at his watch. “Two hours, with some food. Thai?” Duo nodded. “Fine.” Heero added, “And some green tea?” Wufei agreed to this and left to do his name dropping. . Heero's phone rang twenty minutes after Wufei left. It was Ameena with offers of lawyers and anything else they needed. Heero declined, telling her they already had lawyers and were just coming up for trial. He also told her that they'd call her back with the results as soon as they could. Ameena said that she'd be waiting and rang off. Wufei returned with food and a very satisfied smile. “Here, jasmine rice, green tea, and I have no idea what else. The restaurant advertised it as the Imperial Dinner; four courses for four people.” He started taking containers out of a large sack, along with bowls, chopsticks, cups and napkins. He used a serving utensil to put rice in the bowls and handed them around while Heero poured tea. Duo distributed chopsticks and napkins and they all sat down to eat. While they were eating Wufei filled them in on what was going on outside their temporary sanctuary. Ameena had called a judge, who was in her pocket, and tried to get Heero and Duo off, completely ignoring George and Dillon. The judge told her he didn't have jurisdiction, which he didn't, but would see what he could do. This was where the 48 hr deportation came from. It was all he could do for Ameena. And he wound up owing his fellow judge a favor to do something he was going to do anyway. Just as they were finishing their impromptu feast, Ameena called Heero. “Ya, speak to me.” Heero had been using the same greeting for years. “Oh, Miss Ameena. Yes, we're in a bind. We have to be off this three unit colony in 48 hours but nothing's going farther than another unit for more than that.” He listened for a second. “No, they won't let us take a cargo carrier, has to be passenger transport. We're going to wind up paying a hefty fine, not that that's a problem, but jail time is just so .... tacky.” Ameena nearly cheered, she was in. Duo, listening in on his own phone, grinned at Heero. “Well, darling, it seems that I can help you after all. I'm leaving in my yacht in less than six hours. We're at ... I have no idea ... here's my aide, he'll give you all the particulars. So boring, you know.” Heero nodded to Duo who found a data pad thrust into his hand by Wufei. Heero repeated the information that the aide gave him and Duo wrote it down. Wufei took the pad and transferred the information to his computer and Heero's. Duo just headed for the door, announcing, “We better get packed and to that dock. We don't want to miss the ship, or give the impression that we're not worried about that sentence.” He was right. No one with any sense at all, not even the baddest of bad boys, would want to spend time in a colonial jail. They packed, checked out and were at the dock in three hours that left two before the ship left. It only took a moment for a fawning aide to rush up to them and lead them to their quarters, assuring them that their luggage would be taken care of. Heero flopped down in a squashy chair and sighed. Duo followed him into another. “I could really do with some more tea.” Heero stretched easily, shirt riding up over hard abs. Duo took in the view with appreciation. “I could too. Do you think it's too soon to ask for some?” “And, if we were the people we're pretending to be, would we care?” Duo allowed that they would not and pressed a button on the arm of his chair. This brought the steward to the room with a smile. “What can I do for you?” “Green tea. Hot, not iced. Rice cakes. Duo?” Heero nodded to Duo. “Same for me, along with some nattou.” Heero made a soft noise. “What?” “How can you eat that shit?” “Dunno, I just like it.” The steward waited for a moment to be sure they were done ordering, then left to get their tea and Duo's nattou. Heero couldn't understand how Duo could eat the stuff. It was sticky, smelly and really disgusting, and Heero didn't care that he was supposed to be the one who liked the soy-based Japanese food. He didn't like stinky cheeses either. The steward brought their refreshments and the information that they needed to strap in, right in the chairs they were sitting in, for launch. Duo commented, “Launch and lunch. Nice.” as he buckled the belts the steward extracted from somewhere in the chairs. They remained strapped in until a soft female voice announced, “Launch completed. You may move around freely. Do be aware that gravity will not be turned on until we clear the colonial micro-cluster to make maneuvering easier.” Duo scowled at Heero, only the worst pilots kept gravity off until the ship was in free space. Heero shook his head back. “I don't like it. What kind of inept, moron keeps the grav off until they're in clear space. Or is it just me?” “Not you.” Heero flinched visibly when the ship shuddered slightly. “This guy is a total dweeb. I really want to know where the safety pods are.” Duo grumbled inarticulately around a mouthful of nattou. Heero found himself clutching the arm rests like a newbie. They kept their belts on until gravity was restored, an uncomfortable half hour later. .
There were two kinds of clusters; each of the LaGrange points was referred to as a cluster, but each LaGrange point consisted of clusters of colonial units. Some groups were very large, others consisted of as few as two, there were even some colonies that were only one unit. It got confusing to Earth born people but the colonials were used to it and not ashamed to ask if they didn't know. The place they were headed for was not even a colony, it was a station. It had been built by a local colonial cluster to contain dangerous scientific researches to a safe location. It had been abandoned during the Wars for independence and more or less deserted. Ameena had just walked in and taken over. The few remaining residents had greeted her with joy, she was responsible for saving their home. After finding out what she was actually doing, most of them had taken the first opportunity to jump ship and go elsewhere. The entire station was now populated by Ameena's employees and her guests. When they were finally allowed to wander, they headed directly for the main lounge. They looked around as they walked and realized that Ameena had modified the ship to some extent. The few rooms were created from the four suites Quatre had designed. Each bedroom was assigned to two people, except for the master suite, which Ameena occupied by herself. So the full compliment of guests was 20. There were 10 bedrooms, two suites had three each and the others had two. The master suite had two, one large and one smaller, not that that made them anything but huge. The lounge was in the middle of a conjunction of corridors from each suite and it was as big as you'd expect it to be. There were several clusters of seating, everything from two chairs with foot rests and a table up to several couches and chairs with accompanying tables. There were several vid screens on the walls with game stations and such in comfortable arrangements around them. Duo whistled softly in approval while Heero vowed to get Quatre's toy back for him before Ameena ruined it completely. There were 16 other people in the lounge which made Duo wonder to Heero why they were all there. Heero shrugged, “Probably because they've been here before or got some sort of introductory package. You'll have to admit that we're really last minute additions.” “True. Well, let's see if we can't stir up something.” Duo started toward a group seated in a smaller seating. He was stopped by a steward who led the two young men to a different seating, explaining as he did so, “We do have assigned seating in the lounge and the dining room. It wouldn't do for us to allow ... um ... customers who don't get along ... to annoy each other. See? Now, we've assigned you to this area so that you can play games without annoying the other guests. Have a nice flight.” Duo rolled his eyes at Heero, they were going to have to wait until they got to the station to find anything out. It would be too suspicious for them to try to question the other passengers, who all seemed to be Ameena's age or near it. How would it look if a couple of bad boys started socializing with people like the other passengers. People who were older, richer, and snootier. Two words, not good. Duo reached out and turned on the game console, handed Heero a controller and challenged him to a game. They played until dinner was announced. Duo scrunched up his nose and said, “Isn't it lunch?” A woman standing near him proved it was wise for them to avoid the rest of the passengers by saying, “It's always dinner right after launch.” in a haughty tone of voice. She eyed them as if they were some sort of odd life form and cleared her throat in a pointed manner, designed to get them into the dining room and out of her way. Heero moved into the dining room then stepped aside to allow the woman to enter. Duo slipped behind him so he could look the room over without being too obvious. Heero glanced around, his bored expression making it plain that he wanted to be seated. Heero's faint expression of annoyance brought a server scurrying to take them to their assigned seating. The dining room was small but well appointed with small tables scattered around a larger central one. Each table seemed to be assigned to a set of rooms and the central table, of course, belonged to the master cabin and Ameena. They sat down and were told that they had their choice of Curry Chicken on rice or Sherried Beef tips on noodles; mixed steamed veg or baked potato (Duo wondered how any one could eat two starches in the same meal); tossed salad or tomato salad; and apple pie or frozen custard. The just ordered one of each except for the potato and coffee. Duo leaned back and sighed. “This is going to be a really boring three days. I wonder how they're reconciling their trajectory. Wanna try and figure it out later?” Heero nodded. “We can put our computers inline and combine their power. I think I can even hack the ships computers without getting caught.” Duo tapped his fingers on the table, restless and unhappy. He hated waiting, really hated it. Heero never seemed to mind, just sitting until what ever was supposed to happen did. “How can you be so calm. I'm about to jump out of my skin. You know I hate waiting.” Heero did know; Duo, in a car, doing surveillance was a trial not to be sneezed at. He'd done it several times now and always brought along a handheld game of some sort. “I meditate.” “On what?” “You.” Duo choked on his sip of water. “Me?” He blinked at Heero, completely baffled “Yes. On what I want to do to you the next time I get you in bed. Or on any available flat surface. Against a wall. Whatever.” Heero smirked at Duo in a way that was guaranteed to raise Duo's temperature. “Oh, un ... I see. Um ...” Heero took pity. “When this is over, I'm going to radish you.” Duo snickered. Heero remembered, with considerable fondness, how that particular bit of silliness had come about. They'd been in a mall full of children and Duo had said something about ravishing and one sharp eared kid had asked about it. Duo had just said the child had misunderstood, they were talking about radishes. The child had given them a contemptuous 'I'm not stupid' look and run off. They didn't have any inclination to break their no sex on jobs rule but sometimes it was really hard. Heero leaned back a bit to allow the server to put his plate in front of him. He examined the curry with interest. Only the finest for Ameena and her party, but it was running oil. “Take it back.” The server started at Heero's flat voiced instruction. “Excuse me?” “Take it back. Tell the cook that I don't need a slick of oil all across the top of my food.” Duo scowled at his plate too. Beef tips should never be cooked past medium rare, but his was not only well done, but dried out. Quatre surely didn't hire whoever was cooking, he was much too particular. “This is dried out. Take it back too. Tell cook if he can't manage to prepare our food properly, I'll be glad to come in and show him how.” The server took their plates back with a scowl. Duo grumbled, “I'm not sure I want to eat anything that ass fixes now. He'll probably spit in it.” Heero shook his head. “He won't. We'll just go check right now.” They both got up and headed for the kitchen. Someone got in their way but moved quickly as Heero snarled in his face. Ameena noticed but didn't do anything about it. If her guests wanted to do something, they did it. As long as they didn't interfere with the bridge crew, she ignored it. So, Duo entered the kitchens to find that their cook was a 20 something ex-server. “Excuse me. Where the hell did you learn how to cook?” Duo was ready for battle. He loved to cook and had been taught by Quatre. He was actually an accomplished chef. “Um ... I'm just the chef du jour. We're taking turns as the man that Mr. Winner hired quit.” Duo nodded. “I see. Well, the whole meal is inedible as far as I'm concerned. I'll cook my own, and Heero’s. Don't worry, I'll just work around you.” So the poor man struggled on while Duo darted from one side of the kitchen to the other. Making new rice and noodles. Searing the beef, grilling chicken, sautéing onions, steaming veg and mixing sauces. All without breaking a sweat. He plated up in twenty minutes and carried the food out of the kitchen himself. Heero settled to his food with a smirk. “Have fun?” “Actually, yeah, I did. I'm cooking our food from now on.” “OK. I think it'd be a good idea to eat in the kitchens too. I don't like the atmosphere.” “Fine with me. Not too comfortable myself.” So they ate, then returned to their quarters. Duo, bored, decided to debug their quarters, more for something to do than anything else. He found two in the sitting room, one in each bedroom and one in each bathroom. They didn't touch them, that would raise suspicions way too much, but they were very annoyed at the intrusion into their privacy. This caused them to sleep in separate rooms for the first time since Heero had found Duo again. Neither one of them wanted to pander to Ameena's voyeurism. It was a very unhappy couple that spent the next hour hacking into the ships computers to see what they could find and to try to pinpoint the location of the station. The old location was on file, of course; but due to drift and lack of maintenance, it wasn't where it should be. The actual coordinates were the first thing Heero found. Just for the fun of it Duo calculated their trajectory from the colony to the station and found that the filed destination was on the other side of the colony. He nodded to the screen and said, “Well, I wonder who figured that one out. Ameena sure didn't.” Heero checked to see who the captain was. “I think it was this guy. We'll turn names and such over to Wufei but I think he used to be a captain in White-fang, but I'm not sure.” Duo sighed then asked, “Well, if he's such a good pilot, why the delay in restoring gravity?” Heero just shrugged. “Who the hell knows? And, ask me if I really care.” Duo just snorted, “I don't care either. You collecting a package?” “Yes, I'll hide it in an email to my 'girlfriend' Merian. Wufei will know to check that particular email box.” “Good.” Duo went back to hacking around in the passenger manifests of the ship while Heero spent the next half hour poking around in the flight plans. They compiled quite a bit of evidence against the flight crew and Ameena. They also got enough evidence to allow Preventers to board the station for a general search. This search would be held off until either Heero or Duo called so that they would have an opportunity to obtain a sale offer. This would put the whole station out of business and make Preventers very happy as well as saving uncounted lives. Heero was a bit startled to find cargo manifests. He started examining them and felt a cold chill scamper down his spine. “Fuck! Duo, look at this!” Heero then threw the biggest fit Duo had ever seen from the normally stoic man. It included a stream of swear words that made even the verbose L2 brat blink. “Heero, man, don't blow a gasket! Calm down.” Duo looked at the data Heero had sent to him and managed not to break something by the merest hair. “Jesus Christ on a cracker. There's enough stuff here to make every illegal drug on the market and some designers that haven't hit it yet. And lot's of it. Tons of the stuff. They can't possibly be using it all on station. They've got to be exporting most of it. But where? How? Heero, stop sputtering and get back to work.” Heero pulled himself together and went back to work. They investigated every single file on the ship and found plenty of evidence that there was much more going on than the surface indicated, Duo muttered something about 'still waters' and hacked the ships communications system so they could send unauthorized, untraceable and unnoticed emails. He then compiled all their information into three emails and sent a copy to Wufei, Une and Quatre. Then the two, working in unison, copied the main drive of the computer, then made it impossible to erase anything on the ships computers. Preservation of unadulterated evidence, or so Duo said. Heero thought it was just general prissiness on Duo's part but didn't argue. He thought the copy was enough. They spent the rest of the three days, alternating between their quarters, where they played video games and slept, the main lounge where they played loud video games, arguing loudly over them and the kitchen where Duo cooked for both of them and they ate at a chopping block in one corner. Everyone on board was relieved when the captain announced that they were docking in an hour. ~ * ~ tbc...
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