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"Cross Country"Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: R Warnings: Fluff, mild angst, silliness, gross
abuse of amusement park rides *grin* Beta’ed by the marvelous Mechante! *hugs
sweets* ^-^ Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, R+all Summary: A mission to protect the Queen of the
Universe leads the five Gundam pilots on the cross country adventure
of a lifetime. " Cross Country"
Ch 1 Life post war hadn't turned out too bad. I stayed with Hilde for a while until she was solidly on her feet and Une threatened to have me arrested if I didn't accept the Preventer’s commission she'd offered all the pilots. Wufei was the first to fall, and then when Hiiro turned up after his short, post war disappearance he was sporting a badge within the first week. Quatre and Trowa worked as part time agents on cases that required their special skills and though I hadn't wanted to ever have a reason to carry a firearm again I found the position highly rewarding. I felt like I was making a difference again, not to mention the fact that there wasn't much call for a seventeen-year-old Gundam pilot in the private sector and I got to bunk with Hiiro. I'd missed him. There just wasn't anyone else who understood me the way he did so it was nice getting to partner with him again, especially since he'd loosened up a lot. I knew there was a sense of humor buried under that face of steel somewhere and the lack of a desire to become a casualty of war had brought it out nicely. I suppose I'd calmed a bit, too. The crazy joker mask wasn't necessary to stay alive in this new world so I'd backed off to something more along the lines of foolish imp. Hey, a guy’s gotta have <i>some</i> fun. We were the crack team, called in solo, by twos or five at a time depending on the details of the job. If it entailed extreme danger, we were the ones that went in first. If it was delicate or of critical importance, we were first on the duty roster, so it hit us all hard when we strolled into Une's office one fine June afternoon, each armed to the teeth and ready to risk our lives and told were being assigned a babysitting job. "Exsqueeze me?" "Duo..." "You leave first thing in the morning," Une cut off Quatre's reprimand. "I don't understand," Hiiro began but our illustrious leader didn't seem any happier about the situation than we did. "You have your orders," she snipped. "I have better things to do than waste time..." "Master Chang," the woman sighed impatiently. "There have been threats on the Minister’s life. That is sufficient reason to escort her." "Why in the hell does she need all five of us?!" I grumbled. "One should be enough, it's not like..." "You will address the assignment as a team," she growled through clenched teeth. "But..." "You have your orders," she cut Quatre off in a tone that clearly stated we were done with the conversation. "The details have been sent to your personal inet accounts. Good day, gentlemen." "Son of a bitch," I mumbled as we filed down the hallway. "Duo..." "He has a point," Trowa finally spoke up, laying a soft hand on his lover’s shoulder. "Yes," the blond sulked. "But grumbling about it isn't going to help." "There's something odd going on," Wufei commented grumpily. "There is no reason to send us all on this mission." "We need to find out who is threatening Relena's life before we can judge that fairly," Hiiro commented. "Oh come on, Hiiro," I whined. "Someone is <i>constantly</i> threatening her life. She's only the most important person in freaking creation right now." "This must be different or Une wouldn't be taking such extreme measures," he countered. "If it's so bad you'd think we'd be transporting her in a more secure fashion," Wufei pointed out. "Yeah," Quatre added, "Why in the world do you suppose we're required to drive?" "We'll find out when we read the file," Hiiro reasoned. "Quatre and Trowa will handle supplies," he said calling the debate to an end. "Wufei, you're navigation and Duo..." "Yes?" I grinned. "Find us some transportation," he told me, setting the gears in motion. "We'll meet at the embassy at O700." "Where are you going?" I asked. "I'm going to do a little recon and see if I can shed some light on this mission." I did a little research myself, beginning with a visit to my inet account to read our mission specs. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. Relena, her companion/assistant Bella and the five of us were supposed to drive from New York where we were currently based to LA. The trip should have taken no more than three days but we were required to deliver the Minister to the embassy in California no sooner than seven days hence. That left four days to just piddle around. It went against every rule in the `protect the Princess` handbook but the specifications were very clear. Several death threats had been received recently from a single source but even that wasn't all that uncommon. It just didn't make any sense but hard as I tried I couldn't find a damn clue as to what was really going on. I didn't realize so much time had passed until the alarm went off while I was comparing threatening letters telling me I'd just worked through the night and had less than an hour to get dressed, packed and find us a mode of transportation before I had to report. It was a stupid oversight; Hiiro had said he would check into it and I should have let him handle it. I knew since he hadn't come home he was making good his promise but the mystery of why we were being sent on this hair-brained mission had hypnotized me. I showered, tossed a handful of clothes and my gear in a bag and hit the ground running. Pure luck got me a cab two blocks down the road and the driver just happened to know a Limo service nearby but when we got there it was still closed. I guess suits don't like to get up before dawn. I was at a loss at that point; there was no way in hell we could take a cab and I couldn't wait till eight when the service opened. I was just thinking `train` when I saw the answer in the form of an endless line of huge, brightly colored RV's all standing in a row and told the driver to stop. Bobby Tuck's RV and Pop Up's It seemed like the perfect solution. The camper slept six though I had no doubt Hiiro wouldn't go for Relena having five guys essentially in her bedroom so I rented a couple of tents too. Considering the nature of the mission, one of us would have to stay close to her at all times, but the table folded down to make a bed and was at the opposite end of the vehicle, that would allow Bella to bed down between the agent and the Minister but still keep someone close enough to protect her. The rest of us would camp outside, one tent on either side of the camper to secure a perimeter. It was perfect. "Duo... what have you done?!" Quatre hissed as I hopped down to the sidewalk. Ok, maybe not. I think it would have helped if Trowa would have stopped laughing. "Maxwell, you are one of a kind," Wufei smirked. "What?" Ok, so maybe it was a last minute decision but I stood by it as being an intelligent one. At least until I saw the look on Hiiro's face. "Relena," he began solemnly. "I'm sorry. I should have..." "Not at all," she smiled. "It's perfect." I think I broke a tooth when my jaw hit the ground. Of all the people going on this trip Relena Darlian had been the last person I had expected to be my ally. "Are you... sure?" Quatre was saying, looking skeptical as he followed her aboard. "Of course," she smiled, ignoring Bella's wary expression. "Who would suspect to find me in here?" "Exactly," I grinned mostly at Hiiro because he still looked like he wanted to throttle me. "Duo," he growled low, grabbing my arm to hold me back while the others climbed aboard. "What the hell were you thinking?" "Relax, Papa Bear," I smiled. "I rented tents, too." He looked a little relieved so I flashed him a bright smile. "Come on, man. You didn't think I was gonna sleep in the same room with a couple of girls. What would the teamsters think?" I ducked and scampered aboard before he really could strangle me and took first shift behind the wheel to keep it that way. The thing moved weird, lots of metal but none of it wanted to do what you told it to. Pushing a peddle in Deathscythe was like pointing my own finger, smooth, sure and instantaneous. Pushing a peddle in this thing was akin to smacking a lazy mule. It'd go, but in its own good time. It seemed to need three lanes to make a turn as well. "Duo!" "Oops." "You have to swing out..." "Not into on coming traffic!!" "Turn harder!" "Shouldn't we have made a left back there?" "Don't encourage him." "Wufei, what's the straightest path to the interstate?" "Turn right." "There's construction!" "I can make it." "NO!" they all barked at once and I laughed until I thought I would cry. I think they might have lynched me but Relena was giggling her head off too so they were out voted by default. We did find the highway but we put an hour, a totaled phone booth and two dented mailboxes behind us in the process. Straight road is seriously underrated in one of those things. "Would anyone like something to eat?" Bella asked sounding remarkably relieved as we sailed on down the road. "Oh, that would be lovely," Relena chirped. "It was too early for breakfast before we left." "I don't believe the kitchen is functional while driving," Wufei commented dryly. "I have some sandwiches in my bag," Bella explained, gathering said bag to her feet. I was starting to like Bella. She was young for her station, under thirty anyway, small and lean with dark brown, shoulder length hair and big brown eyes. I saw some Italian in her though she carried no accent. She seemed well organized and friendly, not pretentious at all and fully capable of providing companionship as well as killer sandwiches to our little Queen. "What is our itinerary?" Relena asked, nibbling daintily on a de-crusted tuna and cheese. "We have an extended amount of time to make this trip," Wufei began pulling out his laptop. "I thought perhaps, should circumstances allow, you might like to see some of the sights along the way." "Wufei," I grinned. "You sly dog. That's the spirit!" Hiiro's jaw dropped discouragingly but whatever he was going to say was chopped off by Relena's exuberant, "Wonderful!" "What's first on the list?" Quatre asked, opening his own computer as he offered the remainder of his sandwich to Trowa who took it from his hand with his mouth. It is still a moderately rare thing to see Trowa truly smile; I get a kick out of it every time and that one made me grin right along when Quatre flushed bright red. "There is a series of museums and scenic opportunities along the way," Wufei explained, seeming pleased with himself. "What?" I chuckled. "No `world’s biggest ball of twine`?" "Is there such a thing?" Bella asked deadpan. "Sure," I smiled. "I think its somewhere in Kansas. You wanna go?" "Oh, could we!?" Relena exclaimed and I laughed some more because Hiiro had just narrowly avoided swallowing his tongue. "I don't believe it," Quatre chuckled, taping on his laptop. "Cawker City, Kansas. There really is." "Please, Hiiro," Relena smiled and I saw him
physically cave. Things grew quiet for a while and I lost myself to the gentle rhythm of the road. Wufei was researching new possible stops with Quatre while Trowa appeared to have kicked back to take a nap. The slight movement of his hand as he discretely caressed Quatre's hip belied that illusion to anyone who cared to notice. Relena was talking quietly with Bella and Hiiro had retreated to the back of the camper, presumably to do more research on our mission. It was very quiet so I'm afraid I jerked a little when Relena suddenly popped up next to me. "May I join you?" she asked. "Knock yourself out, Princess," I smiled. "You could call me by my name," she smirked, sliding gracefully into the passenger seat. "Naw," I chuckled. "Goes against my nature." "Like shouting `Hey, good looking` at possible enemy targets?" she grinned so I flashed her one right back. "You weren't a target anymore at that point," I reminded her. "No," she chuckled, turning to gaze out the window before she added. "But thanks you to I was still alive." I have to say, she's one hell of a lady. I had absolutely no response to that. "Is that a radio?" she asked after a time. "It was last century," I snickered, reaching to turn the ancient thing on. "That's a funny tune," she laughed. "It's a jingle for Rice-a-Roni," I laughed. "I think this thing thinks it's still nineteen fifty-five." "What in the world?" she laughed and I joined her when the song that had come on started talking about spiders and snakes and what it takes to love me. "I have no idea." "May I?" "Please," I nodded and waited for her to find a station. I had expected a news channel or possibly something classical and couldn't help grinning in slight wonderment when she stopped on a pop/rock channel. "You listen to this stuff?" "When I have time," she smiled, tapping her fingers to the beat. The song was an old favorite and before we quite knew what was happening, Trowa's deep voice started singing quietly along. Well, when in Rome and all so I kicked in with my tenor and shortly Quatre was bee-bopping along nicely which put Relena in the mood and I think Bella and Wufei kicked in just to round it out. It was fun; all of us singing in harmony and by the second verse my ears caught the sound of Hiiro somewhere in the distance. I had never heard him sing before and though he was obviously trying to keep it quiet, my mind picked him out and amplified him until the deep, throaty vibration of his song rang in my ears. It was an electrifying tone, one I'm sure any record company would pay top dollar for but I doubt Hiiro would have been singing at all if he thought any of us were actually paying attention. It was too bad really, because he has one hell of a majestic voice. The next song was a little faster and I got to see the Queen of the Universe do the hitchhiker. It was the oddest feeling watching her Grace bob and sway in quick time. I couldn't actually dance with her because of the wheel but I matched her bob for bob while we sang the song as a duet and the others, mostly Quatre, Trowa and Bella, did back up. There was a moment, fleeting in its intensity, that I caught Hiiro's eye in the rearview and almost lost the beat. He'd been smiling but it wasn't his usual smile. This was one of those secret little grins full of affection and unspoken longing. It took my breath away and I suddenly wondered if this would be the trip he finally confessed, because Relena was being absolutely irresistible. We reached our first destination late that afternoon and, not surprisingly, had no problem parking. The Pennsylvania Lumbar Museum was all but deserted and I could understand why. It was more a fancy place to store old stuff than anything else. The train was cool though. "Duo, get down." "The sign says its ok," I argued and struck a pose in the engine window that made Relena and Bella laugh. "You look like an idiot," Wufei grumbled, shaking his head but there was a small smile hiding in the corner of his mouth. "That's Capitan Idiot if you please," I replied haughtily. "Engineers were not addressed as Capitan," Hiiro informed me climbing aboard, much to Wufei's dismay. "Hey, this is my ship," I retorted, donning the stripped hat that hug from a peg inside. "If you don't like it you can walk the plank." "If only we were at sea," Quatre chuckled allowing Trowa to hand him up to join us. "Whoahoo! Slow this crate down!" I sang, grinning at our amused company. "You lovely ladies wouldn't be needing a ride?" I asked, grinning wider when they blushed and giggled and played my silly little game. "What'dya think, Hiiro?" I asked, leaning back into his chest. "Should we class the joint up and bring them aboard?" "By all means," he chuckled, offering Relena his hand. We goofed off for a while, then had a late lunch on
the picnic tables outside. I somehow became Commodore in there somewhere
and Wufei kept referring to Hiiro as my first mate until he looked
like he had a sunburn. We had to make Quatre walk the plank because
Bella refused to pay the ransom, but since Trowa played the part of
the shark he wasn't all that reluctant to go. It occurred to me as
we pulled out and the attendant, Wallace, came rushing along because
I had forgotten to give the hat back, that we probably looked like
any other group of teenagers on a cross-country vacation and it felt
good. It was really nice to just relax and play. I got the feeling
it was something Relena hadn't gotten to do in a very long time.
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