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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 6 I drove because I needed to make sure we arrived on schedule and the success of actually completing the mission depended on being able to get close enough to the city to make it unreasonable to go back and use the bypass. Hiiro took the passenger seat later in the afternoon and kept grinning at me until I felt like my face would catch fire. If anyone was watching us it was a sure bet they had figured out what was going on but I finally glared him into relenting a little and he turned his attention to the road. That was my first mistake. "Duo?" "Hm?" "Isn't this our exit?" "Hiiro, could you help me with this?" Bella called and I could have kissed her but it didn't work. "You'd better get over," he told me putting her off. "Ummmm..." "Shit!" Relena suddenly barked jumping from her seat and dripping her spilled tea all over the floor. "What happened?" he asked, heading back to help because Quatre and Trowa had closed themselves up in the back and Wufei wasn't doing so well on his own. "Be still!" our Chinese partner growled, almost getting his hand trampled on. "It's cold!" "Here, Miss Relena." "Don't step in it!" "The ice went down my dress!" "Oh, for Pete's sake." I couldn't help laughing at the lot of them but I felt guilty because Relena's sacrifice had done its job and we had missed the exit. Hiiro didn't realize it until things settled and the mess was cleaned up. Quatre and Trowa had been banished from the back so Relena could clean up and took up most of the couch while Wufei curled up in the chair again. "What exit was that?" Hiiro asked, resuming his seat beside me. "Not sure," I evaded. "This doesn't look right," he commented, getting the map out. "Did you miss the exit?" "No," I sighed. "We're right on track." My track but I had hoped not to get into it quite this early. "Duo," he grumbled. "You're taking us straight into the middle of Las Vegas." "Las Vegas?!" Wufei gasped getting up to peer out the front window at the sparkling skyline. It was well after ten o'clock and the city was lit like a super nova star. "Turn around." "Sorry," I told my new lover. "I sort of promised Relena..." "You meant to do this?!" he snapped, suddenly glaring at me. "I'll take responsibility for it," I retorted. "How is that going to help if she's dead!?" This was not going to be pretty. "Nothing is going to happen," I assured him rather forcefully for all the good it did. "You're damn straight!" he growled, standing up as he ordered, "Turn around!" "Hiiro..." "This is not negotiable," he told her but our Princess has never been easily intimidated. "I talked him into it," she countered. "That is irrelevant," he snapped and I felt something very scary settle over me when his eyes went cold. "It was an irresponsible decision!" Then he rounded on me. "You didn't even consult the team!" "Because I knew you'd split a seam!" "Because it's an idiotic idea!" That stung. "I didn't think it was stupid," Quatre snipped and Hiiro suddenly snapped. "You two knew about this?" "Hiiro..." Relena stepped up but Bella interceded with a touch to her arm and a quiet warning. "Miss Relena..." "The next exit will take us back to the by pass," Wufei supplied. "Take it," Hiiro ordered and I sighed... heavily. "Hiiro!" "What?!" "We are going to Las Vegas!" Relena stated boldly, matching him glare for glare and I wondered how much trouble we were gonna be in when we arrived with her hog tied in the trunk. "There is no way to properly protect you..." "I do not need your protection!" she snapped. "Relena?" Bella breathed, stepping back cautiously. Her sudden retreat rang a bell in my head that I had no doubt had echoed in everyone else’s. "What have you done?" Hiiro demanded on a thin, dangerous thread. "What you could not achieve," she retorted. "Made sure the lot of you got some time off!" "There never was any threat on your life," Quatre surmised out loud. "No," she confirmed. "Une and I just couldn't think of any other way to get you guys to take a vacation." "Son of a bitch." I couldn't help it; the laugher just started around my toes and bubbled up out of me until the lot of us were cackling like a house full of hens. Well, everyone but Hiiro. "Come on," I chuckled, trying to coax him along. "You've gotta admit that's pretty funny." "And it has been a lot of fun driving cross-country with our friends," Quatre smiled, leaning into Trowa's arms. "Well done," Wufei snickered, dropping back into his chair. Hiiro stood in our midst looking like he'd swallowed something vile for a minute before Relena turned her most charming smile on him. "I'm sorry," she soothed and I saw some of the tension drain away. "But you've refused for so long..." "Hiiro?" I called when he pushed past her. He looked so sad for a second when he looked back at me I almost turned us around, but then he offered a wan little smile and said, "I need to cancel the warrant for Bella's arrest." "What?!" the girl gasped. "How did you find out she sent the letters?" Relena gaped. "Une said the software was untraceable!" Bella insisted, looking horrified. "You'd think she'd learn," I laughed but the rock in my stomach was making it hard. Hiiro still wasn't right and it bugged me but everyone was so hyped about being in Vegas I had to put it aside for the moment. I had plans and I was going to need their help to pull them off. The first of which required a short emergency stop along the highway. "Why are we stopping?" Quatre asked. Hiiro was still sulking but had accepted that the trip was happening and sat at the table out of the way while Relena and Bella had gone in the back to get ready. Wufei looked mildly interested though not enough to get up and Quatre was bouncing down the stairs with Trowa in tow so they'd have a front row seat for the first show of the night. I was just about to initiate it when I heard hear Hiiro scream and he came tumbling out the door backward. "What the hell?" "Hiiro!?" Relena shrieked, dashing out after him and I just about swallowed my tongue. "What in the hell did you do to her!?" he yelled, looking fit to be tied. "I didn't do that!" No way in hell! She'd cut the damn legs out of the outfit we'd brought and I had no idea where the go go boots had come from. With the black hair and that thick passion purple lipstick she looked like she should be sporting a five hundred dollar price tag. "Oh you both need to lighten up," she pished, flipping her hair saucily. Bella crept down the stairs behind her looking fine in the leather mini and vest she'd picked out, her hair all teased up to look wild and free and the highly amused Wufei right on her high heels. "You can't go out in public looking like that!" Hiiro stated in no uncertain terms. "This is the only chance I will ever have to do something like this and I fully intend to enjoy it," she sniffed. "Hiiro, come on," I chuckled. "It's really not that bad." "No bad!?" he gaped. "Well... not considering who she's masquerading as," I grinned pulling my remote out of my pocket. By a happy twist of fate she just happened to be standing in front of the camper, both hands on her hips and all attitude from head to toe when I hit the button and lit up scene with ten thousand blinking lights, a great number of which spelled out in flaming red letters along the sides of the camper "The Pacificator." "Ohmygod!" Quatre squeaked, slapping a hand over his mouth while Trowa stared silently and Wufei cracked up. Bella was looking very nervous but Relena beamed at me as if I'd just promised to have her puppies and Hiiro just looked lost. "My Lady," I smiled, offering my arm to Relena who took it in a most regal manor before I led her back on board. Hiiro had gone silent so I let him sulk. There was time to deal with him later; at the moment I had a wish to grant so I hit the horn I had installed that played Moulin Rouge and took us straight down the Strip. We were welcomed by locals and visitors alike as if our little Princess were a famous showgirl no one wanted to be embarrassed about not having heard of and I hate to admit it, but those boots got us in more than one club all on their own. I wore my new jacket and some dark shades I'd picked up at the last gas station so nobody questioned my role as her bodyguard. That let me stay close enough to her that Hiiro didn't stress too much over her safety, but he never did get into the spirit of things. It was four in the morning and we were on our fifth club, Trowa's thirteenth attempt to convince Quatre to stay a few days, Relena's sixth Long Island Iced Tea and Wufei's fifth fight when I saw him headed for the door. "Hiiro!" I called rushing to intercept. "Hey, man, what's up?" I grinned, feeling the raw energy of the moment pumping through me. "I'm going home," he told me plainly and tried to step around. "Home?!" I barked, intercepting again. "You mean home, home?" What the hell? "Yes." "Why?" I laughed, holding his arms while he pushed fruitlessly against me. I was wholly unprepared for him to say, "You made this date with Relena before last night, didn't you?" Whoa. "Waaaait just a second," I chuckled, refusing to let him by. "You think I'm trying to play both sides of the fence?" His eyes darted to where Relena was currently draped all over some poor guy on the dance floor that was just about to become Wufei's six victim of the night and I suddenly realized what my reluctance to reveal our new relationship coupled with the events of the day might look like. "I told you," I smiled forcing him to look me dead in the eye. "I do not love her that way. I thought last night was proof positive I'm in love with you." His eyes brightened but he still wore that cute little sulk. "Hiiro," I groaned, gripping his shirt to make sure he couldn't get away. "Tonight was just a golden opportunity to make one of her wishes come true." "Since when do you grant wishes?" he grumbled. "I do what I can," I grinned. "Then grant mine," he demanded and my head spun as I was swept off my feet, dipped low and thoroughly kissed. The entire club resounded with catcalls and whistles and I suddenly heard Relena shout out, "GO HIIROOOOOO!" and wondered if spontaneous combustion was actually the proper response because I was doing my best to achieve it. It felt like forever before he set me back on my feet and I know I looked like I’d been flash fried but he still refused to let me go, holding me firmly in his arms as he cupped my face and touched our foreheads together. "Thanks," he breathed as I settled enough to feel the trembling in him and smiled. "Anytime." We got sort of a late start the next morning. Quatre and Trowa had disappeared at some point but a quick call to Quatre's cell provided a `do not disturb` message that confirmed we might not see them again until we got home. If then. Relena and Bella were still passed out in the back when Hiiro pulled us, expertly I might add, onto the highway and aimed us at the embassy in LA. I sat beside him and he insisted on holding my hand, which left me feeling a little drunk in spite of my `designated body guard` role the night before. Wufei had broken a finger on some guys jaw and had his feet in a bowl of salts soaking away the bruises while he slept so the last leg of the trip was spent in comfortable quiet. Relena was delivered right on time and gave her first speech while wearing cheap sunglasses and hugging a bottle of seltzer water that was disguised as a soda. She had confessed during the last couple of miles that her interest in me had been due to Hiiro's obvious affection for me. I got a kick out of watching him squirm while she explained that all the questions were to find out what it was I apparently didn't see in the handsome, heroic perfect soldier because it had been plain to see that he was head over heels in love with me from the start. Made me wonder where I'd been but I guess some things just had to take their natural course. She had kept the speech short and the goodbyes even shorter, freeing Hiiro and I to drop off the camper while Wufei went to book us a flight home but when the RV lot came up he just blew right by it. "Hiiro?" "Hn?" "You missed the turn." "On ramps not for another five miles," he grinned. I let the smile spread slowly and laced my fingers in his. Wufei could fly home on his own. If Une was so worried about us taking some time off we'd certainly found a reason to oblige her. I kicked back with his hand in mine and a huge grin on my face as he pointed us east and started searching for a nice, dark place to park for a couple of days. owari :)
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