A/n- Lady Lynnaya: Hello! This is my first fanfic, so go easy on me. I'm writing it with the help of my long lost sister, FireImp, and our friends the high-flying chibi-muses.
Chibi-muse Duo: She beats up Wu-chan! It's about time somebody knocked some sense into him.
Chibi-muse Quatre: Be nice! We shouldn't fight! We should be friends. (teary-eyed) I don't like fighting. Why is everybody so violent?
Chibi-muse Heero: Because explosions are fun! Especially if you're in them. Too bad this fic doesn't have anything blowing up yet.
Lady Lynnaya: Don't worry, my little friend. Plenty of things will be blowing up sometime in the next two chapters.
Chibi-muse Heero: Yay! (starts going through his explosive collection to find something he can use to blow up chibi-muse Wufei's sword collection)
Chibi-muse Trowa: . . .
Chibi-muse Wufei: INJUSTICE! BAKA ONNAS! STAY AWAY FROM MY SWORDS, HEERO!
Lady Lynnaya: Anyway, neither FireImp or I own Gundam Wing. Someone else does. (catches chibi-muse Duo and glomps him) Enjoy the show! (chibi-muses sit down and pull out popcorn)
The Extras
Part one- The Meeting
He was in pain. A lot of pain. He was wounded, but not the way that was usual for him. He sighed, rolled over, and looked at the ceiling. It's been two weeks since she kicked me out. Why did she do it? What did I do to make Hilde so upset with me? Or was she just sick of me hanging around rather than angry? Damn it, what happened? His thoughts ran around in circles, always coming back to the same word. Why. Why this, why that, and he couldn't find the answer. He rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes to block out the sunlight coming through the window, and rubbed the ache in his heart. His thoughts drifted back to when he was still living with Hilde. She had seemed so happy with him. What had he done wrong? There wasn't anything he could think of. Then again, he was a man, and she may have found fault with something he found no fault with, like his belching.
An image popped into his head, from a time he tried to forget. The streets, the church, and the hyper little anger that always some how found him. He smiled as he thought of her; though he had been around ten years since the last time he had seen her. He remembered how Solo brought her to their home one day. They were surprised to see him bring a girl. Usually they didn't take in girls, but she was . . . different. There was something about her that made her hard to forget. Wouldn't he know. Ten years later and he still remembered her. He was wished she were there. She was so good at making him feel better, especially after Solo died and he became the leader. He sighed as he remembered when she left. The Maxwell Church had taken them all in. He was sent to foster homes, but for some reason they never sent her away. He always found some way to get sent back to the church so he could be with her. Then, they came. The reason why she had never been sent to a foster home, her sisters. She left the day they came back, promising that she wouldn't forget him, and she would find him again some day. She begged her sisters to let him come with them, but they had enough trouble just the three of them. So, he stayed at the church and waited. Eventually, they stopped trying to send him to foster homes and let him stay at the church. Then the church was destroyed, and he was the only survivor. I wonder if she's still alive. He sighed yet again. I wonder if she knows I'm still alive. He rolled to his other side, putting his back to the door. He could here his roommate moving around downstairs, and he lay as still as possible.
And three, two, one, pester. Right on cue, a young man barged into the room. Dark Prussian blue eyes glared at the lump on the bed. He shoved at some of the brown strand that had fallen in his eyes. The tall youth glared at the bed like he could burn a hole in it and get its occupant to get the lead out.
"Get up, Duo. I know you're awake. Get your lazy ass out of bed and do something constructive for once. You've been moping around for way too long. It's time for you to forget about Hilde and move on." The lump on the bed turned over and regarded him with violet eyes filled with pain.
"Easy for you to say, Ice Prince. You try having the girl you love, the girl you've lived with for two whole years kick you out without so much as a reason or explanation, just 'Here are your bags, have fun finding a new place to live. Oh, by the way, we're over.' You try to go through that without being depressed. " The two boys glared at each for a few minutes, then Duo rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep. He was almost asleep when the sheets were suddenly violently ripped off him, and he was grabbed around his waist and lifted off the bed.
"Damn it, Heero, put me down and let me sleep."
"You've been sleeping for five days straight. I think that's enough. You've got work to do." Heero dragged Duo into the bathroom, tossed him in the shower still fully dressed, and turned the water on as cold as he could get it. A loud scream echoed through the tiled room, bringing a smug smile to Heero's lips.
"Alright, I'm awake! I'm awake! Let me out of here, Heero. Let me out! Shit, this water's COLD!!" Duo had started to pound on the shower door when it suddenly opened, as he lost his balance and fell soaking wet on the floor. He glared at Heero. Ever since Hilde had kicked Duo out, Heero had let him stay at his apartment. Every morning Heero tried to get him out of bed, but unless there was something going on at Preventers Headquarters, he let him go back to bed. Even so, Heero had never been so forceful getting Duo up. Something really big must be going on. That, or Heero was just in a bad mood.
"Did you have to do that?" Duo asked Heero as he tried to fix his hair, which happened to be held in a three-foot braid. "There are other ways to wake a person up, you know. Ways that are more pleasant and not so much a shock to the system." He sneezed. "And if I catch a chill, I'm blaming you."
"We're needed at HQ. There's something big happening, and although Noin didn't give me many details, I do know she called the other Gundam's. And we may not be enough, so she's also called in some backup."
That got Duo's attention. The mighty Gundam pilots need back up? " Let me get this straight, the five of us aren't enough?"
"Seven. She includes Zechs and Treize as Gundam pilots. So you get the idea how big this is?"
Duo gulped and nodded. He got up, dried off, and got dressed. He draped his wet pjs over the shower, and grabbed a bag of chips before jumping into the jeep next to Heero. The two eighteen-year-old boys headed for the Preventer's Headquarters to see what was going on. They flashed their IDs at the front gate and pulled into their reserved parking space. Being among the deadliest men in the earth sphere had its perks. They headed for the office they share, but as they turned a corner, they ran into a rather small blond boy. After picking himself off the floor, the boy smiled at them.
"Duo! Heero! It's great to see you guys again! Have you spoken to Noin yet? I'm on my way to go see her. I've been wondering what could be going on they she called all of us and Treize and Zechs," said the blond Gundam pilot.
"No, we haven't talked to her either. We know about as much as you do, Quatre. Did you know she called in extra people?" said Duo.
"What?! You mean she thinks the seven of us aren't enough?! This must be really bad." The blond Arab frowned. What could be so wrong that the seven deadliest people know to man couldn't correct? Suddenly, their thoughts were disturbed by a loud voice.
"INJUSTICE!!! BAKA ONNA!!" The group smiled grimly as they were joined by a fourth Gundam pilot. The oriental clothes, face, and ponytail identified him as Wufei. "HAVE YOU HEARD!!" he shouted, "NOIN HAS CALLED IN WOMEN TO JOIN US!"
"Take it as a compliment, Wu-chan. If Noin thinks that all we need for back up is two girls, that's a good thing, right?" Duo said casually as they headed for the lounge. Besides, maybe one of them is hot. What am I thinking!? I just broke up with someone. Wait a minute, I can flirt without cheating now. I could get used to this. A box of donuts lay open on the counter. Grinning, Duo looked at them, trying to pick the tastiest looking one.
"Baka. Noin told me that the two girls she called in are not only younger than us, but also more qualified for the mission. They're not coming to be our back, we've been called to be theirs." Wufei stood there fuming for a minute. Duo selected his donut, stuck it in his mouth, and then covered his ears. Heero and Quatre did the same.
"INJUSTICE!!!!! BAKA ONNA!!!!! HAVE YOU NO CONFIDENCE IN US!!!!????? HAVE WE SUNK TO THE LEVEL OF MERE GIRLS!!!!!!??????"
"Could you scream a little louder next time, Wufei? I think I still have some hearing left."
The boys turned to see Noin, Treize, Zechs, Sally, and Trowa standing behind them. Wufei stomped up to Noin.
"You! How dare you do this to us? We are warriors, not ladies-in-waiting. You expect us to play underling to some weak onnas and-"
"You'll do it or millions of people will die slow, painful, inhuman deaths," she finished for him. That shut him up real fast. "The place where you're going is well known to them. They're not 'weak onnas'," she stated in a don't-mess-with-me voice, "they're my younger sisters. The five of you are only older than them by about six months, so it's not like I'm having you work with ten-year-olds, so get over it. They're highly skilled and more than qualified to lead the mission. If you don't like it, I'm sure we won't have a hard time finding someone to fill in your shoes." With that, she led them to an elevator and pushed the up button. "Now let's hurry to the conference room." They all crowded into the elevator. Noin was very impatient to get out of the elevator and to the conference room.
"What's wrong, Miss Noin?" asked the ever polite Quatre. "Are you claustrophobic? You seem anxious to get out of here."
"Yeah, Noin. What's the deal?" questioned Zechs.
Noin blushed slightly. "I made a bet with them. They made a good point that all of you get paid for every mission you go on, and felt that it was unfair that they not get the same treatment."
"So what was the bet?" asked Trowa.
"I told them to try to sneak into this building and get to the conference room. I'm only going to pay for what I get. If they get caught on the way up, then I won't pay them." Wufei smirked at that. He couldn't sneak into that building without getting caught, how could they? Meanwhile, Noin was still talking.
"If they get to the conference room after we get there without getting caught along the way, then they get paid $1200 per mission." All of the men squirmed. They only got $1000 per mission, which was more than any other Preventer got but still . . .
"What if they get there before we do?" asked Heero.
"Double what they would get if we got there first."
Eight jaws hit the floor. Were Noin's sisters really that good? If they got there first, they would get more than double what the boys got. Surely, it would be okay, I mean, how do you break into a building filled with people trained not to let anything get by them. It's like breaking into a police station.
"Is there anything you can tell us about them?" asked Trowa, submitting record two whole sentences to the conversation.
"The older one, Ri, is often called the Angel of Death."
Duo perked up at the mention of death. "Hey, but I'm the God of Death! She can't be the Angel of Death! Isn't that like plagiarism or something? It's patented, like Heero's Death Glare(c)."
Heero then used the said Death Glare(c) on Duo. It didn't work. Damn.
"Actually, I think it fits her very well. Any of her enemies that see her don't live to talk about it. Any one who pisses her off had better say his prayers and hope she lets him live. I understand, Duo, that you feel uncomfortable that her name is so close to yours, but another reason it suits her well is because, well, she's so much like you it scares me sometimes."
"I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment, but for now I'll just ignore that comment."
"And the other? What does she go by?" asked Quatre.
" The Fairy of Justice."
"Justice, huh? Fairy!? How dare she put the two words together. Baka onna!" said an upset Wufei.
"Chill, Wufei. I've met both of Noin's sisters, and fairy is really a good word for Re. She's a mischievous little thing, but she has a sense of honor and justice. And when she's pissed she's as bad as Ri. Their motto is 'You mess with one of us, you mess with both of us'." Sally playfully jabbed Wufei in the ribs with her elbow. "I think you'd like her, Wu-chan. You'd have a lot in common other than the fact that you're a sexist pig." Rather than yelling at her for calling him a sexist pig, Wufei blushed and turned his face away from her and looked at the floor. He began muttering about stupid onnas and baka matchmakers. Noin was about to say something when the elevator doors opened, and the nine occupants made a mad dash to the conference room. They burst through the doors into the dark room. Someone thought to turn on the lights, and they breathed sighs of relief. In the center of the large room was a square made of four tables set perpendicular to each other. There was a small kitchenette in the corner, complete with coffee maker. One corner of the room was dark, but they knew that the corner there held a desk filled with office supplies that could be used during meetings. The smell of highlighters hung in the air as Treize walked over to the coffee maker to see if he could get the temper mental machine to work. The others smiled, knowing that never had the machine, in the entire history of its presence in the conference room, had functioned properly.
"Looks like they aren't here," Sally said as she looked around the room.
"Don't be too sure about that," said a voice from the darkness surrounding the desk. A slender, dark-haired girl wearing men's jeans, faded sneakers, and a navy blue spaghetti strap shirt walked out of the corner and approached Noin. Her short hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the stray strands held back by silver barrettes. Her green eyes smiled as she handed a piece of paper to Noin. "Here you go, Noin. A pretty picture to go on your fridge."
Noin took the paper and looked at it. Hard. Then her eyes crossed. "Geez, Re, what did you color it in with, highlighters? I haven't seen such bright colors since Duo's birthday party with the neon cake."
Another voice came from the darkness. "Yep. Highlighters are good for making a pretty Pegasus for your fridge. What's wrong, too bright for you, sis?" Loud clicking was heard from the desk. What was she doing over there?
"I'd say just a little." Noin managed another look at the winged horse, then shook her head and set it on the table. It was immediately scooped up by Duo. The bright colors dazzled his eyes for a minute, and then he was able to look past them to the drawing itself. His jaw dropped again. The detail of the picture was amazing! This girl was one hell of an artist. It had to take at least half an hour for her just to draw it. When he said as much, Re just shrugged.
"What can I say? The two of us got bored just sitting up here, so we decided to do something creatively artistic. Our other options were to sniff white out or use masking tape and one of those big pink erasers to play hopscotch. We don't do drugs, or markers, and we hate hopscotch. So, artistic creativity won."
"I can't wait to see what the other one did," was the comment from Wufei.
"Just a minute. I'm almost done." A final loud click was heard form the corner, and then the other twin emerged. She looked almost exactly like Re, but her skin was more olive colored, and her eyes were brown rather than green. She wore a small silver ear cuff on her right ear, but none of the boys could see what it was. As for her clothes, she wore the same as Re, except her jeans were obviously woman's pants. The tightness and how they just barely came past her hips made Duo drool for a moment. Then he remembered where he was and sobered up. In her hands was what looked like a wad of paperclips. She walked up to Noin, and unfolded the mass of silver to reveal an elegant, well-made necklace. She clasped it around Noin's neck, and then caught her sister in a big hug. Re, not about to be left out, jumped over and nearly knocked over her sisters. The twins pulled away and grinned at their big sister.
"Well, Noin? A deal's a deal. $2400 a mission each," said the darker twin. Noin sighed.
"Right. A deal's a deal," she said. The guys were looking a little uptight. $2400 a mission each? What were they planning on doing with so much money? If things were going to get as bad as Noin implied, they were going to be going on a lot of missions. Plus, there was the compensation payment. That meant if they got wounded, they would get an extra 15% added to their salary. The two girls smiled and looked at each other.
"So, which ones this time?" asked Ri. Re shrugged.
"You pick."
Ri looked at Noin. " Noin, could you send $1400 of each of our mission paychecks to the Red Cross, the Cancer Research Foundation, and the nearest church, please?"
"Plus any compensation pay we get if we get injured," added Re. There came a loud clunk from behind them. The girls turned around to see the eight boys, hands on the table, absolutely shocked by what they said. Quatre's face lit up in a big grin as he ran over to shake the girls hands.
"Finally, people as generous as I am. I give all of my paychecks to charity as well." He continued to smile at the girls. They smiled back.
Re asked, "And your name is?" as she gave him a who-the-hell-is-this-weirdo look.
Quatre laughed at his own mistake. "How rude of me! My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. It's a pleasure to met you, ladies." He chivalrously kissed the girls hands. When he let them go, they took a good look at him, looked at each other, then glomped him. (a/n a glomp is a really big hug, especially an unexpected one) The small Arab blushed as the girls hugged him. They let him go and said in unison, "Kawaii!"
Noin laughed. "Oh, boy. They've picked a name for you now."
"What do you mean, picked a name for him?" asked the braided wonder.
Sally answered for Noin. "They pick a nickname for all of their friends. If they meet more than four people at once, at least two of them have names that are Japanese for something." The tall blond Amazon mussed Quatre's hair. "In your case, you got to be 'cute'."
"Cute!?" said the kawaii blond. The girls nodded.
"Very kawaii. You make me think of kittens. Little ones, with little gray stripes and white faces. And big green eyes." Ri glomped Quatre again, making him blush again.
"So the weakling is 'cute', is he? Hah! Baka onnas. You're as slow and weak as he is. Donating your salary to medical foundations, I understand. I do that with my bonuses. But donating to churches? Bakas. Both of you." Who else could this have come from but Wufei. And of course, he said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Duo, who donated his bonuses to churches was greatly offended, and he was about to turn around and beat the shit out of Wufei when he heard the sound of a blow landing. Apparently, someone beat him to it. He turned to see Wufei on the ground with blood flowing from his nose, and standing over him was the Angel of Death.
"I'm a baka? I'M A BAKA?! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH HERE?!" the girl shouted. Suddenly, her tone became very low and menacing. "So, I'm a baka. Well, listen here Mr. I-have-a-stick-shoved-where-the-sun-don't-shine, I've gotten more kindness and friendship from people at a church than people you've killed. And we both know you've killed quite a few." Wufei looked up at her, intending to glare at her insolently, only to find himself caught in the most blazing, soul-piercing, pissed-off gaze he had ever had the misfortune to see. He could swear he saw lightning flashing in the chocolate depths. He cringed when she bent to look him straight in the eyes. She was intimidating when looking down at him, but he found her even more frightening eye-to-eye. She growled as she grabbed him by the shirt collar. "The next time you say anything nasty about me donating my salary to churches, or anyone else who does the same thing, keep in mind that it's none of your business. What we or anyone else does with our salaries is not your concern. The next time you stick your nose where it doesn't belong, your nose won't be what I break. And I won't just break them, I'll remove them." With that she released him and went back to the desk to find comfort in the darkness. Re went over to Wufei and helped him up.
"It's really not a good idea to piss her off. It's bad for your health." Wufei was about to thank her for helping him up when he found himself flat on his ass again. His cheek burned where she had slapped him. "That's for calling my sister a baka. Don't think we don't know what it means." The glare she was sending him was much like her sister's, but as Ri's eyes shone with intense anger, Re's eyes shone with the superiority that came with knowing you had the upper hand. Also in her eyes, and written all over her face, was the urge for justice. He respected her for that, and the fact that she had the guts to carry out the urge to create justice. Still, he found himself fearing her. It was a first for him, fearing a woman. For some reason, he didn't hate as much as he thought he would. He got to his feet only to be slapped down again, this time she hit the other cheek. "Just so you know, Baka, you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us." Then she too turned and left him on the ground. She went to the darkness of the desk, where the loud clicking from before had resumed. Noin sighed and shook her head at Wufei.
"I told you not to piss them off," she said and went to join her sisters. Through the whole thing, the others had stood silent, watching the petite women berate the powerful Chinese boy. Sally went to Wufei, pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and called over to Noin.
"I'm going to take him down to the infirmary to have his nose checked. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Okay, Sally. I'll wait to explain everything until you two get back."
Sally nodded, helped Wufei up, and half lifted/half supported the pilot. Heero and Trowa sat at a table and fell asleep sitting up, Quatre began talking to Zechs, and Treize went to see if he could get the coffee machine to work. Duo was still frozen where he was. Had his eyes been playing tricks on him, or had he seen fear in Wufei's eyes when Ri and Re had been yelling at him? He smiled, remembering what Ri had called him. Fitting. Duo had always thought Wufei had a stick up his ass. Good to know someone agreed with him. Suddenly, loud laughter came from the corner.
"I can't believe you did that! You stole Wufei's pocket change!" came Noin's voice, choked with laughter.
"Serves the damn baka right! I wonder when he'll notice that you didn't take just his change, but his car keys, his wallet, and his hair gel, too!"
Hair gel? So that's why his hair is so shiny. Duo thought. So they stole his stuff? He's going to be really pissed when he gets back up here. He may not notice his change or missing wallet, but he's going to notice the keys in a hurry. He worships that motorcycle.
Zechs and Treize were trying not to laugh, Heero and Trowa were still asleep, but Quatre wasn't amused.
"That's not very nice, you know. What are you going to do with his stuff?" scolded Quatre.
"As soon as I see him, I'm going to give it all back to him. I just wanted to see if I could pull it off without him noticing. I guess Ri had him so scared he didn't notice my hand slip into his pocket when I helped him up," replied Re, tossing Wufei's keys into the air and catching them. "Why was he so scared, anyway? I know Ri's glares are scary but dang! From what you and Sally have been telling us, that boy isn't afraid of anything, especially women. What have you been telling them, Noin?"
"I just told him not to piss you girls off or he might not live to see the future."
"Noin! We aren't that bad and you know it! Okay, so maybe we are. But what about everything else? Have you been exaggerating again?" Ri was interrogating Noin as Re walked out to the table across from Heero and Trowa.
"Woman, you've got to stop doing that! We can handle this mission, no problem. But if you keep telling people we're more than we are, they're going to have expectations we can't meet!" Her face broke into a wide grin. "But it was fun scaring that guy. Hopefully, he won't be such a pain in the ass all the time."
"We can hope. But I've learned not to expect miracles. I've never seen one before now, so why should I suddenly start seeing them?" said Duo. "He's such a tight ass he farts at a frequency only dogs can hear." That got laughs from Zechs, Treize, Noin, and the twins.
"I'd scold you, except it's just too funny and fitting to deny," giggled Noin.
"I've been wondering, how did the two of you get in here?" said Treize, chuckling under his breath and still trying to get the coffee machine to work. He punched it and the machine spat a few thick drops of coffee into the pot.
"Do you really want to know," asked Re, hesitant to reveal their secret.
"Yes," they all said, including Heero and Trowa, who woke up when Treize punched the coffee machine.
The two girls looked at each other and blushed. Ri spoke up, "We flirted our way in. We flirted with all of the guards so they would let us in. Except for one."
"And him we bribed with homemade fudge."
"That was going to be my lunch! It's not fair!" pouted Ri. To emphasize her point, her stomach growled. Ri blushed and rubbed her stomach. Re gave her sister a hug.
"Hey, it's for a good cause, remember? Because of your sacrifice, we can each give $1400 to charity rather than just $200."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll live. Hungrily, but I'll live." She brightened after that, and treated Quatre to a flying glomp. (a/n- she basically tackled him and hugged him in mid-air.)
Duo remembered something then. He began rummaging in his extra-large pockets until he found what he was looking for.
"Here, would you like this? I've already had one, I just snagged this one for later. It's a bit squished, but you can have it if you want it." Heero was amazed as Duo offered Ri a donut, but not just any donut. Vanilla cream filled. Duo's favorite. Usually you had to threaten him with death or bribe him with cheesecake to get him to give up one of his donuts. Ri ran over to him, glomped him, and gratefully accepted the donut. She took a big bite of it and sighed in ecstasy.
"Vanilla cream. My favorite." She looked at Duo with gratitude filled eyes. "You must be a god or something. Who are you?"
"What you said. I'm a god. Duo Maxwell, the God of Death, pleased to meet you," he said as he bowed over her hand and licked some of the filling off the back of her hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Braid Boy. I'm sure you've heard this from Noin, but I'm Ri Noin, the Angel of Death. The pleasure is mine. I can tell we have a lot in common. So, what do you think of Baka?"
A/n- Lady Lynnaya: (shoving the chibi-muses into cages with their popcorn) Well, that' the first chapter. The next one will be up as soon as FireImp and get our notes together and figure out what the hell we're trying to do. Until then, read and review to your heart's content. Flames are welcome, as they will keep me warm at my laptop.
Chibi-muse Duo: She beats up Wu-chan! It's about time somebody knocked some sense into him.
Chibi-muse Quatre: Be nice! We shouldn't fight! We should be friends. (teary-eyed) I don't like fighting. Why is everybody so violent?
Chibi-muse Heero: Because explosions are fun! Especially if you're in them. Too bad this fic doesn't have anything blowing up yet.
Lady Lynnaya: Don't worry, my little friend. Plenty of things will be blowing up sometime in the next two chapters.
Chibi-muse Heero: Yay! (starts going through his explosive collection to find something he can use to blow up chibi-muse Wufei's sword collection)
Chibi-muse Trowa: . . .
Chibi-muse Wufei: INJUSTICE! BAKA ONNAS! STAY AWAY FROM MY SWORDS, HEERO!
Lady Lynnaya: Anyway, neither FireImp or I own Gundam Wing. Someone else does. (catches chibi-muse Duo and glomps him) Enjoy the show! (chibi-muses sit down and pull out popcorn)
The Extras
Part one- The Meeting
He was in pain. A lot of pain. He was wounded, but not the way that was usual for him. He sighed, rolled over, and looked at the ceiling. It's been two weeks since she kicked me out. Why did she do it? What did I do to make Hilde so upset with me? Or was she just sick of me hanging around rather than angry? Damn it, what happened? His thoughts ran around in circles, always coming back to the same word. Why. Why this, why that, and he couldn't find the answer. He rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes to block out the sunlight coming through the window, and rubbed the ache in his heart. His thoughts drifted back to when he was still living with Hilde. She had seemed so happy with him. What had he done wrong? There wasn't anything he could think of. Then again, he was a man, and she may have found fault with something he found no fault with, like his belching.
An image popped into his head, from a time he tried to forget. The streets, the church, and the hyper little anger that always some how found him. He smiled as he thought of her; though he had been around ten years since the last time he had seen her. He remembered how Solo brought her to their home one day. They were surprised to see him bring a girl. Usually they didn't take in girls, but she was . . . different. There was something about her that made her hard to forget. Wouldn't he know. Ten years later and he still remembered her. He was wished she were there. She was so good at making him feel better, especially after Solo died and he became the leader. He sighed as he remembered when she left. The Maxwell Church had taken them all in. He was sent to foster homes, but for some reason they never sent her away. He always found some way to get sent back to the church so he could be with her. Then, they came. The reason why she had never been sent to a foster home, her sisters. She left the day they came back, promising that she wouldn't forget him, and she would find him again some day. She begged her sisters to let him come with them, but they had enough trouble just the three of them. So, he stayed at the church and waited. Eventually, they stopped trying to send him to foster homes and let him stay at the church. Then the church was destroyed, and he was the only survivor. I wonder if she's still alive. He sighed yet again. I wonder if she knows I'm still alive. He rolled to his other side, putting his back to the door. He could here his roommate moving around downstairs, and he lay as still as possible.
And three, two, one, pester. Right on cue, a young man barged into the room. Dark Prussian blue eyes glared at the lump on the bed. He shoved at some of the brown strand that had fallen in his eyes. The tall youth glared at the bed like he could burn a hole in it and get its occupant to get the lead out.
"Get up, Duo. I know you're awake. Get your lazy ass out of bed and do something constructive for once. You've been moping around for way too long. It's time for you to forget about Hilde and move on." The lump on the bed turned over and regarded him with violet eyes filled with pain.
"Easy for you to say, Ice Prince. You try having the girl you love, the girl you've lived with for two whole years kick you out without so much as a reason or explanation, just 'Here are your bags, have fun finding a new place to live. Oh, by the way, we're over.' You try to go through that without being depressed. " The two boys glared at each for a few minutes, then Duo rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep. He was almost asleep when the sheets were suddenly violently ripped off him, and he was grabbed around his waist and lifted off the bed.
"Damn it, Heero, put me down and let me sleep."
"You've been sleeping for five days straight. I think that's enough. You've got work to do." Heero dragged Duo into the bathroom, tossed him in the shower still fully dressed, and turned the water on as cold as he could get it. A loud scream echoed through the tiled room, bringing a smug smile to Heero's lips.
"Alright, I'm awake! I'm awake! Let me out of here, Heero. Let me out! Shit, this water's COLD!!" Duo had started to pound on the shower door when it suddenly opened, as he lost his balance and fell soaking wet on the floor. He glared at Heero. Ever since Hilde had kicked Duo out, Heero had let him stay at his apartment. Every morning Heero tried to get him out of bed, but unless there was something going on at Preventers Headquarters, he let him go back to bed. Even so, Heero had never been so forceful getting Duo up. Something really big must be going on. That, or Heero was just in a bad mood.
"Did you have to do that?" Duo asked Heero as he tried to fix his hair, which happened to be held in a three-foot braid. "There are other ways to wake a person up, you know. Ways that are more pleasant and not so much a shock to the system." He sneezed. "And if I catch a chill, I'm blaming you."
"We're needed at HQ. There's something big happening, and although Noin didn't give me many details, I do know she called the other Gundam's. And we may not be enough, so she's also called in some backup."
That got Duo's attention. The mighty Gundam pilots need back up? " Let me get this straight, the five of us aren't enough?"
"Seven. She includes Zechs and Treize as Gundam pilots. So you get the idea how big this is?"
Duo gulped and nodded. He got up, dried off, and got dressed. He draped his wet pjs over the shower, and grabbed a bag of chips before jumping into the jeep next to Heero. The two eighteen-year-old boys headed for the Preventer's Headquarters to see what was going on. They flashed their IDs at the front gate and pulled into their reserved parking space. Being among the deadliest men in the earth sphere had its perks. They headed for the office they share, but as they turned a corner, they ran into a rather small blond boy. After picking himself off the floor, the boy smiled at them.
"Duo! Heero! It's great to see you guys again! Have you spoken to Noin yet? I'm on my way to go see her. I've been wondering what could be going on they she called all of us and Treize and Zechs," said the blond Gundam pilot.
"No, we haven't talked to her either. We know about as much as you do, Quatre. Did you know she called in extra people?" said Duo.
"What?! You mean she thinks the seven of us aren't enough?! This must be really bad." The blond Arab frowned. What could be so wrong that the seven deadliest people know to man couldn't correct? Suddenly, their thoughts were disturbed by a loud voice.
"INJUSTICE!!! BAKA ONNA!!" The group smiled grimly as they were joined by a fourth Gundam pilot. The oriental clothes, face, and ponytail identified him as Wufei. "HAVE YOU HEARD!!" he shouted, "NOIN HAS CALLED IN WOMEN TO JOIN US!"
"Take it as a compliment, Wu-chan. If Noin thinks that all we need for back up is two girls, that's a good thing, right?" Duo said casually as they headed for the lounge. Besides, maybe one of them is hot. What am I thinking!? I just broke up with someone. Wait a minute, I can flirt without cheating now. I could get used to this. A box of donuts lay open on the counter. Grinning, Duo looked at them, trying to pick the tastiest looking one.
"Baka. Noin told me that the two girls she called in are not only younger than us, but also more qualified for the mission. They're not coming to be our back, we've been called to be theirs." Wufei stood there fuming for a minute. Duo selected his donut, stuck it in his mouth, and then covered his ears. Heero and Quatre did the same.
"INJUSTICE!!!!! BAKA ONNA!!!!! HAVE YOU NO CONFIDENCE IN US!!!!????? HAVE WE SUNK TO THE LEVEL OF MERE GIRLS!!!!!!??????"
"Could you scream a little louder next time, Wufei? I think I still have some hearing left."
The boys turned to see Noin, Treize, Zechs, Sally, and Trowa standing behind them. Wufei stomped up to Noin.
"You! How dare you do this to us? We are warriors, not ladies-in-waiting. You expect us to play underling to some weak onnas and-"
"You'll do it or millions of people will die slow, painful, inhuman deaths," she finished for him. That shut him up real fast. "The place where you're going is well known to them. They're not 'weak onnas'," she stated in a don't-mess-with-me voice, "they're my younger sisters. The five of you are only older than them by about six months, so it's not like I'm having you work with ten-year-olds, so get over it. They're highly skilled and more than qualified to lead the mission. If you don't like it, I'm sure we won't have a hard time finding someone to fill in your shoes." With that, she led them to an elevator and pushed the up button. "Now let's hurry to the conference room." They all crowded into the elevator. Noin was very impatient to get out of the elevator and to the conference room.
"What's wrong, Miss Noin?" asked the ever polite Quatre. "Are you claustrophobic? You seem anxious to get out of here."
"Yeah, Noin. What's the deal?" questioned Zechs.
Noin blushed slightly. "I made a bet with them. They made a good point that all of you get paid for every mission you go on, and felt that it was unfair that they not get the same treatment."
"So what was the bet?" asked Trowa.
"I told them to try to sneak into this building and get to the conference room. I'm only going to pay for what I get. If they get caught on the way up, then I won't pay them." Wufei smirked at that. He couldn't sneak into that building without getting caught, how could they? Meanwhile, Noin was still talking.
"If they get to the conference room after we get there without getting caught along the way, then they get paid $1200 per mission." All of the men squirmed. They only got $1000 per mission, which was more than any other Preventer got but still . . .
"What if they get there before we do?" asked Heero.
"Double what they would get if we got there first."
Eight jaws hit the floor. Were Noin's sisters really that good? If they got there first, they would get more than double what the boys got. Surely, it would be okay, I mean, how do you break into a building filled with people trained not to let anything get by them. It's like breaking into a police station.
"Is there anything you can tell us about them?" asked Trowa, submitting record two whole sentences to the conversation.
"The older one, Ri, is often called the Angel of Death."
Duo perked up at the mention of death. "Hey, but I'm the God of Death! She can't be the Angel of Death! Isn't that like plagiarism or something? It's patented, like Heero's Death Glare(c)."
Heero then used the said Death Glare(c) on Duo. It didn't work. Damn.
"Actually, I think it fits her very well. Any of her enemies that see her don't live to talk about it. Any one who pisses her off had better say his prayers and hope she lets him live. I understand, Duo, that you feel uncomfortable that her name is so close to yours, but another reason it suits her well is because, well, she's so much like you it scares me sometimes."
"I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment, but for now I'll just ignore that comment."
"And the other? What does she go by?" asked Quatre.
" The Fairy of Justice."
"Justice, huh? Fairy!? How dare she put the two words together. Baka onna!" said an upset Wufei.
"Chill, Wufei. I've met both of Noin's sisters, and fairy is really a good word for Re. She's a mischievous little thing, but she has a sense of honor and justice. And when she's pissed she's as bad as Ri. Their motto is 'You mess with one of us, you mess with both of us'." Sally playfully jabbed Wufei in the ribs with her elbow. "I think you'd like her, Wu-chan. You'd have a lot in common other than the fact that you're a sexist pig." Rather than yelling at her for calling him a sexist pig, Wufei blushed and turned his face away from her and looked at the floor. He began muttering about stupid onnas and baka matchmakers. Noin was about to say something when the elevator doors opened, and the nine occupants made a mad dash to the conference room. They burst through the doors into the dark room. Someone thought to turn on the lights, and they breathed sighs of relief. In the center of the large room was a square made of four tables set perpendicular to each other. There was a small kitchenette in the corner, complete with coffee maker. One corner of the room was dark, but they knew that the corner there held a desk filled with office supplies that could be used during meetings. The smell of highlighters hung in the air as Treize walked over to the coffee maker to see if he could get the temper mental machine to work. The others smiled, knowing that never had the machine, in the entire history of its presence in the conference room, had functioned properly.
"Looks like they aren't here," Sally said as she looked around the room.
"Don't be too sure about that," said a voice from the darkness surrounding the desk. A slender, dark-haired girl wearing men's jeans, faded sneakers, and a navy blue spaghetti strap shirt walked out of the corner and approached Noin. Her short hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the stray strands held back by silver barrettes. Her green eyes smiled as she handed a piece of paper to Noin. "Here you go, Noin. A pretty picture to go on your fridge."
Noin took the paper and looked at it. Hard. Then her eyes crossed. "Geez, Re, what did you color it in with, highlighters? I haven't seen such bright colors since Duo's birthday party with the neon cake."
Another voice came from the darkness. "Yep. Highlighters are good for making a pretty Pegasus for your fridge. What's wrong, too bright for you, sis?" Loud clicking was heard from the desk. What was she doing over there?
"I'd say just a little." Noin managed another look at the winged horse, then shook her head and set it on the table. It was immediately scooped up by Duo. The bright colors dazzled his eyes for a minute, and then he was able to look past them to the drawing itself. His jaw dropped again. The detail of the picture was amazing! This girl was one hell of an artist. It had to take at least half an hour for her just to draw it. When he said as much, Re just shrugged.
"What can I say? The two of us got bored just sitting up here, so we decided to do something creatively artistic. Our other options were to sniff white out or use masking tape and one of those big pink erasers to play hopscotch. We don't do drugs, or markers, and we hate hopscotch. So, artistic creativity won."
"I can't wait to see what the other one did," was the comment from Wufei.
"Just a minute. I'm almost done." A final loud click was heard form the corner, and then the other twin emerged. She looked almost exactly like Re, but her skin was more olive colored, and her eyes were brown rather than green. She wore a small silver ear cuff on her right ear, but none of the boys could see what it was. As for her clothes, she wore the same as Re, except her jeans were obviously woman's pants. The tightness and how they just barely came past her hips made Duo drool for a moment. Then he remembered where he was and sobered up. In her hands was what looked like a wad of paperclips. She walked up to Noin, and unfolded the mass of silver to reveal an elegant, well-made necklace. She clasped it around Noin's neck, and then caught her sister in a big hug. Re, not about to be left out, jumped over and nearly knocked over her sisters. The twins pulled away and grinned at their big sister.
"Well, Noin? A deal's a deal. $2400 a mission each," said the darker twin. Noin sighed.
"Right. A deal's a deal," she said. The guys were looking a little uptight. $2400 a mission each? What were they planning on doing with so much money? If things were going to get as bad as Noin implied, they were going to be going on a lot of missions. Plus, there was the compensation payment. That meant if they got wounded, they would get an extra 15% added to their salary. The two girls smiled and looked at each other.
"So, which ones this time?" asked Ri. Re shrugged.
"You pick."
Ri looked at Noin. " Noin, could you send $1400 of each of our mission paychecks to the Red Cross, the Cancer Research Foundation, and the nearest church, please?"
"Plus any compensation pay we get if we get injured," added Re. There came a loud clunk from behind them. The girls turned around to see the eight boys, hands on the table, absolutely shocked by what they said. Quatre's face lit up in a big grin as he ran over to shake the girls hands.
"Finally, people as generous as I am. I give all of my paychecks to charity as well." He continued to smile at the girls. They smiled back.
Re asked, "And your name is?" as she gave him a who-the-hell-is-this-weirdo look.
Quatre laughed at his own mistake. "How rude of me! My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. It's a pleasure to met you, ladies." He chivalrously kissed the girls hands. When he let them go, they took a good look at him, looked at each other, then glomped him. (a/n a glomp is a really big hug, especially an unexpected one) The small Arab blushed as the girls hugged him. They let him go and said in unison, "Kawaii!"
Noin laughed. "Oh, boy. They've picked a name for you now."
"What do you mean, picked a name for him?" asked the braided wonder.
Sally answered for Noin. "They pick a nickname for all of their friends. If they meet more than four people at once, at least two of them have names that are Japanese for something." The tall blond Amazon mussed Quatre's hair. "In your case, you got to be 'cute'."
"Cute!?" said the kawaii blond. The girls nodded.
"Very kawaii. You make me think of kittens. Little ones, with little gray stripes and white faces. And big green eyes." Ri glomped Quatre again, making him blush again.
"So the weakling is 'cute', is he? Hah! Baka onnas. You're as slow and weak as he is. Donating your salary to medical foundations, I understand. I do that with my bonuses. But donating to churches? Bakas. Both of you." Who else could this have come from but Wufei. And of course, he said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Duo, who donated his bonuses to churches was greatly offended, and he was about to turn around and beat the shit out of Wufei when he heard the sound of a blow landing. Apparently, someone beat him to it. He turned to see Wufei on the ground with blood flowing from his nose, and standing over him was the Angel of Death.
"I'm a baka? I'M A BAKA?! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH HERE?!" the girl shouted. Suddenly, her tone became very low and menacing. "So, I'm a baka. Well, listen here Mr. I-have-a-stick-shoved-where-the-sun-don't-shine, I've gotten more kindness and friendship from people at a church than people you've killed. And we both know you've killed quite a few." Wufei looked up at her, intending to glare at her insolently, only to find himself caught in the most blazing, soul-piercing, pissed-off gaze he had ever had the misfortune to see. He could swear he saw lightning flashing in the chocolate depths. He cringed when she bent to look him straight in the eyes. She was intimidating when looking down at him, but he found her even more frightening eye-to-eye. She growled as she grabbed him by the shirt collar. "The next time you say anything nasty about me donating my salary to churches, or anyone else who does the same thing, keep in mind that it's none of your business. What we or anyone else does with our salaries is not your concern. The next time you stick your nose where it doesn't belong, your nose won't be what I break. And I won't just break them, I'll remove them." With that she released him and went back to the desk to find comfort in the darkness. Re went over to Wufei and helped him up.
"It's really not a good idea to piss her off. It's bad for your health." Wufei was about to thank her for helping him up when he found himself flat on his ass again. His cheek burned where she had slapped him. "That's for calling my sister a baka. Don't think we don't know what it means." The glare she was sending him was much like her sister's, but as Ri's eyes shone with intense anger, Re's eyes shone with the superiority that came with knowing you had the upper hand. Also in her eyes, and written all over her face, was the urge for justice. He respected her for that, and the fact that she had the guts to carry out the urge to create justice. Still, he found himself fearing her. It was a first for him, fearing a woman. For some reason, he didn't hate as much as he thought he would. He got to his feet only to be slapped down again, this time she hit the other cheek. "Just so you know, Baka, you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us." Then she too turned and left him on the ground. She went to the darkness of the desk, where the loud clicking from before had resumed. Noin sighed and shook her head at Wufei.
"I told you not to piss them off," she said and went to join her sisters. Through the whole thing, the others had stood silent, watching the petite women berate the powerful Chinese boy. Sally went to Wufei, pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and called over to Noin.
"I'm going to take him down to the infirmary to have his nose checked. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Okay, Sally. I'll wait to explain everything until you two get back."
Sally nodded, helped Wufei up, and half lifted/half supported the pilot. Heero and Trowa sat at a table and fell asleep sitting up, Quatre began talking to Zechs, and Treize went to see if he could get the coffee machine to work. Duo was still frozen where he was. Had his eyes been playing tricks on him, or had he seen fear in Wufei's eyes when Ri and Re had been yelling at him? He smiled, remembering what Ri had called him. Fitting. Duo had always thought Wufei had a stick up his ass. Good to know someone agreed with him. Suddenly, loud laughter came from the corner.
"I can't believe you did that! You stole Wufei's pocket change!" came Noin's voice, choked with laughter.
"Serves the damn baka right! I wonder when he'll notice that you didn't take just his change, but his car keys, his wallet, and his hair gel, too!"
Hair gel? So that's why his hair is so shiny. Duo thought. So they stole his stuff? He's going to be really pissed when he gets back up here. He may not notice his change or missing wallet, but he's going to notice the keys in a hurry. He worships that motorcycle.
Zechs and Treize were trying not to laugh, Heero and Trowa were still asleep, but Quatre wasn't amused.
"That's not very nice, you know. What are you going to do with his stuff?" scolded Quatre.
"As soon as I see him, I'm going to give it all back to him. I just wanted to see if I could pull it off without him noticing. I guess Ri had him so scared he didn't notice my hand slip into his pocket when I helped him up," replied Re, tossing Wufei's keys into the air and catching them. "Why was he so scared, anyway? I know Ri's glares are scary but dang! From what you and Sally have been telling us, that boy isn't afraid of anything, especially women. What have you been telling them, Noin?"
"I just told him not to piss you girls off or he might not live to see the future."
"Noin! We aren't that bad and you know it! Okay, so maybe we are. But what about everything else? Have you been exaggerating again?" Ri was interrogating Noin as Re walked out to the table across from Heero and Trowa.
"Woman, you've got to stop doing that! We can handle this mission, no problem. But if you keep telling people we're more than we are, they're going to have expectations we can't meet!" Her face broke into a wide grin. "But it was fun scaring that guy. Hopefully, he won't be such a pain in the ass all the time."
"We can hope. But I've learned not to expect miracles. I've never seen one before now, so why should I suddenly start seeing them?" said Duo. "He's such a tight ass he farts at a frequency only dogs can hear." That got laughs from Zechs, Treize, Noin, and the twins.
"I'd scold you, except it's just too funny and fitting to deny," giggled Noin.
"I've been wondering, how did the two of you get in here?" said Treize, chuckling under his breath and still trying to get the coffee machine to work. He punched it and the machine spat a few thick drops of coffee into the pot.
"Do you really want to know," asked Re, hesitant to reveal their secret.
"Yes," they all said, including Heero and Trowa, who woke up when Treize punched the coffee machine.
The two girls looked at each other and blushed. Ri spoke up, "We flirted our way in. We flirted with all of the guards so they would let us in. Except for one."
"And him we bribed with homemade fudge."
"That was going to be my lunch! It's not fair!" pouted Ri. To emphasize her point, her stomach growled. Ri blushed and rubbed her stomach. Re gave her sister a hug.
"Hey, it's for a good cause, remember? Because of your sacrifice, we can each give $1400 to charity rather than just $200."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll live. Hungrily, but I'll live." She brightened after that, and treated Quatre to a flying glomp. (a/n- she basically tackled him and hugged him in mid-air.)
Duo remembered something then. He began rummaging in his extra-large pockets until he found what he was looking for.
"Here, would you like this? I've already had one, I just snagged this one for later. It's a bit squished, but you can have it if you want it." Heero was amazed as Duo offered Ri a donut, but not just any donut. Vanilla cream filled. Duo's favorite. Usually you had to threaten him with death or bribe him with cheesecake to get him to give up one of his donuts. Ri ran over to him, glomped him, and gratefully accepted the donut. She took a big bite of it and sighed in ecstasy.
"Vanilla cream. My favorite." She looked at Duo with gratitude filled eyes. "You must be a god or something. Who are you?"
"What you said. I'm a god. Duo Maxwell, the God of Death, pleased to meet you," he said as he bowed over her hand and licked some of the filling off the back of her hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Braid Boy. I'm sure you've heard this from Noin, but I'm Ri Noin, the Angel of Death. The pleasure is mine. I can tell we have a lot in common. So, what do you think of Baka?"
A/n- Lady Lynnaya: (shoving the chibi-muses into cages with their popcorn) Well, that' the first chapter. The next one will be up as soon as FireImp and get our notes together and figure out what the hell we're trying to do. Until then, read and review to your heart's content. Flames are welcome, as they will keep me warm at my laptop.