Pairings: Heero/Duo, Relena/Wufei
Warnings: BL, light angst, language, AUish
Author Notes: (Written December 2005) Written for the first annual Canonball Run contest, this attempt is to show Heero and Duo can exist as equals, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. Many, many thanks to my betas, and Natea for hosting this event!
Paper Angels
Duo waited on the bench, his eyes in constant motion. The small dog at his feet whined, tugged on its leash, wanting to run and play. He stroked the pup's head, still watching. His hand arrested its movement; an almost silent voice whispered in his ear. His target was in sight. The moment was right.
Standing, he clucked down at the dog, and started down the path. To time it just right, he watched until his objective was alone. Now!
"Van," he commanded, and the dog raced off across the grass, his leash dragging behind him. "Stop!" Duo called loud enough for the girl to hear. "Stop him! Catch my dog!" he yelled as he jogged over the grass.
The girl was startled, but acted immediately. She jumped for the pup as it approached, and snagged the leash. Immediately, the dog rolled over, presented its belly, and wagged its tail, begging for a rub.
"Whew! Thank you," Duo said, coming to a stop at the girl's side. He held his cast heavy arm close to his body with his other hand.
"He sure is cute," the girl told him. She'd squatted down and patted the pup as he wiggled under her. "What's his name?"
"Buster." Duo made an exaggerated grimace. "My own little girl named him."
"Buster?" the girl laughed, smiling up at him. She caught sight of his arm and frowned. "You hurt, mister?"
Duo held his arm out. "A little. Broke it a couple of days ago. That's how ol' Buster here got away from me." He smiled down at her; she was cute, too friendly, and too easy to push into his trap. "In fact, I need to get going, but hurt my arm chasing after him." She squinted at his arm. "You think you could walk Buster to my van for me? I'd sure appreciate it."
The girl looked at the dog, and leaned away from his exuberant kisses. Duo scanned the park. Still no one in sight. Time was running out. "Tell you what. You bring Buster to my van, and I'll give you money for an ice cream."
"I'm not 'sposed to..." the girl's eyes went to the colorful flags peeking from just over the hill. "Okay. Just to your car." She stood up, clutching the leash tightly.
"This way," Duo said, pointing toward the parking lot. The girl pulled on the leash, and "Buster" trotted at her heels happily. Duo followed, taking a last look around the park.
The van's side door opened as they approached and Buster broke free from the girl's hold. He jumped inside, and the girl after. The immediate cry of "mommy!" was cut off with the slide of the van's door. Duo jumped up front, slamming the passenger door shut.
He glanced at the driver. "Keep it steady. Don't do anything to draw attention."
A snort was given. "Like I don't know that already."
"Ah, Bess, you know what I mean." He pulled on the zip tag, unfurling the cast from his arm. "I hate these kinds of cases."
"I know." The woman's voice was softer now. "You saw the reports - the girl is going back to where she belongs."
Tossing the cast wrappings into a plastic bag, Duo shot a look to the back of the van, though little could be seen through the small opening. "But..." he rubbed a hand over his face. "I guess you're right. Just, that was her birth mother, you know."
"Who lost her rights when Celia was two," Bess's tone was sharp. "Natural doesn't always mean better, Duo." She turned the van into a mall parking lot and found the meeting spot. "That should be it."
Duo nodded and reached for the door's handle. "Don't open the side until I give the signal."
"I know!"
A well-dressed man emerged from a parked car, and stood waiting for Duo. "You got her?"
As skeptical as he'd been, Duo couldn't deny the hope, the anxiety hidden in the man's words. He nodded shortly. "She's in back." He grabbed the man's arm as he made for the van. "But." Gaining the man's attention, he stressed each word. "I insist you get in touch with the family courts immediately. That little girl shouldn't have to go through this again."
The man was nodding. "I understand."
Letting him go, Duo stood back and listened with half an ear to the reunion. The girl's mother had been waiting in the van, mostly to help keep the girl from hysterics. Her legal family, the couple who'd raised her for over six years, carried her from the van, and ushered her to the waiting car. The family had been given instructions on what to do once the girl was recovered: head for the border, and then their home country. "Buster's" handler waved to Duo as she slid the door shut and the van left. It would be scrubbed, and all evidence of its participation in the extraction would be nullified.
His car waited on the other side of the mall. Duo pulled his sunglasses from the front pocket of his shirt, and began to walk.
~&~
The sun was setting behind the mountain range; darkness almost instantaneous this close, but still he lingered on the balcony. Too early in the season for mosquitoes, he continued to look west at the dark silhouette. It wouldn't be long in coming, though each day felt a lifetime. If he'd only known then what he knew now...
The village stretched out below had long since quieted, most of its inhabitants in bed with the sunset. Most of the villagers worked in the coffee fields, or ran trade with the boat people; early mornings were standard. The village had stood for hundreds of years, nearly unspoiled in the race to space colonization, and the destructive wars that followed.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Heero rose to his feet and snuffed out the lantern. He had books to read, a plan to finish. His eyes rose to the mountain's ridge once more before turning back and entering the house. Relatively closet-like compared to his European apartment, his house on the hill was double to triple in size to many of the huts below. And nearly every vacant space inside was littered with books, parchment centuries old, and artifacts of every shape and size from various periods.
Heero took a seat at the dinette, and drew the leather bound book closer. Peering at the scrawling script, he hooked a pair of reading glasses over his ears and adjusted the light with his other hand. The language was ancient Portuguese, and in an unknown dialect. Another word was recognized, and he wrote it in its place in the transcription notes.
Five years before, after being in South America for nearly a year, Heero didn't believe he'd ever make headway with the natives. The traders would offer any and everything, but information. Many on the river's edge were of multiple nationalities, but nearly all held loyalties to ancestral ways, ideas and knowledge. The very knowledge Heero sought.
His first break came by accident, but once the information had been gleaned, the few artifacts retrieved were carefully boxed and shipped back to his apartment for later investigation.
And now, he couldn't leave.
Murmuring a few phrases out loud, he carefully turned several pages back and reread a passage. Another word gained. Progress in centimeters.
~&~
It was too bright in the room, the music too loud for the conversation roar. Duo found a corner to watch from, tugging at his collar while trying not to look like he was doing just that. The party was by invitation only, and if Relena hadn't sent a personal note with his invite, Duo would have passed on the opportunity to rub elbows with the rich, the famous and the political.
Too many conversations were buzzing in his ears. He wanted a drink, but wanted to keep his wits sharp more. Not that he expected trouble; it had a way of tracking him down. On his way across the wide reception hall, he'd picked up a glass of ginger ale, and stood sipping it slowly. With as many jewels that were on display, a thief would have a field day.
"Maxwell?" his name was more a question than salutation.
Duo turned, instantly recognizing the voice. "Wufei." He nodded and held out his free hand. "I heard you were going to be at this shindig."
Wufei snorted and joined him holding up a portion of wall. "As many of these as I've been to in the past decade, one would think I'd be used to them." He turned to survey the crowd. "It's going to take another decade." A well-known holo-screen celebrity sashayed by, leading a pack of near-drooling followers. "More than a decade."
"Relena must be disappointed." Duo couldn't help the smile.
"She dislikes them more than I. She just hides it better." Wufei stood with his hands clasped behind his back - a general monitoring troops, or the new commissioner over the regional branch of Preventers.
Duo hid his smile behind another drink. "Speaking of which, where is the ol' ball and chain?" He gestured to the crowd. "If she hadn't specifically asked..."
"Relena," Wufei stressed, "is currently meeting with Saudi's president and his heads of state." Wufei's look scathed. At Duo's grin, Wufei snorted and turned away. "It has been a long time since we'd seen you last." He shot a quick look at Duo and back out to the room. "You were still living on L2, then, weren't you?" Duo nodded. "What line of work are you in these days?"
The well-practiced grin slid into place. "You might say, I have services for sale."
Wufei's sputter turned into choking words. "You're a hooker?" His eyebrows appeared to have taken flight into his hairline.
"No," Duo laughed. He glanced at his now empty glass. "Didn't Relena mention anything to you?"
Wufei rumbled something about conflicting schedules and twin tours before dwindling to a stop. "I apologize for jumping to an incorrect assumption."
With his cheeks as red as they were, Duo knew he hadn't meant it. He'd known when Wufei asked, but watching the normally composed man be anything but was too good to pass up. "Don't worry about it, man." He dismissed it with a wave. "I offer a dirty deeds kind of service. Security, recovering stolen goods, finding missing persons, infiltration-" at Wufei's raised brow, Duo added with a smile, "short of illegal operations."
"A private investigator," Wufei summarized.
Duo winced, but let it pass. "So, you don't know why Relena asked for me to be here?"
"No, I don't." Wufei looked at him closely, then. "But I have an idea. If you do what you say you do, her request would be because of Yuy."
"Heero?"
"Yes, that Yuy." A sudden stir across the room had both looking. "It appears talks are over for the time being."
"Damn." Duo resisted the urge to rub his eyes. "She grew up nice, didn't she?"
Wufei laughed softly. "Were you expecting pink, maybe?"
He gave a slight shrug and a grin. The woman working her way through the party attendees looked nothing like the girl she'd been. In her long black dress, and bare shoulders, she proved she was not a girl.
"She is a mother, you know."
"Oh, right." Duo tossed him another grin. "And you're a father. Congratulations."
"Thank you," Wufei inclined his head. "Though Adrian is six and Andrea is eight."
Duo whistled. "That long, huh?"
Wufei only nodded, said, "I'll be right back," and took a few steps forward to his wife's side. "Relena, your special guest," Wufei leaned closed to murmur in her ear. Relena instantly turned in Duo's direction.
Her smile had been worth the wait. Duo nodded in acknowledgment and watched as she excused herself. "Relena." He smiled at her once she stood in front of him. It surprised him more than it should have that Relena was as diminutive as she was; she had parted the crowd, seeming larger than life walking across the floor.
"Duo," she said, holding out a hand. "It's so good to see you again." She squeezed his fingers. "I have to confess, I thought we would have time to speak but events prevent me from doing so." She looked to her husband and they shared a look. "I can offer the hospitality of my home for your troubles...?"
"That's okay, princess," Duo said. "I'm set up in a place not far from here."
She inclined her head. "Good." Holding both of his hands in hers, she squeezed them again. "I must return. But please, if you would be so kind, join us for breakfast tomorrow. Would seven be acceptable for you?"
Duo smiled at the implied acceptance. She was good at what she did. "Seven would be fine."
Wufei remained as Relena worked her way back through the room. "I suppose you'll be leaving now...?" the envy was heavy in his voice.
"You could come with me. Make up some excuse."
Though he hesitated, Wufei refused. "I need to be here in case Relena needs me."
"Right," Duo nodded, found an empty spot to drop off his glass. "Until seven tomorrow, then." And he nearly laughed making his way from the room, to the freedom offered outside the luxurious mansion.
~&~
The inside of the warehouse was hot, though the roof slats were propped open. A row of sturdy tables spanned the length down the middle, but only one was currently being used. All others were clean, clear of debris.
Heero wiped his wristband over his forehead. He'd been working through the hardened clay for hours, washing, saturating the clay into mud, and straining the mud for its tales. Most of what he found was mud. Sharpened stone and the occasional broken bit of wood rose, but little else.
The warehouse's only other occupant started on another story, and Heero tossed him an amused glance. For the past hour, the boy had done more leaning on the broom than push it. Still, the pennies the boy was paid meant far more to him, than Heero. Eager and friendly, the boy chattered about while he cleaned, and every once in awhile, a new nugget of information was gained.
Today wasn't going to produce much besides a headache.
"Alejandro," Heero wiped his hands on a towel. "Go home." At the boy's smile, he amended to, "Ir."
"Sim, sim!" the boy grinned and ran the broom to its closet space, leaving the small pile of dirt already swept where it lay. "Adeusinho!"
Heero waited until the door had slammed behind him before turning back to his tub. The small, clay block's tag identified it as being removed the week before. Supposedly, an old church had been erected, had weathered time and storms before giving the ground back to nature. One of the journals he'd found indicated an old mission had been along the river.
Over a month had passed from his trek down river in the attempt to locate the ancient site. He worked the lee side bank, and marked off five potential locations. His excavation foreman had been with him, making notations on his map, planning what and how samples would be removed, identified and transported back to the warehouse.
The first site had been a bust. The second was showing appearances that at least a hunting party had settled there for some time. If items of a more domestic nature divulged themselves, a more thorough examination of the site would be conducted. Arrows, cutting tools and possibly spears were not what he was searching for.
With a start, Heero became aware he'd been staring at it for some minutes without realizing what it was. Careful fingers swished clinging mud away. The coin was crude, hand worked and stamped; easy work in smelted gold. Heero didn't immediately recognize the markings, the outline of a face it once held. Once cleaned, he took it to the photograph table, documented it and logged it into his books with its tag number and site location.
The photo images he'd take back with him to the house for further study. Its presence at that site didn't mean the mission had been located there; it could have been dropped by travelers at any given time in history. He made a note in his book to review the flood and river flow for the past several centuries.
Wiping his brow again, he cleared his tub, ran fresh water, and picked out another clay sample.
It would be days only. Weeks had passed; he could wait a few more days. He would have to wait a few more days.
~&~
By the time breakfast was finished, Duo was ready to leave. Relena refused to speak of her urgent need of his services. Watching the family out of the public's eye, his appetite failed. A look from Relena stilled his bouncing leg; pushing his eggs around on his plate earned a frown from Wufei. He barely saved his orange juice glass when Adrian asked after his own little boy.
Relena led the way to one of the private family rooms, gave an order to not be disturbed, and closed the doors behind them.
"Sit." She indicated one of the overstuffed chairs even as she curled up in one corner of an equally overstuffed couch.
In looking at this relaxed woman, Duo could only smile and take the seat she'd pointed out for his use. The glamorous beauty from the night before was no where to be found; no make-up, cotton pajama pants, a simple tee-shirt, hair back in a clip and feet encased in furry, cartoon headed slippers. Wufei took a seat next to his wife. The couple shared a look. Duo felt a slight twinge, and wondered if breakfast had been too rich.
"About a week ago, I received a package from Heero," Relena began. Her eyes were clear, earnest in their expression. "It's not unusual for him to send little items on occasion. Things he thinks one or the other of us might be interested in." She gave a faint smile. "But this one was very unusual."
Duo looked between her and Wufei. He nodded his understanding and stifled the urge to bounce his leg.
"The... artifact included in the package is quite... remarkable..."
"It's disgusting," Wufei interjected, a lip curled.
Relena flashed him an amused look but nodded all the same. "It is quite a vulgar piece. Something I was certain Heero would never send." Her cheeks pinked. "His accompanying letter was quite incomprehensible as well. Not something Heero would write." She paused and looked down at her hands folded on her lap.
"So, you think someone is pretending to be Heero? Or Heero's gone off his rocker or something?"
"Oh no!" Relena jerked her head up to look at him. "Nothing like that. It's... well," she turned to her husband. "Would you bring the package to Duo, please?" Wufei nodded and rose. He went only as far as a storage cupboard along the back wall, and returned with an oblong box.
Duo accepted it, looked at the postal imprints, and instantly recognized the handwriting, though he hadn't seen it for quite a number of years. Holding the tab to open it, he looked to Relena. "May I?"
"Of course," Relena answered and sat forward to watch. "The letter he sent took me a few days to realize what he'd done, it had been so long." Duo glanced up at her but continued to open the box, and lift out its contents. "At one time when he used to accompany me on tours and visits, we used to play a game, rather a cryptogram sort." She nodded to the envelope Duo now held. "He'd done the same with the letter."
His heart rate was increasing, but Duo dismissed it to Relena sense of mysterious happenings rubbing off on him. Pulling the single sheet of paper from the envelope, Duo scanned its contents and snorted at the seeming gibberish it contained. "And what does it say?" He held it out for Relena to take.
She smoothed its fold on the couch arm, and skimmed over it. "In a nutshell, he's asked me to locate you and give you the artifact. He said you'd know what to do with it." She was flashing him a look, and Wufei started to chuckle.
The last item was heavily wrapped. Duo unrolled the padding and nearly dropped the object once he got a look at it. Wufei laughed aloud, and even Relena's cough was more a snicker. Holding the statue at arm's length, Duo examined it.
"And he said that I would know what to do with it?" He turned it around, and upside-down.
Relena nodded and pointed to the letter. "We'd use numbers to guide the letters. The first three would be used, the next two would be skipped, and next one used. Then back to three again." She grimaced at the note. "He's written birth dates that are not actual ones, and telephone numbers which aren't real."
Turning it in different angles still wasn't making the statue any better. Wufei had been right - it was disgusting. And as far as Duo remembered, not something Heero would have considered an appropriate gift for anyone, even himself. At just over a foot, the squat monkey was a caricature of anything real. One hand flat on its head, and the other on its rather inflated and exaggerated penis.
Nothing in Duo's memories of the man led him to a reason why Heero would send him an obscene statue. "The post mark is from some place in Ecuador." He looked at Wufei and then Relena. "What's he doing there?"
"Studying." Relena's response was immediate and Duo gave her a mild frown. "Well, officially he's working with the Historical Society of South America and their governance board of artifacts and museums, but actually, he's studying."
"Wha..." Duo turned from Relena's explanation to Wufei's smirking expression.
"After J died, Heero started gathering interests," Wufei supplied. "The old nut started him on a hunt of sorts to explore his horizons, and ancient history appealed to Heero." Wufei shrugged. "He's been to several archeological digs. Has found some interesting artifacts."
Duo looked at the artifact he held. "And crappy art interests him?"
"Actually," Wufei seemed to choke the word out. "His latest, and longest to date, interest happens to be the language origin of the Incas."
"Incas?" Duo looked at the artifact he held.
"During his visit last year," Relena took over. "Heero mentioned findings that indicated an as yet unknown origin. He's been looking for the proof since."
"He is looking for links of modern man's influence on the Incan language and how several dialects were splintered from it."
"I thought that was old news, ancient history. The conquistadors and all that." Duo looked at Wufei sharply.
Wufei lifted a shoulder. "It is the common belief. I can only repeat what Heero has shared."
He shook his head, chuckling softly. "Guess it's a way to pass the time."
"Heero took J's passing rather hard," Relena offered mildly.
Wufei snorted, moved Relena's feet over and sat. "Never understood it. Even if the old goat left him well off."
Duo looked up sharply. "Too bad he left him no taste."
"That's what we've been saying, Duo," Relena nearly snapped out. "Heero has taste. His letter indicated you would know what to do with that... that thing."
"But, I don't." Duo glared at the statue and hefted it in his hand. It wasn't heavy in the way something solid would be, but it wasn't light either.
"I don't understand why he thinks you disciplining it would..."
"What?" Duo demanded.
Relena's brows drew in the slightest of frowns. "He says you would know how to spank the monkey."
"You didn't tell me that!" Wufei cried, his expression between outrage and amusement.
Duo just laughed and looked at his acquisition once more with renewed interest. Pulling the box it'd arrived in closer, Duo grasped the monkey's penis and pulled down and out. Part of the monkey's arm and a good portion of his crotch fell off in Duo's hand, bits of plaster fell into the box; Duo added the monkey as well, its broken parts still on his palm.
"Duo!" Relena gasped. Wufei moved forward to watch.
His thumb and forefinger pinched at the plaster penis, crushing it into dust. As it crumbled, a tightly rolled paper emerged. Duo grinned at Relena's gasp and Wufei's snort.
"So you did know what to do with that obscenity."
~&~
His boat moved along the river at little more than a snail's pace. Heero checked his map coordinates and scanned the bank. The site was just up ahead and Heero began looking for a likely landing spot.
The grasses had grown thick and tall from his last visit. The steady rainfall combined with the healthy loam at the river's edge promoted such growth. Leaving his boat half ashore and tied around a large rock, Heero left most of his equipment; he could always retrieve it later if it was needed.
At the clearing, he pulled a map roll from his pack and spread it on a flat rock. Finding the topical landmarks matching a particular area, Heero slipped another map out and studied it lay. It was a composite of how the land looked hundreds of years prior. And it showed him where he squatted now, the river used to be. His original site was off by several yards.
He moved inland, one eye on the compass and one eye on his path. Given the sudden rise of ground, he should have known there'd been a shift in the river's course. The translated document hadn't been clear on where the old mission stood. The mountain base covered a lot of ground.
Field glasses helped narrow down his search; Heero was already walking in that direction even as he put away his glasses. Using scant telltale signs, he paced off where he believed the mission would have stood, staked the area, and used specially marked flags to let others know whose site this was. At one spot, his trowel went to work, though a sampler would have been better suited.
By his small square hole of bare earth, Heero sat back on his heels and rubbed the clay clump between his palms. Its treasure revealed, Heero reached for the plastic container in his pocket. Other than wear, they were exact in make. Heero couldn't help the smile; he had found his site.
~&~
Four days. Four days he'd been cooling his heels at some backwater shanty town waiting for his transportation upriver. Duo stood in the dubious shade beneath the drooping awning and squinted out into the street. No sidewalks to speak of, the place had one paved road heading out of town.
It hadn't taken Duo long to make his flight arrangements, gather necessary documents and money, and turn over immediate business concerns to his partner. During the long flight, he had to wonder how once again, he'd jumped when Heero asked. Of course, twice in the span of a decade and a half wasn't a bad track record.
Heero's note never left his person. He hadn't even shared its contents with Relena; assumed if Heero had wanted what little information he'd given known to her, he would have used that same code method. The instructions were simple enough, an agent's name to provide him plane tickets, travel money and an emergency passport if needed. Duo was to make one stop on the way, and bring the item retrieved with him.
Civilization, as he knew it, was a two-day drive in a truck with bad springs and holes in the radiator back down the road he came in on. His inquiries for travel upriver were met with blank looks, or worst, smiles and the assurance of "two hours". At least the beer wasn't bad, the music was lively and most everyone left him alone.
Barely passed six in the morning and already the heat was near unbearable. Duo stepped out into the street and headed for the dock. Three long blocks, each building, business or residence became more rundown and shabbier as he walked. Down the short hill, the waterfront was in view. Duo paused for a moment to study the new addition harbored dockside.
He began to smile. The day was looking brighter.
~&~
He was at the warehouse when the news arrived. His guest was down-river and would be on his way soon. He had received word when Duo had booked the flight through his agent, but nothing since. Though, it was Duo, and Heero was certain that if he asked, Duo would do everything possible to be there for him. The news confirmed his assumption.
Cataloging waited and Heero returned to work. He'd had plenty of time to make his arrangements, prepare for the eventual arrival. It was only after entering the same lot tag three times that Heero pushed his books away and boxed up the latest samples from the newest site.
His walk up the hill was delayed. The Señor was going to have a visitor, and not of the government kind. The concern and excitement shown for him, came as a surprise to Heero. After three years of living in the village, he was deemed worthy. The disruption to his day wasn't as bad as he'd thought it was after all.
The first lesson a man learns is in taking responsibility. For himself. For his actions.
A man stands on his own, takes care of his person, his possessions, and pays his debts. A man will own up to the results of his actions whether by word or deed. A man will accept equitable punishment for his actions if deemed necessary.
When handed a task, a mission to fulfill, a man will make it his focus through to its completion. Failure is only an option for the weak. A man has no time for the weak of will, weak of mind, and weak of spirit.
The bench was hard under his ass, but he'd walked the boat several times, and had given every timber, plank and nail a first and middle name already. His packed reading material became dog-eared and worn before his second day's stay in the village. Language had never been a barrier to him before. Now, he couldn't even hold a conversation with the boat's pilot, or his assistant.
As they passed another weathered dock upside a ram-shackled town that looked like the one they'd passed-by almost an hour before, Duo shot to his feet. In the wheelhouse, his guide kept his eyes glued to the waterway in front. Getting his attention was harder than Duo had thought it'd be.
"How much longer to Sujar a Água?" he asked. The man grinned, showing both rows of teeth and nodded. Duo resisted the urge to yell; a smile and a nod was all he seemed to get from anyone. "Sujar a Água?" he repeated.
"Sí, sí." another nod with a smile.
"No, how long will it be?" Duo asked again, a smile plastered on his face.
"Ah! Sí, dos horas." the man told him with a grin and an emphatic nod.
"Two hours," Duo mumbled back. His shoulders slumped. It had been the same answer he'd been given to every questions asked since he'd stepped out of the truck. Standing at the stern-side rail, Duo glared at the churning water. "Two hours my ass!"
The trip upriver had already taken most of the day; Duo had eaten lunch with the small crew and didn't welcome the idea of sharing dinner with them as well. Returning to his seat, he slouched down, and pulled his bag closer. There was one book he hadn't read.
A quick unzip, and the especially wrapped package was in his hand. Under the plastic was a slim leather bound book, rather similar to a journal. Duo hadn't look in it, was hardly curious at its contents when he retrieved it from Heero's apartment. Like any case he'd been hired to do, he went in, got the job done, delivered the results.
Duo put the package away and zipped his bag. He would discover the mysteries of the book only if Heero allowed him to. Lying back on the bench, he wondered if he really had two hours; it was a wonderful day for a nap.