A/N: Greetings all! So here it is, a new story featuring Duo and Hilde. This story will focus on Hilde's character, which will be fun since we know next to nothing about her. Anyway, this is a more personal fic, focusing on the human element as life goes on after the war. This fic was inspired by the song "Hurry Home" by Jason Michael Carol.

I own neither the show, characters, or manga, nor do I own the song that inspired this endeavor.


Ch. 1

L-2 Colony Cluster

Colony L-21544 (St. Thomas City)

AC 201

Duo Maxwell grumbled a few curse words under his breath as he attempted to juggle a bag of groceries, a six pack of beer, and a heavy file box in an effort to get his keys and unlock the front door. Gripping the handles of the grocery bag with his teeth, he managed to fit the key in the lock and turn the deadbolt. Now came the tricky part, turning the knob. Freeing his thumb and index finger from the handle of the six pack, Duo sidled up to the knob and grabbed it with the two free fingers, using all his strength to twist the knob. He felt the box begin to slip from his other arm, and quickly readjusted his stance so it was propped against the door. Resuming his previous twisting action, the door finally cracked open. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated and put too much weight on the box, causing the door to swing open faster than anticipated. Unexpectedly thrown off-balance, he reached for the box, overcorrected, tripped, yelped in surprise (causing him to drop the bag of groceries he'd had clenched in his teeth), and tumbled to the ground, turning just enough to keep from landing on the box.

Groaning, he sat up just in time to hear a feminine giggle from the hallway to his right. Spotting the source of the sound, he grinned sheepishly.

"Hey babe, I picked up the stuff from the store you wanted."

"I see that," Hilde Schbeiker smiled as she surveyed the mess in front of her. "I hope those tomatoes didn't get bruised."

"Hey!" Duo retorted with indignation, "what about me?"

"Only your pride was hurt in that fall," she replied as she bent down to help gather the items scattered on the ground. "You could have knocked, you know. Or made two trips."

"Where's the fun in that?" he joked, examining the one item he had managed to keep a hold of. "At least the beer came through okay."

"Then that's all that matters," Hilde smirked as they both stood. "Thanks for stopping by the store for me," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "the shop was swamped today."

"Oh?" Duo asked, hefting the file box, almost dropping it again before he could get a decent grip. "That's good. Sorry I couldn't be there to help."

"Don't worry about it," the petite woman said as he followed her into the kitchen. "The chicken and biscuits should be done soon, and now, thanks to you, I can make the salad."

Unceremoniously dropping the box on the table, Duo heard her stifle another giggle when she caught him wrinkling his nose in distaste

"Yuck, bunny food."

"It's good for you. You really should eat more vegetables, Duo."

"Deep-fry it and wrap it in bacon and we'll talk."

This time Hilde did laugh as she spread the 'bunny food' on the counter and retrieved a knife from the drawer. Adding to his point, Duo grabbed a beer bottle and twisted off the cap, taking a long swallow.

"Hand me one of those, would you please?" his partner asked.

Snagging another bottle he soundlessly crept up behind her and placed it against her neck. The sudden, and very cold, contact caused her to yelp in surprise. As she spun around, Duo met her wide eyes with his smug ones, silencing her reprimand with a quick, affectionate kiss on her lips.

"Missed you these past two days," he murmured against her mouth.

"Hmm. Missed you too," she sighed, then pushed him away. "You're still eating the salad."

"Damn," he muttered and plopped down in a nearby chair. "Can we get a dog?" he asked.

"Duo," she growled good-naturedly, "You are eating the salad."

"Well, it was worth a shot," the ex-pilot chuckled and took another swig from his beer.

As promised, dinner was on the table in short order and a few moments of silence passed as they began to eat.

"So what did Quatre want to see you about?" Hilde asked. "And why did you have to go meet him on L-3? I always enjoy his visits here."

Swallowing a large bite, Duo answered, "He couldn't make room in his schedule to make a side trip here, so I met him halfway. He says 'hi'." Hilde waited as he took a sip of his drink before continuing. "As for what he wanted to see me about, the answer lies in that box," he said, gesturing to the item sitting at the other end of the table.

"He wanted to see you about a box?" she asked, raising a raven eyebrow.

"Well," the braided man began, "you remember on his last visit when he mentioned a collaborative project between the earth and colonies regarding helping to locate relatives of soldiers who had lost contact with their families during the war?"

"Yeah. Relena mentioned something about it too, last time we talked. Sounds like a big undertaking."

"Yup. The Preventers are getting pretty heavily involved, and lots of volunteers are gonna be needed."

"Duo, what did you do?"

"Nothing! Well, not really…um…" he spluttered. A hard stare from the petite woman had him cracking. "Alright, here's the deal. I have access to the Preventers database, as well as some, um, other files that I…strategically acquired…during the war. They're dividing things up into sectors, and, well, L-2 is a little short on Preventers and resources so…"

"Quatre guilted you into helping, didn't he?" At his hesitant nod, she sighed.

"He wasn't the only one," Duo grumbled. "I talked to Lady Une as well and she reminded me of the little 'shuttle incident' from last year. She mentioned something about restitution through community service."

This time, Hilde let a bemused smile grace her lips. "So, you didn't exactly volunteer."

"Let's just say it was more along the lines of 'voluntold.'"

Shaking her head, the raven-haired woman gave him a genuine smile. "What am I going to do with you, Duo Maxwell?"

"I have a few ideas," he smirked, leering slightly.

"Bad boy," she chided and he let out a genuine laugh. "So," she began, her face sobering just enough for him to notice. "What exactly is this program?"

"As I understand, anyone either military or civilian can file a request for a person search. We do what we can to match names, descriptions, and stats, locate last known addresses, and go from there. Right now it's a lot of entering data from old records Oz, the Alliance, and other factions had stored up that the Preventers managed to save. Quatre says that eventually they'll be able to set up a facial recognition system, so you don't end up wading through a hundred John Smiths trying to find the right one."

"Sounds…complicated."

Duo caught the hesitation in her voice, but chose to ignore it for the moment. "You know, there were a lot of people who were displaced during the war, a lot of families couldn't be notified if a loved one had been killed. This'll help bring closure to a lot of families." When Hilde didn't respond, he went to the lighter side. "Personally, I'm hoping for reunions. You know what a sucker I am for happy endings."

"Yeah, you're a sap alright." Hilde gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Taking a gamble, he pressed on. "You know, babe, if there's someone you want to look for, I can put you on the top of the list."

"No, there's no one I need to look for, and no one's looking for me. I know that for sure."

"Hilde," Duo began, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Duo." He watched as she stood and cleared her half-eaten dinner. "It's been a long day and I'm going to hit the shower. Clean up down here for me, will you?"

"Sure, babe." For once, Duo didn't argue, but Hilde didn't seem to notice. With a concerned gaze, he watched her exit the kitchen to head upstairs. In the ensuing silence, Duo felt something hanging in the air, and it wasn't making him happy.


A/N: So, that's the first chapter. If you like it, drop me a review. If you don't, then I respect your opinion and wish you the best. Flames will, as always, be disregarded.