Note: 'Ten Per Cent' was meant to be a one-shot. Really. Ahem. But I was just a little bit curious about what Trowa and Quatre talked about so…..

Anyway, this is also a belated birthday fic for Wolfje. Happy birthday!

Crossed Lines:

'Hey Trowa.' Duo Maxwell's voice floated down the line. 'How's it going? Been attacked by evil killer mummies yet?'

'Not yet, no.' I raised my eyes to the ceiling, watching the fan slowly whirr around. Guess who'd been given the basement, windowless office without air-con? In Cairo, in summer. It had been one of the first indications that my Egyptian colleagues hadn't been overly ecstatic that a foreigner – and a Colonial, to boot- had been appointed to oversee the temporary loan of some of their precious, priceless artefacts to the Louvre Museum in Paris.

There were times when I'd have welcomed a mummy or two, just for the company. An animated one, anyway. I had stacks of the dead sort.

Duo, despite what I'd told him several times, seemed convinced that to be an archaeologist in Egypt was to be living in a Brendan Fraser film.

'Is Heero there?'

'No. He's gone for lunch. With Relena.'

Hum. Possibly my imagination – or wishful thinking on my friend's behalf – but Duo maybe sounded just a little disconsolate about that. But if he hadn't picked up on Heero's interest in him, then he had to be straight as a steel arrow, or dumb as a bag of hammers.

'Ah. The pink princess herself.'

There were plenty of other words I could have called her. Most of them were the sort that are represented by beeps on daytime TV. I'd travelled around a lot; spoke a handful of languages. I knew plenty of curses.

'You have to give her maximum points for trying, though. I mean, flying half way across the galaxy every few months just to see him. You'd think anyone else would have got the message by now that he's not interested in her.'

'What? She's his girlfriend!'

Oh, God. Maybe he was that dense. Heero had sent me photos, surreptitiously snapped from his 'phone, and if you looked like that, maybe you could get away with being as dim as a light-bulb with a wattage in single numbers.

Well, he was dense when it came to relationships, at least. Heero was always maundering about how smart his project partner was. Along with charming, funny, intelligent, practical, resourceful and sexy.

Utterly besotted, poor sap.

'She's not his girlfriend, Duo.'

There, Maxwell. A bone for you. See what you can do with it. I did, for the briefest second, consider tossing a few shreds of marrow.

He's gay.

He likes men.

He likes you.

A lot.

I didn't. Heero had specifically instructed me to do nothing of the sort. He had his reasons, so he claimed. He was the boss's stepson, still a newbie on the L2 plant. The staff were supposed to treat him like any other employee but of course they didn't. Apparently, Duo had been promoted from the factory floor and a lot of his co-workers hadn't taken it too well. Heero didn't want to give them any more mud to sling at his honey.

I'm gay too, if it's not obvious.

I had a pretty good idea what Duo would have to endure if he hooked up with the heir apparent.

'Uh, Trowa, can I get you to hold on for a sec? I've got a friend waiting on the other line.'

'That's fine. Just ask Heero to call me back, will you?'

There were a few clicks and a bit of static and then a strange voice.

'Duo? Duo, are you still there? Because I've been holding for an awfully long time and I'm getting really tired of this piped music.'

'It's crap, isn't it?' I agreed cheerfully. 'Out of all the music in the world, they had to pick this Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff.'

'Ah, excuse me but who is this?' The disembodied voice was a little bit more cautious this time around.

'Trowa Barton. Who are you?'

'You're the archaeologist!' He gasped. 'Aren't you? The one who's working in Egypt? Duo's always talking about you and how exciting your job must be. Honestly, he thinks you're like Indiana Jones or something. I think he's rented the 'Mummy' films a dozen times in the last couple of months, and we're always watching Discovery programmes about Ancient Egypt.'

Oh, I kind of liked the idea of being Indiana Jones. (Every archaeologist does, secretly) The gayer version. Same cool outfit though. Fewer annoying girls to be rescued. And no snakes. I don't like snakes.

'My job's not as exciting as he thinks,' I said regretfully. 'I'm just a glorified librarian stroke logistician, really. I've been seconded here from the Egyptian Department at the Louvre. The museum here is lending us some of their pieces for an exhibition in Paris next month; most of them have never been outside Egypt before so it's a pretty big deal. I've been checking inventory and arranging the transport.'

'Well, I'm sure it's been exciting living in a foreign country for so long,' he said positively. 'And the exhibition sounds wonderful. I'll be back on Earth in three weeks' time. I'll have to go and see it.'

'Give me your name and I'll arrange for you to attend the opening night,' I offered, idly wondering if he was as cute as he sounded. The accent was hard to place; definitely some French intonations but lots of other stuff mixed in, like he'd travelled a lot. Sort of sexy.

'Would you really? That would be fabulous! My name's Quatre Raberba Winner and I'm a friend of Duo's. I was actually holding for him and I think the wires got crossed somehow.'

'And now you're holding me instead.'

There was a moment's deathly silence. Shit. Guess that had been a bit too much.'

'Duo said they're having some problems with the communications system this week,' he said stiffly. 'It's probably better if we hang up now. This call must be costing you a fortune.'

'It's costing the National Museum a fortune, actually. And I'd rather not dial off, if you don't mind. It takes ages to get connected from Earth to L2 and Duo said Heero's due back from lunch any minute. If I lose the connection, it could be gone for hours.'

'I see.'

Oh fuck. Now I'd scared him off.

'So you're a friend of Duo's?' Well, I'd known that already; Heero had spent the past five months angsting about some guy called Quatre whom he was convinced was Duo's boyfriend. He'd found out a week previously that this wasn't the case, and, being Heero, immediately launched his strategy to get Duo for himself. 'He seems like a really nice guy.'

God, I hoped he was. If my best friend was going to all this trouble for him.

'Oh, he is.' The chill factor in Quatre's voice thawed a couple of degrees. 'Meeting him has been the best thing that's happened to me on L2.'

'You're not from there originally?' OK, keep him talking.

'No, I'm from L4.'

L4.

Winner.

Ah.

'You're one of those Winners?'

'I used to be,' he sounded positively cheerful about that. 'Until two years ago when I stepped out of line and got exiled here.'

'Ouch. What did you do? Sign up for the Labour Socialist Party? Start a trade union? Deny the sanctity of the capitalist system?'

'Oh, not quite so bad as those,' he informed me gleefully. 'I would have been ceremonially sacrificed if I'd done anything like that. On my twenty first birthday I informed my family that I was gay. The next day I was on a shuttle to L2. I didn't even have time to pack properly.'

'Again, ouch.' I tried to sound solemn but he obviously didn't have any major hang ups about the whole process.

'Not so much, actually. I've had a splendid time. On Earth, I couldn't do anything, without getting permission from my father or my older sisters, or the senior board members. But no one cares about what happens on L2 so I could do what I liked with the company.'

'Let me guess,' I hazarded, picking up on the pride in his voice. 'You turned a backwards, long lost subsidiary into a success story? What did you do; introduce a corporate song and family picnics?'

'More like employee incentive schemes and discounted share options.' I could hear the smile in his voice. Someone who was good enough at what he did not to mind being teased a little bit. 'And there was the odd social outing along the way. I've had fun.'

'So you're going back to Earth? What happens then; back under Daddy's thumb?'

'Certainly not. That was never an option. I'm going to be based in Sanque for a few months, then heading up our new offices in Paris.'

'Impressive.' And interesting; he was going to be in Paris. My city. 'Where does Duo fit into all of this?'

'He's my best friend. I'm trying to convince him to come to Earth with me.'

'Heero might have better luck,' I muttered, caught off my guard by a sudden little spurt of happiness. We'd both be living in Paris. He liked Egyptian stuff. I'd get to meet him.

'What does that mean?'

'Heero's seriously got the hots for your buddy. But he thought you two were a couple.'

'We're not! Where did he ever get that idea?'

'Let me think.' I couldn't help grinning, remembering Heero's steady build up of evidence that those two were together. I was pretty sure there had been spreadsheets. And maybe pie charts. 'You share a house. You seem to do everything together. Duo talks about you all the time.'

'He's my best friend; that's all. Is Heero really gay?' Quatre asked excitedly. It was kind of sweet that he was so happy for his friend. 'We were sure he was straight. He has a picture of a girl on his desk and everything.'

'That means nothing. Anyway, so do I have a picture of a girl on my desk.'

'Oh.' There was definite disappointment in that one syllable.

Yes!

'Sure.' I gave it another couple of seconds. Timing is everything. 'My big sister Catherine.' I grinned at her photo, imaging what she'd say if she'd heard this exchange.

Something on the lines of how I needed a relationship with someone who hadn't been living in a sarcophagus for the past couple of millennia.

Quatre let that one fall. 'So if Heero is gay and likes Duo, what is he planning to do about it? After all, he's heading back to Earth soon, isn't he? Does he just want a quick fling?'

'No! He's got a plan; when you get to know him, you'll know he always has plans. He wants Duo to go to Paris with him; he's arranging for Duo to get sponsored by Lowe Industries. You can't tell him though, OK? Heero wants to talk to Duo himself first.'

'That's marvellous. And of course I won't say anything.' He sounded practically giddy. 'Oh, I'm so happy! Duo's been so depressed and I was so worried about leaving him here alone.'

'Yeah, it's great.' OK, enough about them. 'So are you still interested in visiting the exhibition? I could maybe meet you beforehand, give you a little private tour if you want.'

Of the exhibition.

Or of me.

Whatever you want. Both if you like.

Ever done it in a sarcophagus?

'I'd really like that.'

Sex in a coffin? Really? Kinky guy.

Oh, no, the exhibition. Rats.

'So I guess we could maybe meet beforehand for a drink or dinner or something, if you want.' He made positive sounds. OK, don't get too excited Barton. Maybe he just fancies a free meal. These people get to be so rich by hoarding the cash. 'How will I know what you look like?'

'You can look at my profile on Facebook. It's an unusual name.'

'Right.' I pulled my laptop over, fingers flickering over keys. Not like I was superficial or anything, but if his looks matched the voice and the sense of humour, then he'd be spectacular. 'How do I spell your middle name?'

'R-A-B-E-R-B-A.'

'OK.'

Wow. Jackpot. I hadn't expected the blond hair or blue eyes; most people from L4 are of Middle Eastern heritage. Just a nice bonus. I glanced over his profile; lots of friends. Interests including music, horse-riding, theatre science fiction and sailing.

Looked like we had a nice match.

'Well?' Just a tiny hint of challenge in his tone; he knew well enough what he looked and was presumably more than aware of the effect it generally had on people.

'Well enough,' I teased. 'I usually go for the dark, hairy type with lots of stubble but I can make do in a pinch. You're lucky I'm not shallow enough to go just for looks.'

There was a choke of laughter at the other end. 'Of course not. I'm sure you select your partners purely on personality.'

'I like someone with a sense of humour,' I told him. 'And shared interests. Long walks in the rain, sunsets on the beach.'

'How very romantic,' Quatre snipped. 'Unfortunately, I am the shallow type. And you currently have the advantage of me.'

Ow. Take that, Barton.

'OK. I'm not on Facebook. I've been friends with Heero for too long and he's totally paranoid about putting that much personal stuff out there. There's a picture on my LiveJounal account. The name is Liontamer03.'

'What happened to the first two lion-tamers?' he quipped. 'Did they get eaten?'

'One can only assume so.'

Another silence while he presumably checked me out. The virtual me. The profile picture was one Cathy had taken at Christmas when she visited; me leaning against a palm tree at an oasis outside Cairo. Pretty damn flattering actually.

'Good lord. You actually make khaki shorts look sexy. I hadn't realised that was humanly possible.'

'I look even sexier out of them,' I bragged, and he started to laugh.

'Perhaps just dinner to start? I'm flying back to Sanque on the twelfth, but Paris is only a short flight.'

'Let me check.' I clicked on the Air France Website, feeling we could be doing quite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing until he settled in Paris. 'Forty five minutes. Six flights a day. You like Moroccan food,?'

'I love it.'

'I know a great restaurant a couple of blocks from where I live. If you're interested?'

'I could be. I always like trying new places to eat.'

'Quatre. Are you going to make me beg?'

He trilled with laughter. 'At some point, quite possibly. There are a couple of things I need to know first. For a start, do you have a picture of a guy on your desk?'

'I have a sculpture. Does that count? Of course he is a Pharaoh who's been dead for a pretty long time so he's not much competition. Fair enough?'

'I can live with that.'

'Next question.'

'I'm not into one night stands. I did the bar trawling thing for a while when I first got here and it's not for me. Just so you know.'

'Are you kidding me? Seriously, you think I'd want only one night with you? No way! Actually,' I added virtuously, 'I'm not used to pushy guys discussing sex after I've only spoken to them for fifteen minutes or so. I think you're maybe more of a player than I am.'

He choked with laughter at that. 'I'm honestly not any sort of a player. I'm actually quite shy in person.'

'You don't have to be, with me.'

'No,' he agreed softly. 'Apparently not. So dinner to start off and see where it goes? I assume you are officially asking me out?'

'Yes. Quatre Winner, will you please come and have dinner with me next month on the other side of the galaxy?'

'I'd love to.'