CHAPTER FOUR
Since they'd gotten the news that Operation Meteor would be launched within the week, Linnea had been working non-stop. At last the Gundam was nearly complete. Of course to her it never would be finished, she could always find ways to improve it and she believed in endless systems test checks, all conducted by her personally of course.
She crawled around the mobile suit double-checking wiring and joint mobility, talking unceasingly into her headset. Duo was starting to wonder if the girl was insane, ever since they set a target date her obsession with perfecting the suit had completely taken her over. "Don't you think you're overdoing it?" he shouted at her finally, after her father and the rest of the crew had called it a night.
Linnea hopped down to the ground and looked at him in confusion. Overdoing it? "Don't you know why I'm aiming for perfection," she asked. "Don't you realize my goal? When I've gotten this thing up to the standards I've set in my mind you'll be like a god when you operate it. A god, Duo. You'll leave behind destruction and vengeance and nothing will touch you. That's what I'm working for and I don't think I'm overdoing it." He looked from her serious face to the magnificent piece of machinery looming in the hangar. "A god," he repeated. "Shinigami." "The god of death, it fits," she said in complete understanding. "That's what kind of capability 02 will have when I'm done." They looked at each other for an endless instant, then as usual, Duo broke the serious mood before it overwhelmed them. "Let's celebrate and christen this thing the old-fashioned way," he exclaimed. She looked at him quizzically. "I mean break a bottle of champagne over it and give it a better name than 02," he explained. "We don't have any alcohol here," Linnea said. "Father says it kills brain cells." Duo laughed out loud. "Baby, you can afford to lose a few brain cells. Besides didn't I promise to teach you something the other day. We'll just go steal some."
Despite her protests, Linnea found herself clinging to Duo's back speeding down the road on a hot-wired, stolen motorcycle in search of champagne to "christen" the Gundam. The fresh air perked her up, she had been in the hangar way too long and needed to clear her mind. She tightened her arms around Duo's waist and pressed her cheek against his back, wishing they could just drive like this forever. "There's a place," Duo said. "Now listen, you go up to the counter and talk to the guy, you know, give him a little wink and a smile and I'll just stick the bottles in my coat and you follow me out. Got it?" "Riiiigght," said Linnea slowly. Duo gave her a nudge and she went in. "May I help you miss," the counter boy asked. "Yes, can you give me directions back to the Section Three highway? I seem to be lost," Linnea said, leaning on the counter and smiling at the boy. She noticed Duo come in and head for the wine section. "Hurry up," she thought. The clerk showed her a map and launched into an explanation of how to navigate Section Three. Nice girl, the clerk thought, leaning closer. He looked into her big purple eyes just as she glanced at Duo leaving the store. The clerk didn't like what he saw reflected there. "Shit!" he yelled. "That guy stole something." He looked at Linnea. "You're his partner aren't you?'' Linnea winked at him then and dashed for the door. "Let's get out of here," she screamed and hopped on the motorcycle. "By the way, turn left at the corner to get back to the highway," she said, laughing. The look on that guy's face had been priceless. It sure was fun acting like an irresponsible, immature kid for once.
Linnea took a long drink out the champagne bottle and decided it tasted pretty good, so she chased it with another. Duo grabbed the bottle out of her hand, "whoa slow down, you're gonna get sick," he said. She should let loose more often, he thought, and she was a natural petty thief. His kind of girl, he would sure miss her. He took a drink from the bottle and thought for a moment. "What do you think of Gundam DeathScythe? Pretty cool name, huh?" She nodded and he slammed the half-empty bottle against the Gundam causing a shower of broken glass and flying champagne.
He opened the second bottle with a pop, it was pretty good stuff, and plopped himself down in Linnea's computer chair and spun it around slowly as he drank. Suddenly, the chair stopped, she had her foot on the edge of the seat. "Duo," she said, pouting irresistibly. "That's my chair, who said you could sit in it. Get out, I wanna spin!" Drunk already, he rolled his eyes and grinned at her. "Make me," he said.
She tugged on his arm trying to pull him off the chair, but of course he didn't budge. Linnea growled in mock frustration and Duo laughed saying, "mere humans cannot hope to move the god of Death!" "You're greedy, Duo," she accused him. "You get the best chair and the bottle of champagne. What about me??" He looked at her and pulled her down onto his lap and spun the chair around some more. "I'll take you too," he said, kissing her. The room is spinning, she thought, no, that's just the chair.
Slowly the room, or was it the chair, stopped spinning. Linnea wrapped her arms around Duo's neck and prolonged the kiss. They finally came up for air and blue eyes stared intently into violet ones with an unspoken message. She kissed him softly again and snuggled against his chest as he rocked her gently in the chair until she fell asleep. He could sense the change in her body, totally relaxed against him. Duo put his legs up on the desk and tilted the chair back, continuing to run his hands gently over her hair and shoulders until he fell asleep too. Now he had found someone to be his family, someone who knew everything about him and loved and trusted him. Someone to say goodbye to.
To Be Continued . . .