Hey! I finally updated! Can you believe it? I'm hoping this chapter is longer than the others have been – it's registering as eight pages in word in the regular 12 size font, so it better be of decent length.
This chapter might be a bit weird because I wrote most of it late night, and though I don't FEEL tired, I could tell my brain was going as I was writing it since I tried to write certain words like a kindergarten. You know, write it how it sounds, lol! And they're words I should know too!
Anyways, I hope you all like it, those of you that are left that is! And I'd like to give a big thank you to: British Buffalo and AnimeRyRy for their reviews! Thanks so much, it means a lot that even jus the two of you like it :D
Criticism (constructive) welcomed!
When Trowa returned to the hotel room, it was already far past midnight, the lights from the city below twinkled in through the open windows and the last bit of moon sat quietly in the sky alongside its starry companions. He closed the door quietly, locking it out of habit, and glanced towards the bed closest to the windows. His partner appeared to be dead asleep as she lay on her back, one arm tossed over the pillow above her head, the other strewn across her chest. Her mouth was hanging open a little, but she wasn't snoring. In fact, she was such a quiet sleeper that sometimes Trowa could forget she was there.
He smiled in amusement at her face, thinking instantly of a young child who had passed out after a long day of play, and pulled off his shirt and jeans slipping into his own bed, not even bothering to pull a sheet over himself. It was still too hot, and he reflected on his decision to sport the thick and tight pants, wondering what had been going through his mind when he pulled them on in the first place...
Oh, that's right, the blonde who now lay beside him had just dragged herself out of bed, her rosy cheeks unusually pale, her eye lids half closed with sleep, her lips surprisingly pink and her hair mussed from tossing around on the pillow. She had looked like a porcelain doll to him, albeit one that had perhaps been handled a little more roughly than was necessary, and it had distracted his earlier thoughts about the weather and clothing options.
Sighing with what may have been frustration he glanced over at the girl again, wondering why he was starting to notice these things about her...starting to think these things about her...
He glared briefly at the ceiling before turning away from her and facing the door, hoping a quiet blank sleep would overtake him quickly and allow him to relinquish his train of thought for another, non-existent time. Anyway, there were far more important matters to deal with presently, the newest of which was an invitation in to the OA organization, in order to "see for himself what they were in the process of doing and what they wanted to accomplish".
Trowa knew that what they really wanted was to use him to their advantage, gain his trust and scratch at his curiosity until he willingly gave them what they wanted; whatever that was. It could be his knowledge on the Preventers, his knowledge on Gundams, his expertise as a soldier, or maybe his face as a weapon against still unknown enemies. Still, he had decided before even reaching China that getting in was the only option. Their security was so tight that it had proven so far to be the only way of getting a glimpse of their inside plans, and even then they may try to discard of him, or his partner, before any actual important information found its way into non OA hands.
And as much as he found himself loathe to admit it, this Tom character who had taken an extremely curious liking to Alexandra was going to be a great asset in the G-Boys' plans. He had figured it quite quickly that in a few days time, if everything went well between him and the Senior Officer, and Alexandra and Tom, they could find themselves much deeper in to the organization than they had first anticipated, and then he'd be off playing soldier once again. He didn't think he'd mind it so much though, daily training, wearing the uniform, learning battle strategies. It'd give him something to do without thinking or worrying over other things too much.
Though, as he glanced again at his snoozing female companion, he couldn't help but worry over what was going to happen to her. There was no way she'd make it as a soldier. She didn't have the disciple or the mentality for it, and he doubted she'd ever agree to joining any military organization, no matter what the circumstances; the only reason she was with him now was because she hadn't had much choice in the matter anyway. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she'd become something as simple as Tom's play toy for the time being...but he didn't like that idea very much. Maybe they could come up with a new strategy in order to keep her tucked away in a safe corner...
***
"We're WHAT?!" Alex's eyes were wide in shock as she stared at Trowa, but they soon shifted to her surroundings as she noticed people staring at her after her outburst.
They had been walking out of the Sank Kingdom's Capital airport when Trowa had mentioned his new plan to her, which, apparently, had been more surprising to her than he thought it would be.
He began walking again, shrugging off her exclamation.
"You don't have to act so surprised. I HAD mentioned something or other of the sort a few nights ago to some of the people at the formal gathering."
Alex walked up behind him briskly.
"You said it to ONE person, and only because he was in the middle of feasting on your face. Don't you think you could have run this over with me before you decided firmly to put it into play? Anyway, it's not like I have to agree."
"You do. I've decided that's what we're doing."
"Excuse me?" She halted again, this time under the shade of a large oak that stood between the sidewalk and the road.
Trowa sighed and looked back at her.
"You heard me. This is what we're going to do. We're going to the OA Headquarters in two hours, and unless you want to be inducted into the organization as a participating solider, you'll play along and keep your resentment to yourself."
"I'm not going to 'play along'. This is so stupid! Is it because I'm a woman and you think I can't do anything? Is that why you're giving me this ...insufferable role?! I'm not going to do it. WE can come up with a different plan if you think it so important to keep me out of soldier duty, but we're not –"
"You WILL do as you're told!"
Alex, for the third time in less than five minutes, stopped what she as doing and gaped at the man before her. His eyes burned an imaginary hole through her head, and his nostrils were flared a little. But the worst part was that he had just yelled. At her. And from what she had seen of him so far, Trowa never yelled.
Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment as she looked down at the ground, her mouth now firmly closed. She didn't know why, but his getting mad enough at her to yell made her feel ashamed, and hurt.
Trowa turned away from her and continued walking, carrying his duffel bag dutifully towards a black car parked on the other side of the street.
By the time they were both in the car, sitting side by side in the back, neither was speaking to the other, and except for the low humming that came from the driver up front, the car was filled with tense silence.
But as a light bulb flashed in her head, Alex suddenly had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. She did however have the foresight to think about speaking in front of the driver, lest he relay any information forward to ears that were not meant to hear it. She decided to test the waters first, slowly.
"C'est...une belle journer n'est ce pas?" It's a nice day isn't it? She cringed inwardly at her accent, not having spoken in French for a lengthy amount of time, she also wondered if she'd remember enough words to say what she wanted.
Trowa was more than a little surprised to hear his mother tongue come from the fuming female beside him, but his mind made the connection to the security of the driver quite quickly, so he was able to shake it off in a matter of seconds and respond.
"Oui, c'est une belle journer... Qu'est-ce que tu veux parler apropos?" Yes, it's a nice day...What do you want to talk about? His French was smooth and suave, and had Alex been in the mood to daydream, it would have been extremely sensual as well. It wouldn't even have mattered what he said.
"Ca ne vas pas marcher. Tu sais pourquoi? A cause de quoi tu m'a dis de faire avec Tom. Tu pense vraiment qu'il vas me chercher si je suis supposer d'etre ta copinne?" It's not going to work. You know why? Because of what you told me to do about Tom. He's not going to chase after me if I'm supposed to be your girlfriend/fiancée. She gave him a pointed look, wondering how on earth he had come to that solution when just a few days ago he had thought Tom would make a good path into the organization. If she waltzed around pretending to be involved with Trowa, then Tom would probably avoid her if anything...unless of course he didn't care about commitments between two people, but then she'd have to avoid him. Womanizers like that were total skeezes, and she definitely didn't want to make herself out to be a cheating slut, even if she could wrangle information from him.
Yeah, me and my 'VAST' sexual experience, I'm sure I'd get 'TONS' of useful intel with that.
Trowa sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Was he losing his touch that he had forgotten his plan for Tom and Alex? Or maybe he had just wanted to forget, and had been more than hopeful that she wouldn't have caught on to the snag about his earlier proposition, but apparently she was a little faster than he gave her credit for.
"Fine, you're right." He lapsed back into lazy English easily, but his tone held a tad bit of annoyance.
The driver glanced into the mirror. "Is that a lovers' quarrel I hear? Mind you I didn't catch the first bit, but I suppose you were saying some nasty things you didn't want me to hear hmm?" He chuckled to himself whilst Alex sniffed her nose at him, perplexed at his nosy rudeness into their conversation.
"Just talking about which restaurant we should go to for dinner." Trowa said, not bothering to take his eyes from the window.
"Not that it's any of your business." Alex sneered lowly, but hoping it was loud enough for the driver to hear.
She assumed he had, as she saw his eyebrows raise a little in the rear view mirror, but he just chuckled to himself and continued on casually.
"It depends what you're in the mood for of course. If you want to make something up to the little Lady back there, there's a nice Italian restaurant in the center of the village you'll be staying near." A grin plastered on his face, "It's real romantic too, let's just say most couples that go there go to get...in the mood, if you know what I'm saying."
"Euch!"
Trowa turned to look at her as her face scrunched up in disgust.
"What? You don't like doing the naughty? No wonder you and your boyfriend are fighting. I'd be mad too!" The driver proceeded to laugh, a lot. Apparently Alexandra's disgust at the thought of them both 'together' was very amusing; although Trowa didn't find it so.
What was wrong with him that she'd make such a face anyway? Hadn't she said he was good looking? Did he smell bad?
"That's not it! Just mind your own business. You're being paid to drive, not to delve into other peoples' lives!" Her face was red again, but she was angry. You could tell by the snarl in her voice.
"Okay, okay little Lady; jeez man, you've got a feisty little missus there with yeh." And with those final words, the driver finally returned his attention to the road.
The rest of the forty-seven minutes spend in that car were endured through an even tenser silence than before. Alex was still giving off vibes of annoyance towards the driver as she glared out the window into the sun, and Trowa's face, unusually accompanied by a small frown, gazed at nothing as he pondered the age old question all people come across in their lifetimes:
Why does she find the thought of me and her so disgusting? What's wrong with me?
***
The sky was darkening in the North quickly as the last bit of orange sun dipped behind the Southern horizon. The days were shortening, and it was noticeable as the day began its transfer into the 1st of October. The air was much chillier than it had been in Hong Kong as well, but this change was met with relief and appreciation by Alexandra, who had never fared well in hot humidity.
They had pulled up to the outside gates of the OA organization's Headquarters a few minutes ago, and were now in the process of undergoing security clearance. Their luggage had been dumped at their feet, and with a final mock salute, the driver had hopped back in to the black car and driven off like a mad man, which he probably was.
A guard stationed at the booth watched them with curiosity, undoubtedly wondering why two civilians were being granted access into the buildings.
"How long does it take to check if we can get in or not anyway?" Alex muttered to Trowa quietly, glancing back the freckly man behind her.
"We don't have any documents showing if we're actually supposed to be here, for starters. Plus we were invited by a Senior Officer, so they need to contact him personally to make sure he did grant us an invitation here."
She raised an eyebrow, "How long does it take to get a hold of someone? Do they go from person to person, rank by rank in order to reach the top?"
"Pretty much." He said.
"Augh, what a waste of time." But her complaining was to stop as the speckled man hollered at them to pass through as the gates clicked open. She didn't appreciate having to drag her bags along with her all the way to the main building however, they were heavier than she remembered.
"This place looks suspicious from out here doesn't it? Not like a regular factory or warehouse... I wonder if others have noticed that too?" She mused, glancing around at the large hangers off to the left, and the many dorm like buildings and green fields to the right.
"That's because it's a military base."
"I know that, but don't you find it odd that they had no problem showing rank in Hong Kong, but here they downplay it all?"
Trowa heaved a large duffel over his shoulder and gave her a pointed look, " I don't know if you've forgotten, but the Sank Kingdom is a little more than sick of war and military operations. I'd say it's more for that reason than them actually trying to hide themselves. The whole point of them being open in Hong Kong was to make themselves seem like less of a threat. If you're acting secretive, people generally assume you have something to hide and become curious, which, if you do have something to hide, is dangerous isn't it?" When they came up to two large doors he stopped to take a look at her.
"Now, not that I don't appreciate your curiosity, but it would be best if you shut your mouth for the next little while, you know, in order to keep us alive." He gave her a quick grin, which baffled her into silence more than anything else.
There was another guard waiting just inside the doors. He seemed to recognize them as he greeted them and mentioned something about being sent to show them the way. They walked down a large main hallway, then veered off to the right and walked down a narrower one with many doors on both sides. Alex would have ventured to wonder what was behind said doors when they came to another right turn, walking to the very end towards the last door in the left. The man saluted them quickly, turned swiftly on his heels and marched right back down from where they had come.
"This place must be frackin huge." She whispered, aware that there were voices coming from behind the closed door. Trowa raised an eyebrow.
"Frackin?"
"Never mind that." She attempted to swat at him but couldn't manage with the bags. "Let's just get in there and find out what's going on and what we're to do while we're here okay? The quicker we get to our rooms, and a bed, the better."
Then the door opened and both Alex and Trowa were left blinking in surprise.
"Duo?!" They said in unison, unsure about the vision that had appeared before them.
The braided haired man gave them a big grin as he leaned into the doorway.
"Heya guys, we were wondering when you'd get here!" He looked back at the others in the room, a blonde head was visible, and Trowa had the faint suspicion that that blonde head belonged to someone he knew.
"Why are you here?" He demanded as he pushed passed Duo in to the room, Alexandra was a little more polite and waited for the cheerful one to move of his own accord.
"Why are all of you here?" He demanded again, taking in the three other extremely recognizable faces.
"Yeah yeah, it's a funny story actually, You'll love it! – What the heck is in these bags anyway?" Duo glanced back at the only female in the room whose bags he had taken out of chivalry, she just shrugged.
"I've no idea, I didn't pack that one, Trowa made me carry it."
"And the rest?" He gave one a little shake, nothing jostled around in it, it had been packed to the brim.
"Clothes of course. What else?" She gave him a cheeky grin, which he returned playfully.
Trowa seemed to be getting impatient though, as he asked again what was going on.
"We would have gotten a hold of you if we'd had the time Trowa, but we only just found out too, and we came here as quickly as we could to meet up with the two of you." Quatre offered gently. "What I can say right now though, is that the OA Organization is not a threat, to us at least."
Well that certainly solves all our problems doesn't it? Trowa thought sourly before grabbing a seat across from Heero.
"It turns out," Heero started, "That this is a branch of the Preventers."
"That WE didn't know about?" Trowa asked sceptically. They had always been informed of any major missions or undertakings of the Preventers, they were after all, Senior Officials of the Organization in their own right. Why on Earth would they not have been informed of this?
Quatre gave him a worried look. "According to Lady Une, it was imperative that we not know for as long as possible, in order to keep it downplayed. Apparently this branch is going after a specific arms dealing ring, and if we had known about it back at Preventer HQ than the mission could have been jeopardized."
Alex opened her mouth without thinking, and all eyes turned to her. "That means that someone...back at your Head Quarters...is leaking information then, right?"
"Yes." Heero said simply. "And we don't know who. Frankly it could be anyone, though I'd prefer to narrow it down to higher ranked Preventers. Mainly those who work right under us, because they would be the first ones to know about any secret missions we were undertaking."
"So why did Lady Une suddenly decide to let you all know about the OA?" Trowa asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"Because of you" Wufei answered, then glanced at Alexandra with boredom, "And her. This mission we sent you on got back to her quite quickly, so she figured it was best to tell us and let you know that this wasn't what we first thought."
Duo chuckled from his pushed back seat as he let his feet rest on the table in the center of the room. "It wouldn't have gotten back to Lady Une if you hadn't blabbed to Sally."
Wufei threw him a death glare, but it went unnoticed as Duo relayed Wufei and Sally's 'date', as he liked to call it, to Alex with great enthusiasm. He noticed her yawn, and knew it couldn't be from his exciting story, so he decided to be the chivalrous one, again.
"Hey, sorry to cut into this little Q&A session, but I'm gonna take her, "He pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the sleepy eyed blonde. "to her room. I've already heard all of this anyway."
Wufei gave a smirk. "Yeah, and maybe now we can actually get some work done, without any of your 'insightful' comments."
"Har har Wu-man." Wufei's face snapped back to the death glare at the mention of his most hated nickname, but once again it was ignored as Duo and his swinging braid walked out the room with several bags, Alex in tow.
Alex sighed, her vision taking her to the near future. I think those two fighting is going to be more tiring than this mission ever would have been.
***
If my French grammar sucks and any of you noticed, please don't hate on me! I've always been terrible at French grammar, which is pathetic as I was in French Immersion for thirteen years, but I never got the written part of that language down! So many damned rules!
I'm hoping to have the next chapter up much more quickly that it's been taking me, since I think I know where the story wants to go!
And Kudos to anyone who got the BattleStar Galactica reference! Have a Merry Christmas and Great New Year!!!
