Bounty Hunters:

by Yanagi-wa

Heero had to walk away from Duo at the end of the war, now he's back and hunting bounties and Duo. When he finds him, things aren't what he might like. The story is now continued with Duo and Heero bounty hunting together. NaNo stories.

10. Case of the Stolen Yacht chapter 6

Title: Bounty Hunters: The Case of the Stolen Yacht

Chapter: 6/9

Word count: 7852

Rating: Mature

Parings: 1x2

Warnings: the usual

Beta: rogue53

Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to [Gundam Wing]. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don't snitch it.

Authors notes: The next in the Bounty Hunters series and my NaNo for 2009.

Chapter Six

Duo woke when his internal alarm prodded him to and snorted, his bangs were tickling his nose. "Ump ... huh? Oh, Heero?"

"Right here. If you get up now, we've got time for some breakfast before we have to leave."

"Ok, after all that pizza, i really shouldn't be hungry but ..." He glanced at his watch. "Well, maybe I should be. I couldn't eat that mess they served at the dinner. 60 euros and it's inedible, and that's saying something when I say it. The pizza was good, but I only had two pieces. So, yeah, I could eat."

Heero laughed. "I couldn't eat much of that crap either. I just cut it up and shoved it around a bit. And I only had one piece of that pie. I really felt kind of guilty, eating their food and pumping them for info at the same time. So ... get dressed in something a little more comfortable and socially acceptable ..." He got an evil look on his face. "Or not. What say we show up just like this and cause a scandal?"

Duo snickered. "Why not. It'll serve them all right, the snobs. Might even start a new fashion."

Heero had a few doubts about this prank and voiced them but also announced that he really, 'can't be arsed to care much. We'll never be back here, as far as I know. And, if we can replace that nearly naked holes in everything style, it'll be a good thing."

Duo just snickered and agreed.

So they went down to the most expensive restaurant in the hotel, dressed as repair crew and asked for a table. The mater' d nearly had a heart attack. He tried to discretely hustle them out, then demanded proof of ability to pay.

Heero casually handed him a credit card and the man choked on his own spit when the infinity symbol showed up on his reader.

He hurriedly got menus and led them to a small table at the edge of the room. Heero chose to be offended, his glower nearly set the man's hair on fire.

"i don't like this table, it's too small. And there's no view. I don't care if I'm seen or not but I do like to see the room."

The waiter led them to a different table, this one near the center of the room, surrounded by decorative planters and pots. It was a good situation, they could see and be seen but not be intruded upon without permission.

They settled down to survey the menu and decide on breakfast, or was it lunch. Neither one knew or cared. They were just hungry.

Duo decided on a hamburger, fries and a coke. It wasn't on the menu but he told Heero that they'd either make it or they'd walk out.

Heero sighed, Duo was in one of his moods, not that Heero blamed him. They were both tired, disgusted with themselves and ready for a break. He decided that he wanted a hamburger too.

When they placed their orders the waiter announced that it was impossible. Heero just looked at him.

"Look at the menu, that's what we have. Order from it and we'll be happy to cook it anyway you want."

Duo eyed the menu. "Ok, I'll take a steak tartar, only cook it medium well. A salad of tomatoes, onions and lettuce. Mustard on the side. A dill pickle. And a potato, pomes frite. With catsup. Can you do that?"

The waiter nodded.

"Oh, and a roll the exact diameter of the steak tartar. Got it?"

The waiter nodded again, looked at Heero who announced, "You forgot the coke. I'll have the same except with coffee."

The waiter wrote, sighed and walked away. Chef was going to have a fit.

But the chef didn't have a fit, he just made the patties, fried them carefully, arranged the plates neatly and made sure the fries were hot, fluffy inside and crisp outside. Anyone who had the balls to come into a five diamond restaurant and order hamburgers deserved the best he could do. He even toasted the buns.

Duo rubbed his hands together when the plate came and calmly thanked the waiter. Then he put the patty on the bun, added the contents of his salad bowl, topped that with the mustard and pickle and topped that with the other half of the bun. Heero did the same thing and they settled in to eat.

"Mmmm, very good." Heero stopped eating to wipe his mouth with the fine linen napkin.

"Yeah, it's really good." Duo tried a fry, "and the fries are great too. See, I told you, all you have to do is ask."

"Asking is one thing, paying is another. I bet this cost an arm and a leg. Special order that it is."

Duo just nodded, chewing his fry. After he swallowed, he remarked, "I don't care what it cost. I wanted a burger, I got a burger. And coke."

Heero just ate. They still had to get to the little coffee shop they were meeting their contacts in.

It didn't take long to finish. When they did, the waiter brought the bill. Heero didn't even look at it, he just handed over his credit card. The waiter swiped the card, had Heero sign his name on the data pad and went away.

Duo stretched a bit, then got up. He looked around the room and saw that there actually weren't that many people in the restaurant. And the one's that were were all young. He snickered a bit then slowly sauntered to the door, making sure that everyone in the room saw him.

Heero followed, cracking his knuckles and watching the reactions of the people to the loud crunching.

Duo said, in a voice pitched to carry, "Heero, you see that girl with the pink hair? I thought she was going to fall out of that ship suit. Very realistic, not. No one with any sense would actually wear something like that on ship."

Heero announced his agreement. "Or in a gundam. Come on, we need to get going."

They were both very satisfied by the expressions on several faces.

.

It took them twenty minutes to get to the cafe and get settled. They'd found a table for eight in the back, in one corner and staked it out. They had decided to talk to all three men at one time.

They didn't have long to wait. The first two showed up together as they'd just gotten off shift. The third man came in just as the other two were ordering.

Duo started the meeting with, "Ok, guys, you all got a raw deal. Here's how it goes. Ameena wasn't the owner of the yacht. She didn't even have the right to name it. So, Quatre sent us to fix everything. Lemme see. Joe Hankens?" one man raised his hand and Duo slid a folder across the table to him. "Mike Anderson?" Another hand and another file. "Yamata Ichigo?" The third man just smiled. "Great. Now I'll explain what's in the files so we can move along. Quatre has rehired you, paid you back wages and wiped your records clean."

There was a stunned silence, in the midst of which the waitress brought their coffee. Duo took his and sipped while Joe, Mike and Ichigo got themselves back together. It took them a few minutes of whispering without an excuse me, which bothered neither Heero nor Duo.

"Ok, here's the deal. We want to know exactly what the hell is going on. Why did Winner hire us? Lady Ameena had to blackball us, we couldn't get shit around here."

Duo just told them flat out that Ameena hadn't had the authority to fire them. The ship wasn't hers and she'd taken off with it, their job was to get it back.

This time there wasn't any whispering, all three men just went over everything they knew about Ameena, where she might go and what she might be up to. They also admitted that one of the reasons she'd kicked them off the ship was that they were suspicious about things. They had thought the ship was being fitted out for Quatre but she'd denied it so vehemently that everyone believed her. Then she'd explained that she was going to use the yacht as a floating hotel and transport for people who'd paid for a vacation package at Party Hardy. That had been the last straw for them, their complaints were what had finally gotten them dismissed.

"Well, you're back on payroll, report to WEI here on colony and they'll put you to work. Now, do you have any idea if she had some sort of set route?"

Again, there was a lot of discussion, some of it a bit on the loud side. Heero finally shushed them, saying, "You guys calm down, we're going to get kicked out if we make too much noise."

Ichigo snapped, "If these idiots would shut up for two seconds I'd tell you what I found out." Joe and Mike gave him a dirty look each but settled into silence and let him talk. "Ok, here's the deal. She files a flight plan, as required by ESUN law, but that doesn't mean she sticks to it. The hard part is going to be figuring out where she could go along the course she claims to be following."

Duo nodded. "Ok, that's not that hard for us. Predictive navigation isn't a big deal for a gundam pilot. Yes, we're both pilots. Une kept our pictures and stats out of the news but that's beginning to be unnecessary. We're both bounty hunters and, sometimes, the rep is a help. We're not taking an ad out in the paper or anything, but..." Duo glanced at Heero, who nodded his agreement, "we feel the time for secrecy is past, for us at least."

They got awestricken looks from all three men. And a soft, 'Oh, my God.' from someone.

Heero and Duo had discussed this for the last six months. The war had been over for enough time that old hurts were healing quicker all the time. There would always be some that hated the gundam pilots for what they'd done, but there were fewer all the time. Heero had said, and Duo agreed, that it wasn't their right to 'out' anyone else, but their jobs were actually made easier by dropping a hint here and there about who they really were. After all, who really wanted to go up against the Perfect Soldier and Shinigami. Wufei had already been thrown under a bus, as Duo put it, by some idiot in the Preventers public relations office. They had heard the ranting all the way from Sanque. Duo had felt bad for Wufei but Heero had been philosophical about it and remarked a bit sourly, "It was bound to happen sooner or later. That doesn't keep him from doing wet work, which is what they wanted him for anyway."

Now, their reputations led the three men to tell them everything they could. Ichigo even admitted that he had a preliminary flight plan on his computer. He'd thought about deleting it but hadn't bothered. He produced a laptop out of his messenger bag and handed it over to Heero. Heero hooked his computer up to Ichigo's and transferred the information.

"This will help. It might not be up to date but we'll get an idea what he's up to. How did you get your hands on it?"

"I was supposed to be the navigator, before She fired me. I'm stuck in an accounting position now. Checking fuel consumption logs, of all things. I'll be glad to get back on a ship. She even managed to fix it so we can't get off colony. I just don't get it. Bitch."

Duo didn't get it either, why make sure they couldn't get off colony?

Heero had the answer. "She's power hungry. For some reason I don't get, she feels like she's been robbed of power she should have. So, she fires you, then makes sure you can't get way from the effects of her actions. She's just demented. We need to find her, get Quatre's ship back and make sure she never has enough power to light a match ever again."

Duo agreed, remarking, "You know, I think you're right. She's just going to keep doing things like this and hurting innocent people, just because she's rich, bored and thinks she can get away with it. We really need to check up on the rest of her crew. What happened to them? Where are they? Have they quit? Need to know." He grinned at the rest of the table. "I know, I'm just a bundle of why."

Heero picked at his lip while he thought, the rest of the table drank their coffee and waited. "I wonder... we need to track the rest of the crew, yes, but ..." He looked from Ichigo, to Mike, to Joe, "any of you have any ideas about who would quit when they found out what she's really up to? Or who might go along for the ride?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I think most of the service crew, cooks, waiters, maids and such wouldn't pay much attention to what's actually going on. They're kept pretty sequestered from the guests. They do their job, then go back to crew quarters. They have enough entertainments that they are kept happy. The ship crew is only a captain slash pilot, co-pilot, navigator and engineer. They would have to actually know exactly what's going on and, more or less, be in on it."

Heero thought about that for a moment. "Wonder if any of the service personnel have been let go? If they have been, would they actually know anything?"

Joe thought, then shook his head. "I was general manager, the top guy for the service personnel. If anyone got fired, they'd know a bit, but not enough to put much of anything together. I think Ameena might put pressure on some of them to ... cooperate with the guests, if you know what I mean. But I don't think she'd make too big a deal about letting them go. It's against the law. She'd probably just get them transferred to a different ship and bring in someone more cooperative, male and female. The level of service is probably way down, and that's going to give her a whole different list of problems. One's she's not equipped to deal with." He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking quickly. "I might be able to find out something. I'll ask around."

Heero gave the man a puzzled look, then asked, "Why are you doing this? We really need your input on this but I'd have thought you'd be at least a bit reluctant."

Mike just grinned at him in an evil sort of way. "Revenge. She fucked with us now we're fucking her back. I have a few ideas, but I need a bit of time. How do I get a hold of you?"

Duo just handed out cards. "If you think of anything, or any of your contacts come up with something, there are our numbers. Call one of them and, if we don't answer right away, we'll get back to you as soon as we can."

They all shook hands around and split up. Heero and Duo to go back to their hotel and get some sleep and the three very happy newly rehired men to squeeze anyone they knew for what information they could get.

.

Any outsider would have wondered at how much the guys were sleeping, but old soldiers knew to take care of the necessities whenever they could. Sleeping, food and showers could come easy or very hard, when they came easy it was wise to take advantage.

When Heero woke up, he stretched, scratched and headed into the bathroom to take care of the three S's. He left Duo sleeping the sleep of the just, or tired. He'd wake Duo when he was done, order some food and sit down to go over the flight plan Ichigo had given them. Time was not of the essence anymore as they were sure that Ameena wasn't planning on selling the yacht. His missive to Quatre the evening before needed an answer before they went farther.

Heero finished his ablutions and woke Duo. Duo opened his eyes without the usual moaning and groaning, this indicated that he was half awake already.

"I'm done, take care of things. I'll check for an email from Quatre and order some food. Any preferences?"

Duo grumbled, "Breakfast. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, juice, coffee, toast." Duo tossed the covers onto the floor and wandered into the bathroom, rubbing his face to finish waking up.

Heero placed the order for breakfast, then settled to check his email and start analyzing the flight plan for diversions. He was sure that the plan that the Azeera had filed was a screen for the real destinations. He just had to figure out where they were really going. He started by projecting a 3-D image of this part of the solar system into mid-air over the table. Then he entered all the coordinates from the flight plan. It didn't take the computer to spit out a chart that showed the whole flight as a series of lines.

Duo wandered in finishing his braid. "Got food yet?"

"No, but I do have this." He pointed to the display. "And an email from Quatre. He still wants us to snag Ameena, and anyone from the crew that's guilty of helping with the theft. He also wants all the service crew arrested until they can be cleared of charges of prostitution, solicitation and ... there's a list I printed out here somewhere."

Duo goggled for a second, then declared, "Man, Q's really got his shorts in a bunch. Remind me not to piss him off, Ok?"

Heero just rubbed at the ache that was forming in his temples. "If I was Quatre, I'd be more than pissed. He's given everyone of his sisters a chance to better themselves. Most of them have done very well for themselves, either within the ranks of WEI or on their own. A few haven't had the talent and moved on to other things, with his help. But Ameena and a few other's seem to think that they should have whatever they want just because of who they are. I don't blame him a bit. So ... we need to get his toy back before Ameena decides to break it."

"Yeah ..." A knock at the door alerted them to breakfast's arrival. "I'll get that."

Opening the door admitted a young man pushing a trolley with several covered platters on it. There were also two place settings and a pitcher of orange juice and a thermal carafe of coffee. He pushed the cart to the coffee table and left, accepting a folded bill with thanks.

Duo plated up the food and handed one to Heero. He also poured the juice and coffee then sat down beside Heero to eat and examine the display.

"Well, I see several places where they could go a bit out of their flight path without too much delay. And one place where all they'd have to do is dock at a different bay. All in all, I swear she could get away with murder and not get caught. Unless Preventers gets a clue. Which you'll be glad to send them."

Heero shook his head. "I don't think so. I'd really rather sink Outer 7 while we're at it. All we have to do is catch someone selling drugs or trying to bribe an official of either ESUN or Preventers. With this bunch, I think it'll be fairly easy. But ... what official ... that's the question."

Duo gave Heero one of his preternaturally wise looks and said, "I'm suspecting that the official is going to be one of us, right?"

"If Une agrees, yes. If not, we'll just have to find someone else. I really, really want this one."

"Why?"

"Family oughtn't to do things like this to each other. And ... it's Quatre."

"Gotcha in one, buddy. My sentiments entirely. Now, eat that before it's ruined." Duo pushed Heero's plate into his hands and put the juice by his elbow, close enough to reach but far enough away that he wouldn't accidentally bump it.

Then he turned his attention back to the display and his analysis, devouring his breakfast as he did so.

After breakfast they dressed in ship-suits that they had had since the war and plain dark blue coveralls, rolled down to the waist. Duo hid a few things in his braid and Heero tucked a sidearm away carefully. They just wandered the mall for a bit, then window shopped, making loud comments on the cheapness of the materials and the silliness of the cutouts.

They stopped at Hidalgo's and filled him in on everything they knew. Hidalgo was no one's fool and realized that this might be the last time he'd see his new friends.

"Ok, I can read the writing on the wall as well as the next. You two keep in touch, you hear me? I'd really hate to have to look you up and bitch slap you."

Duo patted him on the shoulder. "I know. We'll let you know how all this comes out. And we well keep in touch. Who knows? We might just come back to harass you."

"Good. But what about your gliders?"

Heero sighed, he'd really become fond of the sport. Then he brightened. "Send them to the local WEI with instructions to pack them up and send them to us on Earth. They're ok for use there, aren't they?"

Hidalgo brightened. "Sure are. I'll take care of that as soon as I can. Probably next weekend."

Duo rubbed the folds of a jacket between his fingers, this was the part of their job he really hated. Leaving new friends was never easy. "Thanks, man. That'll be fine. Heero, we better get on the move."

Heero shook Hidalgo's hand, so did Duo. They left, leaving Hidalgo with a long face. He was going to miss Heero's dry sense of humor and Duo's relentless cheerfulness.

Heero patted Duo's shoulder as they left, he was well aware that Duo hated leaving. Heero wasn't too fond of it himself. He wondered if that was one reason why they had very few friends on the colonies anymore. Coming back to Earth after a visit was just too painful. Quatre and Trowa paid regular visits to Earth for business reasons and made a point of visiting. Wufei had a monthly date to meet them for dinner which he only missed when he was on a mission.

"Come on. We need to see if there's any new emails from anyone."

Duo sighed, rubbed his cheek and agreed. "Yeah, I need a cup of coffee in the worst way and we do need to check the mail."

Heero steered Duo in the general direction of one of his favorite coffee bars. The coffee was good and the bar was quiet. It didn't hurt that it had free wi-fi.

"Duo, get us some coffee while I check the mail, will you?"

"Sure. Your regular?"

Heero, engrossed in getting synced with the wi-fi, just nodded. Duo chuckled a bit at that, trust Heero to keep his eye on the main prize. He went to order the coffee.

His return to the table was greeted with a grin that had made strong men wet themselves. Heero had a solid lead at last.

"We have to get to L4-634. Ameena was sighted there three days ago. Her, not what might be the right ship. So, we need to get there as fast as we can."

Duo just handed Heero his coffee and headed for the door. Heero packed up his laptop, picked up his backpack and followed, sipping his coffee as he walked.

They went to the hotel, gathered their belongings and checked out. Then they went to WEI's local headquarters and asked if there was a fast courier headed for L4-634.

The clerk they were speaking to checked her computer and said, "No, but even if we did have one, you couldn't get a seat on it. It's reserved for WEI emergencies only."

Heero just sighed, he truly hated bean counters. "Get in touch with Quatre Winner. He'll authorize it."

This earned him a snort. "If you think I'm going to bother the CEO himself, just to be told that he doesn't know you, you're crazy. Now, I don't know how you got in here but, if you're not gone in one minute, I'm calling security and having you thrown out."

Duo eyed her for a moment, then just shrugged. "Ok, it's your funeral. Heero, let's go."

Heero just eyed the woman, then whipped around on his heel. He marched to the door and opened it, held it while Duo walked through it then followed him.

"We'll send an email to Quatre, but we need to be on that courier and on our way a-sap."

Duo blinked, "But what good is emailing Quatre going to do. We need to get going now."

"I didn't say we were going to wait for his authorization. We're going to take it, now. So, get out your hackin' things and get ready to swipe that courier."

Duo pumped one fist in the air and exclaimed, "YES!"

.

It didn't take Duo long to stuff what he needed into pockets and his braid. Heero added more arms to his supply of weapons. They repacked what they didn't think they needed but made sure that the rest were where they could get to them fairly quickly.

Heero checked a map of the colony on his computer and located the WEI complex, then he zoomed in until only the complex filled the screen. Duo pointed over his shoulder. "There. It the only dock they have on this colony so the courier has to be there. Zoom in some more.

Heero zoomed in more and looked the docking complex over carefully, finally he found it. "Here it is. It won't be that hard to get to."

Duo shook his head. "I think we may have more trouble than expected. There's got to be some kind of security around that courier and Miss Can't help you surely sent out some kind of warning."

"You're right. We'll just have to play it by ear."

Duo sighed, "I ever tell you I'm tone deaf?"

"Yeah, didn't believe it then either."

Duo laughed softly, he was beginning the mental preparation to break and enter and steal the courier.

"Ok, man, let's get this dog and pony show on the road."

They made their way through the colony to the docking bay complex belonging to WEI.

Duo slipped through a vent and into the complex. There was a guard on the main door, just one man but he checked everyone like they were terrorists in disguise. He was a good man and Heero hated to have to do anything to them, so they were sneaking in. And Duo wouldn't have it any other way.

He eased through the air duct carefully so as not to make a bang. Any noise would echo through the duct and be magnified. This would attract more attention than they needed. He paused from time to time to peer through vents into the docking areas, looking for the courier. When he found it he would call Heero on the phone and have him follow. For now, they didn't need two people wandering around in the ducts above the complex.

Heero tracked Duo on his laptop. He was hidden in the very cliché janitor's closet with the laptop on a drum of solvent. He had projected his 3-D display into the air above it and was watching the red blip that was Duo move through a wire frame display of the complex. He'd managed to hack into the local WEI computer and get blueprints of the complex. They didn't help much as they didn't show where any of the bays were, just the utilities. Heero grumbled to himself about that.

He watched as the red dot moved this way and then that. It also moved up and down. Heero wondered what that was all about.

Duo swore again. He was going to have to leave the relative safety of the air ducts to scamper across a docking bay. The ducts dead ended from time to time forcing him to either backtrack or leave them. Since the worst he could expect if he got caught was to be arrested, or ejected, he didn't worry he just dropped to the floor and darted from box to tool locker to vent.

It took him over an hour to find the courier, stashed in a small bay on the far end of the complex from where they'd entered. He looked it over carefully. It wouldn't do to get into the ship and find out that it wasn't space worthy.

He watched for a few moments, looking for anyone in the bay. There didn't seem to be anyone around so Duo took the vent cover off and dropped to the floor. He drifted quickly to the shadows to watch for security. There was no alarm going off or any other sign that he'd been noticed. He quickly hacked the electronic lock on the main air lock and slipped inside the ship.

He made his way to the cockpit, which wasn't too hard as it made up half the internal space of the courier, the other half was cargo hold. He slipped into the pilots chair and checked the fuel gages. The tanks were full and the ship checked out as ready to fly. He called Heero and let him know.

Heero examined the mental map he had compiled as Duo made his way to the bay. He knew that it wasn't going to take him long to get there. It had taken Duo over an hour because he had to explore every duct until he found one that went through or find a way around the dead end. Heero only had to follow his map straight through.

Duo said, "I'll hold off on starting up the ship until you get here. Don't want to alert anyone too soon."

"Ok, I'm on my way."

Heero hung up, stuffed everything back in his pack and headed out.

He eased into the ductwork and started crawling, he measured his progress against his mental map and realized that he was coming up on one of the places where he was going to have to leave the ducts and make his way across an open area of the docks. He wasn't looking forward to this at all. He knew he looked as much like the dock crew as they could manage, but the coverall wasn't quite the right color and he didn't have an employee badge. If he was stopped, this could lead to him being ejected. That would mean starting all over, with the whole docking complex aware that there was an intrusion.

He eased the vent cover off, dropped to the stack of boxes conveniently right under it and slid the cover back in place. He quietly clambered down to the floor, staying between the stack and the wall. A quick scan of the area let Heero note every person there and figure a way across the room without being seen, or try to. There was someone at every workstation and none of them showed any sign of leaving any time soon. Heero braced himself and started walking. He had to walk fast enough that he looked busy but not fast enough to attract the wrong kind of attention. It helped that he looked young and had a bag with him.

He nipped into the supply closet where the vents would lead him back into the duct work with some relief. It was a moments work to get the vent cover off, climb in and pull the cover back on. Unfortunately, he made a noise. Freezing, he waited for someone to notice. The sharp bang had echoed all over the nearby area.

He held still, barely breathing for several moments while he waited to see if anyone would come to investigate. No one did, but he moved much more carefully, and slowly after that.

It took him several minutes and one wrong turn to reach the next danger point. This time he only had to dart from one side of an empty storage room to the other. He did this quickly and managed to get back into the ductwork without making a noise.

Duo, meanwhile, was running silent checks of all systems on board the courier. He wanted to be ready to leave as soon as they could after Heero arrived.

He knew they were supposed to file a flight plan but was hoping to at least get out of the docking bay without anyone being the wiser.

This hope was doomed to disappointment as he found out that the flight plan, per WEI procedure, had to be filed before their local WEI controller would authorize the bay doors to be opened. He fiddled around, trying to find a way around this. He finally decided that Heero was going to have to hack the system and open the door manually. He kicked the nearest control panel and muttered, "This sucks. Where the hell is Heero?"

Heero was making his way through the ducts of the last leg of his journey, wondering why he never thought to wear knee pads. His knees hurt, his hands hurt and his back hurt. He grumbled softly, "I swear, I'm getting to old for this shit. Never again. We want something, we'll hire it. And why didn't we hire something this time? Oh, yeah, because this is the fastest thing on the colony. Why don't we just borrow it? Because no one fucking knows who we are. Shit!"

This last exclamation was brought about as he forced the vent out of the duct work and lost his grip on it. It fell to the floor with a muffled bang. Heero swore some more as his sweaty hands slipped and he landed awkwardly. He thought for a moment of retraining then realized that it really wasn't needed, he just needed to keep his mind on what he was doing, instead of letting it wander to the next step.

He had to chuckle quietly at himself, retrain indeed. Duo was going to cut him a new one for that. He never even considered not telling his lover about it.

He jammed the cover back in place, checked to make sure no one was about, mentally kicked himself for being careless and slipped into the shadows of the bay, sneaking quickly into the side bay where the courier was. He saw the small ship with considerable relief.

A quick dash and he was opening the air lock door. He closed it and turned to face Duo, and the pistol in his hand. Duo quickly tucked his side arm away and said brightly, "Hi, 'Ro. We got a little problem." He went on to explain what it was and ended with, "You can hack it, right?"

Heero just got out his laptop and plugged it into the proper jack on the console. "Won't take but a few minutes. I'll send a note to Quatre too. Just ... a ... Got it!" Heero tapped quickly at his keyboard, opening the docking bay air lock, setting up the launch and filing a legitimate looking flight plan. There was no reason to lie about where they were headed so he gave the proper coordinates.

The air lock opened, the launcher cycled and Duo started the pre-flight check list. It didn't take him long to get through it. Heero sent the launch command, then buckled his seat belts and started his duties as co-pilot and navigator. All the checks were completed and the onboard computer agreed that they could launch. The launch went as smoothly as possible and they were back in space.

Duo set the auto pilot and consulted the onboard computer display. "Ok, we should be there in 16 hours, plus or minus the usual. So, what do we do now?"

Heero sighed, eyed his skinned palms and said, "What we do best, get ready for what ever comes next. Got a first aid kit?"

Duo sighed, Heero just couldn't manage to get through duct work without cutting himself and skinning his knees.

"Yeah, I was hoping..."

Heero sighed, "Me too. I swear, no more ducts for me. Next time, we'll just rent something. You know, none of our jobs are really life and death, rush or lose, not anymore."

Duo couldn't help the slightly bitter laugh. "You're right. We'll learn."

Heero pulled Duo into a gentle kiss. "You're right, we will."

Duo returned the kiss then said, "But for now we've got a yacht to find. So ..." He chuckled a bit. "Onward and ... upward? Or is it more to the side?"

Heero glanced at a display. "From here it actually looks more like downward." He shifted to face forward again and got his laptop. "I'm going to do some research. You?"

"Try to contact Wufei."

They turned to their appointed tasks, talking back and forth and offering each other suggestions, some of them having nothing to do with the task at hand.

Duo soon got a reply from Wufei, he was checking into laws, trying to find something to help them get the yacht back and shut down Outer 7. He knew he had some laws, just applying them properly was the sticking point.

Duo told him that he and Heero would keep their eyes and ears open for anything and keep him informed. Wufei returned that he was going to be on the closest colony or station, with an assault team. One that was fully armed and prepared to raid a fully operational station. Duo shuddered, this was not something he really wanted in on. Heero noticed the shudder and sighed, he wasn't any happier than Duo was.

The size of the cockpit kept them from doing more than dozing, taking turns incase the auto pilot alarm went off. It didn't.

They reached their destination, sweaty, dirty and hungry. They docked at the WEI complex at the colony core and exited the ship, with some misgivings. But they were greeted by a woman who smiled at them and said, "Come with me. We'll turn in the key and get you a room. Mr. Winner was a bit dismayed that you weren't just given the ship. In fact, he ... had a conversation with a few people and ..." She grinned. "Heads rolled. I swear, I don't know how some of these people make it from one end of a day to the other. It's not like every entry point doesn't have a list, with pictures, of every name that is to be given anything they want, no matter what it is. So, he's not real happy. Key?"

Duo gave her a slightly shamefaced smile. "We ... um ... didn't get the key. Heero hacked the systems and we just ... sort of launched."

The woman cracked up, laughing so hard she had to hang on to a door handle to keep from falling down. "Oh, man, that's priceless. The company programmers have been bragging that their latest additions to security have made it impossible for anyone to hack the systems. What did you do? Use a super hacker?"

Heero just shrugged. "No, I just used my laptop."

Duo snickered at her startled expression.

"Oh, a laptop. Ok." She shook her head, then grinned brightly, "That's nice. So ... you need a hotel. Do you have credit? Sorry to ask but I need to know whether I need to get you a card."

Duo produced his credit card with a flourish. "We have credit. All we need is a squat. We're both tired and hungry. After we rest, our search of the colonies data banks should be finished. We need to find out about the Azeera. Where her next port of call is supposed to be, that sort of thing."

"Well, first off, my name is Anne. You tell me what you want to know and you'll have it a-sap. We can do a lot of things for you more easily than you can do them yourself. Now, I'm going to take you to your hotel, and it's not a squat. It's one of the finest on the colony. Come on."

Heero followed Anne with Duo by his side. Things were really starting to look up. After a few false starts and some wasted time, they were hot on the trail. A trail that worried Heero more than he wanted to admit.

Duo flicked a sideways look at Heero. He knew the expression on Heero's face very well. To anyone else it was a lack of expression but the crinkle between Heero's eyebrows and the slight squint told a tale. A tale of worry.

"It's going to be ok. You know that. Right?"

Heero nodded, one jerk of his head. "Yeah, because if this heats up, we're leaving. We don't have to do this anymore."

Duo nodded. "Right. We're bounty hunters, not Preventers. Une wouldn't put us on the spot. She knows better."

Heero had doubts but he kept them to himself.

.

The hotel was small, but very fine. They were greeted with the information that the things they'd left behind were in transit and would be there in 20 hours. The General Manager, Ed Cortland, said that he'd gotten in touch with his compatriot at their old hotel and made arrangements the second he'd found out they'd had to leave most of their things behind. He assumed it was because of the business emergency that had forced them to take a courier and neither Heero nor Duo disabused him. Instead, they thanked him for his efficiency and asked that he find them some clean clothing to wear until their things arrived.

Mr. Cortland offered to get them some sweats from a nearby store, asking their sizes. They gave the required information and were shown to their rooms.

The rooms were well appointed and very much like the rooms they'd just left. Duo headed for the showers while Heero set up his ever present laptop and ordered them food. He decided on Curry Chicken over rice, steamed broccoli, salad, and fresh fruit. He felt dehydrated so he ordered iced tea for Duo and hot green tea for himself.

Duo came into the room, blotting his braid with a towel. Heero smiled at that. Sometimes Duo would just rub shampoo into his scalp and bangs, leaving his braid done up. This seemed to be one of those times.

"Ready for the shower? I'm done. Did you order food? I'm really hungry and I'd like about a gallon of water. Why the hell do they keep some ships so damn dry?"

Heero stood up and headed for the bathroom. "I'm more than ready for a shower, ripe for one, I'd say. I ordered curry chicken, broccoli, salad and tea. Oh, and fresh fruit for desert. I don't know why they do that. It's a mystery of the galaxy. And it's not even good for the ship. I'll be quick."

"Ok. If the food comes before you're done, I'm starting without you." Duo flopped down on the couch, glancing at the monitor. Heero had left up the list of search parameters he'd sent to Anne. "I might add to this, if you don't mind."

"Fine with me. I'm gone." Heero shut the bedroom door and went into the bathroom.

It didn't take him long to finish his ablutions and return.

He found Duo seated at the computer, reading avidly. He glanced at the quickly scrolling data and smiled. Duo read as fast as he, Heero, did.

A soft buzz let them know that their food had arrived so Heero walked on through the room to the door and let the bellwoman in. she wheeled a cart in, took off the covers and bowed slightly before she left without a word.

Heero just picked up a plate, stuck a fork on the edge and handed it to Duo along with the glass of tea. He took the other plate for himself and set it on the coffee table along with his pot of tea and a cup.

Around a mouthful of chicken, Heero asked, "Is there any good news?"

Duo scrunched up his face for a second. "Not really. The Azeera was here for three days, just left. The flight plan puts her docking at Outer 7 in 18 hours from launch. But she'd due back here for six hours in about a day and some. So we can get a few plans set in motion. Maybe."

Heero grumbled, "If that woman is as paranoid as I think she is, we better have cast iron credentials." He picked at a rough cuticle for a moment, until Duo swatted his hand. "I think we made a good start on L4-632. All we have to do is expand on it a bit."

Duo grumbled, "And how long is that going to take? We don't have all century."

"Not that long. All we really have to do is start the rumor mill grinding. She's not smart enough to figure out the difference between gossip and fact. If someone she knows tells her something, she'll accept it as fact. So, who do we know who can start a rumor?"

Duo replied immediately, "Anne. She'll drop a word to someone she knows is a big gossip, tell them not to breath a word and it'll be all over the colony in 24 hours."

"So how do we get a rep as wild boys?"

Duo snickered. "Well, tell the truth. That little escapade with the courier doesn't need to be blown out of proportion much."

Heero agreed, got in touch with Anne who laughed and agreed that it was going to be easy to set them up as rich, bored, wild and up for anything. She estimated that it would take about 12 hours for the rumors to make the rounds in the right, or wrong, set.