Hey, time for the next installment! Enjoy!
It had been two days since everybody had left. The day after the left, Duo rang to say Hilde was going to be fine and had woken up long enough for them to name their daughter Helen Samantha Maxwell. Sam found it hard not to bawl like a baby herself when her brother told her their daughter was named after the two people who had the most influence in his life and who he wanted his daughter to grow up to be like. Howard had called each day to see how she was and though she told him she was sleeping, she knew he didn't believe her. She wasn't entirely lying. The first night, she had slept, she'd just woken up only a few hours later and hadn't wanted to go back to sleep again.
Instead, she turned her attention to the nursery. By the end of the first day, the walls had been painted a pale lemon and the new cream carpet had been laid, complete with lemon rug on the floor. By the end of that morning, Sam had put the shelving up on the walls and had started to build the crib. She was halfway through the build when there was a soft knock at the front door. She wandered down the stairs and glanced through the spy hole, sighing with relief to see it was Trowa. She opened the door and he smiled at her.
"Hey."
"Hey Trowa. Umm, is something wrong?" she asked, clearly confused.
Trowa shook his head and smiled at the confused expression on her face.
"Nothing's wrong. I figured since I hadn't taken any holiday from the circus, I'd use some of it up to help you get the nursery ready for Duo and Hilde."
For a few seconds, all Sam could do was blink stupidly. She wasn't sure she had it right; Trowa had taken time off work to help her get the nursery ready? Her stomach began to flutter unexpectedly and she frowned at it before coming to her senses and stepping one side to let a bemused Trowa into the house.
"Sorry. Come on in. I'll show you the spare room."
He followed her up the stairs, past two open doors before Sam stopped.
"This is the spare room. You'll have to share with me I'm afraid but its two beds, I hope that won't be an issue. If you'd rather though I'll just stay in Duo and Hilde's room."
"It's fine. I take it the messy bed's yours?" he asked.
Sam spun to see her bed as neat as the unused one and punched his arm as she saw the amused twinkle in his eye.
"Very funny. The nursery is just down the hall. I'll leave you to settle in and if you want to come help I'll most likely be in there for the day."
She walked away almost in a daze, still trying to comprehend the fact that Trowa really was in the house and better yet, really was sharing a room with her. A shiver went up her back but whether it was from nervousness, excitement or anticipation, she didn't know. All she knew was that spending one to one time with the tall, silent pilot was something she hadn't had since the war and she was curious to see how he'd changed. She still remembered the first meeting with him...
Yet again, the alarms were blaring; only this time, there was no danger around. It was simply an alarm to say people were boarding. Still, Sam had to resist the urge to make Howard suffer for having an alarm when a simple announcement would have sufficed and instead, focussed her attention on the two mobile suits that entered the hangar. One, she recognised instantly and wasted no time in running over and throwing her arms happily round the pilot the moment he exited the cockpit.
"Duo!" she called happily.
Duo returned her embrace with just as much gusto and swung her round, the pair of them laughing happily at being reunited after almost six months apart.
"Hey Trio, how are you?" he asked.
Sam smiled warmly at his nickname for her. When he chose the name Duo after Solo died, Sam had quickly been given the nickname Trio as Duo so innocently put it "Me and Solo were the terrible duo. I, you and Solo were the unbreakable Trio. Therefore, as I am Duo, you are Trio."
Sam lightly punched her 'brother' on the shoulder.
"It's Sam. And I'm doing fine, thanks for noticing." She responded dryly.
It was at that moment Duo noticed that she'd cut her hair and to go with it, had lost her puppy fat to muscle, giving her a leaner, toned frame. He nodded and whistled.
"Well, I never thought I'd say it but you look positively...masculine."
Sam's jaw dropped and her eyes darkened. Recognising the signs including her feet shuffling and her fists clenching, Duo took a tentative step back. As she darted forward, he let out a very feminine sounding scream and took off running in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding the pilot of the second suit who had finally emerged from his cockpit. Sam wasn't so fortunate and found herself crashing into something solid that sent her sprawling on the floor and hitting her face off one of the metal rails on the platform. She let out a moan of pain as black spots darted across her vision and she gently felt her cheek, wincing at the sharp pain that crossed the area she touched. A hand came into her vision and she looked up into the most piercing green eyes she'd ever seen in her life.
"Are you okay?" a soft yet somehow strong voice asked.
Shakily, she reached her hand out and let the tall stranger pull her to her feet. She stumbled slightly dizzily as she regained her bearings but he didn't let her go.
"Thanks and sorry about that." She said quietly.
The stranger gave her a small, brief smile and she instantly felt butterflies explode in her stomach at the way the expression enhanced his features and softened his eyes. She smiled shyly back but the moment was broken by none other than Duo.
"Hey Trio, y'okay? That looked painful!" he called, laughter evident in his tone.
Sam glanced over to see Duo standing far away from her, where he thought he would be safe. He thought wrong. Bending down, she scooped up a wrench and deftly threw it in his direction where a few seconds later there was a yell of pain followed by curses that earned him a cuff on the back of the head from Howard. The boy next to her chuckled and Sam beamed at him, even as she swayed from standing up too quickly .
"So, I take it your name is Trio?" he asked her.
Sam shook her head.
"No, that's just Duo's nickname for me. My real name is Sam."
She extended her hand and he took hold of it. His grasp reflected what she'd seen so far, strong yet gentle. Smooth with a hint of roughness earned through hard work and hardships. She smiled at him as he shook it.
" Trowa."
Sam was broken out of her thoughts when a piece of the crib slipped out of her grasp and landed on her head. She let the piece of wood and the screwdriver she was holding crash to the floor as she clutched at her head.
"Ow! Dammit, stupid piece of frigging wood!" she yelled.
There was a chuckle from behind her but she didn't turn round, instead she simply flipped the finger at her amused audience before picking up the screwdriver again. She then picked up the wood and lined it up to the holes, cursing inwardly when she realised she needed three hands to hold it in place. A shadow crossed her vision and next thing she knew, Trowa was standing there, holding the offending piece of wood in his hands, allowing her to attach the screws.
"Thanks" she mumbled grudgingly.
She saw the small smirk on the caramel haired man and stifled a growl. She'd never been one for building furniture. Give her a car and she'd happily build it piece by piece, but give her a piece of furniture and she'd be more likely to throw it out the nearest window than sit and build it. Still, this was her brother and her sister-in-law who she would happily die and kill for, so for them, she reminded herself, she would suffer and do it. Trowa noticed the evil glint in her eye and smiled to himself. He personally enjoyed small tasks such as building furniture. He found the simplicity of it soothing and calming, but he could tell that for Sam, it was too simple. She was used to complex machinery, and he knew that in comparison, asking her to build furniture was like asking a mathematical genius to count to ten.
"Okay, that one's done" Sam declared.
Trowa nodded and they wordlessly moved on to the next part. It didn't take long for them to complete the crib and Sam had to admit, when it was finished, it was beautiful and went perfectly with the cream and yellow shades around the room. She smiled and wiped the non-existing sweat off her face. Her stomach suddenly growled and she fought a blush as Trowa glanced at her with a look of amusement.
"Hungry?" he asked.
"No, It's just my stomach's way of appreciating the effort put into the room." She replied sarcastically.
Trowa rolled his eyes and smirked before looking towards the bedroom door. Taking the hint, Sam sighed and made her way down to the kitchen, leaving the next piece of furniture in his capable hands. As she prepared lunch for the two of them, her mind once again thought back to the first time they'd been alone together.
It had only been three days since Duo and Trowa arrived, yet to Sam, it felt like three years. Duo had mostly been manageable, but still, the odd thing managed to slip through Sam's hawk eyes; for instance, the paint pot he'd strategically placed above her bedroom door so that when she finally stumbled to bed at 2am, she'd had an unwelcome surprise. It had taken her almost an hour to get all of it out of her hair and when she stepped out of the shower, she no longer felt tired as she had done when she originally went to bed. Now she was wide awake and at that moment, she was fully prepared to hunt the braided idiot down and strangle him to death with said braid.
Shaking the thought out of her head before it nestled too deeply and made her actually act out her fantasy, she decided to head towards the gundam hangar and work on new upgrades for the two suits. She'd spent as much of her free time as possible studying the suits, getting to know them inside out and noticing a few minor flaws or areas that needed improving in the process. Duo had already noticed that the adjustments she made to Deathscythe's arm made it much easier and faster to draw out the scythe from the back and the thrusters she'd also altered made turning and dodging attacks almost effortless.
Now, it was time for her to start studying Heavyarms. What she wasn't expecting was for someone to already be in the hangar. As she approached the suit, she heard a noise and quickly ducked, grabbing the closest thing to her which turned out to be a screwdriver. She edged closer to the noise and suddenly it was behind her. Not even thinking, she stabbed with the screwdriver and heard a grunt of pain. She turned to run but whoever it was grabbed her foot and pulled her down onto the floor. She kicked out and let out a scream but her mouth was covered and she found herself being pinned to the floor.
"That wasn't very nice you know"
"Trowa?" she said, however her mouth was still covered so all that came out was "roa?"
The hand let go of her mouth and the body pinning her relaxed, allowing her to shuffle back. She flicked a switch next to her and the area they were standing in filled with light.
"So that's where the switch is" Trowa mused.
Sam gasped as he faced her and quickly walked over to him, grabbing his face. She turned his head and her eyes widened when she saw a bleeding gash going across his cheek. A perfect, screwdriver shaped gash.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I'll get some antiseptic for that!"
She turned to leave, tears forming as the reality of the situation hit her. She'd actually stabbed him, in the face! A gentle hand on her arm stopped her from leaving and she gave him a surprised look.
"It's fine; believe me I've had much worse. Now, why were you sneaking around in the dark?" he asked.
Sam relaxed in his grasp, realising he really wasn't angry with her and by changing the subject, was letting her know he was fine.
"I was coming over to get to the switch here. It's annoying turning all the lights on, so I just wanted the lights here on so I could have a look at Heavyarms."
Trowa looked from Sam to the gundam and nodded in understanding.
"I see. So, would you like a guided tour?" he asked her.
For the next hour, Trowa showed Sam every part of Heavyarms he knew of and along the way; Sam made mental notes on how to upgrade the suit. For the next month, the pair spent at least two nights a week working together on upgrades. Each time, Sam grew fonder and fonder of the older pilot until she knew it was too late for her to back out.
"Oh come on!" Sam yelled as the knife slipped and sliced her finger.
Mumbling to herself, she ran her finger under the tap to stop the bleeding. She really needed to stop spacing out like that, especially as it kept getting her injured. In a way she couldn't help but think it was karma. She stabbed Trowa that night, now every time she thought about it, she would end up injured.
"Need some help?" came Trowa's once again amused voice from the door.
"No thanks" Sam grumbled as she continued to run the cold water over her finger.