TWENTY-FOUR
When they arrived at the club, there was a long line of people standing behind a velvet covered rope waiting outside, but Duo recognized one of the men working at the door, so he led Bridget to the head of the line. "Hey, Bluto, I don't suppose you'd consider letting an old friend in?"
The man who resembled a human tank with a thick beard looked at Duo with a scowl. "I don't think the boss wants the kind of trouble you're bringing with you."
Duo slipped an arm around Bridget's waist. She started in surprise, but then moved close to him and put her hand on his chest. He hoped Hilde didn't see them or that Bridget wasn't getting the wrong idea. "I swear that this fine lady is the only trouble I'm bringing in with me."
Bluto looked Bridget over from head to foot, then looked back at Duo. "Fitz would have my head if I let you in."
"Didn't I send some business your way not so long ago?" He had introduced Dorothy Catalonia to him, and she had surely paid him more money than he could hope to see in years for using his considerable forgery skills to provide her with several passports to keep her on the run from Quatre Winner and Heero Yuy for months. Duo doubted he had managed to save the money to buy his shop without her help.
The other man blew out his breath and stepped aside, but he caught Duo's arm to stop him so that he could say in his ear, "Consider the debt paid."
This small gesture was hardly equal to the fortune he made from the business he had sent his way, but he didn't say so as he took Bridget through the double doors that had managed to keep the loud music contained inside. There were lights flashing all around with the heavy thumping beat, and he could sense that Bridget wanted to join the other men and women on the dance floor. Duo wouldn't call it dancing so much as hopping up and down to the rhythm of the music, but he could at least do that. Because he didn't want to keep Bridget from having a good time, he pushed his way through people onto the floor that had lights flashing through the transparent floor tiles.
They danced several minutes until the song changed, and then Duo suggested they have a drink. Bridget wanted to keep dancing, so he pointed out a table where he would wait for her and told her he would order her a drink when she was ready to sit. Not long after claiming the table, a waitress came by to take his order, and after she left him, he wasn't alone for long before someone slid onto the seat with him. He wouldn't have recognized Hilde in the short-haired platinum blond wig if she hadn't been with Heero. She was wearing a sparkling blue dress just as tight and short as Bridget's and her heels were so high he was surprised she could walk in them.
"How did you get in?" he asked them. Because they already had drinks in their hands, he knew they had gotten there before him.
"There's just something about Heero Yuy that makes people do as he asks," Hilde told him with a smile.
Heero frowned at her and then said, "I flashed my Preventer badge and told him that unless he wanted my office investigating the illegal production of identification documents, he would let me and my date in."
Duo laughed. "I guess that's why he didn't appreciate me reminding him of Dorothy Catalonia. I think we have effectively burned that bridge. Have you seen Fitz yet?"
"We've been watching for you," Heero told him.
"I saw you dancing," Hilde said as she grabbed his hand. "I didn't know you liked to dance or I would have taken you out to a club years ago."
Heero didn't stop them, and Duo would have pushed past him anyway. Unlike with Bridget who he let do her own thing, he held Hilde with his hands on her waist as they bounced to the music. She clasped her hands behind his neck, and as their bodies touched, he knew that Heero was right to chaperone their trip to the club because he would rather be doing this than speaking to Fitz. They danced through a couple of songs before Duo broke away from her, grabbed her hand and led her back to the table where Bridget was sitting next to Heero sipping from the glass of wine he had ordered for her. She looked uneasy, so Duo guessed that Heero had been anti-social, but she brightened when she saw him.
Duo slid into the booth to sit next to her while Hilde sat next to Heero on the other side. "I see you have met my friend, Heero."
Bridget moved closer to Duo, and short of falling off the edge of the seat, there was no way of avoiding her rubbing against his body from shoulder to ankle. "I didn't realize that he was your friend when he interrupted us last night. I spent the night worrying that you were under arrest." She looked at Hilde who was watching them without any expression at all, and she reached out her hand to her. "My name is Bridget."
Hilde took her hand. "Mary, but my friends call me Mitzi."
Casually draping his arm behind Hilde and resting his hand on her shoulder, Heero said, "Mitzi is Relena Darlian's personal assistant. She's been working hard since arriving on the colony keeping Ambassador Darlian on schedule, and this is the first night she has had free since arriving."
Bridget looked from Hilde to Duo and then back to her. "Do you know Duo?"
"We've met," she said with a faint curve of her lips, and Duo couldn't help thinking about the previous day. That little smile made him want to do a lot more with her as soon as possible.
Curling her arm around Duo's, Bridget said, "Duo and I work together at the restaurant across the street from the hotel where the ambassador is staying. He makes the daily soups and I am a waitress."
Even though Heero wasn't showing what he might be thinking on his face, he was probably annoyed that Duo had arrived with a date and he wished he could find an excuse to explain how he was forced to bring Bridget with him.
After taking another sip from her wine, Bridget remarked, "I was surprised that Duo got us in. The line outside was very long, but he knew one of the men at the door from his days living in the outer sectors. I grew up in Sector 8, but now I have an apartment in Sector 3 not far from the restaurant."
"That is convenient," remarked Hilde. She looked at Heero. "How about dancing?"
Duo would rather not see him dancing with Hilde, could hardly stand watching him with his arm touching her as they sat together. Heero removed his arm, and after Hilde stood up, he joined her, but he held out his hand to Bridget.
"Would you like to dance, Bridget?"
She looked uncertain and glanced at Duo as if for permission, so he said, "Don't mind me. I saw a friend or two that I want to talk to, so he can keep you company on the dance floor."
"If you don't mind, then I'd love to dance." She slid off the seat and took Heero's hand. "I hope you can keep up with me. I don't think Duo can."
"Try me," said Heero with a smile, but as he walked away, he gave Duo a stern look over his shoulder so he knew he should get to work.
After they had disappeared into the dancing throng, Duo stood and held out his hand to Hilde. "Sorry about bringing Bridget."
Her smile looked forced as she allowed him to help her to her feet. "I understand. You can't say no."
"She's going through a rough patch." He doubted Hilde wanted to hear the sordid story of Bridget's ex-boyfriend and his threats. "Let's look around for Fitz. He's probably in the VIP section mingling with the rich and famous."
"I hope nobody recognizes me," commented Hilde as they moved away from the table.
Duo chuckled. "Nobody is going to recognize you, Mitzi."
She laughed. "My backstory was Relena's idea."
"I've never seen her personal assistant."
"Because she doesn't have one. She says they get in the way." Her expression grew somber. "You're probably going to find out anyway, but I want to be the one to tell you that Andreas showed up at the fundraiser today, more to schmooze with Relena than any other reason. She won't endorse any candidate, but it helps his campaign to be seen with her and with me."
"I suppose I'll see a lot of pictures of you and him together in the news were I to check," he remarked, trying to sound disinterested. He wasn't going to go looking for any pictures because that would only upset him when he was having difficulty reconciling himself to the reality that she was going to marry Andreas Becker.
Hilde didn't say anything, so they moved through the crowd towards an area that was cordoned off with a velvet covered rope and guarded by two beefy men that Duo didn't recognize, he could see plush sofas populated by well-dressed men and women sipping expensive liquors. He couldn't see Fitz McElroy, but the section curved around to afford patrons even more privacy, so he walked up to one of the men guarding the entrance to the exclusive area of the club.
"Would you let Fitz know that Duo Maxwell is here to see him."
The guard looked at Duo as if he were a pest that he would like to swat before his gaze rested on Hilde. "He might want to see your date, but I doubt he's interested in you."
"You could tell him that I'm here and let him decide if he wants to see me. We're old friends."
The other guard snorted. "Everyone says they're old friends."
"I'm not 'everyone'." Duo hadn't considered that he wouldn't be able to get to Fitz.
Hilde looked as though she was going to step up and do or say something that he worried would get them in trouble because she was wearing a frustrated frown, but before she could get a chance to speak, a woman he recognized appeared behind the guards.
"Duo Maxwell! What are you doing out here?" Bette pushed her way between the two guards to stand before Duo. He doubted any woman could be more scantily clad and still be considered dressed.
"I'm trying to get in to see Fitz, but these guys won't let me through."
Bette laughed and shoved the behemoths apart. "Duo can come in. Fitz will be happy to see him." She gave Hilde an accessing look before turning back to the guards. "His date can come with him."
Grunting, they moved aside and one of them unhooked the rope so they could pass. Bette pushed her way between Hilde and Duo, grabbing his arm and pressing herself against him as she led them further into the section. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Duo. Have you given any more thought to my proposition, or is this skinny bitch covering all your bases for free?"
Duo wanted to shake her off because Hilde was glowering at Bette. "I'm sorry, but I have the same answer as last time."
Bette glanced briefly at Hilde and then said, "I didn't realize that you preferred blonds."
Looking past her, Duo spotted Fitz sitting at a table with a beautiful woman on each side, a drink in one hand, a fat cigar in the other. "I suppose you warned Fitz that I might be stopping by, just like you warned your friends that I was asking questions about their business operations."
Her exaggerated shrug made her breasts bounce and Duo saw Hilde roll her eyes. "I wasn't going to take the chance that someone overheard us talking and reported us."
He couldn't fault her for looking out for herself.
Fitz was an older, wiry man with thinning hair and a sparse mustache and trimmed beard on his rat-like face. He might be surrounding himself with beautiful people, but he certainly wasn't one of them despite the finely tailored suit he was wearing. He looked away from the two women clinging to him to give Bette a lascivious look until he noticed Duo and he looked panicked.
To put him at ease, Duo splayed his hands before him. "I'm not here to cause you any trouble, Fitz. I just want a few questions answered."
Narrowing his gaze, Fitz puffed on his cigar for a moment before he nudged the women on both sides. "Why don't you lovely ladies go have a dance while I talk to my friend."
With exaggerated pouts, they slid off the plush seat and left in the direction of the dance floor. Duo sat, pulling Hilde down beside him, and Fitz looked at her with interest until Bette took the place on the other side of him. Based on their familiarity with each other, he was a regular customer of hers.
"Jasper told me you would be coming by. I don't have much to tell you except that you should stay out of our business." He puffed on the cigar and glanced around nervously, making Duo wonder if there were surveillance cameras.
"Would I be correct in guessing that you have the same sort of arrangement as other businesses on the colony?" When Fitz didn't respond, Duo went on. "You have a successful club. What are you getting in return for handing over your profits to someone else?"
"What do you think? I was able to purchase this club because its previous owner left the colony whether on his own or through a garbage chute, nobody knows. I'm guessing he wasn't willing to pay the price of doing business on this colony. On the other hand, I am willing to pay, especially when I know the consequences of trying to cut corners."
Duo felt Hilde pushing at his thigh, and knowing what information she wanted most, he asked, "About that, Fitz. How were you able to buy this club?"
The other man stubbed out the cigar. "Is that what you really want to know?" He squinted at him. "Aren't you supposed to stay away from me?"
"I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want some answers. You and I both know that you were lying at my trial. There's no one around to keep you from telling the truth now. We're both from the streets, so I'm not going to blame you for making a lucrative deal. I just want to know who I need to avoid pissing off, so I don't end up back in the dungeon."
Fitz looked at Hilde for a moment, and then back at Duo. "I heard Ellie ran out on you."
"Ellie was never mine to begin with."
"That much is true. She was making quite a bit of money on her side job when she was living with you. I was surprised that you actually tried to make a go of it with her."
Duo hadn't been trying to make a go of it with her. They had nothing in common except Mia, but he wasn't going to explain that to Fitz. "I think she has found what she was looking for."
"A rich man to take care of her," spoke up Bette as she examined her fingernails.
Fitz nodded to Hilde. "Who's the new girl?"
"Mitzi Ferris," Hilde told him with a smile. "I met Duo through my boss, Relena Darlian."
"You have a lot of friends in high places," commented Fitz. "Bluto told me about that rich woman you connected him with about a year ago. She paid him enough to open that smoke shop near the plaza. Unfortunately, he doesn't make enough money to feed himself, so he works for me a few nights of the week. You should stick to your own kind, Maxwell. That's what got you into trouble six years ago." He looked at Hilde. "Are you one of his rich friends?"
At first, she hesitated, and then she laughed. "I've been asking the ambassador for a raise, but she keeps telling me that she can't authorize it or that she doesn't think her budget can handle it. So, no, I'm not a rich friend."
Fitz grunted. "Good. I'd hate to see Maxwell rammed back into the dungeon because someone doesn't like his choice in women."
"Is that what happened six years ago?" asked Duo, feeling Hilde stiffen beside him.
To his surprise, Fitz nodded. "Some rich Herman sent his goon into the sector to find someone willing to nail your ass to the wall. He didn't like that you were banging his precious daughter."
Before Hilde could react, Duo grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "So, you stepped up to take advantage of the offer."
Fitz shrugged. "Why not? The pay was good, and all I had to do was tell a few lies. I'm a good liar."
Sensing that Hilde wanted to know more, Duo asked, "What was that Herman's name?"
"Herman. Those Teutons don't like it when we call them that, but they don't tell us their names when they come to the outer sectors to buy our drugs and screw our whores. I didn't care who he was as long as I got the money I was promised."
"But you know it was her father?" Duo pressed him.
"I assumed it was because I heard the goon talking to his boss. He wanted you as far away as possible from that pretty little thing you were shacking up with when you returned to the colony." Fitz leaned in towards him. "Sorry about sending Ellie your way, but mostly because she didn't pay me what she promised for helping her out. I thought mixing you up with her might make Herman happy, but I never heard from him again after I received my payment."
Hilde moved restlessly, so Duo squeezed her hand to warn her to stay out of the conversation.
"If you don't want the kid, drop her off at an orphanage. I saw her once. She's cute, so she'll get adopted right away."
His stomach roiled at the thought of Mia being left at an orphanage. "She's mine. I'll take care of her."
"I heard you sold her to that rich woman from Earth."
"I didn't sell my daughter." Duo hoped he didn't lose his temper.
Fitz watched him for a moment without speaking, and then he leaned closer. "Listen, you're a decent guy and you're making me feel bad for testifying against you ..."
"That wasn't my intent." Duo wanted to point out he should have felt bad about selling five years of his life a long time ago.
The other man reached into his pocket and withdrew a magnetized card that he handed over to Duo. "I have to use this to make my payments each week. You can have it for two days. If you're as smart as you used to be, you can use it to figure out how to find where the money is going."
Taking the card and tucking it into his pants pocket, Duo asked, "Aren't you afraid of the consequences?"
"I thought about you rotting in prison, and if I didn't think you would bounce back like you always do, I would have felt a little guiltier. Hell, I feel worse about sending Ellie in your direction when she wouldn't have anything to do with my first solution to her problem, knocking her up myself." He shrugged. "And I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm sick of sending my hard-earned money to those inner sector bastards who already have enough money to wipe their asses with."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell the authorities I spoke to you. They will probably question why I was here in the first place."
The other man glanced at the tattoos on his wrists. "Don't worry. I'm not a fan of colony police. They've been trying to get their own slice of my pie, but I've managed to put them off with threats of my friend in Sector 1. I'm glad they don't realize that I don't even know who that Herman is."
Duo patted the pocket into which he had placed the card. "I'll get it back to you in a couple of days." He glanced at Bette. "I can meet her at Jasper's shop and give it to her. I'm thinking of getting a tattoo anyway."
"Maybe then we can conclude our own business," she said with a smile and a wink.
He nudged Hilde who stood so he could get out of the luxurious booth. "It's been nice doing business with you, Fitz. Stop by Le Beau Papillon and try my cooking any time."
Fitz snorted. "I'll be sure and bring Bette and we'll see what those snooty Teutons think of us dining among them."
Duo ushered Hilde away, half-afraid that she would react to his remark, but when he tried to lead her back to the table where Bridget and Heero were probably waiting, she balked. "I want to talk," she told him. "And it's too noisy in here."
He saw a terrace where there were fewer people enjoying a breeze generated by fans on one end. Couples stood together under light generated by the moon that was visible through the open shields since the colony had rotated away from the sun. Duo led her to a far corner where he drew her into his arms, and before she could speak, he kissed her like he had been wanting to do all night. She was tense at first, but then she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. There was more that he wanted to do, but he wasn't going to be able to get away from Bridget to be with her that night.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss when he was afraid they might get too carried away. "We should get back to Heero and Bridget."
She put her hand on his arm to stop him. "I wanted to apologize."
Duo looked at her. "For what?" He knew what she was apologizing for and didn't think she had any reason to feel guilty.
"My father sent you to prison."
By the tone of her voice, he could tell that she was ashamed to admit it. The Otto Schbeiker he had met wouldn't have done it no matter what Hilde believed. Duo wondered if she even knew her father and arguing his belief that her father was innocent would just upset her.
"You're not responsible for anybody else's actions."
She shook her head. "I should have kept pretending they weren't part of my life, but out of respect for my parents, I told them I was living with you."
Duo chuckled and reached up to caress her cheek. "Hilde, do you really think your father didn't know about us?"
"If he did, he didn't seem to care enough to confront us. Instead, he pretended to accept our relationship to your face while paying someone to bear false witness to send you to prison for five years so that he wouldn't have to weather the scandal that his daughter was living with ..." She suddenly stopped, probably embarrassed that she was pointing out the very reason why they couldn't be together. He was a nobody from the outer sector and she was a Teuton heiress.
"We need to get back to Heero," he said after a moment of awkward silence between them.
"Not yet." She took his hand and pulled him further into the terrace until they came up against a wall that was obscured in dark shadows. Putting her back against the wall, she pulled him to her. "I want you."
"Someone might see us." He looked around nervously, but they were hidden around a corner, and his only objection melted away.
Sensing that he was giving in, she pulled his head down to hers with one hand so that she could kiss him while grabbing one of his hands to put on her thigh. He slid it up under her dress and was startled to find that she wore nothing beneath. That discovery alone aroused him more than her undoing his pants to get to him, and soon they were together, her legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed her against the wall with each thrust of his body. They muffled the sounds of their pleasure in their kiss, and he regretted when it finally came to an end because he wanted to do so much more with her. He refastened his pants as she straightened her dress, but before they moved out of the shadows, she stretched up to kiss him.
"I'm going to stay with Relena tonight. I already told Andreas that we are going shopping together tomorrow and that he can meet us in Sector 2 in the afternoon."
He was glad she wasn't going back to the place she shared with her fiancé, but he didn't say so. Instead he gave her another kiss that he hoped she would be thinking about later before they headed back into the club to the table where Heero was sitting alone.
"Where's Bridget? Dancing?"
"No. She went to the restroom. At least that's what she said, but I suspect she was looking for you."
"What makes you say that?" Duo asked, but Heero didn't answer. Instead, he nodded past him where he looked over his shoulder to see Bridget returning to the table. Turning back to Heero, he took the card Fitz had given him and handed it to him. "Get your experts to trace this. Fitz needs it back in two days."
Heero shoved the card in a pocket as Bridget came to the table. She glanced briefly at Hilde who had sat by Heero again, and then she looked at Duo. "I'm getting a headache. Can we leave?"
Duo nodded. "Thanks for inviting me out. I enjoyed myself," he told Heero.
Bridget reached out to tug on Duo's hand. "Let's go."
She was quiet all the way to the train station, and during the ride back to Sector 3, she didn't talk much, and he didn't mind when she rested her head against his shoulder. On the walk back to the restaurant from the train station he was mindful of their surroundings because he didn't trust Liam not to leap out from the dark. But they reached the restaurant without incident and found Madame Chantal enjoying her evening tea. She was surprised to see them back, but she didn't ask much about their date before she hurried off to bed.
Duo walked Bridget to the room where she would be staying, but before she went inside, she put her hand on his arm and leaned in to kiss him. If it had been more than a brief kiss, he would have had to cut it off, but she stepped away before he had to worry about hurting her feelings.
"Thank you for taking me out, Duo," she told him with a smile.
"I'm sorry it ended badly for you," he told her honestly. She had been having a good time at the club when they first arrived, and he was glad to have given her the opportunity to forget about Liam.
"Maybe we can do it again some time."
"Maybe we can." He thought he should say it even though he wasn't interested in dating Bridget.
After she closed her door, Duo went to his own room relieved that they ended the evening early because he was still recovering from drinking too much. As he lay in the dark, he thought about what Fitz had told him. He replayed his meeting with Otto Schbeiker in his mind over and over again, but he could not pinpoint one single clue that the man was planning to destroy his life. Either he was an amazing actor or Fitz had misunderstood the situation. That someone from her society would want to keep them apart didn't surprise him. Duo just couldn't believe that it had been her father.