Heero is sitting up in bed and working on the laptop when Trowa wakes up. He yawns, stretches, listens to the shower running. Lifting his head he establishes that Quatre's bed is empty while Duo is star-fished across his, drooling into a pillow.
"What are you doing?" Trowa murmurs. He shifts so he's sitting next to Heero, shoulders pressed together.
"Apparently they tried to move Zero and part of the bunker collapsed," Heero states. He types in a few more commands and frowns. "Une wants them to restabilize it and try another extraction."
"Maybe you won't have to do anything after all," Trowa replies. Heero shrugs, attention focused on the screen in front of him. "Do you think they'll be able to extract it?"
"Eventually." Heero slides the laptop over to Trowa and he raises an eyebrow in surprise. "It's secure, if you want to call Catherine."
"Thank you." He settles the laptop on his own lap and types the number into the communication tab Heero left open. It rings twice before Cathy's face fills up the screen. "Hi, Cathy."
"Trowa, thank God," Cathy exclaims. Her eyes are shining on the screen and Trowa isn't sure if it's repressed tears or the glare of the screen on her end. "I've been so worried, why haven't you called earlier?"
"Been busy. It's okay, Cathy." She sits back in her chair and lifts a mug to her mouth. He knows it's peppermint tea, she always drinks peppermint when she's stressed.
"Where are you?" she asks.
"Brussels. Preventers has us in a hotel while they work on the clean-up."
"How long will you be there? How's Heero? It was him that crashed, wasn't it?" Heero raises his eyebrows in surprise and Trowa smirks.
"See for yourself." He angles the laptop screen so Heero's in frame.
"Hello, Catherine," Heero replies stiffly. He leans against the pillows, presses his shoulder tighter to Trowa's so they're both in frame. "I thought you were still upset with me?"
She snorts and brushes the curls out of her face. "No, I've learned Trowa makes his own stubborn decisions. You look well, no coma this time?"
He chuckles in spite of himself. "I'd hate to be predictable," he replies. Catherine grins at him through the screen. The shower shuts off and Heero glances over as Duo shifts in the next bed.
"How long will you be…staying in Brussels?"
Trowa shrugs. "Until Lady Une decides to let us go. I don't imagine it'll be too much longer, maybe after the new year."
She lets out a breath and rests her chin on her hand. "I guess you'll be cutting off soon, huh?" Catherine asks. "You will be coming back to the circus, right?"
Trowa nods and there's a fond smile on his face. "Yeah, Cathy. As soon as possible. Send me the schedule?"
"Okay, I will. I'll tell the cats you say hello. Take care of yourself – both of you." She gives them a hard look.
"We always do," Trowa replies. He disconnects before she can say anything disparaging and shuts down the connection. Heero takes the laptop back, shutting it down completely as Duo sits up, yawning loudly. "Thank you," he murmurs again.
"Morning," Duo rasps. "Did someone order breakfast? I thought I heard voices."
"Must've been dreaming," Trowa replies.
Duo scrubs a hand over his face. "Yeah, I guess so. Where's Quatre?"
"Shower," Heero replies. He gets up to set the laptop on the table and dress.
Duo yawns and stretches. "Cool, can we order breakfast or do we have to wait?" Trowa tosses him the phone and Duo grins. "Awesome, extra bacon time."
/
"Duo, you don't need that much bacon," Quatre protests.
"Don't speak sacrilege, Quatre," Duo replies, stuffing two more pieces in his mouth. Heero snorts, idly eating his toast as he skims the newspaper that room service brought up with their trays.
Quatre opens his mouth to protest when there's a sharp knock on the door. They fall silent as Trowa glances through the peephole, wary stance relaxing. "It's fine," he states, opening the door. "We weren't expecting you."
"Have to try to keep you all on your toes somehow, don't I?" Noin replies. "Can I come in?" Trowa gives a perfunctory nod, stepping aside so she can enter.
Quatre smiles brightly when he sees her. "Miss Noin!" he greets. "It's been too long. How are you?"
"As well as can be, given the circumstances. And please, just Noin, Quatre."
"Of course," Quatre replies. "Would you like any tea or coffee? I don't think we have bacon left, but there's fruit and toast."
"Thank you for the offer but I've had too much caffeine this morning as it is."
"Not a social call, I take it?" Heero asks, eyeing the Preventers-issued jacket she's wearing.
She gives them a tired but friendly smile. "Afraid not. Time to give your statements, officially," she replies.
"That took a while," Trowa comments. She glances sharply at where he's leaning against the wall behind her. He raises an eyebrow at her and she shakes her head.
"We've been a bit short-staffed," she replies. "Lady Une assumed you'd understand, given the circumstances."
"Yeah, I'd imagine so," Duo says. He busies himself pulling on his coat. "We gonna see Wufei?"
"After your statements," she replies. Her face softens as she looks at them. "He's fine; he took great joy in insulting the younger agents."
Heero snorts, shrugging into his jacket with little difficulty and discreetly checking that the holster is in place. "Did they deserve it?"
"From what I heard, they were breathing too loud while he was meditating."
Duo cackles, shoulders relaxing. "That sounds like him," he replies. "Alright, let's get this over with, yeah?"