Ballroom Infiltration
A funny Fic by Kawaii-Chan
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, the characters or the plots (gosh darn it!). This fic is written for entertainment purposes only…I am NOT, I repeat NOT making any money off of this, so please don't sue me!
Attention:
This fic is a Shonen-ai with a slight implication of Yaoi. Nothing dramatic! I actually wrote this to make the gay relationships more comical than serious. I, personally, am more of a Non-Yaoi fan, but I was inspired and just thought it would be funny! 1+2 and 3+4 (slight 1x2). This fic takes place shortly after Endless Waltz.
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"So, what's up?" Duo Maxwell asked as he plopped down on the sofa next to Heero Yuy, who was reading an important-looking document that he had just received from the fax machine connected to his lap-top. The Japanese boy was reading the fax intently, like he did everything else, and ignored his braided companion's question.
Suddenly, the door to the living room where the pair were sitting was opened and through it walked a blond boy with a kind smile on his face, followed by another boy with peculiar gravity-defying bangs.
"Heero, what does the fax say?" Quatre Raberba Winner asked as he took a sip out of the little white teacup he held in his hand. Heero looked up at him, apparently finished scanning the document.
"Mission, accepted," he said, more to himself than to Quatre, as he raised from the couch, dropping the letter on to the seat which he had just vacated and walked to the other side of the room, his arms crossed. Duo pounced on the letter playfully.
He cleared his throat as he began to read it out loud.
"'Gundam Pilots'," he read, "'I [Noin] have been informed that there is a possible disturbance at the Embassy Hotel in Paris, France, that needs to be checked out immediately. The Hotel is hosting a ball in two days and it is very crucial that you be there to make sure nothing happens. Miss Relena," at the thought of Relena, Duo stuck his tongue out, but continued reading, "will also be attending and she will be helping you out as well'." Duo shrugged and handed the fax to Trowa. "So what? This will be easy! All wee need to do is get in, check it out and indulge on all the expensive orderves! Now that's what I call a party!" Heero shot him a reproachful glare.
"There's one problem with your plan," he said coldly. Duo raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"And what might that be?" he responded sarcastically, because there could be nothing wrong with a plan he thought of!
"Couples only," Trowa finished for Heero, reading the rest of the letter that Duo had neglected, then handed it to Quatre, who read it in silence.
"So???" Duo asked, not getting their point. "I know I already have a date, right Heero-Chan?" Duo winked slyly at the Japanese boy.
"He meant with girls, Duo," Heero corrected him. Still, Duo did not give up.
"Oh! That shouldn't be a problem for a couple of good-looking guys like us!" he tried again. It was Quatre who disagreed with him this time.
"No, Duo. That just wouldn't work in our advantage. We can't risk the lives of civilians if there really is the possibility of a disturbance, and we couldn't tell the what would be going on," he said softly, trying to push the idea that kept creeping to the front of his mind back.
"Then," Duo asked, "does that mean we can't do this?" He was all out of ideas and had no notion of how they would pull this off.
"That's right, but Noin did say it was urgent. We can't just not go," Heero said seriously. Trowa nodded in agreement. Duo rubbed the back of his head, then remembered something that really had no connection to their current problem.
"Where's Wufei?" he asked out-of-the-blue.
"He needed some time alone," Trowa replied while the others wondered how he knew that. No one asked, though. Ever since the five of them had moved in together, there was some tension from Wufei…he didn't really approve of the others' relationships.
Quatre gulped, afraid of what he was about to say. He knew he'd regret it, but it was their only chance. "There is one way we could get in…."
***
Later that day…
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Duo murmured under his breath as he grabbed the band holding his hair in its braid and untied it. Slowly, his long, chestnut brown hair untwisted and he ran his fingers through it, helping it unravel. "This sucks!" he hissed at his reflection as he stared into the mirror on the wall or the bathroom, his hair now flowing everywhere.
"Duo?" Quatre asked from the opposite side of the bathroom door and rapped his knuckle against it.
"What?" Duo barked back, steaming. It's his fault! That little creep…this is all his fault! I can't believe I'm going to do this! he thought to himself angrily.
"Are—are you done?" Quatre inquired nervously, sensing the hostility in the American's voice.
"Yeah, I'm done," Duo sighed, knowing that getting mad at poor, innocent Quatre wouldn't get him out of his mission. Tediously, he twisted the door handle and peeked out through the crack. Quatre was standing there patiently, but Duo couldn't see Heero or Trowa from where he was…the crack was too small. He ran his fingers through his thick hair, now hanging down to his thighs and rather wavy because of the years of braiding.
"Duo?" Quatre asked again. Duo laughed shakily from inside the bathroom.
"I was trying to save this for a special occasion," he joked as casually as he could to Quatre, who nodded.
"That's understandable, Duo," the Blonde replied kindly.
"Duo, are you coming?" Heero grunted suddenly from somewhere beyond Duo's sight range.
"Oi! I know you can't stand to be without me, Heero!" Duo smirked, trying to calm down. He had the feeling that Heero was turning a little red right now. "Yeah," he continued, "I know how much you want to see me with my hair down, Heero-Chan!" There was no reply.
Slowly, Duo pushed the door open farther and stepped out from the security of the bathroom, waiting for the crowd's verdict. There was no comment from Heero or Trowa, but Quatre always had words of encouragement.
"That's perfect, Duo!" he exclaimed brightly as he looked at Duo and his hair. Duo shot a glance at Heero and grinned. He could just barely see a smile creep across his usually stern and unemotional face.
***
Early the next morning, before the boys leave for Paris…
Trowa checked the clock on the wall and sighed.
"Catherine should be here any minute," he said to Duo and Quatre, who were pacing idly across the floor. Quatre had chewed his nails so much that there was nothing left but skin, so he had joined Duo in pacing nervously. Duo looked at him, his hair braided once again.
"That's…reassuring," he replied sarcastically. "I just hope she's better at this than she is at making soup." He shuddered at the thought of Catherine's soup. Trowa just rolled his eyes.
The sudden ringing of the doorbell made Quatre jump and Duo start to panic even more than he already was. He shot a glare at the Blonde.
"I cannot believe you suggested doing this!" he growled.
"I'm not going to have any fun with this, either!" Quatre squealed back defensively.
"Hello everyone!" Catherine shouted from the doorway as she pulled in a bunch of parcels, her brown hair bouncing lightly and her eyes sparkling. Duo leaned over to Heero, who was standing quietly in a corner.
"Why couldn't we have just gotten her to go with us?" he hissed.
"Too peppy and not qualified," he said coolly.
Not qualified my ***! She can throw knives at a person with 99.9% accuracy! Duo thought bitterly. (Of course, she occasionally does miss by a little and hit people in the heads, but that's only occasionally!)
"Trowa!" Catherine exclaimed and hugged her little brother, dropping almost all of her bags on the floor. Trowa, being Trowa, didn't return her embrace. "How's life been since you're break from the circus? Good, I hope. This is going to be soooo much fun!" Duo and Quatre exchanged pleading looks before Catherine approached them.
"Sure, Cathy," Trowa said as he followed her to Quatre, his hands in his pockets. Catherine looked at the pair in front of her judgmentally while biting her lip. Then, without warning, she grabbed Duo and Quatre's wrists, apparently done with her evaluation. She pulled them into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Heero and Trowa stared at it for a moment when, suddenly, it opened again. Catherine poked her head out and smiled sweetly.
"Could you boys bring me those bags I brought?" she asked.
***
About 15 minutes later, in the bedroom…
"Duo! Come here, okay?" Catherine said as she turned the water on in the sink of the master bathroom that happened to be connected to the master bedroom. Duo edged toward her, dreading what she was going to do to him. She ran her hand under the water, not noticing Duo's resentment, and called over her back, "Could you take your hair down?" Duo gulped, but obeyed.
Quatre sat on the bed and watched as Catherine washed a struggling Duo's hair. It was rather entertaining and took his mind off of what was about to happen. His fun ended all to soon when, about 20 minutes later, Catherine was brushing Duo's hair straight down and blowing it dry with a blow dryer at the same time.
"Just keep doing that," she told the American as she walked over to Quatre. Her smile didn't waver and she motioned for the young Arabian millionaire to stand up. He nodded and obeyed as Catherine circled him like a vulture going in for its next meal.
"We're going to need to do something about your hair, too. Luckily I brought just the right thing!" Quatre gulped.
***
About an hour later…
Heero and Trowa sat patiently in the living room, waiting, when suddenly they heard a scream of outrage followed by a series of yells coming from the bedroom.
"Wait a minute! That wasn't part of the bargain! No, I don't care about the mission! I am NOT putting those in!" Duo yelled, his voice a mixture of fear, panic and anger. Catherine replied to him, her voice stern and just as intimidating.
"Duo Maxwell! Stop acting like a baby and take care of this!" A muffled whimper was the only thing heard after that.
***
Two and a half hours later…
The bedroom door creaked open and Catherine stepped out, looking beaten and battered but proud of herself. Heero and Trowa were scared…they had heard a lot of screaming, from both pain and fear.
"It was a stretch, but I'm finished!" she announced happily. Heero and Trowa both looked expectant. Catherine cleared her throat. "May I present Duo Maxwell and Quatre Raberba Winner!" She waved her arms and looked quite a bit like Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune™ presenting letters. Nothing happened.
Murmuring cuss words under her breath, Catherine stormed back into the bedroom and began to shove two people out of the room. Neither of them looked familiar to the two boys who had been waiting so long.
"Qua—Quatre?" Trowa stumbled over his words.
"D—Duo?" Heero did the same.
Standing in front of them were two beautiful girls (who were not really girls). One was blond with bright blue eyes wearing a pinkish-purple sequined evening gown and had her hair in a fancy ponytail. Her face was painted with make and she looked very attractive.
The other was a brunette and she had very long chestnut brown hair that was wavy with loose curls and sparkled with glitter. She was wearing a slimming black evening gown with a thigh-high slit and also had makeup on. Her blue eyes glowed behind a scowl.
Both of them had…breasts.
"How…?" Heero started, but Duo (the brunette) grabbed the handbag that matched his dress and pulled out a gun.
"Not a word," he said from crimson lips. Catherine grinned.
"Silicon," she said simply, then went on. "Quatre hair is actually extensions. They look good, don't they? And all that screaming…hot wax." Trowa and Heero both looked down at Duo's leg, which was visible through the slit. There wasn't a single hair on it. "Don't they look gorgeous?" Catherine asked as Trowa and Heero continued to gawk. Quatre self-consciously kept looking down at his chest and Duo just glared.
"Let's get this over with!" he growled and began to walk towards the door when Heero noticed a faint clicking noise. He looked down and saw that Duo was wearing high heals. Not a word….
Heero shrugged and fell in step behind Duo. Trowa offered Quatre his arm and the beautiful Blonde accepted self-consciously. Catherine watched as the two couples left.
"Don't stay out too late!" she called after them.
***
At the Winner Family private airport…
"It's a good thing that you've got your own airport and jet, Q-man," Duo said with relief as he removed the high heals from his aching feet. Quatre sighed.
"Rashid almost wouldn't let us in…he didn't recognize me!" Quatre responded. "Thank goodness he recognized Trowa!"
"I have a feeling that you'll be getting a call from Rashid that I've been cheating on you," Trowa said and took a sip from one of Quatre's teacups. Quatre giggled.
"So," Heero said seriously, "what are we going to call you?" Duo looked at him, confused.
"Why not what you usually call me…what do you say, Hee-Chan?" Duo suggested, batting his extra long fake eyelashes as him. Heero's face went almost as scarlet as Duo's lipstick.
"Let's not talk about that right now, Duo…" Heero suggested shakily.
"Why? Don't you want our friends to know that you call me your "whittle snuggle muffin?" Duo said, a hint of demented glee in his voice.
"DUO! Omae o korosu!" Heero yelled. Quatre giggled and his extensions swished, making him scratch at them. Trowa gently took his wrist and pulled it away from the ponytail, shaking his head as if to say, "Don't do that…they might come off." Quatre grinned warmly and snuggled into Trowa's chest.
"Hey Heero! If I have to dress like this, then I can give away some dirt on you!" Heero crossed his arms and glared, although Duo did have a point…and he could have done worse….
"You need to work on your voice. It's too low."
***
Paris, France; the Embassy Hotel…
Quatre's eyes sparkled as the four walked up the steps to the gigantic hotel building in front of them. The hotel's first floor was encased in glass, and the crystal chandeliers could be seen hanging from the ceiling. The frosted glass doors swung open as the assembly walked in, two doormen holding them open. Quatre gave them his usual sweet, apologetic smile and Duo put his hand in front of his face, hoping desperately that no one would recognize him. Neither Heero nor Trowa showed much expression towards the doormen…or to their dates, for that matter.
"And which party are you with, sirs?" a suited man asked Heero and Trowa as he stopped them in the lobby. Quatre and Duo both took up their acts and began giggling and batting their eyelashes uncontrollably. Duo tried really hard not to think of how stupid he must look.
Heero cleared his throat. "We're with the Private Party in Ballroom 5," he said sternly and handed the man an invitation that he had received along with the fax. The lobby man seemed satisfied and smiled.
"Thank you, sir. It will be right up the stairs and to the left," he said and pointed to a beautiful grand staircase. Heero nodded and followed Trowa and Quatre towards them, Duo on his arm.
The lobby man leaned over quickly and whispered something in Duo's ear, but he didn't have time to finish because Duo had whacked him with his handbag in, well…not the most pleasant spot. As the man coiled with pain, Duo wiggled his fingers from over his shoulder as if to say, "Toodel-loo!" and continued walking.
Now outside of the ballroom, Quatre grasped Trowa's hand instinctively. Trowa glanced down at it, then at Quatre.
"Quatre," he began and the Blonde turned to look at Trowa's one green eye, hoping for some words of reassurance because he was so nervous, "could you loosen your grip? My hand is losing circulation." Quatre flushed a shade of red that almost matched Duo's lipstick and quickly dropped Trowa's hand. Trowa rubbed it gently with the other one.
"Well," Heero said and laid a hand on the doorknob to the ballroom, "here we go." With that, he pushed it open and the couples walked inside.
"Heero! Trowa!" a voice called almost immediately. The boys searched for its source and saw a woman with purplish-black hair running towards them, waving her hand slightly.
"Hello, Noin," Trowa said as she approached. Quatre was now clinging to Trowa's arm and forcing a smile, the fact that his chest was apparently bigger than Noin's was very clear in his mind. Duo also had his arm looped through Heero's, but he acted much more relaxed, even though he, too, was nervous.
"Where are Duo and Quatre? Did they get dates?" she asked, not realizing that the two girls next to them were some of her best friends.
Duo cleared his throat and looked down at the floor and Quatre once again turned crimson. Noin's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"N—no way! Don't tell me that…" her voice trailed off as she pointed a shaky finger at the two "girls". Duo and Quatre nodded and they heard Noin stifle a large amount of laughter that was now welling up inside of her. Duo glared defensively, back up by Heero's glare. Trowa compulsively took Quatre's hand and squeezed it.
Noin quickly regained her composure. "I'm sorry. I didn't even notice at first…I probably wouldn't have noticed at all!" she assured them and Duo and Quatre let out a sigh of relief. "Anyway, we're not exactly sure who we're looking for here, but keep an eye out for anything suspicious." The boys nodded and Noin smiled as she walked away. She was glad that she could trust them (although the makeup did make it harder…).
The four looked at each other, having decided what to do without a word. And so, Trowa took Quatre's hand and gently lead him out into the crowd to mingle and Duo and Heero re-laced their arms, neither showing the ecstatic bliss that was threatening to explode within their hearts.
A young blond girl was talking to a group of what seemed to be very important men when she noticed the four walk in, two of whom she recognized and the two whom she did not, although there was a faint hint of familiarity in them. Her face lit up when she saw Heero, but the corners of her smile drooped when she saw that he had a date.
"Heero," Relena whispered as her mind raced. I can't believe this! I have competition! Her eyes narrowed as she saw yet another figure that she recognized to be Noin approach them, then leave, for after this brief engagement, Heero took his date's arm in his. Now, it wouldn't have been so bad apart from the fact that he was extremely casual around this unknown girl and appeared to be very comfortable in her company. He was never that casual around me, she steamed as the talk of the people droned on around her, the noise going in one ear and out the other with no registering effect.
"Don't you agree, Miss Relena?" one of the men asked her suddenly. This brought Relena back to her senses.
"Oh, what? I'm sorry," she replied politely. The man who had addressed her gave her an inquisitive look.
"Is something bothering you, Miss Relena?"
"No…" she said and smiled sheepishly. "Could you excuse me for a moment, gentlemen?" The group around her nodded as she bowed kindly and left their company, heading on a beeline towards Heero.
Meanwhile, Heero was walking through the crowd of people, his senses alert for anything out of the ordinary, with Duo on his arm, looking around casually. Suddenly, a certain person caught Heero's eye.
Standing about three yards away from the couple was Chinese boy with a low, black ponytail. Duo let out a groan.
"Crap! Not Wufei!" he moaned as Heero steered him towards the boy. Duo spoke the next part in a whisper because they were drawing nearer to Wufei. "I swear he has some sort of pole up his—"
"Hello Wufei," Heero said, cutting Duo's remark short. Duo pasted a large, prissy smile on his face and pretended like he had never met Wufei in his life.
"Heero," Wufei replied and nodded, then looked at the beautiful girl with him. Heero caught the curious glance (as did Duo ("Crap!")) and began the introduction.
"Wufei, this is Eden," he husked. Heero elbowed Duo to put out his hand, which he did reluctantly. Wufei took it and bent down to kiss it gently. Duo gagged silently.
"AAHH-CHOO!" he yelped suddenly and pulled his hand away just before Wufei's lips fell on his skin and wiped his nose after his fake sneeze. "Oh pardon me!" he said, his voice sounding similar to a soprano with a really bad sinus congestion. "By the way, you can call me Dee." He gave Wufei the best flirtatious smile he could, thinking that's what any girl would do. This was something that he would soon regret.
"My name is Chang Wufei," Wufei stated proudly. Heero rolled his eyes as Duo tried to subdue the urge to run.
"Wufei," Heero asked, trying to get Wufei to turn his attention away from "Dee", which seemed to be the only thing he was occupied with, "how did you get in to the ball?" Wufei laughed.
"What a stupid question," he said. "I came with Relena Peacecraft." Heero sweatdropped. Why the heck hadn't he thought of that? Then neither he nor Duo would be in this mess!
Now, usually Wufei wouldn't have said Relena's full name except that he was trying to impress Eden with his connections. Suddenly, Heero noticed a suspicious-looking man at the punch table.
"I'll go get us some refreshments," he said to Duo and, without a backward glance, left. Duo stared dumfounded at his retreating back, shocked that he would just leave him alone with…with…Wufei!
Wufei smiled upon his good fortune. Quickly, to make sure Heero wouldn't be coming back right away, he stepped closer to Duo and casually (too casually) dropped his arm over his shoulder. Duo shifted uncomfortably and stepped in the opposite direction; away from Wufei. Wufei took this as only playing hard to get and tried again…and again…and again…and again….
Relena strode up beside Heero and tapped him playfully on the shoulder. He spun around defensively and saw the all too familiar face smiling at him pleasantly.
"Hello, Heero," Relena said brightly. Heero stared at her blankly for a moment, then replied:
"Hn." Relena took this as a warm welcome and rubbed her hand against his.
"I saw that girl you came with," she said apprehensively and Heero gulped. So that's what this is about! "You two seem pretty serious." There was an intonation of sadness in her voice and Heero felt a pang of guilt…that only lasted for a few seconds.
"You could say that we are," he said as he picked up two glasses of punch from the refreshment table. Relena's spirit's plunged. She glanced quickly over at Heero's date with Wufei.
"They make a cute couple, too. Maybe she'll want to go home with him…" she mused suggestively. Heero, who had been taking a sip from his glass, spit all the contents in his mouth back into it for fear of choking.
"Wh—what?" he coughed. "Relena, I don't think you know what you're talking about!"
Wufei crept closer to Duo once again and this time grabbed his waist, hands firm. Duo was just plain mad, now, and he drew the gun from the handbag at his side and pushed the barrel firmly into Wufei's chest. The Chinese boy froze as Duo leaned forward and whispered into his ear:
"Never touch me again!" He dropped the fake voice at this point because his anger was overflowing and he didn't have the patience to keep it up. Wufei pushed away, now realizing what he had failed to notice before (what kind of girl carried a gun and just happened to sound exactly like…Duo Maxwell!).
"M—Maxwell?!?!?! KISAMA!" he screamed, making the whole ballroom go silent and stare. Duo blushed and quickly replaced the gun before anyone could see it. The crowd became bored hastily and resumed their previous activities.
Heero began to panic now and turned away from Relena.
"I'll see you, Relena," he husked quickly and headed for Duo. Relena's eyes narrowed. She wasn't the Voice Foreign Minister for nothing! The connection snapped into place immediately, making her anger deepen.
"My competition is…a boy!" she mumbled to herself, clenching her fists tightly in shock and anger.
***
As the night wore on (approx. 3:00 a.m.)…
Quatre and Trowa became the hit on the dance floor and they even played a few duets together (violin and flute, of course!). Relena didn't talk to either of them all night, for she knew that if Heero's date was Duo, then Trowa's date was Quatre. She somehow blamed them for getting Heero and Duo together and thought that maybe it was some plan just to get her riled up. She knew that wasn't true, but she kept trying to convince herself that she was the one for the Japanese Suicide Machine…not that peppy American! Wufei, too, was mad at Duo and Heero, for pretty much the same reason and decided to take it out on anyone who tried to come within two yards of him.
Of course, neither of the two could take it out on the happy couple because they disappeared shortly after the incident earlier in the night.
Trowa and Quatre were oblivious to the feelings their comrades held, though, for their time together was more enjoyable than either had imagined it would be…Trowa even smiled a few time! When the two finally took a break from the dancing, they collapsed onto a love seat by a wall.
"Trowa," Quatre said as he laid his head gently in Trowa's lap, the latter stroking his hair affectionately.
"Yes?"
"Do you know where the bathrooms are?" Trowa smiled at the casualty in his date's voice.
"Just ahead on the right."
"Thank you," Quatre said and got up off the couch, walking slowly and painfully, due to the combination of dancing and high heals, to the bathrooms. He laid a hand on the men's restroom door and pushed it open when suddenly a hand fell on his shoulder from behind. He spun around to see an older woman staring at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Hey, Darlin', I don't know if you noticed, but that there's the men's bathroom!" there was a definite southern twang in her voice and she smelled of smoke and liquor. She placed both hands on Quatre's shoulders and steered him into the women's bathroom.
"Th—th—th—thanks," Quatre stuttered, not really meaning it. The woman nodded and grinned, showing yellow teeth that had tobacco stains all over them.
"No problem, sweetie," she said and exited to a stall, closing the door behind her. Quatre would have immediately left and gone back to the men's room, but the fear that someone else would do the same thing stopped him. And so, the blond Arabian stepped lightly (and cautiously) into one of the small stalls and stared at the toilet. He sighed and lifted up the seat. Gratefully, he relieved himself.
"You alright, honey?" the woman asked from the next stall. She thought to herself that it usually didn't sound so…hollow when most people went. Quatre gulped.
"Yeah—yes, I'm fine," he replied shakily, his voice cracking with fear.
"Well, if you're sure…."
"I'm sure!" Quatre assured her hastily and finished his business as soon as he possibly could. He replaced the seat cover and bolted from the bathroom before the woman could say anymore.
Then and there, Quatre decided that it was much harder being a woman than being a Gundam pilot.
Panting, he returned to Trowa's side; his safe haven. Trowa blinked at the boy as he skidded to a stop in front of him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice distraught. Quatre's eyes welled with tears.
"Oh Trowa!" he exclaimed and fell down on the loveseat, his head on Trowa's lap, and told his whole story to the boy.
***
Approx. 7 a.m….
Noin paced impatiently, her hands behind her back. Her steps quickened as the minutes wore on. She looked around for Quatre and Trowa or Heero and Duo. This wasn't going to be pretty….
Suddenly, she spotted two of the people she had been searching for. She gulped and began marching towards Quatre and Trowa, who were once again gracing the presence of the dance floor with their fluid movements.
The band played a final note and the crowd surrounding the couple began to cheer wildly for them, their dancing being the most exquisite all night. Trowa and Quatre grasped hands and bowed, both beaming…at least, Quatre was. Trowa was smiling (which in his case would be beaming, wouldn't it?)
Noin pushed her way through the crowd and walked confidently up to the two dance-aholics. Quatre greeted her warmly, his smile so bright it almost out-shown the chandeliers. Trowa had the Blonde's hand held tenderly within his grasp.
"Hello Noin," Quatre said pleasantly, feeling not the least bit tired after staying up the whole night. Trowa nodded in greeting.
"Hello Quatre," she said, trying desperately to be peppy. "Hello Trowa." Her eyes were outlined with dark circles that gave away her tiredness and worry from under her façade of happiness.
"What's wrong?" Quatre asked, just as sincere as usual. Noin sighed and ran her fingers though her short, purplish hair.
"I have something to tell you…" she began, "but I need to have Heero and Duo—I mean, Eden—Oh whatever! You know who I'm talking about…I need them here, too." As if on cue, the trio heard a familiar voice call to them from the direction of the staircase that lead to the private rooms of the hotel. The staircase was about 10 yards from them.
"Hey there everybody!" Duo called loudly as he approached them, followed by Heero. Noin winced slightly…Duo was not using his girly voice and his deep, masculine voice attracted some unwanted attention. The sight of the two young men was something that made the trio want to hide out of embarrassment.
Duo pulled one strap of his dress up, trying to look a little more presentable. He was wearing the dress very sloppily…and it did look rather suspicious. What was worse what that Heero's face was covered with crimson lip marks that matched the lipstick smeared across Duo's face exactly. Neither of the newcomers seemed to notice this.
"What 'cha up to?" Duo asked casually as he and Heero sauntered into the circle the group had created.
"I was about to ask you two the same question," Noin muttered under her breath in an inaudible whisper.
"Hmmm? What was that? I didn't here you," Duo said sincerely. Noin shook her head.
"Nothing."
"Okay, if you're sure it wasn't important…."
"I'm sure."
Duo gave her a side-ways glance, then shrugged and his usual, mischievous grin perched on his face once more.
"Do you guys know how much a room here costs for one night? I mean…come on! The beds aren't even that soft!" Duo said suddenly. Heero didn't make any reply to this random comment. Noin pretended that she, also, hadn't heard it. Trowa raised an eyebrow.
"No—" Quatre began, but was interrupted by Noin.
"Anyway," she continued, "like I said before, I have some news to tell you." The four listened intently, expecting news of the apprehension of their suspect.
Noin shifted uncomfortably under their stares. "Well, you see…" she stuttered, then blurt out, "thiswasafalsealarm!" Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Duo stared at her blankly.
"Could you repeat that, please? You said a little too fast," Quatre asked politely. Noin swallowed hard to calm herself, trying desperately not to imagine the boys' reaction.
"This. Was. A. False. Alarm," she said as slowly as she could muster. That was all it took. Quatre began to whimper indecisively and Trowa made no reaction. Heero, though, made a fist with his hand and shook it fiercely.
"Omae o Korosu!" he yelled at Noin angrily. Duo reached into his handbag and took out his precious gun, which, in fact, belonged to Heero and pointed it casually at Noin.
Then, he sighed, his grip relaxed and he looked affectionately at the gun.
"Too bad…" he said to himself, "we used all the bullets last night!" Carelessly, he opened the barrel to reveal that it was empty. His mouth once again pulled into his famous grin. "I really don't care, though. I sure got what I wanted out of this!" Duo said and winked at Heero, who looked away solemnly.
*Sweatdrop by Noin and Trowa*
"I guess there's no reason to stay then," Trowa said and the others nodded.
"I can't leave," Noin informed them. "I'm just going to check things out a little while longer…maybe I'll even dance a bit!"
The four rolled their eyes and said their good-byes. Duo and Quatre followed Heero and Trowa out the door and, after that, to the airplane.
Quatre tapped Duo gently on the shoulder.
"Yeah, Q-man?" Duo asked the Blonde, who drew close to him and whispered:
"Duo…what did you do with the bullets?"
*Sweatdrop*
The End!
