Here's another of my 1+R fics. I just love writing about those two, they make such a cute couple.

BTW- This * means thinking. This ~ means flashback.


The Conspiracy
Chapter One
By Megan


Duo Maxwell looked around the table at his partners-in-crime. Quatre Raberba Winner was looking at him expectantly, Beside him, Trowa Barton was staring at the tabletop, arms crossed over his chest. Across from Quatre, sat Chang Wufei and beside him was Sally Po. Sitting at the end of the table was Lucrezia Noin.

The door to the small conference room opened and the final member of OSHFH stepped into the room. Miliardo Peacecraft, aka Zechs Marquise, crossed the room to stand behind Noin. He nodded at Duo. Duo stood up and rapped his knuckles against the solid oak tabletop. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Good morning, and welcome to the first official meeting of OSHFH. Any questions before we start?" Duo said importantly.

"What is OSHFH?" Quatre asked. The others sighed and shook their heads.

"OSHFH. It stands for Operation: Save Heero From Himself." Duo answered.

"Why do we have to save that stupid man from himself?" Wufei demanded. Sally glared at him and he glared back.

"Because it is obvious that Miss Relena is in love with Heero..." Noin started.

"And Heero loves her too..." Quatre added.

"But he won't admit it. To anyone, especially himself." Duo finished.

"Besides, he needs her." Trowa said.

"No guy needs a woman. If they do, they are weak." Wufei stated. Sally whacked him across the back of the head.

"Why don't you grow up?" she said. He touched his now sore head and growled at Sally.

"Guys, this is a no-war zone." Duo reminded them. He sighed. This may be harder than he thought. Finally Sally and Wufei looked away from each other.

"Why DID you decide to save Heero from himself, Duo?" asked Miliardo.

"Because I'm worried about him," Duo explained. "Just the other day, I mentioned Relena to him and he said something totally weird."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duo walked into the small kitchen of the apartment he shared with Heero. Heero was already there, sitting at the table, drinking coffee, and reading a magazine. Duo grabbed himself a cup of java and flopped into the chair across from Heero.

"What's up, buddy?" he inquired. Heero looked at him and then turned back to his magazine.

"'Mobile Suits.'" Duo read from the cover. Heero tapped a headline on the front of the magazine.

"'Rare! New, Never Before Seen Pictures of the Five Gundams.'" Duo read. He made a confused face.

"Don't they know that our Gundams have been destroyed for over a year?" he questioned. Heero shrugged and turned the page. Duo downed his coffee and jumped out of his chair. He walked around the table and looked over Heero's shoulder at the magazine. On one page, was a big picture of Wing Zero. On the opposite page, was a picture of...

"Deathscythe!" Duo cried, snatching the magazine out of Heero's hands. He stared at the picture and felt himself grow weepy.

"Duo, you are such a loser." Heero told him, stealing the magazine back. Duo stuck his tongue out at the back of Heero's head.

"Very mature, Duo," Heero said. "You're how old again?"

"It's not wise to get me angry." Duo told Heero. Heero shrugged. Duo crossed his arms and frowned at him. Then he shrugged and took his seat again.

"So what are you doing today?" he asked Heero.

"I don't know. Why?"

"I just wanted to know if you were going to see Relena." Duo said, a note of teasing in his voice.

"I'd rather spend all day looking at my magazine." Heero responded. Duo sweatdropped.

"I swear, Heero, you care more about your destructed Gundam than you do Relena!" Duo exclaimed. Heero stood up and looked down at Duo.

"You can destroy a Gundam and build a new one. You can't do the same with a girl. You have to treat her..." he paused, trying to think of the right word. "softly, or you'll break her heart. And that's just not my style." He tossed his magazine onto the table and left the room, leaving Duo to stare after him. He heard the front door open and close.

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"And I haven't seen him since, and that happened day before yesterday!" Duo concluded. The OSHFH members looked at each other, totally at a loss of words.

"Well," Quatre said finally. "You were right, Duo. That WAS a strange thing to say."

"AND a totally non-Heero type answer." Sally added. Trowa cleared his throat and everyone looked at the normally quiet boy. He still had his arms crossed, but his eyes were closed.

"It's obvious to anyone, by that answer, that Heero is in love with Relena," Trowa said. "But he's afraid of his feelings. Love is something that Heero is not used to feeling and he doesn't know how to express it. So he runs from it. He's also afraid of hurting Relena. "

"Wow!" Duo blinked. "I don't think I've ever heard Trowa talk so much, or make so much sense."

"So what do we do?" Quatre asked.

"Get him over his fear." Trowa answered.

"How?"

"By getting him to express those feelings."

"Yes, but how?" Quatre asked again.

"That's what y'all are here for," Duo said. "Any plans?"

"I have one." Miliardo spoke up, getting everyone's attention quickly. He stared at the floor.

"Go on." Noin encouraged. He nodded and then carefully explained his plan to the others.

"I like that plan," Duo said. "All in favor say aye." A chorus of six "ayes!" were heard. Duo looked at Wufei who hadn't agreed.

"Don't you like it?" he asked Wufei. Wufei shrugged.

"I think we should just leave Heero alone. He doesn't need Relena," he replied. Sally raised her hand.

"But I'll go along with whatever you decide." Wufei said quickly.

"Wise choice." Sally said. Duo shook his head.

"Now all we have to do, is wait for Heero to come home." Quatre said.

"I'll call Miliardo as soon as he comes home." Duo promised. He stood up and everyone else did likewise.

"I now conclude this meeting of the OSHFH." Duo said.

_____________________________________________________________________________

A few days later, Duo was once again in the kitchen. He sat at the table and stared at the M.S. magazine still laying on the table. Duo tapped his fingers against the side of his black coffee mug and sighed. He was worried about Heero, whom nobody had seen for several days now. Suddenly Duo heard the front door shut. He jumped to his feet and hurried into the living room.

"Heero!" he exclaimed when he saw who it was.

"Hey." Heero said.

"Where have you been?" Duo demanded as he took in Heero's ragged appearance and the red duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"What are you? My mother?" Heero snapped. He brushed past Duo and headed to his room. Duo followed.

"No, I'm just a concerned friend," he replied. Heero opened his bedroom door. Before going in, he looked over his shoulder at Duo, an almost friendly expression on his face.

"Colony L1," he said. "I was on Colony L1." Then he walked into his room and shut his door. Duo raced into the kitchen and picked up the phone. He dialed Miliardo's number.

"Start Plan A," he said as soon as Miliardo answered.

"Understood." Miliardo replied. He hung up the phone. Dou replaced the phone and smiled.

Operation: Save Heero From Himself was underway!