The Urchin: Part Eight
By Banshi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quatre was muttering some of his best and favorite curses when he answered the phone. Duo just grinned and hoped that the blond wasn't muttering at him.
That hope was answered when Quatre looked at the screen and stopped mid-word and smiled brightly instead.
"Duo! Hello, how are you?"
"Fine Q, but I'm calling for a kind-of emergency favor. I was hoping you could help me."
"Anything. Are you in trouble? Do you need me there?" The look in Quatre's eyes was a mix of concern and glee that threw Duo off-balance for a moment. He paused, and reassessed the situation, trying to answer Quatre truthfully, and tease him.
"You're dealing with lawyers again, aren't you?" Quatre looked down and then back up, an abashed smile on his face.
"That obvious, hmm?"
"Only to those who know and can blackmail you my friend. Anyway, about my problem. The 'governing forces' here on L2 are issuing ID's to all of the kids, home addresses are required, and charging money for them. Trowa and I are taking care of the orphans in this sector, but we've run out of addresses and have only half the amount of money we need in the easy-access accounts. I can't just hack into the bank computers and transfer my own funds anymore, so I was wondering if you had any suggestions, or owned property on this colony that we could put on the paperwork."
Duo hated asking for favors, it just drove home the fact that he wasn't infallible, and that lesson had gotten more than it's fair share of class-time. He watched Quatre go deep in thought for a moment, then turn his attention to the computer on his desk. Some quick typing and scrolling, then he got an enlightened expression on his face. Quatre was the only person that Duo had ever met that got a serene look at finding an answer, rather than shouting 'Eureka!' like a normal person.
"WEI does have property on L2, a small residence it looks like. One of my sister's in-laws sold it to us so that they could move to Earth without going into debt. Will the one be enough?" Duo nodded, dumbstruck once again by Quatre's resources and willingness to share them. "Is you're laptop on?" Duo nodded again, "Good, I'll send the information to you. I'm also transferring three hundred credits from WEI's human resources department to you're account. Get the company logo on the kids' IDs, that should give the police second thoughts. Use the rest for whatever supplies they need."
Duo was speechless, and he felt tears in his eyes. He resisted the urge to blink them away, knowing that having Quatre see them would express the depth of his gratitude better than words could. From the answering tears in Quatre's eyes, there was mutual feeling.
"Quatre, you are an amazing person, you know that? Remind me to tell you about Father Maxwell and Sister Helen someday. You guys would have gotten along great."
Quatre nodded, seemingly overcome. He took a couple of deep breaths, and collected himself.
"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Not right now Q. This mandate is shit and everybody knows it, but we needed to take care of the effects first. Tro and I are going after the source later, maybe next week. I'll call you then, just in case we need quick back up."
"Anything for you, my friend. Be safe, and give them hell for me, alright?"
"Sure thing Q. Give everyone there a raspberry for me, especially Hilde. I still haven't properly congratulated her on the new job."
Quatre laughed and promised. They signed off, and Duo sat back in his chair, feeling lighter than he had in years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa covertly listened to Duo and Quatre, smiling softly to himself. Benjamin caught him eavesdropping, but decided to join him instead of tipping Duo off. They both leaned back when the call ended, Trowa feeling pride in his friends, and Benjamin with wide eyes and an unbelieving look on his face.
"What does he want us to do to pay him back?" The question from the boy took Trowa by surprise, but only for a second. He sometimes forgot that not everybody was immediately aware that Quatre was an angel in disguise.
"Nothing. He's funny that way." Duo answered, looking down at Benjamin's wide gray eyes and grinned the happiest grin Trowa had seen in ages. Ben obviously didn't believe him.
"Maybe he'll ask later," the boy muttered and walked away, leaving Duo chuckling softly and Trowa gazing up at his friend from his position on the floor.
"What?" Duo asked, turning his full attention on Trowa, who was lost in laughing indigo depths. It was becoming a bad habit. He had to look away in order to answer.
"I remember being that suspicious. I think it was actually Quatre who broke me of the habit."
"He is good at that, isn't he? I think he got me to stop it with the 'what's the catch' questions too. He had help though." A sad look crossed Duo's face before fleeing from a smile. "Common, we need to get some more ID's. Do you still have that WEI 'Employee Card' the Quatre gave us during the colony negotiations?"
Trowa took the hand that Duo offered and pulled himself up to stand in front of his friend. "Of course. It's been useful too often to get rid of."
"Good, we need to go pretend to be WEI employees and legal guardians of our poor younger siblings." There was a wicked gleam in Duo's eyes.
"And after we do that?"
"We go figure out who's really doing the vandalism to the houses, and we kick their asses. Then we go point out to the Stones just how stupid they are. Then we get this stupid mandate repealed, and Une gets her Preventer's office on this colony." Trowa could almost see the practical jokes, the break-ins and the fun that Duo was imagining would go along with each step.
"That will take months, if not years." Trowa pointed out, then immediately cursed himself as some of the light left Duo's eyes. He hadn't meant to dampen the other man's feelings.
"Yes, it will, it's worth it though. I was prepared to stay years if I had to. I guess you didn't really understand what you were signing up for." There was a disappointment in Duo's voice and expression, and Trowa felt like scum for having put it there. He had to fix this, now.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that maybe we need to get the others in on this at the start. Une would be more than happy to put us on the roster as field agents. That way we get paychecks, which will help keep the supplies coming. Then we'd be able to legally access classified information about the people here, and add to it as time goes on." Duo's eyes had widened as Trowa spoke, hope filtering in until he was smiling brightly. Trowa felt relief flood through him, even as he continued with his mission strategy.
"If we have all the information at the beginning, and pool it as we go along, it could cut months off the time required, not to mention that everyone would be angry at us if we left them out. Especially Heero and Une."
Duo shuddered, and Trowa had to agree. Having those two resentful for being left out was not beneficial to the health of other ex-pilots.
"Ok. I'll call them when we get the last ID's and hack into the police network to get the facts from the vandalism cases."
Trowa nodded, and found himself looking strait at Duo. He realized for the first time that he hadn't cared how long he would be staying. What they were talking about could easily stretch out to a years-long operation. Duo was serious about turning this colony around, no matter how long it took. Looking into himself, Trowa knew that he was here for the long haul. He looked into those beautiful, deep indigo eyes, and saw a lifetime stretch out before him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo didn't know what to make of Trowa's expression. Once the fear of him leaving had passed, Duo had been awed by the clear thinking as Trowa outlined a viable plan. He tried to tap down the joy that was coursing through him with every word that smooth voice said.
Now they were staring at each other silently, and Duo didn't dare move. Slowly, Trowa started leaning towards him, and Duo held his breath. As those green eyes came closer, his own eyes closed and he felt the whisper of a touch as Trowa's lips brushed over his, just once.
The warmth moved away, and his eyes snapped open to see Trowa blushing and looking over his shoulder rather than at him. A heartbeat passed and their eyes met again. Duo was humbled by what he saw in that look.
"I'm here, for as long as you need me. Weeks, months, years, it doesn't matter. I just needed you to know that." With that Trowa moved away, leaving Duo alone with his thoughts.
Said thoughts consisted entirely of:WOW! He kissed me! He's staying! WOW!
It was a while before the loop expanded to include anything else. And by then Trowa had everything set up for them to impersonate WEI employees, and the kids rounded up, and cleaned up. All Duo had to do was get his head out of the clouds and back into space where it belonged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
continued in part nine