A/n: Sorry I haven't kept up with this lately. I hope this chapter clears up any confusion. By the way: I'm going to take out most of the political aspect of this story. It was originally supposed to revolve around that, but it's been too hard to write. If you have any questions, email me and I will answer them as best I can. Thank you. BTW- Please review! I don't like to push anymore, but I really like to see feedback!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Bandai, with whom I owe every Gundam story written. ^.^

Mission: Cowgirls and Garters?

Politicians, Dinner, and...Secrets: Part 2

Duo blinked in confusion. What did Ruth mean? The Gundam Pilots had to change the future--their pasts--in order to keep mankind from disappearing almost altogether. How was that supposed to happen? And they were supposed to do all this without the aid of their Gundams.

Heero leaned against the wall of the restaurant. Another mission that he could handle. How couldn't he? All his other missions he had completed, with extra to fill the gap between a mediocre job and an excelled one. This would be a piece of cake.

"How will we be able to do this?" Duo questioned.

"Look," she said, defiantly, "you will listen to the quick version of what you need to do, and then I'll give you the long drawn-out one. Got it?"

Duo sighed. Heero gave her a relaxed death glare.

"Okay. It goes like this..."

~~***~~

Ten minutes later, Duo, Heero and Ruth were seated back at the table. The politic conversation had struck up again.

"Duke," Ruth asked politely, taking a sip of water, "what is this about a feud against the government? Is there anything to stop Washington from keeping people away from this area of the country?"

"No!" he yelled, standing up and banging his fists on the table. "They think that we don't need funds and that this area is unsafe!"

Thomas Kosura spoke up. "Well, if that's the case, you can be the head of your own government and separate from the rest of the United States."

Heero looked into Rachel's deep blue eyes. She looked away and blushed slightly. Her hands reached for the petite glass of water that sat before her and drank, not making any more eye contact with the mysterious stranger.

"Calm down," Trowa said, Quatre at his side with pleading aqua eyes. "This can be settled without the presence of women." He looked at Ruth, whose piercing midnight blue eyes glared at him. With the exception of Ruth, he told himself.

"We shall meet again, all of you."

"Count on it," Duo growled under his breath.

~~

Everyone who was sitting at the Romefeller table left the restaurant. The party of government officials left in three different carriages, leaving the Gundam pilots and Ruth alone at the entrance.

She was thoroughly tired and extremely stressed, not to mention tired of being in heels and hearing people yell. She rubbed her temples as she looked down the dusty road, gazing at the blinking stars, feeling a migraine start to penetrate her mind.

"Let's go," she said, walking slowly down the road. No one had objections.

~~***~~

Back in Duo and Quatre's apartment, the whole gang piled in the living room and sat around Ruth, who was still dressed in her midnight blue dress. She raked a hand through her hair, which had been pulled from a messy bun.

"Heero, make me a drink, please. Duo, I need to borrow some clothes, since mine are in my room and I'm too lazy to get them, let alone walk another two steps in these bloody heels." At the thought, she pried off her shoes, dropping them on the floor with a satisfying 'thump'.

Heero left for the kitchen, and Duo thought about the vision of Ruth in his clothes. He noticed that the other pilots were waiting for him to go. Ruth paused and looked at him strangely, about to tell the other pilots the story that she had told pilots 1 and 2 earlier.

Duo laughed and left quickly, hoping not to show his embarrassment.

Ruth started to speak to them, when Duo came back with his clothes folded over one arm. He carried a pair of black jeans and a priest-collared shirt for her, laying on top was a black elastic band for her hair. He put it down at her feet and whispered in her ear. "I'll be back in a minute to help you...situate yourself."

"Do and die, Maxwell," she whispered back and continued talking to the rest of the group.

Duo walked into the kitchen, lazily sitting atop one of the counters. "Hiya, Heero!"

"Hn."

"Are you making me food?"

"No."

"Please?!?"

"Hn."

Duo jumped off the counter and hugged his shoulder, looking into the pissed soldier's eyes. "Please?"

"Go away, baka."

"I'm hungry!"

"You just ate."

Duo huffed and walked out of the kitchen. He stared at the three men in the living room and sighed. All five of the Gundam pilots had stayed together since the war and became their own family, since they all had little or none left. A true family they were, all brothers and friends.

"Is something the matter, Duo?" Quatre asked quietly.

"Nothing, it's nothing." His voice perked up a bit, the mask of the perfect joker placed on his whole psyche. "Just wondering if this place will ever get room service!"

The room filled with laughter, mostly from Quatre and Duo, since Wufei and Trowa's wasn't especially loud.

Ruth appeared by Duo's side, but he hadn't seen her yet. She looked at the hard laugh lines that etched his face, making him look so much older than he really was. Ruth knew that there was something he was hiding, and she would soon find it out.

"Duo..." She reached up and brushed aside some of the bangs on his face. "What's wrong?"

The others had enveloped themselves into a conversation and were oblivious to Ruth and Duo.

Duo suddenly jerked back from the warm touch on his cool skin. He blinked at the sight of Ruth in his tight clothing.

"I look like you, don't I?" she asked, swinging her ebony braid to the front of her shoulder.

"Yeah," he said as he mentally gaped at her. "It...it fits you."

"Like a glove." Ruth leaned a bit closer to him and made him walk a bit down the hall to where they could have a bit of privacy.

"I heard about you. You, Duo Maxwell. You were a sexy man, one who knew no fear. You joked around most the time, but in a flash you could be the most solemn person in the universe."

Duo smiled. "Yes, you could say that," he said, feeling a little uneasy about telling this woman about his...past.

"But you never fell in love."

"Didn't I?" He thought about Hilde and how close they were, but their relationship never went anywhere out of friendship.

"No." Ruth stared into his violet eyes. "You and the Gundam pilots were killed in an abandoned warehouse. Your bodies were found in a small room with a computer--"

"Shit." Duo fell against the wall. "Do they know that?"

"Not that much, no. I thought you might want to know, though." She didn't want to admit that she was closest to him out of all the others, that she could relate with him the best. She paused, holding her breath for a moment and exhaling slowly. How could she say this without him blowing up in her face?

"Duo?"

"Yes?"

"You need to revert the past. Change things that happen now so that they can be different and you don't have to die. So there doesn't have to be a war. So you can fall in love." I really shouldn't be worried about him. After all, he *is* a Gundam pilot.

"What if I wanted to die? Did you ever think about that?" Duo closed his eyes and tried to push away demanding thoughts.

"But, your friends, Duo."

At that moment, Heero walked into the living room, a serving tray in his hands. It held one glass of ice and brown liquid, a cup of tea, four glasses of water and a few sandwiches.

"Hey, Duo!" Quatre called from the living room. "Heero made you some food. C'mon out here!"

Back in the hallway, near his room, Duo threw a glare back at Ruth. He walked slowly to the living room.

The black-haired woman watched his retreating form with concern. That's not like him. She gazed as he raked a hand through his hair and told the pilots he wasn't hungry. Not like him at all.

~~***~~

A chestnut haired five year old ran threw Green Park, a loaf of bread in his little hands. He skipped past a fountain and jumped over a sleeping dog. He laughed with joy as he passed a bald man sitting on a bench.

The boy ran down city streets of the colony L2.

"Duo!"

The boy ran faster as he heard the call of his name from an older man.

"Get back here!"

Duo ran down a back alley, looking for a place to hide from him. Where was a place he could fit in? He saw a large pile of trash and dug himself into it, holding his nose at the stench of rotting materials.

"Boy! Don't you go hidin' from me!"

The scared five-year-old dug deeper into the pile. He hid his face from the small sliver of light coming from one of the holes in a trash bag.

"Duo." The man changed his tone when he saw the pile of trash. He knew the boy would hide here, since it was a dead end. He suddenly spotted a long braid-like rope in the pile.

Knowing better than thinking it was a rope, the man pulled violently on it.

Duo gasped, the air escaping his lungs at once. He clenched his teeth as the man pulled harder and started yelling at him.

"It is your responsibility to get to work and not steal, like you just did. Now you must receive your punishment."

The man punched him in the stomach with a wryly grin on his face. He knew the boy could do nothing to him.

"You just wait. I'm gonna cut off that pretty woman braid you've got there..."

Another boy, about nine years old, walked towards the site. His dark green eyes watched the scene in front of him, but it was the words that hurt him the most.

"Get away from him!"

The man looked up from the battered boy to the young red-head. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Solo, Duo's brother. Now get away from him!"

"Or what?" The man challenged. "You gonna hurt me?"

Duo cringed as the man let go of his precious braid and curled into a ball in the corner. The man advanced and threw a right hook at his left eye.

Solo reached for his gun. "Get away from him," he said flatly.

"You don't know how to shoot that!"

"Wanna bet?"

The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the colony of L2.

~~***~~

Duo shot up in bed. He was in a cold sweat. What was I thinking? He felt around in hot pursuit for his braid. He felt a long, rope-like cord under his fingertips.

The braided teen sighed heavily. His eyes looked around in the darkness, settling on the shadowed candlestick and matches at his bedside.

"I need a drink."

He rose and felt his way to the kitchen. Inside, he opened the icebox, grabbing a large flask of whiskey. Duo chugged down the chilled alcohol. It burned its way down his throat, but felt unusually satisfying. He winced in slight pain.

Duo turned around, careful not to go too quickly, gulping down the brown liquid still. He noticed a figure silhouetted against the pale moonlight.

"Uhh... hello...Quatre," he slurred.

A strong feminine voice replied coolly to his uncanny speech. "You shouldn't drink before bed, and you of all people should know that, Maxwell."

He cursed. "How did you get in here?" he asked, backing up into a counter.

"I live down the hall, genius." Ruth stepped from her hiding place into candle-light. Her features were lit by a pale yellow glow, making her tan skin and nice golden tone. Her eyes caught the gold light, making them a slight green.

"Sorry to interrupt your abuse of alcohol, but I need you to know something."

Duo's eyes darkened. "Like what?"

"You have no idea how many lives you will save if you take this mission. It was destined to come about anyway. Everyone knew what happened in the past would somehow effect the events of the future, but they weren't sure if they should've given out the mission. Suddenly they decided to go along with it. I was sent first, but then you guys found the deleted copy.

"If you hadn't found it, you wouldn't be in this position."

"I knew it," Duo said, sighing. "I just knew it would be bad news."

"Duo, there are a lot of people that care about you, whether you know it or not." Her voice softened and her eyes locked with his. "I do, too, ya know. Please do this, Duo. I--we--need you."

Duo rolled his eyes, not really understanding what she meant. "Talk to Winner about this. I'm sure he will save everyone's future."


~~TBC