Promenade

By: Lady Camigwen

-Chapter 1-

Duo Maxwell struggled to keep his eyes open as the meeting continued. Bored, he glanced around the room at the other people at the table.

Mr. Perfect Soldier, Heero Yuy, sat up straight with his arms folded, eyes wide open, fully awake. Or so it seemed. Duo could've sworn that the guy could sleep standing up and with his eyes open as well.

Trowa Barton starred off into space, his mind obviously wandering. Quatre Raberba Winner blinked and leaned his head on one arm, trying his best to stay awake. Chang WuFei, on the other hand, had conked out five minutes into the meeting along with, shockingly, Relena Dorlian.

Besides Heero, the only other person that appeared to be wide-awake was that girl. What was it that Lieutenant Johnson had called her? Oh yes, the 'Ice Queen'.

Duo never got around to learning her name. Someone probably mentioned it to him before, but he was really bad with names. Hell, he'd called Trowa's sister Catherine 'Carmon' until recently when Quatre had corrected him.

'Now that I thought about, her name was Harmony, or something like that,' he thought to himself as his eye lids became heavier, and heavier, and heavier, and...

"Colonel Maxwell!"

His eyes snapped open and he sat up straight in his chair. He smiled sheepishly at Lady Une. "Yes ma'am?"

Une sighed and motioned towards the 'Ice Queen', who shot a glare Duo's way. "You'll be with Colonel Tenou on this one. I expect your reports in by Tuesday of next week. Dismissed!"

Duo yawned and stood up from his chair and strode over to the 'Ice Queen'. "Yo, Harmony, I guess we're partnered up for the assignment, eh?"

"Excuse me," she said in an embittered tone of voice. "The name's Haruka, not Harmony, got it? And yes, we're partnered up, incase you weren't listening and needed to double-check."

He glared at her, then grinned. "Sorry, but I didn't catch your name yesterday when you barged into my office."

Haruka flinched. That was his office?

He laughed at her. "I might've gotten it if I had a chance to ask, but no, you had to go and vanish into thin air."

She flinched again.

"Man, do you pop in and out quickly. Could've at least said hello."

"Look, I can explain," she said quickly, panic evident in her features. "First of all, I'm sorry. Secondly, what you saw was the figment of your imagination. I...er...dashed out the door and the blue light was caused by the...um...angle of the lamp."

He blinked and raised an eyebrow at her. "I never said I saw a blue light."

Her eyes widened, but quickly formed a glare. She grabbed her notebook from the table and stomped out the door past him, muttering to herself angrily.

Duo laughed at her and shook his head. "That is one seriously weird chick."

+§¤§+

"That little...grr!" She tossed her notebook at the wall as soon as she flung the door to her office open.

So Duo Maxwell was this 'Braided Baka' she'd heard about, eh? An excellent pilot from the L2 Colony Cluster with a mouth that never shuts up or runs out of idiotic things to say.

Great. Just great. Here she was, nearly having a heart attack about seeing Michiru in three weeks for the first time in nearly twelve years, and she was stuck working with the Preventers greatest baka!

She sighed and calmed herself, retrieving the notebook from its fallen place on the floor and stomped out the door.

+§¤§+

Duo plopped down into his chair and flipped the power switch to his computer on.

Man, this was gonna be a tuffie. Working with the infamous 'Ice Queen' herself. He'd have to watch out, he'd heard from Johnson that she once jabbed a fork into a man's throat when she was stationed at the base in Richmond, Virginia.

Oh well, nothing the great Shinigami couldn't handle. He'd been though worse, and if he could put up with Heero and WuFei's crap, he could put up with Haruka's.

If she even thought about coming near him with a fork, he'd get the Deathscythe and... oh yeah, scratch that. No one's supposed to know, outside of the five Gundam Pilots, Zechs Merquise, Lucrezia Noin, Sally Po, and Lady Une, that the new Gundams were almost near completion. Or that he was one of the Gundam Pilots.

Shortly after that little incident with Mariemaia Kushrinada and the Barton Foundation, they had all decided to keep their identities secret. It had started with Quatre not wanting to reveal himself as the pilot of Sandrock, due to his position at the head of his father's company. Duo and the others soon agreed also, and those who knew their identity were sworn to secrecy.

He yawned and leaned back in his chair to take a little nap when a knock at the door prevented him from doing so. He groaned and sat up. "Come in!"

Haruka swung the door open and stepped in, placing a piece of paper on his desk.

Duo picked it up and looked it over. "And this is...?"

She grinned. "Notes on the assignment; I xeroxed you a copy. You looked like you were about to fall asleep back there, so I assumed you didn't here most of what Lady Une had to say."

He rolled his eyes at her and tucked the paper into the mess of his desk drawer. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she smirked and stifled a laugh.

He rolled his eyes once more. Man, she was annoying and rude. "Is that all, Haruka?"

She nodded and left, but not before calling out, "Hangar Bay #12 at 5 AM. Don't be late Maxwell!"

"Don't be late Maxwell," he mimicked in a squeaky, girlish sounding voice. "Let's see you not be late. 5 AM, you've got to be kidding!"

+§¤§+

The next day, 8:30 AM...

"Finally you show up. Thought you could leave the hard part to me, eh?"

Duo trudged lazily into the bay. He had been up till 2 AM working on the wiring in the Deathscythe. He had a reason to be late...but he couldn't tell her that. Just let her think what she wants, for now.

Haruka tossed him a wrench, which he caught and shot her a confused look. "Oh, I see you didn't read the notes I gave you. Otherwise, you would've known about the part were we have to install the new stealth system into these two Leopards over here."

He glanced over to the two Leopards, the latest mobile suit model, then back to Haruka. "New stealth system?"

She nodded. "Yeah that's right. You do know what a stealth system is, right?"

He glared at her.

"Hmm... let's see, how can I sum it up for your simple minded brain?" She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall behind her. "Oh yes, its sort of like a cloaking device that makes something invisible like on Star Trek. You do know what Star Trek is, right? It was a show that was on in the mid 20th century and spawned various sequels, prequals, movies and..."

"I know what Star Trek is, Haruka!" He yelled, fed up with her attempts to torment him. "You just happen to be looking at one of the biggest fanatics of 20th and 21st century television, music, and art!"

She blinked, that was unexpected. Biggest fanatic? Hmm... maybe she'd piss him off more by telling him she's been to a couple Papa Roach concerts. Nah, she'd let that one wait until she figured out an explanation that didn't include 'I'm 191 years old' and 'not of this Earth'.

"Hey, Duo!"

Gladly, Duo tossed the wrench back to Haruka and made his way over to the other side of the bay where Quatre was waving to him.

Quatre frowned at Duo's expression. "Something the matter?"

He sighed. "No, nothings wrong. Except I'm stuck working with the iciest, rudest, annoyingest person on the face of the planet and I've only known her for barley two days!" He leaned on the railing and placed his head in his hands. "I can't take much more of this."

The blonde pilot laughed. "I'm guessing you mean Haruka Tenou. She's actually very nice once you get to know her."

Duo's head shot up. "She's nice to you?"

Quatre blinked. "Er...yeah. She plays the piano...why?"

He groaned. "She's aggravating, does nothing but insult me every time I'm around her. I'm beginning to see why she's called the 'Ice Queen'."

"Maybe she just doesn't like you or perhaps..." Quatre trailed off and leaned on the railing as well.

Duo turned to him. "Perhaps what?"

Quatre sighed. "Don't tell her I said this, but, perhaps you remind her of someone she once knew. She had a pretty traumatic life, from what she's told me. She lost all her friends, family, everything. Even the one she loved. Duo, if she's mean to you, don't let it get to you too much. She's probably just letting off steam."

"A lot of steam, if you ask me." Duo replied, but quickly shut up as Quatre glared at him. "Alright, alright, I'll be nice. I'll be a good Shinigami, I promise."

Quatre nodded and smiled. "Oh, Heero wants us all to meet in the...you know. The final shipment of...er...titanium has arrived."

"Titanium...oh! Right, yes, got it. What time?"

"Midnight, as usual."

Duo groaned. "I might have to leave early, considering when Haruka over there wants to work on the assignment. She wanted me here at 5 this morning...I was here at 8. I don't see what the big deal is. Not like we're doing anything important."

Quatre laughed. "Not important!? Duo, do you ever pay attention at meetings? You and Haruka are testing the new stealth technology out on the Leopard Suits. This could mean the Preventers could survey without making the civilians panic and think there's an on coming attack."

"Oh."

"I have to admit, even I get sleepy during meetings, but I still try to stay awake. And at least I'm not scared to ask Ms. Une what the assignment is if I didn't hear it, rather than guessing and following everyone's lead."

Duo smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He glanced over to the other side of the bay and sighed. "Well, I best get back or else the 'Ice Queen' might jab a fork into my throat."

"Fork?"

Duo shrugged and walked back over to Haruka.

She glanced over at him, but quickly returned to her work, trying her best to concentrate on something else besides the fact that Michiru was coming in three weeks. She sighed. This was going to be a long three weeks.

"Need a hand?" Duo asked as he kneeled down next to her.

"Nope," she said as she stood up and whipped the sweat from her forehead. "I completed the task. Since I did the installing, you can start the report."

He groaned, but didn't argue. "Alright."

She glanced at him and shook her head, turning and walking out the door of the bay.

He sighed. "Finally she's gone."

"Oh, and Maxwell, be here at 7 AM. Maybe you'll actually make it on time!"

He groaned and let his head drop. This was going to be a long three weeks.

**TBC**

Disclaimer: I do not have delusions of owning Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon.

Author's Note: Special thanks to WindRider-Damia, Z.Z Zarah, Ally-chan, The Sky Ruler, and Zero-Vision for review the prologue to the fic. Thanks guys! =D