Author's Note: I'm back! Well, sorry about this chapter taking a while, but Trin said she wanted to write it, but she didn't get around to it for ages, so she finally said, 'ok, why don't you write the chapters up, and stuff.' Course, there are still some things that Trin has a right to write. (HAHA! That sounds funny . . .) but now she works mainly as my editor and humor helper, if that makes any sense to y'all out there! Newayz, here's chapter 2! I think you'll like this one! *warning, slight heero and duo bashing, if you can even call it that, and a little anti- quatre stuff . . . oh yeah, and trowa's OOC, well, they're all ooc*

Chapter 2 - Crashes and . . . Cross-dressers?

"Sit down." Wufei glared at Quatre. "You've been pacing for the last ten minutes."

"That's what I do when I think. Give me a break." Quatre was dressed in a pink shirt at khaki pants. He was pacing the length of a comfortable sitting room. He passed the fireplace, fire blazing in the hearth, looked at Trowa for a second, then turned on his heel and started walking back towards Wufei who was sitting in a comfortable chair on the other side of the room. Trowa was leaning against the wall in a green shirt and blue jeans, and Wufei had opted for his white rustic Chinese attire. Quatre sighed and sat down in a chair next to Wufei.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm worrying too much about this. I mean, it's a simple enough assignment for Heero and Duo to carry out, right?" Wufei and Trowa, who had come over and sat down in another nearby chair, both nodded. "But have you noticed lately how Doctor J had been sending out Heero and Duo together, and the three of us into different pairs, or a group of three? It's almost like he wants to make sure they work together well as a team. And why did he choose to have the girls rendezvous with them on a mission? Couldn't they have come by themselves? I don't know . . . it's all a little suspicious to me . . ."

"You know what Quatre?" Trowa spoke up. "You worry too much."

The three of them laughed, even if Quatre's laugh was a little nervous, and slightly shrill.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Heero's head whipped around and looked behind him. He watched the receding form of a telephone pole until it disappeared behind a hill, which couldn't have taken more than 30 seconds. When he spoke, his voice was tight with nervousness and anger.

"Do you know how close we were to hitting that pole?!"

"Yep," Zara answered absently, "we were a mile away."

Heero let out a nervous half-laugh that sounded more like he was choking on something than anything else. "That's a new definition of a mile. I'd say it was about 2 feet."

"Uh huh, missed it by a mile."

Heero sat farther back on the seat, wondering what sort of death wish he had, riding with this insane driver. "Oh my God," he whispered under his breath. But whatever else he did, he made sure he had a good hold on Zara's waist. At the speed she was going, he would have fallen off if he didn't . . .

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Duo gulped as he had a sudden thought. Making sure his gaze stayed toward the front, on the pretense of concentrating on the road in front of him as he sped towards the safehouse on the motorbike, he addressed the girl sitting behind him.

"Trinity?" She made no sound, but Duo carried on, assuming that she had heard him. "Um . . . h-how do I know that that snake of yours won't, ya know . . . hurt me?"

Trinity laughed outright at that. Duo didn't know anything about snakes if he thought that a vine snake could cause him serious harm. But she decided to have fun and torture him anyway. "Oh, You don't need to worry about Bob. He's just a vine snake. He's practically harmless, barely bites, and he's not poisonous, anyway," she continued as she pushed down her left sleeve, "I wouldn't be so sure about her though . . ." A brown snake, a smallish cobra to be exact, uncoiled from around her arm, wrapped itself around Duo's neck, and stared him straight in the face.

"Oh my God! Get this thing out of my face!" If Duo had turned around, he would have seen Trinity with sadistic smile plastered all over her face, enjoying his discomfort. She intended to leave that snake there for a long time . . .

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Heero was amazed that Zara had gotten them this far without killing both of them. They were almost at the safehouse. There were a few other close calls, but nothing like the telephone pole incident.

His head whipped around for the 5th time during this motorcycle ride from hell. The sound of squealing tires followed them. "My God. You just ran a red light!"

"I did? Really? I wasn't paying attention. Did anyone crash?"

Heero was utterly gob smacked by Zara's light and almost dreamy tone. "No . . ."

"Are there any sirens or flashing lights following us?"

Heero looked behind him just to check. "No . . ."

"Okay. It's all good then." She shrugged slightly.

Heero rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "God, she's worse than Duo."

Thankfully, she didn't hear.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Duo put a finger in his collar and pulled it away from his neck. He had finally managed to get Trinity to take the snake off from around his neck by threatening her with crashing if he couldn't see the road. But now he had a different problem . . .

"Grab hold of my waist," he tried to convince Trinity to hold on to him, but she wouldn't touch him.

"What? Why?"

"Cause I can't go any faster if you don't, or you'll fall off." His tone was as if he was talking to a little child. All that did was make matters worse.

"So, what if I don't want you to go faster? What's the rush?"

Duo sighed before continuing. They had already had this conversation twice. "I need to go faster, or we won't get to the safehouse in time."

"In time for what?"

But Duo had had enough. He sped up without answering her question. He hoped that the sudden increase of speed would make Trinity grab whatever she could to keep herself on, namely, him. But he was out of luck. She still wouldn't touch him.

"DUO! Slow down!"

"No." In reply, he sped up more. He wasn't going to be late just because some idiot girl wouldn't grab hold of his waist. His plan didn't work out exactly how he expected. Trinity yelped and suddenly had a deathgrip on his hair.

"OOOOOWW!!!! Leggo of my hair!"

"Slow down first!"

"Okay." Duo then slammed the brakes causing two things to happen very quickly. One, Trinity let go of his hair and two her face was suddenly jammed into his shoulder. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and started muttering darkly. Duo couldn't hear what she was saying. Then again, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear. Zara certainly had a language problem, and he wasn't sure if her teammate's language would be the same . . . Either way, it was better than her falling off the back. Except for one thing . . .

"Uh, Trinity," Duo managed to gasp, "I kinda need to breathe, you know." Duo coughed and gasped for air, but still Trinity's arms were wrapped tight around him, inhibiting his breathing. So he tried again.

"Trinity, loosen your arms, would you?" Her face was still buried against his right shoulder, and she was still muttering incoherently. Duo coughed again, and yelled at her, hoping that she would hear and pity him.

"I can't breathe! Loosen your arms, God dammit!" He felt Trinity's arms loosen against his ribs and took in a full deep breath, thinking it the breath of life. As he revved up the bike again he didn't hear Trinity's chuckle.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

"Hey, Heero! Lookie, we're almost there! See, I told you I wouldn't get us killed!" Zara called back triumphantly to the disgruntled Gundam pilot.

"You gave it a damn good try, though," he replied scathingly.

Zara replied with a half laugh as she pulled into the long driveway. When she reached the end, she braked suddenly and turned the back wheel of the motorcycle in 180 degrees, leaving a black streak behind it.

"Oh, very discreet," Heero said after he got off.

"Thank you. And, you know, I would appreciate a little less sarcasm on your part, Mr. Perfect Soldier. What did I ever do to you?"

Heero raised his eyebrows as two good replies came to mind, but he didn't really want any more trouble with a girl with an attitude problem that would soon be his teammate. He left it at raising his eyebrows as he walked inside the moderately sized house. Zara waited until Trinity and Duo pulled into the driveway.

"So Trin, how was it? I'll bet you had a better time than me. Stupid old Heero Yuy thinks he's so much better than me."

"Oh, don't worry." It was Duo who answered her. Trin was still clutching his waist, apparently not aware the ride had ended. "He thinks that about everyone. Wufei's worse, though. And he's sexist . . ." he added as an afterthought. "Now, uh . . . could you do me a favor and get her off of me. It wasn't enough that she nearly asfixated (a/n Duo means asphyxiated, or choked) me, but now she won't get off."

Zara walked around and laid a cajoling hand on Trinity's shoulder. "C'mon Trin. It's over now. We're here. Speaking of which, we need to go and meet the other pilots." Trin disengaged herself wordlessly and, looking relieved, headed into the safehouse without another word.

"What's her problem?" Duo asked Zara. Zara looked away for a second before replying.

"She, uh. . .doesn't like guys. . ." She looked down towards the ground.

"What?!" Duo seemed to think this wasn't possible. . .a girl that didn't like guys. . .He then laughed slightly, "Um, she's not a lesbian, is she?" Zara's head snapped up and she replied.

"I don't think so, I mean, well . . . she's never tried to hit on me," She shrugged, "Just let her get used to ya. If you didn't scare her off, that is." Zara flashed a wry smile at the Gundam pilot.

"Would I ever?" For some reason, Duo found her smile infectious, and was smiling himself.

"I think I scared away Heero. Amazing what a little crazy driving can do, eh?" She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed. When the sound of her laughter died away, she found herself staring into Duo's eyes. There wasn't a single noise. She didn't normally like silence, but somehow, right now it was okay.

"I, uh, I guess we'd better be going in now," Duo spoke up after a few seconds.

"Yeah. Then you'll get to introduce me to all your lovely friends."

"Trust me, I don't think you'll want to know some of them . . ."

"Where's your spirit of adventure, o mighty Gundam pilot?" At that remark, they both started laughing. There was something about Duo, his roguish smile and easy laughter that Zara knew that she had just made a friend for life. He offered her his arm, and she took it without thinking. They walked into the safehouse together.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Quatre had finally decided to stop pacing and thinking about conspiracies, and had sat down with pencil and pad in hand to work on his latest poem. Trowa and Wufei were engaged in an exceptionally close game of chess. The last thing any of them expected was Heero Yuy to come staggering in the door, looking like he had just been dragged through a bush backwards. He closed the door behind him and addressed the three Gundam pilots with wide eyes and slack jaws.

"Two girls. Zara O'Reiley and Trinity Charton. Never, never, never ride with Zara. She's worse than Duo."

"Worse than the braided baka?" Wufei asked incredulously. "That'll be the day. Trust a woman to drive worse than him."

Trowa sniggered before speaking. "You look like you've just survived the Independence War. Somehow, I don't doubt it."

Quatre didn't say anything. He was still buried in his poetry.

The next second, the door slammed opened, and a very disgruntled Trinity walked in. She didn't say a word to any of them, but walked straight to the fire and sat in front of it, watching the red and orange flames licking the wood, she half smiled at the fire. Trowa gave Wufei a lewd smile and nudged him in the ribs. He leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"That's your kind of woman. Silent and has an attitude problem." He moved away before Wufei could lash out at him. Heero stifled a laugh. Then the 5 of them heard laughter in the hallway. The guys recognized the deep easy laugh of Duo while Trinity could easily identify the high bell like laughter of Zara. She stared suspiciously at the door.

Out in the hallway, Zara let go of Duo's arm and raised her eyebrows before they entered the room.

"What would the guys say if they saw us walking in like that?"

"I dunno. But don't listen to them. They make fun of me all the time."

"You probably deserve it."

"HEY!" Zara walked into the room ahead of him, laughing.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

At almost midnight, the seven of them were all relaxing in the homely main room where they had all met earlier that day. Quatre was still working on his poetry, and, to Duo and Heero's surprise, Trinity was sitting next to him, even giving him assistance with a few lines. Duo and Heero were talking conspiratorially about the whole situation, while Wufei was sitting at the other end of the table, chemistry book in hand. Apparently, they had a big test on Monday. Zara was stretched out on the couch, getting to know Trowa, who was perched on the arm of the couch by her head. They could all hear snatches of conversation between Trinity and Quatre.

" . . .the green-blue depths of her eyes like the silent waters of the sea," Quatre recited.

"The sea on a sunny day, or a cloudy day? On a sunny day, the sea is more of a crystal blue . . ."

"Oh, nice description . . ."

"But on cloudy days it's more of a grayish green, wouldn't you think?"

"Hm . . . Now that I think about it, yes."

"Can we do one about fire now?" Trinity asked anxiously. "Please?"

Duo opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and made a movement like he was going to be sick. Then he beckoned for Zara to come over by him and Heero. Zara stood up and walked over to them.

"So, Zara," Duo started when she arrived, "what's Trinity doing with Quatre?"

"Writing poetry, what does it look like?"

"Thank you, smart ass. But you told me she doesn't like to hang around guys."

"Yeah," Zara continued uncertainly, "and that has to do with this how?" She paused then realized what Duo was getting at. Her eyes widened almost comically, and her jaw went slack. "Nuh-uh. No way. Quatre's not . . ."

Duo snorted with laughter. "You two thought Quatre was a girl?!"

"Well," Heero interjected, "it's not so hard. Just look at him."

"Good point. So," Duo rounded on Zara again, who had managed to get her face under control again, "when are you going to break the news to Trinity?"

"Well, I for one think this is good for her. Getting to know a guy and all . . ." she trailed of when she saw the looks that Duo and Heero gave her. "Fine, fine. But if I come back with a bloody nose, I'm going to blame the two of you for it!" Duo grabbed her shoulder and spun her around and pushed her towards Trinity.

Zara reluctantly went and sat down beside Trinity. She whispered something behind her hand to her. Duo strained to hear what it was, but he couldn't make out a word. Wufei and Quatre were muttering to themselves about their respective work, and the fire was crackling. He couldn't hear anything above that racket. He had to bite back a laugh when Trinity dropped her pencil and turned her head to stare open-mouthed at Zara. Her head swiveled back to Quatre, then she stood up shakily, pushed her chair away and rushed out of the room.

Quatre looked questioningly at Zara. "Is she okay? She didn't look so good."

"She said she was feeling a little sick . . ."

Duo couldn't keep his laughter inside anymore. He burst out laughing uproariously, causing Wufei to glance up from his studies. "What's your problem, braided baka?" For some reason, that made Duo laugh all the more. Zara stood up and walked over to him, her face a picture. It looked like she was embarrassed and upset and trying not to laugh all at once. She walked straight to Duo and slapped him upside the head.

"That's not funny! Don't be a jerk to my friend. If we all have to live here for a while we better get along." She turned and walked out the door, shaking her head as she left.

"Smooth move, braid boy," Trowa commented after he was sure Zara was out of earshot. "Now you've scared them both away."

Author's Note: K folks, if you didn't get the whole Zara and Trin think Quatre's a girl thing, that comes not only from the fact that I thought he was a girl the first time I saw gw *embarrassed blushing* and that his Japanese voiceover, according to Trin, is a girl. I wouldn't know, having only seen the dubbed American version . . .

Well, hope you enjoyed today's episode of 'Nothing Lasts Forever . . .' This is DAY, over and out.

Ps. Don't forget to review!