Heero looked at his watch and sighed. Duo was ten minutes late going on
eleven. He had told him in the second email not to be late, but why break
the habit of a lifetime? The café waitresses bustled around annoyingly,
constantly asking him if there was anything he wanted even though he said
no every time. He finally gave in and ordered a coffee.
"Make that two", a voice said from behind. Heero looked back over his shoulder and saw Duo Maxwell grinning widely at him.
"'Sup Hee-chan?" he said as he sat opposite Heero on the red leather bench- seat.
"You're late" Heero replied bluntly.
"Nice to see you too. So what have you been up too for the past five years?"
"Nothing interesting. You?"
"Oh you know... illegal stuff."
"No change there then."
Duo smiled and leaned his elbows on the table. Heero noticed he was actually tanned, and his arms looked stronger than he remembered, but then again maybe his memories just weren't too accurate. Duo's braid was still the same as it had always been, un-practically long, soft and gorgeously shiny. To Duo, Heero looked just the same as he always had. Tanned, permanent scowl on his face and unruly brown hair. The green tank top was still in place, but Duo was glad to see that the spandex shorts had been replaced with black jeans.
"So," Duo sad, sipping the coffee "what exactly does this little mission involve?"
Heero looked cautiously around the café, leaned closer to Duo and spoke in a hushed voice.
"The company that's developing the mobile suit is on colony AT90. It's a small colony that most people haven't heard of, and those that have think it's mainly scrap and junk yards, basically an industrial dumping ground."
Duo took a cigarette out of his packet, and Heero frowned in disapproval. Duo shrugged, lit it and Heero continued.
"We basically need to get in there, get the info we need and get out before we're discovered. Shouldn't be too challenging."
"And how do we get in?" Duo asked, taking a drag on the cigarette and blowing out smoke rings. Something bumped his knee under the table and he glanced up at Heero who motioned down with his eyes. Duo reached under the table and took a piece of laminated card from Heero's hand. "False ID's. We pose as new workers, computer technicians. The head of the development is already expecting two new workers on Sunday afternoon. That's us, only he doesn't know what we're really there for, obviously."
Duo nodded and looked at the little card in his lap. The name said 'Duo Winner'.
"Dude, why have I got Quatre's surname?" he asked.
"It's safer than calling you 'Maxwell'. Don't complain, I got 'Dorlan'"
Duo grinned.
"So how is Miss Peacecraft these days?"
"Hell if I know. Look I didn't make up the names, that was Wufei."
"If you're still in touch with all the others, how come you only just bothered to get in touch with me?" Duo quizzed him, pouting. Heero shifted uncomfortably.
"Don't really know, I just... didn't. Anyway, we need to get to the colony by 4 pm on Sunday, are you in?"
Duo nodded, and a slight hint of a smile crept onto Heero's lips, before he realised what he was doing and pushed the smile out into oblivion, and the Perfect Soldier scowl replaced it. Duo was strangely disappointed; he had always liked to see Heero smile, it suited him in a strange way.
"Colony AT90 is two days away" Heero said "So we need to leave tomorrow morning."
"Sure" Duo replied as he finished off the last of his coffee. Heero slid a white envelope across the table to him and he took it.
"That's your flight ticket", he said as Duo inspected it carefully as though checking for microscopic explosives "meet me at the space port tomorrow at nine, okay?"
Duo almost choked.
"Nine?! I'm not usually up until at least one in the afternoon!"
"You really haven't changed, have you?" Heero said, smirking. Duo scowled back.
"Fine! Nine, okay, but don't blame me if I'm grouchy."
"I'll see you tomorrow then" Heero said, getting up from his seat. He left the café and Duo watched him cross the road through the window.
Duo stood, hands on hips, at the foot of his bed, glaring at the huge pile of clothes. Deciding what to pack for an undercover mission should have been easy, just take something that looked relatively inconspicuous and was practical. But when you have as many clothes as Duo Maxwell, the problem increases tenfold. He was currently debating whether to take the Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt or the Almighty one. In the end, he packed them both along with four pairs of black jeans, one pair of blue cut offs that were so short they should be illegal, a sleeveless Damned t-shirt, several black shirts and lots of socks and black-silk boxers.
Satisfied, he closed the holdall and made sure he had put his passport in the side pocket. He decided not to leave the house keys with his neighbours in case they went snooping and found his illegal stash of copied computer games, and stuffed them in the holdall beneath the mass of black socks. Better to be safe than sorry. He looked at the clock on the bedside cabinet and sighed. He should probably be getting some sleep now, considering he had an early start in the morning, but he wasn't tired. Instead, he plodded down to the kitchen, made himself some toast and leaned against the worktop while he ate it, staring into space and thinking about...
"Heero" he muttered, munching away on the slightly burnt toast.
The Japanese pilot had always hidden his true emotions from everyone, but every now and again he had slipped up while he was around Duo, almost as though he wanted Duo to know how he really felt about a situation. He only ever smiled, laughed and, once or twice, complimented another around Duo. And yet he had somehow 'forgotten' to keep in touch with him? Not that it mattered now. Duo finished the toast and made his way upstairs to bed.
"Make that two", a voice said from behind. Heero looked back over his shoulder and saw Duo Maxwell grinning widely at him.
"'Sup Hee-chan?" he said as he sat opposite Heero on the red leather bench- seat.
"You're late" Heero replied bluntly.
"Nice to see you too. So what have you been up too for the past five years?"
"Nothing interesting. You?"
"Oh you know... illegal stuff."
"No change there then."
Duo smiled and leaned his elbows on the table. Heero noticed he was actually tanned, and his arms looked stronger than he remembered, but then again maybe his memories just weren't too accurate. Duo's braid was still the same as it had always been, un-practically long, soft and gorgeously shiny. To Duo, Heero looked just the same as he always had. Tanned, permanent scowl on his face and unruly brown hair. The green tank top was still in place, but Duo was glad to see that the spandex shorts had been replaced with black jeans.
"So," Duo sad, sipping the coffee "what exactly does this little mission involve?"
Heero looked cautiously around the café, leaned closer to Duo and spoke in a hushed voice.
"The company that's developing the mobile suit is on colony AT90. It's a small colony that most people haven't heard of, and those that have think it's mainly scrap and junk yards, basically an industrial dumping ground."
Duo took a cigarette out of his packet, and Heero frowned in disapproval. Duo shrugged, lit it and Heero continued.
"We basically need to get in there, get the info we need and get out before we're discovered. Shouldn't be too challenging."
"And how do we get in?" Duo asked, taking a drag on the cigarette and blowing out smoke rings. Something bumped his knee under the table and he glanced up at Heero who motioned down with his eyes. Duo reached under the table and took a piece of laminated card from Heero's hand. "False ID's. We pose as new workers, computer technicians. The head of the development is already expecting two new workers on Sunday afternoon. That's us, only he doesn't know what we're really there for, obviously."
Duo nodded and looked at the little card in his lap. The name said 'Duo Winner'.
"Dude, why have I got Quatre's surname?" he asked.
"It's safer than calling you 'Maxwell'. Don't complain, I got 'Dorlan'"
Duo grinned.
"So how is Miss Peacecraft these days?"
"Hell if I know. Look I didn't make up the names, that was Wufei."
"If you're still in touch with all the others, how come you only just bothered to get in touch with me?" Duo quizzed him, pouting. Heero shifted uncomfortably.
"Don't really know, I just... didn't. Anyway, we need to get to the colony by 4 pm on Sunday, are you in?"
Duo nodded, and a slight hint of a smile crept onto Heero's lips, before he realised what he was doing and pushed the smile out into oblivion, and the Perfect Soldier scowl replaced it. Duo was strangely disappointed; he had always liked to see Heero smile, it suited him in a strange way.
"Colony AT90 is two days away" Heero said "So we need to leave tomorrow morning."
"Sure" Duo replied as he finished off the last of his coffee. Heero slid a white envelope across the table to him and he took it.
"That's your flight ticket", he said as Duo inspected it carefully as though checking for microscopic explosives "meet me at the space port tomorrow at nine, okay?"
Duo almost choked.
"Nine?! I'm not usually up until at least one in the afternoon!"
"You really haven't changed, have you?" Heero said, smirking. Duo scowled back.
"Fine! Nine, okay, but don't blame me if I'm grouchy."
"I'll see you tomorrow then" Heero said, getting up from his seat. He left the café and Duo watched him cross the road through the window.
Duo stood, hands on hips, at the foot of his bed, glaring at the huge pile of clothes. Deciding what to pack for an undercover mission should have been easy, just take something that looked relatively inconspicuous and was practical. But when you have as many clothes as Duo Maxwell, the problem increases tenfold. He was currently debating whether to take the Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt or the Almighty one. In the end, he packed them both along with four pairs of black jeans, one pair of blue cut offs that were so short they should be illegal, a sleeveless Damned t-shirt, several black shirts and lots of socks and black-silk boxers.
Satisfied, he closed the holdall and made sure he had put his passport in the side pocket. He decided not to leave the house keys with his neighbours in case they went snooping and found his illegal stash of copied computer games, and stuffed them in the holdall beneath the mass of black socks. Better to be safe than sorry. He looked at the clock on the bedside cabinet and sighed. He should probably be getting some sleep now, considering he had an early start in the morning, but he wasn't tired. Instead, he plodded down to the kitchen, made himself some toast and leaned against the worktop while he ate it, staring into space and thinking about...
"Heero" he muttered, munching away on the slightly burnt toast.
The Japanese pilot had always hidden his true emotions from everyone, but every now and again he had slipped up while he was around Duo, almost as though he wanted Duo to know how he really felt about a situation. He only ever smiled, laughed and, once or twice, complimented another around Duo. And yet he had somehow 'forgotten' to keep in touch with him? Not that it mattered now. Duo finished the toast and made his way upstairs to bed.