Chapter Three

"...And then Duo.." Another burst of laughter emerged from the group of officers crowded around the doughnut box in the break room. Despite the fact that all of the had to have been at the party last night, and had witnessed the incident their leader was recounting, it still seemed to be incredibly funny. Wufei practically growled in annoyance. He certainly hadn't woken up in the best of moods that morning, and the feeling had only grown through the morning. Much to his annoyance, most of it was caused by the fact that he couldn't even force himself to look Quatre in the eye right now. So, of course the blonde had interpreted this as being angry with him for trying to force Wufei to go to the party and had spent most of the morning leaving little apology notes all over Wufei's desk when he had failed to get Wufei to speak with him.

Which made Wufei feel even worse. Yes, this day was going to hell very quickly. In Wufei's mind there was no possible way this could get worse, and predictably it did. Lady Une had called him into her office.

Expecting her usual lecture about at least trying to get along with his co-workers, Wufei marched himself into her office with a resigned look. Before even taking a look around he simply began, "Not that you would care, Une, but I'm having the world's worst day. This is really not the time to try discussing office politi--cs..." He stopped short, seeing a very recognizable, bright blonde man sitting in one of the seats around Lady Une's desk. He had wondered where Quatre had gone off to after lunch.

Lady Une smirked slightly, gesturing for Wufei to sit, even though she already knew he would refuse, "If you'll allow me explain, Mr. Chang?"

Wufei tried his damnedest not to flush, and actually succeeded. As she had thought, he refused the seat and gave her a curt nod of acknowledgment. "Since you've been handling most of the paper work from this sector, you'll know that there's been a few intelligence leaks in the Hong Kong region lately."

Another nod.

"What you shouldn't know," She fixed him with a look, not quite sure if he did or not. The five ex-Gundam pilots had ways of surprising her with things they really shouldn't know about. Especially Heero, "Is that these leaks have been increasing. A few days ago, there was a major theft of a supply of Gundanium at one of our bases."

"We knew about the attack, but not that," Quatre interjected softly, "Was that all that was taken?"

"There were a few minor bombs as well. What worries us is that our best agents down there can't seem to find them. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that they're too close to the area; the thief most likely knows who down there is with the Preventors and isn't letting them get too close. If he was smart enough to steal items like that from under their noses, he should be able to keep away from them easily." She had somehow managed to sound contemptuous of the thief and respectful at the same time.

Both the men nodded, seeing the logic in this. Quatre was the first to speak, "Did they find anything at all, though?"

"Hm.. sort of. They believe, though they're vague as to why, that the thief has connections to the intelligence leak. We've narrowed down the places that the mole could be at to two locations, and I need undercover agents to check them out."

It was all Wufei could do to not back out. This was the last thing he needed now, especially after last night, but his honor wouldn't allow him to back out. Lady Une thought he was best for the job, and she was probably right. He was Chinese, and as racist as it was, Hong Kong was primarily Chinese run, even in today's society. He would fit in better, and it'd be easier for him to get a job there. He couldn't quite figure out why she had chosen Quatre as his partner, though.

"Wufei... well, besides your being one of our best spies, and honorable to a fault, I'm sure you realize that your nationality did have something to do with the selection," Lady Une confirmed, then looked to Quatre, "And though we have other Chinese agents that we could send, none of them are well trained as spies. I need Heero else where, but I'm not sure I'd send him anyway. Despite his reputation, he is far too impulsive for spy work. Quatre... While you don't fit in ethnically, you have a way with people that's amazing. Plus, you speak fluent Chinese, correct?"

"Yes ma'am," Quatre replied automatically. He hadn't really expected her to simply offer the answers to the questions he had thought of. Normally she didn't bother to explain herself. "Are there any details about the mission that we should know about?"

Again Lady Une nodded, seeming to be grateful that these two weren't wasting time with unnecessary questions, "There are." She handed him, since he was closer, a thick file folder crammed full of papers, "Those you can read over in your own time, just the basic run down of things. However, there are some differences with this mission than others. If possible, we'd prefer you two to be in as close contact as possible, even publically. Its odd for a spy mission, I know, but... "

"Hiding in the open," Wufei stated simply.

"Exactly. Our psychologist predict that this thief, while feeling confident at the moment, could be turned desperate at any second. If either of you or both of you gets close to him or her, and he checks it out... there are certain details about your pasts that we can't hide, especially if he knows anything about the Gundam Pilots. You're not unidentified people any more. If you suddenly show up pretending not to know one another...."

"But what about our ties with the preventors?" It made sense that Quatre wouldn't know, he hadn't been asked to do any field work at all since the war.

"Those have always been carefully covered. The last anyone knew is that the Gundam Pilots were on Mars. Other than that it's a careful past that we've constructed and have been updating for you. Loosely based on the truth, of course. The entire thing is in there," She tapped the folder, "For you to memorize. Yours has been updated, Wufei." He nodded.

"Any other questions?"

"When do we leave, how do we get there, and have arrangements been made before hand?"

Lady Une smiled, "Tomorrow morning, preferably, we've got you booked on the next flight to Hong Kong. You'll start out as students fresh from college. We've got an expense account set up for you to fall back on, but it isn't much, of course; I'm afraid you'll have to rely on your other jobs to supplement. We can't send you any pay checks from here, of course." They both nodded, understanding this entirely. "The street address of your new apartment is in the folder. It's a tiny little place that one of the agents there checked out herself, under the pretenses of looking to rent. A few weeks later, Wufei, you called about the add you saw online for it, and made the mistake of saying yes before coming to see it yourself-- don't worry it's not that bad." She had caught his wince, "It is tiny, though, but one of the few that could pass on your budget. Oh, and there will be some basic furniture--"

"But most will be cardboard till we can provide better." Wufei supplied, cutting this short, "Anything else that's important."

Lady Une arched a fine brown eyebrow at his attitude but said nothing, for once. She was already asking a lot of them, even if it was her right to ask it. "That's all if there are no more questions."

Quatre shook his head, and Wufei figured it was obvious that he had heard enough. "Right then. You're both dismissed for the day. Your plane tickets are in the folder, of course, and the flight leaves at nine a.m. at the Whitewing Airport."

They were silent for a time in the hallway, even though they walked together, finally Quatre ventured timidly, "It's about noon, right? Why don't we go grab something to eat and look this over?"

There was a long pause, and Quatre was about to mutter an apology--though he was getting really irritated by how Wufei was acting-- before the Chinese man nodded, "Where to?"

"Ah... "

"You like subs, don't you?" Wufei asked when Quatre paused, relying on past experience from Mars. He hadn't really gone out with the others in a while since then. Almost two years... had it really been so long?"

"Yeah. Oh! That new place across the street! Have you been there yet?"

"Last night. It's pretty good." He shrugged.

"If you care for a repeat..."

"Fine by me... We can walk, or ride across.. there's not much traffic just yet," Wufei looked out the window before they stepped into the elevator that would take them down to the garage, "Take my bike, of course. no point in the both of us driving across the street."

"I guess that works... ....." There was a bit of silence, and the elevator doors opened, leaving them to blink as the light suddenly doubled. It was amazing bright outside today, and the garage had enough 'windows' in it that they got a lot of the light. Wufei wondered how bad it was going to be outside. As they made their way to the motorcycle---Wufei had actually gotten to work "late" for once and hadn't managed to park up-front, even though he still got a space on the first level-- Quatre opened his mouth again, "Listen...about last night--"

"For the last time, I'm not mad at you!" Wufei snapped, reaching his bike and tossing the helmet to Quatre.

"Well you certainly seem like it!" Quatre snapped back, his cheeks reddening a little. The two stared at each other from across the bike for a long moment.

Quatre's sudden anger seemed to catch in his throat as he looked at Wufei. Oh God, he wanted him. Was he really this needy? Christ, and he was going to have to live with him for who knew how long! This would never work. He could see the quick anger sparkling in Wufei's eyes, even behind the thin framed glasses Wufei had taken to wearing again now that the war was over. He had let his hair grow a bit longer, it'd reach his shoulder blades if he'd let it down, Quatre guessed. Right now his gel-slicked hair shone with nearly white highlights in the midday sun. Quatre always marveled at the colour of Wufei's hair, he had never seen anyone else--even a pure blooded Chinese-- with hair quite that shade. Of course this scrutiny of his face lead to thoughts about the rest of Wufei's body. Quatre didn't drop his gaze from Wufei, his cheeks reddening a little more at the thought of Wufei ever finding out about his... liking for him. Instead he saw with his memory. The way the white shirt clung to Wufei's broadened shoulders, the slight tightening of the fabric around his waist. Wufei had finally let go of the "Chinese only" dressing style, though his fashion sense still wasn't much better, but at least he was wearing stark black slacks now, with nicely polished black shoes, and a pair of black socks. Duo had had a fit when Wufei had had the audacity to come in wearing white socks with black pants and shoes, even though they were hidden under the too-long pants.

Quatre was... angry with him. Oh this wasn't the way to start off this mission. Still... he couldn't help but let his irritation hang in his voice. Much to his exasperation, he had never been good at hiding his anger. Anything else and he was fine, but anger... maybe he should do as Duo advised him at least once a day: take some anger management courses. Finally Quatre looked away, his cheeks still burning. Wufei blinked, suddenly struck by the realization that Quatre was amazingly adorable at this moment. Quatre had grown up since the war, and it hadn't been that obvious to Wufei until now. When you see someone almost everyday, you sometimes don't notice the little changes that are made over time, the ones that gradually grow into big changes. Quatre had filled out, even though he was still rather small for a male and rather effeminate. His platinum hair had actually softened even further to where it was almost silver-white, but it didn't make him look elderly... more like angelic. Quatre had let it grow a little, but for the most part it was still in the same short style of their childhood. The baby fat hadn't quite left his cheeks, but there was a noticeable difference from the chipmunk like roundness that had been there a few years back. As always Quatre dressed stylishly, like the rich guy he was. It amazed him how Quatre managed to be the co-president of the Winner Corp. plus a full-time Preventor. Of course, Adria Winner was more than capable of handling the company herself, its just that the board wouldn't accept Quatre's resignation without taking the company out of Winner hands. They refused to have a female as sole leader of their company, as disgusting as it was, and they were completely in their rights to do it by the laws of the Arabian Colonies that they were stationed on. Still...

A play of light near Quatre's throat as he fidgeted a little attracted Wufei's attention once more. There was a thin gold chain there, just a bit too loose to qualify as a choker, surrounded by the black collar of the high-necked, but left open shirt that Quatre was wearing... a shirt that seemed to be tight in all the right places. What the hell was he thinking? Wufei tore his eyes away just in time to miss Quatre's glance up at him.

"Look..." Wufei said finally, sighing softly, "I'm just getting annoyed by the constant apologizing. I'm over... last night." He wasn't sure what to call that, "your prying" having sounded too harsh even in his head, "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"Right... S--er... right," Quatre replied sheepishly. Wufei gave him a long look then smirked slight and took the folder from Quatre and put it in the motorcycles compartment before straddling the vehicle. He waited for Quatre to climb on behind him, trying not to think too much at the light touches at his waist. Quatre was hesitant about touching him, even though it was pretty much required for this kind of thing. It was a little odd, and not just because of the fact that his body was trying to tell him how much he liked this, but because he had rarely had anyone else riding on his motorcycle with him before. Only Sally, really, and even then very rarely.

"You'll have to hang on a bit tighter than that," He said a little gruffly, "Even for a short trip like this." Quatre tried not to gulp. What was this? "Test Quatre's self-control day"? Mentally, Quatre chuckled. Okay, fine, he'd have fun with this. Wufei told him to hang on, right? He got a little closer to him and wrapped his arms around Wufei's waist, and then was surprised by feeling a slight ripple of surprise run through Wufei's body. The Chinese man had tensed up... Quatre considered letting go, but by that time Wufei had started the motorcycle and was headed for the garage's exit, where he would wait for a window in the traffic across the six-lane freeway. Why did the Preventor's office have to be built by such a busy road, anyway? Then again, they could have always picked a different place to eat, maybe have taken Quatre's VMW "Bug"... then again, he wasn't sure if Wufei knew that he drove a "bug" and wondered a bit about the man's reaction to it. As far as Duo had been concerned, the bright pink vehicle had been the biggest tip off to Quatre's sexual preference, though Quatre prefered to consider that a little stereotypical.

It was definatly bright outside and they missed a few chances while Wufei let his eyes adjust, but Quatre really didn't mind as much as he told himself that he did. It was kind of nice being so close to Wufei; he just couldn't inform Wufei of that. He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining he could hear Wufei's heartbeat, even through the helmet and the roar of the traffic. It was just then that Wufei spotted his chance and they made their little dash across the road. Quatre yelped softly in surprise, and had to hold a little tighter to Wufei to keep from falling off for a moment. He couldn't deny his embarrassment a few moments later, having to face Wufei once more. He didn't apologize, though, he figured that would just tick Wufei off again.

Wufei had been a little startled when Quatre had tightened his grip, but he understood why. Still, he couldn't bring himself to look at the other man at first. Maybe he should ask Sally what to-- no, that idea was right out there. Besides, he told himself, I'm NOT gay. He's just very feminine, that's why I feel this way. He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that told him otherwise.

He ordered his sandwich then looked at Quatre, waiting for the other man to order. Quatre did so, finding himself unable to do anything but comply with Wufei giving him that kind of look, but jumped out of his meekness when he realized that Wufei was just about to pay for him, "W-what?"

"Shush." Was all Wufei said at first, taking the tray from the woman after he payed for it and moving off to a seat, forcing Quatre to follow.

"But... How much was that, I should--"

"Quatre... don't look the gift horse in the mouth. Now eat," Wufei pointedly started in on his own sandwich. After a moment of staring at him, Quatre soon followed suit, albeit hesitantly. He was used to Duo or Trowa and himself trading off paying for their meals out, but this was strangely different. He had actually planned on paying for Wufei's lunch, a sort of apology--again, even though Wufei had told him not to-- and because he had been the one that suggested going out, how had Wufei managed to manipulate the situation so? Then again, why was he worrying about it? He'd get the chance to pay Wufei back one way or the other. And the notorious dirty thought that followed that made him take another quick bite of his sandwich to hid the beginnings of a blush. What was wrong with him, lately?

"Okay," Wufei said finally, dragging the folder up on the table and beginning to rifle through the papers, "This is the background you asked for."

It took a moment for Quatre to realize what he meant, then why he had phrased it that way, and then took the papers from Wufei, very aware of those cool jet eyes on him. "Thanks.." He said quietly, looking them over. It shouldn't be too hard to commit to memory. He and Wufei would just have to some small points to make it seem more believable.

"We can go over it later," Wufei said after a moment, catching Quatre's eye and making sure the blonde saw him turning on his recorder, a tiny device hidden in his watch, now standard issue for all preventors. Quatre nodded and began to "reminisce" with his old friend, making up the small points of their past as they went, with the tape silently recording it all for future reference.

END CHAPTER THREE

A/N: VERY short time between updates this time cause I felt super inspired. I"m not sure how often this is going to happen .