Part 18: Reactions

"No," said Heero.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Duo blurted. "Aren't you even going to consider it? The idea has...merit."

Heero's eyes moved over Duo. He could see Duo's disgruntled expression, but he also saw relief not quite masked in those violet eyes. "I take it this was Trowa's idea?"

"It doesn't matter whose idea it was," Duo said quickly, frowning. "I want one reason why you said no, just one. What am I supposed to tell Trowa? Nevermind, Heero won't let me?"

"It's dangerous and unnecessary." Turning in his chair, Heero pointed to the blueprints on the screen of his laptop. "This isn't far from where we picked up Zechs. There's a chance this is where Treize ran to."

"Hey, we're not done discussing this." Duo's gaze turned dark as he frowned.

"I'll give these to Quatre," Heero continued, "but if I find fault with his plan, I want you to tell him. If it comes from me he may take it badly."

"Damnit, Heero. You're not even going to talk about it?"

Heero turned to him and stood. "No, I'm not. You didn't see Trowa when he lost control. If you had, you wouldn't even think about fighting him with nothing more than a useless gun. It would take more than that and then he'd be in danger." He put his hands on Duo's shoulders, gripping them lightly. "I know why he thought of it, kill two birds with one stone, but it's too dangerous. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Duo flinched and got angry, but it left him a second later. He sighed and dropped his gaze. "I appreciate that vote of confidence," he said, sarcasm dripping from the words.

"Duo-"

"No, it's okay." Duo shook his head with a weak smile. "I actually told Trowa about the same thing when we first talked about it. I mean, what good is being invisible if the opponent can read your mind and know where you are, right? But how else am I going to learn?"

"We'll think of something. Don't worry about it right now," said Heero. "Come on, let's show this to Quatre."

It wasn't hard to find Quatre. They could hear his angry voice from the hallway. The fact that Wufei, Zechs, and Relena were standing in the hall and staring at the closed bedroom door helped, too. Heero didn't seem to be as bothered as the rest of them. He walked right up to the door and would have knocked if Duo hadn't drug him to a halt. Eyes wide at the muffled yelling, Duo shook his head and pulled Heero back. He gave a quick glance to the others and took another sharp step back when Quatre suddenly jerked the door open.

Quatre stalked out of the room, only to stop abruptly. His glare cooled just a bit before darkening again as he looked at all the staring eyes. "He's pissing me off."

"Quatre?" Duo's eyes widened and he looked at the normally soft-spoken boy in surprise.

Trowa came out of the room to stand behind him, and Quatre threw a cold glare over his shoulder. Then he turned back to the others and spoke as if his lover weren't less than a foot away.

"First he's afraid to drop his control because he might hurt me," Quatre glared, "and then he decides, 'Oh, it's okay, I'll just hurt Duo instead.'"

Trowa glanced around the hall, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Quatre... Can we talk about this?"

"No!" spat Quatre. He wheeled around to glare at him. "You said you were sick of me doubting myself. Then why is it okay for him," he pointed at Duo, who took a sharp step back, eyes even wider than before, "to take the risks and not for me? It's stupid."

"I agree," said Heero.

Quatre looked to Heero in surprise, then a wide smile slowly claimed his face, a smug one that stayed as he folded his arms over his chest and faced Trowa.

"See?" sniffed Quatre.

Trowa shook his head and raised his hands in defeat. He'd never realized the sweet boy had such a temper. "Okay, Quatre. You win, all right?"

Quatre nodded sharply. Then he beamed with satisfaction and wrapped his arms around the taller boy's waist, not caring that the others saw him. "I knew you'd see it my way."

The shift in mood was so sudden that Duo let out a laugh. He wished he hadn't a moment later when Quatre raised an eyebrow at him. He abruptly froze, unwilling to have the boy go off on him next.

"Hey," said Duo, "cool it. I already got a lecture for my little part in this." He wondered how Trowa was taking the complete rejection of his plan, but a glance at his face revealed nothing but relief. He seemed perfectly satisfied as long as Quatre continued to hug him.

Heero took that moment to step forward. "I have something to show you, Quatre."

Duo smiled at Heero. Of course Heero wasn't at all bothered by Quatre's explosion. "Yeah, mission."

With a final sweet smile at Trowa, Quatre slowly released him. "Okay, what have you got?"

.-.

Duo smiled when he left the kitchen-turned-base-of-operations. Quatre was as good as Zechs has said, and Duo was happy with his upcoming role. Once again, he'd be on the forefront, rather than just infiltration. Equipped with a silencer, he'd still have the element of surprise on his side, but he'd be right there with Heero instead of sneaking around and clearing the way.

He caught sight of Relena leaning against the wall, and shared his smile with her.

"Did things go well?" she asked. Duo nodded and she straightened, following him down the hall. "So where are you attacking? I hope it won't be too dangerous."

"Don't sweat it," said Duo. "It's a small base about two miles from the last one. We're hoping to find Treize there." He noticed that a frown crossed her face, and he paused to reassure her. "It won't be that dangerous. We have the layout and shift change times."

"You do?" she blinked. "How did you manage that?"

"Heero. He's great with computers."

"I see." She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "I guess with him for a leader, everyone will be okay. When are you going? Not tonight, I hope? It's so late..."

"No," said Duo. "We intercepted a message that there's going to be someone arriving tomorrow, so we're scheduled to attack that evening. It's easier to go in at night."

"I understand completely. Are they finished making plans, then?" She glanced back down the hall before giving Duo a sheepish smile. "I'm rather thirsty..."

"Sure. Come on," he turned to walk with her. "I'm sorry Zechs made you wait outside, but I'm sure a pacifist wouldn't be comfortable hearing our plans."

"Yes."

Duo pushed the kitchen door open for her. He found himself watching the way she smiled at everyone. She didn't seem to be the brat Zechs had warned them about. In fact, aside from being interested in Heero, she was acting rather pleasant. Thinking back, he couldn't pinpoint a single time she had behaved with anything other than politeness, at least around him. Why was Zechs so worried? She hadn't even complained about them fighting. Maybe she wasn't as much of a pacifist as Zechs thought she was. Duo, for one, don't mind that at all. He never wanted some idealistic fanatic to try pushing her ideas on him and everyone else. But Relena, not once had she complained...

.-.

Zechs had barely left the house when a voice called out to him.

"You know, you were right about Quatre."

"Wufei?" Zechs stopped short. He looked around for a moment before catching sight of the boy in a tree to his left. The sight brought a faint smile to his face. "What is it with you boys and trees?"

"Climb on up and I'll tell you," Wufei smirked, watching the man eye the tree with skepticism.

Zechs walked to the tree, but he shook his head when he looked up. "Actually, I was looking for Relena. I thought she came out this way."

"She did," said Wufei. "She said she was going for a walk. There's a nice field not too far from here. It should be safe."

"Oh. Well, in that case..."

Zechs climbed the tree, awkwardly enough to make Wufei smirk at him. He smiled back and perched, a bit uncomfortably, on a limb near the black-haired boy. "Okay, tell my why you like trees. As far as I can see, it's not very comfortable."

"No, but look around. It's better in a taller tree, best on the edge of a cliff, but this isn't too bad." Wufei leaned his back against the trunk, his legs stretched out on the limb as he looked over at Zechs. "There's something about being up, off the ground. As if you're separated from things, beyond them. Of course, there's also the fact that you can see more, which makes a tree a good vantage point for me to fight from. I don't know about the others, but Duo feels the same way."

"You should hang-glide sometime," Zechs murmured, staring upward as he tried to feel what the boy had described. "Or maybe Trowa could fly with you."

"No, thanks," Wufei said quickly, a slight smile curving his lips. "I don't want Quatre mad at me or Trowa. I don't think Trowa could handle it."

"He was so angry this morning," Zechs marvelled. "I had no idea he had such a temper. Do you know what that was about? I know he said something about Duo being in danger, but I think I missed something."

"Yeah, well, Duo explained it to me. I guess he and Trowa were planning to have some sort of mock-battle. Quatre was angry because Trowa asked Duo, but refuses to let down his guard with him. It's like you said," Wufei nodded. "He's afraid Quatre won't be able to handle the anger if he drops his block. He thinks he'll end up hurting him."

"I see," said Zechs. "Well, Quatre certainly calmed quickly enough."

Wufei smiled a bit as he remembered how fast the boy had gone from enraged to sweet. "It's better than if he stayed angry about it." Remembering what he'd said earlier, Wufei nodded again. "You were right about Quatre being a good strategist. I know Duo's happier being up there with Heero and Trowa. And you'll come in handy, too."

"Well, thank you," Zechs smirked, looking at the boy's serious expression. "I think."

"Really," said Wufei. "With Trowa inside, Quatre can still work as a mediator and I won't be left out of the loop with you there. Not that we didn't do all right before, but I can't have Quatre with me when I work, and he can't read me."

"That's been bothering me," Zechs frowned. "Why couldn't Quatre join you?"

"Come on, Zechs," Wufei muttered, looking down at his crossed arms. "You read my mind before, so I'm sure you know."

"Oh." Zechs winced slightly at his own lack of tact. He hadn't missed Wufei's strong sense of pride, and he knew that other than Duo, the boys weren't aware of how tired Wufei was after he used his powers. Wufei didn't want them to know, and as long as his weaknes didn't slow them down, they didn't need to know.

"But my being there won't bother you?" asked Zechs.

"You already know," Wufei said sharply. "Besides, you know better than to give me sympathy. Quatre's too sweet not to let his concern show, and I don't want that."

"You don't think I sympathize with you?" Zechs asked, his voice sounding sarcastically concerned. "Poor, poor Wufei..."

Wufei turned sharply. His eyes widened and he stared at the man for a minute before glaring darkly. "Funny, but Duo's better at teasing."

"Oh, well," Zechs shrugged, still smiling at having gotten a rise out of the boy. "I had to try."

.-.

"I don't hear any typing," Duo murmured, in an almost sing-song voice.

He didn't move from where he lying on his back in the middle of the bed. He smiled with his eyes closed and listened for a response to his taunt. He'd spent the last hour listening to the sound of Heero's fingers flying over the laptop with soft clicks. It was almost musical. But it had been silent for the last couple of minutes.

"Are you still here?" asked Duo. He didn't receive an answer, so he cracked open an eye and looked toward the desk. His smile widened when he saw that Heero was turned in his chair, facing him. "What're you doing?"

"Watching you," Heero shrugged. "You look different when you're relaxed. No smile."

"Well, which do you prefer?" Duo asked, blinking his lashes at Heero. "Smile or no smile?" Heero shrugged again, his expression unreadable. Duo smirked. "Don't feel like talking? Okay, why don't you come over here and watch me."

Heero stood immediately, and Duo grinned as he sat up. His eyes were shining by the time Heero sat on the bed. He crawled to him so he could lean against Heero's back. He let his hands trail lightly over the boy's chest in soft strokes.

"You know," Duo murmured, "I wouldn't mind watching you sleep...if you ever slept."

"You weren't sleeping," Heero said, turning his head so he could see Duo.

"No," Duo admitted. "I was trying to figure out what you were typing. I don't know, guess I was bored, but not tired." He gave a small smile as he pressed his palms flat against Heero's chest, arms tightening as he pulled him back against him. Cobalt eyes glinted and Duo kissed him teasingly. He'd just pulled back when he heard something. They both stiffened and turned to find the bedroom door open.

Relena stepped into the room, and Duo blushed. Had she never heard of knocking? He quickly released Heero and sat back on his heels.

"Relena?" asked Duo. "What-"

Relena's gaze snapped from Heero, who was glaring fiercely, to Duo. Her eyes narrowed suddenly and her arm lifted. She was holding a rather large handgun.

Staring at the gun, Duo's breath caught and he froze in complete disbelief. Then she fired.