Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters. I do own Hope and Precious so. . .yeah, don't steal them! OO And don't kill me for what I did to Duo's hair. . .it was his idea, not mine! .

Chapter 5

Everyone took a seat and Relena cleared her throat, saying, "I call this meeting of the Sanc Council to order, Milliardo, would you share the updates on the situation with the members?" Milliardo nodded and pulled out some files, saying, "Everyone knows about the attack on the bank, correct?" They all nodded and murmured their agreements. He continued, "Over 10 million dollars worth of stocks were stolen and later sold in the market, presumably by the thief or whoever he's working for."

"Who would need that kind of money?" Quatre asked concernedly.

"Sounds like the work of a Treize wannabe to me." Duo commented.

"Duo, has your salvage company had any orders for large amounts of metal or any other material?" Heero asked.

"No, nothing bigger than the usual amounts used for construction, but I'll keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary." Duo replied.

"My question is, why does everyone think Trowa did it? Hasn't he been with Duo and Rachel?" Quatre asked, glancing at his friend.

"He was missing during the attack, no one knew where he was." Milliardo answered.

"I was there when it happened, the guy was dressed in Trowa's clown costume, even had his mask and hairstyle. If it wasn't him than it was a darn good look a like. He had a machine gun for crying out loud, the kind of weapon Trowa's used to using. And you should have seen him with all that acrobatic junk he pulled off to get to the rooftops!" Duo exclaimed.

"Well Trowa, what do you have to say in defense?" Relena asked, hoping he had some sort of answer. Trowa didn't even look up from his lap.

"Trowa. . .tell them. . ." Rachel hissed. He glanced at her and her eyes widened at what she saw there in his stare.

"I have nothing to say. . ." Trowa said.

"So you admit it was you?" Chang said, rising from his chair and planting his hands on the table, "Baka, I had to miss ANOTHER anniversary with Asuka because of you!"

"Chang. . .why didn't you say something?" Relena said, feeling sorry for the angry man.

"I don't complain about my duties, it comes with the job."

"No, it comes with the Chang. . ." Duo said, leaning his cheek against his hand as he set his elbow on the table.

"What was that, you braided fool?" Chang glared at Duo.

"Hey, if you didn't notice, my hair's not braided at the moment. . ." Duo rolled his eyes.

"And he cut his hair, which is a big step for him." Rachel pointed out Duo's waist length locks.

"Off the subject!"

"Well, you'd know about that, now wouldn't you?" Duo cocked an eyebrow.

"May we please stay to the subject of the meeting please? I'm sure everyone has things to do and would rather not be here. Now. . .why do you refuse to talk to us, Trowa?" Relena said, regaining the control as Chang sat back down, still ticked of course. Trowa glanced at her then at Rachel who stared back expectantly.

"I. . .just don't want to talk about it. . ."

"Daddy, you're poking me." Precious groaned, leaning back and patting his chest.

"Eh?" Duo raised his eyebrows, "Trowa, were you getting some. . .piercings? Man, didn't think the show was that dull."

"No! It's just-" Trowa responded indignantly. Precious reached into his pocket and pulled out the jewelry Hope gave him, letting out a squeal of delight.

"YAY!" Precious exclaimed, quickly putting it on and staring at it as she leaned on her dad.

"A bracelet. . ." Trowa finished with a sigh.

"Awe, did you buy it for her?" Quatre asked, looking at the bracelet.

"It's from Hope!" Precious chirped, grinning happily.

"Who's Hope?" Milliardo asked curiously.

"My daddy's friend, we had dinner with her and she said I could have it!" Precious replied.

"Oh really. . ." Chang raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, last night."

"That's enough, Precious." Trowa said sternly. She shut her mouth and buried her face in his jacket, pulling her decorated wrist in and looking at it closer.

"So that's where you were? Why didn't you just tell us?" Noin said.

"It doesn't matter, he was at her apartment and she can vouch for it if it comes to that." Rachel said, trying to defend Trowa who didn't look like he wanted to share.

"But that still doesn't explain the costume and identical twin. . ." Duo commented, a little interested by the dinner date information still.

"My costume was stolen before I went on stage, I told you this already, Duo." Trowa grumbled.

"Tell us how it happened." Heero said in his usual emotionless manner.

"I. . .was late and in a hurry and my dressing room door was locked so I went outside and crawled under the tent. I ran into a woman with. . .long legs. . ."

"Eh? And this was the first thing you noticed?" Duo seemed amused.

"Well, I wasn't looking up until I bumped into her and it's kinda the first thing from the ground up."

"You didn't notice her feet?"

"Duo!" Rachel glared at him.

"Fine! Spoil my fun. . .grumblegrumble" Duo sulked.

"Go on." Rachel said with a sigh. With a sigh, Trowa continued, "I didn't get a look at her face but she had shoulder length chestnut brown hair and she knew how to disappear quickly."

"So. . .was she the one in the costume?" Noin suggested.

"No way, that wasn't a girl!" Duo complained.

"How could you tell, this is Trowa's clown costume with the balloony pants we're talking about."

"But. . .she didn't have a chest. . .well, you know what I mean. . ." Duo insisted further.

"If she's a gymnast, she's not going to be very well developed, training your whole life cuts off the 'growing' process for girls. Ever watched the Olympics?"

"No. . ." Duo muttered, turning away childishly.

"So we're looking for a brown haired, leggy, flat chested women climbing tall buildings in a single bound? This shouldn't take long. . ." Chang said, dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure didn't get a good look at her face? Anything?" Milliardo asked Trowa. He nodded and looked away, looking deeply stressed.

"There's nothing further most of us can do about this except keep your ears open and your eyes sharp for anything that might shed light on the situation. If there are no further arguments, I will dismiss the council." Relena said. No one spoke up as she said, "Seeing none, this council meeting is adjourned. Chang, Quatre, return home. If we need your assistance we'll be in contact with you."

"Thank you, Relena. . .I was worried about leaving my wife alone for too long, especially with a garden party tonight at our home." Quatre said gratefully.

"Hey, how is Mrs. Winner? She's been blimping for a while, hasn't she?" Duo butted in with a grin. Rachel smacked him on the arm as she walked up and he protested with a yelp, rubbing the sore spot as he whined, "Oooow. . .what did I do!" While the group talked amongst themselves, Trowa managed to slip out into the hallway, carrying Precious on his hip as she sleepily mumbled to him.

"Daddy, do I have to go to school today?" She asked half-heartedly.

"Yes, same as yesterday and the day before and the day before." He replied mildly.

"When can I stay home?"

"Tomorrow, on Saturday. Speaking of which, since I'm off work, would you like to do something together?"

"Yeah. . ." She said in a lazy happiness. Trowa smiled and said, "It's your turn to choose. . ."

"Nah uh, I said last time."

"Nah uh. . ." Trowa returned the childish retort.

"Ya huh! Remember, we went to the car show?"

"Oh yeah. . .still a surprise to me, why you like cars so much. . ."

"They're pretty!"

"Liiiike. . .you?" Trowa tickled her and she giggled, unleashing a little squeal as she batted his hand away.

"What ever happened to the stiff I used to know?" Trowa turned and stared at his friend Quatre.

"Quatre. . ." Trowa smiled and looked down at Precious, "I dunno. . .getting older might be part of it. . ." Quatre laughed and said, "Yeah, I know the feeling. . .sure, I'm only 20 but I feel-"

"42?" Trowa finished with a similar weary smile that adorned Quatre's face as well.

"Yes. . .we've been through a lot in the past years. . .I don't know how you've remained so strong though. I've cracked so many times I thought I'd have a permanent seam running down my skull!"

"I admire your strength, Quatre. I never knew my parents and to deal with their deaths. . .well, that would have changed me forever. But you. . .your mother died when you were young and your father was assassinated last year. . .how do you stay sane?" Trowa looked sincerely concerned. Quatre's smile faded and he turned away, saying in a quieter voice, "It hasn't been easy. I would have run out and hunted down that murderer myself if I hadn't had Sayla by my side guiding me through it. She's like a ray of hope in my life. . .I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Hope. . .that's what I need. . ." Trowa muttered.

"Hmm? Trowa? Where are you going?" Quatre turned back as Trowa began to walk toward the door.

"I've got a kid to get to school. I'll. . .talk to you later?" Trowa said, glancing back at the last comment.

"Yes. . .we have a lot to catch up on. . .my friend. . ." Quatre smiled fondly, getting a softer return before Trowa left.

"Hello, you've reached the home of Hope Tischner! I'm sorry but I'm most likely off doing a million things at once so you'll have to leave a message. AH, MY DINNER! beep"

That's. . .an interesting message. . .Trowa thought as he nervously cleared his throat.

"Hello, it's, uh, Trowa. I was wondering if. . .you were busy tomorrow. I was called in to work and I promised my daughter I'd do something with her but now. . .well, I thought since she liked you so much that. . .maybe the two of you could spend some time together. . .until I get off work. There's a fair down at the Ibis Park and. . .I'm sure she'd love it. But that's only if you want to, I'm only asking. . .I mean, I'm not asking you to baby-sit or anything, I. . .um. . .just thought maybe you'd. . .like to. Well, goodbye. OH! My number is. . .wait, you probably have my number, it's the same as Rachel's. . .um, I uh. . .I'll just give you my cell phone number in case I'm not home. It's 555-9214. Bye." Trowa quickly hung up the phone and let out a sigh, thinking, You idiot, that was the lamest and LONGEST message in the world! She's not going to just call up and say "Oh, I'd LOVE to watch your daughter all afternoon, of COOOUUURSSSEE!" Geez. . .I don't even know this lady, why am I bothering her? Maybe I should call up and say nevermind. . .but then she'll think I don't trust her, that I had second thoughts. Well, I guess this qualifies as second thoughts. . .and for all I know she could be the woman vandalizing the city. . .but. . .what else can I do? I'll just have to trust her. . .after all, if she does try anything I have powers to stop her. . .wait a minute, why haven't I thought of that before! Trowa leapt on the phone again and began dialing just as the door opened. He paused and looked up into the face of his fellow tenants, hanging up the phone and saying, "Hey, I got an idea!"

"Woah there, we barely got in the door! What's with you, you're acting kinda weird. . .is it that time of month?" Duo mockingly teased.

"What?" Trowa cocked his eyebrows.

"Duo!" Rachel bopped him on the head and stepped past him into the apartment.

"OW! Why do you keep hitting me!" Duo whined.

"Why is it that every time your mouth opens, some retarded comment comes flying out?" Rachel retorted.

"Not always!" Duo replied obnoxiously. Rachel rolled her eyes and turned to Trowa, saying, "You were saying?"

"This woman, we don't know what she looks like other than. . .well, her legs." Trowa said.

"Yeah. . ."

"What if we just used our powers to find my costume or something, I mean, we haven't used our powers in over 3 years, doesn't this qualify as an emergency?"

"Not necessarily, we shouldn't jump too soon before we see the big picture. . .be patient, she'll appear again and we'll be ready for her then."

"Big picture? What do you mean? She stole lots of money and is somewhere rolling around in it in glee, I'm with Trowa on this one!"

"She does have a point, I guess. . .if this is more serious than it seems, we should wait it out and see what happens. Perhaps if we just found out who this woman is and followed her. . .we could find out who she works for."

"We're working on that, or at least Milliardo and Noin are."

"Oh, that reminds me, they invited us to dinner sometime. . ."

"Really? I have been meaning to visit them. . ."

"They called yesterday but. . .I never really had time to tell you." He glared at Duo and the distraught man said, "WHAT! That's it, I'm just gonna go take a long shower and hide in my room where I won't get in anyone's way. . ."

"You have work, honey. . ."

"Not if I kill myself!" Duo exclaimed, stalking up the stairs as he cursed under his breath.

"Watch your language!"

"Fine, I'll curse in GERMAN!" Duo shouted, beginning into a slew of perplexing sentences.

"Ugh, that's not what I meant. . .stupid baka." Rachel slapped her forehead and moaned, shaking her head in disgust.

"You know, not many people consider 'baka' to be a pet name. . .yet you call him that more often than 'honey' or 'sweetie'. . ." Trowa commented. Rachel glared at him and muttered, "Don't you start with me. . .oh, my head. . ." She staggered into the living room and flopped onto the couch, sighing as she rubbed her temples. Trowa walked over to her, kneeling next to her and saying, "Here, let me." He gently began massaging her temples and forehead, easing her headache away with comfort.

"Mmm. . ." Rachel moaned happily, her face relaxing into a content expression.

"I can rub your back too. . ." Trowa offered. She looked over at him and said, "Why are you being so nice? Alright, what do you want. . ."

"Nothing, you just look really stressed. . .and besides, your boyfriend's not around to relax you."

"Ha, all he does is aggravate me. . ." Rachel said as she sat up. Trowa sat behind her and swept her hair aside, beginning to rub her tense muscles to loosen her up. As he worked at the knots in her back, he said, "Then why stay with him if all he does is bring you misery?"

"All men are aggravating, so whether it's him or somebody else I'll have the same problem. . ." Rachel mumbled.

"Do you really think all men are like him?"

"No, just aggravating, in their own ways of course. Duo has his good points too, you know. He's sweet and loves me, even if he is ignorant from time to time. His kindness more than makes up for all the things he gets wrong."

"But he's so. . .helpless. I don't know how he survived on his own for so long. He can't cook, he can't do laundry, he can't clean, the only thing he is good at is fixing things. . ."

"You just described about half the male population. . .if you hadn't noticed, he used to be able to do it but he has me around now to do it for him. All men become helpless fools when they have a woman, it always happens that way."

"I guess that's why I'm still self efficient. . .but I always have been, even when I had Catherine around to be like a sister to me. . ."

"I think that was more of survival instincts. I'm sorry, Trowa, but. . ."

"She can't cook, I know. . .but still. . .I live with you but I still know how to live and do things, I didn't turn into a mindless ape."

"Because you're a father, you have someone to mentor, to teach how to do things. Duo's still a bachelor, so to speak, and doesn't have to be anyone's mentor."

"Makes it sound like I've been deprived of the right to be a bum. . .I've thrown away all the fun in my life and become a. . .mother. . ."

"No. . .a parent, Trowa. I know it's hard to raise a child on your own, but that's why you have all of us; you have friends and family to help you take care of her."

"I appreciate it but. . .it's just not. . .the same. . ."

"I know. . .but it's going to take longer to find a wife when you dump every girl you date. . .for the stupidest reasons too. I mean, I don't understand what was wrong with half the women you went out with!"

"I don't think you could understand. . .no one can." Trowa muttered. Rachel turned to face him and said, "Trowa, you have to let someone in. . .we can't understand you if you don't let us. . ."

"I can't. . .I'm sorry. . .it's not that I don't trust you. . ." Trowa looked away in shame. Rachel pulled his face back with her hand and said, smiling kindly, "It's okay. . .you'll find someone you can talk to. . .someday. . ." She pulled him into her arms and hugged him, slowly being hugged back as Trowa rested his head on her shoulder.

"How long do I have to wait. . .I feel weaker the longer I go on alone. . ." Trowa whispered.

"They say the moment you stop looking for something is the moment you find it. . .true love isn't any different. . .be strong for just a littler longer. You always have us to talk to if you have any questions, or just need someone to talk to. . .for whatever reason. . ."

"Duo's a very lucky fool. . ."

"How so?"

"He got to you before anyone else could. . .you're. . .unparalleled."

"In what?" Trowa leaned back and said softly, "Being you. . ." With a blush, she said, "Trowa. . ."

"RACHEEEEL! Where's my hair tie! I can't go to work with my hair like this, the guy's will laugh at me!" Duo yelled from upstairs. With a sigh, Rachel stood and said, "Sorry, I have to go point to Duo's 'missing' hair tie. . ."

"It's alright, I need to get ready for work too." As they walked down the hallway, Trowa caught her arm and stopped her, saying, "Thank you for listening. . ." Gently, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked up the stairs ahead of her. She touched her cheek and thought in embarrassment, Listening? I was doing most of the talking! I wish I could understand him. . .but it doesn't seem like it'll ever happen. . .