SEQ CHAPTER h r 1Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine.
Warnings: Language and stuff. Relena, but she is not going to be a main character.
Control Freak Chapter Four, part ii
"Please, can't you make an exception just this once?" Heero near-begged, leaning forward imploringly on the circulation desk.
Sally Po sighed and shook her head slowly. "For the last time, I can't disclose his address. He would never forgive me and frankly I doubt your intentions."
"I told you, I didn't arbitrarily hit him. I thought he was attacking me!" He raised his voice in exasperation, causing Sally to frown even harder and raise her finger to her lips in classic "SHH!" position. She definitely had the librarian gig down pat.
"Be that as it may, I'm still not in the habit of acting as a personal address book," she chided. "If you need to see him that badly, you're going to have to find out for yourself."
"I already tried asking at his school," he groused. "They wouldn't tell me, either. I did an internet search and it came up dry. The phonebook also had no listing."
"Did you look for 'Duo Maxwell?'"
"Of course. That is his name, after all," his voiced dripped with sarcasm.
"His nickname," Sally corrected, a bit of triumph in her voice.
"What?" he asked blankly, slowly rising to stand straight.
"Duo is his nickname. If you want to find him, you're going to have to find his birth name." Sally smiled at an old woman as she placed a novel on the counter, then turned to put the book on a nearby cart.
"I don't supposed you're going to let me in on the secret."
"Oh, no. I could never do that." Sally turned to face him once more, a look of mock horror on her face.
"Naturally."
"However, being as you're a determined young man, I'm certain you'll eventually track him down. Since I trust so whole-heartedly in your intelligence, I need you to do me a favor." She stepped back from the counter and opened a drawer. "He left his library card here the other day. Would you please return it to him?" She slid the card over the counter, face-down.
Heero picked it up, his heart beating a little faster. He flipped over the card and read the name imprinted on the back. "Dewey O. Maxwell. Dew-o. Duo."
"Precisely," Sally nodded her head. "You are a quick one, aren't you?"
He looked up, a sardonic smirk on his face. "No wonder he goes by a nickname."
"If I were you, I wouldn't talk," came the response. "Now why are you still here? I thought you had an important errand to run."
"Thanks, Sally," he called, already half-way to the reference section.
"No yelling in the library!" she called after him, prompting a series of 'shushes' from her fellow employees. "Oh, shove it," she muttered.
Heero grabbed the local white pages off the shelf and dropped the book on the nearest table. He quickly skipped to the M's and began skimming down the list. "Maxwell... Maxwell... Maxwell... Maxwell! Dewey O. 185 Lafayette Street, Apartment 3G. Bingo."
Leaving the book where it lay, Heero shoved the library card in his back pocket and strode towards the exit, still repeating the address under his breath. He had almost reached the door when suddenly hand entwined itself around his upper arm, startling him to a half. Frustrated, he turned to find the source of interference and found himself facing a broadly smiling Relena Darlian, his oldest childhood friend and the biggest source of aggravation in his life.
"Heero!" she chirped, releasing his arm. "I'm so glad I found you. I've been looking for you everywhere! It was only luck that we happened to drive by and see your car in the parking lot."
"What do you need, Relena?" he asked impatiently, trying to keep a certain level of civility in his tone.
"You mean you don't remember?" Seeing his blank expression, she faked a pout, then laughed, unable to keep up the act for long. "Oh, I don't blame you. It's not like it's dreadfully exciting, anyway. I just wanted to remind you that your mother volunteered you to help us with Habitat for Humanity tomorrow. We're meeting in front of the school at 9:30 tomorrow morning and we'll bus over. Don't be late!"
He had forgotten about that. "Why didn't you just call me?" he asked, anxious to be on his way.
"Oh, Heero. Why would I call you when I could tell you face to face?" she breathed, stepping a little closer to him, looking coyly up through her eyelashes.
He took a step back. "Look, 'Lena, I'd love to chat, but I have to get somewhere, okay?"
"Where are you going?" She implored, pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ears.
"To visit a friend," he replied through clenched teeth. The library card felt like it was burning a hole into his pocket. He wanted to leave. Now.
His heart sunk as she asked, "Can I come?"
He shook his head vigorously. "I don't think-"
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun. Maybe we can all go out for pizza or something." She was practically bouncing where she stood.
He feared what Duo's reaction would be to this uber-cutesy, high maintenance, spoiled princess. On the one hand, it would probably be funny. On the other-- "That's not a good idea."
"Please?" She stopped fidgeting and stared up at him with wide blue eyes, lips curled up in a soft smile.
He'd known her for far too long to say no to that face. He knew what came afterwards: tears. Better to face the wrath of God than Mr. Darlian after making his daughter cry. "... Fine. Just don't push it, okay?"
"Okay, okay! Geez." She puffed her lower lip out for a second, then smiled broadly. "I know! Why don't we take my car? Yours will be fine here and besides, if we do go out for pizza we won't all fit in your coupe!"
"Whatever. Let's just get going."
She grinned. "Pargon is waiting out front. Let's go!" She fairly skipped towards the door, her ruffled skirt flouncing about her hips.
Heero stifled an internal groan. Today would be the day she chose to make use of the personal chauffeur her parents provided her with. And if she was using the chauffeur, that meant they'd be riding in the limousine. The very pink limousine. Of death. Sometimes he wondered if it wasn't pink because it was blushing in embarrassment of itself.
He followed Relena to the car and nodded to Pargon as he opened the door for them. "Thank you," he said, ignoring the school children pointing to the car in awe. Yet another drawback to the Idiot Box on Wheels. People stared at it as if it were some kind of celebrity TV show come to life.
Relena settled into her seat, then turned to him with a smile. "So, where are we going?"
"Lafayette Street," he told her absently, staring out the tinted windows. The children had stopped pointing and were instead engaged in a game of monkey in the middle, using a library book as an impromptu ball. He was sure Sally'd have something to say about that.
He sensed Relena's disquiet before she spoke. "Maybe I shouldn't go after all," she said softly, staring down into her lap.
Although seconds ago he would have jumped at the chance to ditch her, suddenly he was angry. She forced herself on him, then was suddenly too good to accompany him? He didn't think so. "We'll be fine. Let's go, Pargon," he ordered. "Please," he amended. "Let's go, please."
He thought he detected a chuckle. "Yes, young master." The car smoothly rolled into motion.
"Do you really think we'll be okay, Heero? That's not such a good neighborhood..." Relena fidgeted nervously with the hem of her skirt, a cotton affair he was sure had cost at least five hundred dollars.
"It's not that bad," he stated, staring out the window at the town passing by.
"I guess we'll be okay. You are a kick boxing master, after all." She suddenly brightened. "Will you protect me if we get attacked, Heero?!"
"I guess so," he admitted. This was one of the silliest moods he'd seen her in for a while. He wondered how much sugar she'd had at lunch.
"Oh, thank you! I feel ever so much better!" Coming from anyone else, he would have interpreted that as sarcasm. She, however, said it with all seriousness. He watched as she took a soda from the built-in fridge and opened the top. He had the sinking feeling that this wasn't going to work out. Not without a little intervention, at least.
"Look, before we get there, let me tell you a few things," he suddenly began, somberly meeting her eyes.
"Okay," Relena blinked. "Sure."
"The friend we're going to meet is named Duo. He goes to the public high school and I'm tutoring him."
"Oh, that AP English thingie, right?" she interrupted, sipping her soda.
"Yes," he said impatiently. "I need you to do me a favor, okay?"
"A favor?" she perked up. "What can I do?"
"It's nothing much. Just... promise me you won't mention his hair? Or stare at it?"
"What's wrong with his hair?" she asked innocently.
"Nothing. Nothing. He's just... sensitive about it. He thinks it's ugly. So just don't bring it up, okay?" he begged.
"Do you think I should offer to take him to a salon or something?" she asked earnestly. "It wouldn't be a problem."
He resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands. "Please don't. Just don't mention his hair. In fact, just pretend it's not there at all."
She looked horrified. "You want me to pretend he's bald?!"
"No!" he practically moaned in frustration. "For the love of all that is holy, no!" He succumbed to the urge to hide his face.
He felt a soft touch on his arm and looked up to find Relena smiling gently. "I'm just fooling around, Heero. I understand completely. Believe me, I'll do my best not to make any of us uncomfortable. If I can manage to negotiate a cross-step-family Christmas party successfully, this should be a piece of cake, right?" The car came to a stop. "We're here. Now please, just trust me not to make a fool out of us, okay? This boy's opinion is obviously very important to you and I promise I won't endanger that."
He objected. "I don't care about his opin-"
"Please, Heero. It's so obvious," she scoffed, climbing gracefully out of the car and looking around. "This isn't so bad. Rather quaintly old-fashioned, actually."
He emerged to stand beside her on the sidewalk and looked around. "You're right," he affirmed. "It's not nearly as bad as they make it out to be."
"Shall I remain with the car, Miss Relena?" Pargon interjected quietly.
"Yes, please," she smiled, regarding the building in front of them. "I doubt this place has an elevator and there's no point in your climbing all those steps. Besides," she smiled. "I'll bet you're anxious to get back to that new novel of yours."
"Yes, Miss Relena," he smiled down on her. "Thank you."
"Enjoy your book," she grinned back. "Now, come on, Heero. Let's go see this friend of yours." She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him into motion. "The sooner we see him, the sooner we can convince him to come with us for pizza. I'm starving!" she laughed, opening the front door and disappearing into the dimness of the building beyond.
Heero followed obediently after.
-end chapter four, part ii-
A/N: That was dialog heavy, huh?
Thank you to link worshiper, mama-sama, plastic tree, skarlet red, lrigelbbub, hails, pewp, jessica jepson, windy river, rumplestiltskin, starbugkenny, tica, lilly, mc-88, mogura, ania-akatrickx, and miaka-sama for reviewing!