(Woot, I found the first draft but…it's a little late now. Oh well. Tell me if you're still reading this PLEASE!) ((About, oh I don't know, nine months later, I've found this chapter and will hopefully finish this story. I'm also not taking any responsibility for grammatical or spelling errors. I edit my chapters like a Squirrel possessed. Any mistakes are due to errors with posting. 3))
Diolyn got her aspirin from the on duty nurse and took it without water. The nurse glared at her so she filled a small paper cup and gulped it down. Throwing the cup away, she smiled at the other woman and retreated out of the office.
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. "Sorry we didn't get any work done; I know how excited you were to finally get the parts that would complete the project."
Dio looked up at him through her lashes. "Why are you sorry? As far as I know, you just took the rather pointless satisfaction of shooting Duo. You didn't stop me from finishing her, so don't sweat it." She stretched. "So, what do you want to do? I don't have any work tonight, what about you?"
Alex shook his head. "No work tonight either. But you're not going to work on Gemelo Lámina. Sorry, but a hit to the back of the head means no work for you." He held up his hands in mock defeat to stop her protest. "I know it's my fault, but you can take payment with work, we'll get her done ahead of time, okay?" When she smiled at him angelically, he had to squash the urge to kick himself. He wasn't a fortuneteller, but he knew he'd be pulling some all niters for the rest of the week.
They strolled together towards one of the hotdog stands that were always open. "I'm famished, what time is it?" Alex ordered two hotdogs before answering guiltily. "A little past three." She raised a single brow, but said nothing as she bit into her late lunch. Without bothering to swallow, she asked for two bottled iced teas. The young boy who was helping to run the stand giggled.
Alex and Dio strolled to a bench and sat, enjoying each other's company and their food. Alex noticed that his friend's eyes continuously strayed toward Zarinthia's office. He found himself following her gaze. To break the silence, he brought up something he'd been thinking about for a while.
"Diolyn, the program that you have developed is pretty complex, it'll take at least three days just to upload and to run a virus scan of the entire system. And I've been thinking; I'm worried that the offensive program is too aggressive. Maybe we should use a simpler version of the program you designed, just to be safe?" He didn't mean for the last part to sound like a question, but she was looking at him like he was mad.
"You're telling me this now? There isn't a simpler version. I made the E.S.A.R.S. program to be perfect. I have all the software ready, I was going to install it today, the system has two state of the art fire walls, a virus scan that's so sensitive, I'd have a hard time foiling it, and coding that's taken me years to create." She took a deep breath. "When did you start worrying?" She didn't like how sheepish Alex was looking. His shoulders were slightly hunched and a light reddish glow was staining his cheeks.
"Well," he scuffed the toe of his well-worn sneakers into the dirt. He picked at the fabric of his light green shirt, finally resting both palms on his faded jeans, "Since you started finalizing it." He muttered the entire thing and Diolyn leaned forward to hear what he had to say. "What!" He shrugged. "I didn't say anything while you were brainstorming E.S.A.R.S., cause I honestly didn't believe you could create such a good program…"
"Well, I was going to surprise you, but the programming I was supposed to do today would have been done in four hours tops." She grinned at his startled expression. "In my excitement, I also developed a program that would load everything quickly, she should be done four hours from whenever we start the beginning of the end."
Alex sighed in relief. All the years of hard work were going to pay off. He smiled. He was still a little worried about E.S.A.R.S, but his Dio was a little computer genius. He was sure nothing would go wrong.
Duo and Zarinthia stepped out of the office and into the evening air. The weather was nice and Zarinthia had to resist the urge to rub her hands together in delight. They'd make a killing tonight. Good weather always put customers in a spending mood. She looked over at Duo and noticed that he was taking in his surroundings. He spotted her daughter and Alex sitting and talking together, but otherwise continued to keep tabs on his surroundings.
"So," she said cheerfully, "are you planning on trying to talk to her again? I think that she's cooled down a bit."
Duo shook his head. "I have to go." At Zarinthia's stricken look, he pulled her into a hug. "I'm not leaving this colony for another week. When I leave again, I'll say good-bye and leave a contact address so you can tell me to visit you, kay?" She nodded, feeling old and clingy for the first time in a long while. He pulled back slightly, keeping his hands on her shoulders.
"The other pilots will be expecting me to check in." He rubbed his forehead. They were definitely going to notice that he was wearing a shirt with the words "you say I'm 'unique'" on the front and "But I know you mean 'special'" on the back. "I'd like for them to meet you sometime this week, if it's okay with you?" She smiled and nodded, happy to have him want for her to be in his life, even in just the small things.
Movement had her looking at the other two youths. Alex helped Diolyn to her feet. They spoke briefly and Alex trotted off towards the main tent. Diolyn turned and walked less cheerfully over to Zarinthia and Duo. Zarinthia squeezed on of Duo's hands with her own, then pulled away when Diolyn was standing at her side. She slipped an arm around her daughter's waist.
"Duo has to leave now, but he said that he'd be back later." Diolyn looked blankly at her mother. "So," she asked. Zarinthia suppressed a sigh; Dio wasn't going to make things easy. "I'm just telling you that he's coming back and I don't want you shooting at him when he does, kay?" Dio sighed, but agreed when Zarinthia applied pressure.
Duo wanted to wince. He seriously doubted that if Zarinthia hadn't said anything, Dio would have tried to shoot him again. Risking a small wave and a grin. He walked casually until he turned a corner out of both women's sight. Then he sprinted for his bike. He pulled it out of the shadows and got on. Turning on the motor, he revved it a bit before heading to the hotel. He sighed. He just couldn't wait to get back to the guys.
Duo rode the elevator to the fifteenth floor, frowning down at the shirt Zarinthia had given him. He had to admit, it was funny, but he just knew that Wufei would have some sort of comment about it. The doors slid open and he stepped out, checking the hallway for anything out of place as all the boys did. Pleased that it was clear, he knocked three times in quick succession and then once more a few seconds after before inserting the key to the rooms and entering.
Wufei, he was pleased to note, wasn't in the room and neither was Heero. Quatre was finishing up his math and helping Trowa with his English homework. Trowa still wasn't much for words and needed help in that one subject. They were all thankful that none of them had been forced to take a public speaking class, though Duo personally thought Quatre would have been fine. When Duo had had told Relena, she'd started laughing at the relieved look on each of her friend's faces.
Quatre looked up and smiled. Then, taking in Duo's clothes, he frowned slightly. "Weren't you wearing something different when you left?" The blond haired youth brushed a lock of hair of his forehead. Duo grinned. Quatre did that whenever he was unsure.
"Yeah, but the shirt snagged on some metal and tore right down the center, so I had to get another shirt." He was glad that he didn't have to lie about what happened to his shirt.
The Quatre tilted his head to the side. Trowa looked up and, without realizing it, mimicked the other boy. He pointed to Duo with his pen. "Does it say something on the back?" Duo rolled his eyes, but turned looking over his shoulder to watch them read what it said. He saw Trowa's lips quirk and Quatre smother laughter into his hand.
"Okay," said Trowa, looking down at his paper. Letting him-self smile a bit wider, he added, "felt like being a target today, huh?"
Quatre laughed and playfully punched the brunette in the arm. Duo pulled his wallet out and put it back in its spot. When he was done, he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a soda. He opened it and finished the thing in one breath. Quatre watched him do this and shuddered. "So, do you need any help finishing up your assignments?" Duo shook his head and grinned, crushing the soda can between his hands.
"I finished it before we left." Quatre gave him a skeptical look. Duo smiled wider. "Seriously, I did. That old battle axe, also known as our teacher Miss Patricks, said she wouldn't let me work at my shop if my work wasn't done before this holiday weekend." He grimaced. " So I got it all done and turned in, correct too."
He tossed the can into the recycling bin and headed for his room, calling goodnight to the two other boys. Wufei's door was open and he was sitting on the floor meditating. Heero's door was closed and it sounded like he was talking on the phone. Going into his own room, he pulled out boxers and a new T-shirt, changed, leaving the dirty clothes in the middle of the floor, and crawled into bed. He wasn't going to worry about the next day. He'd worry about that when his alarm went off.
(The shirt that Zarinthia gave Duo is not a real shirt, just one that I made up)