Author's Notes: This was written as a 4-part story for my claim at the livejournal community beatofdestiny. It's basically my take on a "plausible" way to have Duo in drag, since that boy needs a bit of his dignity back now and then.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

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"So you're going to another one?" Hilde asked, wiping a smudge of grease off her face.

"Yah," Duo muttered as he tossed aside a part that didn't seem to fit anywhere, "Since Heero has to keep such close tabs on Relena at these big fancy-smancy parties, someone has to take his normal job of hiding in the shadows and glaring at anyone that pisses him off."

Hilde laughed at that. She'd known for quite some time now that Duo harbored a not-so-small twinge of jealously towards Relena for getting Heero all to herself at functions like this. Whether her brown-haired companion wanted to admit it or not, he had it bad for his best friend and it was starting to show more and more.

"Does Heero dance with anyone else?" She asked, having to stifle a laugh at Duo's look of utter contempt at the thought. With Relena, he knew it was just as friends- with anyone else though...

"Why? Did you hear that he did?"

"No, I was just curious, that's all. It'd be funny to see the look on his face if some girl got up the nerve to approach him and ask for a dance though. He might be mellow around you guys, but when he's on the job watching out for Relena- damn, I sure as hell wouldn't want to mess with him."

"As if he'd let down his guard around Relena long enough to pay attention to anyone else," Duo remarked, picking at the ball of metal and wires he held.

The bitterness in his tone didn't go unnoticed, and the whole conversation was sparking a very interesting idea in Hilde's head.

"You should test him, then..." She said, thinking aloud.

"Huh?"

Eyes lighting up as the full idea manifested itself in her mind, Hilde turned towards her friend.

"That's it- Duo, you have to test him. See if you can get his guard down. See if he'll notice someone else."

Plopping down on the heap of junk they stood atop, Duo frowned in thought.

"What for?"

"Well, we'll never know if Heero will give anyone a chance if we don't investigate him- right?"

This, of course, caught Duo's attention. At least subconsciously, he'd been dying to figure out how to get himself noticed by Heero on a romantic level. If this ploy worked, he'd at least get an idea of what Heero did and didn't like in a possible love interest.

"How are we gonna get past the Yuy-Inner-Radar though? We can't just hire some random girl to try it."

"We'll use someone so close to him that he won't pick it up immediately. Someone who's familiar with undercover operations and with how Heero works."

"Hilde, I don't think you can get past him..."

She shook her head, reaching out and purposely smudging black grease onto Duo's nose.

"Not me, you silly. He'd never think that you'd come in disguise as a girl, right?"

Duo opened his mouth to reply, but found that he was momentarily speechless.

"Okay, the dressing up as a girl thing will be annoying as all hell- but if I can just figure out what's going on in Yuy's mind when it comes to romance, it'll be worth it. I'll just get one of the other guys to cover my job and..."

"I'll take your starry-eyed silence as a yes," Hilde cut in with a laugh, "You like him, don't you?"

His face scrunching up in embarrassment- Duo hastily crossed his arms.

"What? No! I'm just...worried about him. It's been two years since the war ended and he's not dating or anything."

Sitting down next to him on the junk pile, Hilde put an arm around his shoulders and whispered to him.

"Listen, I'll get the details set up for the party. Help you get the clothes and invitation and all. But in return, I want you to do me a favor."

He turned towards her, his bangs brushing against her forehead.

"What?"

"Tell me the truth. You like Heero, don't you?"

Duo stared, his entire body tensing up at the awkward question.

"Come on. You can't hide it from me, Duo."

His eyes darted down to the junk sitting beneath them.

"Define 'like,'" Duo murmured.

"Duo..."

"Okay, I won't push it."

The two sat in silence, both their eyes glancing up at the sunset in the distance. Gently, Hilde reached over and took Duo's hand.

"It'll be easier once you admit it to yourself, Duo."

"I know..." He said quietly, "I just don't want to lose him over something stupid like this."

"You won't," She said, voice full of confidence, "The Heero Yuy I've known since the wars ended would never take away something that's precious to someone. Even if that something happens to be his own presence in someone's life."

"Yah, he's great like that."

"So...?"

"I like him," Duo muttered under his breath.

Hilde released his hand to pull him into a hug, "That's the Duo Maxwell I know. Now, we just have to get you a really nice dress."

Duo frowned, "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

She nodded, "Just trust me."

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