Phantom
By Wolf Girl

Disclaimer: I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.
Warnings: AU, Sci-fi, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, slightly OOC Heero (as per series, but since this is AU I can do what I want with him.) 40's slang usage
AN Warning: Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.
Pairings: 5+1, 1x2x1, 3x4, others...
Italics thought (unless obviously otherwise).

Author notes: After a three day weekend of being a chaperone on a middle school camping trip, computers look pretty good to me. Hope this works for you. No, there's no camping, and I left all my notes at home, so deal with it.

--+--

Three

Quatre sat down at the table and gestured for Duo to do the same. Duo yawned and rubbed his eyes as he complied.

"So, Cookie(1), what's the deal here? Am I allowed to go home, or am I locked up?"

The blonde man laughed quietly. Duo estimated he was in his mid-twenties. His delicated fingers tapped gently on a tea-cup. He isn't as soft as he seems, Duo thought, if he lives in this house. However, it was best to pretend he did not know this.

"And all that's best of dark and bright Meets in her aspect and her eyes…" Suddenly the line from the Lord Byron poem ran through his head. Except this is a man, he realized. Bright and dark are merged in this one.

"Well," Quatre started, "We now have you in the future. You see, we figured out your secret, and we've taken… precautions to insure you can't return until you've helped us. Which you are going to do, I presume?" It wasn't really a question at all, but an order from the regal blonde.

I have some words of advice, which I figured out the painful way. Never go into the past because you could make yourself cease to exist. If you go into the future, you may die, but you won't uncreate what you've done. The only real danger is to others' survival. His own words rang in his head. "I'm not an assassin for hire." Duo's eyes flashed dangerously.

"We're not asking for an assassin. We want a spy. And who better than a thief to be our spy?" Quatre knew he'd made it past the first obstacle. And now he held all the cards.

"What's in it for me?" Duo drummed his fingers on the table.

"We have your ticket home."

His eyes darted over to Quatre's face for a moment then back out the window. He tried to appear unconcerned.

"I have a bit of a history as a thief as well, though only alcohol could allow me to best you." Quatre shrugged. "Alcohol loosens inhibitions. But in all my dealings with people like us, your name comes up as the best." The taller man, Trowa, leaned against Quatre and leveled his gaze at Duo. His position shouted "mine."

Duo felt eyes on him, and saw Heero in the doorway. "Okay. What can I do?"

"We will give you the required mission data. It might occur that you will need to team with one of us. In this case you must do whatever it takes to assume the cover." Quatre's voice bored into his mind.

"Alright." Duo's hadn't left Heero's challenging ones. Suddenly he smiled. "But Jackson, you better set me up with every Creampuff(2) you know when we're through with this."

Heero's face twitched for a moment before returning to its normal bland expression.

There was a knock upon the door. Trowa slunk over to in and peered through the peep-hole before undoing the deadbolt.

A blonde woman entered, dressed in a pink dress and suit-coat. Her high pumps were pink as well. Duo's eyes traveled her figure in mild interest, then found something more worthy of his attention. With her had entered a tall man with long blonde hair. Duo shivered. This was the sort of man who makes you want to check for your purse or wallet when he leaves the room. So charming that you feel duped almost as soon as your smile fades.

Duo checked for his wallet. It was still there. The man's gaze traveled him, and Duo became acutely aware of his attire. He was still wearing the tight clothing from last night. A noise like a growl came from Heero's direction, but Duo couldn't look away from the piercing sky blue eyes that had caught his.

After a moment, Quatre coughed gently. "Relena, we weren't expecting you for some time. Zechs." The tall man nodded and the pink-clad woman's head snapped in the direction of Quatre.

"We felt it would be wiser to get here early, given the—situation." She glanced at Duo suspiciously, then turned her attention to Heero again.

"Dollface, if you want my advice, you're laying it on a bit thick." Duo smiled charmingly. Heero was looking at him, and the blonde woman seemed to notice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she stated coldly. "I happen to be—" Wufei walked into the room with red-rimmed eyes. He glanced at the tall blonde man before slapping a few files down in front of Quatre.

"Mission specs." He spun on his heel and left again. The tall blonde man followed him out of the room as Quatre looked up from the files and smiled cheerily.

"Everyone ready?"

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Endnotes: Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. Those reviews really made my day.

Anyway, here's the 40s slang word I used and what it means.

Cookie: an effeminate young man.

Creampuff: same as above.

As always, R&R, and email me if you have questions,