Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Sotsu, Sunrise, and Bandai. Of course, this fic belongs to me.

The Christmas Party
by Waltz195

The doorbell jingled once more, announcing the arrival of more guests as Hilde ushered another plate of hors d'oeuvres into the living room. She smiled as she placed them in front of the others and rushed back into the hall. Duo reached the door first and swung it open, letting in a rush of cold air.

Two figures stood in the doorway, one leaning a bit on his companion, as his black eyes glared harshly, if not a bit unfocused, at the braided man before him.

"I'm going to kill you," Wufei stated plainly, his words slightly muffled by the handkerchief he held to his nose. He trudged inside, Sally supporting him on her shoulder.

"Well, you sure know how to make yourself welcome," Duo replied, closing the door behind them. "Hey, Sally." He nodded to the blond woman. "What happened to him?"

Sally leaned Wufei against the wall and took off their coats before answering him. "Let's just say, he miscounted the shrubs and had an unfortunate meeting with the non-holographic section of the wall."

Duo raised a brow in amusement. She hadn't really sounded too worried when she'd explained it. Looking at Wufei, he judged the damage wasn't too bad anyway. After all, the man did have a hard head.

"Is he all right?" Hilde asked, concerned for her injured guest.

"Well, he did bleed a little," Sally admitted, frowning at her companion. "Do you have a first-aid kit? I'd like to clean him up."

"Of course. In the bathroom." Hilde gestured down the hall. "I'll take you there."

Sally nodded and prodded the unmoving Wufei in the shoulder. "Let's go, partner."

Wufei glanced in her direction. "I know how to move, woman. Stop poking me."

"Ha! Tell that to the wall." She shouldered his arm. "C'mon. You're my patient from now on."

Duo watched as the two followed Hilde down the hall, Wufei grumbling all the while about meddling women.

'Six down, two to go,' Duo thought, mentally crossing off his guest list as he hung the discarded coats. 'Now, where the heck are those two?'

"I hope I'm not the last one," Relena mumbled, as she hurried through the snow-covered park. "I'd hate to be the last one."

She hadn't expected the meeting with the finance minister to run so late. The tariffs on Mars imported goods were becoming a major issue in the senate, and she'd had to deal with the finance minister's reassigning trade agreements all over again. She had barely managed to get the chauffeur to rush back to the hotel so she could change and drive her to the park. Which was why, she, Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian of the ESUN, was hopping along on one stockinged foot, ignoring the cold pavement, trying to slip on her white low-heeled pumps.

She managed it somehow and hurriedly put on the other, as a breeze brushed back her coat, revealing the ivory, off-shoulder dress she wore. Shivering, she hastily tied the ends of her coat together and rushed down the pavement. Turning at the familiar crosswalk, she gathered her hair into a bun, holding it back with a gold clip. One thing she'd learned from being a politician was to be resourceful, especially when in a rush. Which certainly helped now.

Relena approached the alley and was grateful that the streets were deserted. Creeping into the shadows, she cautiously looked both ways before reaching down to flip up the edge of her skirt. She just had to fix her stocking garter. It had been twisted in her haste earlier and was clearly bothering her now. Quickly smoothing out the problem, she patted her skirt back into place.

Relena straightened up, thinking she had heard something moving in the bushes on the outskirts of the park. She scanned the area but didn't see a thing. 'Hmm...must be the wind,' she thought, proceeding down the alley and through the park.

When she reached the now familiar wall, she recounted the shrubs to be sure before passing through, unaware of the eyes that followed her.

'Ah, that should be them,' Duo thought, as the customary jingle of the doorbell reached his ears.

Striding out of the kitchen, he peeked into the living room, checking on his other guests. Trowa sat on one of the sofas next to Catherine, listening to the conversation she was having with Quatre and Dorothy across from them. Hilde was downstairs, making some last minute adjustments. He wondered what was keeping Wufei and Sally.

Reaching the door, he opened it cautiously this time, wary of anymore death threats for injury that had occurred on the way. He was greeted instead by an ivory clad apparition with shining turquoise eyes and a warm smile.

"Am I late?" she asked, dusting the snow off her coated arms.

"Ah, the tardy politician. Figures," Duo joked, winking at her disgruntled look. "Of course not. I told you there'd be plenty of food left for you."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"I like to think so." Glancing behind her, his face broke out into another smile. "Hey, buddy! I was wondering when you'd get here." Seeing her curious expression, he grinned. "There. Now, you're not the last one."

Puzzled by his greeting, Relena turned to look behind her. Sure enough, as was his habit, Heero Yuy had materialized in front of Duo's home as quietly as the snow that fell around him. He wore a long, black, winter coat, and as he stepped into the light, she noted the dark pants and light gray sweater underneath.

Heero walked towards the door, but didn't look at her, ducking his head when he reached her. "Relena," he mumbled, his face darkening in what she swore could have been a blush.

"Heero." Relena looked at him questioningly. He was acting very strange...

A nagging thought entered her mind and she paused to analyze it. That noise in the park earlier? Could it have been-? No, it couldn't have. But what if it had? That would mean he saw...Oh...

Glancing back at him, Relena felt herself blushing, as well. Somehow, there was no doubt in her mind that it was Heero she had heard earlier. That would explain his odd behavior. Oh, how embarrassing.

Duo watched the exchanged with great interest, noting the almost guilty look on Heero's face and embarrassed one on Relena's. Hmm… Something was definitely going on here.

"Well, if you're all done making googly eyes at each other," he stated in a bland voice. "Let's get inside, shall we?"

That got a response. Both heads whipped up to glare at him. Duo just grinned.

Relena stepped through the door, Heero following behind her. When Duo asked for their coats, she slipped a small pouch out of a pocket and tucked it into a hidden one in her skirt. Thanking him, she handed the coat to her host. Heero nodded as well, running his hands through his usual disarrayed hair.

"The others are in the living room," Duo informed them, as they headed down the hall. "Just let me get Wufei and Sally, then we'll go down to the banquet hall in a minute."

He left them at the doorway, to be greeted by the others, and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. By instinct, he slowed his steps and cautiously peered around the doorframe. He ended up being very glad he had.

Duo had never expected any kind of romantic scene to unfold in his bathroom. Well, not one between Wufei and Sally anyway.

Wufei was sitting on a rectangular laundry basket, leaning back against the wall. Sally stood in front of him, leaning forward a bit, her arms wrapped around his neck; in a non-life threatening way, of course. It looked like she wasn't having much success with tending Wufei's injuries, given the fact they were currently engrossed with each others' lips.

Surprise, surprise. Chang Wufei was actually kissing someone. The particular someone that Duo himself had guessed the Chinese man had developed a crush on for a while now.

'Whoa!' Duo's eyebrows rose as he watched Wufei's hands reach around Sally's waist to pull her closer. 'Who'd have thought he had it in him...'

Backing his head out of the doorway, Duo leaned against the outer wall, pondering his current predicament. On one hand, he had a great opportunity to steal a snapshot that he'd be able to use as blackmail, for a short while at least. On the other hand, there was a very good chance he'd get injured in the process. And on yet another hand, if he did try it and somehow avoid injury from Wufei, Hilde would most likely follow up on it for his being "nosy".

Weighing his options, Duo decided he'd like to live for a few more years.

'I never get to have any fun,' he thought grudgingly, silently creeping back down the hall.

At that moment, Wufei was thoroughly enjoying his slow exploration of Sally's mouth and Sally returned the sentiment eagerly. When they had entered the bathroom, they hadn't really counted on ending up kissing again. In fact, far from it.

Sally had cleaned the blood from his nose and wanted to apply antiseptic to a tiny little cut by his lip. Being his stubborn self, Wufei had refused, glaring at her. She'd ignored him of course and tried to dab at it anyway.

Wufei had moved his head aside to dodge, which caused her hand to slip and she stumbled forward. She'd managed to balance herself on Wufei's shoulders, but then found their faces entirely too close together. Their noses almost brushed. In that instant, their eyes met and something indescribable passed between them.

And that's how they found themselves in this current position. Which would have gotten a bit more interesting if someone hadn't chose that particular moment to come plodding down the hall.

"Hey, Sally! Wufei!" Duo called loudly. "Everybody's here! Stop necking and get out here already!"

The two broke apart instantly, faces flushed and short of breath. While trying to collect themselves, they vaguely heard Duo's receding steps.

"I'm going to kill him," Wufei mumbled, smoothing back his hair as he stood up. "And this time, I mean it."

"Why?" Sally asked, putting the materials back in the first aid kit by the sink. "Because he was right? Or because he interrupted us?"

Wufei paused and looked over at her. "Both. And because he's had it coming anyway."

Sally slowly turned and gazed at him questioningly. "Really?"

She was feeling a bit insecure at the moment. Emotions she thought she'd buried for him were resurfacing and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it. This stubborn man, her partner, had come to mean so much to her, but it was hard to tell what his feelings were sometimes. Whether he returned her sentiment or not.

Wufei leaned towards her and took her hands in his. "Sally," he whispered softly. "In truth, I'm a bit relieved Maxwell interrupted us."

Sally tried to pull away then, feeling weak as angry tears stung her eyes. She knew it. Of course, he didn't feel the same...

"Not because I didn't like it," Wufei continued, stilling her movements. "But because I did. Too much, in fact. I want to make sure that what we're feeling isn't a...spur of the moment...thing. I'd hate for you to get hurt if it turns out that way."

She looked back at him, waiting hopefully for the meaning behind his words. "What do you mean, Wufei?"

"Woman," he teased her. "When we get out of this crazy household, I want us to continue this, gradually and for all the right reasons. Understand?"

Sally nodded, her eyes shining as she felt her heart flutter a little. It wasn't an undying declaration, but for a man like Wufei, it was a start.

"Stop bawling, woman," Wufei mock growled, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth. "I thought you were stronger than that."

She punched his arm in response, snorting with feigned outrage. Smiling more smuggly, he leaned towards her, and she ended up kissing him a few more times.

"Okay, the front door's clear and I got the back door set," Duo mumbled, planning his escape route. "If worse comes to worse, I can run upstairs and use the fire escape."

Hearing footsteps approach from the hall, Duo eased himself to the living room entrance and stood at the ready. Wufei appeared, his usual unsavory self, with a happily glowing Sally beside him.

'So far so good,' Duo thought, as they passed by him to enter the living room, pointedly ignoring his presence. His relief was short lived, however, as Wufei slid him a searing glare.

The message was clear. "I'm going to kill you, slowly and with great enjoyment, as soon as I get an opportunity to do so."

Duo sighed. 'Well, at least that's one couple that doesn't need any help.'

As soon as the proper greetings had been made, Duo clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome, everyone! Glad you all could make it!" Duo called out to the group. "Even if I have gotten a death threat or two in the process."

A few of the others looked slightly confused, but the guilty parties acknowledged him with various smirks and slight nods.

"Now that everybody's here," Duo gestured to the group. "Let's get this party started!"

A few of the others called out in agreement, smiling at their eager host. The excitement of the night was catching.

"Follow me," he instructed, moving out into the hall. "We've set up a dining hall in the lower level, so we'd have more room. Hilde's down there right now checking everything out."

The curious guests milled out of the living room to follow him. They passed the kitchen, bathroom, and outer closet, until they reached a hidden door built into the wall paneling. Pushing aside the panel, Duo motioned for them to follow as he revealed a set of stairs, lit by Christmas lights strung along the railing.

"Watch your step!" Duo called, as they descended into the unknown.