Chapter Two
Quatre excitedly rushed around the kitchen of his mansion, dodging maids and his cook as he prepared for the arrival of his friends. It had been so long since they had all got together and he couldn't wait to see everyone. The dinner was about ready and Quatre had just finished setting the table when the doorbell rang. Quatre bounded his way to the door and threw it open.
"Hey Q-man!" Duo beamed.
"Hello Duo!" Quatre smiled.
Behind the braided man stood Zechs, Noin and a solemn-faced Wufei to which Quatre exchanged a pleasant greeting while ushering them inside.
"Heero and Relena are already in the parlor and Dinner is almost ready." Quatre explained as he led them further into the house.
"Great! I'm starved!" Duo exclaimed, clapping his hands together.
"Is Trowa coming?" Zechs asked as they walked.
Quatre beamed and nodded. "Yes! He should be here anytime now." As though in answer, the doorbell rang again. "Oh! That must be him! You know the way don't you? I have to get the door." The young blond said as he bounded back down the hall.
Duo laughed and Zechs smirked.
"Is it just me or does Quatre seem overly excited to see Trowa?" Noin asked with a smirk.
Duo and Zechs chuckled and Wufei huffed as they walked into the parlor. Heero and Relena were in the middle of a rather heated – though hushed – debate.
"Heero, I'm fine. Really." Relena was saying.
"Are you sure you don't need to rest?" Heero asked when he noticed the others. He stood in welcome but when Relena tried to he pushed her back down. "You need to rest." He said.
She glared and turned to their friends. "It's wonderful to see you all." She smiled.
Zechs reached her and bent down to kiss her cheek. "You're feeling alright?" He asked with a smile.
She nodded. "Yes, though if you ask Heero I've suddenly been turned into glass." She said shooting a glare at her lover.
Heero shrugged and sat back down. Zechs rolled his eyes and sat on the couch next to his sister.
"Have you thought of any names yet?" Noin asked sitting across from them on the other couch.
Relena shook her head. "It's only been two weeks, Noin." She giggled. "Besides, we have slightly more immediate matters to worry about."
Duo laughed. "Yeah, like explaining to the council why you're pregnant with another man's baby."
Relena glared momentarily at Duo for his bluntness, but realized she couldn't argue. Quatre and Trowa entered the parlor a few minutes later and after a friendly exchange, the cook called that dinner was ready. As usual, Quatre's food was the best any of them had ever had; Steaks bigger than the plate with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, iced tea and even a strawberry cake for desert. The pilots ate and talked about little things until the food was gone then they left and returned to the parlor for drinks and friendly conversation.
"So, how is the circus doing, Trowa?" Duo asked as he sipped on his margarita.
"It's going well. Cathy has a new act that's very impressive and I've started working with the elephants more." He explained as Quatre handed him his martini.
"That's great! Where's the next show?" Quatre asked, joining Trowa on the couch.
"In town, actually. We're here until this weekend. The show is on Saturday."
"Great! I'll be there!" Quatre smiled.
Trowa smiled and they exchanged a look to which Duo had to smother his laughter.
"Well, this is all very exciting but I need a little more action." He leaned over and grabbed the T.V. remote and pressed the power button. He quickly began flipping through channels when something caught his eye. One of the news channels was showing clips of the Gundams in battle!
"Hey wow! I didn't realize we were still famous!" He teased as all of the friends watched the footage.
"…the Gundam pilots have long been friends of Earth and the colonies for the heroic actions during the war." The woman on the screen was saying.
"Damn straight we are!" Duo exclaimed.
"Quiet Duo." Heero scolded as a new face came on the screen. It was a picture of a man with a balding head and a ragged black mustache.
"This man, Reigo DeNadda, has been arrested this morning on the charges of life threats and resisting arrest. We received footage of the man shouting threats to the camera's of a morning talk show:"
The screen flashed as the footage rolled. The man was jumping up and down shouting at the camera while the security of the talk show tried to restrain him.
"It's all there fault!" He was shouting. "Those damn Gundam pilots! I'll get em! I swear! They killed my family!"
The friends froze and their eyes widened. Quatre looked around nervously and the others looked uncomfortable. The woman's voice came back and they turned to the screen to hear her say that the man was placed in a holding cell in the L2 colony. Duo turned off the T.V. and turned to his friends.
"Wow…" He muttered.
Wufei crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "We can't make everyone happy."
Quatre looked at his lap. "But his family…Do you really think we're responsible?"
Trowa shrugged. "Could be…we took many lives."
"It was war." Heero said. "There were bound to be casualties."
The others nodded.
Relena looked up. "I wonder what he meant by "I'll get them." You don't suppose he means to hurt any of you, do you?"
"It doesn't matter." Wufei shrugged. "He is locked up. We needn't worry about him."
Zechs nodded and wrapped an arm around his sister. "That's right. We'll be fine."
Relena smiled and nodded. "Of course. I trust that you all can take care of yourselves by now." She winked.
The rest of the night went by peacefully and by the time everyone walked out of Quatre's house that evening, the threats of the crazed man on the television had long been forgotten. If only they knew that at that very moment, that same crazed man was breaking out of prison.
Hey, I hope you all enjoyed it! And please, feel free to comment. I really love getting feedback on my writing (both positive and negative). Anyway, hope you all liked it and I'll try to update soon!
