Chapter Seventeen
Not-So-Sibling

July, A.C. 204

Another month passed before Serena knew it. While she hadn't been able to go to the Paris branch, Heero had allowed her to start going to Relena's office once a week. Heero also had her join Wufei's department after the latest round of recruits.

Serena questioned Heero after the first week of being a part of Wufei's department. Heero had told her that it would be good for her and that Wufei could use the help. Serena wasn't buying it since Wufei still preferred to work alone. Even after all the years since the Eve Wars. However, Wufei had been accepting of her joining his team, more than Serena had been expecting. Serena quickly learned why he was so willing. She was just as hard on the new candidates as he was.

They were training new potential field agents. Though some had already dropped out, opting to work a desk job instead. But if there was one thing Serena had learned from her years of training. And the time she spent learning about the others, the agency needed strong people if they were going to continue to help maintain the peace.

Especially if Serena's fears regarding ROE came to fruition.

Duo had been working hard with his department to start tracking some shipments within the black market. While it wasn't uncommon for them to do so, Serena had provided a list for Duo with specific items to keep an eye on. The goal was to find a pattern or even a destination for where some of the shipments were going. From there, they could look deeper into who was buying the goods. Serena knew it would take time. They all did. But it didn't make the waiting process any easier.

Serena had been surprised when Trowa came into her office, informing her of their approved vacation time and that they'd be leaving the upcoming Saturday. But he hadn't said any more about it to her. Serena hadn't even known Trowa had planned for them to go anywhere. Serena had questioned the suddenness of it. But Trowa had refused to answer her. Telling her that he was only giving her a heads-up so she could pack.

When Serena asked him what she was supposed to pack, Trowa told her summer clothes and some bathing suits. Which still left her in the dark as to where they were going. Trowa had smiled, telling her that she'd find out once they got to the airport Saturday morning.

Serena had spent the next half hour thinking over everything. But in the end, she decided that all that mattered was that she'd be going somewhere and spending some much-needed time away from the office. She had been working on other things on the side. While Serena had been working with Wufei and going to Relena's office, her main force was finding Edwards. But for at least a week, she could put everything aside and enjoy herself. Plus, it would be her first-ever vacation.

Saturday morning, they left their apartment early. Trowa had planned to make Serena's first vacation one she'd never forget. And hopefully, more to come as the years went on. By booking an earlier flight, Trowa had hoped to use the extra time so they could enjoy their seven days away from the city. Leaving on a Saturday and returning on a Saturday would allow them a day at home before returning to work and hopefully returning refreshed and maybe more.

While Trowa had planned the trip, there was one thing he knew he wanted to do, but it didn't make it less nerve-racking. Trowa knew by the end of the vacation that there was one thing he needed to do. It was something that he had been thinking about for some time now.

When they arrived at the airport, Serena's face had gone from confused to smiling brightly at him. He had checked ahead, making sure they didn't waste time locating their gate, and it wasn't until they got there that Trowa handed Serena her ticket. Then finally, the realization dawned on her.

They were heading to Sorrento, Italy.

They would spend the next week overlooking the Bay of Naples from their hotel suite. Which also housed a private balcony and a small pool that looked more like a hot tub. When they first arrived at the hotel and went to their suite, Serena wandered around, looking at all the rooms. The suite was large, holding a small kitchenette, a living room, and a bedroom with a large bath separate from the main living space. Trowa had no intention of letting Serena make any meals. Even with the limited space, the kitchenette allowed them to buy drinks and small foods like snacks to keep in their room.

Trowa followed behind Serena as she explored their new home for the next seven days. Trowa had to admit that the photos he saw online didn't do the place justice. And the view of the bay couldn't compare to the pictures he had seen as they both stepped outside onto their private balcony. Serena had been smiling the entire time, and Trowa knew he had done well. After all, it was one of her favorite places on Earth, and she had only ever been there for a few days, but this time she'd get to enjoy the beauty the old city had to offer.

The week was flying by faster than Trowa had wanted. While Trowa was enjoying himself and the time he was spending with Serena, Trowa hadn't done the one thing he had hoped to do. It was just finding the right time and place to do it. Serena hadn't noticed anything different about him. Something Trowa was grateful for.

Serena had been too busy relaxing either on their balcony, down by the water, or in bed with him. She had also been enjoying the local cuisine. As well as a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant they had found. Serena had forgotten how much she missed certain foods until they found the restaurant. They had already eaten there a few times, which didn't bother him. Seeing Serena happy as she ate was enough for him. It was also the first time Trowa had seen her eat as much as she had the first night they had gone to the restaurant. Serena had been embarrassed, but he reminded her that it was okay to enjoy it.

Which reminded Trowa that they needed to eat at more places Serena enjoyed when back in Brussels. Serena never complained about where they ordered food from or where they went for dinner. But after speaking with her, Trowa realized that Serena had missed eating Asian foods.

Serena hadn't gone into detail. Only telling him that she loved a variety of foods from different Asian countries. It was something she ate the most when she was still living on L1. Trowa hadn't pushed for more information, but he had made a mental note about the subject. While Trowa didn't think she was homesick. Considering Serena never thought of L1 as her home, it was likely Serena wanted to enjoy and remember things that had once made her happy.

They hadn't done any shopping, per Serena's request. While they had walked around and gone into a few shops, Serena had been more interested in looking around and enjoying the city. They had also gone to a few nightclubs, something Trowa never thought he would find himself doing again. Trowa had gone to some before, mainly when looking for a hookup, but things were different now. He was in a relationship. There was no need to search for something he didn't need anymore. He had everything he needed with Serena.

Although, Trowa had learned rather quickly that Serena was more of a fan of the nightlife than he had ever expected from her. They had drank and danced the night away on more than one occasion. They had even placed a bet to see who could get the most drinks for free. A friendly competition that turned into Trowa realizing exactly how Serena could use her skills to flirt with other club-goers and present herself as someone else. The same skills she had used on him a few times.

Trowa wasn't upset by the realization. He had known at one point that some of what Serena had been doing with him was an act before it changed, and those actions became real feelings. It was interesting, nonetheless, for him to watch his girlfriend charm whoever came her way. Once she secured a drink, Serena would lift it in the direction he was in, smirking at him before taking a long sip. To say the least, Serena had been the winner that night. While he had made out with a few drinks, more often than not, the women he was speaking with would want him to buy them a drink.

But for the last two days, they had opted to stay at the hotel, only going out to eat or pick up food to bring back to their room. Which meant Trowa was running out of time.

Heero had been working on Relena's security detail for the following week. He had been debating back and forth about putting Serena on to go with Relena to a few meetings. While Serena had spent more time with Wufei, helping him with the new agents, Heero knew that Serena would need to return to his team. Having her work with Wufei was only temporary.

Relena was gearing up to have a busy few months. The current President of the ESUN, Frederick Klein, announced that he was retiring and wouldn't be running for reelection the following year. Which meant Relena would be working more. Early than expected. There already had been a few candidates throwing their hats into the race. And while Klein's announcement was short notice, Heero knew he needed the extra help with Relena and possibly other delegates.

Heero had been going through Relena's schedule again, trying to figure out which days he could put Serena on when Duo decided to visit him.

"What do you want, Duo?" Heero asked, not bothering to look up from his laptop.

"Wanted to see if you heard from Serena or Trowa." Heero snapped his eyes to Duo as he plopped himself in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No," Duo shook his head, grinning at him. "Was just curious if either of them called you or not," Duo shrugged. Heero moved his laptop from in front of him, glaring at Duo. He knew Duo knew something he didn't.

"What are you getting at, Maxwell?" Heero tightened his eyes when Duo looked at him. The lopsided grin was unmoving on his face.

"Let me ask you this," Duo said as he leaned back in the chair. "Why would Trowa whisk Serena away to Sorrento, Italy, of all places?"

"It's one of her favorite places," Heero said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Why wouldn't he take her there?" Heero hadn't been happy about finding out last minute that Trowa and Serena were going away, considering it meant reworking the schedule while they were away. Though Heero hadn't spoken to Serena much before they left. When he found out, Heero had sent her a text telling Serena to enjoy her vacation. He knew it was Serena's first time going on one, and while he may have been upset about not knowing, Heero didn't want to ruin it for Serena. But it wasn't till now that Heero learned where they went.

"Yeah, and did you know that Trowa didn't tell her till just two days before they left?"

"No," Heero said, starting to get irritated with not just Duo but the little voice in the back of his head. Which never left him, but at least it had been quiet for a while. "What's the big deal if he wanted to surprise her?" Heero asked, trying to ignore the voice.

"You're telling me that you didn't notice something seemed fishy about all of this?" Duo asked as he wiggled his brows.

"Tell me what you're getting at. I don't have time to play games, Duo."

"Either Trowa wanted some more alone time with Serena, or Trowa's planning something."

"Maxwell," Heero growled this time.

"Fine," Duo said, holding up his hands. "Trowa made a rather interesting purchase a few weeks ago. One that happens to come in a little box," Duo shrugged before putting his hands behind his head. "I was curious to see if he presented that particular gift to Serena. Or not."

Heero opened his mouth before closing it quickly as the realization dawned on him. It didn't help that he could feel how wide his eyes grew.

"Ding ding! We have a winner!" Duo laughed as Heero dug his phone out of his pocket.

Trowa had been standing in the living room area of their private suite. He had been watching Serena for some time as she stood on the balcony. Her hair was loose, lying against her back as the slight breeze from the bay blew her hair about. Trowa had told Serena how he missed her long hair. Serena had agreed and planned to let her hair grow back to the length it once was when they first met. Serena wore a white dress with sandals. Trowa knew her bathing suit was lying under it as her gaze was trained on the boats sailing below in the bay. The plan was to go down to the bay and enjoy the sun and water. It was their last full day there. And Serena had told him that she wanted to enjoy it by the water.

His hand had been in his pocket for some time, fiddling with the small black box. He had been trying to find the perfect time, the perfect moment to present Serena with the item that lay cushioned between black velvet. Trowa knew before they left Sorrento, he would ask her. Trowa took a deep breath before taking a step forward, deciding now was the best time.

Then his phone started to ring.

Swearing under his breath, Trowa pulled out his phone to see who was calling. Trowa debated whether or not to answer before hitting the accept button.

"Hello?" Trowa asked as he put the phone to his ear.

"Barton," Heero's voice sounded from the other end.

"Yuy, what can I do for you?"

"You're not planning on doing anything while on vacation, are you?" Heero's voice grew slightly with anger.

"What do you mean? I'm just on vacation, Heero," Trowa said defensively.

"Are you planning on proposing to Serena?"

Trowa didn't respond right away. He could only stare wide-eyed at Serena. Luckily her back was still to him. Trowa had no idea how Heero had figured it out. He hadn't told anyone about what he was planning to do. Not even Cathy.

"Barton, answer the question."

Trowa could hear the anger growing in Heero's voice as he thought about what to say to him. Putting his hand back in his pocket, Trowa felt the ring box. Did Heero figure it out on his own? Or had someone else learned and told Heero?

"I thought about it… but I'm not sure when I plan on doing it." He tried to answer as evenly as possible.

"Were you planning to do it while in Italy? Is that what you're telling me?"

"I did consider it, yes."

"Then let me ask you this," Heero seethed through the phone. "Why didn't you come to talk to me about marrying Serena?" Trowa stood stock still. Had he heard correctly? There was no way-

"You want me to ask you for permission?" Trowa asked, dumbfounded by the question. Was that what Heero was getting at?

"It would've been a smart idea to come and talk to me, don't you think?" Trowa couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Heero want him to ask permission to have Serena's hand in marriage?

"I-I." Trowa shut his mouth. He didn't know how to respond to Heero.

"We'll discuss this when you return. Till then, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Heero said before ending the call.

Trowa stared down at his phone. He couldn't believe Heero had wanted him to ask first before asking Serena. But then again, Trowa never considered that maybe it was the right thing to do in this situation. Serena didn't have parents, so the traditional asking of the father was out of the question. Technically Heero and Serena were brother and sister, on paper at least. Serena was his clone, but her DNA had been altered to resemble a sibling rather than an exact copy.

Not to mention how their relationship was. While neither one ever admitted it, Heero and Serena acted more like siblings than anything else. It made Serena's reasoning regarding her documents harder to believe.

The more Trowa thought about it, the more it made sense. There was a reason Heero reacted the way he had. But now the question was, what was he going to do now?

"Whoa," Duo said, staring at him like he had grown a pair of wings.

"What?" Heero angrily asked as he put his phone on his desk. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed how strange it was that Trowa had planned a vacation for them. But knowing Serena had never been on one before, Heero assumed that was why Trowa had done it.

"That wasn't how I expected any of that to go."

"What?" Heero asked again.

"I mean… you flipped out on Trowa. For what? Wanting to ask Serena to marry him? Isn't that their decision?"

"It would have been better had Trowa come to me first," Heero said as he turned back to his laptop.

"I thought you weren't being a big brother to Serena," Duo said in a sarcastic tone. "And that you two only have it documented for legal reasons. Not personal ones."

"That's the only reason," Heero said, biting his tongue. If Duo kept questioning-

"No one is buying that bullshit, Heero." Heero swung his eyes to Duo. Duo's face was a stone mask as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You just proved it. This is one big lie the two of you keep telling everyone."

"It's not-"

"It is. You two act more like siblings than you do friends or even co-workers. This whole floor, hell, the whole fucking building knows you two fight like cats and dogs. Everyone heard you guys when you told Serena that she couldn't go to the Paris branch. And that's not even mentioning the fact people talk, Heero. Everyone has questioned who Serena is. Luckily, her real personnel file is locked, just like ours, or we'd all be having a fucking field day with those questions."

"What are you getting at, Duo?"

"You're not the one who cares about her, Heero," Duo frowned at him. "You're not the only one who views her as family. We're not stupid either. None of us want that bastard Edwards coming after her, but we can't sit here fearing for when he does."

"I know," Heero said slowly.

"When I figured out what Trowa was planning to do, I was excited for them. Serena and Trowa deserve to be happy, like the rest of us. Not to mention Trowa's always been the bachelor of our group. And now that he's settling down with Serena, nonetheless, we should be supporting them."

"I know."

"Do you? Because you're acting like it's the end of the fucking world that Trowa didn't ask you for permission. Why is it such a big deal if you're not her brother?"

"I'm-" Heero closed his mouth. "That's not what I meant."

"Yeah, right," Duo said, waving a hand at him. "Say whatever you want. As I said, no one is buying any of that bullshit. But when they get back, you better be happy for them."

"Huh?"

"You honestly think Trowa is going to listen to you? Trowa's head over heels for Serena. Has been. Even the night you sent me to spy on them. I could tell by how he looked at her."

"Why didn't you say something then?"

"You think I wanted to ruin something that was potentially starting to form between them? All because you didn't trust her back then?" Duo pointed at him. "I did what you wanted me to do, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure I interpreted them when I showed up. Pretty sure Trowa was trying to make a move based on how he answered the door. That and Serena looked a little flustered too, now that I think about it."

Heero could only stare at Duo. Duo had managed to pick up what had been happening and what almost had happened between Trowa and Serena. Something Heero still didn't appreciate knowing about. But he couldn't change the fact he knew any of that. The only question Heero had was how he could've been so blind it. But the truth was, he hadn't been. He had ignored the reality of the situation.

"When Trowa confessed what had been going on between them, I was shocked. I shouldn't have been. But your buddy tells you that the girl they've been secretly dating slept with them and then knocked them out," Duo chuckled as he scratched his head. "It was kind of surprising, you know? Not something you expect when shit is going haywire."

"Maxwell," Heero growled.

"Oh, sorry, forgot not-so-big-brother doesn't like hearing about what his not-so-little-sister is up to with our friend," Duo said before masking his face again. "You can deny shit all you want. I don't care. But I do care about the happiness of both Serena and Trowa. We've been a family for years, Heero. And now that Serena has come into our lives, I plan to treat her as such."

Heero said nothing as Duo stood before making his way to the door. As Duo's hand reached for the door handle, he stopped, turning slightly to face Heero.

"One last thing. Stop being a dick and let Serena do her damn job. There's going to come a time when I can't be your backup on a mission. If you don't let Serena start doing fieldwork. Or even being on Relena's security detail, you can forget it when you finally need her. She's going to tell you to fuck off. Because I certainly would if I were her."

Heero stared wide-eyed at Duo as he opened the door before closing it harder than necessary behind him. Why had Duo come to his office in the first place? Was Duo trying to stir the pot? Or were Duo's intentions something else?

None of this was how Heero thought his day was going to go. Bringing a hand up to his head, Heero rubbed his temple. Not only did he still have to figure out who was going to be on Relena's schedule for the following week. But now he had to think about everything Duo had said to him. And if that wasn't enough, Heero had to deal with the fact he had flipped out on Trowa about the possibility that Trowa was planning on asking Serena to marry him.

Heero groaned as he sat back in his chair. If people knew the truth, they would understand why he had become so angry. If everyone knew why he acted the way he did when it came to Serena-

Duo was right. No one was buying anything. Especially considering the fact others within the agency were questioning things. Rumors had already been circulating the week after Serena had officially started working at Preventers. Heero groaned again as he placed a hand on his head. What were they going to do now?

A/N

Happy Chapter Seventeen!

There's a lot happening... and someone decided to change their mind? Maybe... and possibly none of you will understand that, and that's okay! Sometimes these notes are for me to look back on and go "oh man, I did that and fucked around with my story."

So, is Trowa going to ask Serena? Is Duo correct? Am I just fucking with everyone and making sure these dates matter down the road? The answer...

The stuff I'm writing now will make sense in the long run. Hopefully or it's just my crazy brain and me chilling for... a shit ton of chapters. Which, I should mention... if you thought TC was long... and I hinted at this in earlier chapters of this story... well this story is going to be longer. I haven't even moved to doc two of just my notes... which hold a lot of random scenes that I move to the main doc and fill in the blanks. The timeline doc... we won't even go there. I'm still at the top first page...

Anywho... I swear I have a plan, and we'll get there... hopefully. At some point, watch, I'll rewrite this whole story and cut out the bullshit, but for now, I'm rolling with everything. Next chapter we find out the answers to the questions I listed at the beginning of this ramble. Or maybe we won't? I could change my mind again before posting!

Until next week, take care!
-MM

To my dear friend, who I would love to say their name, but that would be wrong because I want to use their real name here... but you know who you are because you're the reason this chapter's title came to be. B&B4L