Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is [not] mine! Except for Mattie Royal

"Come on, you stupid little man," Matilda hissed under her breath, she tightened her grip on the M107 .50 calibre, long-range sniper rifle. She had spent the last three hours on a freezing rooftop, risking being seen, all to get to this one guy someone wanted dead so badly. She sighed, hoping that he'd appear in his townhouse soon.

Right after she swore to herself never to take on a cheap, one-shot mission again, he appeared. Coming out of the car that just parked. Thin and scrawny would be an understatement, the man looked like he was a stick bug suffering anorexia. He had a balding patch on his head and bags under his eyes, making him look like he was in a fight. In his right hand he held a tattered briefcase, and in his left, a set of keys. Matilda made her move quickly.

Aiming the crosshair to his chest, she made sure no one else was on the street before squeezing on the trigger and hearing the satisfying sound of the bullet passing through the silencer. The man fell flat on his back, dead before he hit the ground. Without taking a second glace, she picked herself off the roof from her lying position and started to swiftly dismantle her rifle. She glanced at her watch; 5:51.

"Shit," she muttered, jumping down from the fire escape stairs and starting to run back to her apartment. Friday had come so quickly. It was only four days ago that she was shot and almost stabbed with a knife, and met a saviour under the name of Duo Maxwell. She smiled at the thought of him, he was such an sweetheart even though she didn't even know anything other than his name.

She practically flew up the stairs and down the hallway after the ten minute sprint back to her apartment, managing to dig out the keys at the same time. Matilda dumped the bag with the rifle somewhere on the couch and used the bathroom for possibly the shortest time in her entire life. Entering her bedroom with a towel securely wrapped around her, she pulled out a pair of light-coloured jeans, a black spaghetti strap top and grey-striped jacket. She wasn't much of a dressy person, majority of her clothes were just jeans and shirts, hardly any dresses or skirts .

Just as she was about to walk out of her room, there was the inevitable knock at her door. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, she strolled over, put her hand on the lock and handle, and simultaneously turned them.

"Hello there, gorgeous. You right to go out?" Duo asked, flashing a grin.

x.x.x

Two hours and two ice-cream cones later, the pair were aimlessly wandering through the well maintained, city park. Matilda was balancing along the low, narrow borders of the garden beds, while Duo, being the partly-responsible young adult he was, walked beside her, gentle holding her arm as if to catch her if she fell.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," she said, hopping down from the ledge, "You live in a townhouse with four other guys who you fought in the war with, are your best friends, one of them is the Quatre Middle-Name-Starting-With-An-'R' Winner, and yet he won't let you guys stay in one of his gazillion mansions?"

"He doesn't believe we're civilized enough to live in an actual house. And it's Raberba," he replied simply.

Matilda raised an eyebrow, "Civilized in what way? I reckon my place could easily outdo the local dump." She jumped down from the concrete ledge. "I think that Quatre guy came past the auto shop a couple of days ago, he had a reaally nice Kawasaki Ninja, although the paint job on it was horrible."

"You own an auto shop?"

She shook her head, "No, I just work part-time at one; the one on Freya Street." They neared the main road which was a silent as the night itself.

"You want a lift home?" he asked, crossing the deserted street, Matilda behind him.

She raised an eyebrow, "You didn't have a car with you." He tapped his nose and pulled out a set of keys, walking the stairs to one of the townhouses and unlocking the door. "Did you plan this, Duo?" she said, clearly surprised.

"No, I just so happened to remember that the house was across from the park," he said, flicking a couple of light switches on.

"So, you mean to say you normally forget where you live?"

"No, I meant-"

"Maxwell!" He was cut off midsentence by a voice from upstairs. "Did you get the files from Sally?" A brown-haired figure came down the stairs, a laptop in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

"No, I told Quatre to get them," he retorted, "I said I was busy-"

"Unreliable bastard."

Feeling shunned aside, Matilda muttered to herself, "Some manners." He glared at her as if she were vermin in the house. Taking it as a threat, she stood her ground, not breaking eye contact until Duo broke in.

"Uh, Heero," Duo said, "this is Matilda Royal. She works at the auto shop Quatre normally goes to."

"Hn." He brushed past her and went into the kitchen, supposedly getting more coffee. Matilda rolled her eyes and motioned to Duo that they should get going.

"Friendly roomie. I could so imagine him on a Monday morning," she said sarcastically once they had slid inside the silver Porsche.

Duo laughed, "Every morning is a Monday with him around." The car glided across the streets, missing almost every red-light and stop sign.

"So, he's a smooth-talker and can drive a car. I'm impressed," she laughed, relaxing against the passenger seat. "Make a right here." The car made a sharp, neat turn into Wilmington Street before pulling up in front of her apartment block. Letting out a sigh, Matilda rested her head against the cool, glass window.

"What is it?" he said, the look of concern in his eyes.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. It's just," she closed her eyes. "The night's just beginning and our date's almost over. I mean, not that that's a good thing; the date I mean, not the night just beginning. And I would ask if you wanted to come in but my place is a mess, and before you can even think about what you're about to think about, I don't even think there's enough space for you to lie down even if I threw out some of the junk lying around," -Matilda took a breath- "and I'd just like you to know that I really, really, really enjoyed tonight."

Duo looked at her, bewildered. "I… uh. Thanks?" She leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips.

"See you around, sometime soon," she winked, and just like that, disappeared into the concrete building. Once inside her apartment, Matilda raced to her laptop, violently flipped open the lid and punched in the command for a video-call.

"Whut?" snapped the boy who appeared onscreen, heavy lidded and without a shirt on from sleep. "If ya haven't noticed, its two in the morning here." He ran a hand through his already messed up, chocolate brown hair.

"Yeah, yeah," Matilda rolled her eyes, "Elliott, I've got a serious problem."

He raised an eyebrow, "More serious than the last time you called?"

"It's Yuy."

Elliott froze.