Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Blasts from the Past

Dermail peered over his clasped hands at the man that sat across from him, studying the man's features with utmost scrutiny.

"Do you know the reason why I have called you here?" Dermail finally began after a long, drawn out silence.

"It has something to do with the Winner proposal?" the gruff voice answered, guessing.

"You are correct," Dermail confirmed. "This matter is extremely delicate and I need someone experienced and good at the kind of work we're going to be needing. Mr. Romafellor wants this deal to go through without a hitch and has put me in charge of the majority of this proposal. However, I can't be everywhere at once and I need to lighten the load a bit. That's where you come in."

"What is it that you need me to do?"

"Should Winner agree to negotiations, I want you to meet with the head of WEI and settle the deal. Do whatever you need to do to get this deal to pass and I assure you, you will not only be greatly compensated for your work but more than likely be promoted to being part of the Executive Board," Dermail explained.

"That's very generous of you," said the man in awe.

"You should actually be thanking Mr. Romafellor," replied Dermail. "However, you must remember that first you need to settle this deal and no foul ups either. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear," answered the man. "You can be assured that I will not fail."

"You better not," Dermail warned. "Otherwise, there will be some…consequences that you will not enjoy."

--

"It's too quiet," remarked Howard without warning.

His startled secretary jumped at the sudden sound. "What do you mean Howard?" she asked.

"We've never gone this long without hearing anything from the asshole," Howard clarified. "We usually get something ever couple days or so and we've practically have gone a week without anything. Something's up, I can feel it."

"Are you sure you're not borrowing any trouble?" the secretary asked dubiously. She couldn't help but like the "quiet" as Howard put it since she didn't have to do as much paperwork. Still, even she was willing to do anything to help out Helen's son. She owed her friend that much.

"I wish I was," Howard replied. "But I know that this is too fishy. There's only been two times when we've had a quiet spell like this and it's usually when that asshole's boss is up to something. The man actually canceled a court date and he never does that unless something's up."

"Couldn't it just be that he's getting tired?"

"If he had been getting tired, he would have stopped doing this a long time ago. No, he's being told to hold off for awhile while something else is in the works."

"And how does this concern us?" asked the secretary.

"It might mean something, it might not," Howard answered. "Still, I'm not going to be turning my back on this. He'll be back, that's the one constant in this world that I can rely on."

--

"I don't believe this," gasped the male in the backseat.

"We're here!" chirped the short haired girl as his eyes sparkled at the sight of the school building.

"So, Mueller, what was that about women drivers?" teased the girl in the passenger seat.

"I give up!" cried the now-named Mueller melodramatically.

"So what do we do now?" asked Alex, paying no mind to his friend's antics.

"Well, if our shitty clock is right, we wait for school to let out," answered the girl in the passenger's seat dryly.

As if on cue, a loud siren sounded from the building, signaling the end of classes and for the students within to haul ass out of there.

"I love it when you do that!" squealed the short haired girl.

"Alright, this is it!" Mueller declared as he punched a fist into his left hand. "Time to give that asshole a piece of our minds!"

--

Having braved the long day of school, Duo was more than ready to just get back to the Winner's mansion and lay down. The girls of this school just couldn't seem to accept the fact that he was going out with Solo and had approached the blond with countless declarations of love and such while throwing glares at him.

Needless to say, Solo turned them all down while he doted on him. How the guy managed to get through the day without looking exasperated was a mystery to the braided one and he made a note to himself on asking Solo how he did such a thing.

As they exited the school building, Duo caught sight of a few looks of longing from a few of the lingering girls. It seemed that Solo also noticed and brought him closer, his arm back on its favorite roost. That was more than enough to comfort Duo and he allowed himself to be escorted away from the school grounds once again, like he had so many times before.

However, something must have been odd or something because Solo suddenly halted, his arm tensing on his shoulders.

Needless to say, Duo was confused to no end on this sudden change in behavior. Attempting to follow Solo's locked gaze, he spotted a rust bucket of a car just across the street from them, four people hanging around the automobile.

Now, Duo had been going to this school all his life and he had never seen those four before but from the way Solo was staring at them, Duo guessed that he had an idea about who they were. Before he could ask what was going on though, the four had crossed the street, obviously heading straight for Solo with a single minded purpose. What that purpose was, Duo had no idea, but he could see that one of the four did not look happy, at all.

It was this disgruntled fellow that actually got the first word when he called out, "Solo you asshole! You don't call, you don't write, and to think we were worried about you!"

"Bullshit!" Solo snorted automatically. "I don't know about the other three, but you sure as hell weren't worried Mueller!"

To say that Duo was shocked was an understatement.

"Do you know those guys?" he asked the blond.

A friendly grin had appeared on the blond's face, something that Duo hadn't ever seen before as he answered, "Yeah, they're my old friends from before I moved in at my uncle's."

The thought that Solo had actually had friends before coming here had never crossed Duo's mind before. Then again, Solo never talked about them either. Still, it only went to show how little he actually knew about the guy.

"Hey, who's the pipsqueak?" Mueller asked as soon as he was mere feet away from the couple.

Five seconds later, Mueller was flat on his back with an impressive dirt imprint of a shoe on his chest.

"Still as stupid as ever," Solo chuckled as he pulled a steamed Duo back towards him.

"That was quite impressive," commented one of the girls, a blonde from the looks of it. It seemed as if she didn't give a care as to the condition of her fallen friend, literally stepping on the stunned guy and approaching Duo. "Do you think you could teach me how to do that?"

"Damn it, you're one of them, aren't you?!" the fallen Mueller accused as he glared up at Duo. "You're one of those government assassins, aren't you?"

"Mueller, he ain't an assassin and he ain't with the government," Solo sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"So, he's always like this?" Duo asked, eyeing Mueller warily.

"All the time," answered the taller blond male who had bent down to help pick up Mueller.

"Traitor!" Mueller cried.

"Some things never change," Solo stated.

"Yeah, like you not answering my questions!" snapped Mueller.

"I hate to admit it but he does have a point," the blonde girl said. "So, who is your friend there?"

"Oh yeah," Solo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. Anyway, this here is Duo."

"Don't tell me the introductions are only one way," Duo said dryly. "They now know who I am but I don't know who they are."

"Hold your horses," Solo grumbled. "The girl in front of ya is Sylvia, the guy you floored is Mueller, the guy next to him is Alex, and the other girl is Hilde."

"Hilde?" Duo started.

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out!" chirped the short haired girl now known as Hilde. Hilde stared at Duo cheerfully before her face scrunched up in thought. "You know, you look awfully familiar."

By now, Duo was trying to hide himself behind Solo, his eyes wider than usual and full of fear.

Hilde then snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! I remember you!" she said loudly. "You're Duo! Duo Maxwell! Long time no see!"

"You know each other?" Solo asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the cowering Duo.

"You remember that girl that Quatre tried to set me up with, the one we all thought was a guy?" Duo whispered so that only Solo could hear. The blond nodded. "Well, that girl was…"

"Oh my God!" Solo chortled as he burst out laughing.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Hilde asked, tilting her head in puzzlement.

"Is it true that you went out with Duo?" Solo managed to ask through his amusement.

'Uh huh," Hilde confirmed. "Why?"

"So then it's true that Duo thought you were a guy?"

"I was surprised by that too!" Hilde cried, her voice laced with memories. "I couldn't believe he thought I was a guy! It was so cute when he found out I was a girl!"

"You know, now that I think about it, you kinda do look like a guy," Alex said.

"Yeah, it was such a shame that Duo was gay," Hilde sighed. "He was quite a catch, let me tell you that."

"He's right here," Solo pointed out as he stepped to a side, revealing the terrified Duo.

"DUO!" Hilde screamed as she launched herself at the braided one. Duo could only meep in fear as he found himself being enveloped in a bear hug that threatened to crush his ribs and suffocate him. "It's great to see you again!" Hilde exclaimed. "My, I think you got shorter," the girl commented as she released him.

The only thing that kept Duo from committing first degree homicide was the fact that he was still recovering from his glomp attack. At least, that was the reason Duo used to justify why he didn't attack.

"Be careful with him!" Solo chided as he pulled Duo up against him. "You're going to break him if you keep doing stuff like that."

"Sorry about that," Hilde apologized sheepishly. "I just haven't seen him in a long time, that's all."

"Okay, okay, okay, enough with the sappy reunions," Mueller cut in. Turning to Solo, the dark skinned youth gave the blond a stern look. "You have some explaining to do, Solo. Why the hell haven't you talked with us? Are you better than us or something? Is it because we're all common folk, is that it?"

"Shut it Mueller," Sylvia interrupted. "But he has a point," she continued as she steered the conversation back to Solo, "You haven't called or talked with us for quite some time. What is your excuse?"

"I've been busy!" Solo defended.

"Doing what?" Sylvia inquired.

"Butting into my life," Duo answered. "The guy has barely left me alone for two weeks already."

"Hey, you liked every moment of it!" Solo exclaimed. "And is that the way you talk to your boyfriend anyways?"

"Boyfriend?!" shrieked Mueller.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Hilde squealed. "That's so adorable!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing to give the short haired girl a look before shrugging and resuming their conversation.

"Fangirlish squeal aside, what prompted this?" asked Sylvia.

"What can I say, he's like a fungus. He grew on me," Solo answered as he squeezed the braided one.

"So you're finally settling down, eh," Sylvia stated. "Well, at least he's better than the Sandstorm Ballet Team."

"You mean you're gay?!" Mueller squeaked. He was ignored.

"You have to let me take your picture!" Hilde squealed.

"Maybe some other time," Solo said, becoming really wary of the girl. He had to admit, the girl could creep him out sometimes.

"Damn it, will you people listen to me for one minute!" Mueller erupted, capturing all of their attentions. Resuming his previous outraged stance, he began again, "You can't be serious, you're gay?!"

"Bisexual to tell the truth but I rather like this guy right here," Solo replied as he snuggled against Duo's captive form.

"You're willing to just give it everything to be with that puny boy there?" Mueller exclaimed.

It was barely a second later that Solo instinctively released Duo and backed up, ready to intercept any blows that might come from the braided one.

Instead, Duo just simply walked up to Mueller and gave him a cheery smile. Then he kneed him in the pins.

The braided one returned to the tall blond's side, leaving the now collapsed Mueller to scream silently as he writhed in painful agony.

Oblivious to his friend's critical state, it was Alex that spoke up next. "I don't see anything wrong with that," he shrugged. "If you like him so much, good for you."

"Thanks Alex," Solo said, smiling slightly.

"No prob," the teen answered.

By that time, Quatre and Trowa had arrived, the former eyeing the four strangers suspiciously while Trowa continued to remain impassive.

"Are these friends of yours Solo?" the smaller blond asked, directing everyone's (except for Mueller, that poor schmuck) towards him. "You know it's rude not to give introductions."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Solo huffed, waving the matter away before pointing to each of his four friends. "Alex, Mueller, Sylvia, Hilde. Guys, this is Quatre, my cousin. Go easy on him."

"Hi Quatre!" Hilde exclaimed. "You've really grown! It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"Oh, hello Hilde," Quatre replied, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment, most likely having to do with remembering a past incident. "I didn't know you knew Solo…"

"I met him after I moved away!" the girl chirped. "So how have you been? Think you can set me up with somebody again? You know, someone short and with a braid?"

Duo unobtrusively and unconsciously stood up onto his tippy toes, hoping to appear taller than he was while moving behind Solo.

"I'll see what I can do," Quatre murmured uneasily.

"Hey! New kid!"

"My, aren't I the popular guy today," Solo grumbled to himself as he turned his head in the direction of the new voice.

His eyes easily caught on to the sight of Walker who was casually making his way towards him, gesturing at him to come over. Relena Peacecraft was at his side, a fair expression on her face as she walked daintily next to the jock.

"Better see what he wants," Solo sighed as he began to make his way over to the couple, dragging Duo behind him all the while.