Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: Identity of the rose sender confirmed

Blonds of a Feather

The destroyer, known as the E.S.A. Siberia, had departed from London on its final voyage, its destination: the Sanc Kingdom. There, the Siberia would be dismantled and scrapped, returning to the raw materials that built it and sent back out to the rest of the world.

However, the Admiral who was suppose to be in command was nowhere to be found on the entire vessel. In fact, his body, along with various members of his crew, was hidden beneath the waters of the North Sea.

In the interior of the ship, artillery, ammunition, and weapons that weren't suppose to be there had been stored. Not among the clutter were eighteen rockets, each loaded with a canister of VX poison gas. No, these lethal weapons were stored elsewhere on the ship, strapped down and cushioned so as to prevent any leaks.

The men that were guiding and keeping the ship in good condition were not all experienced sailors. Only half of the men were veteran sailors while the other half were trained only for land operations. They were not having an easy time adapting to the conditions but none were complaining as this was only an obstacle that stood in their path.

And overseeing it all was General Katsaris. He was smiling as they drew closer to their destination, Sanc. It would only be a few more days but they would soon arrive.

Commandeering the sea-going vessel hadn't been too difficult. Though they had needed to get as much weapons and artillery as they possibly could, it could only last them a few hours before they ran out and be left to the mercy of the Earth's forces. But, if everything went as planned, then it wouldn't matter.

Yes, Katsaris was smiling, anticipating the events that he would be responsible for creating.

---

Quatre felt as if he was on the top of the world.

It had only been a few days since the rendezvous at the library but that was only a piece of what made the Arabian feel good. Only just a few minutes ago, he had received the results of the handwriting analysis. He should have known who the dumbass was. It was so obvious; the guy had no clue about any sort of social relations whatsoever. Well, when he returned with Duo back to HQ, he would definitely have a few words with the dumbass and end the charade once and for all.

Upon turning a corner, he met with the sight of Solo, the blond leaning casually on the wall, looking as if he had been waiting for him. But Quatre was just too high in the clouds to let such a thing bother him.

"Have dose results come in yet?" the blond asked, green eyes piercing through Quatre's joyfulness.

Seeing no reason to refuse to answer, Quatre replied, "Yes, just now."

"So who is it?" Solo asked, his voice eager. Looked like the L2 native wanted a piece of dumbass, huh?

Not having the heart to deny the fellow blond, he told him. "Heero Yuy, one of the other pilots. You know, the one who Relena greeted at the shuttleport?"

"Huh," was Solo's response. "So wen we go in an' kick his ass?"

Quatre gave Solo a look of shock. "Kick his ass? Solo, nobody just beats up Heero Yuy and expects to come out unscathed."

"So?" Solo countered. "How else will he learn his lesson? From wat I heard about him, he dun have people skills. Then only way to get it drew is ta pound it in ta dare head."

"I will admit, Heero is socially retarded," Quatre conceded, "but picking a fight with him nonetheless is practically suicide."

"Won't ya be dare? Den dare would be two of us instead." Solo leaned in towards the Arabian, his face mere inches away from his. Quatre couldn't deny that this was flustering him a bit. Wait, was his heart starting to beat faster?

Solo moved forward slightly, heading to Quatre's ear where he whispered, "Ya know, ya kinda cute dis close." Solo's breath tickling his skin, his tongue darted out, barely touching his ear before withdrawing. "Not too bad. I wouldn't mind if da Kid tapped ya."

Quatre blushed in embarrassment at this. Why was Solo of all people having this effect on him? He wanted Duo, not Solo. But he couldn't deny that Solo had his own charm. Quite possibly, it was the same charm that Duo picked up but whereas Duo's was more refined, more careful and planned; Solo was still in the precursor stages, more forward than anything.

Pulling back, Solo smirked at him. "Yep, I can definitely see someding dare," the blond said cryptically. The blond ruffled his hair before turning and leaving, leaving Quatre in a cloud of confusion.

All he could ask himself was what just happened?

---

Waking from yet another nap, Duo found himself staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought.

The topic on his mind at the moment was none other than the dilemma he was in involving both Solo and Quatre. By now, he knew that both had feelings for him, deep feelings. And to make things a bit more complicated, he found himself enjoying the attention from both sides and he wasn't sure which one he should lean towards.

On one hand, there was Solo, his childhood role model and mentor, the person he had strove to emulate. Solo understood him in ways that no other person could. Not only that, Solo was the one to whom he had given up his virginity to, albeit it was out of fear that someone would take it from him like so much had been taken away from him already.

Then on the other hand was Quatre, his best friend and comrade from two wars. Out of all those he fought side-by-side with, Quatre was the one he had grown closest too. The Arabian had this gift of empathy, understood him on so many different levels that he hadn't thought existed.

And to make matters even more difficult, the two had similar features that Duo couldn't help but see in both of them. While both had literally grown up on opposite sides of the track, complete with different values, knowledge, and attitudes, there were those rare times the two acted alike. Such as when they were trying to over-satisfy him on the shuttle ride back to Earth, commenting on his head injury when they arrived at Quatre's mansion, hell, even in the midst of sex their eyes had gleamed the same way, clouded with lust the same way.

At least he hadn't received any roses yet, thank God. That was the only thing that had kept his rehabilitation stay from becoming a complete hell. If Heero thought he could win him over with roses…pfft, he had another thing coming. He was beginning to think that maybe he should throw the damn weeds in the Perfect Soldier's face and tell him to piss off.

If that didn't tell soldier boy anything, he didn't know what would.

But that was not here but definitely over there. He'd deal with it in his own time. Meanwhile, there was still the Solo and Quatre situation to deal with. It would only be a matter of time before each learned of the intimate sessions he had had with them and demand him to pick between them.

He didn't know if he could.

Best not to think about it until it was time to deal with it. He could contemplate it multiple times but never reach a consistent conclusion. So what else was going on in the world that could distract him momentarily?

Oh yeah, the stolen VX canisters. Had they been found yet? Why hadn't anybody told him about it yet? It would have definitely put him at ease while he was recovering.

He had a sneaking suspicion that Une was deliberately leaving him in the dark about the VX recover effort. It was directly involved with L2 and whenever L2 was involved, no matter what form or fashion it took, he would be involved with it. At last count, only two canisters had been recovered/disabled. So what about the remaining eighteen? Where on Earth and the Colonies were they?

Guess he'd find out in a few days. He'd be returning to work then and he would demand answers to all his questions, even if he had to drive half the people there insane.

Oh yeah, that reminded him. How were Trowa and Wufei doing? They both had been left alone at HQ for quite some time. Sure Heero was also there, but he didn't count. Had Trowa done anything to advance his cause with the Chinese man? Only one way to find out about that.

These days were going to go pretty slow, weren't they?