Today, a small surprise for you all at the end!

Author: femaleshinigami
Title: The Herald
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Don't Kill.
Warnings: Not beta read. Possible citrus swearing, AU, mild angst.
Pairings: 1+2, future 1x2. The pool is still open about Quat and Tro. Maybe some 5xR.
Rating: so far PG./PG13 Probably R/NC17 later.
AN: The names of the newspapers are made up. If a paper with a name like this does exist and Herald probably does it's not my intention, to compare the two. Enjoy the fic, and please comment.

Part 3

In two days Duo's article was finished and he took it to Heero for approval. He finally managed to find some dirt on one of the coaches, and convinced him to spill all he knew. With that, and all his previous research and interviews, Duo had more than enough to compose a nice, large article. The next day it went into print, first page, and it immediately became a blast. The local law force got interested, and Duo gave them copies of all he had. Herald's office got flooded with mails and letters from people who supposedly knew something, Relena and two assistants sorting through it calmly. Duo walked back from the bathroom, thinking that maybe he'll stop by the kitchen for some coffee, when Relena called his name, "Duo!"

"Yeah, babe?" he smiled at her and walked closer.

She didn't even blush at the nick-name anymore, "The boss wanted to see you. He just came back from a conference, and should be in his office," Duo thanked her, and went to see what the matter was. He knocked, and entered.

"Heero?" he didn't see the other man at first, only when a quiet "Here." came from the side, did he notice his boss laying on the couch there. His tie was draped over the backrest, his shirt half undone, one arm dropped over his eyes.

"Bad meeting?" Duo asked politely, coming closer, dragging one of the chairs with him.

"Boring," was the only reply. Duo just chuckled, "So what did you want to see me for? "

The arm dropped from his face, and slowly Heero sat up, slumping on the couch, throwing his head against the backrest. Duo's eyes were instantly drawn to the exposed neck and part of chest, and the braided man was doing all he could not to salivate openly. Heero said something to him, but he didn't hear a word of it, "Huh?"

One blue eye peaked open and looked at him, "I said, the director of 'Voice', Quatre Winner, is in town this week, and he wanted to meat with me for dinner on Friday. He said I'm to take that 'bright, new reporter of mine' with me. So, I ask, can you go? You can of course bring someone with you, but I must warn you, neither me or Quatre will."

"Sure, I'll take Hilde with me. She'd be trilled to go. Just tell me when and where."

"I'll give you the details later."

"Sure thing, Heero. I'll let you doze off now." Duo stood up, and dusted some dust from his pants.

"I'm not dozing off," came the mumbled, indignant reply.

"Of course you're not. You're just resting your eyes,"

Heero did a very un-Heero thing then, and just showed Duo his tongue, his eyes still closed, his body slumped relaxed on the couch. Duo just laughed, "Oh man, I'm already rubbing off on you!" and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

Hilde adjusted her dress for the tenth time since the last five minutes, "Do I look all right? Maybe I should change? I think I look fat in this dress..."

"Hilde, for heavens sake! You look good! Gorgeous even! I'd say you're hot, but you're my sis and all..." he grinned at her, and came to kiss her cheek.

"Jackass," she punched his arm lightly, "Get away from me, you'll mess up my make up," just then the taxi outside honked, and they hurried to leave the house. The night was warm, the high temperatures going on for over two months now, making everyone dread the moment when the sky finally broke, and the rain would fall. Hilde got into the car, making sure, her pretty, dark blue dress didn't get crumpled, Duo sliding in beside her, in his charcoal suit and dark violet dress shirt. He gave the driver the directions, and soon they were at the fancy restaurant. They came in, gave the young lady at the entrance their names, and were taken to one of the 'VIP tables' as she called it. Duo started to get a little nervous, not knowing who to expect. He never met Quatre Winner in person, the man working in the main office, while Duo was just an assistant at a smaller, local office two towns away. He never heard much about the boss, just that he was an honest person, who had a remarkable way with diplomatics.

He saw Heero first, smiling when the man noticed him and did the same, then shifted his gaze to the elegant blond beside him. The man had an innocent appearance, with his laughing blue eyes and kind smile, he didn't look much like the owner and director of one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country.

"Ah! Mr maxwell!" the blond stood up and extended his hand for a firm shake with Duo, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

"It's an honor for me, sir" Duo smiled, shaking the man's hand confidently.

"Please, call me Quatre,"

"Only if you call me Duo,"

"Deal!" Quatre laughed and turned slightly to face Hilde, "And this beautiful lady must be your sister Hilde, and i right?" he smiled charmingly at her, making Hilde blush a little.

"Yes." she replied, and he kissed her hand, like a true gentleman, making the poor girl blush even harder. They settled down, and soon the waiter brought them the menus, and a bottle of champagne.

"A toast, Duo. Your first big article, and already a big success. Hopefully, not the last one!" Duo just smiled and nodded in thanks.

The dinner progressed pleasantly, the conversation mostly light. Quatre turned out to be an amazing person, his friendly and easy nature making Duo like him immediately. The blond make sure to converse with Hilde, appearing to be honestly interested in her plans of becoming a journalist, even so much as offering her a job, "Actually, I came here, because I decided to move my main office to this town. I'm bored of the old one, and we don't have enough offices in this part of the country. It's going to be good for the paper, and it will hopefully let me find some new bright journalists and reporters." he smiled at Hilde after mentioning this, "and since 'Voice' is a more country-wide paper, while 'Herald' is a more local one, there shouldn't be any problem with our papers competing... too much," He threw a challenging look at Heero, who just smirked.

"Oh, by the way, Duo. I have a little surprise for you," Heero turned to the braided man, with a small, mysterious smile on his face.

"Should I be afraid?" Duo just chuckled a little nervously, the intense stare his boss was giving him unnerving him a little.

"Hmmm... that depends," the other man smirked at him, an expression Duo couldn't quite recognize passing his over his face. The next moment that look was gone, and Heero addressed them all while speaking, "I got word today, that Duo's article got nominated for the upcoming Golden Feather award in the debut category."

Hilde gasped a little, and then a round of "Congratulation Duo!"'s and "You'll win for sure!"'s were said to the shocked braided man. He kept looking straight at Heero, blinking stupidly for a minute, and then thanking everyone. His boss just smiled at him, and lifted his glass in a toast, "To Duo! Who will surely win!"

"It was a pleasant meeting with you, Duo, Hilde," Quatre smiled at the both of them. They were standing outside the restaurant, the siblings waiting for Heero, who offered to drive them home, to get his car, while Quatre was keeping them company for a minute longer.

"I hope we can meet again, Quatre. I must say, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun."

"But next time, lets go somewhere, that doesn't require ties and suits, all right?" laughed the blond man, tugging at the collar of his shirt, pretending it was choking him, "It's enough I have to always dress like this for work."

"You have yourself a deal, Mr Winner! Next time we go partying Maxwell way!"

"In that case, I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun!" just then Heero's car stopped beside them, and they said their final goodbyes, then got into the car. They drove in silence, all winding down after the night full of surprises and excitement. When they finally got to the place, Duo turned to tell Hilde they were home. To his surprise, his sister was fact asleep sitting in the backseat, leaning against the door.

"What's th matter?" asked Heero, when Duo just kept on staring at his sister.

"She fell asleep."

"Oh," Heero looked back himself, seeing the peacefully seeping girl, "I can help you cary her inside," he offered.

"Thanks, " Duo got out and went to open the door while, Heero carefully lifted Hilde from the back of his car, closing the door with his hip, and switching the alarm on with the remote in his hand. Duo opened the door and held it while Heero carried his sister in, then went to do the same with the door to her bedroom. Heero lay the girl carefully on her bed, and Duo covered her with a blanket, they quietly stepped out of the room, and went back to the living-room.

"Won't she be mad at you for letting her sleep in that dress?" Heero asked when they were safely away from the sleeping girl.

"Probably," Duo shrugged, and a small uncomfortable silence fell between them, "Umm.. coffee?"

"Sure."

Duo made some coffee for the both of them, and they went into the living room to sit on the couch there. A small conversation was started, that soon died, and the uncomfortable silence was back again. Duo opened his mouth and looked at Heero, wanting to say something to fill the void, but fell quiet when he noticed how close the other man had gotten, and the intensive look he was giving him. He unconsciously licked his lips, a nervous gesture, and saw Heero's eyes instantly shifting to them, then looking back into his eyes. He didn't know which one of them leaned forward first. If it was him, or the other man. But once he felt Heero's breath on his lips, he closed his eyes, and savored the sweet kiss.

It might have been seconds, it might have ben hours, Duo didn't know, or care. But when he finally opened his eyes, and saw th deep blue pools before them, he got scared. He quickly pulled back, looking down into his lap. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." he stammered.

"No, it's my fault, I'm sorry.." said Heero at the same time. The silence was back, and then..."I'll understand if you want to cancel that Friday night dinner invitation." said Heero in an emotionless voice.

"No! No, please! Please come." Duo looked back at the other man, scared that he ruined everything.

"Are you sure?" asked Heero a little hesitant.

"I'm sure," replied Duo with as much confidence as he could muster, and gave the other man a weak, but sincere smile.

Heero smiled back at him, then stood up, "I should be going."

Duo looked up at him, but was reassured Heero wasn't mad when the other man smiled.

"I'll let myself out. Have a good night, Duo."

"You too, Heero." Duo looked as the other man got dressed and left, then listened to to sound of his car driving away.

He stayed seated at the couch till morning, and then just fell asleep on it, waking only a few hours later at Hilde's outraged cry.

TBC