A/N I don't own anything...

28 Minutes

Chapter 3

Take One: Nearly Set

Very late at Night

"Quat you are the only one who can pull off a miracle like that." Duo said before he hung up the phone.

Heero and Duo were waiting for Quatre's position on his part of the planning. They had been waiting for nearly 12 hours before they got a call back, and were blessed with good news.

"He arranged a meeting so soon, boy never ceases to amaze me." Duo commented before crossing something off his make shift to-do list. Heero was lying on the floor near by, sleep claiming him now and again. He had been content just letting Duo handling all the scheming. Not that he trusted him completely, just enough to know that Duo's mistakes could almost always be corrected by him when the plan was put into action.

"So, when are we going to hear from the rest of the gang?" Heero asked, not bothering to open his eyes.

"We should be hearing from Wufei tomorrow, he was in Beijing a couple of days earlier. So I'm not sure what part of China he was in when I called. But I know that it will take him a while to get a good signal again." Duo explained.

"What in Hell's name made him want to take part again?"

"Well that's the thing…I didn't say you were part of it.." Duo pulled his classic nervous act, putting his hand in the back of his head and laughing a very fake laugh.

This got Heero's attention. He jumped up from his position on the floor and would have given Maxwell a new face lift if the fight weren't interrupted by a knock on the door.

Both men stood stark still as their heads turned slowly toward the front door.

A hoarse voice replied through the cheap ply wood of a door.

"Hey, you better open up this piece of shit before I take my business elsewhere!"

"Howard!?" Both Heero and Duo called at the same time.

Duo unlocked the deadbolt and swung the door open. Revealing a man in his 50's of a lean built and a bright red Hawaiian t-shirt. His eyes were concealed by dark glasses and his beard was fashioned in a goatee. There was also a figure standing behind him, a man in his early 20s with brown bangs covering his left eye, a turtle neck sweater, and khaki pants. They both looked at the two with a small smile on their lips.

"And Trowa?"

Take Two: Trowa Barton

A cellular phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Trowa? Boy do you know how to keep it simple. At least Quatre put on a formality."

Trowa had been at a local tavern drinking his share of spirits for the night. He had been working odd jobs here and there in search for money. He knew that whatever made Duo call him, it was driven by another heist plan. He swore that last time was the last time, Heero had suffered for their actions- and it wasn't even the Prison sentence that was the problem.

"What is it this time?" Trowa asked, better to get to the point. Duo knew how to make small talk an art form.

"Up for another job?"

"I know that, why else would you call me. What I meant was "what are you doing this time'." Trowa took a swig of his vodka he had ordered earlier.

"Casino and Resort."

"That simple?" Trowa asked but was received with an inaudible sound.

"Of course not, what was I thinking. Anything with you is never simple Duo."

"So are you in or not?" Duo's voice pleaded through the phone.

"Depends, is Yuy in?"

"Yep."

"Well, if he can forgive you for last time then I guess I can." Trowa had to hold the phone away from his ear at Duo's responsive excitement.

"But, tell me this is a direct heist, we aren't going to subject anyone to what Heero had to do."

"Of course, Trowa buddy ol' pal. Otherwise, Heero would never had agreed." Duo replied.

Trowa ordered another vodka after realizing he had finished his glass already.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to have Howard's number would you?" Duo asked.

Take Three: A plan in the making..

"So, Stick-up-his- ass is still in China eh?" Howard asked as he sucked down a beer that Duo offered him.

All four men were gathered around Duo's teetering table in his apartment living room.

"Yea, he'll be in touch tomorrow. We can still pull the pre-plans without him." Duo responded.

"What have you done so far?" Trowa spoke up. The first time since they came.

Duo leaned back in his chair,

"Quatre pulling through with the schematics of the Casino. We were going to have Heero get into the Casino security room to do his "hacking" thing. We need to feed a false security taping to the monitor rooms. We still need to figure out how we are going to get into the vault."

Howard looked back and laughed.

"My friend you are taking this a bit too simply. We are going to need to play the field big on this one." Howard missed Duo's motion to shut up.

"This is after all, Khushrenada and Peacecraft we are dealing with."

As soon as the last name was uttered, Trowa stiffened. This was obviously a bit of information that Duo had left out. He looked at Duo with a deathly glare, and then he moved his gaze to Heero. Who seemed rather unaffected by Trowa's reaction.

"You didn't say we were dealing with Peacecraft's money again." Trowa had uncrossed his arms that were previously glued to his chest.

"And if we are?" Heero challenged.

"You accepted, even though you knew what he was going up against?" Trowa's anger was rising.

"You plan to pull this off without making the same mistake? As I recall it was because of your emotional attachment to a certain Peacecraft that caused you to be blind sighted and put in prison! Do you want to go through that again, haven't you suffered enough!?" Trowa was yelling again.

"I won't make the same mistake twice, consider this a reconciliation for last time." Heero levelly said.

Take Four: Peacecraft Private Residence, Pent Suite

Relena came back to her private apartment with stress written on every step. She practically shredded her clothes off when she closed the door. She had stayed late to go over the financial papers of both the Casino and Resort. Wanting to find any loop holes where they may be, Relena had spent all night in the office. Coming home was always a rejuvenation from work. Plus, Milliardo's news of Heero's release also weighed on her shoulders. She tried to focus on work instead, but memories of Heero would creep back into her head. All the things he put her through, just for the sake of money. And her brother's earlier comment:

"I'm telling you this as a precaution, not for you to go and seek him out…"

If she ever did do such a thing, it would be to punch his handsome face and then castrate him. Never had she felt so betrayed as she did by him, and she was in the Corporate field. But all of this was to be put behind her. Treiz had been nothing but a gentlemen, and he was far too rich to be interested in her on that level. At first, she saw him as a man her brother forced on her to get her mind off of "That Yuy boy" her brother always referred to. When she actually got to know him, actually gave him a shot. She found potential in their relationship.

But thoughts of Heero still remained. What he had done was unforgivable, but…

"He sure knew how to make a girl moan." Relena sighed as she soaked in her large circular porcelain tub.

Oh well, sleep would do her good right now.

(No Take Five today.. I'm making the next chapter longer. The whole team will be together by the end of next chapter..And then the Chapter after that will be where the actual planning takes place..) Till NExt Time.