Waking Up In Vegas
Chapter Twenty Five
"Hmm, Trowa... stop it." Quatre growled, still half asleep. A warm, wet tongue was licking around his ear, and damnit, but it was annoying. It persisted.
"Trowa, stop. That' annoying." Quatre's eyes snapped open. And there was Trowa... laying in front of him... fast asleep. So if Trowa was asleep, then who's tongue was in his ear?
"Aie!" Quatre rolled over a bit, only to be met with a long wet tongue bathing his face. He rolled back, hiding his face in Trowa's chest to escape.
"Hn?" Trowa grunted, coming awak in an instant. The first thing he saw was what seemed to be a bear. A huge black and brown and white mass of fur.
"Go away, Nataku," Trowa mumbled, then hugged Quatre closer. The licking resumed.
"Eck. No. No kisses, Nataku," Trowa complained as a persistent tongue wriggled it's way around his nose. "Eck. Ah, I'm awake!"
Trowa finally came too fully, and took stock of the situation. Firstly... he must have fallen asleep, because the sun had changed positions in the sky. Probably around two or three in the afternoon, if he had to guess.
"Trowa?" Quatre eeped out. "Is it still there? Is it going to eat me?"
Trowa chuckled. "No, love. Roll over and look. Nataku... Sit!"
With a bark, the mass sat on it's haunches. Quatre turned just enough to peek out.
And he almost had to laugh too. In his sleepy state... he had been afraid of that?
Next to him sat what had to be the largest and fluffiest German Shepard he'd ever seen. The head tilted to the side, one brown ear perked up into a perfect triangle, the other flopped over, giving him a rather lopsided look. With a long pink tongue lolling out the side of a panting mouth... it had to be the most adorable thing ever.
"Quatre, meet Nataku. She is Wufei's loving and *normally* well mannered dog. Nataku, say hello to Quatre. *Properly*."
The dog's front right paw lifted up, waving a bit. Quatre, entranced, accepted the paw and gave it a small shake. "Pleased to meet you, too," the blond giggled.
"Nataku, that was naughty what you did," Trowa admonished the dog. "Now don't you feel bad for scaring poor Quatre?"
Quatre almost burst out laughing as the dog dropped to her stomach, and covered her face with her front paws, the picture of adorableness and sheepishness.
"Good girl, Nataku," Trowa gavein, reaching out to scratch the dog's ears.
"NATAKU!" Someone screeched from the woods. "Where'd you get to, you miserable mutt? Damn dog! NATAKU!"
Quatre and Trowa both looked towards where the voice came from. Before either could blink, or think, a young girl burst through into the clearing by the creek. Her dark black hair was cropped short, and her sapphire eyes twinkled. Her mouth opened mid yell.
"Hilde?" Trowa asked, dumbfounded.
Hilde abruptly blushed brightly and turned her back to them. "Um... Yeah... Trow? Put some clothes on please. I mean, not that it's not a nice sight or anything, cause I mean I am nineteen and you are both really kind of hot and all... but for heaven's sake, you're like my BROTHER!"
"Hilde," Trowa chided, finding their clothes and separating them, handing Quatre his and pulling on his pants. "Stop babbling. Okay,, we have pants on now. It's safe."
The teen peeked, to make sure the coast was clear first, and was apparently satisfied to find both men shrugging into their shirts. Finally she turned all the way around.
"I don't even WANT to know what went on here."
"What? You can't say that you've never walked in during one of Duo and Wufei's make-out sessions before."
She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't get an eyeful, either. And I've got an idea that you two did alot more than sit around and neck."
Trowa glanced at Quatre... who was presently resembling a blond haired lobster he was blushing so hard. Trowa chuckled, grabbed Quatre and spun him into his arms, treating him to a long, deep kiss.
"Get a room," Hilde griped, snagging a leash onto Nataku's collar, and mentally cursing the moment she let the rambunctious puppy off the leash.
"Quatre," Trowa whispered. "My family is crazy. We have no sense of decorum. Get used to it," he grinned. "We see each other in compromising situations all the time."
Quatre groaned. "Why does that sound like a justification for you to kiss me in front of your family?"
Trowa smirked. "Because it is."
It took Heero several minutes to get through to Zechs, then obtain directions to Quatre. Apparently even Zechs didn't have an exact address, but he did have a town name. Apparently a *very* small town. It shouldn't be too hard to find the town. Heero pulled it up on the screen. Hm. The closest two airports with seats available to get to were Huntsville and Nashville. But, Heero looked at the ads on the site, there was some kind of huge game in Nashville... and the map showed him going right by the arena. Heero knew enough of games and such to *not* click for the Nashville ticket.
"I'm going, too," Relena stated, reaching out and taking the mouse from him, clicking for two adjacent seats.
"Relena," he warned. He had told her he'd have Danny, one of his friends from his boot-camp days, and later his military days, to body-guard her while he was gone. Apparently she hadn't fell for that.
"Don't you 'Relena' me," she leveled him with her baby-blue glare. "I'm going and that's final. Quatre is my friend, as well."
"Relena. This is not a social visit. I can't guarantee it won't turn into danger at some point."
"i don't care," she growled. "If you go... I go. It's as simple as that. I'm not asking you to tell me all the big bad secrets... I'm just coming along."
Heero sighed. "I thought we had settled this? Don't you trust me to know what's best for you?"
Relena glared at him. "Don't pull that on me, Heero Yuy. I'm going, and there will be no arguing. I can handle myself if it comes to that."
"Would you be able to shot someone if it came to that?"
She stared him down. Both knew that Relena was an excellent marksman. Self-defense training required that she be. But she had never fired at a living thing before. Hell... the girl was a vegetarian! If she couldn't stomach the thought of hamburger, then how the hell could she kill another human?
"I'll deal witht that if or when it comes to that. I'll cross that bridge then... and not before."
"Relena..." he sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"You take your job too seriously," she snapped.
"And it's not just my job," he returned. "You're special to me, 'Lena. I don't want you to get hurt. I care about you... and people I care about often get hurt."
Something inside Relena softened. It wasn't a declaration of undying love... but it was enough for now. And she did know how much he was torn up inside. She heard his nightmares through the walls of the room; she saw them reflected in his eyes when he thought she couldn't see.
She wrapped her arms around him from behind, leaning her cheek against his.
"I appreciate that, Heero. I truly do. And I like that you care about me. But you can't smother me. You can't keep me pinned down in a gilded cage."
Heero sighed wearily. Was there never truly a way to win with her? Admittedly, he'd found it surprisingly easy when she'd given up last night. At least now he knew why.
"The plane leaves the airport in two hours... so you have an hour to get everything packed and ready to go."
Relena grinned and she planted a noisy kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks, Heero!"
*Flashback*
"Are we sure that the building is unoccupied?" Heero asked, fingers hesitating over the keys. They were five minutes ahead of schedule. He could see the various scenarios in his head. None of them said anything about people being in the building, though. It worked off of known variables. And the only variable left was...
"Yes. We had a SWAT team double-check earlier," Marie Parfacy replied. "It's clear. Can you make the shot from here?"
"Affirmative," he stated.
"Building is clear... and we have a go. Heero? Fire at will."
His fingers typed in the authorization, his mind keeping the target focused. Only nano seconds before he knew the missile system controlled by ZERO launched. Another minute and the warehouse where a terrorist organization was stockpiling weapons would be dust.
Marie put a hand to her earpiece, her face blanching.
"No!" She screamed. "No! Al! NO! She has to get out of there! No! Heero! STOP THE MISSILE!"
Heero didn't like the panic and pure horror in his commanding officer's voice. He tried, in vain, to deactivate the missile. It didn't do any good.
"NO!" Marie tossed the earpiece across the room and sank to her knees.
Heero knew... the missile had done it's intended job.
"Commander?"
"Allelujah..." she whispered. "He sent her in. We launched too early! There was reports of a little kid in the building! Oh, God! Heero... he sent Jezebel in!"
Heero didn't notice the visor falling off as he stumbled from the WING... the unit used to control the ZERO system, and thus it's artillery of advanced missiles.
"Jezzy?" He questioned... If Jezzy was in the building... they launched early...
His stomach did an odd flop inside him, and he felt the urge to show Marie exactly what he'd ate for breakfast that morning.
"No..." he whispered, falling to his knees when they no longer wanted to hold him up. "What have I done?"
*End Flashback*