Disclaimer: they are owned by Bandai/Sunrise, not by me. Just in case anyone was a bit confused about that…

Note - Huge (paprika-flavoured) thanks to KS for - pretty much everything, really; to Snow for the positive response, and to everyone who's been reviewing, especially to DragonRaye, whose review to chapter 37 arrived just as I was starting to think about how Trowa would deal with all the new developments, and partly inspired this chapter…..

Trowa's POV

In-Flight Entertainment:

I gave them half an hour together before I left the cargo bay and listened outside their door. No sounds of shouting, gunshots or heavy objects being hurled about; no sounds at all, actually, not through the reinforced bulkhead door.

I wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad sign. Probably good, assuming they hadn't killed each other off.

Visualising the two of them together was hard on a couple of levels. Firstly, Quatre was going to be furious and thinking of Quatre was too painful. I kept imagining him scared and hurt and alone and not knowing whether I was coming to save him.

We hadn't even been on the damn shuttle for two hours. Anything could have happened by the time we got to L4. I didn't know if he'd even still be there.

After a couple of circuits of the shuttle, I ended up in the cockpit. Steph and Ray barely glanced up when I walked in, both glued to something they were watching on the CCTV monitor.

'Hey! You never told us Heero Yuy was going to be on board!'

'I wasn't. Duo decided to bring him.'

'Wow, I don't blame Duo,' she muttered. 'He's seriously hot. Not that Duo isn't easy on the eyes as well; I wouldn't kick either of them out of bed for farting, that's for sure. I thought Duo was shacked up with that prince guy and the Chinese professor or whatever he is, though.'

'They're just friends of his.' I accepted the beer Ray held out to me and took a sip. Duo's always complaining about this threesome rumour; it never seems to occur to him that maybe if he and Zechs stopped groping each other in public, it might die down a lot faster. He claims it started as a way to deflect attention from Wufei when 'Fei and Zechs were dating first, and 'Fei was uncomfortable with all the media attention he was getting.

'Really?' She sounded a bit disappointed about that. 'They'd look seriously hot together, those three; all that gorgeous hair.'

Ray started to make strangled sounds at that so I tried to change the subject. 'How did you know about Heero anyway?'

'Duh! I saw Duo bringing him on board. They'reway the most exciting people we've had on this ship since those strippers we smuggled to L4 for a bachelor party. Anyway, we've been watching them,' she gestured toward the monitor. 'This is so cool! It's like our own soap opera.'

'Steph! They're having a private conversation there. You can't just listen in! Turn that off now.'

'Uh huh,' she grabbed the control out of reach, smirking. 'My ship; my rules, Barton. I've got valuable merchandise in that cabin; I got to keep an eye on those two.'

'At least turn the sound down.'

'Now, where's the fun in that?' she pouted up at me. Bloody woman. It's hard to boss around someone when you've known them for years; I've always just been Cathy's little brother to her. 'We have to hear what they're saying. Now, you need to fill us in on some of this. Is Honey Heero's daughter? And who's Lucca?'

'Honey's a dog. And Lucca works with Heero,' I said resignedly, sitting down beside her. At least, if they were talking to me, they weren't listening. Or watching.

'And who's Hilde? Why does she hate Heero so much?'

'She's a friend of Duo's. They're talking about Hilde?' That seemed - surprising.

'Sort of,' Steph carefully slipped the remote down the neck of her jumpsuit and reached for her beer. 'Duo was saying all his friends hate Heero and then Heero said that you don't and the Lucca guy doesn't, so Duo mentioned this Hilde and said she'd bought a voodoo doll of him and stuck pins into it, and Heero said that might explain these headaches he'd been getting, and Duo nearly fell off his seat.'

'That was funny,' Ray contributed. A small miracle in itself; he doesn't talk much.

'Oh, yeah, I spilt beer all down my top laughing. And then Heero said it was a joke, and he thought Duo's friends wanted him to be happy more than anything, and that if Duo was willing to give him another chance, they'd probably come around. Seriously, you gay guys are sooooo sappy.'

'What did Duo say?'

'He didn't get a chance. Heero started kissing him. Ray didn't want to watch that bit.' She threw her boyfriend a mischievous grin. 'He got all embarrassed, didn't you, babe?'

'You'd have something to worry about if I had wanted to watch,' Ray muttered.

'Well, they've stopped now.' Steph reached down and retrieved the zapper. 'Let's see what's going to happen next.'

God, but it was weird seeing the two of them together after so long. Heero sprawling back against the wall and Duo carefully tucked against his side.

Duo had obviously grovelled his way back into Heero's good graces, or, more likely, Heero had just crumbled at the sheerest hint that Duo was still interested in him. Duo's been able to wrap the Perfect Soldier around his little finger from the very start, even if it took him a while to realise it.

'Lucca doesn't actually count as a friend of mine,' Duo was saying. 'I've only just met him.'

'Well, he thinks you're incredible.' Heero bent to kiss the top of his head. 'Which you are.'

Those two are incredible, all right. Seven years with hardly any contact; put them together for less than an hour and they're back together.

'Absolutely,' Duo agreed, grinning up at him. 'Does this mean we're still on that date? If you're doing the complimenting thing?'

'Apparently so. Although we could decide this is officially the third date - assuming abduction and inter-planetary travel put an end to the second one.' Heero ran his fingers lightly over the nape of Duo's neck; even from here you could see Duo shiver. 'I believe all sorts of things are permissible on the third date. Maybe it's your turn to ask me?'

'OK.' Duo twisted slightly, so he could look up at Heero. ''Ro, would you like to come to L4 with me, please?'

'I'd be delighted.' Heero was smiling. Of course he was. Who the hell could resist Duo Maxwell when he looked at them like that. I'd never had a chance, had I? 'There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?'

'Not too painful. So, I take you won't be having me arrested when we land, then?' Duo yelped as his braid was given a sharp yank. 'Ro! That's my hair you keep hauling on, not some sort of training aid. I think we're going to have a little discussion about this or I'll be bald in a week's time.'

'That would be bad,' Heero agreed solemnly. 'Very, very bad. But you shouldn't say such stupid things. As if I'd hand you over to the Preventers!'

'You would have an hour ago. And this isn't solving anything. We're supposed to be talking about practical stuff.'

'Duo, relax, will you? Stop worrying about things that haven't even happened yet.'

'Um, hello. Did I miss the bit where we switched personalities? Where you stopped being Mr-Contingency-Plans-are-Vital? How am I not supposed to worry?'

'You worry too much. I'm the one who should be worried in case Hilde starts pricking needles into me, because I don't make you happy enough.'

'You're planning to make me happy, are you?' Duo beamed up at him, with that radiant smile that he'd always reserved for Heero. Certainly never for me. Oh, God. I couldn't even remember the last time Quatre had smiled at me like he'd meant it; like he hadn't been trying to reassure me about something, or convince me everything would be all right somehow. Like he wasn't trying to dazzle the media, or charm his board of directors.

'Of course not. I'm going to force you to eat vegetables every day. You'll be healthy but totally miserable.'

'Ick.' Duo pulled a face at the idea. 'You wouldn't be able to do that if I burned all your pots, now would you?'

'Raw vegetables, Maxwell,' Heero retorted.

'I'll corrupt your dog. I'll feed her nothing but chocolate and I'll teach her to chew up all your law books and lie on the furniture.'

'You've already started that, from what I can see. She thinks she lives on the couch since you left. Just don't teach her to get into the bed, all right? That might be a bit crowded.'

'It might be nice,' Duo grinned mischievously. 'All snuggled up together, nice and cosy.'

'I don't think so,' Heero objected. 'So, if you don't want lots of lovely raw celery, what can I do for you then?' Heero slid one arm slid around Duo's waist, pulling him half into his lap, and flinching very slightly. Of course, Duo did say he'd tasered him good and proper. 'Foot-rubs for the rest of your life? Breakfast in bed every morning? A devoted slave who'll obey your every whim?'

'Are you going to be the devoted slave?'

'Naturally. The ESUN wholly disapproves of slavery unless it's voluntary.'

'Always with the legal argument,' Duo grinned, leaning over to kiss him briefly on the mouth, freezing when Heero winced. 'Oh, sorry, 'Ro. Did I press on one of your bruises?'

'It's all bruised,' Heero muttered, 'but when you moved just then, something jabbed into me.'

'I bet it did,' Steph sniggered and I glared at her. God, we really shouldn't be doing this. Duo would be absolutely furious if he found out. And Heero, of course. I was finding it a bit hard to find much consideration for Heero, though; he'd got Duo, after all.

'We're turning this off, now!' I snapped, and then glanced back at the screen.

Heero was holding up a folded magazine - the smutty one that I'd slipped into Duo's pocket while we were in the cargo bay.

'Oh, I forgot all about that. Tro gave it to me.'

'Barton's giving you porn magazines?' Heero sounded shocked at the idea.

'Not exactly. This ship is smuggling porn to L4; I forgot to tell you earlier.'

'Hn,' Heero leafed through the pages. 'This is ridiculous. It's all trick photography.'

'Let's see,' Duo leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. 'Oh, that picture. No, it' s real. Trowa's able to do it.'

'What?' he exploded. 'You did this with Trowa?'

'He did?' Steph echoed. 'Damn, I can't see what it is!'

'No! He just told me that he can.' Oh, that's a great answer, Duo. Well done. 'Look, I asked him what was on the ship, and he showed me that mag, and I happened to open it on that page and…'

'I'm sorry,' Heero said stiffly. 'I don't have any right to pry into your personal life.'

'No,' Duo said quietly. 'It's OK. The whole Trowa thing was a mistake, really. He was worried about Quat and I was lonely and I'd had a couple of shitty days and it just - happened. You know?'

A mistake.

Was that all I'd been to him?

I'd thought at least it had meant - something more than that. Really, I shouldn't have been surprised. He'd told me that morning that he just wanted to forget it had ever happened, and he'd obviously been discomfited when I'd said I didn't want to. I'd just let it drop after that; well, what was the point? He'd made his feelings very clear at that point.

Another person who didn't want me in his life. Of course not.

Steph was staring at me and Ray was very carefully looking everywhere but in my direction.

'Oh, shit,' Duo was saying on the screen. 'I don't really mean it like that. It's just - everything in my life was going mental and Tro was so being so nice to me, and at first I thought that maybe it would work out. But it's always been Quat for him, hasn't it? I think I was just his convenient rebound guy.'

He'd believed that? He'd seriously thought I was only interested in him as a Quatre substitute? For someone who's so incredibly intelligent, Duo Maxwell can be the least perceptive person I've ever met.

'I thought you and Quatre broke up,' Steph sounded puzzled; her sister Jeannie is one of Cathy's best friends. Women talk. 'I didn't know you were getting back together. Cathy's not going to be too happy about that, is she?'

'We did break up, and we're not getting back together,' I said tightly. Damn. Stop thinking about that. Quatre had made it perfectly obvious that he didn't want to be with me any more, not that I could blame him for that. Probably about time he saw sense.

Quatre.

He'd been crying, Duo had told me. After I'd left L4 - after I'd run away using false ID - he'd called their house and he'd been crying. He'd asked Duo to tell me that he was sorry, that he still loved me, that he was desperately worried.

I'd let him worry for two days before I'd called him back.

By then, he'd found out where I was, of course, found out that I'd manage to slide under the radar of the incredibly sophisticated security system around our home; well, I designed the damn thing. Of course I knew ways around it. When I did call, I never even gave him the chance to explain anything. How could he, anyway? I'd just told him that we were over.

It had seemed the easiest way to do it, back then. Easier for both of us. He didn't need a lover who scared him so badly he'd had to resort to keeping me drugged.

'I'm sure you were more than that,' Heero was saying gently on the screen, sliding one hand up and down Duo's braid. 'Trowa's never so much as looked as anyone else since he met Quat; you should consider it a compliment, love. He was terribly flattered you wanted to be with him, but . But I'm glad you're not with him any more.'

'Yeah, me too,' Duo admitted. 'It probably worked out for the best, anyway; he's realised he's still crazy about Quat, and Quat's just going to fall into his arms, isn't he?'

Oh, yes. That really would be the perfect, neat solution to everything, wouldn't it? Duo had it all figured out; God forbid anything should tarnish his reunion with the love of his life, especially not ex-boyfriends hanging around who might still be carrying a flame for him.

Quatre hadn't even wanted me near him after he'd tried to kill himself. That still hurt. I'd wanted so badly to go to him and he'd gone along with his damned family's restraining order. Maybe I should consider myself lucky he hadn't filed charges.

Fuck it anyway. Let Duo believe what he wants, if it makes him happy. It wasn't like I hadn't lied to Heero, saying I'd only been with Duo because I was missing Quatre. Not much point in saying anything else, was there? I'd known at that stage that Duo and I weren't going to work out together, and I didn't want to lose Heero's friendship. Sometimes, it's easier to tell people what they want to hear.

God, it was hurting though, seeing the two of them like that. Knowing that the damn shuttle could probably explode around them and they wouldn't stop looking into each other's eyes.

I remembered being like that with Quatre; the mind-blowing miracle that he'd ever wanted to be with me; that I could look into those mesmerising blue eyes and see the world and infinity and everything I'd never dared to dream about. I'd been right along, hadn't I? It hadn't been real at all; just a fantasy he'd concocted and I'd fallen into.

'Oh, God, not again,' Ray moaned; we both turned away from the screen as Steph started to make loud kissing noises.

'They're seriously hot, those two,' Steph's eyes sparkled. 'I bet we could sell copies of this tape for a fortune!'

'Don't even think about it! I can't even believe we're watching them like this.'

'Oh, relax, Tro. I'm joking. Anyway, they're talking again.'

'I hope Quat's still on L4,' Duo was saying wistfully. 'We're going to find him, aren't we?'

'We will, certainly. You, my sweet, are going back to Earth on the next shuttle, and hopefully no one will even notice you've left.'

'No way,' Duo's jaw tightened. 'Quatre's my friend and I'm going after him.'

'I mean it, Duo. There's a whole Preventers force on L4 to look for Quatre. The best thing is just to stand back and let them do their job.'

'Then how come Trowa gets to stay?'

'Because he doesn't have an imminent court case; because he's not supposed to stay in Florence, and because he's quite capable of looking after himself.'

'So am I, damnit! 'Ro, look, you know this is important to me!'

'I know, love, and you're important to me.'

'Stop that!' Duo snapped. 'Stop being all nice and concerned and reasonable about this. You already said you weren't going to shop me to the Preventers, or was that a lie? What are you planning to do; drag me back to Earth against my will?'

'It would serve you right if I did,' Heero grinned suddenly. 'Think, Duo, for one second, will you? Do you think Quat would want you to get into trouble on his behalf? And what do you think Chang is going to say when he hears about this?'

Duo coloured slightly, nibbling on the end of his braid.

'He'll be furious, won't he?' Heero pressed his advantage home. 'Listen, Noin's in charge of this investigation. I promise, you'll be updated on everything that happens. They're treating this as top priority; even if you were on L4; there's no way they'd let you get involved.'

'How come Tro gets to stay then? He's not supposed to be leaving Earth either. I thought he was a suspect. And there's a restraining order against him.'

Well, Trowa couldn't give a fuck about any of that. I was going after Quatre and nothing was going to stop me. Find Quatre and make sure he's safe and walk away again.

'Noin will need to interview all the important people in Quatre's life to see if anyone of them might have any clues to his disappearance. I'm sure she can authorise Trowa's presence on L4 for the duration, to help with the investigation.'

Of course, I reflected. Quatre's ex-lover. The one with more reasons than anyone to be holding a grudge against him, to want him to disappear. Who better to have on hand, just in case?

'I'm Quat's friend,' Duo said stubbornly. 'Look, can we make a deal here? I told you Quat managed to send a message to Trowa. He's got the co-ordinates; can't we just check that place out? It'll only take an hour or so; it's not like anyone knows I'm not still in Florence. Another couple of hours isn't going to make any difference.'

I could see Heero wavering slightly, trying to rally more arguments, and already starting to give in to that pleading purple gaze. 'Well….how did you get through security at the shuttle port? Did you use your own passport?'

Duo snorted disdainfully. 'Security there wasn't worth shit, 'Ro. I could've got through with a fake library card. Anyway, I flashed your Preventer ID and I don't thing the guy even looked at the photo.'

'You showed them my what?'

'Preventer ID,' Duo enunciated each syllable carefully. 'What's wrong with that? You don't need to worry; the guy didn't take down your name or anything.'

'It's fake,' Heero said shortly. 'I made it just before I flew out to India to find you. I thought it might come in useful if I - we - ran into any difficulties.'

'You're joking,' Duo gazed up at him with a blend of delight and shock. 'You did something like that? My God, even I know how illegal that is.' He started to laugh. 'You could be in so much trouble, and there you are trying to keep me on the straight and narrow.' He crowed with laughter, eyes dancing. 'OK, maybe not straight, but still. You better not try to stop me from looking for Quat after this, you hypocrite.'

'Duo,' Heero began, then sighed heavily. 'You can't go through the immigration channels on L4. They monitor all new arrivals and it's not as if people don't know what you look like.'

'Duh,' Duo snorted disdainfully. 'We're on a ship smuggling porn, 'Ro. We're not going to land at the official shuttle port; Tro's friend has some other place fixed up. Nice and discreet. No one's going to know anything about us. So - are you all out of arguments now?'

'Two hours. And then straight back to Earth. Deal? And we should get Trowa to call Noin straightaway with that location. She's already on L4; she can start checking it out first.'

'Deal,' Duo affirmed. 'I mean, unless we actually find something. You couldn't expect just to go home after that, could you? You wouldn't be that cruel?'

'Oh, yes I would.' Heero said firmly 'And I'm about to be even more cruel. I think it's time you called Wufei and let him know where you are.'

Oh, nasty. Heero's always been good at strategy; not in Quatre's class, of course; nobody is, but clever enough to make Wufei the bad guy, yanking Duo back to Earth. I supposed there was another problem there, if I even bothered to think about it; 'Fei would go ballistic when he heard about Heero and Duo.

'You wouldn't want him to worry, love, now would you?'