A/N: I know, I know...it's taking forever and you're tired of my apologies. I promise I'm working on this. Thanks so much for your patience.

Chapter 90

"So, Kiri," Duo said as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing that Trowa needed to take his shirt off for?" He couldn't keep the smirk off of his face. He knew what Trowa looked like without his shirt on and could appreciate how Kiri would have reacted to seeing his rippling muscles.

"Duo you're a pervert," Kiri said as she crossed her arms, mirroring him. "If you must know the morning after he took me to Cathy's I needed help with the bandages on my back and when I knocked on Trowa's door to get help, he was in the middle of getting dressed so he answered only wearing a pair of jeans."

"Sure, Kiri."

Kiri grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. Duo easily caught it but was surprised at Kiri's reaction.

"You okay?" Duo asked. Kiri had gone white and was frozen in place, gasping for air.

"Yeah. Just…moved wrong," Kiri gasped out.

Duo felt bad that she'd hurt herself but he wasn't sorry that he'd teased her. He liked that she was relaxed enough to take being teased well. He took the pillow back to her.

"Here. Let me help you get comfortable again."

Duo fluffed her pillow and helped her sit back against it. He left her alone for a few minutes to focus on breathing.

When he felt like she was breathing normally again, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Kiri nodded.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

Kiri looked over the hospital menu and made her choice, which Duo ordered for her. It didn't take long to arrive.

"I dunno how you can eat hospital food," he said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Well…to be honest…it's better than what he used to give me to eat…assuming he decided to feed me that week," Kiri admitted.

That week? Duo couldn't believe that she'd only been fed once a week at the most. He supposed that was one way to make someone lose weight while keeping them barely alive. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond, but he certainly didn't like the awkward silence so he did what he always did when he was uncomfortable. He talked without thinking.

"Yeah, well…I grew up on the streets of L2 and…well…to be fair, I've gotten a bit spoiled I guess, not having to pull my food from a dumpster anymore."

As soon as he said it, Duo felt bad. Kiri stopped eating and looked like she was going to cry. He hadn't meant to upset her. "Hey, don't let it get ya down. Things are better up there now that the war's over."

"Well…I've never been to the colonies," Kiri said softly. "What's it like up there?"

Duo grinned and pulled his chair over so that he could talk to her.

"First off, they're huge! They're basically whole cities just floating up there in space." Duo kept up the stream of descriptions about the colonies the whole time that Kiri was eating. He talked about the various tourist spots and the shopping and the differences between each of the colonies. He ran out of things to tell her about and fell silent. Kiri finished eating and frowned at her empty plate. Duo was about to ask if she wanted something else when she spoke up.

"Um…Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"I…I was wondering something." Kiri seemed hesitant to continue but she quickly added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

Duo waited for a minute before prompting, "What is it?"

"I…um…I was wondering…how…how you survived the war up there. I mean, I'm guessing that you aren't that much older than I am and I heard that the colonies had it pretty bad for a while."

Duo definitely wasn't expecting that question. "Oh, uh, well…" Duo hedged while he tried to come up with an answer that was close enough to the truth not to feel like a flat-out lie. "I guess…the best way for me to put it is that I did what everyone else did. I found work and tried to keep from getting drafted by Oz."

"Oh." Kiri was quiet for a minute. "Was it hard to do?"

"Sometimes," Duo told her truthfully. "Work was kinda hard to come by and those Oz recruiters could be pretty persistent when they wanted to be."

Kiri was thinking again and Duo let her. He hoped she wouldn't dig too deep into personal stuff but he supposed he could just tell her that he didn't want to answer something if it got down to it. She'd already told him he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to.

"So…the colonies sent out those mobile suits…" Kiri thought for a second. "Gundams, right?"

Duo nodded, but he wasn't sure where Kiri was going with this.

"Did…did you agree with what they were trying to do?"

Duo had to work not to sigh with relief. He was worried that she'd started to suspect something. He saw this as an opportunity to find out what she thought about them. "I guess that depends on what it is you think they were trying to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there were a lot of theories on what they were doing," Duo explained. "Some people thought they were going to try and take over Earth and some people thought they were just trying to keep the colonies free from becoming slaves to the Earth."

"Oh. Well…I heard that they were just unassociated individuals trying to stop the war," Kiri told him. "But by the end of the war it seemed like they were working together so…I guess I was never sure if they were all working for the same group or not."

Duo was a little impressed. She would have only been about 12 during the wars and most kids that age wouldn't have really paid much attention to those kinds of details. After meeting her parents Duo wouldn't have thought they were the type to actually pay attention to the news. It made him wonder why she didn't recognize him. Oz had plastered his face everywhere that time they'd taken him prisoner and tried to execute him. Maybe her attention span at 12 wasn't as far above the average as it seemed or maybe her parents really didn't watch the news and her information had come from school or other sources that might have been censored.

"So, did you think they were good guys or bad guys?" Duo asked.

Kiri thought that over. "Well…I guess it kind of depended on the day."

Duo laughed. Wasn't that the truth? "I guess you're right."

"But, overall, I think they did a lot of good," Kiri said.

That was nice to hear. Duo grinned. "Yeah, kid, they did."

"I wonder who they were."

Duo needed to steer her away from that line of thought. "Yeah, a lot of people do, but if they're still around I'd bet they just want to move on and have everyone forget about them."

"Why?"

"If half the people you met thought you were a terrorist, wouldn't you prefer if everyone forgot rather than risk running into someone who wanted to hold you accountable for doing what you thought was right?"

"I guess," Kiri told him with a smile. "So you think they were doing what they thought was right?"

Duo blinked in surprise. Kiri was sharp, no arguing that. "Well…yeah. I mean, what's the point in getting involved in a war if you don't believe in what you're fighting for?"

"Good point," Kiri conceded.

Duo stood and stretched. He'd been sitting too long and wasn't sure how to end this conversation. He didn't want to accidentally give something away. "Well…all I know is that I hope we don't have any more wars in our lifetime. That last one was enough." And that was the truth.

"You don't think any of the colonies will try to destroy the Earth again, do you?" Kiri asked.

She seemed genuinely concerned at the prospect so Duo decided to put her mind at ease.

"Naw…if anyone tries it again I think they'll run into a hell of a lot of trouble. People everywhere are tired of fighting. And that's not an altogether bad thing."

"No, it's not," Kiri said. She seemed less worried.

A knock on the door made both of them jump. Duo was about to open it when Heero burst in, looking more pissed than Duo had seen him in a long time.

"I'm gonna kill her!" Heero growled as he stormed into the room.

Kiri pressed into her pillows, a look of terror on her face.

Duo grabbed Heero's arm to keep him from getting any closer to Kiri. "What the hell is wrong with you, Heero? You can't kill her!"

"She's got to die, Duo. It's the only way."

There wasn't any reason Duo could think of for Heero to think that killing Kiri would solve anything. They'd gotten the bad guys already.

"Whoa, calm down," Duo said. "What are you talking about?"

"She's blackmailing us. All of us. She said she'll release our records to the public if I don't agree. I'm gonna have to kill her."

Duo frowned at Heero's rambling. It didn't make any sense. Kiri wasn't blackmailing them. She didn't have the information necessary to blackmail them.

"Heero," Duo said calmly and firmly, "you need to take a deep breath and explain it a bit more clearly. Who is blackmailing us?"

Heero glared at Duo. "Relena. Who else?"

"Ohhh…okay. Now I get it," Duo said.

Heero was mad at Relena and wasn't processing it properly. But blackmail still seemed a bit of a stretch for Relena. It wasn't something she would stoop to. Heero must have misunderstood her.

Heero ran a hand through his hair and started pacing. "I don't know how to get it through her head that I am not interested in her that way. She could be a good friend if she'd get over the fact that I'm not going to marry her. Ever."

"Yeah, well…" Duo started, trying to figure out how to explain what he was thinking without pissing off Heero further. "I know you don't want to hear this, Heero, but…I think it's time to tell her that you can't be friends with her anymore. She isn't doing you any favors and threatening to tell everyone about the five of us isn't cool. She knows how you feel about that and if she can't keep it a secret—"

"I'll have to kill her," Heero interrupted.

"Heero, you can't just kill her. She's too high profile." Duo really hoped that Heero didn't think he was jealous of Relena. He definitely wasn't jealous of her, nor did he think she would ever seduce Heero away. He just didn't want Heero to do something he'd regret later.

Heero glared at Duo. "How else can I keep her big mouth shut? I won't marry her and if she's going to insist on threatening you, she has to go."

Duo couldn't help but be touched by how much Heero cared. It wouldn't have been obvious to anyone else, but the thought that Relena would release Duo's records was what really upset Heero. Heero didn't care if anyone released his records but he would protect Duo at all costs.

Duo caressed Heero's cheek. "'Ro, everything will be fine," he said gently. "She's got you mad right now, but if you kill her Une'll be forced to arrest you and I think that would be worse for me than anything Relena could do."

Duo knew that Heero would be able to survive jail time but Duo wasn't sure he would be able to handle Heero being in jail.

"Duo…" Heero wouldn't dream of intentionally hurting Duo in any way. And he had a very valid point about Une not being able to overlook him killing Relena. Une had looked the other way with other policies that he'd broken; having a relationship with Duo being one of them, but murdering Relena would be far too public to get away with.

"Here's what I think you should do. Hack everything. Change it, erase it, whatever. You've been threatening to do it for years anyway. Maybe now's the time."

Heero kissed Duo.

"I love the way you think," Heero murmured.

"Yeah, well, if that was the only thing you loved about me I'd have to dump you," Duo quipped.

Heero pressed his lips to Duo's again, relishing in the taste of his boyfriend. Duo responded by wrapping his arms around Heero and pulling him close. Heero's tongue made its way into Duo's mouth and Duo moaned in pleasure. His hand made its way up to Heero's hair and he tangled his fingers in the messy chocolate locks. Heero gently pushed Duo backwards as he increased the intensity of their kiss. Duo lost himself until he bumped into something. It only took a moment to register that it was a bed.

Kiri's bed.

Duo pushed Heero off of him. "Shit! Kiri! I…we…!" He whirled around to apologize to Kiri and was surprised to find that the girl was gone. "Where did she go?"

Heero's eyes widened as the realization of what they had done in front of Kiri set in. "Duo, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I—"

"'Ro! Apologize later. We have to find Kiri!" Duo headed for the door. He wanted to ask the nurses if they'd seen Kiri leave.

Heero grabbed Duo's arm. "She didn't leave the room."

"How can you be sure? You weren't payin' any more attention to her than I was."

"Because we were blocking the door," Heero answered as he looked around the room for places the girl could be hiding. "The bathroom."

Duo looked at the bathroom door. "You think so?"

Heero nodded. "There was nowhere else for her to go."

"Right." Duo took a deep breath. "How should we deal with this?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't know but we'll have to convince her not to say anything. Une might take one or both of us off this case if she finds out about this." Une might have overlooked their relationship but a display like that in front of a victim was behavior asking for discipline.

"I think we're in too deep to be taken off the case," Duo pointed out. "But she might take us off guard duty which would be just as bad. I'll talk to Kiri and see if I can convince her to keep it quiet."

"I'm sorry, Duo. I should have been in better control of myself."

Duo grimaced. "Yeah, well, I should've been better, too. I'm sure it'll be fine. Why don't you go do what you need to do so when I get home we can pick up where we left off."

Heero smiled at that. "It's a date." He gave Duo a quick peck on the cheek and left.

Duo took a deep breath and then knocked gently on the bathroom door. "Kiri? Are you in there?"

Kiri opened the door. "Yeah…I was debating whether or not to take a shower this afternoon."

"Oh." Duo felt bad that they'd run her out but she didn't seem to be upset about it. "Um…so…what all…um, of that…did we subject you to?"

"I left after you told Heero to hack…something."

Duo was relieved that Kiri hadn't realized what they were talking about even though they'd just had a very general conversation about it. He wasn't sure he was ready for her to know they were Gundam Pilots. If she started getting suspicious, she might ask questions about it but Duo was certain he could throw her off the scent.

"Oh good. Uh, sorry for running you out, we…uh…we got a little…carried away. Usually we don't…at work anyway…and…uh…just…" Duo hoped that focusing on his and Heero's extracurricular activities would distract Kiri.

"Duo, I won't tell anyone. It's none of my business," Kiri assured him.

He grinned, glad that his tactic had worked. "Thanks. If Une ever found out, we'd be put on different teams and since Heero doesn't trust too many people that wouldn't go over very well."

"Why—never mind. Maybe the less I know the better."

Duo nodded, relieved that she wasn't about to push it. "Yeah, that's probably for the best. So, did you want to shower or not?"

Kiri nodded. "Yeah, my hair needs a decent cleaning."

Duo could understand that.

"Do you think it's okay with this on my arm?" Kiri asked as she indicated the bandage on her arm.

Duo looked at it. "You should be okay. That's a waterproof bandage. And if I remember right, that bullet wound wasn't bad, just a graze, so even if the bandage doesn't work, it'll be easy enough to change. You won't bleed to death or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Kiri rolled her eyes at his rambling. Duo grinned and Kiri got the things she needed for her shower. He settled in the chair to flip through channels on the television as she disappeared into the bathroom. He picked out a movie and only paid partial attention to it. He wasn't sure if Kiri would be okay in the shower by herself. If she called for help he'd need to be able to get it for her. He wasn't sure she'd be okay with him going in to help. He wasn't sure he'd be okay with going in while she was in the shower.

He chuckled to himself at the thought. Most guys would look for any excuse to go in there and here he was praying that she wouldn't need him to.

He heard the water turn off and was a little surprised at how quickly Kiri had managed to shower with sore ribs. He figured she'd take her sweet time and use up all the hot water. She came out of the bathroom, her hair dripping and a frown on her face.

"Hey, you okay?" Duo asked as he turned off the television.

"No." Kiri wasn't happy but she didn't look like she was about to burst into tears. "I couldn't move my arms enough to wash my hair," she complained.

Duo mentally berated himself for not thinking of that before. He should have remembered the time that he'd broken two ribs and couldn't properly wash his own hair for about three weeks. Heero had had to help him, not that Heero had minded, or Duo for that matter. Maybe that was why he hadn't tried very hard to insist he could do it after the first week or so.

"Hey, cheer up because I've got a solution for that. Come on."

Heero made his way back to the temporary office. He intended to wipe all of their war records. That would shut Relena up.

Trowa was just finishing typing his reports when Heero entered the office. He wasn't exactly sure how to lead into what he wanted to say so he just blurted out, "Why don't you tell Relena about Duo?"

Heero blinked in surprise. That was not the greeting he was expecting from Trowa. "It's none of her business, especially after she threatened to expose our records."

"I talked to Relena, Heero. She told me that you cut her off before she could tell you that she would never release our records so that's when you would be together. Never."

Heero was taken aback. "But she said—"

"I know, Heero. You're not always the best at distinguishing sarcasm, which is surprising considering all the time you spend with Duo, but I honestly think that she was trying to be sarcastic to get you to loosen up. The way she went about it," Trowa had to raise his voice to keep Heero from interrupting, "was not the best way to do that. But if you really want her to stop chasing you, you need to come clean and tell her about Duo."

"She won't listen. She'll ignore the important parts and hear what she wants to hear," Heero spat.

"Maybe. But when I talked to her she promised me that she would actually listen to you and try to understand what you were telling her. If she doesn't get it then that's on her and I'll help you make her stop."

Heero frowned as he thought that over. "You really think that's the only way?"

Trowa nodded. "She bothers you because she doesn't understand. Make her understand and she'll stop."

Heero sighed. "Fine."

Trowa went back to reviewing his reports.

Heero fished his cell phone out of his pocket and took a deep breath before dialing. The phone only rang once before Relena answered it.

"Heero? Please, before you say anything let me apologize!" Relena blurted out. "I'm so sorry that what I said upset you. I promise I would never ever ever release your records to the public. I will never use that as an example again!"

Heero waited a second to make sure she was done before answering. "Relena, Trowa explained to me what you meant earlier so I will forgive you."

"Oh, thank you, Heero! I promise to be more careful about what I say. Really, I will."

"Relena, Trowa told me that I need to tell you something. But if I'm going to talk you have to shut up and listen until I am done. Understand?"

"Yes, Heero. I'm listening."

"This isn't easy for me to say. I am not interested in being romantically involved with you because I am already involved with someone else." Heero paused, unsure of how to continue.

"Do I know her?" Relena asked in the silence. She sounded a little hurt to Heero but he had tried to tell her before so he didn't feel that badly about it.

"No. But you know him."

"Oh!" was all Relena could think to say.

Heero knew he had shocked her. Things had been different during the wars. He hadn't anticipated surviving them and hadn't bothered to explore his preferences until after, when Duo had shown him a range of feelings he'd never even thought possible.

"Heero?" Relena asked softly.

"Yes?"

"I'm really sorry that I've been such a pest. But I want you to know that you are my friend and you are very important to me. And whoever is important to you is important to me, too. Can I know who has won your heart?"

Heero smiled. She had said 'won' instead of 'stolen' like his heart was a prize and his lover was someone who earned the right to be with him instead of just taking him prisoner against his will. "It's Duo."

"Really?! Is that why he insisted you didn't need a second bed that night at my estate?"

Heero chuckled. "Yeah. But I really did flash and it did help to have him close by."

"Oh, Heero! I wish you had just told me! I wouldn't have minded if you'd shared a room while you were staying with me! Oh, I hope Duo doesn't think of me as a rival. I would never come between you if you truly love each other."

"Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd take it this well," Heero admitted.

"Yes, well," Relena answered with a nervous cough. "I can see why. After my talk with Trowa I thought about my behavior and it was absolutely immature. I apologize."

"Thank you, Relena." Heero was truly relieved that Relena was so accepting of Duo. He wouldn't have to worry about how she would treat Duo the next time she saw him. Heero's phone beeped with an incoming call on the second line. He glanced at the caller. "Relena, I have to go. Work stuff."

"Okay, Heero, I'll talk to you later."

Relena hung up and Heero answered the new call.

"Yuy."

"Sir, I found the leak."

"Excellent work, Cooper. Who was it?"

"An ex-agent. Hayden Larkspur, from L2."

Heero swore.

Trowa looked up from his report. "What's wrong, Heero?"

Heero ignored Trowa. "What details can you give me?"

"According to James, who became Decart's favorite once we arrested Carter, Larkspur used his knowledge of our computer system to find out about the girl and what we were doing with her."

Heero swore again. "I thought those reports were being encoded."

"Larkspur knows our codes, sir," Cooper reminded him.

Heero let off a string of curses. "Have you informed Une yet?" he asked Cooper.

"No, sir. I only just found out and I'm not sure how much time I have on my end without blowing my cover."

"Understood. Continue as usual until I give you further orders. I will speak with Une and see what our next move is."

"Yes, sir. Cooper, out."

Heero hung up and looked at Trowa. "Cooper found the leak."

"Oh?"

"Remember when Duo went to L2 and the commanding agent wouldn't give him any backup?"

Trowa nodded. He had been the one to alert Une to the situation in order to keep Heero from freaking out. Heero had already had a flash from the stress of worrying about Duo and Trowa hadn't wanted a repeat performance. He wasn't sure Heero's apartment could have handled it.

"Agent Larkspur got terminated for misconduct. Apparently he retaliated by working with Decart and his cronies to hack our systems."

It was Trowa's turn to swear.

"I'll be upgrading the security as soon as I alert Une so that she can decide the next course of action."

"Maybe I'll wait to send these reports until you do," Trowa said. "If Larkspur can access them then any of Decart's surviving associates will have more information than Une and she won't be happy about that."

He saved his work and then stood, attempting to stretch his back and good shoulder as much as he could.

Heero was just hanging up his call with Colonel Une. "She said she'll assign someone to deal with Larkspur. She still wants to speak to Kiri while she's awake and get the debriefing over with. She's on her way and should be here any minute. She said to gather everyone in Kiri's room since we know it's a safe place to talk. I'll get Quatre. Can you stop by Sally's office and tell Wufei?"

Trowa nodded. "I'll stop there and then meet you down in Kiri's room."