Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hokkyokusei: The North Star ❯ Late Again ( Chapter 11 )

Late Again

The streets lining the outskirts of the city were silent and only the faint sound of a motorcycle, roaring away somewhere in the distance, could be heard. He turned the collar to his coat upwards to ward off the chilly late summer night air as he slipped past the aging old lady that was about to lock up the office building that he knew Duo and Hilde Maxwell owned. They'd bought it together to start their business long before they were even romantically interested in one another. If there ever was such a time, he thought dubiously.

He made his way easily through the familiar halls, having been there quite a few times before. Entering the corridor leading to Duo's office, he immediately caught sight of two stonily silent children, their heads properly hanging with shame, that were being reprimanded sharply by a stiff-lipped, purple haired woman.

"How many times have I specifically named the roof as off-limits to you two?!"

"But Mommy, I was only looking for Maxi up there," whined the smaller girl, her long violet hair pulled back in a wispy braid. The taller boy beside her rolled his eyes, his longish brown hair looked mussy and disorderly, as if it hadn't been combed, cut, or generally groomed in a while.

"No 'but's. This is the last time that I'll have you two sneaking up there, is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," the two chorused just a little sulkily.

"Good. Now onto punishments-"

"What?! Punishments? Hilde, don't you think that that's getting a little out of hand?"

Trowa's gaze slid to his friend, Duo, who was lounged casually on an office chair beside the children. Though he was the father of two, now, and most definitely not an adolescent anymore, he didn't look much different from when Trowa had first laid eyes on him. The dirt-brown braid that he was so famous for hung over his shoulder as he trained falsely innocent blue eyes pleadingly at his wife.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you, mister. You're not out of knee deep shi-" Purple eyes glanced at the wide virgin ears beside her before she quickly changed her curse to another more 'suitable' word, "trouble yet. I know you left that door up there open on purpose and you're not going to get away with it." The grown man winced and backed down immediately. Hilde turned back to her children to mete out judgments and that was when Trowa decided to help the kids out and intervene.

He let the stairwell door slam behind him to announce his entrance, before making his way onto the family scene. "Sorry for intruding." Everyone looked up at him in surprise and grins of excitement formed on the boy and girl's faces as they launched themselves at him.

"Uncle Trowa!"

He managed to catch both of them, though he was sure that he was going to get some type of bruise from the impact. "It's nice to see you too."

"Great timing, buddy," murmured Duo as he closed in on them to pry the purple-haired girl off of her 'uncle' and give his old friend a hearty slap on the back.

"I heard that," Hilde warned her husband testily, but she was grinning at her intruding guest. "Hello, Trowa. How's Catherine?" She leaned in to peck him on the cheek and disentangle him from her son's grasp.

"She's good, still getting settled into Quatre's house. He tells me that she's reorganizing everything and he can't find anything anymore."

Duo chuckled heartily, hoisting his Hilde-lookalike of a daughter onto his shoulders. Giggles of delight ensued from the girl as she yanked at her father's long braid of hair. "Yep, that's Cathy, all right."

"So what'd you barge in on our loving family moment for, Trowa?" Hilde asked, not one to beat around the bush as she affectionately tousled her son's messy brown mop of hair. The boy made a face, but stood with it, seeming to prefer this treatment of torture over long and painful grounding. Trowa eyed him sympathetically.

"Not much, Hilde. Just needed to talk to Duo about something."

"Anything important?"

Hilde's deep violet eyes sparkled with mischief as she none-too-gently headlocked her son, resting her own head on top of her crossed, restricting arms. Maxi's scowl deepened and a pout began to form. "Oh, nothing really. I also wanted to check up on you guys. Haven't seen you all for a while." Trowa smiled calmly at the almost picturesque family with Matte draped over Duo's shoulders and Hilde leaning casually on the growing Maxi.

The image could easily have thawed any heart and Trowa's willingly melted like butter on a grill. A foreign ache yanked at the corner of his heart before he could brush it off and move on.

"So what exactly are those punishments for?" Laughter twinkled in moss-green eyes as both Maxwell boy and girl groaned loudly.

"Uncle Trowa! Didja hafta remind her?!" wailed Matte as she buried her face into her father's hair. Hilde rolled her eyes patiently, straightening her head so that only her chin was supported by her arms and her son's head and grinned at Trowa.

"I didn't need to be reminded, but now that we're on the subject-"

"It's my cue to leave, I guess," Duo interrupted cheerfully, smoothly swinging Matte down from her high perch. Hilde rounded on Duo, her lips pursing as she let out a full-blown glower at her husband.

"All right, but don't even think that that means you're going to get away scot-free, mister."

Duo flashed a lopsided grin and swooped in on her for quick peck on the lips, succeeding in kissing off Hilde's eagle-sharp frown. "Now when did I ever say that, supermom?"

"You didn't have to," Hilde purred, angling her head, vying for more lip contact, "I can read your mind, remember?" She released Maxi from his headlock to pull Duo's face closer for a longer, deeper liplock.

Again Trowa felt that foreign tug.

Just what was he feeling? He couldn't be jealous. Could he? No, why would he be? What was wrong with him? He had never felt like this before. So why now?

But before he could make any life-changing epiphanies, his thoughts were interrupted by Matte's girlish giggle at her older brother's antics. Maxi, caught in between his mother and father's romantic moment, made an icky face, tongue lolling and eyes rolling. Matte, left out of the sandwich, ran over to her Uncle Trowa, grabbing his hand and yanking at him, still giggling foolishly.

"Look, look, Uncle Trowa! Mommy and Daddy are kissing. Mommy and Daddy sittin' in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Maxi in a baby carriage!"

"Well, of course, honey," intoned Hilde patiently once she'd come up for air. "How else did we have Maxi and you?"

Duo didn't seem to be handling the situation quite as calmly, though. Trowa could see the flush working its way up from his friend's neck to his ears and finally his face. Hilde caught sight of it, too, and snorted amusedly. "Honey, it's only sex. What is it with men and sex? They want it until their dying day, but they just can't talk about it in front of women." That didn't help matters much either. Duo's face just got redder and both Matte and Maxi went into shock.

"Uncle Trowa, you bear witness of Mom saying the 's' word, okay?" Maxi croaked in a stage whisper, inching his way away from his beet-red father and incredulous mother. "And if you ever tell any of my friends, I'll hafta hunt you down."

Hilde, never missing a beat, snapped her head towards her son with a quick reprimand. "Maxi! Where do you get these horrible curses? Moreover, where do you get the gall to threaten your Uncle Trowa? Apologize right now and don't let me hear you even think anything like that again." The guilty one winced and fixed puppy-dog eyes on Trowa.

"Sorry, Uncle Trowa. I didn't mean it."

"No problem, Maxi." He landed a light punch on the shoulder of the almost six-year old who grinned thankfully for the smooth save in return. And glancing over at his old friend, Trowa decided to rescue Maxi's father as well. The infamous heartbreaker's face was starting to tinge purple. "Hilde, it's getting late. Isn't it a schoolday tomorrow? Why don't you go on home, I'll give Duo a ride back."

Reminded of the time, Hilde glanced down at her watch and gasped. "Ten after ten already! Thanks ahead of time for driving Duo home, Trowa. I'll see you later, Lois." Hilde threw a wink back at her husband as she began to herd her flock to the door. "Come on, you two troublemakers, we'd better get going. It's way past your bedtime." Automatic whines and cries of unjust bedtimes followed as she ushered them out.

Curious, Trowa angled a glance at Duo as they silently made their way up to Duo's office. Duo had seemed to start breathing again and his face was beginning to regain its normal coloring.

"Lois?"

The happily married man went scarlet again and couldn't seem to maintain eye contact. "Don't ask, Trowa. You'll find out one day, when you get hitched and tied down."

Something flickered in Trowa's eyes, but Duo missed it as he turned to unlock his office door and let them in.

Sighing heavily with relief, Duo rested his posterior on a sofa arm, crossing his leg to rest on his left knee, while Trowa took the seat opposite him. "Now what is this visit about? No matter how much you know I adore you, you never come around these parts unless you have bad news."

Trowa opened his mouth to protest, but Duo cut him off before he could begin.

"And don't give me any of that glib of yours. It'll work with Hilde, but I've known you too well and too long."

Trowa opened his mouth to reply, but Duo interrupted him again, before he could say anything at all.

"I just can't believe that you've become such a smooth talker. I always remember that you, Heero, and Wu Fei were always the quiet ones." He shivered comically. "Shows a lot about the quiet ones. The scariest of 'em all, if you ask me. All that thinking, plays with your head. Heero is," Duo shuddered again, "even now, the scariest guy I know, beside you and Wu Fei, of course. I mean, he's never really lost that glare of his. And when you jokingly bring up the fact that he's got some pretty deep rings under his eyes, probably from lack of sleep, and you wonder what exactly is keeping that sneaky newlywed from sleeping, he tosses that scary glare at you, along with some pretty empty threats about killing you and chopping your braid off, well…" Duo seemed to have run out of air and Trowa took his chance to cut in.

"Duo, don't you ever wonder if Heero, Wu Fei, and I were only quiet because we just couldn't get a word in edgewise?" A brown brow arched above bottle-green eyes and Duo chuckled heartily.

"I think Hilde's mentioned that theory to me once or twice."

"Well, that wouldn't be the first time Hilde's right."

"And when you do talk, it's to side with her! Not that I blame you. I'd have to say that Hilde's even scarier than Heero when she's in a fit."

"You're the one who married her."

That made Duo puff out with pride. "Well, I never said I couldn't take it."

"I'm not even going to start."

His usually cheerful friend's eyes darkened and he leaned forward. "You could start with this warning I have a feeling you're about to give me. This being the second one I've had in a day, I'm starting to worry."

Astonishment had Trowa straightening in his comfortable seat, his eyes widening slightly. "A second warning?"

"Yep." Having received confirmation of his suspicions, Duo sat back again, though he did not relax in the least. "You're getting a little rusty, aren't ya?" Suspicious, Trowa's eyes narrowed.

"Who was he?"

"Now, I can't divulge my sources, now can I?" His fellow Gundam pilot's expression turned guarded and Trowa halted his verbal assault, switching instead to educated guesses that he was famous for.

"So he's not within your organization, or you would tell me."

"Hmm." Duo's cornflower blue colored eyes flickered with humor and Trowa could've sworn that his mouth had twitched out of its austere countenance but it returned too quickly for certainty.

"What?"

"Well, buddy, you're barking up the wrong tree, if you ask me."

"It's a she?"

"I wouldn't know that, now would I?"

"A woman from outside gave you a warning before this." Trowa's brow furrowed in thought, his mind darting to the grim possibility that lay before him.

"What's wrong?"

"This sounds too familiar. Quatre was also given a warning by a source he wouldn't let me confirm."

Duo rested his chin on a hand and his bangs shadowed his forehead in thought. "I wouldn't know if what you're thinking is possible. My friend, she's kind of mysterious. I don't really know much about her." Green eyes sharpened like knives at him and he corrected himself. "Except that I would trust her with my life. Already have a couple times."

"How long have you known her?"

"Back since the wars. Our missions collided and we ended up helping each other. She's kept in contact with me ever since."

A fine brow raised in a query that voiced itself. "She's kept in contact with you, giving you free information all this time?"

"Yeah. The information is always correct and she's never asked for anything in return. I never found out who exactly she is or where she lives. I figure she has some type of run-in with the law, so can't tell me."

"Or she just won't."

"Maybe. But when we met, she wasn't in a position that's very comfortable with the law."

"Turncoat?"

A negative flashed through Duo's pensive gaze. "Doubt it. She was a spy."

"Most spies are traitors."

Duo shook his head in a definite no. "Her mission wasn't like that at all. She infiltrated the Oz base in secret and hacked into the central database to steal their files. I was about to destroy the command center and a guard stumbled into me. He alerted his superior before I could silence him. I didn't have the Deathscythe with me at the time and she and I ran into each other trying to make a break for it." A sudden smirk pulled at his grim face as his eyes developed a distant look. "We got each other captured and helped each other make it out of there."

"Sounds like fun."

His attention snapped back to the present and his smirk widened. "Yep, plenty of it. She saved my skin enough times that I trust her."

"And she's been visiting you periodically over the years?"

"Yeah. Somehow she usually gets information about fires before even the Preventors do. I take it to them and I'm a big hero. I don't know how Une can believe that I handle a regular job and Hilde not to mention getting the two little devils that I call kids out of trouble and Hilde's wrath and still manage to get all that four-one all on my own."

"I doubt she does. She knows about your organization."

"Has it really been that obvious?"

"We just know you better."

"I have a feeling that you and the chief of the Preventors aren't the only ones who know about my tiny little network of information."

"Like I said before, we know you better than to simply sit around and wait for trouble to come to you."

"And I suppose you all depend on me so much, huh?"

"You're the only with enough time to do this."

"What?! I already told you, I've got enough on my hands! I never understood why you or Heero or Wu Fei or even Quatre couldn't start up your own grapevine!"

Amusement twinkled in emerald eyes. "Quatre's heading a major corporation that's just gone through a merge. Wu Fei's taking care of rebuilding an entire colony, not to mention Sally Po Chang and their daughter Hazy. All while Heero's taking care of homeland security, as well as the Prime Minister of the Earth-Space Coalition and probably the future President of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation." The former caught Duo's attention and he sobered.

"I thought Relena refused the nomination for the next presidency."

"I hear she's seriously considering the matter."

"And you say you don't have a grapevine. Well, what about you?"

"I've been trying to solve a mystery."

"What mystery?"

"A girl."

Interest flickered in cheerful blue eyes, spelling trouble. "So you've finally met her, huh?"

"What?" Confusion filled Trowa's face. "Met who?"

"Oh, come on, Trowa. You can't fool me. You've kicked the bachelor bucket for good, haven't you? That's a pity, really. Bachelorhood should really be enjoyed to the fullest, but I'm proud that you lasted the longest. I could've sworn that Catherine would blackmail you into at least getting involved with someone for a while. That's what happened this time, right?"

"What?" Still at sea, he blinked and shook his head. "No, of course not."

"I'm disappointed in her! So who is she? How'd you meet? Does she snore at night? What's her-"

"Duo, I don't know what you're talking about." He could feel heat creeping into his face.

"Oh, come on, Trowa! Don't give me this! I'm not Hilde or Cathy. I won't say a word to anyone." Trowa rolled his eyes and sat back, folding his arms across his chest and waiting for an explanation. And earning a dubious and thoughtful look from Duo. "You really don't know, huh? I'm talking about candlelight dinners, diamond engagement rings, weddings. Anything above ring a bell? It's called amore by the Italian." Trowa barely stifled a groan, pinching his nose in an effort to stop himself from banging his head against the wall.

Duo started ticking off fingers. "Let's see. Cathy got bit by it along with Quatre. Wu Fei went through a phase, I think. He's not entirely out of it, though. Doubt Sally'll ever let him either. Hmm, I've been hit by it a couple times, but Hilde managed to bulldoze me over completely in the end. And Heero… well he's Heero." His blue eyes sharpened and flicked over to Trowa. "Now, you. I think you're the only one who really has no idea what I'm talking about. Yeah, you've got Cathy, but it's just not the same as finding someone to love and to hold forever."

"So you think that I've finally found this in this girl that I'm trying to figure out?"

"Well, that would be the first time you've bothered to even approach any female figure and try to 'figure' her out."

Trowa opened his mouth to retort, but the image of Cala flashed through his mind. Cala grinning up at him, her hair tied back in a quick ponytail and fussing over his beautiful sister. Cala's sweet voice singing along in the passenger seat to a tune on the radio, her wild hair tossing about in the wind from the open window. And Cala's piercing blue gaze staring intensely into his as she swung haphazardly from the trapeze, her hands gripped tightly around his. The mere thought of her drove his reply out of his mind.

"I… I… What- what were we talking about?"

An unmistakable grin cracked on Duo's face. "Ha! My point proven. You're hung over her." Trowa quickly snapped back to reality in order to save himself.

"I'm not trying to 'figure her out' that way, Duo. She's done some fishy things and I'm trying to figure out what she's hiding."

"Yeah, okay, sure."

"Duo, this girl is the one that saved me from that murder attempt."

"Huh." Surprise registered on Duo's face and he twisted it, thinking. "That's food for thought, all right, but that still doesn't deny the fact that you're completely hung over her." Trowa sighed, rolled his eyes, and gave up.

"We'd better get a move on." He stood, brushing invisible lint off of his jeans. "Hilde will probably be wondering if we stopped to hit the bars and clubs on the way back or something." This diversionary tactic seemed to successfully steal Duo's attention away from Trowa's failed love life.

"Ah ha, ah ha. Not funny." Groaning as he got up, he continued, "But yeah, we'd better get a move-on. No point just sitting here and blabbing when my life's on the line." After snatching a ring of keys off of his desk and tugging his coat off of a chair, Duo was off and out the door. Suppressing a smug grin, Trowa followed.

Author's Note

Hey all!

Sorry about the lateness, but my muse went on vacation all summer long and I debated about whether or not to end it where I ended it or to prolong it a bit further. Oi… so at any rate here it is! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews from (drumroll pls) Garu, Rioy, Ashirakya, with a special thanks to Lee-chan, whose encouraging emails pushed, prodded, and generally shoved me forward, and as always to Megs, my one and only sis.

Thanks again and I promise that the next chappie will be sooner…

-w.r