Ed and Duo’s Greatest Adventure

Chapter 3

By Devon Masterson

Ed crouched in a nearby tree and watched as Wufei did some rewiring in Nataku. "He’s trying to put a jamming device in, crafty," she whispered.

Wufei stopped suddenly in his work. He could feel unseen eyes watching him. There had to be someone out there and since they did not show themselves it had to be Ed or some other enemy, but his money was on it being Ed. His trap would now be set. He knew she would try to find him and bother him after being so quiet for the past two days. The only thing that let him know she was alive was her and Duo goofing around or hearing her giggling occasionally while online surfing.

He looked around casually trying to see if he could pinpoint her position. He saw a few leaves from a tree to his left. "Aha," he yelled as he fired a rocket in that direction. Ed jumped out and he fired a net. The net ensnared her and left her swinging from the end of a long rope. "I finally have you."

"No fair, Wu-man," She replied as she struggled to get out, but she was only able to get her legs through the large matrix.

"I finally have you," Wufei repeated, "and no one’s going to save you this time…what’s with the new clothes?"

"I needed a change," she pouted.

"You become serious when you lose I see. I knew if had to a façade. No one could be that goofy all the time," he replied. "Your body maybe pleasing to the eye, but womanly wiles will not get you out of trouble this time."

Ed smiled. "You’re silly, Wu-man. Ed is smart too." She raised her feet and kicked off of Wufei so that she flew into the air. The rope looped around the tree branch and she grabbed onto it with her legs so that she hung upside down. She managed to reach for her wire cutters and cut herself free.

"Inconceivable," Wufei muttered as he stood and went back to work. He would just have to come up with a better plan.

"You’re going to fall if you aren’t careful," Trowa remarked as he leaned against the trunk of tree.

Ed looked surprised to see him on the branch with her. She cut the net free from her legs and climbed right side up on the branch. She walked towards him when she nearly tripped on a large eddy in the thick branch. Trowa caught her to keep her from tumbling to the ground. Her head rested on his chest momentarily until she realized what she was doing and pulled away. She nearly fell again from her sudden movement. "See what I mean," he added.

"Ed is fine," she replied almost indignantly.

Trowa nearly smiled. She was definitely a hard case to crack. She was always on and excited. He was always calm and stoic. But like him, she had other sides and didn’t seem that much in touch with them. "I’m sure you are."

"I’ll show you," she said as she sat on the branch. She leaned back and Trowa nearly had a heart attack as she fell. She flipped several times and landed on her feet then sat down. Trowa jumped down as well, but from limb to limb as the tree was high, and walked over to her.

"Didn’t quite nail the landing," she smiled as she rubbed right ankle slightly. She had been so interested in getting away and proofing that she was cool, that she had a large lapse in judgment for even her.

Trowa removed the shoe and saw the swollen ankle. "It’s sprained. You won’t be dancing around for a couple of days. We better get some ice for it."

"Oh," she said disappointed. The thought of being out of mischievous commission did not appeal to her.

"You’ll be fine," Trowa assured her as he picked her up. "Wufei, your playmate will be out of commission for a couple of days, so try not to kill her."

"Yeah whatever," he remarked as he went on with his upgrade. At least he’d have plenty of time to plan.

"Bye, Wu-man," Ed called as Trowa carried her away. She leaned her head against Trowa. She might as well get comfortable.

Trowa looked straight head as walked towards the house under the shade of the trees that hid his light blush. Something told him that she was going to be his most difficult patient to date.

***

Quatre walked into the casino and saw people busing about trying to find a hot machine or lucky person to stand next to at the tables. He looked around for Faye when he heard a feminine voice in his ear. "Looking for someone?"

"Faye, I’m glad I found you!" he said nervously. He was supposed to surprise her and not the other way around.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked as she looked around for her next prey.

"I remembered you talked about games of chance and figured you’d be here," he answered.

"Good call," she replied. She spotted the blackjack table. "Well I’m off."

"I’m coming with you," he interjected. "I want to watch you work."
"Oh yeah?" she asked curiously. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that you find me attractive and irresistible to the senses?"

Quatre smiled at her assumption though true. "And you sticking around and dropping Ed and leaving months ago has nothing do with my irresistible charm?"

"Well you are a rich man," she countered.

"You could have robbed me blind a long time ago," he rebuttled.

"Touché," Faye replied. She grabbed him and kissed deeply. "Now that we’ve both got that out of our systems, let go have fun."

Quatre blinked as she pulled him past the blackjack table. "Where are going?"

"You said you wanted to watch me work, but first I have see if you are a worthy partner. I have a game of poker set up for later tonight, but first we see how your poker face is when you have everything is on the line."

"What do you mean?" he asked as she led up the stairs and into a room.

She pulled out a pair dice and a small wooden cup. "A game of chance. I win you give up something. You win I give up something."

"Okay," Quatre replied as he sat down in front of a coffee table.

She sat across from him and brandished the dice. She threw them into the cup and shook it up. "Even or odd?" she asked as she placed the cup upside down.

"Odd," Quatre answered as he tapped the cup.

Faye smiled as she lifted the cup. "Odd?" she said almost incredulously. "I lost?"

"I guess so," he answered.

"So what do you want?" she asked annoyed.

"Your top," he answered with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Faye watched as Quatre ran his hands through his hair. He put his arms around her and she leaned her head against him. "I just want to know how you did it," she said softly.

"I used a magnet with the same pole as yours," he replied as flipped his wrist and showed her the magnet.

Faye narrowed her eyes. "You cheat," she accused as she pulled away from him and swung at him.

He caught her wrist and brought her close to him. He kissed her on the nose. "It’s only cheating when you get caught. Besides you would have done the same to me," he said good-naturedly. He kissed her on the nose

"Damned right," she remarked then softened. "You’ll do for boyfriend."

"That was quite bold don’t you think, Miss Faye?" he teased.

"Don’t you think that is big talk coming from a man that cheated to get me to sleep with him," she replied as she put her hands on her hips. She walked over to him seductively. "I am a woman who knows what she wants and having you for myself is what I want. So it yes or no."

"Yes," he answered.

"You do know I’m not the type to play the giddy hostess," she warned. "I can be really short tempered sometimes and moody."

"I love you the way you are," he replied, "besides I live with four veterans of the worst war that history has ever seen. There’s no one more moody than they can be and I have my days too."

"Ed told you about the magnet in my anklet didn’t she?" Faye asked.

"I never reveal my sources," he smiled.

"I’ll get her later."

"You’ll have to beat Wufei to it and go through Trowa accomplish it," he remarked.

"So that’s who she has the crush on."

"I’m not sure if she has one on him or not, but I know he’s in love with her," Quatre commented. "That’s a match I never expected."

Faye nodded. "He looks like the type that would have killed her already. He kind of reminds me of Spike." Her watch went off. "It’s time for our game."

"You do realize that my family has a substantial amount of assets on Earth and in the colonies."

"Let me have my fun will you," she said as she pulled him out of the room.

"Just checking," he smiled. He hadn’t had so much fun in ages and was curious about what trouble she would get him into.

***

Trowa sat down on the couch after finally getting Ed to sleep. He knew if he fed her enough she would stop trying to escape and become comatose the rest of the day and the night. He was exhausted, the satisfied kind that came from doing something productive.

"You were in Ed’s room a long time," Duo observed as he looked up from his comics. "You didn’t take advantage of her, did you?" Trowa gave him a look of utter horror and sheer surprise that was priceless. "You should see your face." He chuckled.

"I just wrapped her ankle and gave her something to eat. She’s sleeping upstairs," he answered annoyed.

"Ed maybe me a few chips short of a motherboard, but she’s a great girl," Duo reasoned. "And she did the unthinkable, make Trowa Barton laugh and hysterically. Of course I wasn’t right myself for a couple of days after seeing Shenlong dance." He started to snicker at the thought of the scene again. He became serious again. "Plus she has an unbelievable body, though her personality distracts you away from it."

"What is your point?" Trowa asked annoyed.

"You like her," Duo replied. "You like her weirdness and the way she can get to you."

"Sounds like you like her," Trowa accused.

"I do," Duo replied, "but I’d get bored with her if I had to be romantic and crap. She’s fun to hang out with. I need someone who needs my influence to brighten their day and I can work my magic on."

He arched an eyebrow. "You’re in touch with your feelings aren’t you?" Trowa asked.

"Nope that’s what she told me when I asked her out the first night," Duo commented as he laid back and went on reading his comics. "She’s right though, very perceptive and hard to figure out."

"You asked Ed out?" Trowa asked.

"Nope," Duo answered, "but it made you mad to think I did, didn’t it?"

Trowa shook his head and opened a book. He didn’t like people knowing when the pushed his buttons.

"So when are you going to tell her?" he asked

"Who says I’m going to tell her?"

"Aha, so you admit there is something to tell her," Duo accused. "You do like her. She’s been here almost a year and she got to you. You’re sweet on her."

"I don’t have to listen to this," Trowa snapped as he got up.

"You didn’t even threaten to kill me," Duo observed. "Hell, you’re in love with her."

"Why would I be in love with Ed?" Trowa yelled. "You said yourself the girl’s a few chips short of a motherboard. Why would I want to be with someone so…"

"Uh Trowa," Duo warned.

"…immature, she wouldn’t know seriousness if it bit her in the ass?" he asked angrily.

"Ouch," Ed said from the top of the stairs. "That was way harsh, that hurt." Her eyes started to water as she hobbled away.

Trowa’s eyes widened. He had no intention of hurting her just getting Duo to shut up.

"Look what you did," Duo commented as he started reading his comic again.

Trowa started to move closer to Duo as though he was going to choke him. "If I die you really won’t have a chance of making it up to her," he replied without even looking up from his book.

"Damn," he sighed as he dropped into the couch