Chance (part 4)
Niko
Heero awoke groggily as his pants were thrown in his face. He pulled them away and glared at the one with the nerve to awaken him. Duo stood there, smiling like the fool he was, with Heero's shirt in his hands.
"Get up, Heero! We're going shopping!"
Heero rubbed at his eyes and looked to the clocked. What was Duo thinking? "It's six in the morning. No one goes shopping at this hour. Go away."
"Nahuh!" Duo grabbed his foot and started to pull him off the bed. Bad move. He drew back quickly but not quickly enough. The object, Heero's foot. The point of contact, Duo's nose. The braided boy rubbed at the protrusion on his face with a sour expression, "Ouch. That hurt! Why'd you have to kick me in the face? Wouldn't a swift blow to the gut have worked?" Heero pretended not to hear him and pulled the covers over his head. Unfortunately for him, Duo was nothing if not persistent.
"Come on, Heero! The guys are going to leave without us! You don't want to get left behind! Weren't you paying attention last night?"
Heero hadn't been. He hadn't realized anything other than Duo's normal useless chatter had been said. Duo planted his hands on his hips and starred at the unmoving lump on the bed, "You weren't listening, were you? Quatre was complaining about having to pick up after all of us and having to do the shopping all by himself so Wufei suggested that the last person in the car to go shopping today would clean up around here! It's a pick your poison sorta thing and I sure as hell's rather go shopping than be stuck here by myself cleaning up!" Heero groaned. Another one of Wufei's stupid suggestions, "I suppose he thought this to be a just way of assigning duties. It's not like we're going to be here for very long. Once the next mission comes through we're moving on."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But the next mission could be months down the line! They're all thinking about the possibility of staying here for a while. It's really not that bad a place."
"It's a run down shack that's probably housed wanted men more than once in its existence."
"Heero!" Duo tugged at the blankets wrapped tightly around his friend, "Come on! I want to see Wufei's face when he realizes he's the last one! I know Quatre's probably got Trowa out the door already!" Heero let go the blanket suddenly.
"He-whoa!" Duo fell back and crashed into the closet. Dust fell from every corner, covering him in thick layers. Heero sat up and couldn't help but laugh. Duo was absolutely filthy. Duo looked less than pleased at this and began to sneeze in great lengths. Having lost his will to sleep, Heero took his pants and shirt and changed, watching out of the corner of his eye as Duo stood and tried to shake off the majority of dust that clung to his clothing and hair. The hair thing is what had Duo really upset. He looked in the mirror with a sad pout on his face, eyeing the damage done.
"Way to go, Heero. I look like a dust bunny!"
"Wrong tail." Heero pulled hard at his braid as he walked past Duo and towards the door.
Duo shrieked and hugged his scalp, "First the nose, then the braid! What next?!"
"Heero! Duo! Are you guy's ready?" Quatre stuck his head through the door and smiled at Heero, "I see you're ready. How's Du-OH?!" Quatre crossed to the dirty fool and shook his head, a slight smile on his face, "How on earth did you get so dirty, Duo?"
Duo didn't answer. For once, he just stood there and glared. Quatre got the picture anyway.
"I'm sorry, Duo, but it looks like you'll be staying here. Wufei and Trowa are downstairs finishing their breakfast. I'm sorry to say, you're the last."
Duo hung his head and plopped down on the floor, "Just my luck. This is so _not_ my day." He sighed loudly and fell back against the floor, poking at the tip of his sore nose.
Quatre shook his head, "The broom's under the stairs. I trust you know how to use one?"
Duo waved him away, "Yeah, yeah. Have fun at the store and bring me back something good, okay?"
"Sure." Quatre met Heero at the door and the two left the room, closing the door behind them. Duo sighed again. His normal black outfit was way to dirty to wear now. It was all he had packed though. All he had else with him was a pair of gym shorts and his white undershirt. Duo's thoughts returned to his hair. If he was going to change outfits, he may as well shower as well. He sat up finally and undid his hair. The chestnut locks fell around him, unleashing more dust and more sneezing fits. What a way to start the day.
Heero sat in the back seat next to Wufei, a scowl on his face. Something in the back of his mind disturbed him about the day's events but he couldn't place it. He'd checked his laptop for messages, hadn't he? Yes. Just before leaving. No new messages and further more, no new missions. He'd already checked his fly seven times. That wasn't it either. Something was definitely unsettling about this picture though. What was it?
<"Tomorrow afternoon you, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei are going to go to the store..">
What? Oh, of course. Heero's scowl deepened. That damn call. It didn't mean anything, though. People went to the store everyday. Who ever this Chance guy was had just made a lucky guess, that was all. Heero crossed his arms over his chest. He'd have to get a new frequency for that satellite phone if Chance kept feeling the need to contact him. Heero was quite sure who ever this guy was, he was more than likely some escaped patient of a psycho ward. What kind of question was "what year is it' anyway?
Trowa noted Heero's demeanor and raised an eyebrow in question, "What's up with you?"
"Nothing. I just ended up listening to Duo rattle on all night long." He cast a dangerous look towards Wufei.
The Chinese boy shook his head, "If it is such a big deal, we can trade rooms. I at least have the option of suspended animation if Duo becomes unbearable."
Quatre frowned, "You guys are horrible. Just because you're not as social as-"
"Social and what Duo is are two different things. The guy is a potential problem. One day he's going to let too much information slip and get us all in trouble." Heero argued.
Quatre sighed and turned his attention to the road, "I don't think you give him enough credit."
"Hm."
Heero gazed out his own window, watching the scenery pass by. He couldn't remember why or how he had agreed to work with the others but somewhere down the road, they had joined together. It made little sense if one really thought about it. Being this close to the others might result in friendship. Screw that, Heero thought. It was probably already to late to stop that. Quatre and Trowa were practically best friends and Duo was so trusting, he'd pretty much labeled everyone as a friend. Only himself and Wufei seemed to have kept a fair distance between themselves and the others. Friendship could be used against them by the enemy. People were expendable. Attachments only made things more difficult. So why had he joined with the others? If not for friendship, then what? Perhaps it was for understanding. Of all the people he'd ever encountered, only the gundam pilots understood his motives and goals. Maybe he just wanted the conversation. Or not. Heero thought back to Duo and his non-stop chatter. That was the last thing he wanted. He took a few moments to look at each pilot separately. Each one brought something different to the battlefield, whether it was Wufei's sense of justice, Quatre's innocence or Trowa's in-depth planning. They were all skilled and could easily accomplish many of the missions sent through by themselves. Maybe he just kept them around to keep and eye on them. They always say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Heero leaned his head back against the seat. Who was he kidding. He liked being in their company. They were the closest things to friends he had ever had. The car stopped outside the house and Trowa exited the vehicle, popping the trunk and taking out a few bags to carry inside. He led the way towards the house but stopped suddenly in front of a window, a quite confused and amused look on his face. It wasn't until Heero caught up with him and took a look for himself that he understood why.
<"…you'll come home early and find Duo dancing in the living room and singing into a broom.">
Heero's jaw dropped. The store thing was an easy guess but this… Duo twirled around in stocking feet, seemingly wearing nothing but a large white shirt with but a hint of red shorts sticking out from beneath. He seemed oblivious to their return as he sang out loudly to a rather cheerful tune. Heero had never heard the boy sing before. It was beautiful. His hair was wet and only half braided the majority of it flying free beyond the ponytail fastened at shoulder blade length.
Wufei's deliberate cough brought Heero's attention back to the real world with a start.
"Shouldn't we be getting this stuff inside?" Wufei asked, unfazed by the sigh of Duo.
Trowa shook his head and nodded, "Yeah. Should we tell Duo we saw him?"
"Perhaps. His reaction would be quite enjoyable to witness."
Heero nodded, not really paying attention. He'd never realized how graceful Duo really was as he danced across the room with the broom acting as both his partner and mic.
"Don't tease him too much," Quatre instructed as he opened the door, "Duo, we're back!"
The dancing and singing stopped abruptly and Duo bounded up the stairs, "Okay! I finished with the downstairs! I need to get changed so I'll be down in a sec!"
Heero entered the safe house and shook his head as the last trail of the Deathscythe pilot's hair disappeared behind the upstairs wall. How did Chance know about this? How could he have guessed so accurately? Heero let out a long breath and shook his head. Chance would undoubtedly call tonight. He'd get more answers then. Whether he trusted him or not was still to be questioned. Did he believe him… quite frankly it was hard not to. He dropped the bags from the store on the table and took a seat on the couch. He'd get his answers later.
