| Title: Building a New Life Chapter: 5/? Word count: Rating: Mature Betaed by rogue53 (thanks, hun) Warnings: Lemons, fighting, blood, explosions, swearing, slight kink. Nothing else. Parings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X6. Relena as friend to all the boys. Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to Gundam Wing. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it. Summary: Sequel to The Price They Paid – The Pilots fought for peace for the Colonies and the Earth. With peace and the freedom to begin new lives they now are faced with new threats, not from politicians, but from the hard, cold space around them and the men and women they work with. Construction work is dangerous and the people involved in colonial construction are hardened and rambunctious. Building a colony is not at all like building a city. As the boys are about to find out. ~<O>~ If you were a regular civilian, you would have been surprised by Quatre. If you were a Gundam Pilot, you wouldn't be. “Trowa, would you please find out who the executive director of that company is? I'd like to have a few words with him. And please have Duo and Heero start an investigation into their safety practices for me.” Trowa just nodded. Quatre was polite to him but the expression on his face was cold as space. Trowa started the massive machinery of WEI rolling. The first thing he did was call Duo and ask him to read the suit manual, in conjunction with Heero. If there was anything wrong in the manual, that was where they needed to start. Duo received the manual on the morning of the next day, Heero copied his. They both settled in to read and it didn't take them more than ten minutes to figure out half of what was wrong. The manual's recommended safety checks had been watered down, the hours between checks almost doubled and the limits raised. The number of popped stitches raised, and the tank maintenance requirements were, as Duo put it, suicidal. Heero was snarling by the time they were done reading. “Ok, I'd like to meet the engineer who approved this mess. You wanna call Quatre?” Heero shook his head. “Not really. You know he's going to go postal over this. I think we need to go check the maintenance logs on the suit that ruptured, and any other logs we can get our hands on.” Duo rubbed his face. “Yay! Really know how to make my day, doncha.” Duo levered himself up from his chair with a wince. He was stiff from sitting still too long. The twenty minutes or so it had taken to read the manual was still more than he liked. “Sorry. You ok? Need a pill?” Duo considered for a moment. “No. I'm just a bit stiff. We better call Q. and get the ball rolling. We might need subpoenas or something. Call 'Fei?” Heero thought about that for a second. “Yeah. I'll call him, you call Quatre.” Duo made a face, he'd walked right into that one. “Chicken.” He made clucking noises at Heero who just nodded, announced, “Damn straight.” and reached into his pocket for his phone. They all now had inter-colony cell phones, courtesy of Quatre. Heero called Quatre and just told him to have the engineering department check the manuals for that model of suit then submit a report on their opinion of the viability of the minimum required maintenance. He flatly refused to tell Quatre anything else claiming it would 'prejudice' his judgment. He hung up on Quatre in mid snarl. Wufei's conversation with Duo went a bit better, on Duo's part at least. Wufei just demanded to know who was suing who and if Quatre was involved. When Duo told him Quatre was probably going to sue the tour company, Wufei told him to hold off on getting subpoenas issued until he was sure they were needed. Then he went off on a rant, Duo held the phone to his ear and made appropriate noises from time to time. But he had to agree with the gist of the rant, companies should do the optimum safety maintenance at the minimum times. Not the other way around. Too many lives were lost due to cost cutting bean counters, at least that was what Duo translated the vulgar Taiwanese to. Duo chuckled as he hung up. “You know, Wufei is a blast. He speaks High Mandarin, like he was raised to, but he swears in Taiwanese. Why is that, do you think?” Heero thought about it for a minute. “I think it's because Taiwanese originated in Taiwan,” Duo gave him a 'no shit' look, “and Taiwan is a port city. Lots of dock workers. See?” Duo grinned and nodded. He was well aware that dockworkers were well known for the originality of their oaths. He didn't 'suck potty mouth out of my thumb' as he was fond of explaining. Sweepers were known for their filthy mouths, and Duo was a product of the streets of L2 and the Sweepers. But Wufei had, on occasion, shocked even him. “Ok, that makes sense. We going to do another round of interviews?” Heero sighed. “Yeah, this time we get to check all the logs against the minimum maintenance requirements and ain't that gonna be fun.” Duo made a face at his attempt at a Sweeper accent. Heero made a face back. “If we're going to check logs, why interview anyone.” “This time we get to ask the crews if anyone interfered with their maintenance schedules or changed them without warning or against advice of an engineer. Or a maintenance expert. Then we check the interview results against the logs.” Duo's sour face made his opinion clear. “Yeah, and we'll get exactly zip. They've all been threatened by now and you know they can't afford to lose their jobs or they'd have raised holly hell earlier.” Heero shrugged a bit. “I know. That's a real problem. One we need a solution to right now.” Duo leaned back in his chair, thinking furiously. “Hmmmm, some way to dodge the ... Supervisory busybodies, so to speak. You thirsty?” “Could be. What's going on in your twisted little mind? Not that I'm actually objecting ... yet.” Duo grinned, wholly unrepentant. “See ... it's this way. Most dockworkers like to have a drink after work and a pub is a great way to ... um ... drop a word in the right ears. I need to talk to Quatre about something before I make my plans. Infiltration is still one of my skills.” Heero finally got what Duo had in mind, his shifty eyed expression made Duo chuckle. “I'm not so bad at infiltration myself, you know.” Their call to Quatre yielded the hoped for results. They now had ammunition against fears of reprisals from company agents against whistle blowers. Quatre had agreed to hire anyone who got fired for talking, they would however have to keep the job on their own merit. Duo thought it would be enough. . Heero looked around the pub, it wasn't what he'd expected. This pub was exactly that, a pub in the ancient sense of the word. Men, women and a few children sat around tables or in booths talking and eating. There was plenty of beer, wine and other forms of alcohol around but no one seemed drunk. There was a dartboard way in the back and a few other games, electronic or otherwise, but the main reason for this place's existence was as a place to gather and socialize. Duo led Heero to the bar and they took stools. The bartender glanced their way, held up one finger in the universal sign for 'be with you in one minute' and turned back to what he was doing. It took him less than a minute to finish his task and come to them. “Ok, guys, what'll it be? No drugs here.” Duo shook his head. “Don't do 'em. Legal or ill. Not my thing. Just a nice local dark. Heero?” “Rum and coke.” Heero had learned about this trick from Duo. He didn't like alcohol in any form very much, he didn't like the feeling of being out of control it gave him. If he asked for a Shirley Temple it caused too much comment, but having his drink refreshed numerous times left him drinking coke in about two hours. Most bartenders didn't care one way or the other, you paid for a drink, they served it. Anyone stupid enough to make a comment usually got the idea from one of Heero's high BTU glares. “Gotcha. We got a nice local brewery, makes really impressive stout. That ok?” Duo nodded. “Sure. And some kind of munchie.” The bartender just eased a basket of bar nuts their way and went for their drinks. Duo grabbed a handful and popped one into his mouth, chewing he turned to look the pub over. “Nice place. We should come here more often.” A small girl ran right into Duo's legs. “Hey, pumpkin, watch out. You'll bump your head.” The little girl looked up at Duo and smiled. “I'm sorry. Clumsy me. Mama'll be mad.” “No, she won't. You can blame it all on me. I got right in your line of run. Ok?” “ 'K. Nice man.” “Where's your mama? We better get you back to her.” Duo started to pick the girl up but she noticed Heero and pointed. “Who dat? Big frown. Pretty eyes.” Duo nearly choked trying not to laugh. “My name is Heero. What's yours? We can't keep calling you Pumpkin. You're not orange.” “Nora. Mama's ...” Nora looked around, “there.” “Ok, Nora, let's get you back to her.” Duo caught the bartenders eye and jerked his head toward the nook were Nora's mother and several other people were sitting. He nodded back and placed two drinks on a tray. Duo grinned brightly. “Hi! I believe this is yours?” One of the women looked up at Duo then cast a horrified look at an empty chair behind her. “Damn. Nora, I thought I told you to stay in your chair while I went to order the food. You're in big trouble, young lady.” Duo just handed the child over. “It's ok. She's fine.” “Thanks, but ... um ... My name is Donna, didn't catch yours.” Donna plopped Nora into her chair with a firm finality that made Duo wince a bit. Heero just pinned Nora with a slightly frosty look that made her squirm. “Duo, that's Heero.” He pointed to himself then Heero. “Hi. And It's not Ok, I told her not to move from that chair until I got back. What If you weren't such nice guys? What if you ... did bad things to her?” Duo nodded. “I see. Gotcha in one. So, what do you plan to do with her? Just nosey, see.” Donna just shrugged. “No ice cream for a week.” She turned at Nora's whined 'Mom!' and shook a finger. “Want to make it two? And not a peep out of you until after you're finished eating everything on your plate.” The bartender had put the tray with Duo and Heero's drinks on it down on the table, now he was back with a larger tray filled with plates of food. He put plates in front of everyone at the table then turned to ask Heero if he and Duo were hungry. Heero glanced around, realized that there was now room at the table for the two of them. He sat between Duo and Nora, accepted a menu and settled himself to listen to Duo. Duo placed his order and Heero just said, “Same thing.” The waiter checked their drinks then left to turn in their order. Heero sipped his drink and watched silently as Duo 'worked the room' he talked to anyone at the table, even breaking into conversations, managing to do so without insult. His friendly smile and easy ways made him so likable that it was easy for him to work his way into the conversations around him. So, when he dropped the bomb into the middle of the table, it didn't cause a ripple. The waiter had just brought their plates and he casually asked, just before he took a huge bite out of his burger, “So, what about that ruptured suit thing?” The silence didn't last long, young Nora piped up with, “That's bad. You're not suppose to talk about it. Mama will lose her job, the nasty man said so.” Heero glanced at her then at the adults at the table. They all had that deer-in-the-headlights look. The one that meant they didn't know how to get out of this one. “Oh? What nasty man?” Heero didn't take his eyes off Nora when he asked, letting Duo watch the rest of the room. “The one that gave us this. He was all, 'You don't want to say anything'. And, he called me Missy. I hate that. He's just ... yuck!” Nora shuddered dramatically as she handed Heero a Memo. She'd been drawing on the back of it. Heero made it to the paper before Donna could snatch it away. He casually glanced at the print, memorizing the whole thing in an instant. He flipped it, smiled at the rather lumpy dog then handed it to Duo. “Nice picture of a dog. Take a look.” Duo took the paper and did the same thing Heero had done. He blinked once, purple eyes flashing. “It is a nice dog. Can I keep this?” Nora nodded happy that someone wanted her art. “So. Is there any catsup?” Duo accepted the bottle with an absent 'Thanks.', dumped some of the condiment on his plate and returned to his conversation with two of the men. “Hmmm, let me get this clear. If you tried to do maintenance according to the recommended optimum schedules, you got docked? That sucks. You just got to do the minimum preventative maintenance? Who's stupid idea was that?” One of the men sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, and a reprimand if we complained. We all have families and can't afford to lose our jobs. I feel really shitty about what happened to Mat but he was such a company suck up. He followed company policy like it was gospel. Got himself killed and could have killed a bunch of others. And what's the company doing? Trying to sweep it under the rug. We can't do anything either. One word and we're out in the cold. And on this station? That's really, really bad. Medical station or no, if you don't have a job, you can't get food, or anything else and getting off station? Really hard. I've got enough to get back to Earth or go to another station but people like Donna and Nora? They're in a real fix. So we shut our mouths, do the best we can and pray.” Duo shook his head. “That's not good. And I bet a whistle blower lasts about as long as a paper cat in hell.” “About.” The other man agreed, a sour expression on his face. “You do what you can, ya know? I'd quit in a second, but I don't have a nut.” At Duo's puzzled expression he explained. “That's what we call money to go to another colony or Earth. I don't have one so I'm stuck here. At least until I can save one. And ... I like it here. The colony itself is nice. It's just that this company sucks. If I could find another job, I'd take it in a second.” Heero glanced at Duo who raised an eyebrow, Heero just nodded at him. Duo returned his gaze to his companions. “That could be arranged.” The skeptical looks he got made him hold up his hand in a universal gesture. “I swear.” “Who's going to take a chance on that.” Donna glanced over her shoulder to check on Nora, so she missed the glance that passed between Heero and Duo. “Most of us with families can't take the chance of being black listed.” Heero raised an eyebrow at that one. Duo sighed. “So there's a black list?” “Not official, no. But stuff gets around. No one is going to cooperate with you. No one who has a family to support or who doesn't want to wind up owing the sharks.” Heero thought he understood. “WEI doesn't believe in black lists, especially unofficial ones. If ... Duo, what the hell is the name of that bunch?” Duo gave Heero a goggle eyed look. “You mean you took me Out-side and you don't even know the name of the company? What the fuck is that?” Heero laughed. “The name of the tour company is Wonder Tours. They're not the company that's the problem. It's the parent company and I don't know the name of that one.” He pulled his computer out of his pocket and set it up on the table. He tapped his request into the search program and waited, it took about two seconds for the computer to come up with his answer. “Ok, the parent company is Galactic Tours. A little pretentious if you ask me. Let's see what we can find out about them.” Nora interrupted just then. “My best friend's Daddy says that Galactic is a bunch of rich fuckers who ought to be ... casteratered. Is that a word?” Donna blinked, then announced, “Nora, you don't use that word and you don't repeat what Mr. Finley says. You know you're not supposed to swear. But ... did he say anything else? Something ...” She turned a look at Heero. Heero just turned his look on Duo. Duo moved around to talk to Nora while Heero kept up his search. “Did he say why he thought that? It's really important and I don't think Mom will be mad as long as you watch the swearing.” “Ok. Well, he said they cut corners too much and they black balled people just because. They like a bottom better than people. And something about stacks, or socks. And they're in chapter 13. That's no good, is it?” “No, sweetie, that's not good at all. Anything else?” Nora thought carefully, swiping a french fry through a blob of catsup on her plate. “No, I can't think of anything else. And ... um ... we were listening in the hall 'cause we wanted to learn some new words so ... um ... am I in trouble?” Donna sighed. “You ought to be, young lady, but ... since this is really important, you're not. Just sit there and try to remember anything else. Ok?” Nora gave Donna a speculative assessing look. “If I remember something good, can I have ice cream?” Duo snorted his drink. “I like this kid. Blackmail at ... How old are you?” “I'm seven. But I'm bright for my age. So, can I?” Donna bit her lip, thinking. Heero took over. “You may, I'll buy it. But if your intel turns out to be manufactured just to get your reward,” he glared at her. “you won't like what happens.” “I won't. That's not a good thing to do. The next time you want to make a bargain, no one will trust you.” Heero chuckled. “That's right. And ... I'm getting all kinds of info, thanks to that little help.” Donna shivered a bit. Heero had obviously been teasing her daughter, but she really didn't want that glare aimed at her for real. “Ok. Here's what I've got. Galactic is in real financial trouble and ... there! I've found the lay-off list. This is going into effect in a week. Not good. Looks like about half the staff of Wonder Tours is getting cut.” Duo glanced around the table, every man and woman there looked a bit murderous. He knew what had happened as surely as if they'd shouted it. Someone from the company, a Junior VP possibly, had promised them that, if they didn't complain about the cuts in maintenance, they wouldn't lose their jobs. Now they were anyway. A flick of his eyes in Heero's direction let him know that Heero thought the same thing. After showing his findings around the table, Heero started asking his questions. He got the answers he'd thought he would. They all told the same story, the one Heero had all ready figured out. Duo just sat, sipped his drink and kept his mouth shut. If he started talking, he'd wind up ranting about justice like Wufei, only with more profanity. After another hour of talking, drinking and snacking, Duo had a fair idea of the lay of the land. Heero and he would compare notes a bit later, write a report for Quatre and decide on an interview strategy. Right now, they had rumors to start. Heero watched as Duo casually dropped the info into conversation. “It's too bad about all the layoffs. It must be really hard, having a family to support and no job. I don't like being hungry, it's no good. Is it that hard to find a new job? I'd have thought that suit techs would have their pick of 'em.” Donna sighed and tapped her fingers on the table. “A lot of us aren't suit techs, we're just support personnel. Each of the crews has two techs, the rest of us are just grunts. They say, we do. It's not exactly illegal, but most suit companies don't like it much and if they find out about it ... sometimes they'll refuse to sell the company any more suits. Catch 22. And we're ...” she hesitated for a second and Nora announced, “Fucked!” Donna just groaned and covered her face with her hands. Nora just sighed, “I can't unlearn something. And we are. The rent is due soon, the utilities aren't paid and there's nothing but yucky broccoli casserole left. So you have to have a job. I'm not stupid, just little.” “Sorry, honey, I forget. My IQ is only half yours, you know. But when little girls say words like that, people stop listening to the thought and only hear the words. Swearing is only for emergencies and not even then if you can think of something else. Got me?” Nora sighed, as only a seven year old can. “Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. But I know how scared you get and it makes me angry. I ought to be able to help you.” Donna pulled the little girl into her lap and kissed the top of her head. “I know, hun, I know. If I could find a better job, I'd take it in a second. But I'm not a tech, I'm only support staff and we're a dime a dozen.” Nora blinked for a second then asked, “What's a dime?” Donna shrugged. “I'm not sure. Some kind of old coin. It's just a saying.” Heero couldn't help it, he pulled the girl into his lap, after a glance at Donna for permission. “Here. Type in 'dime' and see what you get.” Nora eyed the projected 'keyboard' for a second then typed like it was physical. She grinned as the letters showed up and clicked return without prompting. She spent several minutes looking up dimes and reading about them. Heero helped her with the words she couldn't read. While he did that Duo was 'working the room'. He chatted with the men and women, reassuring them that WEI would see that they didn't suffer for telling the truth. A few believed him, others didn't but the word was out. No one would keep a story like this to themselves, someone would talk when the time came. Nora was in seventh heaven, Heero was great. He didn't have any preconceived ideas of what she should be like so he just answered her questions without hesitation. Until she asked, “What does the nasty man mean when he tells my mom that he'll see she loses her job unless she puts out? Puts what out?” Heero choked on his own spit. “You ok?” Heero coughed, took a drink of water and then signaled Duo, a bit franticly. “ 'Ro? You ok? What's up?” Heero explained what Nora had said, while Nora fumed a bit in his lap. Duo turned to Nora, “Where's your Mom, hun?” “She went potty.” At Duo's look she announced firmly. “We got a signal. She'll be back, but I want an answer before she comes. If you don't tell, I'll scream.” Heero blinked, Duo paled. “No, no, don't do that. I'll answer, but if you tell your mom I told you I'll be in so much trouble. She'll gut me.” So Duo managed to explain Putting out without traumatizing the kid. Nora was disgusted more than anything else and demanded to know why her mother would put up with that. Duo explained quickly then hushed Nora, telling her the truth, that her mom was coming back. Nora just snorted and whispered, “I really wish Mom could get a better job. She'd be happy ... and I could go to a better school. I'd really like that.” Duo snarled, pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Quatre. He was at home but, when Duo explained what he wanted, said to send the woman to his subsidiary, a tour company in competition with Wonder Tours. Quatre made a quick call then turned to Trowa with a feral grin. “They're on the ropes and don't even know it.” Trowa just kissed him senseless and dragged him off to bed. Duo grinned, turned to Donna and told her what Quatre had said. “Oh, yeah,” she scoffed. “Like The Winner is going to hire me on your say so. Who are you?” Duo's grin turned a bit maniacal. “I told you, Duo. Maxwell. That's Heero Yuy. We're investigating the mismanagement on behalf of WEI and Quatre Winner. Your boss is in a shitload of trouble. We'll be handling the interviews tomorrow. Don't let that get around. Ok?” Nods from all around the table left them hopeful that Duo's admission wouldn't make trouble later. Heero had to wish he hadn't told so much but done was done. Duo didn't seem very upset. “Well, we better get going, we got stuff to do. See ya.” Duo tossed money on the table and headed for the door. Heero followed, waving good-by to Nora, who grinned. “You sure you should have done that?” Duo grinned at Heero. “Psychological terrorism is one of my specialties, you know. Yeah, I should have. It'll get back to middle management, but not the higher ups. Not enough time. The people we'll be dealing with will be shitting their knickers. They're sure to make a mistake. One we can take advantage of. I hope they try to delete their records.” Heero thought about that one for a moment. “But they're all on the station mainframe. That's tampering ... oh, yeah. They tamper with the mainframe and that makes all the records public. Interesting idea. You do something stupid like that and everyone and his dog wants to know what's in those records. Human nature. I'm liking this more and more.” Duo grinned happily. “Me too. I think we can really do some good.” Heero grinned back. “And kick some butt.” “That too, buddy, that too.” . The next morning they were awakened early by the phone. Duo's to be exact. Heero was closest to it so he answered it. “Hello, Yuy here.” “I'm sorry, I have the wrong number. I thought I was calling Major Duo Maxwell.” “This is Maxwell's phone. I'm Yuy, his partner. I'll get him for you, just a sec.” “Oh, never mind. I'll talk to you and you can tell him. The Wonder Tours Corp. tried to delete all their maintenance records at 12:06am. The deletion put their backup in public domain. I'll be sending them to whichever one of you wants them.” “Send them to me. I got a look at part of them but what I could access without a court order wasn't searchable. Now we got them.” “Yes, sir. Young Mat was a good kid, bit on the company man side but ... he didn't deserve to die like that. Hope you hang the bastards. Good luck.” Heero replied, “Thanks,” before he hung up. Duo snorted in his sleep and Heero poked him. “UP! Come on, get up. We've got interviews to do.” Duo groaned. “Sick man here. Sleep.” “You're healed. Get up, or do you really need a shower.” “I'm up, I'm up. Coffee.” Heero laughed. “Yes, love, and breakfast. I got you up early enough that we have time. That call, which you so obviously didn't hear, was from a contact in Central Computers. Wonderfools tried to delete their records. They're now in public domain. We've got access to searchable data now. I'll start a search and compile while you take a shower.” Duo snorted. “Not this morning. I'm not going in there with wet hair. I'll get dressed while you start your search. Won't take me long, so get a wiggle on.” Heero just swatted at Duo, sending him towards the closet. “Get me a shirt and pants, ok? I don't care what. You pick. Make us look dangerous.” Duo nearly hurt himself laughing. “Heero, you look dangerous naked, wet and chained.” Heero blinked at Duo over his shoulder. “Really?” Duo rolled his eyes, threw a t-shirt, jeans, and boots at Heero. “Here, I'll wear the same thing, we'll look semi-official. Wish ... um ... Heero?” Heero grunted at him. “How soon do we have to be there? I got an idea.” “I set up the first interviews for 10 am. Why?” Duo nibbled at his lip for a second. “We're officers of WEI Security, right? So ... we're entitled to uniforms. How do we get them quick.” Heero switched to his e-mail and typed quickly. “I'll see. One of Quatre's secretaries is my contact. She has orders to send anything from me directly to Quatre or see to it herself. She'll at least know if we can get uniforms in time. What's on your mind?” “Uniforms from WEI Security will give us a bit of ... presence. See? If we look really official, instead of looking like a couple of nosey kids. We'll get a bit more info. Maybe.” Duo grinned. “Us in uniforms. It always gives me a bit of a double-take kinda thing.” Heero grinned back. “Me too. Stupid as it seems. And ....” He quickly read the return mail from Quatre's secretary and another from Quatre himself. “We have to stop by this address, they'll have them ready for us by the time we eat breakfast. We'll still make it to the bay on time too. Duo chewed on the butt of his stylus for a second. “We need to solidify our ranks too. Some people call us Major and others Lieutenant Colonel. I don't really care much but we got to get it clear. We need to get the right rank insignia and stick to it. Don't need anymore confusion than necessary. Right?” Heero nodded. “I think we just need to decide what we want to be and demand it. What rank did you retire with? I was a Major.” Duo snickered, “Me too. Strange, really, people who tried to have me executed want to make me a general, or something. Guilt does wonderful things.” Heero snorted at the thought of Duo being a general. “General pain in the ass. Ow!” He ducked a second swat at his head with a light laugh. “Come on. We'll be late if we don't get a move on. I'll call Quatre as we ride the elevator. He'll come up with the appropriate rank for us. It's his security division, after all.” After some consultation between the three of them, on a conference link, they decided that Field Marshal was best. It was a very high rank but it didn't sound pretentious. It was also one that hadn't been used much since the beginning of the rebellion so there wasn't much baggage attached to it. The got to the uniform shop during the last of the telephone conversation. The shop girl just waited patiently until they got done. “Ok, guys, what can I do for you?” Heero put his phone on the counter so it wouldn't interfere with his measurements. “We need uniforms. Plain field uniforms, BDU/ACU, whatever initials they're known by now. Duo, what color?” Duo thought about it for a moment. “Not camo. For what we're doing, Urban Camo isn't such a good idea. What about just a plain black, or navy blue?” Heero nodded. “We both look smart in navy blue, black based. And our rank insignia will show up better.” The girl was just pulling stuff off shelves. “Ok, here's what we have. If you want dress, I'd recommend something in a semi-dress for office work and full dress is available as a special order. For everyday, BDU or ACU, available in black, blue/black, green, gray, and all camo conformations. If you'll step into the auto measuring booth I'll be ready to put the patches on, as soon as I know what you need.” Heero shrugged. “Blue/black. A fax should be coming in from WEI with all the particulars. Duo?” Duo nodded, emptied his pockets and stepped into the booth. He wouldn't remove his hidden weapons as the uniform had to be tailored to hide them. The machine beeped after only a few seconds and Duo stepped out to be replaced by Heero. When the machine beeped again, the shop girl, whose name was, according to her name tag, Molly, typed something into the keyboard behind the counter. A machine in the back started up with a soft burr. It wouldn't take the automated machines long to cut, sew and finish their garments. Heero nodded to a display of briefcases. “We need one of those. I don't like carrying files loose, I'll drop one sure as anything. And they're really handy in other ways too.” Duo examined several and settled on a soft sided, expandable Barrister style. Heero chose a more modern multi-pocketed style. They took their choices back to the register just in time to see their uniforms coming to the front on a dry cleaners overhead chain. “Here we are. I'll just ask you to step into the booth to the side of the store.” She pointed to one side of the store. “Right over there. I'd like to check the fit before I set up your files.” She never knew how close she came to being shot or stabbed, or both. Neither Heero nor Duo had thought about having a file set up and their initial reaction to being on record was not good. Then Heero laughed, a bit hysterically, and said, “File, right, so you can make whatever we need without us having to come back in. Duo, we'll have to decide what else we need tonight.” Duo thought for a second. “We need four changes of what I'm calling Class 3, Class 2 is semi-dress, two of those, and Class 1 is full Medal I'm a War Hero, we'll only need one. What do you think?” “I think that's a good idea, on both fronts. I'm tired of telling someone I want BDU's and having them tell me they're called ACD's, or ACU's. This will be WEI's official description of their uniforms.” Molly looked a bit alarmed. “I'm not sure you can do that. What if ... I'm not sure.” Heero took mercy on her. “I'm Heero Yuy, type that in quickly, you'll need it on my record. And that's Duo Maxwell. We're WEI's GoTo team. If we decided to call the dress uniform Alice, Quatre would just nod. So, did you get the number of uniforms and types?” Molly just nodded, a slightly dazed look on her face. Duo headed for the dressing room, a grin on his face. When he came out of the dressing room, Heero gave a wolf whistle. Duo looked clean, neat, official and hot with a capital H. His trousers fit snugly from waist to mid thigh then bloused just enough, the dark boots showed off a trim ankle. The shirt was loose, but not too loose, it showed hints of the muscular chest beneath and the t-shirt that peeked out at the neck emphasized his long neck. He turned, arms out slightly. “Well, what do you think?” “You look great. Let me try mine on.” Heero ducked into the tiny room and quickly stripped off his t-shirt and jeans. When he came out all Molly could do was gulp. The uniform fitted Heero much like Duo's fitted him. The difference was in their body shape. Duo was built like a runner or swimmer. Heero was built like a martial artist or a wrestler. His shoulders were broad, waist narrow. His powerful thighs encased in the blue/black material rippled as he walked and his biceps bulged enough when he bent his arm that the material caressed his muscle. Duo sighed. “Sorry, Molly, he's all mine. Wipe your chin.” Molly giggled. “Sorry. You're both gorgeous. No harm in looking.” Heero over heard the last of the conversation. “No harm looking, just don't touch.” He smiled at Molly, taking the sting out. “Send the rest of the order to our address. We'll wear this.” Molly nodded, asked if they wanted to pay by cash or credit card and was told to 'Bill Winner.' She sighed again. Not only were they cute as hell, they had to be rich. She grumbled as they walked out the door, “Why can't I find a nice guy like one of them?” . It took about twenty minutes to make it back to Wonder Tours exit bay. Heero used the time to check his facts, reciting the numbers and other data to Duo. Duo listened quietly. When they got to the bay they both had all the data they needed to start questioning. Heero held the door open and Duo stepped through it. They swept the entire bay, giving it a once over before they actually entered the premises. Everything looked normal so they walked in. “Hello, gentlemen, I've been waiting for you. This way, please.” The Junior PV of the company started to lead them through the bay. Heero glanced and Duo who shook his head. Heero followed Duo's lead and kept his mouth shut. The ripple of heads turning followed them through the bay and into the office. Duo felt his shoulder blades crawl and he noticed that Heero's shoulders stiffened. “Here's a nice office for you to use. I understand that you're the troubleshooters sent by WEI. It's nice that you boys get an apprenticeship and a bit of experience. I'll get you two a couple of sodas. How's that?” Duo rolled his eyes at Heero who just snorted. “I'd appreciate a cup of green tea, if you could manage it. Duo?” “Coffee, black, strong, hot. In my office, which is ... there.” Duo pointed to the office across the hall. “We can't do interviews two in a room. Won't work. And keep your secretaries from interrupting every interview. Tell people if they want coffee or something, they need to bring their own and give them time to do it. Got me?” Heero just glowered at the man. “Now you see here. That's the Senior VP in charge's office. You can't just commandeer it.” Duo shrugged. “It'd be better if we held the interviews here, but I'm sure Quatre will give us offices in the WEI complex. But that means that you have to pay your people door-to-door. It's the law. So ... up to you.” The VP nearly pouted but he gave a grudging nod and left to send a secretary with their drinks and their first interviews. The drinks were perfect, the secretary very proper and the interviews ... difficult was a good word. Duo's first was fairly easy, the man recognized him and just spilled the beans, telling Duo everything he could think of and announcing that he had a nut and was using it, he just wasn't sure where he was going. Duo handed him the card of WEI Personnel Hiring Department. He wrote his name on the back of the card. “This'll get you a job. You have to keep it for yourself.” “Thanks. I won't forget.” “Yeah, you're gonna be cussin' me soon. You'll probably have to go to court.” The man shrugged. “That's ok. If they won't let me leave the station, they'll have to feed me until the trial is over. See you around.” The man walked out, nodding to Duo's next interview. Heero's first interview was not satisfying at all. He settled at his desk, took a sip of tea and buzzed for his first interview to be shown in. The man who was shown in was a company man with a capitol C. He started in before he even got seated. “Look, I don't know what you've been told ... damn, you're nothing but a kid. I'm not going to be interviewed by some little boy. See you around.” Heero just looked up from the file he'd been looking at. “I'd suggest that you seat yourself and answer my questions. Your company President has oked these proceedings, cooperate please. I won't give you the 'or it'll be the worse for you' bullshit.” The man hesitated at the door, eyeing Heero doubtfully. Heero stood and all of a sudden the room was full of menace, he didn't even raise his voice. “Sit! Down!” The man sat. “I'm not a little kid. I never was a little kid. I'm going to ask you questions. You're going to answer those questions. Are we clear?” The man nodded. “Good. I don't care if you support the company or not. I will get honest answers. Clear?” Heero glanced at another file. “Owen.” Heero waited as the man settled himself back in the chair, a rebellious expression on his face. The rest of the interview didn't go much better. Heero asked his questions in a hard voice, Owen had an excuse for every question. And most of the excuses were, “That's what the handbook says.” or “Company policy, as stated in memo” followed by a string of numbers and letters. Heero just bulled his way through the interview outline then told Owen to get out. He met with Duo in the hall. “How did your interview go?” Duo shrugged. “Not too bad. But we're going to have some real trouble here. Most of the people we need to interview are not going to be cooperative. At least, not at first.” Heero sighed. “I had to glare my guy into cooperating, then all he did was quote company policy until I wanted to shoot him.” Duo laughed softly. “But the important thing is, you didn't. You can think all you want, when it gets put into action, that's when they think you're crazy.” Heero stuck his nose in the air. “I have it on the best information that I'm not crazy, I'm asocial. There's a difference.” Duo chuckled then pointed down the hall. “Looks like our next interviews are here.” “Ugh. Not happy, not happy at all.” “So? Let it show. Believe me, you have an impressive not happy face.” . Heero glared at the next person to enter the room. The woman backed up a step and said, “Woah there, I didn't do anything to deserve that face, yet.” Heero sighed. “Sorry, my last interview was ... shall we say, less than successful?” “I bet. Owen is such a kiss ass. He must love the smell of shit. So, what's going on? Something bad for Wonder Tours I hope?” “Could be. Depends on what we find out in these interviews. So, what can you tell me about these questions.” Heero just pushed the list of questions across the table, his instincts telling him that he didn't need to pump this woman. She eyed the list then laughed. “Ok, first my name is Hazel. My jacket is right there, with a red label on it. I'm a big mouth and I complained about the corner cutting and cut backs on maintenance until I nearly got fired. I don't have a nut so I couldn't afford to lose my job. But, I can tell you, I was saving like crazy. So, here's the whole thing in a nutshell... The cutbacks were endangering our customers. The suits weren't getting sanitized like they should have been and the tanks weren't getting flushed, just topped up. Safety checks weren't being done on time and minimal ones when they were done. I wrote it all up as it went down. Would you like a download of it? Save a lot of time.” Heero nodded. “That would be good. Are there many more like you?” Hazel just nodded. “Hummm. I could guarantee a nut to anyone who testifies. It won't prejudice our case any as that's a standard procedure when you take a job with WEI. Mr. Winner doesn't like to think of anyone being forced to keep a job they don't like. It's taken out of your paycheck in payments of approximately 5% of the net. If you have to use it before it's paid off, arrangements are made. So, here's a card. Go speak to the person on the front, my signature on the back assures you of a job, you have to keep it for yourself.” Hazel grinned. “Great. I really appreciate this. I'll go down there as soon as we complete the download.” Hazel handed Heero the postage stamp size USB drive and waited until he downloaded her files. He handed her back her unit and she stood up, turning at the door she said, “See you in the movies.” and left. Heero gazed after her and wished that all his interviews would be so easy. Duo, on the other hand, was wishing he could go Shinigami on the woman he was interviewing. She was one of those haughtily insolent types that set his teeth on edge. He spent a bit of time trying to sooth her ruffled feathers and failed. She didn't want to be interviewed and she wasn't going to make the process pleasant ... for either of them. Duo finally just snapped, “Look, I understand that you don't want to be interviewed, you feel that you're much put upon to be interviewed by someone as young as me and that you want to make this as unpleasant as possible. But all you're doing is annoying the fuck out of me. A thing you really don't want to do. I have a lot of patience but when it's gone, bad things happen. Shinigami comes out to play. And you really don't want to meet him.” He raised his eyes to her face and the cold, blank look in them made her change her mind and start babbling. She told Duo everything he wanted to know and then some. She even knew where some files were that hadn't been copied to the main frame. Duo let her go with relief. He went to copy the files onto his jump drive and met with a bit of resistance from the on-site programmer. He just ran over the man like he wasn't there, figuratively speaking. He elbowed the man aside announcing, “Look pal, if I manage to fuck this two bit system up, I'll fix it. In fact, I may have to fix it to get the files to download at all. Who the hell is maintaining this mess?” He fiddled a bit, downloaded the files he wanted and E-mailed them to Heero as well. Then he eyed the on-site. “You know the basic maintenance schedule for a system like this?” The man nodded. “So, when is the last time it was done?” “Haven't the foggiest. I'm not IT, I'm just a glorified Data Entry Clerk. It's not my job.” Duo just shrugged. “So, whose job is it?” “Donno, just not mine. You should ask the bay supervisor. He might know.” Duo contacted the secretary assigned to both Heero and him. She said she'd set up an interview with the bay super as soon as she could manage. Duo stuck his head in Heero's door and told him what was going on. Heero nodded, looked up from his notes on his latest interview and said, “Things are going well here. I don't think we need to actually interview as many people as we thought. Most of the people I've been interviewing are either not suitable or want to talk so badly that I can't shut them up.” “Same here. Why don't you finish the interviews? Anyone uncooperative can just be dismissed as soon as that's clear. I'm going to interview the bay supervisor, see what he has to say. The computers aren't being maintained properly either. So ... there's got to be data in the locals that haven't made their way to the mainframe yet. We may have hit a gold mine. If we can get to it without prejudicing our case.” Heero nodded. “That drives me nuts. We have to be so careful collecting intel now. One wrong move and it's inadmissible. Sucks.” “It really does.” Duo left again. Heero returned to his notes and his fuming, all he really wanted to do was be done with this. He was really getting tired of being polite. It took them most of the rest of the day to finish Heero's interviews and Duo's file searches. Duo asked the secretary several times when he could interview the bay super, she finally admitted that she couldn't find him. Duo eyed Heero then just walked out of the office and into the bay. “Ok, people, this is the low down. I want to talk to the on-duty bay supervisor, now! Not in ten minutes or A-SAP. Now!” Heads turned and people shivered, some even recognized that voice. Shinigami was very near the surface and even Heero was concerned. The super showed up at once, he'd been ignoring the secretarie's calls because he thought he was too busy to answer a bunch of questions asked by some kids. He barely glanced at Heero or Duo, he just started running his mouth. “Look, I got a lot to do, I don't have time to answer a bunch of questions from trainees, when the real guns show up, I'm available. Not until.” Heero sighed, hid his eyes with one hand and waited. Duo, on the other hand, pulled out the nasty voice. “Look, pal, I'm no trainee, Heero and I are the real deal. So get your head out of your ass, get it in the office and be prepared to answer every question we have in detail. Excruciating detail. You're real close to breathing a scab right now. Move it.” The super took a good look at Duo, turned so pale his freckles stood out like specks of chocolate and headed for the office at a quick trot, muttering, “Oh, shit, I am so fucked.” Heero just pointed to the chair before the desk while Duo went into the smaller office and fetched Heero's chair for him. Then both Heero and Duo settled, side by side, behind the desk. “Ok, first thing, what the hell is your name?” The super gulped, stammered then said, “Glen Henderson. Look ... um” Duo held up a hand. “Save the apologies, we don't need them. We need facts, something you don't seem to want to give us.” “Well, see, I thought you was just two kids that got sent here for preliminary interviews. I don't have time for that shit. I got a whole bay to keep going, and I'm short handed. We got to get all those suits up to speck, now. Admin wants it all done yesterday. I know the company is in real trouble, WEI doesn't fool around. And shit rolls down hill.” Heero just eyed the man, glanced at Duo and said, “Why don't you just tell us everything from the start?” So Glen started talking, and talking. He didn't tell them anything new, it was just more of the same, but it was conformation from middle management that everything the grunts were saying was true. They took notes, lots of notes. . Quatre read the reports that Duo and Heero presented and called his legal department. He handed over the reports, data chips and printouts. “Sue them until they cry.” Trowa just smiled, handed the file to one of the waiting secretaries and said, “Chang Wufei please.” Quatre looked at Trowa, tears in his eyes. “There was no need for that boy to die. All they had to do was follow the recommended maintenance schedule, poor as that was. I want to know how it got watered down like that. And I want it fixed. Find out who wrote that manual.” Trowa just smiled. “Meli, don't cry. I know they did wrong and we'll figure this all out. Now, we need to find out what to do for the family. I'll do some poking around and find out more about him, shall I?” Quatre nodded. “Yes, you're right, done is done. I'll send the family a letter myself. But right now, I just want to go home.” Trowa sighed, Quatre was a great deal more upset than he was letting on, for a lot of reasons. He was going to have to be alert, Quatre never let on but he could worry himself sick. Trowa knew his job was to be sure that he didn't. “Ok, love, let's go home.” . Wufei examined all the evidence, the files, the interviews and the logs. He spent a bit of time going through the pertinent laws of ESUN and the colony regulations. He wrote up his motion and sent it to the Clerk of Courts to be put on the docket. He didn't expect to hear back as quickly as he did, it only took an hour to show. He eyed the document printing out from his local printer with a jaundiced eye, he was tired and wanted to go to bed. He hadn't realized that the court complex was across the station from him and thus in the middle of its business day instead of near the end. He sent a confirmation of receipt and left for bed. Milliardo greeted him at the door with a smile and a cup of tea. “So, what's the word on the suit mess?” “WEI is suing the pants off Wonder Tours, not that it'll do much good financially, they're already in chapter 13. I'm thinking of contacting the family and getting them to sue as well. But right now all I want is my tea and a kiss or two.” Milliardo smiled and complied, several times. “You really do look tired. Supper will be ready in just a couple of minutes. Chicken and vegetables, rice, salad. Fruit for after. I've also got a nice bit of sharp cheddar and some apples. Come sit down.” Wufei gratefully accepted Milliardo's invitation and flopped rather gracelessly into a chair. He bent over and pulled his shoes off, dropping them by the chair. “How's this going on the PR front?” Milliardo made a face. “Not that badly, as things like this go. I managed to point the press in the right direction and Galactic is in PR hell, Wonder Tours should be front page tomorrow. Quatre can be a real bastard when he wants to be.” Wufei snickered at the thought of anyone calling the 'sweet, gentle' Quatre a bastard. Only people who'd never fought with or against him would dream of calling him a push over. “I can only say 'ouch' with all sincerity. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. You know Quatre is going to destroy them.” Milliardo pulled the tie off his loose pony tail and shook out his hair. “They deserve it. I have no patience with corporations that pull stunts like this. A boy died, and all because they were more concerned with the bottom line than people. It's not right. How much are you suing for?” “I'm not sure yet. I sent in a preliminary motion, I'll have to see what Quatre wants to do about the monetary end of things. I'm also looking into pressing criminal charges. Reckless endangerment at the very least. Manslaughter is looking good too. I just need to pin down who's responsible for the company policy on suit maintenance. I've already gotten back a reply. I didn't even look at it. I'm too tired to do it right, so I came home. I'll get a good night's sleep and be ready in the morning.” Milliardo nodded. “Ok, I'd really like for you to pin down who you're going to hold responsible in the criminal case. I need to put the proper spin on the whole thing before the company can get there first.” “I'll make a decision within the next two or three days. I need to talk to Q and Duo and Heero before I make up my mind. I want to get the responsible party, not a scapegoat.” He gave Milliardo a hopeful look. “Food soon? I'm starving into nothing here.” Milliardo laughed at him and clambered to his feet. “I'll check the oven. It should be done. I haven't heard the cooker ding yet though.” Wufei raised an enquiring eye brow. “I timed it so that the rice cooker would ding about the time the chicken will be done.” A loud ding interrupted them. “Ha! There it is. Supper on the table in about five minutes. Why don't you put the flat ware down and get some water while I dish up.” “Ok. Is there more tea? If there is I'll put you out a cup, shall I?” Milliardo nodded. “The pot's still almost full. I'd appreciate a cup. How hungry are you?” “Very. I forgot lunch.” Wufei set the table and settled in his place, waiting for Milliardo to bring the plates. “Here you go. What do you think are our chances of winning a settlement of some kind?” Wufei swallowed his chicken. “Very good. Our chances as well as the chicken. I think we've already got Galactic on the ropes. We'll see in the morning. I'm pretty sure Quatre will call a meeting.” Just as he finished speaking the phone rang. Milliardo picked up and just announced his name. He listened for a moment then said, “Tomorrow morning, our time, 9am. We'll be there.” He returned to the table with a feral grin. “Quatre's on the warpath big time. Meeting of all Gundam Pilots at 9am. Bring your case files.” Wufei stabbed a bit of chicken. “Why don't I feel sorry for them?” “Quatre is going to roast them over a slow fire, just as they deserve.” ~<O>~ Not the best place to stop, but if I don't stop here the chapter will be too long to post. |
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