July 2000
Category: Adventure, Action, Friendship.
Pairings: None for now.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine no money being sought.
NOTES: Alright, this is something I'm toying with writing. It won't involve Quatre and Duo in a romantic light, as they are already established with their romantic involvements. This is in the same time line as OCT and Shades.
Duo stood just outside the door, looking up and down the hall pensively. He had ahold of his braid in his hands and was stroking the plait in a tell tale uncertain gesture. What was he thinking. This was madness. He looked up and down the hall again, making certain no one was watching him. Then he grabbed the door handle and pushed open the door.
Sitting behind his desk, scowling at his laptop, Quatre didn't immediately look up as he heard the door open, figuring it was Trowa or Wufei coming to drag him away from work. He wrinkled his nose at the numbers, then pressed a couple of keys to put the laptop on standby before turning to face...
"Duo?" Quatre's voice was at once warm, welcoming and puzzled.
Duo shut the door with the hurried motions of a man who is trying not to be seen sneaking somewhere he's not supposed to be. Turning away from the closed door, the braided American let his eyes travel to the small blonde sitting behind the oversized desk. As his hands let go of the latch, they found the end of his braid once more and began to worry at it.
"Duo?" Quatre said, more softly this time.
The American took a breath and walked over to the front of the desk, leaning both hands against the top and looking to Quatre.
"Quatre...I need to ask you a favor."
Something in Duo's tone put Quatre immediately on alert. Leaning forward, crossing his arms on the desk he looked up into violet eyes, concern swimming in his own turquoise gaze.
"What do you need?"
Looking into that open, kind gaze, Duo felt his nerve break. He straightened from his lean and paced around the large room, his fingers fiddling so violently with the end of his braid that the tie snapped loose. Cursing Duo grabbed at the unraveling end to keep it in place before he turned and looked towards Quatre once more.
Quatre was still leaning forward on his desk, watching Duo patiently. There was a certain steadiness in his gaze that helped shore up Duo's nerve and the American gave a quick little nod.
"I... I need you to go to a colony in L2 with me."
The little blonde blinked. That was not quite what he'd expected. Sitting back, he tilted his head at Duo. "A mission?"
"No. A... favor to an old friend. She's running the orphanage that we spent some time at as children. She's got a problem."
Quatre studied Duo's face and the way the other boy say *problem.* "Of course, I'll go with you Duo.. but don't you want Heero?"
Duo paled and his fingers stumbled through the braid. He cursed again, he was going to have to redo the whole thing. Letting it go as a lost cause he looked over at Quatre.
"Not this time. It involves something that... I don't want to upset him."
Quatre blinked, having a hard time thinking of anything *upsetting* Heero. Duo ducked his head again and spoke softly.
"It involves druggers... in particular Contentment druggers, which means white slavery."
Quatre shuddered, remembering his brief, involuntary encounter with the stuff. Duo saw the small shudder and once again had to fight down the urge to forget the whole thing. He owed Shelby too much to back out now.
"I thought about asking Trowa, or Wufei... but you and I have worked together often in the past and with the exception of Heero, well I know your moves and you know mine. This is going to require some incognito action Quatre..." Duo felt he owed the little blonde the chance to back out. He almost hoped Quatre would take the out.
Quatre only nodded and stood. "I'll get ready."
Duo gave a little nod, scuffing the carpet with his toe as he toyed with his loose hair. Looking up as the small blonde crossed the room Duo remembered one more thing.
"Oh... Quatre.. we've got to do something about your hair."
The Arabian gave him a puzzled look, his hand resting on the door knob. Duo shrugged. "That Winner blonde is distinctive."
Quatre grabbed a lock of his bright blonde hair and looked at it, his eyes crossing. Duo chuckled softly and walked up beside the other boy.
"Come on, I think you'll look stunning with black hair."
"Black hair? Duo I'll look like Heero."
Duo just grinned. "Don't worry, I can tell the difference in the dark."
End Part 1
(( Well? Continue? ))
Laekin
Please send comments to: seregill@aol.com