The Plan Part 2
Dorothy awoke early the next morning, feeling energized, her brain already mulling her self-appointed task. Once Heero had dragged Duo away from her she had spent the rest of her evening plotting out a basic plan. Now she had to see to the details.
This was going to be such fun!
~*~
Duo had been hunched over his computer when Heero arrived at Preventers headquarters. They had a lot of paperwork to finish on a case they had just wrapped up, so Heero let him work peacefully. He'd get the problem out of the baka at lunch.
It bothered him that Duo had some problem that he had missed seeing. What was wrong with Duo? 'Personal problem' was not helpful. Heero had thought about it most of the night and come up with nothing. Even more troublesome was the fact that Duo had said nothing to Heero about it. Duo talked about everything to Heero. Why was he hiding now? Weren't they supposed to be friends?
The office phone rang at 11:30. Duo reached out a hand and snagged it.
"Maxwell here." He smiled as the caller identified herself. "Ah, Miss Dorothy. What can I do for you today?" He listened for a moment. "Sure, that's fine. I'll meet you there at 12:30." He listened for a moment more and then shot a glance at Heero. "Uh huh. See you then." He hung up the phone and went back to his computer.
"Why did she call?" Heero demanded.
"She wanted to meet me for lunch." Duo was a bit startled to see Heero frown.
"We have to meet with Une today."
"Not til a quarter to 2. I'll be back before then." Duo shrugged. "Besides, it's just down the street." He turned to his computer, leaving Heero to stare at his back in frustration.
Dorothy was sitting in the corner of the deli. She greeted Duo with a knowing smile.
"Mr. Heero was a bit upset with you, wasn't he?"
"Yeah," Duo admitted, sitting down opposite her with his sandwich. "I got reminded 3 times that I had to be back to meet with Une."
"Told you so," Dorothy's smile widened.
"It doesn't prove anything." Duo protested.
"Oh no? Wait until you go back. I predict that Mr. Heero will be displaying some very clear signs of jealousy."
"Is that your plan? Make him jealous?"
"Oh no. But it does help, doesn't it?" Dorothy widened her eyes innocently. "Besides, we don't have to make him jealous- he already is. I could tell that last night." Duo opened his mouth to retort, but then rethought, and closed it again. "Ah, hah. Seeing things my way?"
"Maybe. But what about Fei and Relena?"
"Oh, that's easy enough. I already called Relena this morning. She was planning on doing an overseas trip. I merely discussed the latest news from China with her."
"You're trying to get her to go to China?"
"Not tried. I think she's pretty well decided. Especially when I told her that she could even take along a translator..."
"Fei?"
"Exactly."
"But Heero will go too."
"Of course. Relena's planning on going next week. She's going to request Fei, and Heero of course. You need to find a way to get Heero to take you along as well."
"Sheesh, not asking for much are you?"
"How badly do you want him?" Dorothy countered.
"I'll figure something out." Duo returned her grin.
"I knew you would." Dorothy lifted her eyebrows. "It might be easier than you imagine."
~*~
Heero had merely grunted when Duo had returned- on time from lunch. Duo watched him out of the corner of his eye and wondered how he was going to convince Heero to take him along on anything. He seemed pretty upset with Duo at the moment. Of course, that just supported Dorothy's theory- though Duo was not going to agree with her at the moment. He could be seeing something that didn't exist. He wouldn't put it past Dorothy to play with him like this for her own amusement. He was going to be careful about this. The last thing he wanted was to mess up the relationship he did have with Heero.
~*~
Une was waiting for them. After discussing the last case with them, Une folded her hands on her desk and smiled.
"Well, gentlemen, you'll have light duty for the next week or so." Duo raised an eyebrow.
"Yuy, Relena has finally decided where she wants to go for her next tour. You and Chang will be joining her on a trip to China. Chang can not only offer bodyguard protection, but act as a translator as well."
"Accepted."
"Maxwell, Miss Catalonia's office has requested a Preventer for next week. They're conducting some negotiations..." Before Duo could think to say something, Heero did his job for him.
"I'll need Duo with me," Heero cut off Une sharply. Duo's eyes widened in surprise.
"Surely you and Chang are..."
"The situation in China is not optimal at this moment. More protection is needed, especially if Chang is along mainly as a translator."
"That's true," Une nodded in agreement. "Very well, Heero. I'll send Quatre to Miss Catalonia's office. Maxwell, you'll be with Yuy and Chang next week."
"Yes ma'am." The two Preventers got to their feet and left the office. Une grinned once the door closed behind them. she picked up her phone and hit the speed dial.
"It's me," she said into the receiver. "You were right. It worked perfectly." She giggled into the phone. "Nope, Duo didn't have to say anything. The minute I mentioned assigning him to your office, Heero jumped in and said he needed Duo."
"And he does," Dorothy laughed. "Perfect. Can you handle Chang as well?"
"He's next. Leave it to me." Une chuckled.
Wufei Chang entered his commander's office 20 minutes later. "You called Commander?"
"Yes, Chang. You'll be accompanying the Vice Foreign minister next week. She's traveling to China and needs the services of a translator. I thought you would be the ideal choice."
"Two jobs in one?" Wufei smiled slightly.
"Yes, though you'll have help. Yuy and Maxwell are going with you as well." Une shrugged. "It was going to be just you and Yuy, but he insisted that Maxwell come along as well. Something about you being too busy with translating duties to also have to worry about protection as well."
Wufei turned red. Did Yuy not think he could protect Relena adequately if he was also translating for her?
"You leave on Monday. Yuy is in charge. Dismissed." Une waved him out of her office before he could protest.
Wufei stalked down the hall towards his office. He'd show Yuy what he was capable of!
TBC...
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