The Plan Part 4
Heero was a bit annoyed to discover that Chang had followed him and not Duo. Of course one of them needed to stay with Relena, but Chang was helping her in two capacities, he should be right by her side at all times. Then again, Chang spoke the local language and Heero did need that more than Relena did at the moment.
Wufei fumed when Heero told him to go check Relena in. What was he supposed to be? The princess's lapdog? He stalked over to the counter. Like it or not, Heero was the leader on this mission and Wufei would execute every command perfectly.
"She's checked in, top floor, corner suite," Wufei joined Heero where the former Wing pilot was studying the lobby's security systems.
"Excellent," Heero took one of the keys from Chang. "Go get her and the others, meet me upstairs. I'm going to go scan the suite."
Heero wasn't surprised when Chang left without replying; the Chinese pilot had always been stoic.
Duo was waiting outside the car, eyes scanning the surrounding area as Wufei came striding out of the hotel.
"I've checked Miss Peacecraft in. Yuy wants her escorted upstairs at once."
"I've already grabbed a cart for her luggage," Duo said cheerfully, ignoring Wufei's snarling expression. "Heero never likes us to turn the bags over to others. I'll get the bags if you take the ladies upstairs?"
Duo smiled as Fei relaxed visibly. Heero's attitude was already rubbing Fei the wrong way obviously.
Wufei opened the car door and graciously reached in a hand to help the ladies out. Dorothy came out first, thanking him in a soft voice.
Relena kept her hand on his as she stepped away from the car. "Is the room ready?" She asked him. "I'm exhausted."
"Yuy is taking care of it now," Wufei assured her. "I'll take you upstairs if you like?"
"Please," Relena smiled up at him. Duo finished loading the bags onto the cart. He grinned inwardly as he pushed the cart after Relena and Wufei. Dorothy was on Relena's other side, carrying her slim briefcase.
"We have a room on the top floor," Wufei told Relena as they went through the lobby.
"Very good," Relena looked around her with open curiosity. "What a lovely hotel. I know what all the dragons are for of course, but what is the bird?" She gestured towards a graceful statue of a large bird with its wings spread.
"Suzaku." Wufei smiled faintly. "Are you familiar with its history?"
"No," Relena shook her head, then listened raptly as Wufei told her the legend of the bird in the elevator as they rode to the top floor. The other two listeners stood silently, one amused, the other cautiously hopeful.
"I'm so glad you agreed to come with us," Relena said to Wufei when they reached the top floor. "I have a feeling I will learn a lot on this trip, thanks to you."
Heero was waiting for them by the door. "The suite's clear," he said as they approached.
"Thank you Heero," Relena beamed at him as she finally let go of Wufei's arm. "I'm exhausted. I don't have anything tonight do I?" She turned to ask Dorothy.
"No Miss Relena, and your first meeting isn't until 11 am tomorrow. You have plenty of time to rest," Dorothy assured her.
"Good. Can we have something sent up to eat?" Relena kicked off her shoes and went to the window. "What a beautiful city! I don't suppose we can go exploring sometime Heero?"
"We'll have to see," he said reluctantly. "If the situation here is as bad as the government claims, then no."
Relena frowned, but didn't bother to argue. She knew it was futile to argue matters like this with Heero.
Wufei frowned but for a different reason. Yuy was being overly cautious, in his opinion. If they disguised Relena then there would be no reason to worry.
But, Yuy was the one in charge of Relena's safety. He wouldn't argue with Yuy in front of the girl, but he resolved to bring it up to him later.
Duo had already headed towards the phone. "What would you like, ladies?" He asked as he flipped open the book.
"Something chickeny," Relena grinned at him.
"Vegetables for me," Dorothy said as she laid papers out on one of the desks in the room.
"Fei and Heero want that too, right?" Duo asked as he flipped open the room service book and picked up the phone.
Heero nodded as Wufei started across the room with a sigh. Any minute now the American would realize...
"Nihao!" Duo said cheerfully into the phone. As the other four watched in amazement, Duo proceeded to rattle off their order in perfect Mandarin.
"Duo? You speak Chinese too?" Relena asked when Duo had hung up the phone.
"Only Mandarin," Duo shrugged.
"My, Mr. Duo, you are just full of surprises," Dorothy cooed with an arched eyebrow.
"That's what all the negotiations are in," Heero pointed out. "If you had told us, then I wouldn't have brought Chang!"
Wufei bristled. Useless was he? He'd show Yuy! Arrogant bastard!
"That will make it easier on Wufei," Relena said sweetly. "The two of you can trade off duties."
"Of course Miss Relena," Duo smiled back at her. "I will help any way I can. But I think Wufei would pick up on more than I would. I only speak the language, I'm not familiar with all the other little nuances that a native would understand."
He had caught the glare that Wufei had directed at Heero and was worried. He did not want the two of them at each other's throats- no matter what Dorothy had planned.
Dorothy was still smiling at him, looking pleased. Heero saw her smile and was not pleased.
The rest of the evening went smoothly. Dinner arrived in a reasonable time, and schedules were gone over and speeches were finalized.
"I'll take first watch," Duo said as the ladies retired.
"And I'll take second," Heero nodded. "Chang, is third acceptable?"
"Of course," Wufei said, caught off balance as he had expected to have to fight for the chance to take watch.
"I'll wake you in a few then, Heero," Duo said cheerfully, as he took a seat on the sofa, propping his feet up and taking out a book. "Goodnight Wufei."
"Goodnight Maxwell," Wufei replied and headed towards his bedroom.
Heero paused, waiting until Chang's door had shut.
"Duo?"
"Yeah Heero?" Duo looked up from the book and smiled. "Something wrong?"
Now that he had Duo alone, what did he say? Heero had thought of quite a few things over the last few days but he hadn't figured out how to get Duo to confide in him. Getting Duo to talk had never been a problem before.
"You know that we're friends, right?" Heero tried.
Duo blinked. That was the first time he'd ever heard Heero say that word to him.
"Yes," he replied cautiously. "At least I think we are."
Duo only thought they were friends? Heero paused again, completely lost. What did he say next? Why the hell in this one case was Duo not talking?
Why did he always depend on Duo to do the talking?
"Heero?" Duo got to his feet, putting his book down on the chair. "Is something wrong? Can I help you with something?" He approached Heero cautiously. Had Heero noticed all of the times that Dorothy had thrown Wufei and Relena together today? Was Heero upset by it?
Heero bent his head, bangs shading his face. "I'm not good at this," he muttered. Duo reached out a tentative hand and placed it on Heero's shoulder.
"Not good at what?"
"Being your friend," Heero blurted out. He looked up. "I didn't even know you had a problem. She noticed before I did!"
Duo relaxed and smiled. It was his real smile, one that Heero had seen only a few times before. "You do fine," he said gently. "Honestly you do. You're my best friend Heero."
"And you're mine." Heero was surprised by the way that Duo's face suddenly lit up.
"Thanks man." Duo's hand tightened and let go. "Get to bed. I'll wake you in a few hours okay? We got a job to do after all."
"All right," Heero agreed, and headed towards his room. It wasn't until he was inside with the door closed that he realized that Duo still hadn't told him what his problem was.
And it wasn't until later, as he lay sleepless in the dark that he realized that he wanted Duo as more than a friend.
~*~
Duo pounded on Heero's door. Dorothy was pacing the room frantically. She had woken up only minutes before and roused Duo in her panic.
"What?" Heero flung open the door.
"Relena's missing."
"Where's Chang? It was his watch!"
"He's missing too."
TBC...
To The Next Chapter
Back to Merula's Fanfictions Page