Come what may

Chapter 2

I woke up to the birds chirping and the smell of fresh brewed coffee. I sighed as I breathed in the aroma, then I snapped open my eyes. Fresh brewed coffee? Duo was up, what the hell was he doing up after being shot and ……I sat up and planted my feet firmly on the floor. This time he was going to get a peace of my mind! First for not contacting me, secondly for frightening the crap out of me in my car and lastly just because! I stood and stomped my way into the kitchen, my anger starting to fume. I stepped in and stopped dead in my tracks. It wasn’t Duo. I looked down to check my state of dress. I usually slept in a t-shirt and undies. I sighed and looked up at my intruders. I blinked as the blonde looked at me and smiled.

I stammered as I looked at the two of them, “I….I…” My confusion went from surprise to anger! “Hey! How did you two get in my house!?”
Quatre stood and smiled as he stepped over to me and grasped my arm. I knew suddenly something was up.

“What ….? “ I questioned as he pulled me into a chair by Trowa. I glanced back toward the bedroom wanting to check on Duo but not sure I should let them know he was there. I just didn’t know who to trust. I sighed. I could trust these two guys , couldn’t I?

“We know ,Hilde.”

“Know what? I stammered again.

“He’s here.”
I felt my face flush and I looked at the floor. I felt Quatre’s hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t look at him, until a cup of the brew was shoved into my hands.

“I would have….”
“It’s ok.” Came Quatre’s soft voice. “I knew before you did.” He paused and then said, “I know about Heero too.”

I looked up as his hand came to his chest and he held it over his heart. Then I knew how he knew . He was empathic and he could feel his closest friends emotions when we were in pain, hurt , you know, all that stuff.

I looked at him and then Trowa. “What do you guys know about this?” I asked as I sipped my coffee. It was just how I liked it. “Hey, how do you know how I like my coffee?”
He grinned and said. “Duo talks about you all the time.”

I gulped and I could feel my face turning red again. He looked at me with the blue green eyes and it was like I could read his soul. I couldn’t break away, seeing so much emotion in his gaze. When I finally turned my eyes to Trowa I could almost read the same thing. They were my friends as well, and they were here to help us. I sighed. “Ok, tell me what you know.”

Quatre sighed and looked at the floor. Trowa said nothing.

“Well?” I demanded.
Quatre said, still looking at the floor. “We know as much as you do ,Hilde.”
“ Shit. “ I sighed. ”Well, then that isn’t much.” I replied, looking at the both of them.

Trowa looked over at me and said, ”We do know that this has been going on for a long time so it’s more than in the Preventers. Unfortunately the operative who was the closest to the action was murdered last night and his body was dropped off at headquarters this morning.”

I looked at him, my mouth dropping open. ”How far up do you think this goes ?”

Quatre shrugged. “We don’t know. The president, maybe. That’s what Duo and Heero were trying to find out. It was a hushed mission and some one found out anyway. It’s in the system deep. There are at least 2 moles in the preventers. They may know you have him here already.”

“ At least two? How in the world…“ I asked, softly, bewilderment crossing my face. “Yeah, that thought crossed my mind, that they already know, but really , guys, I can hold my own.”
Trowa smiled, and my eyes opened wide. Trowa smiled… it was like seeing Heero smile. The world really was fucked up.

“We know.”

“Does Une know about this operation?” I asked again. Then, not waiting for an answer, I looked around the room. “Do you suppose this place has been bugged? What about my car?”
Quatre looked at me, then turned to Trowa. “Yep, Duo knew what he was doing when he asked Hilde here for help.”
I frowned. What was going on here? Did they all know something I didn’t?

“What do you mean?” I asked suspicion creeping into my voice. Heero had said they needed my hacking skills, but Heero had better skills than I did, didn’t he?

I was getting more confused by the minute.

“Well, Hilde, Um… we got you a new job. “
“Huh?” I’m sure I face faulted at that admission. “What?”

“We have word that there is a corporation that is or could be involved. We sent your resume into them and they gave you a job. You will be able to get into their system and get information.”
I just looked at the two of them. “What kind of job?” I asked narrowing my eyes at them.

“Um….. A secretary.”

I stood up, “What ?! “ I practically shouted at them. “A What? A fucking secretary?!”
I walked away from the table and turned to face them. “I don’t have the skills to be a secretary!!! I’m a mechanic!! I work on mobile suits and machines!!! What the fuck is this, a joke? I’ll never pull it off!” I paced back and fourth across the kitchen.

I heard Trowa say softly. “I told you she wouldn’t go for it.”

I felt Quatre’s warm hand on my shoulder. “You can pull this off, Hilde. All you have to do is do like you did when you ran the shop. You were the mechanic , the bookkeeper, the secretary ,and everything else in between.” I felt him gently squeeze my shoulder. “We know, Duo told us.”

I could feel my fists clenching. “Geez, what else did that idiot tell you about me?”
I saw his face flush and I wondered what that was about .

“Well?” I demanded.

“That he loves you.”
I sighed. ” Yeah, everybody knows he loves me like a friend. I’m just his friend.”
Trowa cleared his throat. “Not necessarily, Hilde.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away. “Yeah , right.” I muttered as I stared out the little kitchen window. The room got deathly silent when I noticed a small movement out of the corner of my eye. “Um, guys…. Someone is in my back yard.” I said Softly. I strained my eyes trying to see the movement again, but I couldn’t kick up anything. I heard A chair scrape the floor as Trowa stood ( he was the only one sitting). I felt the air move slightly as he moved past me to the door. It opened and closed softly as he went out to investigate. Quatre stood beside me and said softly, ‘He does love you, you know. He’ll tell you some day.”
I almost burst into laughter but when I glanced at the tall blonde standing next to me , I could see the sincerity in his eyes and I knew right there he was telling the truth. Duo did love me more that a friend. My heart soared ,then dropped back to reality. We were in deep shit here and this was not the time for romance. I could not get distracted. But still I was warmed to my soul with that bit of information. After a few minutes Trowa came in and shook his head.

“I didn’t find anything, but that doesn’t mean anything.” He looked at me . “Be on your toes.”

I nodded.

Quatre smiled again. “I’ll send you all the information on your “job” via email. You won’t start till the middle of next week. And we took care of your position at the factory. You will have a job there when you are finished here . You are now a temporary employee of the preventers.”
I nodded again, too dumbfounded to speak. Employee of the Preventers? I always wanted to be a employee of the Preventers.
“You better go check on Duo.” Quatre said, shaking me out of my stupor.

“Oh yeah.” I mumbled. “You wanna…”
I never finished the thought as I saw Quatre nod his head. I lead them to my bed room to where Duo was suppose to be sleeping. I rapped on the door and then pushed it open. It creaked a little on the hinges. I frowned, as it never did that before or maybe I never noticed it. Duo was sprawled on the bed, half covered and half not. His side had a small bandage taped to it as did his cheek. His chestnut hair was scattered all over the pillow. And his eyes were open, looking at the three of us.

“I thought you would never get in here.” He groused. “I’m hungry.”

His eyes shifted to me, then to the two men behind me. “Quatre! Trowa! What brings you to Hilde’s house?”
He was playing innocent. When he was feeling better I was going to kick his ass. He glanced back at me and noticed my glare. His eyes quickly went back to the two behind me.

“We told her. So you don’t have to pretend ,Duo.” Trowa said, coldly.

I glanced over at him and saw no emotion on his face, then I glanced at Duo, who I could see slump in the bed, sliding down among all my pillows. I watched as he pulled the sheet and blanket s up to his chest.
“Ok.” He had said softly to Trowa’s remark.

I walked over to the bed and stood next to it, trying to get him to look at me. “If you didn’t want me involved, Duo, you should have never come to me.” I paused. “You know I’ll do this from start to finish.”
He nodded, but wouldn’t look at me.

I sat down on the bed beside him. “Duo.” I reached for his face and grabbed his chin, making him look at me. For one moment , we were the only two people in that room when our eyes met. I could see something there I never saw before and no words were needed. I knew every thing Quatre had told me was true. “You have to tell me everything.”

He said nothing , then some one cleared his throat.

“Yes, we would like to know , too. The man killed last night was my cousin.” I heard Quatre say softly. I knew then that this was going to get quite personal.

Duo closed his eyes and sighed. “That was our fault, too.” He said, softly.
Quatre came closer to the bed and asked “How so?”
Duo looked at Quatre, then me, “Um, Hilde, could I get some coffee?”
I glared at him. “Are you trying to get rid of me and trying to be an ass, or what?”

He raised his hands. “No! I’ll wait till you get back, I promise.” He swore as he crossed his heart.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I looked at the other two men in the room. “As long as I’m going…. Do you?”
Both men nodded and I went to fetch coffee for us all. As I finished pouring all the cups , I caught a small movement out of the corner of my eye. I reached for my gun( I had brought with me from he other room) and slipped out the door. There was nothing more invigorating than a gun fight early in the morning. I pulled the trigger back and fired at the shadow. The bullet pinged against the side of t he tree and the person jumped out , trying to level his gun at me. I fired once more and dropped to the ground rolling away toward some bushes. I heard the man curse and fire at me again. I heard the bullet hit the ground and watched as it plowed into the ground , making a small shower of dirt and grass. I fired once more and heard my attacker grunt, then I heard foot steps as he ran away. I stood up from the bushes and brushed myself off. “Put that in you pipe and smoke it,” I mumbled, before I returned to the house, only to run into the three men in my bedroom, now standing in the doorway. A smirk crossed my face before I could stop it 3 men, bedroom. I shook my head. I had to shake these Hentai thoughts. I looked at the 3 of them and said , “What?”

I watched as Quatre covered his eyes and Trowa shook his head and duo slumped into a kitchen chair.

I stepped back into the house and put my gun on the counter. I turned to them and growled, holding up my hand. As I spoke I put a finger up for each time I spoke.. “Number 1, I don’t need to explain anything to you. Number 2 , I hate people lurking around my house. And number 3 , I still don’t have to explain anything to you.”

“Hilde,” Duo sighed. “Do you have any donuts?”
Quatre burst out laughing, literally killing the tension in the air. Trowa looked over at me , waiting for an explanation. I giggled as I reached for the box of donuts in my cupboard and put them on the table. With all of us there with coffee and donuts, we waited for Duo to start his story and my explanation.

Duo cleared his throat and looked at me. He looked flushed to me and tired.
“Um guys, I hate to be a spoil sport but let’s continue this in the bed room? “
Quatre’s eyes got big and he grinned at me, “Hilde… would have never thought…”
I reached over and smacked him upside his head. “Pervert.” I mumbled. “It’s for Duo’s sake.”
I saw the tinkle in his eye and stuck a finger out,” Don’t even think about saying it! I am a one man woman.” I said, glaring at him.

Trowa was already on his feet and standing by the exhausted Duo. He reached down and pulled him to his feet. I nodded and went to find a tray for the coffee and donuts. The only way we were going to get the story from Duo was to feed him and keep him contented. I gathered everything up and followed behind the men.

Next time Duo’s story :