Forty-Four

Attack

      As soon as the door shut behind me, I cracked up laughing. I headed to Duo’s room and put on a movie.
      It had only been playing for a few minutes when suddenly the door flew open and Duo burst in, rubbing his wrists petulantly.
      “What took you so long?” I asked him as he sat down on the other end of the couch.
      “I fixed the bed frame after I got the cuffs off.” He stared intently at the tv.
      “That was nice of you. Did you come to any conclusions whilst shackled?”
      “You’re not into hand cuffs?”
      “Bright one, aren’t you?” I finally relented and cuddled up next to him.
      “So what are you into?”
      “Hmm...Well, this is rather nice, and pillow fights are always fun...”
      “What about this?” he asked curiously. With that he put one arm around my shoulders, rested the other hand on my stomach, and leaned around to kiss me.
      “Mmm, that is nice...” I murmured after a moment.
      “Mm-hmm...” he guided me around until I was lying on my back and he was on top of me.
      I wrapped my arms around him as we kissed, thanking whatever higher power there was out there that had brought him back to me.


      I set Sam down on my bed and opened the bag.
      “Do you want a massage?” I asked her. She looked like she’d been working out recently; she was wearing bike shorts and a zip-up sweatshirt, anyway.
      “That might be nice.” she was looking at the bag in my hands and seemed very amused. I leaned down to kiss her, unzipping her sweatshirt with one hand.
      “But does it always have to be about sex?” she asked, breaking off the kiss, “I mean, that’s all we’ve done, every time we’re alone together, ever since the kidnapping.”
      “What else are we going to do?” I asked without really thinking about it, “No, wait. That came out wrong. I just meant that...”
      “When one finds oneself in a hole,” she said, putting one finger over my lips, “The first thing to do is to put the shovel down. Now take me out to lunch!”
      “Yes, Ma’am.”
      She took a shower while I called down to the port to make sure her things had been sent up, and I showered while she got dressed.
      “Where are we going?” she asked while I was getting dressed.
      “Fast food for lunch, and then shopping while we wait for the five o’clock show to start at the cineplex.”
      “And where shall we buy our fast food?” she sounded wary. She probably thought that I’d forgotten she was a vegetarian.
      “Burgerville, because they have good milkshakes and gardenburgers..”
      She smiled, “And what are we shopping for?”
      “Whatever you want. And we can stop at the arcade and play skeeball.”
      “Only if you win a big stuffed toy for me!”
      “But I just bought you one!”
      “It’s not the same. Just as sweet, but not the same.”
      “Oh...kay...Are you about ready to...Hey, that’s mine.” she was pulling on one of my flannel shirts.
      “My, my. Possessive today, aren’t we?”
      “I just thought I’d point it out.” It looked better on her anyway. As we left my room, I asked her, “Which car do you want to take?”
      “The mustang convertible. Do you know the history of those cars?”
      “No, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”
      “Hey, that’s the only kind of car I know anything about except that Hitler invented the VW bug. I’ll make it short and sweet.”
      “Like you?”
      “Ha. Ha, ha, ha. Nyih. Mustangs are fast and I’ve always wanted one. Too bad yours is red.”
      “Why? What color did you want?”
      “Canary yellow.”


      I set Nikki down, shutting the door and pulling her to me again.
      She pulled away slightly, running her fingers through my hair, “Shower time, Angel.”
      I blinked, surprised...not exactly what I’d been thinking...
      “Hurry, ‘cause I need one too.” she pushed gently at me.
      “But...”
      “Shower.” her voice was firm and she stepped back.
      I sighed, I’d lost that battle...“Want to join me?” I smiled, stepping close again.
      “You have a very one track mind.” she said, her tone getting agitated, “We need to wash. If I join you...” she left it hanging.
      I studied her a minute, “We’d have fun...”
      She laughed at me, “Shh...just go take yours...”
      I grinned, “You sure...” I ran my fingers up her spine.
      She shivered, disengaging herself, and grabbed my hands, giving me a level look. She was right, I did need to shower...She would probably hurry...
      I turned and headed for the bathroom.
      “Fast.” she said firmly.
      I showered as fast as I could.
      When it was her turn, she shut the bathroom door behind herself, I grinned. I hadn’t taken the time to.
      Shaking my head, I put the boxes of condoms in my night stand. Just in case...
      After what seemed like forever, there was a tap on the door.
      Surprised, I went to answer it.
      It was Trowa, his hair dripping, in only a towel, shivering slightly...I grinned, a cold shower.
      He looked very embarrassed.
      “Condoms.”
      I laughed at him, “Forget to pick something up at the mall? We even stopped at that store...”
      “Yeah, well...” he didn’t seem too very amused.
      That made me laugh harder, “Come on.” I gestured for him to follow me.
      I had figured someone would need some...and I was right.
      I grabbed a box and offered it to him, he nodded, and I handed it over.
      “It was a valiant effort, Trowa my friend...” I grinned larger, patting him on the back.
      “Thanks.” he said dryly, not appreciating my comment, rolling his eyes.
      I laughed, “Now shoo,” I made a flapping gesture. “Before Nikki gets done or your kitty starts sharpening her claws...”
      His eyes flicked to the bathroom and he rolled his eyes again, then turned and jogged back down the hall.
      I laughed quietly, starting to turn.
      “Oh, how sweet...” Nikki said from the now open bathroom door.
      I grinned at her as I shut the door, locking it.
      “You think so?”
      She nodded, “I think so.” her hair was down and brushed, she was only wearing a robe, untied at that...
      I walked to her and hugged her close, “I tried.”
      She kissed me, “A valiant effort...”
      I laughed slightly, kissing her again, “Do I get a reward?”
      “Of course...” another kiss, “Positive reinforcememm...”
      I broke off whatever else she was going to say with another kiss.
      She chuckled slightly, “God I missed you...”


      I still felt like hitting myself over the head with something heavy, but I was tremendously relieved that Heero had had an extra box of condoms. I wasn’t sure how long I could have held out before doing something really stupid. Kat was still sitting on the bed when I opened the door to my room.
      “Here kitty, kitty, kitty...” I called, shutting it behind me.
      “Meow...?” Kat raised an eyebrow at me, looking amused. “What was all that about?”
      I had realized while I was in the shower that I didn’t have any condoms. When I had finished showering, I wrapped a towel around my waist, kissed Kat, told her to wait, then ran down the hall to Heero’s room. I’d figured he would probably be the least embarrassed if he were...busy...when I knocked, not to mention he had bought three boxes earlier. I had a feeling he wouldn’t mind...
      I hadn’t explained to Kat why I was leaving, though. I held up the box and she laughed.
      I crossed the floor to stand in front of her, “I love you.”
      She smiled almost shyly at me, rising to meet me, “I love you, too.”
      She gave me a kiss then, pulling me down onto the bed with her. I kissed her back and decided it was about time to open that box.


      I wish I’d had a stopwatch when Sally and I got to her room.
      She had my shirt unbuttoned in record time.
      “Shit...I need to take a shower...” that was really disappointing.
      “Make it the fastest shower of your life, Buddy...” she whispered in my ear.
      I did just that.
      She was waiting for me in the bed, her clothes in a pile on the floor, when I was done.
      I joined her.
      Shortly thereafter, I was glad I’d had enough mind to lock the door when we’d come in.
      Someone tried to open it, “Sally?” Noin’s voice carried through the door, confused.
      “I’m busy, Noin, I’ll find you later.”
      We put the interruption to the back of our minds and continued where we’d left off...well, we tried to anyway.
      “About what time, you think?”
      “Later.”
      “What time?”
      “Noin, go away.” Sally was getting annoyed.
      There was a brief pause, “Fine.” she sounded offended.
      “That was annoying.” I murmured.
      Noin’s quiet retreating footsteps paused in the hall and a murmured “No way...” carried to our ears.
      I grinned.
      We continued where we’d left off.
      It wasn’t exactly what one would call romantic love making.
      “You realize everyone’ll freak if we tell them, don’t you?” she asked during a brief lull.
      “Not really. I figure they kind of expect it...or something...”
      “True...” she leaned over and kissed me.
      A very brief lull.
      “When do you think we should tell them?” she asked during another.
      “Do we really need to? Let’s just let them settle in, they won’t notice anything for the next day or so. We can just wait for everything to be calm again, then...”
      “Shall we hide it?”
      “Let’s just not make an issue of it.”
      “Aww...” she kissed me, “So we can’t sneak away and cast covert glances?” another kiss.
      I chuckled, “Of course we can. We’re not making an issue of it, remember...”
      The lull was nearly over. Her kisses were getting distracting.
      “Shall we get caught?”
      “Maybe. Let’s just wait and see what happens...”
      “Mmm...”
      That lull was over.


      Our date was wonderful. Lunch was just fast food, and the arcade was like any other arcade, and the movie was definitely on the B side, but we had so much fun.
      We talked all afternoon about everything and nothing, and we made out in the car when we got home...until the garage door opened and the light turned on.
      The thing about convertibles is that everyone can see the passengers whenever the top is down. In any car with a roof, we might have gone unnoticed. But no.
      Quatre and I froze.
      “Mr...Winner? Sorry.” The man sounded very embarrassed. He turned to go.
      “It’s okay. We were just about to go inside.” Quatre told him, “Continue on your rounds.”
      The man was Winner security, working the evening shift. He turned to go back inside, and hesitated.
      Now, something was wrong. I exchanged a glance with Quatre, slightly concerned.
      Suddenly the man had a gun aimed directly at him.
      “I’m sorry to have to do this, you’ve been a good employer...” he squeezed the trigger.
      Suddenly, I was knocked to the ground.
      The sound of the shot echoed around the garage.
      The next instant was chaos. A blur of motion...
      For the briefest of moments Quatre and I were looking at each other as we rolled, before we even stopped, there was another blur and he was gone.
      By the time I stopped and sat up, Quatre had downed the man and was standing there holding the gun.
      There was a rush of sound, and a unit of his guard appeared.
      “Mr. Winner, are you all right? Is the lady hurt?”
      ‘The lady’ was said with the same respect as ‘Miss Dorlain’.
      “Yes.” Quatre replied as the downed guard was cuffed, “We’re fine. Thank you.” he looked over to me, his bearing relieved, “You are all right, aren’t you?” he asked, stepping toward me.
      Suddenly, he was holding me, and we were clinging to each other as the reality of what had happened hit me.
      Quatre had been attacked.


      “Can you honestly...”
      “Calm down, Sam...” Quatre pulled her close to him.
      I looked around the study, noticing everyone was relaxed, and Wufei was as yet to make an appearance...even though Sam had been in...it wasn’t quite fair to say hysterics... but damned close to it...when she’d called.
      “So what happened?” I asked, the garbled story I’d heard over the phone didn’t quite equal four.
      “We went out for lunch...when we got back, one of the guards...”
      The door opened and Wufei walked in, “What’s going on?” he demanded, he seemed slightly annoyed even though he seemed decently content.
      “He was attacked, thank you for asking.” Sam replied in a very pissy tone.
      “What?” Wufei instantly changed to concerned and for the first time he really looked like their friend.
      “When we got back...” Quatre started.
      “You left?” Duo asked the question he’d been trying to ask since he’d come in, he was surprised.
      Quatre laughed slightly, “Yes. We had a date. But anyway, when we got back, we encountered one of my guards...sort of. He tried to shoot me.”
      There was a long silence.
      “So...what happened?” I asked.
      Quatre shook his head, “Nothing. He gave me that second too long to react and I downed him.”
      Heero raised an eyebrow, “So why...exactly...did you have to call us and insist we meet?”
      Not like he really needed to ask, he knew Sam, he was just showing he was annoyed...
      Sam looked at him a moment, “We figured you might want to know...”
      He nodded, “Yes. But did you have to call in a...panic? I mean, I’m glad you weren’t hurt, but you should’ve taken an hour or so to calm down.”
      “Well, we figured we should warn you. We thought you might want to know that its possible one of you may be attacked...”
      “So let’s get on the P.A. and you can tell your people of what happened,” I suggested, “The loyal ones will probably keep an extra eye out.”
      Heero rubbed my back slightly.
      Quatre nodded and gestured toward the console in a questioning way.
      I nodded, heading over and accessing the speakers.
      The bustle in the halls was reassuring after he’d announced what was going on.
      “So can we go back to our rooms now?” Wufei asked.
      I raised an eyebrow at him, “Were you in your room?”
      He chuckled, “Never you mind.”
      I smiled in return, “Fine, be that way...”
      He smiled at me.
      “Yes, we can go back to our rooms now.” Quatre told us, grinning.
      “Later, Guys.” Heero told them, grabbing me by the arm and hauling me up gently.
      I didn’t get to see nor hear their response because we were back in the hall before I could think about it.
      I grinned at him as we reached the room and closed the door behind myself, locking it.
      “Sleep.” he told me and crawled into the bed, his manner indicating he meant just that.
      “Hmm...really...” I murmured, having a different idea about the matter, joining him.
      As always, I was right.


      The next few days passed uneventfully, with the girls occasionally disappearing into one room or another where we could hear them burst out laughing. It was very naughty laughter.
      I wasn’t too horribly worried, but I noticed the others exchanging worried glances once in a while.
      It struck me as terribly amusing.
      “Hey, Heero...” Trowa said one day as we waited in the hall, “Kitty was saying something about...an argument...between Relena and Nikki...”
      “Really?” this was news to me.
      “I guess Relena...” he started with a nod.
      I shook my head, “No. Let her tell me...”
      He nodded again, “Okay. You may want to do it soon. I’ve got the impression that it was kinda harsh...for Relena.”
      I nodded. “All right. I’ll do it now.”
      “But...” Duo interrupted, he knew that she would be none too happy about me pulling her from her friends.
      I shrugged, “Let me deal with it. I know the consequences of my actions.”
      He shrugged in a ‘I warned you’ sort of way.
      Hoping that I hadn’t bit off more than I could chew, I knocked on Kris’s door. That’s where they were.
      My comrade’s dispersed to different areas quickly.
      Some help they were.
      “It’s open.” Kris called.
      I opened the door, “Nikki, we need to talk.”

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Kyeian