Bittersweet Memories: Dead Man on Lane Fourclean up please, part 6

*grins* sorry, Dead men have nothing to do with the ficwellsorta. Yeah! Hope u enjoy it!
Gack*stares at all the salami strewn on the floor* are u guys NUTS??? My whole HOUSE smells like DELI MEATS NOW!!! *slaps forehead* kusoI said ONE piece of salami gave me inspiration on ONE fic! Even the salami fairy won't take so muchbut Tom might. Tom! U want some more meat? I got lots! ^_~ Pwease? Pix? K-chan? Rose? Any of u want deli meat? Great...now I'm known for my saber, my dustbunnies, and my deli meat*groans* Well, to all my reviewers who liberally threw salami at me, arigato! No more meat okay? But chocolatenow that's always appreciated! ^_^ read on!

Okay. With an effort, Hilde tried to sort what was happening out in her mind, but they refused to
categorize themselves out into individual, coherent thoughts. She felt as if she was meltingor at least getting really, really hot and weak....no! Mentally, she stomped the kernel of desire to death.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Duo?" She hissed, shoving against his chest, but he merely grinned, lifting a brow provocatively.

"I think it's called kissing." He teased.

"Duo!" Her voice was muffled again as he silenced her with his lips, feeling his fingers stroke her face gently. She jabbed him in the gut. "This isn't fair! Get off me!" The last turned from demanding to a wail as Duo slipped a hand under her shirt to tease her stomach.

"Been putting on a little weight, haven't you babe?" Upon hearing that, Hilde's heart missed a beat and her body went rigid before she shoved against him with renewed force.

"Duo! I'm not kidding, let me up!" Uneasiness ran through her voice and Duo peered closer at her
averted face, brushing the short spikes from her forehead. She shifted away from him, clenching her arms at her sides tightly. Please don't let him suspectplease don't even let him THINK of the possibility! "You're crushing me!"

"Geez....did I offend you or somethin'?" Duo forced her face back to stare into her eyes, puzzlement evident in his face. "Babe, I wasn't trying to make fun of youyou know that, right?" Hilde didn't say anything, just shoved him off, sitting up on the sofa. She brushed back her bangs, eyes mistrustful and wary beneath sooty bangs. Duo sat next to her, preventing her from leaving when she scooted away. "Okaywhat's up?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean that as soon as I said that you put on more weight, you stiffened up like a board. Now what's up with that?"

"Nothing!" Hilde jerked her arm away, then turned to glare at him. "How would you feel if your
ex-boyfriend was planning to have sex with you? On the couch?! After you broke up for only a few months??" Duo blinked at her vehemence, before a slow grin swept over his features.

"First of all, I've never had a boyfriend, so I wouldn't know.....but since you were my last girlfriend, I'd say that would be pretty nice"

"Duo"

"And the couch thing? Well, there's a perfectly good bed down the hall"

"Duo!"

"And I never agreed to the separation so in my eyes, it doesn't exist."

"Duo Maxwell!" Hilde finally shouted, her hands clenched into fists. "Why can't you ever be
serious?? We're not fifteen anymore and this isn't just a game! Things like this have consequences;
things like this can ruin your life, do you get it?" Her voice broke in a sob, but she forged ahead,
ignoring his attempt to stop her. Swiping angrily at her eyes, she stood up, the blanket tumbling from her lap to lie in a mournful heap on the floor. "You don't know what you're about, and you don't understand what could happen. So until you find out, I want you to leave me alone Duo Maxwell! You're twenty years old, Duo, grow up!"

"Whoa whoa, okay, I know I might have been acting a little insensitive-"

"Damn right!" Hilde interrupted angrily.

"But that doesn't mean I don't know what could happen," Duo continued seriously.

"But you won't accept the consequences," She accused, her voice a bit hoarse. Her cheeks were stained with weeping and her arms were wrapped around her waist, but the puzzlement in Duo's eyes didn't abate. Frustrated, she shook her head. "Duojust leave." When he made no move to go, she yelled, "Just leave, Duo! Please, before I say something I regret"

He stood up slowly, but instead of walking towards the door, he slid a thumb down her tear-streaked face. "I don't quite get what's going on here, Hilde.....so why don't you just tell me, huh?" Hilde looked away, shaking her head mutely, but he frowned, sliding a finger to tip up her chin. "Babe? What's going on?"

"Nothing." She mumbled, trying to ignore the concern that was marked on his face. There was no hint of humor any more and she tried to shrug off the arms that came to embrace her. She didn't want his pity. She wanted his love. But that was something he refused to give

"Hilde"

"Look, it's just that time of month okay? I'll be fine." She wiped her eyes off again before staring
defiantly at him.

"Babe"

"I said drop it!" She snapped and an expression of relief touched her face when the doorbell rang.
"Get the door okay? I have to" She gestured helplessly at her wet cheeks and he nodded slowly before opening his arms. She dropped her eyes, moving away from him, but she was acutely aware of the loss of his warmth. She shook her head once, before trying to smile. "Tell Rel that I'll be right out, okay? And yeah" Whirling around, she made tracks for the restroom, leaving Duo in the middle of the living room, lost in thought before the bell rang again, this time more impatiently.

"Oi. Oi, I'm coming!" He yelled, removing the safety lock before flinging the door open. "Hold on to your hair, why don't you?" Obsidian eyes blinked coolly at him before a familiar Chinese in white silk walked, with lithe grace, into the livingroom. Unasked, of course. Smirking, Duo slammed the door shut, leaning against the mahogany panel as he cocked a brow up. "So, Wu-manhow's it going? Didn't see you at the shindig yesterday."

"Doubtful that you would have, Maxwell." Wufei replied dryly, crossing his arms. "You were too drunk and to morose to notice anything beyond the point of your nose."

"Ouch." Duo winced. "Heard about that, didja?"

"Who didn't?" Wufei mocked slightly, before looking around the room. "Where's the onna? The vice foreign minister has asked me to deliver a message." His lip curled slightly in disgust. "As if she could not have used the phone but she said it was imperative that I tell it to her directly."

Duo laughed outright. "Relegated to the place of a messenger-boy, eh Fei? How the mighty are fallen"

"Injustice!" Wufei protested, muttering under his breath. "Ordered around by an onna and forced to listen by that brown-haired she-demon"

"Sally?" Duo choked on a laugh, but Wufei ignored him, to earnest in his ranting.

"And once I am here, I must listen to you spout your American nonsense, Maxwell!" Wufei shook his head disgust, "What has the world come to? Onnas running the government, onnas on the battlefield, and still more onnas running around with a child and no husband!" Wufei paled slightly, then rushed ahead, hoping that he hadn't given anything away. "They should just be kept at home to stay with their children and their-" Kisama! This isn't going wellDamn that onna! Why did they send me on this stupid mission?? I am not a relationship-maker! I am a Preventer! By my ancestors on the Shanghai Mountainhow did they drag me into this, anyway? Wufei growled in annoyance.

"Sally! Sally, I need your help!" Relena peered vainly around the room, plainly looking for the
brown-haired Preventer "Sally?"

"Miss Relena, what are you doing down at Preventer headquarters?" Sally stepped out of her office, a sheaf of papers in one hand and a cup of steaming cappuccino in another. "Does Heero know about this?" A frown creased Sally's forehead as she prepared another lecture on the folly of leaving the Mansion without her fiancé, but Relena waved the it aside impatiently, looking harried and more than a little impatient.

"Yes, Sally, Heero knows. He wanted to come up with me but it would have taken too much time. You know how he likes to make sure the entire plan is watertight without a chance of going wrong!" For a minute, Relena grinned fondly at the memory before she sighed, a little wearily. "You know I promised to check up on Hilde today because of her pregnancy and everything, right? Well, the ambassador from the L2 just calledhe wants to talk about intergalactic trade agreements so I was wondering if"

"I can't, Miss Relena!" Sally shook her head, riffling through the papers, amazingly not spilling a drop of the caffeine saturated beverage. "I have to talk to the Lady about improvements we can make on the original specifications of the Preventer application. The organization has grown so much since three years before, and now, all sorts of people are applying! It'll probably take us the whole day."

There has to be someone!" Relena said, distress in her voice, "There's no way I can make it today!"

In the middle of their private conversation, Wufei broke in, almost shoving a stack of paper under Sally's nose. "Onna, here are the statistics that you wanted. Next time, you could try looking in your desk before you ask me to look for them!" Relena blinked, then glanced at Sally. Sally shook her head.

"No."

"But he-"

"NoRelena, you don't know Chang. He doesn't have a sensitive bone in his body." Wufei scowled, listening to the two women talk about him as if he weren't there.

"Injustice! What is that supposed to mean??"

Sally smiled. "Wufei, why don't you go fish up those documents from the colonial wars for me, please? Miss Relena and I have to have a girl to girl talkyou know, onna stuff. You wouldn't be interested. Now Relena-"

"Woman, when you talk to me in that tone of voice, I know that you are scheming about something." Wufei said darkly, folding his arms across his chest. "What mission am I not sensitive enough to carry out?"

"You're right SallyHe wouldn't work" There was a tone of worry through Relena's voice, but she was choking slightly, amusement sparkling in cerulean eyes. "Maybe Ken? He would-"

"That child??" Wufei sputtered in disbelief. "I could handle any mission better thanthan that
weakling! What mission is it?"

"Well" Wufei folded his arms and glared, doing a good imitation of the Death Glare, but Relena had long since become immune to it and she shook her head, saying hesitantly, "I don't know if you'd accept" He narrowed his eyes. "OkayMr. Chang, the mission is to deliver this message to Hilde Schleibecker and do not tell Duo Maxwell about the child." Relena smiled then, at the fullblown disbelief on Wufei's face, shock evident in every line of his body as she shoved the letter into his fist and with a hug for Sally and a quick farewell, she ran down the steps, hair flying behind her. "Thank you! And I have the utmost faith in you Wufei!"

"Bu-but" Wufei sputtered furiously, but Sally just laughed, putting an arm around her partner.

"Good luck in your mission, Fei."

"But-"

"You wanted it, and you got it." With an affectionate hug, Sally walked away, humming quietly to herself.

But she still heard the indignant yell that permeated every corner of the building, sending Preventers peering curiously from their desks, heads poking out of doorways. "INJUSTICE!!!"

"Heeelllloooo anybody home?" Duo waved a hand in front of Wufei's face, which had suddenly gone dark with embarrassment and lingering anger. "Sheesh, you looked like the time I tried to paint Nataku pink, that bad, huh?"

"None of your business, Maxwell." Wufei retorted stiffly, brushing the hand away. "Where is your onna? I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Sure. Here, I'll give it to her." Duo extended a hand but Wufei snapped the letter back.

"Maxwell, I know you. As soon as I left, you would try to peek into the letter." Wufei retorted. "And the Vice Foreign Minister told me to entrust this solely to your onna."

"Sheesh try to give a guy a hand" Duo muttered, shaking his head. "And where's all the trust gone to these days? Would I actually"

"Yes." Hilde said shortly, emerging from the hallway. She was slightly pale, her eyes red from the vigorous scrubbing she'd given them and she didn't even bother trying to smile at the two men. "Wufei? Where's Relena?"

"The Vice Foreign Minister is currently on her way to the colonies to discuss confidential business." Wufei began repressively. "She entrusted me with this letter of which I am to give to you after I have made sure you are well taken care of." Hilde frowned, taking the missive from his hand, tracing the gilded letters on the baby blue envelope before pocketing it and turning away.

"Thanks."

"Aren't you going to read it?" Duo asked, lounging against the table, flipping his braid over his shoulder. His violet eyes shown curiously as he tilted precariously on his chair, watching as Hilde began to brew a cup of strong Darjeeling tea.

"No."

"But-"

"Duo shut up. Don't you have anywhere you have to be right now?" Hilde mumbled, taking a sip of tea. She massaged her temples and jumped back slightly when his face appeared right in front of hers.

"Nope, not really. I'm on vacation. Nowwhat's in that letter babe?"

"Duoback away from the girl with the very hot tea." Hilde said dangerously, peering at him from under mussed hair. "It might accidentally spill somewhere you don't want it to and I will not be held responsible for the consequences." She took another swallow, then glared at Duo. "Take a shower and leave me alone. I have to get ready for work."

"In your condition, onna? Are you-kuso" Wufei cursed, slapping a hand on his forehead while Hilde blanched a pure white. Duo's eyes narrowed as he looked from Hilde's still figure to Wufei, who refused to look at either Hilde or his fellow Gundam pilot.

"Wufei, you are a total ass!" Hilde yelled furiously and suddenly, the pieces seemed to click together in Duo's head. Hilde having weird mood swings. Relena's concern over Hilde. Wufei's cryptic remarks.

"Hilde" There was a calmness in Duo's voice that matched even Heero's icy demeanor. "You're
pregnant, aren't you?"

t b c

Author's note: ^_~ I couldn't help it. *grins* Caliko, thanks for agreeing to beta read my stuff. btw, Grud, have a GREAT VACATION!!!! Don't forget to write! (I mean both email AND ur fic, k?)

Ku guys starting a mob to kill the crazy writer now? Loltoo bad! I die really hard. *buster rifles,
spears, etc., are suddenly brandished in Sable's direction, held by a few irate readers. Gulps and backs away, rummaging in her pockets* Oh yeah? You don't scare me! I have my trusty *pulls out and stares* lint! Grrrwell, that, and my wonderfully strong *rummages some more* toothpick?? Okay, who's the one that picked my pockets?? I WANT MY SABER BACK RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!! AND my DUSTBUNNIES TOO!!! *fire flares to life and a pyre is started. Starts running* please??