Double Duos

CH4: Tensions rising

“So Rei, ever been on a mission before?” Duo asked. Rei was playing chess with Wufei on the shuttle that was on its way to the L3 colony.
“Yes Duo. Hence the calmness in my voice. Heero and I have been on a few missions together.”
“When was this?!” Duo squealed. Heero turned to Duo who was sitting opposite him. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Heero joked. Duo could’ve sworn he saw Heero smile slightly.
‘Oh he’s loving this,’ Duo thought to himself. “And if I’m not?” Duo asked. Heero shrugged.
“Then we have no problem,” Heero stated and went back to watching the chess game. Rei was kicking Wufei’s ass.
Duo bit at his fingernails. A few seconds later, he got Heero’s attention again by sitting up. “So what if I am, Heero!?” Duo squealed again. Wufei started to get pissed off that Duo was leaning over the chessboard.
“Will you pipe down baka!! You are interrupting our chess game! Take it outside!” Wufei boomed. Duo huffed and clasped back into his seat.

Quatre smiled at the sight of Wufei losing to a woman.
“Are you sure your not really pissed off at losing to Rei, rather than blaming Duo for messing up your game? Looks to me your pris abs about to be broken Wufei,” Quatre laughed. Quatre made eye contact at Trowa while he laughed. Trowa was staring at Quatre the whole time they were there and he didn’t even notice. When Trowa realized Quatre was looking back, Trowa turned his head away and focused on the game. Quatre felt hurt but his heart hurt more when he realized Trowa had to look away to hide his watery eyes. Quatre’s spirits began to lift again when he realized there may still be hope for him and Trowa.
‘But there’s still that problem with him moving away from his family. I can’t move with him because I’ve got the satellite to run. I could always get my sisters to run it for the time being. But it’s my right and I don’t want to disrespect my father’s wishes.’

Duo watched the exchange between both Trowa and Quatre with hawk eyes. ‘Don’t fret my little Quatre. You’ll both be together soon enough.. in hell.’

* * * *

“Duo can I please talk to you for a second?”
Duo nodded and followed Quatre out of the rec room.
“What is it Buddy?” Duo asked sincerely.
Quatre hung his head low.
“It’s Trowa. Do you think maybe he and I could ever work things out?”
Duo scratched his head for a while.
“Well Quatre, I think that both of you just need to compromise a little. Figure out a solution to your problems..” Duo suggested. Quatre nodded. He still had a sad look on his face.
“Oh Duo, Trowa wont even look at me.. I doubt he’ll even talk to me. Do you think you can talk to him for me? You’re my best friend and I trust you’ll do your best,” Quatre pleaded. Duo smiled. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll talk to him.”
‘You’ve got to be kidding me! Haha! Oh I’ll talk to Trowa alright. They’re like putty in my hands..’

Duo smiled and followed Quatre back into the rec room. Wufei had lost his chess game against Rei and Wufei sat angrily in his chair, arms crossed. Duo took this time to get on Wufei’s nerves.
“Wu-man! You got beaten by a girl! oh! That must’ve hurt!” Duo joked. Wufei glared at him.
“If looks could kill. Duo leave him alone.” Trowa instructed. Rei began to get out of her chair when Wufei spoke up. “No. Woman, you stay here and play another game!” Wufei ordered.
Rei complied and sat down, basking in her own glory. They began to set up the chessboard for a new game.

“Hey Wu-man, you sure you wanna do that? She murdered you in the last game. Sorry to say it, but you have no chance!” Duo explained. Quatre nudged Duo and pointed to Trowa leaving the room. Duo looked scared. “You sure you want me to do this buddy? Shouldn’t you be doing this?” Duo whispered. Quatre shook his head. “I wouldn’t know what to say to him.” And with that Quatre pushed Duo towards the door.
“And you think I do?” Duo said back. Heero watched as Duo followed after Trowa. After Duo left, Heero asked Quatre what was going on. Quatre explained that Duo was doing him a favour.

* * * *

“Yo Trowa! Wait up!” Duo yelled as he followed Trowa to the cockpit.
”What’s up Duo?” Trowa asked. Duo caught up to Trowa and they walked to the cockpit together.
“Well I have no idea what to say but you know Quatre’s my friend right?” Duo asked nervously.
“You didn’t come here just to ask me that.” Trowa replied. “What does he want?” Trowa sat down at the pilot’s seat and checked if the shuttle was still on course. Duo sat next to him.
“Well he just wants to sort things out. I have no idea what you want but I *will* tell you this. If you yourself think that there is no hope of you two living together after this war, then break it off with Quatre. Clean and straight. Don’t leave the poor guy hanging on a hope if there isn’t any. You get me?” Duo got up and began to leave the room. Trowa grabbed his hand to stop him.

“I’m not moving away from my sister,” he replied stubbornly. “The circus is our life. Why should I be the one to make the sacrifices? Quatre gets to live in his five star mansions and I know he wont move because he wouldn’t be able to stand living in communal housing, tents or caravans.” Trowa explained. Duo could see the hurt and anger in his eyes.

Duo didn’t smile. His look was serious. Trowa had never seen that before. He figured it was because he was protecting his friend.
“If you feel that way, then break it off. And do it now. If you leave it ‘till the end of the mission, you’ll be doing more damage than good by leaving the poor guy hanging,” Duo’s voice got lower and concerned. “Sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.”

Trowa loosened his grip on Duo’s hand and sat in his chair in deep thought. He didn’t even hear Duo leaving the room.
Duo returned to the rec room and sat next to Heero.tre tre saw the lack of a smile on Duo’s face.
“How’d it go?” Quatre asked, trying not to sound concerned. Duo shrugged. “We’ll soon see..” Duo put his hand on Heero’s knee. Heero put his hand on top of Duo’s.

‘I’m picking them off one by one. God I’m good’

About 10 minutes later, Trowa returned to the rec room.
“We’ll reach the colony in 5 minutes. From there we’ve got a 20 minute drive to the bar.” Then he returned to the cockpit.

Duo, Heero and Quatre returned to watching Rei and Wufei play chess.
“Yes! Checkmate! How do you like that woman?” Wufei gloated. Rei smiled and got up from her seat. “Too bad I let you win,” She replied as she left the room. Wufei shot up from his seat without a word.

“Sometimes you’ve got to admit there are people better than you Wufei,” Heero said.
“Nah I just think he’s got a crush on Rei. He’ll do anything to prove his manliness,” Duo laughed. Wufei shot Duo another glare. Duo held up his hands defensively. “Whoa buddy! Only joking!”

Trowa’s voice could be heard through the announcement speakers.
“We’re here. Get your stuff and let’s go. You all know what to do.”

The remaining pilots left the rec room to grab their gear.

**authors notes: okay I no this chapter was really short.. but *shrugs* ah well, live with it.. lol well wat r u doing? Keep reading!**