Disclaimer:  The 'fan' in 'fanfiction' kind of means it isn't mine.no
profit is being made.

Author's Note:  A really sappy Hilde and Duo moment in this fic.  What
can you do?  They're my favorite couple.

Part 13

 Lila sighed deeply, leaning onto the stair rail.  Mother had been
obsessed with the happenings of The Understanders for some time now.
And why shouldn't she be?  That's what her family was all about - and
the Understanders would soon have a job for mother.  And now Lila,
seventeen, could finally work besides her.  Because that's what they
were.  Professional hackers.
 "Whatcha doing up there?" Lila started at voice.  It was a nice voice,
she decided.  She liked the sound of it - it was a gruff and sweet
sound.
 "Hi Chris." She grinned, peering down at him.  He smiled his baby blue
up at him - sweet eyes that matched his light hair.
 Chris.  Small in frame, but nicely built.  The same age as her - well
trained in her family's art.  If she and mother were to get a job with
The Understanders, so would he.
 She began to walk down to meet him, but Chris stopped her.  "No - wait
my princess!" he declared. "I, the brave and valiant knight, shall
rescue you!"
 Lila giggled, and before she could answer, Chris was bowing before her.

 "May I have thou sweet maiden's hands?" he asked, raising his hand to
her.  Lila giggled again, and gave him her hand.  He kissed it with
affection, and Lila sighed.
 "You are the worst." She informed him.
 "No shit." He teased. "But ah!  Thou maiden needest thou help!"
 Lila let out a cry as Chris grabbed her in his arms, slinging her over
his shoulder, and began to carry her down the stairs.
 "Chris!  Put me down!" Lila laughed, long and loud. "Chris!  Please!
What would mother say?"
 "If thou evil dragon tries to harm thou maiden in any way, I shall slay
thou beast!" boasted Chris.

"Hey Trowa." Trowa paused in his trek from the med room to the
cafeteria.  Quatre.
 "Quatre." he stated, turning to see him.  The blonde millionaire
grinned sheepishly.
 "How's your walk?" 04 asked, walking towards him.
 Barton nodded. "Better." He smirked. "You may have pulled my right leg,
according to Sally."
 Quatre blushed. "Sorry about that."
 "Don't worry about it.  You did what you had to do."
 Quatre nodded solemnly. "Funny way to greet you though, eh?" he sighed.

 "You met up with Dorothy, didn't you?"
 "Now that was a weird meeting." Winner said firmly. "Dorothy shocked me
to death."
 "Dorothy's always been a weird girl."
 "Yes, she -"  Quatre was cut off as a sharp voice broke in on their
conversation.  Both Trowa and Quatre turned, immediately humbled by
their gossip.
 "Weird am I?" giggled Dorothy. "I never though I was exactly normal,
but weird..hmm."
 Quatre blushed a deep red.  Dorothy smiled and sat her hands on her
hips, observing the two through soft blue eyes. "Lady Une wants you guys
down at her office." She said finally. "Duo too.  Do you know where he
is?"
 "Somewhere with Hilde." Guessed Quatre.
 Dorothy shook her head knowingly.  "Just follow me to her office, all
right?  Unless you haven't said goodbye to your sisters yet.  They're
leaving just about now."
 Both Quatre and Trowa nodded their heads. "Janna already said goodbye."
Winner stated.
 "All right then.  Follow me."

 Lay Une whisked her head round as she heard their steps in the
corridor.  One graceful and elegant - Dorothy's.  Another one quick and
hurried - Quatre's.  The last was almost not audible - Trowa's.
 She smirked sheepishly.  She had known these people for far too long.
It was a sad thing that any of them should have to meet.
 "Hello Quatre.  Trowa.  Dorothy - you couldn't find Duo?"
 Dorothy shook her head. "Somewhere with Hilde." She offered.
 "All right.  Are your injuries any better yet, Barton?"
 Trowa grinned. "Much better, thanks.  Sally's good at her job."
 Lady Une nodded, fingering her glasses for a moment. "Yes.  Would you
like to see what I have to show the pilots, Dorothy?"
 "Of course.  I would be delighted." Dorothy's head turned to face Une
directly, and her hair, longer than ever, swerved with her.  Lady Une
nodded, and began to lead the trio down the hall.

 "Penny for your thoughts."
 Duo and Hilde walked arm in arm down the garden path, Hilde snuggling
into Duo's chest.  Her question surprised Duo for a moment.  He blinked,
then,
 "I'm hungry."
 Hilde smacked him at the back of the head.  "You pig." She teased. "You
just ate an hour ago."
 "That's my point.  A god needs hourly nourishment!"
 Hilde sighed. "Fine." She gave in. "Lets go to the cafeteria."
 Duo ruffled her hair playfully. "Now you're talking." He paused,
however, surprising and nearly tripping Hilde. "Wait a minute," he
pointed, "Isn't that Catherine and Janna over there?"
 Hilde detached herself from Duo and nodded. "Yep.  They're leaving."
 "Then we might as well go say bye!" exclaimed Duo, and he ran over to
greet them.

 Catherine and Janna paused in their trek as they heard yelling and
calling voices.  They turned to face the newcomers simultaneously.
 "Hya girls!" grinned Duo as he came running up to them.  Hilde greeted
them with a quiet smile - Catherine guessed that word's sometimes become
annoying once you've lived with Duo long enough.
 "Are you leaving?" she asked of them.
 Janna nodded. "Yes - Lady Une feels that I can be trusted with the
information."
 Catherine patted Janna reassuringly on the back. "I'm going to go back
to the circus." She informed them. "And at least try to pretend things
are normal." she paused, and she looked tired.
 "Well, we have to go." Interrupted Janna quickly, grabbing Catherine
quickly by the arm.  Catherine grinned, and the two walked into the
distance.
  Duo's lips broke out into a smirk immediately. "Okay, now for the
food." He rubbed his hands together with eagerness, and began to lead
Hilde to the cafeteria.
 They stopped, however, when Janna screamed.

 Trowa gazed up at the massive machine. "Its huge." He remarked quietly,
his eyes narrowing at the sight of it.
 Lady Une nodded.  "This beauty only carries the goods." She told them,
giving it a hard slap. "There are three suits in here.  Each one
possessing qualities to that of your Gundams."
 "But surely not exactly like them?" asked Dorothy, her eyes widening at
the sight.
 Une shook her head. "No.  That would be far too dangerous.  The Gundams
are still the best machines out there." She smirked. "But barely.
According to our special team of scientists, this thing and the suits
fly like a dream."
 Quatre said nothing, staring up at the wonder.  Amazing.

 Immediately, Duo shifted gears, changing direction from the cafeteria
to Catherine and Janna.  His change was also evident in his eyes - they
flashed battle, and his body was tense.  He flung himself around the
corner to see what had happened.
 Some wise-asses seemed to have gotten the idea that the two girls would
be a nice target.  Not even paying attention to who they were, Duo
brought one down with a swift kick.  He brought out his gun, and pointed
it at the man.
 It was unnecessary - he was unconscious.  But that was when Duo noticed
his garb.  A black uniform, similar to what he had seen the night of
Quatre's failed party.
 The whole thing clicked into his head.  His eyes flew to Janna, who was
unconscious in some guy's arms.  Catherine was in the same predicament.
 Duo had to act fast.
 "Put those two down or I kill this guy."  He warned them, hissing
through his teeth.
The one holding Janna only smiled.  And behind him, Duo heard a gun shot
ring out.  Then Hilde gasped and there was a harsh thud hit as her body
hit the pavement - nothing more.

Lady Une was going over exact control details with the trio when the
officer arrived.
"Lady Une," He said quickly, interrupting her words. "There has been an
episode at the front of the facility."
Lady Une felt her breath catch in her.  She searched her companion's
eyes for a moment, and then she turned expectantly the nervous soldier.
"What happened?' she questioned sharply.
"Members of an unknown rebel group staged an abduction," the young man
said hastily.  Trowa lost his footing for a moment and thusly stumbled -
Quatre catching him.
Lady Une sent the two pilots a sharp look and then signaled for the
report to continue.
"Right." Continued the officer, "Three women and one man from our
building were there.  Two of the women were captured - one was seriously
injured.  The man is fine, he brought in the injured woman."
"Show me this man and woman." Ordered Une.

Sally sighed, excusing herself from the room.  Her alibi was that she
had needed fresh air.  Her real reason was that things were a hell.
Once out of the musty room, she leaned dejectedly against the wall,
rubbing her temples with a tired hand.  Her moment of relaxing was
fleeting - Lady Une's sharp eyes were soon in front of her.  Sally
resisted the urge to make a face.
"Yes, Une?" she asked, detaching herself from the wall.
"I've heard you have a new patient."
Poe nodded.
"Can I see her and her files?"
Poe was about to answer when she notice a few other figures behind Lady
Une.  Three figures, to be exact.  Dorothy, Quatre, and Trowa.
Sally sighed and shifted nervously. "Fine, but you're not going to like
it." She warned, opening the door to the med room.

Heero leaned back into his seat.  Wing Zero was on autopilot for the
moment - he could nap.  He could, not that he would.  Heero was rarely
ever tired.
He closed his eyes for a moment, digesting his thoughts.  He was off to
the one place he knew he needed to go, off to find the tools that would
help him win this secret war.  Than once he had those, he would recruit
the only other souls worthy of using them.  And once that was done,
there would be a few quick battles, and all this havoc would be over
with.
It was so simple!

"You buffoon!" laughed Lila, as Chris continued to carry her throughout
the house. "I don't even know how you can carry me so long!"
Chris snorted. "The strength of a faithful knight never wanes!" he
declared with a booming voice, letting her down. "It only gets replaced
by exhaustion."
He sucked in his breath, stumbling backwards at the loss of her weight.
Lila giggled again, moving gracefully up to him. "Perhaps thou knight
must be saved by thou goddess's magic, eh?" she proposed, leaning into
him.
Chris took the opportunity, wrapping his hands around her waist and
easing her body unto his.  Their lips met in a serene kiss, and Lila
shivered, Chris's fingers tracing her neckline.  That one finished,
Chris's lips continued to move further down, leaving Lila gasping with
pleasure.
When they separated, Chris, never to be outdone, said, "Perhaps I am
more injured than I thought.  Let us go the healing chambers!"  With
those words the happy couple whisked away.