Alone

A/N Hmm... lala... thanks for the nice reviews. Wufei won't be kicking anyone... not YET (ooo,
plot hints) Give me a few chapters, I have such plans for him. Those mercs still are out there,
you know. Glad you guys liked the, um, lemonade. Confused Wufei is so fun...

Chapter 19: Morning


Trowa followed his usual habit of waking just after dawn. It took him a single second to realize
he was in Wufei's apartment, that Quatre was indeed the familiar warm lump beside him. He eased
his arm from underneath the blond boy and sat up, tucking the blankets carefully back around
Quatre's shoulders. He sat on the side of the bed for a moment, then wandered into the kitchen
and washed his hands. He started the coffeepot and made himself some buttered toast, knowing
from experience that the others wouldn't be awake yet. During the war Wufei would have been the
next up, just a few minutes after Trowa, but he knew that exhaustion and all the shots Sally had
given him would combine to keep him out cold. And if Duo and Heero had their way... well, he
would *really* be tired, then, wouldn't he?

He couldn't help but snicker.


*


Quatre woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and nearly floated into the kitchen in
search of the source of that alluring scent. Trowa calmly handed him a cup, fixed just the way
he liked it. He took it with a sigh and sat down on Trowa's lap, leaving the other chair for
whoever got up next. His lover put down the newspaper he'd been reading and wrapped both arms
around him, holding him close. They sat in comfortable silence for a long moment.

"How do you think it went?" Quatre's voice was almost a whisper. Trowa didn't have to ask what
he was talking about.

"Wufei likes them, but he's stubborn."

"That's very true. I suppose we'll just have to see what happens." He sighed and turned big
blue puppy eyes up at Trowa. "Will you make me some breakfast?"

"When are you going to learn to cook?"

"The day after I throw you out - so, never." Trowa couldn't argue with that.

He made Quatre breakfast.


*


Duo and Heero were grinning. They grinned while they made breakfast, and Heero grinned at his
scrambled eggs while Duo beamed down at his cereal. They grinned at each other while they washed
their dishes and grinned at Quatre while he folded up the couch bed. When Trowa announced he
was going out for a bit they smiled at him. While it was perfectly normal to see a grin
plastered on Duo's face, Heero was a different story.

So the other two figured last night went really well.

Trowa was only gone for about half an hour. When he came back he had five sturdy canvas duffel
bags with him. At Quatre's questioning look he explained.

"If the furniture isn't Wufei's, then we can pack the rest of his things in these."

"Good idea." Duo said.

"Yes, much easier than cardboard boxes." Quatre congratulated his lover, giving him a brief
kiss and taking one bag. He reach it to Duo. "Here you go, stealth operative. You can pack
up his clothes without waking him up." The last check on Wufei had showed them a soundly
sleeping lump, wrapped in blankets.

Duo, his grin still firmly in place, took the bag and vanished silently down the hall. The
others went around taking down the few pictures and packing away the blankets. Heero took
care of the few dishes in the kitchen, leaving some for Wufei to use when he woke up. Trowa
and Quatre packed away the single shelf of books carefully, knowing how their comrade treasured
those. It surprised them how few he had, and Quatre resolved to ask him about it later.

Duo tucked away the neatly folded clothes in Wufei's dresser, leaving out a warm long sleeved
tee and a pair of loose silk traditional pants similar to the ones Wufei used to wear when he
was a pilot, save that they were black instead of white. He packed away all the towels and such
from the bathroom, leaving one set for when his lover awoke. Before he left the room he ghosted
a kiss across Wufei's lips. The small boy hummed contentedly without waking up, and Duo's grin
became so broad it was nearly painful.

When he reached the small kitchen/living room - the two spaces were only separated by the
counter - he found Trowa and Heero packing away a stack of movie disks while Quatre stared
out the kitchen window. He quirked an eyebrow at the boy but didn't say anything. He just
went to help with the movies, taking the time to scan the titles. He and Heero found another
reason to grin when they saw that Wufei had several old karate-style movies that they had never
seen. They loved those.

Pretty soon everything in the small apartment that they *knew* was Wufei's had been packed away,
and some things they weren't sure about lay ready to be packed if ‘Fei said they were his.
Having done all they could do for now, the three tallest boys settled on the couch to watch
one of the old movies.

Quatre was restless. He couldn't explain why and the others didn't press him. They knew him
too well. When he figured it out, he would tell him. Trowa looked at him for a long moment,
letting him know he was there if he needed him. Quatre replied with a nod and Trowa turned back
to the movie. The blond boy wandered aimlessly from the window to the couch, to check on Wufei,
to the window, to search for anything else that he could pack and back to the window. He didn't
know what he was expecting to see out in the view of the seedy neighborhood but he felt a driving
urge to keep a check on it.

It was nearly noon when they finally heard some stirring in the bedroom, then the sound of a
shower. Heero and Duo suddenly found it hard to pay attention to the second movie they were
watching, and Trowa and Quatre snickered openly.

They didn't care. They were just waiting for the shower to end, for the bedroom door to open.
They needed to know how Wufei was feeling after the events of last night. They were so tense
that the phone's sudden brazen ring made them jump. Quatre giggled at them before he answered
it.

"Hello." ... "Yes, last night." ... "No, he never called." ... "No one came back, and we haven't
seen anyone this morning." ... "He just woke up. He's taking a shower." ... "All right. We
just have a little more to take care of, and he needs to eat." ... "Yes, ma'am. As soon as
possible." ... "Goodbye."

He turned to the others, blue eyes worried again. "Something's up. Une had a visitor this
morning."


*


The man stood in the shadows of the alley, staring at the small window in the dirty gray wall.
He knew that was the right apartment, he'd seen the blond kid looking out. Where was his
partner? He wasn't supposed to be doing this *alone!*

Not that he couldn't handle it.

No, he reassured himself, he could handle this just fine. Those kids would never know what hit
them. Finished and gone before they even realized he was there, and then off to his reward.
He began to fantasize about just what his demands would be...


*


Wufei was a little confused about the lack of towels in his bathroom, and a little more confused
about the lack of clothes in his bedroom. Only his black pants and a dark grey shirt were lying
across the cot, a pair of his shoes on the floor beneath. He got dressed quickly and scraped
his hair back into a neat ponytail. He spared one glance into the mirror and was relieved to
see that the rather high collar of the shirt hid the reddish-purple mark on his neck. He didn't
need Quatre and Trowa to see *that.*

He had a feeling he was in for enough teasing as it was.

He was still a little overwhelmed by what had happened last night, half his mind trying to tell
him it was a dream while the other half tried to insist it was just a fluke - and while his
traitorous heart tried to do somersaults of joy.


When he came into the living room he was rather surprised to find only Quatre waiting. The
other boy was standing staring out the window.

"Why do you live in a neighborhood like this?" The question was so low he barely heard it.
He didn't have to ask what he meant. He'd stared at that view enough - dirty streets and alleys
full of trash, the dregs of society wandering up and down the sidewalk.

"The rent is cheap." He replied, opening the fridge and taking out the sweet and sour chicken
he'd put in there last night. He liked it cold, and only retrieved a pair of chopsticks from
the drainboard, walking over to stand beside his friend.

"Why are you worried about the rent?" Blue eyes raked over him, noting with approval that the
shadows under his eyes were fading and the lines of exhaustion on his face were gone. "We packed
away most of your stuff, it certainly didn't look like you were spending wildly on possessions?"

Wufei took a bite of chicken and chewed it slowly before he answered. He was about to get into
trouble again. "Disciplinary pay cuts." Quatre's eyes went impossibly wider. He sputtered for
a moment.

"Disciplin... Wufei! You mean that man was cutting your pay so low you had to rent an apartment
*here* and you still didn't tell anyone?!"

Wufei shrugged. "He was still the C.O. Besides, I never really had time to talk to anyone, when
it started getting... difficult." Quatre sighed.

"‘Difficult' is an understatement. There was nothing in your file about pay cuts. Do you have
any records?" For answer Wufei turned to the small desk in the living room, the only piece of
furniture the others hadn't gone through. They weren't sure Wufei would want them going through
personal papers. He took out a manila folder from a bottom drawer and handed it to Quatre. The
blond shuffled through neatly organized memos from Hernbeck informing ‘Agent Chang' of pay cuts
and the reasons for them, and the pay check stubs that verified the memos weren't forgeries.
"Can I keep this? Une will want to see it."

Wufei shrugged, setting his food down as he began to stack the other neat folders on the desktop.
"As long as I get it back." He continued to sort through his papers, throwing most of them away
and keeping only the essentials, not paying attention to Quatre. The other pilot was sorting
through the file and his normally cheerful blue eyes were angry. That jerk had cut Wufei down
to *peanuts* while upping his missions - and there was no sign of the bonuses he should have
been getting for the extra missions. He'd certainly bring this to Une's attention - he knew
she'd see to it that Wufei got a nice fat compensation check.

"Where are the others?" Wufei broke into his thoughts.

"They took the three full bags we packed to the shuttle. We didn't want to be weighed down
with all five on the way back." At Wufei's questioning look he continued. "Do you know an
Agent Burks?"

"He was the biggest guy, last night."

"Oh. Well, he told Une some things this morning - we just want to be careful, that's all." He
sat the file on the kitchen counter and wandered back over to the window.

"What things?" Wufei was right behind him, but his question didn't get answered. Quatre was
staring into the alley across the street.

"Wufei! Quick, look! Is that who I think it is?"