| Title: Building a New Life Chapter: 13/14 Word count: Rating: Mature Betaed by rogue53 Warnings: Lemons, fighting, blood, explosions, swearing, slight kink. Nothing else. Parings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X6. Relena as friend to all the boys. Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to Gundam Wing. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it. Summary: Sequel to The Price They Paid – The Pilots fought for peace for the Colonies and the Earth. With peace and the freedom to begin new lives they now are faced with new threats, not from politicians, but from the hard, cold space around them and the men and women they work with. Construction work is dangerous and the people involved in colonial construction are hardened and rambunctious. Building a colony is not at all like building a city. As the boys are about to find out. Authors note: Not much of a real plot so much as just incidents in building a colony and how the boys handle them. . Quatre Raberba Winner couldn't help but grin at his friend and husband. They'd been married the second they'd entered Mina Hurr air space. His colony recognized same sex marriage and allowed the couples to enjoy all the rights and privileges of married couples. “I need to get to my office and find out what's going on with Heero, Duo, Wufei and Milliardo. Where are they? How long will it take you to find out?” Trowa smiled back. “Not long. Once we get to the office, I'll start a trace.” Quatre smiled happily. He'd have all his family around him soon. He discounted his sisters completely, as all most of them had ever been was a nuisance. He wondered idly when they'd realize that they couldn't run WEI, no matter what they thought. He hoped it was before they ran it into the ground. But, he reminded himself, he wasn't going to interfere, they had to learn for themselves. “I'm going to start work on the proper management of this colony. I'm not going to have it built higgledy-piggledy, as Duo would say. Let me know when they're going to land so we can go greet them.” “Ok. I'll have both ships docked at the main dock. We'll need the size to dismount the Gundams.” Quatre gave Trowa a rather evil grin and they headed for the offices. It didn't take long to find out that Duo and Heero were due within four days and Milliardo and Wufei the day after, or five days from today. And so Trowa settled into his office and started doing his 'job'. He was Quatre's executive assistant as well as his lover and he was determined to do a good job. It wasn't easy, but it was interesting. He could pull off the cold faced look as well as Heero and, as he was tall, it was even more intimidating, or he liked to tell himself that. At least it was intimidating enough. Trowa got in touch with the foreman in charge of assigning docking bays and made arrangements to have the Gundams off-loaded in the colony's main dock. All other cargo would have to be assigned other, less convenient, bays; but Trowa calmly told the executive that the Gundam mobile suits came first. The man grumbled a little but it seemed to be for appearances sake more than anything else. Trowa got his bay. . Duo checked the readouts again and frowned. “Heero, come look at this. I don't like it.” Heero glanced over Duo's shoulder, then fixed his gaze on the readout. His intensity nearly burned the print off the label. “Shadow, there.” his finger touched the readout. “Not a barge. Looks like one at first glance.” “I know. We saw it two days ago, it disappeared, now it's back. What is it? What?” Duo mumbled off as he started running through the start up for the long distance sensors. Heero settled in his seat and started his own routine. They scanned and recorded for over 30 minutes but got nowhere. Duo cursed and swatted a switch. “Damn! We've poked and prodded at that for half an hour. Nothing! In a petticoat. Fuck!” Heero snarled his own frustration. “It looks like a ghost from a barge, but it's not following any path that a barge would normally take. So ... what the hell is it?” “I don't know, lover. I'll set the systems to automatically record it for a while. But we've got course corrections to make and we better get with it.” “Right. I really don't fancy winding up in a permanent orbit around the sun.” Heero turned to his computer and started the routine. It didn't take long for the numbers to pop up. “Ok, we need a three second burn at ...” Heero read off the numbers, then got a puzzled look on his face. “That doesn't seem right. Duo? Run these, will you?” Duo transferred the raw data to his monitor and examined it quickly. “Something's wrong with the computers. Check them out, will you? I'll re-do the figures and do the correction manually.” Heero just grunted and went to work. He ran diagnostics on the programs and the hardware. What he found would make a nun swear, the computers were loaded with porno and trojans, viruses, and malware of all sorts. Someone had been downloading porno and gotten all the other stuff along with it. Heero slammed his fist down on the control panel, leaving a fist sized dent. “Damn! I'm gonna fry someone for breakfast. The computers are completely unreliable, full of viruses and trojans. Absolutely unacceptable.” Duo just glanced over for a second. “Well, have a cow later, I need help right now. Start setting up the coordinates and burn times as I give them to you. I can't do both and get it right. This thing isn't a Gundam, you know.” Heero just sighed and got to work. It took them ten minutes to do a job that should have taken only seconds. When they sat back, Heero absently keyed the button to send his data on the ghost to Mina Hurr before he started working on the computers. He wasn't sure he could get them clean before they needed to dock at Mina Hurr. . Wufei eyed his readout with a disgusted expression. “I see it again. What is it?” Milliardo looked at the readout and frowned. “I'm not sure. It looks like a ghost, you know, one caused by an unmarked barge. But it's not in the usual lane. Odd. I'm not sure I like this.” Wufei tapped some keys and remarked idly. “I'll record it for a while, then send it to Mina Hurr. Wonder where Duo and Heero are?” “Due to orbital variations we'll probably be a day behind them. They were headed for Mina Hurr, too. Right?” “Ummm. They were. I've got a book I want to read, can I leave you here? Or would you rather I brought it back. Doesn't make any difference to me.” Milliardo knew which book Wufei was referring to but said, “I know you're going to stick your nose in that ... what is it? Law through the ages?” Wufei nodded with a rather sheepish expression. “Thought so. You'll disappear into that book and I'll have to shake you to get your attention. But bring it here, that way if I need you I just have to stretch out an arm.” Wufei snorted. “I hope I'm aware enough of my surroundings not to need that.” But he smiled when he returned with his book. . A sub lieutenant in the central control office of Mina Hurr accepted two unusual recordings from unidentified sources, addressed to Mr. Q.R. Winner; not knowing what else to do with them he filed them, despite the Memo hanging right in front of his face that said to pass such things directly to Mr. Winner. . Duo did the count down while Heero did the docking check sheet. Despite Heero's best efforts the computers were still unreliable so they were going to have to dock on manual. “Sheet complete. Check acceptable.” Heero slid the clipboard into its holder. “Count down to final burn commencing. At 10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7” The auto pilot was shut off. “6 ... 5 ... 4 ...” Heero took his yolk back to his knees, positioned and ready in case Duo needed help. “3 ... 2 ... 1! Burn!” The rumble of verners filled the cockpit. They were ready for rendezvous with the new colony. Duo fired the braking verners and counted down the time. “Docking beginning in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2... 1! Dock!” Brakes screeched as the wheels made first contact with the deck plating. Heero braced himself to wrestle with the controls in case Duo couldn't manage by himself. The computers which should have helped with this were still down too. Duo managed quite well on his own, to Heero's relief. He always felt like he was putting Duo down when he 'interfered' with his lover. Duo would have told him different, if he'd ever asked. Duo taxied their shuttle to the back of the bay and started his shut down while Heero informed the crews that they could off load the Gundams at will. While the crew was getting the Gundams off the shuttle and into their racks, Quatre and Trowa arrived to greet Heero and Duo. Duo caught sight of them first and yelled, “Quat! Hi! Man, am I glad to see you,” then hurried to give his friend a hug and a slap on the back. “Damn, talk about lucky. We got off that station just in time. Poor Wufei and Milliardo got served but we were already off and running. Sucks.” Quatre smirked at Duo, a rather evil expression from someone considered so sweet. “Oh, Wufei went all psycho on them and Milliardo and he stole one of my shuttles and left too. They're about 36 hours behind you.” Duo frowned a bit, due to orbital considerations they shouldn't be that far behind, if Wufei and Milliardo had left soon after their own escape. “How long did it take Wuffers to break down?” “Almost three days.” Quatre shook his head at that. “Talk about masochism.” Heero wrapped an arm around Duo's waist and entered with conversation with, “No, that's Milliardo's kink. Wufei is just too stubborn for his own good.” Duo snorted. “This from you?” Trowa poked Duo in the ribs, making him flinch into Heero who glowered in mock menace. “Takes one to know one. Come on, we'll show you to your quarters.” Heero listened as Duo brought Quatre and Trowa up to speed on all the goings on at the medical station. Trowa was glad to see that Duo was up to his pre-injury strength. He and Quatre had been worried about their friend but, obviously, they hadn't needed to be. Duo caught Quatre's mood and turned to him, a questioning look on his face. “Q? You ok? What's up?” Quatre sighed, rubbed his face then erupted. “Damn it, Duo. We nearly lost you. You could have been paralyzed, you could have ...” Duo grabbed him into a face-to-face hug, Heero cuddled up to his back at Duo's signal. “Hush. It's ok. I'm fine, partially thanks to you. The rest, thanks to my superior good looks and such.” Duo looked over Quatre's shoulder at Heero. “ 'Ro, tell him.” Trowa added his long arms to the mix, encircling everyone in a tight hug. “Yeah, 'Ro you tell him. I've been telling him for the last four days. He's not hearing it.” Heero just swatted Quatre on the shoulder. “Stop! Now! That's enough. You can't control the universe, no matter how hard you try. Everything worked out fine. Be happy about that and quit ... um ... weeping over spilled cream?” Heero winked at Duo over Quatre's head. Quatre snickered, said, “It's crying over spilled milk. Come on, I'll quit freaking out and show you your quarters.” and started away. Trowa draped an arm over Quatre's shoulders and ambled along beside him as they walked through the colony. Duo and Heero looked around as they walked. The colony was obviously a work in progress, there were signs of construction everywhere. Stacks of materials half blocked some areas and the huge open area at the center of the ball was strung with supports and unidentified hanging objects. Duo shook his head. “Q-ball, there's a lot of stuff going on and not in a good way.” Quatre sighed. “Oversight is sadly lacking here. I should have been onsite months ago but my sisters ... never mind that. I'm not going to point fingers and cast blame. We're here now and we're going to fix it.” Heero grinned, he liked Quatre's attitude. His analyst at the school had told him, “Move forward and don't look back. Learn from your past but don't let it weight you down.” he intended to do exactly that. He hoped for great things and expected them. Duo, watching Heero's profile, felt something inside him loosen and couldn't help a small smile of contentment. Trowa noticed this and squeezed Quatre, nodding his head in their direction. Quatre didn't even look, he knew what had happened and was smugly pleased with himself. Their walk took a little longer that it could have as they had to walk the whole way instead of taking any kind of transport. Quatre admitted that the colony wasn't far enough along to have started installation of any kind of public transport and they'd wanted to wait until Heero could complete a prospectus with recommendations on what kind to install. Heero nodded his head, squeezed Duo's ribs and whispered in his ear. “You'll have to help me, I know you've got some really good ideas just from living on L2.” Duo nodded, he did have some ideas, very definite ideas; especially of what not to do. They finally reached their quarters and Quatre explained that this was his 'compound'. There was only one way in, for now, and it was easily closed off. This was to be their home from now on. The entry way was a long hall with three heavy blast doors to close it off incase of an atmosphere accident. Just inside the last door was a vestibule with a large locker at one side which contained survival suits. There was also a place for them to put dirty clothing and boots. On through the vestibule was the first set of rooms which was made up of Quatre's office area; two large rooms, one the reception room with Trowa's desk then Quatre's office. There were also offices for all the other pilots which were similar to Quatre's, without any furniture so that they could arrange things to suit themselves. Quatre told them, on the way through, that they could hire secretaries for themselves or get someone from the colony pool. At the end of that hall was a flight of stairs that led directly into the huge 'public' lounge; an area for all the pilots to share. This floor also contained a kitchen, dining room, library, game room and half bath. Another staircase situated between the lounge and the dining room led up another floor into a circular antechamber furnished with a few groupings of chairs, tables and cabinets filled with what Duo referred to as chachki. It would make a nice place to relax before bed. The bedrooms were actually suits, very nice ones with a sitting room with a bedroom and bathroom behind it. Or they would be, when they were finished. Right now the walls were all bare and the furniture was military practical. Duo looked into their assigned rooms and snickered. “What the hell happened? Why is the antechamber all snooty and this is just barely finished?” Quatre laughed. “I caught my sister before she could get any farther. I'm not wasting resources on frills. We need it elsewhere. If you want better than what we've got, buy it yourself. Trowa and I did.” Heero nodded, understanding now why the lounge was nearly empty and the game room only had a Gundam Pilot game in it. “I like it. We can get some different furniture later. What we've got will more that do for now.” Trowa cleared his throat. “Well, we'll leave you to get settled. It's 14:00 colony time. My suggestion is to take a nap to get your bio clock reset. Unless you're hungry. We could fix something to eat first.” Duo yawned. “I'm beat and I'm not hungry. Me for a nap. Heero?” Heero laughed. “Me too. Nap sounds great. We could meet for supper, discuss office arrangements and duties then?” Quatre smiled happily. “I'm so glad to see you guys. We'll eat dinner, then start figuring things out. Oh, almost forgot, Wufei and Milliardo. Do you think we should wait on them?” Heero shook his head. “We should figure out what we're doing now. Less confusion that way. We'll know what we're doing and that leaves them to get sorted. Your attention won't be so divided.” They visited a bit more but Duo's yawning finally sent Quatre and Trowa on their way with promises of a tasty dinner later. Dinner proved to be interesting to everyone. Heero told Quatre about the computers on the shuttle and Quatre composed a company wide memo right there and then, prohibiting anyone from downloading anything into a company computer without the written, email acceptable, permission of their IT tech. Which led them to the discussion of what Duo and Heero's responsibilities were to be. Quatre blandly stated that they were the 'Hit Men', his personal trouble shooters. Duo couldn't help a little crow of delight, fist pump and 'Yeah!' Heero just smiled, a lot. . Wufei let Milliardo pilot the landing as he hated docking a shuttle, although he could do it competently. Milliardo docked with a skill that rivaled Duo or Heero, shut down the systems and called for suit crews to unload their suits. Central control had told them to wait at the shuttle, Quatre and the others were going to come greet them. They'd been held up a bit but were on their way. Milliardo led the way down the ramp and onto the deck. Wufei grumbled wearily about their suits but followed. They were met at the bottom by a smiling young woman who announced, “You don't have crews yet, but we all know our way around a suit. We'll get them racked up and ready for you. You'll be picking crew?” Milliardo nodded. Wufei just waited. They'd discussed this on the way here. Milliardo knew how to command a crew, Wufei didn't. Milliardo, due to his military training was, therefore, the logical person to handle the choice of crew and commanding them. Wufei was content to allow Milliardo to take it all over. He did and set the temporary crews to cleaning the suits and examining them for any needed adjustments. Just as Milliardo finished giving his orders the other pilots entered the bay. None of them saw the picture that the waiting, spying construction workers did. Milliardo was the tallest by about 4 inches, then Trowa, after that Heero and Duo at about the same height, Quatre was the shortest of them but only by an inch. Grouped as they were, they made an impressive sight, lean, toned bodies gathered together in a laughing clump while giant mecha offloaded near by. Milliardo eyed the progress of the off load, saw that the suits were racked and nodded to himself. The crews seemed competent enough and he was pleased with the arrangements. “Quatre, can we keep the current crews or do we need to pick other people?” Quatre turned to Milliardo with a smile. “You can keep the present people, if you like. I'd planned on letting you pick your own sooner or later.” “Unless Wufei has other plans, we should keep the current crews until or unless someone doesn't work out.” Quatre nodded and started for the internal door. “This way. We'll get you two settled and ... do you need a meal? Or some sleep?” Wufei chose that moment to yawn widely. Milliardo smiled a bit wearily. “Sleep. Both of us. I'm just about at the end of my usefulness. We'll catch up later. Ok?” The quick tour impressed Milliardo, Wufei just remarked that it was amazingly like the compound that he'd grown up in, without the garden. Quatre twinkled at Trowa who just sighed. They'd thought of something nice for everyone except Wufei. Heero had a complete computer workshop, while Duo had a mechanics bay that was full of all the best and newest equipment. Milliardo had a library of real books, not yet brought up. Trowa and Quatre had the kitchen as both of them loved to cook. Wufei, they'd had no idea what to get for, now they knew. And Milliardo would love the garden too as they could get starts off some of his orchids. Duo waited until Wufei and Milliardo had examined their rooms, approved and announced they were going to sleep before cornering Quatre. “Quat, you know I love everything about our new home but you forgot one thing.” Quatre raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?” “A dojo. We really need a dojo ... and a gym.” Quatre shook his head. “I didn't forget. It's just that we've already got way more luxuries than anyone else on the station. Almost everyone lives in dorms and eats in mess halls. The construction isn't far enough along to allow anything else. I decided that we should use the local gym.” Duo grinned. “Ok. I can see the sense in that. But, you know, the quarters are just going to make it easier for us to do our jobs. We'll be eating, sleeping and working at all kinds of odd hours. Shift work? What's that? Right?” Quatre grimaced. “Exactly.” Heero, catching Duo's idea, announced that he needed a good workout. He also threw a significant glare at Trowa, who just smirked back. Quatre agreed with them that they needed a good workout. He turned and started down the hall, in the wrong way. Heero blocked him saying softly, “Wrong way, Winner.” Quatre blinked then moved to pass him. Heero got back in the way again. “I said, wrong way. You're coming to the dojo with us.” “Um ... Heero, I don't have time. I need...” Quatre's puzzled look started to morph into annoyance. “You need exercise just as much as anyone of us. Come on, don't be difficult.” Quatre put one hand on Heero's shoulder to move him out of the way, it didn't work. Heero just clasped that wrist in a loose grip. Quatre pulled back and Heero let him, but he didn't let go, his hand went too. Quatre moved his hand again, jerking down sharply. Heero just followed along. Quatre grabbed Heero's wrist with the other hand and Heero snagged that hand in his other. Now they were face to face Heero grasping each of Quatre's wrists in his hands. Quatre pulled every trick he knew to get Heero to turn loose but Heero just followed along, letting go of a wrist if he thought he might hurt Quatre but catching it again quickly. “Ok, ok. This is just silly. I give.” Quatre sighed in annoyance. “I'm glad. It is getting a bit silly. You're not getting me off you until you promise to come to the gym with us. You're not allowed to wear yourself out. You make mistakes when you're tired. You done being childish?” Quatre snarled then gave up. “Oh, hell, why should I argue with you about doing something I really want to. Trowa? Will you get our bags please?” Trowa started to turn but Duo's cheerful voice stopped him. “I got 'em. I went for them while Heero and Quatre were dancin'. Let's go.” So, they went. The walk didn't take very long as the gym was on the same corridor as Quatre's quarters, which everyone referred to as 'Command'. Duo looked around, checking to see how far along the construction was. “Looks like this part of the colony is almost finished.” Quatre shrugged. “I wanted the quarters completed before anyone moved in. Safety first. Not like some places where they lost people because of atmo leaks. Not for me, thank you. This area will be re worked later into the more expensive residential area. Right now it's the only residential area.” Heero glanced around then asked, “How many workers are there?” “About one hundred thousand. The main ball is complete and all the central docking bays. We're ready to start on the first ring but we've already run into problems. We'll discuss them later.” Heero just shrugged. “Ok. This the gym?” Trowa opened the door and led the way inside announcing, “Yes, here we are. Locker room over there, check in desk here.” As they lined up to check in, Heero continued to keep an eye on things, something was bothering him but he couldn't figure it out. He decided the just let things take their natural course and deal as needed. Quatre set his bag on the counter and handed the clerk his key card. “Establish accounts for Heero and Duo, please. I'm sure that Wufei and Milliardo will want memberships too.” He glanced at Duo who just grinned and nodded. Trowa poked Heero and whispered, “Quatre's carrying a load of tension, get Duo to spar with him.” Heero just grunted and headed for the locker room, the other's followed. After changing into gi they headed out into the main part of the gym. It wasn't crowded but neither was it empty. There were enough machines for all of them to use one and the central area was clear except for a couple of men who were sparing half-heartedly. Heero nodded to Duo, then stepped forward to lead them in some warm-ups. No one paid much attention to them until his voice rang out in the first counts of the warm up then heads turned. Not all of them friendly. No one said anything though; it didn't seem very safe to challenge gundam pilots, nor their young boss. So they just watched, for now. After the warm-up and some stretching, they paired off to spar; Duo with Quatre and Heero against Trowa. They moved to separate areas and the combat started. The combat between Trowa and Heero was quickly over. Despite Trowa's gymnastic abilities and longer arms and legs, Heero had him in a choke hold in a matter of seconds. Trowa clapped out and Heero helped him up from his seat on the mat. They turned to watch Quatre and Duo instead of starting a second match. As they watched all the observers realized that Quatre's experience was equal to Duo's and the fight was going to last a while. Right now Duo was pursuing Quatre around the mat, jabbing at him with quick flurries of punches and kicks. Quatre defended himself, displaying a level of expertise that proved he deserved his black belt. Duo kept after him for a while, then found that Quatre had maneuvered him into a corner. Quatre's strategy had been to let Duo follow him until all he had to do was dart to one side and whirl around. The rules were that a step off the mats was a loss. Duo was cornered with nowhere to go but off the mat. Unless there was another way. Duo squatted, jumped and flipped right over Quatre's head. He made a snatch at one of Duo's ankles but missed. Duo landed behind him and kicked him in the rear making him stumble very near the boundary line. Quatre managed to recover but just barely. His counter attack was a ferocious series of punches, chops and kicks that drove Duo back into the middle of the mats. The cheering that erupted didn't distract them for a second, fighting in the middle of massed Mecha had taken care of that problem before either one of them was 16. The fight surged back and forth across the mats with first Duo then Quatre on the attack. Heero watched carefully and realized that Duo and Quatre were well matched. Neither one was going to get the upper hand anytime soon. Trowa, of the same opinion, decided to try to give one or the other an advantage. He disappeared into the back and came out again with a scythe and two shotels. He just stood at the side, waiting for one of them to notice. Duo noticed first but his start of recognition alerted Quatre who was closer to Trowa. He made it to his shotels before Duo got his scythe, by all of a second. This was just enough time to allow him to get away from Duo. They both knew that the practice weapons weren't going to do them any harm. All they did was leave blue marks in washable ink. They also buzzed like the real electronic weapons did. Duo's scythe hummed like a hive of angry giant bees and Quatre's shotels crackled with the sound of overheated metal. The sizzle and crack of the scythe hitting Quatre's crossed shotels was startling in the sudden silence. Quatre pulled the shotels away from each other, trying to trap the hame of the scythe between them. Duo pulled back on the hame but Quatre ducked under the grips of his swords and spun, trapping Duo even tighter. Duo gave up on pulling away and instead, let Quatre pull him into a back-to-back spin that allowed him to keep his grip on his weapon. Quatre pulled hard on his shotels and flipped Duo over his back, still trying to break Duo's grip. This only allowed Duo to complete the flip on his own terms and get away from Quatre's grip. They jockeyed for position for a few more seconds then Duo's longer reach and leverage advantage put Quatre out of the fight. Duo managed to get Quatre out of his arms reach just enough to cut his throat with his scythe. The blue ink was startlingly dark against the fair skin. Quatre stepped back laughing a bit maniacally. “Well, that was nice. Duo, you're as good as ever. Damn, I miss this.” “Well, you don't have to miss it anymore. I'll give you a match anytime you want. Why don't you work out with Trowa more?” “Sisters. And, we've only just got here. I haven't had time to set up a real schedule yet.” Duo handed his scythe to a waiting attendant. “Thanks, man. The first thing you should have done is have Trowa set up one. Heero?” Heero handed him a towel. “Thanks. We need to all be on a schedule, even if we don't stick to it. That way we have some basis of reference. I learned that from G.” Heero nodded. “Dr. J said the same thing. We had a good talk about setting up what we do but no conversation about when. I've got the security and computer end of things. Duo's sharing security with me and trouble shooting mechanical problems. Wufei is still on the legal end. Milliardo is ... what?” Quatre smiled. “What we'll call a general contractor. He's getting all the complaints and he'll be the one who sends you guys to fix it. He's also still in charge of all publicity. I think he also wants command of the suits. That leaves me to head the day to day construction and deal with materials acquisition and all that.” Heero smiled at Trowa who just grinned in general. Then they were somewhat overwhelmed by all the people who wanted to talk to them about the match. Heero moved closer to Duo but managed to speak to everyone who wanted to speak to him. Duo was in his element, chattering away to anyone and everyone. Trowa handled himself with the aplomb he'd learned with the circus while Quatre remained dignifiedly approachable. They spent nearly an hour just talking to people. Quatre was relieved to find that most of them seemed much more at ease with him than before their match. After the last of the observers had faded away, they went to the machines and finished their workout, took showers and went back to the residence. They arrived to find that Wufei and Milliardo were still asleep so Duo shut the door again and slipped back downstairs to the kitchen to inform the others. An hour later both Milliardo and Wufei descended to the kitchen. Wufei demanding tea and Milliardo looking for coffee. Duo cheerfully handed Milliardo coffee while Heero started water boiling for tea. Wufei gave his empty cup a dismal glare, then turned it on Milliardo, who was already sipping his coffee. Trowa, his back to everyone, continued to work on breakfast for the two and lunch for everyone else. Not that that was a hardship as omelets for lunch wasn't objectionable to any of them. So he had chopped, grated and sliced his way through all the filling ingredients while they waited for Wufei and Milliardo to wake up. Heero had helped by hand washing the dirty prep equipment and Duo had helped by staying out of the way and setting the table. He was good in a kitchen but seemed to need the whole thing to himself and he didn't like cooking much. Quatre had retreated to his office for a little while, to set things in motion with the various departments, getting the other's jobs online. He'd already made the arrangements and only had to notify people that the pilots were taking up their jobs. He smiled to himself as things were falling into place nicely. Milliardo and Wufei wound up on one side of the table with Duo and Heero on the other; Quatre took the foot of the table, the end away from the stove and Trowa the head. He delivered omelets to everyone containing their favorite ingredients. As they settled down to eat, Quatre started explaining to everyone the final arrangements he'd made for them. Duo just grinned at Heero as he'd already given his opinion that Quatre had arrangements made for months and was only waiting for them to be available. As Quatre talked, Heero just pulled a bill from his pocket and handed it to Duo. Duo smirked in satisfaction, took the bill and turned his attention back to Quatre. Milliardo heartily approved of the arrangements made for him, announcing that the PR would only take a couple of hours a week, if that. He was going to set up a team and only handle the emergencies, the team would handle day to day publicity with his supervision, very loose supervision. He was going to set up guidelines and anyone who violated them was fired on the spot. His supervision of the gundam teams was going to be hands on. Heero grunted his approval while the others all nodded. Wufei found that Quatre had some general ideas of colony laws and told him that his notes were all downloaded into his office computer for his perusal. Wufei nodded and agreed that they needed to have a meeting, later, about what Quatre expected. Wufei's first draft was on Quatre's desk but there were already problems. It seemed that the legal team that Wufei had been working with had added some things and removed others. Wufei was not happy nor was Quatre. And there was also the fact that all of them needed to work with their gundams. None of them liked the idea that the colony was actually defenseless at this time. The defensive ring wasn't even really on the drawing boards yet. It left them all feeling very exposed. They finished their meal on a high note with Quatre cheerfully telling them that they could decorate their offices anyway they wanted, as long as they paid for it themselves. And have anyone to work for them they liked, as long as they were already on the station. |
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