Treize didn't say much the next morning, though everyone was able to sense that he was less than pleased with their behavior thus far. Even Duo was subdued, only occasionally cracking a joke or trying to annoy Heero or Wufei.
Lady Une supervised the loading of the van, while Treize apologized profusely to the frazzled concierge. Thankfully, the hotel would not be billing Treize, or the Romefeller Foundation, for that matter, for any damages that Duo might have incurred. Treize was grateful that Duo's pranks had not been of the property-damage type.
However, the concierge did not ever want to see Duo on the premises again, and it was only through their past good relations that he was willing to allow Treize to return.
So Treize was not in the best of spirits when he reached the van. Ten heads turned and gazed at him curiously. Treize settled himself in the driver's seat before swiveling around to face the passengers.
"The concierge was gracious enough not to press charges," he started, trying to keep his voice level, "but nevertheless, I do hope that this behavior will not be repeated at the other hotels on our travel itinerary." He did not name any names, but let his gaze rest on Duo. Nine other heads turned to stare at Duo intently.
Duo blinked with innocence. "Of course I'll beha--"
Treize cleared his throat and interrupted Duo. "If there are any more upsets at our nightly stops as were demonstrated last night, I will see to it that you are given...'alternate' sleeping arrangements. And I guarantee you that they will not be comfortable."
Duo raised his eyebrows. "...'Alternate' sleeping arrangements?"
Treize nodded to Lady Une, who nodded back and turned to face the other passengers. "You'll be sleeping on the luggage rack," she said curtly.
Treize nodded, smiling slightly. "I trust there are no objections?"
No one said anything.
"Good." Treize turned back around and started the van.
They made it about forty miles before the trouble started.
For some reason, Zechs had chosen to sit next to Heero. Heero had chosen to ignore this, and was reading a book. Noin sat on the other side of Heero, her gaze alternating between a magazine and the landscape rolling past her window.
Quatre, Duo, Trowa, Dorothy, and Relena had taken up the back two seats, and were engaged in an animated conversation. Occasionally, the chatter was punctuated with laughter, usually Duo's. Wufei was napping, his head resting lightly against the window.
Treize was starting to relax. The greater distance that they put between them and the hotel, the more the memory of the past night's events faded in his memory. He smiled slightly at Duo's youthful laugh, joined this time by Relena and Dorothy.
It started when Zechs poked Heero in the arm.
Heero only grunted in annoyance, but didn't look up. "What do you want, Zechs?"
Zechs stared straight ahead, his arms folded over his chest. "Oh, I was just thinking about how you never did thank me for fixing up the Wing Gundam for you...." His voice sounded innocent, but an ugly undercurrent of malice ran through it.
Heero did look up this time. "What?"
Zechs didn't turn to face him. "You heard me."
Heero raised his eyebrows slightly. "You want me to thank you. Am I getting this right?"
By this time, Noin had turned to stare at Zechs and Heero. "Oh, Zechs..." she murmured slightly.
Zechs didn't hear Noin. "Yes, that's what I'm asking. I would think it fairly easy to understand such a request."
Heero's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you remember how I said I would thank you?"
Zechs' expression flickered with slight concern, then his face hardened once again. "Of course," he said, a little louder than expected.
The group in the back seats looked up. Even Wufei's eyelids snapped open, instantly alert.
Trowa shook his head slightly and murmured, "He doesn't remember...."
Heero pulled out a gun. "All right," he said evenly, and aimed it at Zechs.
Zechs' eyes widened slightly.
Lady Une saw this. "Your Excellency!" she said, a note of urgency in her voice.
Treize glanced up. Only his natural state of calm managed to prevent him from plowing into the car in front of him. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, and began to search for a place to pull over.
"Mr. Yuy!" he said firmly, eyes flickering between the road and the rear-view mirror.
Neither Heero nor Zechs turned to look at him. Their eyes were both locked in a stare-down with each other. Heero's grip on the gun never flinched, and he made no move to lower his arm.
Treize sighed, partly with annoyance, and partly with relief, as he saw a sign for an approaching exit ramp that led to a town. "Heero, put down the gun, please."
No response.
Treize eased onto the exit ramp, and headed toward the town. Still one mile, he thought. Please don't let either of them do anything foolish in the van....
He raised his voice a bit louder. "If you two cannot be trusted to sit next to each other, I will make one of you switch places with Lady Une."
That worked. Heero lowered the gun slowly, but did not break eye contact with Zechs. Neither did Zechs attempt to look away.
Treize sighed, and pulled into a gas station. "Perhaps it would do all of us a world of good to get out and stretch our legs," he said. "It also looks as though there are restrooms here, and a convenience shop." He glanced at his watch. "Is fifteen minutes enough for everyone?"
A general muttering of assention filtered through the group.
Treize smiled slightly and unbuckled his seatbelt. "All right. Fifteen minutes it is. And no later--I do not want to be set too far behind schedule."
Everyone seemed happy to have the opportunity to get out of the van and stretch, even if they hadn't been on the road for very long. The pilots scattered, some heading for the restrooms, others heading for the convenience store.
Treize heaved a sigh of deep relief as soon as everyone was out of earshot, and proceeded to fill the van's gas tank. No need in passing up the opportunity, even though they were far from needing more fuel.
Zechs and Heero seemed to have forgotten about their spat; for they did not continue it after getting out of the van.
However, a few of the others had not forgotten about the fight.
Relena followed Heero about the grounds, trying to ask him why he felt the need to solve all of his problems with violence.
"Heero...I should think that you, of all people, would understand just why violence is no way to solve any disputes!" she said sternly.
Heero ignored her.
Relena frowned. "Heero...look at me when I'm talking to you." Her voice carried a note of authority.
Heero turned slowly. "Relena..." he started, his voice barely above a whisper.
Relena's eyes widened hopefully. At last, he would listen to what she had to say!, she thought.
Instead, Heero pulled out the gun again. "You should not criticize that which you do not understand," he said, his voice dangerously quiet. Relena gasped.
Fortunately, Noin and Quatre had been keeping an eye on the two, and were there in a heartbeat when they realized that things were turning ugly. Noin steered a protesting Relena away from Heero, pushing her in the direction of the restrooms. Quatre distracted Heero, asking if Heero wouldn't come with him to the convenience store. Heero was reluctant, but with Noin helping to keep Relena out of his hair, he had no need to pursue the matter.
As for Zechs, Dorothy had been quite taken by his authoritative demand of an apology from Heero. She followed him away from the van as he headed for the convenience store, eyes sparking with admiration.
Zechs was not too terribly impressed by his acquisition of Dorothy's admiration. Finally, in desperation, he tried to lose her by using the restrooms. But Dorothy followed him nonetheless.
He glared balefully at her through his mask, the men's room key clutched firmly in his left hand. "Dorothy, you do not need to follow me around like this," he said.
Dorothy clutched her hands to her chest. "Oh, but I must, Mister Milliardo!"
Zechs glared at her. "Stop calling me that, Dorothy."
Dorothy blinked in confusion. "But your name is Milliardo--" He responded by slamming the restroom door in her face. Dorothy stood there, moderately confused, staring at the restroom. She was still standing there, looking slightly perplexed, as Trowa walked past.
"How sad," he commented. "A woman who can't--"
Dorothy's eyes narrowed. "You just keep that thought to yourself, bangs boy, and you'll stay relatively injury-free," she hissed.
Trowa merely shrugged, and walked on.
Quatre was perusing the magazine racks, when he spied Duo. The braided youth had his arms filled with junk food.
"Duo, are you really that hungry? We just ate a little while ago."
Duo looked at Quatre. "So...what's your point?" He grabbed a big bag of M&Ms, adding it to the impressive collection of chocolate and sugars he was already carrying. "That doesn't mean I won't get hungry later." He looked down at his overflowing arms. "You know what this place really needs? Shopping carts." He shrugged and headed off in the direction of the chips.
Quatre watched Duo's departing form, a nervous expression on his face, and headed back to the van. He only hoped things would not be as bad as he feared they would be.
"Maxwell, if you do not shut up, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Duo giggled hysterically, and continued to jabber on mindlessly. He took a swig of his soda. Several candy bar wrappers littered his lap and the floor around him.
Quatre shook his head and sighed. "I was afraid something like this might happen," he commented to Trowa.
"Then why didn't you try to stop him?"
Quatre shrugged. "You know how Duo gets when he gets it in his mind to do something a certain way. Besides, I tried to suggest to him that buying so many sweets was a bad idea, but he didn't pay attention. Was I wrong...?"
Trowa shook his head. "No. You were right. Besides..." He eyed the hyper youth critically. "Something tells me that Duo could get a sugar high just looking at candy."
Quatre would have laughed, except he knew that laughter at this point in time would just encourage Duo to act even worse.
In the front of the van, the passengers were faring no better. Lady Une's teeth were gritted in an attempt to curb her overwhelming desire to turn around and shoot Duo. Treize's grip on the steering wheel was so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Lady Une turned to look at him.
"How much farther is our evening's destination, Your Excellency?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Treize checked his watch, and glanced at a road marker. "I'm guessing that we have about fifty more miles to go, Lady," he responded in an equally quiet voice.
"Do you think we can make it?" she asked.
Treize shook his head. "We're going to have to," he responded in a humorless voice.
"MAXWELLLLLL!!!!!!"
"Aw, Woofie, you are no fun! C'mon, sit still!"
Wufei's face was bright red. "What did you call me, Maxwell? My name is Wu Fei, not Woofie! Stop calling me that!"
"Sure thing, Woofie! Now, sit still...."
"Maxwell, you are not braiding my hair! I do not need a braid!"
"Sure you do. And it would hurt a lot less if you'd stop moving your head so much!"
"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!" Wufei unsheathed his katana.
"Your Excellency!"
A deep, tired-sounding sigh was heard from the driver's side. "Yes, Lady."
Duo had been moved to the middle seat. He was now seated between Heero and Trowa. Every time Duo tried to turn around to pester Wufei, who was sitting behind them, either Heero or Trowa would stop him.
Wufei had also been warned about weapons in the van. He was pointedly ignoring Duo, his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. Relena sat on one side of the glowering youth, and Quatre on the other. Neither looked very happy to be where they were.
Finally, Duo got bored with teasing the unresponsive Wufei, and began to look for another victim. His eyes fell on Heero.
Duo was now seated between Noin and Zechs. Dorothy had switched places with him. Zechs was trying to decide which was the worse fate--sitting next to Dorothy, or having to sit next to Duo on a good day. But this was a hyperactive sugar-high Duo. That was worse.
Zechs also had Duo's braid wrapped around one hand. Every time the braided youth tried to turn around, Zechs would give the braid a good yank.
But Duo's hands were still free. He glanced at Noin, who was working on her knitting again.
Duo was still seated between Noin and Zechs. There had been some changes, however. Zechs was no longer holding onto his braid.
He didn't have to, not any more. Treize, upon seeing the small fracas caused by Duo's insistence on helping Noin knit, had caused him to pull over. All the other passengers had aided him in his plan.
Now Duo was tied up firmly, unable to move, and unable to touch anything. Taking no chances, they had even tied his feet together.
But he could still talk.
~Thirty-Five Minutes Later~"Thank God we only have fifteen more miles before we reach our destination for the night," muttered Quatre.
Duo was now seated in the front seat, next to Treize. Lady Une had switched places with him. He was still tied up, and Lady Une had gagged him before buckling him into the passenger's side seat. He stared straight ahead, an angry expression on his face.
Treize glanced at Duo, and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry that things have to be this way," he said in a consoling tone, "but, you see, this was the only way we could reach the night's destination without anyone killing you. And I simply cannot have anything like that happening on this trip."
Duo glared at him balefully, and tried to say something through the gag. It came out as a garbled mutter.
Treize did not look to the side. "I'm sorry, Duo, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say? Would you like me to remove that gag?"
Duo nodded frantically.
Lady Une looked up in alarm. But Heero was faster. He pulled his gun again, aiming it at Treize.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Treize," he said in an even voice.
Treize chuckled slightly. "Always the warrior, aren't you? There is no need to fear. I am not removing that gag until we reach our destination for the night."
Fortunately, the rest of their day's journey passed without mishap. They reached the hotel and checked in. Everyone parted ways for dinner, and most of the group turned in early.
Treize was thankful for this. The entire group were behaving nicely that night, in contrast to the night before. There were no angry calls from the management, no sounds of fighting coming from the rooms, no other guests glaring at him balefully.
Even Duo behaved himself that night. He was too busy nursing an upset stomach from eating nothing but junk food all day to worry about causing any mischief.