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"Friends "Written By: Karina
Series: Friends Pairings: 2+6 Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence. Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the characters. That’s the way it is. Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.
Aussie spelling and unbetaed. Summary: When Milliardo Peacecraft is abducted
and left to die a solitary death Duo Maxwell decides to take a hand
in the proceedings.
Chapter 12 “Yuy.” Frosty blue eyes flicked up from the report on his desk and he acknowledged her with a barely perceptible nod. Lucrezia Noin had changed little since the war. She was still slender and wore her hair in a boyish fashion reminiscent of Trowa, though on her it looked utterly feminine. “Have a seat.” Noin shook her head and leaned on the doorframe. She looked relaxed but alert, and he knew her capable of instant action should the situation warrant it. “I have to be elsewhere in a few minutes, Heero. I was told you wanted to talk to me.” “Hello, Miss Noin.” Quatre’s bright voice startled her as he plainly was not in the office. “Quatre?” Heero motioned to the vidscreen before him and then waved at the seat beside him. “Have a seat, Miss Noin.” With a sigh Noin moved around the desk and settled beside her fellow agent. “You are always so formal, Heero. Quatre. You look well.” The blonde’s bright blue eyes were shining as he dipped his head in greeting. “As do you, Miss Noin.” The blonde was smiling that innocent smile Heero knew was patented deception. “Sorry for interrupting your day, but we have a small problem you might be able to help us with.” Her one visible eyebrow arched and her blue eye acquired a faint tint which was almost lavender. Her eyes reminded Heero of Maxwell’s, both of them with the rare colour that deepened to shades of lilac and lavender with the swing of their emotions. It went without saying the trait was more prominent with the live wire pilot of DeathScythe. “Help you? Certainly, what can I do to help?” “When did you last speak with Agent Marquise?” Even Heero could feel the arctic chill emanating from her and she had not so much as twitched a muscle. Those changeable eyes however were frosty blue. “Months ago. Frankly, Quatre, I am not interested in anything he might have to say, or in anything you have to say about him.” Her eyes narrowed and she looked coldly at the blonde. “Nor do I care what you might have to do with the idiot who, if I am not mistaken, is supposed to be dead and I wish he would stay that way.” Noin stood in a graceful thrust, glared at Heero in accusation and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind her for good measure. For a long moment neither of the former pilots spoke or moved, each considering the abrupt conclusion of the meeting. Quatre, with a small sigh, reached forward to close off the link and a moment later a door at the far end of the office opened and Quatre walked to claim the seat beside Heero. “She is angry, there is no mistaking that, but I felt no guilt in her. Anger, hurt, those I sensed but not guilt. I do not think she is involved.” “Why did she react that way? I had the impression she was close to Marquise, that it was possible they would marry.” Heero was scowling at the closed door, seemingly paying Quatre no mind. “Who told you that?” Heero snorted. “I have eyes, Quatre. I am capable of using them and the last time I saw Marquise and Noin together there was no strain between them.” Quatre arched an eyebrow in enquiry but made no comment, aware through his empathy Heero was mulling something over. “Relena has mentioned the closeness between them on past occasions, and even gone so far as to wonder when they would set a date.” Quatre rubbed at his chin thoughtfully and leaned back comfortably in his seat. “I am not certain what happened between them, though I have my suspicions. I admit I do not know a great deal about the man, but I believe I know enough of him to estimate his sense of honour. I think he would not wish to involve Miss Noin in his current occupation. She would not take rejection from him, for any reason, well.” Heero turned from staring at the door to glance at his companion and he waved aside the topic, turning to what he considered more important concerns. “Something is not right. Une is playing coy with us. I was under the impression Chang and Barton are Special Ops.” Quatre nodded. “That’s right.” “They don’t work with Marquise. I’ve checked the records and Marquise is not listed as a Preventer agent. There are five Special Ops teams and he is not on any of them. Those groups are made up of veterans of the war, members of either Alliance or Oz Special Operations Units. I would have expected to find Marquise’s name listed amidst their number. Curiously I have, to date, found no mention of him in Preventer records.” “Oh.” Quatre stared off into space and Heero sat in silence, willing to wait for Quatre to run through his facts before making an assessment. “Do you not think he might be more aptly described as Black Ops.” Heero stiffened before sitting back in his seat, his shoulders betraying his tension. “There is no provision for Black Ops Units listed in Preventers charter.” “I know.” His companion murmured. Heero scowled. “I see.” “I should have expected something like this to happen. He’s proven to be hard to kill and he is impossible to ignore.” Quatre continued. “A veteran of the wars and, from what my investigators have discovered, he was involved in more than just the Mobile Suit Division of the Specials.” Heero thrust himself to his feet and began to pace the length of the office, messy chocolate hair being subjected to a rough combing by restless fingers. “If there was to be a Black Ops Unit I would have thought it would be the Gundam Pilots assigned to it.” Quatre frowned and rested his head in his hands, elbows perched on the desk, watching the measured stride of his companion. “I suppose one should be flattered to think one is not considered expendable.” Heero grunted. “If he was Black Ops it might explain Noin’s attitude.” “There is something more there than him being assigned to so dangerous a line of work. I am more inclined to think Marquise found a way to make her back off; even hate him. It would have had to be something in her nature only someone so close to her would know about to exploit. Whatever it was it was no small feat, given she has been close to him for so many years.” Heero’s gaze flicked to the window where the blizzard raged. The winds had eased through the night though not sufficiently to permit them to pursue their comrade. He was restless to leave, to track down their missing friend and he would have a few words to say to him about placing his life in danger. There had been no need for him to have risked himself for someone he did not even know. It was something only Duo of their number would do. “He is alive, Heero. Duo is resting, I think. He is certainly not disturbed.” Dark eyebrows dropped into a familiar scowl. “I am not worried about him.” Quatre smirked. “Of course not.” “I am required to be at the palace in an hour, if the wind has not dropped.” “And I have a meeting.” Quatre inclined his head. “Chang and Trowa have been assigned the case and we should leave it to them.” “It is not on the records, you know. This assignment is verbal only, and will be buried deep once it comes to a conclusion.” “I thought it might be.” Quatre whispered. “I am due for holidays at the end of the week. It was my hope Duo would replace me on Relena’s security detail. I could trust him to see to her safety.” Quatre stood. “When you or Trowa and Chang decide you have suspects let me know. I will see when I am free to sense them. I must remind you, Heero, I am not infallible. My empathy comes and goes and is not one hundred percent accurate.” “They know that, but it comes in handy.” “Indeed.” Quatre glowered at his friend. “I am not particularly fond of being a human lie detector, you know. I will not do it for you or them as a general rule. However, given the unique aspects of this case, I am willing to cooperate.” “Hnn.” Heero moved to the door. “I will see you later. I have last minute checks to run before I attend Relena.” “Heero.” Quatre called after him before he was fully out the door. “Duo will not replace you; not long term.” That was obviously not what Heero wanted to hear. His displeasure came across strong, Quatre’s empathy leaving him in no doubt of Yuy’s emotions. “He has to do something with his life.” “He will, when he is ready.” Quatre murmured. “He just needs a little time.” “He needs to be made to settle down and take a long hard look at himself.” A hand raised, forestalling any comment from his friend. “I know, Quatre, I was the same. I ran repeatedly and I know now running was a mistake. What I needed were sessions with a psychologist and to find myself. Finding something solidly dependable to do with your life is a required part of moving on from the war.” Quatre sighed. “You worry about him.” He could feel the turmoil in his friend and his struggle against admitting he cared about DeathScythes pilot. Heero was more demonstrably emotional than he had been in the past, and it had not been an easy development. He was, on some occasions, still the Perfect Soldier. “No, I… Yes.” The admission came reluctantly, but it came, a sign of the progress he had made at throwing off the conditioning from the war. Quatre smiled. “I am too, but Heero, until he is ready to make changes in his life, all we can do is be there for him. I know he has seen a psychologist, and I know he is more settled than he was, but he is not ready to be a Preventer.” Heero scowled. “He would do well as a Preventer. He has the required skills to excel at anything he turned his hand to.” “There is one thing you need to consider. Does Duo have the heart for the job? He has to conquer his fears, his doubts, before he goes on with his life. He carries a lot of emotional baggage from the war and his childhood, though he projects the mask of the jester. He’s not the Duo Maxwell most people see.” “I don’t underestimate him and I refuse to baby him. That is not what friends do.” Quatre smiled. For Heero to name himself a friend was progress indeed. “Friends don’t make the mistake of forcing someone to do something they are not ready to do either. Friends take the time to make sure they are really seeing what they think they are. Duo’s not as wild and uncontrolled as people think. He’s conquered more demons than most people encounter in their life times, and he has not fallen into despair yet. While he did most of that alone, he is no longer alone. We won’t allow him to fall, but we can not run his life for him either.” “Why did he go out into those mountains yesterday? Why did he go into the storm? Why did you allow him to do it?” He had wondered when Heero would ask. “Because he had to go. It was a bad night, but Duo was safe, I could feel him every step of the way. I can still feel him. For some reason I as yet do not understand, I have a fairly strong bond to all of us. Through Duo I can also feel Marquise, though I didn’t need that bond to tap Marquise. I have felt him since Libra.” Heero stepped back into the room and closed the door, leaning against it as he studied the Winner. “You have not mentioned this before.” “What need was there to talk of it? I’m an Empath. I can feel the little girl who sells flowers at the underground station south of here. I can feel Trowa clear across town, he’s laughing at the moment. I can feel the turmoil in you. There is a great deal I feel. Sometimes it is like a river, a great raging river in flood. Sometimes it is nothing more than a trickle of water. There is not much I can do but learn to live with it, however it manifests itself. Marquise, or Peacecraft if you prefer, was such a ball of tightly held emotion on Libra I could not help but feel him.” Heero paused as a group of agents walked past in the hall, listening to their steps and waiting until he was certain they were out of range to overhear their discussion. The pause, brief as it was, allowed him to consider what Quatre had told him. “You could feel Marquise on the Libra. You knew what he was thinking?” Quatre sighed and shook his head, brushing aside a forelock of hair absently. “I am an Empath, not a Telepath, Heero. I feel emotions, I do not read thoughts. It took me months to get past the war and what I had soaked in from others. A large part of that time was learning to deal with what I felt Marquise was feeling. Look, this is not the time, nor is it the place, to talk about this. We can talk later, when neither of us is expected elsewhere. The weather forecast suggests the storm should ease further today. Sometime tonight or maybe tomorrow morning it should have cleared sufficiently to get the chopper into the mountains.” Heero looked rebellious. “We need to talk.” “We will, just not now. We both have other things we need to do.” End ~ * ~ |
