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"That Which Mends"Written By: SkyLark Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters. I just love playing with them. Pairings: 2x1x2, past 2xOC, 5xOC, 3x4 Warnings: Angst, Violence, Sap, Lemons/Limes, AU Archives: http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/SkyLark/gwSkyLark.htm
and http://www.mizunoamy.bravepages.com/skylark/skylarkfics.html Summary: Heero is a straight A student studying Psychology and finds his world turned upside down when he attends a Frat party.
"That Which Mends" [We will be who we are -Lyrics to 'Not With Haste' performed by Mumford and Sons] Chapter 29
The next three days went in a blur for Heero. Once he had opened Pandora's Box in the form of the Preventers' files of names and faces of some of the more hardened criminals, he was hooked. Odin was right, this internship was a huge opportunity for a psych major like himself.
Few counselors in the making would have their finger on the pulse of some of the darker minds out there. File after file led to another gateway of case studies the likes of which Yuy would never have been privy to in the classroom. As scary as most of the cases he was looking into might have been, he was intrigued more so than he had ever been since taking up his field of study.
Just like his friends, the scholar put in late nights in the hopes of connecting one, or more, of Howard's plate customers to their current mission. Many hours in later, there hadn't been a hit. But then, there were still a lot more names to go through and that meant the agents took their work home with them until someone found the trail of breadcrumbs that might lead them down the path they were in search of.
"A damned pedophile trying to cross borders. Damn it, Howard," Duo cursed under his breath as he closed up another folder and added it to the growing pile of discards that was at the center of his dining room table. "It makes my stomach churn to think that he shook hands with some of these bastards just so he could try to make ends meet." Peering up from the pages he was sifting through, Heero looked at the braided agent sympathetically. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," he commented. "At least he came clean with the names so the people in the mix who need to be behind bars can be taken in. And he gave the case a hell of a potential lead to who's behind that Gundanium once we come across them."
Maxwell slumped back against his chair as he dry washed his face and sighed deeply, "Yea. There is that." Shoulders sagging, he stared off ahead of himself without focusing on anything he was actually seeing. "Still it just... bugs me he ever had to stoop to this. If he knew who he was dealing with, he never would have stood for what he was doing, no matter how bad he needed the help."
At the rare revelation of a crack in the walls around his roommate, Yuy closed the folder he was reading and tilted his head. "It almost sounds like he's more of a father to you than a friend."
There was that moment of pause from Duo during which he considered how far he was willing to share. And like every such moment since meeting the scholar, he finally lowered his guard a little.
"He is," he nodded, his voice soft and his violet eyes settling on his roommate. And he's been 'more of a father than a friend' for a lot of people. It's just his nature. I think it's one of the few reasons why Lady Une was okay with letting him off the hook for his side business... well, that and Wufei's insisting that Howie was to be granted a full pardon."
Yuy was silently happy to have been trusted with that much from the agent and moved on to another subject.
Thumbing over the next pile of folders in his stack, he muttered, "I'm starting to get an even deeper appreciation of what you and the others do. If these reports are any indication of what's out there and the kind of people you go up against, I have no idea how you're able to sleep at night."
At that, Maxwell lifted an eyebrow as he smirked, "Well, there are other... constructive ways to take the edge off that don't include 'sleeping.'" His friend snorted, rolling his prussian eyes and moving to go through the next file waiting for him.
Laughing, the Preventer soon turned serious and shrugged, "There's the knowing that we get the monster we're sent after that makes it a little easier for us. Not to say that we don't come across those cases that linger with us, but we hang on for the ones where we can really make a difference. As terrible as it was losing Meiran, being able to save all of those girls from that sex trade ring made her sacrifice worth it."
"I can definitely understand that," Heero grinned.
A thought coming over him, Duo frowned, "Did I ever apologize for putting you on the spot in seeing 'Fei earlier this week?"
He was given a warm, grateful smile.
Making some notes on his findings in the reports, Heero hinted, "You are going to have to patch things up with Anna, though. I believe that she's forgiven you, but I can also tell that she's still hurt about being used and I know you wouldn't want her harboring any bad feelings towards you. Try not to let that one get away. Friendships like the one you two have are rare and others like it have broken up for lesser offenses."
Caught by surprise at that, Scythe blinked widely at his former transgression. Biting his lip and gulping hard, he lowered his gaze. "I'll set up treating her out to lunch so we can catch up," he muttered. "We've been so busy, I hadn't had the chance to offer her a proper apology..."
He lifted his violet eyes so that they fell back on the student. "Thanks," he said softly. Grinning, his roommate nodded while he kept jotting down on his pad of paper.
After a long silence between them, Maxwell puffed out a long breath and shot to his feet, announcing, "That's it! We're getting the hell out of here and away from these files for a while. Grab your stack and let's lock these up in the safe in my office." He took hold of the discard pile and the tower that he was still working on and headed down the hallway.
His eyes still enlarged, Heero stared at his stash of background documents and shrugged. He couldn't recall the last time he stopped himself in the middle of an assignment for a 'break,' but he supposed there was a first time for everything. Grabbing his files, the psych major quickly followed after his one-time transgression both down the hallway and into whatever he was planning.
* * * *
"So how are things progressing with the case?" Treize asked.
Lady Une propped her head up with a palm under her chin as she studied her husband's face on her laptop monitor. Sighing, she informed, "Slow but steady, as this stage of any investigation goes. We can't afford to miss any potential clues and every pair of eyes at our disposal are looking through the reports we're gathered."
Nodding, the politician smiled, "Good. Then everything is going as it should. I have every faith that you and the team will get to the bottom of this. Just keep doing what you do best and the world will continue to be a safer place." That encouragement meant more to the Commander than she could ever say... especially right at that moment with so much on her mind. "God, I miss you," she breathed, hanging onto a fine thread of control over her emotions to keep herself from tearing up.
"I miss you, too," Khushrenada responded as quietly. "Just a couple more days and I'll be spending a long weekend at home with you again and I know those days are going to drag until then."
Treize frowned, "Yes, there are some who had overheard some of the warnings and good news always spreads fast around Washington once that happens." Leaning towards his camera, he urged, "But don't worry about any of that. The Preventers are being entrusted with every level of the search and recovery of any threat involved. If I ever hear otherwise, you know I'll handle it from here."
He would. Lady Une wasn't about to question that. It was only going to serve as another thing for her to fret over... all of the attention that was being drawn to her team. Failure was not an option when it came to finding and apprehending the people behind... whatever nightmares they were conducting.
Of course, there were far more questions surrounding the mission than there were answers since no one knew what kind of hit was about to be attempted... or who the intended targets might be. But then, that was the nature of this particular beast and the Preventers would simply have to cope with the challenges.
"So, anything else going on that I need to know about?" the Senator grinned, arms folding across his chest as he reclined back in his chair.
Her own smile returning, his wife shook her head, "No. Nothing new to report that can't wait until you come home. And you really should get ready to turn in, as late as it's getting out there on the east coast."
Khushrenada winked as he chuckled, "Yes, Mom."
Unbeknownst to him, the endearment struck his bride, but she managed to reel back any physical reaction that he could see. Beneath the surface of her desk, however, her hand rested over her abdomen as she swallowed roughly.
"Good night, my lady," Treize murmured. "I love you."
Holding onto her smile, Middie replied, "I love you, too. Good night, my heart." At the blackening of her screen when the call was disconnected, she gulped once more and said softly, "I'm pregnant..."
* * * *
[Flashback]
The last few weeks of sobriety hadn't been easy. But Trowa was pulling through thanks to the patience of his partner and friends. There were many middle-of-the-night calls to his teammates that had always been answered whenever he needed someone to talk to or to have some company that would take his mind off his urges.
And he knew that he still had a long road ahead of him, but that wasn't about to stop Barton from going through with a very big decision. He knew where he stood with Winner... all that he could do was hope that his lover was on the same page when he slid over a small, black box when they sat down together for lunch in their dining room.
Winner met his partner's gaze and peered back down at the box as he opened the lid to reveal two gold bands with matching lace etchings that wove around them with diamond flake accents. Gasping, he shot his head back up, his jaw hanging open. Biting his lip, Night took a deep breath and informed, "They're promise bands to be worn as wedding bands later."
As he reached across the table to take Rock's free hand into one of his own, he said, "There's not another person in the world I could see spending the rest of my life with. So, I want us to be exclusive going forward with the intention of marrying some day... when life isn't so scrambled... if you'll accept, of course."
His eyes stinging, the blonde smirked, "Why am I not surprised you're not one to make a typical proposal?"
Quickly rising to his feet, he rounded the table and perched himself in his lover's lap as he wrapped his arms around the taller agent' neck. "Of course, I accept," he grinned widely.
A rush of air leaving him in a sigh, Trowa bent down to swoop in for a sound kiss that officially consummated their engagement.
[End Flashback]
* * * *
"Great call for this, Duo," Quatre sighed in content as their waitress finished passing around the root beer floats and sundaes that had been ordered for the team of Preventers that shared a booth at an all-night diner. Taking a sip from his chilled glass, the human resource representative smiled, "I know I needed this."
Nodding as he dipped his spoon into his bowl of ice cream, Maxwell smirked, "I figured we all might with the hours we've been putting in."
Still dumbfounded by the whole outing, Heero had to ask, "So, you're all used to randomly getting together at all odd hours of the day and night just for dessert?"
Anna shrugged, giggling, "Well, it's not always dessert. Sometimes it's a sleep over at one of our places, other times it's hitting the arcade, a movie, a random live show that's within driving distance. Or we'll stop out for drinks if we've had a particularly rough stretch of days. We haven't hit that wall quite yet."
Yuy hummed, his eyebrows rising. Since he never had a band of friends before, he had never been included in such simple bonding ventures. But he was definitely getting used to them... and enjoying them regardless of how disruptive they may have been to productivity.
Raising a finger, Trowa warned, "The only rule is we never talk shop. We're hanging out to get away from that, so anyone who slips and mentions work gets a kick to the shins from the person across from them." His fellow Preventers snickered and nodded.
"We need something good to discuss," Wufei suggested.
Tapping her spoon on the edge of the booth, his redheaded lover proclaimed, "Yea, like wedding plans." Under the table, she light tapped the legs of the happy couple across from her as she grinned, "We've already had the engagement party. You have the rings. When's the big day?"
"You guys sure you're ready to be the first married off pair of the team?" Duo teased good-naturedly. "You can kiss all the good times away once you say those 'I do's'."
At that, Trowa flicked a spoonful of vanilla ice cream from his sundae at his braided friend to have the glob fall perfectly into his lap. With a yelp, Maxwell grabbed a napkin and cleaned up the chilly 'weapon' before it could stain his jean shorts too badly as his friends howled with laughter.
Shaking his head, Scythe grinned in spite of himself while waving off a couple wide eyes from the handful of scattered patrons throughout the diner.
Barton hiked his shoulders, asked, "Who says the fun has to end after marriage?"
He draped an arm around his beaming partner and stated, "I expected we'll still be every bit as troublesome and adventurous as we are now. Sure, some aspects might slow down a bit as far as our definitions of an exciting night, but we'll still be the same people we are now." Winner nodded enthusiastically.
An apologetic grin on his lips, Duo told him, "Sorry, 'Ro. Rules are rules. You mentioned work."
To the tune of chuckles from the others, the scholar got over his anger fast and smirked. "That I did," he nodded firmly. "But now you did by saying the 'w' word, as well." That being his only warning, he shot the toes of his foot against the shin of his counterpart.
Hissing out a curse at the initial contact, Scythe nursed his shin with a closed violet eye but laughed all the same with the rest of his crew. "The kid learns fast," he gritted out through the slight pain.
"Without saying anything to get a kick, I'll simply answer 'no' to your question, Yuy," Trowa sniggered. "Neither of us are about to give up what we're good at." Waving a finger at Anna, who had been watching and listening to him intently for a slip, he exclaimed, "Ha! You can't get me for that! Drop your foot, boo."
Downs pouted and retracted her legs that she had been in the process of lifting to nail him at the first opportunity. "The night's still young, babe," she giggled. "Your time will come and I'll be ready."
So the game continued. And Heero smirked in anticipation of how it would play out.
* * * *
Meanwhile... "Damn it," Mueller hissed under his breath as his gloved fingers typed over Chang's keyboard. "I just can't hack into any of their systems. They're definitely using a different firewall than the one the rest of us in this building have been assigned to. Everything they're working on is locked behind air-tight security."
Zechs' blood boiled at that. Peering over Quatre's station, he growled out, "How the hell did those little bastards get access to better safeguards than the rest of us?" Just behind him, Noin continued to shine the brilliant flashlight in her hands over them so that they could work without alerting anyone outside to there being life on the floor by turning the overhead lights on. "Barton," she mused aloud. "He's their IT guru. He probably found a way to work around the system we all have and tweaked it to his preferences."
Holding his tongue, Mueller swallowed his pride. Though he was his team's computer and internet expert, he wasn't close to touching Trowa's skills to being able to alter government firewalls. It was another in a long list of reasons why he couldn't stand the Latin Preventer and his comrades.
Off a few feet away, Alex and Trent ran the beams of their flashlights over the rec area.
"Would you get a load of this?" the blonde agent huffed as he adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "It's a damned amusement park. And they expect everyone else to take them seriously?"
"Yea," his counterpart snorted bitterly. "What a joke."
Merquise held his flashlight under his chin as he maneuvered his own picks in the largest drawer of Chang's work area. "Come on. Come on," he muttered under his breath while his teammates worked to open their personal rival's drawers, leaving Yuy's as the only one they couldn't breech at the moment.
"Ha!" the tall ring leader exclaimed when he heard a metallic click and turned the lock to gain the access he had coveted. All around him, he heard the same sound from the Preventer's stations as he reached the handle of the drawer. Pulling it open, he smirked, "Now Let's see what we have in her-"
Still crying to catch his breath, Trent cried, "What the fuck?!"
"They rigged this place with booby-traps!" Noin exclaimed as cleansing tears rolled down her powered face.
With the glow of her flashlight shining inside the drawer of Anna's desk that she had opened, the young woman found nothing inside but the emptied gag can that had been set to go off with a wire linked to the lock's interior, same as in the other desks.
The soft turn of a key wouldn't have been enough to set the trigger off... but the rough jimmying of a pick was more than enough movement to spring the lids loose as soon as the desks were opened.
And just beyond those cans were simple, white sheets of paper with the same message written in bold letters of black marker. 'Surprise. Turn around and walk away, Asshole.'
Merquise slammed his fist on Chang's desk after reading the note in his drawer. "Those little bastards!" he shouted in rage. That blinding anger immediately shifted to panic when he noted the mess that had been left all around the floor... a mess that there was no possible time to clean up.
"We have to go!" Zechs barked out as he glared his reddening eyes at his crew. "Now!"
Not needing to be told twice, his fellow federal agents rushed for the stairwell with their tails between their legs before the security camera that Mueller had jammed came back up.
* * * *
The light banter at the agents' booth went on for two more hours, long after they had finished their treats. During that time, everyone had earned at least a couple of swift kicks to their shins and they all risked losing their voices from the resounding laughter that their game garnered
Sore as he was, Heero couldn't have enjoyed himself more. He might walk a little funny the next day, but the social experience was more than worth it. And somehow knowing that Barton and Winner would be staying on with the Preventers came as a relief to him as he couldn't imagine the tight band ever being separated.
Finally, with a great deal of reluctance, Wufei sighed, "We probably should head back. It is a work night- OW! Damn it, Winner!" Wincing as he rubbed his right shin under the booth, he grumbled, "That's was end of the conversation and in fair play."
Suddenly, five different bright rings filled the air and the Preventers all but leapt in their seats at the sound. Wide-eyed, they removed their cell phones to answer the alerts at the touch of a couple of buttons so that the ringing ended... then they all broke into a round of laughter once more and high-fived one another in celebration.
Frowning in confusion, Heero pressed, "What's going on?"
"Oh, just our desks being broken into," Duo snickered. "That was the alarms we had rigged along with a couple other surprises for whoever got in."
Anna smirked, "And it's pretty obvious who it was since five of the six desks were under siege at same time."
Yuy had known of the traps his friends had set. He had hoped such measures wouldn't be necessary and that their rivals in the federal building would have been big enough to not stoop to such lows for a little piece of the now infamous case.
But since those hopes gave the likes of Zechs and his goons more credit than they deserved, the scholar smiled in the relief that fortunately the FBI agents had underestimated the Preventers yet again.
* * * *
"I want the contents of this circulating through the ranks to be added to our list of targets." "On it. Will this take precedence over our original plan?"
A sealed manila envelope was handed over. "No. We conduct business as usual. Consider this a fun little... side project to fit in along the way."
Oh, he liked side projects. A stubbly lip tugged up in a lopsided grin when he opened the offering and peered inside before he peered back at his boss.
"Yes, sir."
TBC |
