23-Mar-2005
Title: Caeneus 1/?
Author: Natea
Rating: R
Pairing: Duo/Heero or 1=2 take your pick.
Warnings: Post EW
The first time it was fathers, the last time it was sons. And in between your husbands marched away with drums and guns.
And you never thought to question you just went on with your lives. 'Cause all they'd taught you who to be was mothers, daughters, wives
---Lyrics by Judy Small.
The courthouse was a sedate old building, filled with oak doors and polished wooden floors and the ever present smell of industrial wax polish that could catch you unawares if you wore shoes with no grips. Just entering her early twenties, Lady Une had frequented the building for one reason or another enough times to know this fact intimately, as the rubber soled sensible shoes she was currently wearing showed.
It wasn't the first place she would have chosen for their meeting, neither was it the most comfortable for any of the parties concerned, but the tenuous threads of peace were still being forged and gathering together the ambassadors of the Lagrange colonies in one place was bound to be fraught with political pros and cons. Neutrality was a big concern and Une had a suspicion that Relena had suggested the old courthouse for many reasons, that being one of them.
She made very little sound as she crossed the hallway, heading for the entrance, just wanting to be out of the place as quickly as possible. The ruling that morning had not gone as she had hoped... rather how she had expected. She stopped by the public telephone hanging by the wall and turned to the small group of boys behind her.
"Are you alright?"
Stupid question; as soon as it was spoken she wished she could take it back. They didn't look alright... and damned if they didn't have good reason. Five boys, not yet fully out of childhood, dressed to impress a panel of judges gathered there for the express purposes of discovering whether or not they posed a significant threat to the peace effort.
Despite Relena's best efforts, the whole set up had been a farce.
And the end ruling echoed that.
"We can talk once we get back to the car." She sighed, catching the expressions on their faces. All vastly different, but none of them happy in the slightest. "We seem to have a lot to work out."
"You're right there, Lady."
"Duo, I tried my best for you. You were there, you saw."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right, I know... I just..." the words were forced, harder than blood from a stone, his hands clenching in an effort to hold back what he was really thinking. "... I don't know."
"Three years isn't so bad."
He snorted, pushed past her. "I'll meet you at the car."
"Not out of the main entrance." Une called after him, "The protesters."
He didn't bother to acknowledge the advice but she knew he'd heard. Une watched him go, his strides angry and purposeful, black leather shoes highly polished and so unlike his usual boots; his steps were sure even on the slippery surface. It was unfair and she completely sympathised with him, but the law was the law and they had to abide by the rules, she thought as she pushed her spectacles up to the bridge of her nose almost roughly. Duo vanished through a side door and she flicked her gaze up to the clock ticking above it.
"I can give you thirty minutes if any of you want to take a break?"
The way they moved past her, almost as one body, gave her the answer and she smiled.
"Lady?"
All but one it seemed. "Yes, Heero?"
"This is mandatory?"
Her hand gripped the reinforced brown envelope tightly, their futures mapped out for them for a good few years yet. After the things they had given up in their pasts it hardly seemed fair.
"I'm afraid so."
Heero nodded. "Then it would seem we need to talk."
"I'm not sure I understand you...."
Her mug of tea sat forgotten on the plastic covered table in front of her.
They'd gone to a small cafe in the end, rather than walk back to the car. An understated establishment with mismatched chairs, chipped crockery and vinyl checked tablecloths, certainly not the first place you'd think to find the new commander of the preventers and an ex gundam pilot talking over tea and toast.
"It's not that complicated." Heero replied, sipping at his can of soda carefully before pulling a face. "It was my decision."
Someone had ordered a full English breakfast; the smell of the grease was almost overpowering, even where they sat in the corner.
"But--"
"I can connect to my medical files at the department and give you access. That's no problem."
"It's not that, Heero." Une removed her glasses and polished the gleaming lenses, more as a delaying tactic than anything else. "I don't... no one ever... why?"
"It seemed best."
"For who exactly?"
Heero shrugged and picked up a triangular piece of toast, now soggy and drooping. "For everyone concerned... Dr. J, myself, the other pilots." he chewed for a while, thinking. "It's not that I suddenly made the decision one day, Lady. I was brought up in that mindset."
"But, to actually do something like that... how is that easier?"
"You did the same didn't you? Lady and Colonel. You were both but separate, a protective personality of sorts."
Lady une closed her eyes for a second as she pondered Heero's comment and the best way to respond. "That is nothing like what you're describing, Heero." she said eventually, "It was a medical condition, something beyond my control... you on the other hand made a conscious decision to do what you did, and you maintained it through two wars and the space in between them. My condition was mental... you made a physical choice... " She shook her head slightly and pushed her now empty plate back. "I... " she gathered herself together, bringing the commander back to the fore with ease, someone no longer a separate entity but working in tandem with her calmer, more humanitarian side. "I will expect to see your medical records before you're sworn in as a Preventer. Also you'll need a thorough medical examination."
Heero nodded; he'd expected as much.
"Do any of the other pilots know?"
He raised the can of soda to take another sip, "Trowa Barton."
"No one else?"
"I don't do things by halves."
"No," she muttered to herself, rubbing once again at her temple. "No, Heero, you most certainly don't." Taking a deep breath she pushed her chair back and stood up, "We need to leave now if we're going to make it back to the car on time." She paused, looked at him hard, "You'll need to inform them."
"I know."
"You can't work with them in any sort of team and withhold information like that."
"I know." Heero nodded and followed her lead, standing up. "I think the fact I told you shows my intentions wouldn't you say, Lady?" He dropped a couple of coins on the table and pushed through the door out into the early January drizzle, leaving Lady Une to her own devices.
She followed, shaking out her cheap umbrella, purchased on the way to the cafe from a savvy street trader.
Seems their futures weren't as cut and dried as she'd previously thought.
"So this is where you got off to."
The voice echoed eerily through the concrete enclosed car park and Duo glanced up from where he was squatting against the side of Lady Une's rented Ford. "Quatre, Trowa."
"Proud?"
Duo snorted and stood up brusquely, brushing invisible dirt from his suit trousers. "Of what? The way I reacted?" He laughed a little, "Please... that was nothing to the way they've just screwed us over, Trowa."
The pilot in question shrugged a shoulder and leaned back against the car door, crossing his arms lightly. "You never know, you might grow to enjoy it, and it's better than having nowhere to go and nothing to do."
"Is it?"
"You know it is, Duo." WuFei interjected, strolling up with a paper bag in one hand and a hot pastry in the other. He passed the bag out without a word. They'd been in the court rooms since nine o'clock that morning and none of them had really been in the mood for a decent breakfast beforehand.
Duo pulled a face in reluctant agreement. "Yeah, maybe."
"We should be counting ourselves lucky that they're not enforcing anything harsher. A three year contract in the Preventers will fly by." Quatre bit into his pastry before continuing, "It's something legitimate to have on your resume for future jobs plus whatever qualifications may come from this one day of schooling."
"It's not like they're going to let us actually choose what we study, Quatre."
"It's not like they can stop us, Duo." Quatre returned easily, "The only stipulation I heard was that the school had to be approved by our appointed guardian. Lady Une is a reasonable woman."
"I guess."
"Never guess... know. We could have done a lot worse."
Duo snorted in answer and finished off his pastry. "So, any ideas on where Heero and her Ladyship vanished off to?" He hopped up to sit on the car bonnet, sliding off the first three times before he managed to get his balance right.
"Heero had some things he needed to clear up with Une," Trowa answered. "I didn't follow them."
Duo nodded as he slid from the car one more time. He chose not to try again and leaned against the side idly instead. "Hopefully they went somewhere indoors." The rain was really beginning to lash down now. "You think they'll make us stay here?" He asked suddenly, eyes focused on the patch of heavy grey sky that was visible beyond the concrete walls of the car park.
"In this city?" Quatre asked, "I'd imagine so. Lady Une has to have us under her specific guardianship after all, and she's based here."
Duo pushed off from the car and moved to the waist high wall that surrounded the multi storey garage. "Everything's so grey here."
WuFei moved to stand next to him. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"I'm talking about weather, not personal beliefs."
"And who says I'm not."
Duo snorted in response and leaned forward a bit, looking out and down to the street below, shining with the rain. The water was dripping down the side of the concrete structure, leaving long dark ribbons against the lighter colour. He sighed and spoke without turning.
"You're late."
Lady Une smiled, "Womens' perogative." she replied, opening the car door. "Are you getting in or do you plan on taking root there?"
Duo cast one final glance out at the glossy surface of the road below. "Nothing to take root in here." He crossed back to the car and slipped into the rear seat.
Une pulled out a few minutes later.
They arrived at the Preventers' Headquarters roughly half an hour later, in the centre of the town. It was a new building with lots of mirrored glass and metal girders, Duo was pleased to note. Nothing concrete.
Wasn't that just the story of their lives.
The car park was private and contained in the basement of the building. Une switched off the engine and they sat there for a while in silence, while the engine ticked occasionally, cooling down.
"Right then." Une took a deep breath, "Looks like we have some things to go over before we can get you housed and settled." She cast a sidelong glance at Heero, sitting next to her in the front passenger seat as she spoke. He wasn't looking at her though, seemingly more interested in staring at the wall ahead containing her name plate for the car space. "If it's alright, I'm going to leave you alone for a little while in one of the conference rooms while I get the documentation together to get you signed up."
No one replied, and, taking silence as consent, Une nodded. "You can leave your things in the car, we shouldn't be long."
There was a flurry of slamming doors as they got out and then the beep of the car alarm being set.
It should have disturbed her that she could barely hear their footsteps behind her while her own rang out hollowly in the wide, echoing space. Une wasn't the kind of person to worry over such things though. Holding the door that led to the stairwell open, she stood to one side and let them pass.
A few minutes later, they'd moved through the various security measures and were inside the building proper.
Une turned to face them, feeling for a second like a teacher on a school trip. "The conference room is over here," she directed them towards a plain wooden door with a small plate attached at an averagely determined eye level. They filed in obediently in silence. They didn't trust her she could tell, but she could live with that. "I'll ... leave you to it."
Heero caught her eye as he walked in and nodded slightly, then the door was closed and Une breathed a sigh of relief. Heading back to the computer station nearby she fought the urge to pass her hand over her face. It had been a long day, and it was barely the afternoon. She picked up the comm and hit the button that would connect her to Sally Po's office. As the other woman answered, she sighed.
"Sally, I need you down here."
There was no need for any more. Five minutes later Sally Po arrived at the computer station to find Une engaged in examining files. Looking up, Une smiled a little wanely and tilted the computer in Sally's direction. "What do you make of this?"
Sally scanned the screen for a while. "I was wondering when that would come out."
"So you knew?" Une shook her head slowly and laughed, "Why does that not surprise me?"
Sally shrugged a shoulder defensively. "I would be a very poor excuse for a field medical officer if I hadn't noticed," she said.
"Then why didn't you document it... Didn't you think that was information that would be considered important?"
"Was it though?" Sally asked, genuinely curious, "It made no difference to the way he fought, and it was obvious he'd gone to some lengths to keep it hidden. " She scanned the screen again, reaching over to touch the keyboard and scroll down, "I wasn't aware he'd gone quite this far though," she murmured, her interest clearly piqued. "We all have our secrets, Une."
"He's going to need a medical."
"They all are. I have them booked in with occupational health tomorrow morning--" Sally broke off as the door handle of the conference room turned slowly. Raising an eyebrow, she cocked her head in the direction of the sound. Une nodded, understanding the gesture.
"I thought they'd need somewhere peaceful to... talk things through."
"They seem fairly quiet," Sally observed. She glanced back at Une, "You think that's a good thing?"
Une shook her head and began to close down the computer. "I have no idea what to think about that lot." She looked up as the door opened, taking in the faces and expressions of the five pilots. They seemed fairly calm, almost neutral.
Une almost dared to hope.
She winced as Duo's voice floated through the door, getting louder as it was pushed open and held there by a hand. She saw the sweeping, chivalrous gesture that accompanied the words.
"Ladies first."
Maybe it would take a little longer than she'd thought.
End Part 1
(:./natea/caeneus)
