12-Feb-2001
revised: 11-Sep-2002
Title: Need Some Distraction 4/?
Author: Dan
Genre: Epic (was a mystery/romance thing)
Timeline: After EW
Notes: Sequel to 'Prices Paid'
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue
I was singing to myself when I walked through the apartment door. The day had gone far better than I had expected. I had gotten home early; it was only five in the afternoon. Normally I was stuck in that office until close to nine. The delegates from L4 and L3 had been delayed for various reasons. I shouldn't have been so happy over their misfortune, but their trouble gave Wufei and I another day to strategize. Sometimes politics is just like war. You marshal your defenses, prepare your troops, and attack the enemy's flanks. Only everything was done with words. More frustrating without a doubt, but sometimes ultimately more satisfying when you win.
Dorothy blinked at me from her spot on the couch; Hilde was half buried under a pile of paperwork. There were little piles of neatly typed documents and file folders everywhere. It looked like a snowstorm of paper had hit my living room. I stared at the mess and kicked off my shoes. One of these days I am going to track down the man--and it must have been a man--who invented high heels and hurt him. Pacifism be damned.
"My word, what a mess. I thought the age of electronics would have gotten rid of all this," I commented with more than a little amusement. "What is all of this?"
Hilde muttered something in reply from under her pile of papers; it sounded unpleasant. I negotiated my way around the papers stacked in neat little rows to claim a spot on the couch next to Dorothy. The vid. was on one of the news stations, and I sort of paid attention as I watched Hilde shuffle and sort through the seemingly endless piles.
Dorothy tapped her pen against one of the file folders she had in her lap. "Information on just about everything: potential agents, laws here and on the colonies, cases being handled, different customs, the different special taskforces that have been tried in the past."
"The amount of information is rather, ah," I looked around my now devastated apartment, "impressive."
"Half of my old crew from the salvage yard will be here day after tomorrow." Hilde commented from her spot on the ground. She shuffled through one stack of papers, scowled, and switched to another. "Getting some tech stuff up will help run the data faster. A lot of the laws haven't been finalized. What laws that have been finalized conflicted with each other." She racked a hand through her short black hair. "We're going to run into a nightmare of jurisdictional issues."
"It'll be at least 9 months to a year before SI is going to even be close to operational." Dorothy commented. She handed me a file to look over. "We're going to need main offices on all four of the major space colonies, Mars, and at least five here on Earth—and then there's all the regional offices that we're going to need. I'm not sure how many people that's going to be, but it'll be a lot. The case load looks to be pretty diverse as well."
"We'll be covering everything from serial murder to organized crime." Hilde tapped a file. "A lot of organized crime from the looks of it. And they are not going to like our creation at all."
Dorothy sighed. "They aren't going to be the only ones that won't like our creation. The Preventors are going to have a fit, and the local enforcement will feeling like we are invading their territory. It's going to be a political firefight for sure." Dorothy looked up at me and smiled slyly, confident and anticipatory. "It's going to be fun."
I listened as the two of them traded back and forth on giving me the information that they had collected. So much data in only a day, they were truly impressive. The pair of them worked well together without even a thought. I had expected that SI would not be fully functional for a least a year, tops, because all the reasons they had just given me. I already knew most of the data that they had told me; I had done the research when Wufei and I decided that SI needed to be created. But it was good--informative--to hear someone else review it. I inhaled and both of them turned to look at me.
"I was not expecting SI to be even minimally operational for at least a year and a half."
I let that sentence sit in the air for a moment. Dorothy gave me a long considering look. Hilde looked positively mutinous.
Hilde started to protest and I held up a hand. "It took the new government four years before we were even close to operating efficiently. I expected the time frame. I expect the political firefight; I'll deal with that." I smiled to myself. I was rather looking forward to the little political war that Wufei and I were about to start. "And I don't yet have the data on the jurisdictional and legal issues. I think that is going to be one of those things that we're going to have to deal with as we go along."
"We?" Dorothy's voice held a sly innuendo in her question. It was so typical of her.
"Of course. The two departments that SI will report to will be the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Relations." I blinked when Hilde shook her head.
"It would be more sensible if we were only accountable to the Parliament of Nations directly rather than the departments of a government based on Earth, otherwise we look like an outside force and a threat to the colonies' rights." Hilde stated from her position on the floor. She folded her hands in her lap and watched me for affirmation. Her argument made sense, but I still did not want to give up SI. I pressed two fingers to my temple and sighed.
"She's right, you know." Dorothy commented quietly. Understanding was in her summer blue eyes. "I know how hard it is for you to give up control over one of your projects, but SI is in good hands." She took my hands in hers. "That's why you called us, isn't it?"
"It is." I sighed. It was a sigh of resignation and relief.
"Hey, hey." Hilde reached up and laid her hands over Dorothy's. "We're not going to cut you out. We need you to make this work; we're a team: you, me, Cat…" I watched the blonde wrinkle her nose at the nickname, and chuckled, "and Wufei."
I smiled at them as they watched me with such earnest expressions. Dorothy's face was unguarded for once, and she looked at me with trust and faith. Faith in me, faith in what we were trying to do. Hilde knelt at the end of the couch and I saw the fierce determination, conviction, and trust. It was frightening the amount of trust they placed in my hands. Sometimes I thought there was no way I could live up to that faith, and other days I believed that there was no way I could fail when people like them had such trust in me, in what I saw. It was scary, like jumping out of the plane and praying the parachute was going to open. "You humble me."
Dorothy smirked. "Well, it's a hard job but someone has to do it."
She shrieked and giggled when I lunged for her, tickling her ribs and making her bat at my hands uselessly. Hilde sat laughing at the pair of us, until we both turned and glared at her. Then she sort of squeaked and did an undignified scramble backwards. I was about to pounce when the whining scream of the explosion ripped my attention away from her laughing face.
All three of us turned to the vid screen and watched with mute horror as the Department of Justice was blown into little pieces of jagged marble.
Wufei, God help me, all those people and all I could think about was Wufei. I know the three of us were staring at the vid screen in shock, just staring. But for that instant there was nothing but my terror and me. Until the announcer came on and started to talk, then I was up over the couch and halfway to the elevator. Frantic, panicked and in my head I kept hearing his voice saying he was just going to keep working. I had left him, left him there. Oh God.
I pounded on the elevator doors when they didn't open fast enough. Too panicked to cry, I screamed instead, a short ragged sound. "Open, damn you!"
Hilde materialized by my side when the door opened. She had the keys and a frighteningly blank look on her face. Dorothy wordlessly held out my shoes when she slid into the elevator. I didn't think as we raced for the car. Didn't think when Hilde dropped into the driver's seat and drove like a woman possessed. Because we were, possessed with that blind terror. At least I was, all those people and all I could think was Wufei. I had left him, oh God.
I was out the door before the car stopped, running up the ruined steps, ducking under the arms thrown out to stop me. The west wing had been hit. Wufei's office was located in the west wing.
Wufei, oh God.
The waves of heat stopped me like an invisible wall. I dropped to my knees and screamed. A wordless shriek of fear and rage. Whoever had done this going to pay. I didn't care. I just wanted to reach out and hurt someone as much as I hurt. I didn't think. I screamed, as people moved around me like a tide that I could sense but not see.
"Relena, calm yourself." Hands grabbed me by my shoulders and dragged me to my feet. I fought blindly against that steely grip. "RELENA!" A sharp stinging slap made me focus on Wufei's face. He was blacked, blood smeared across his left cheek, annoyed, and arrogantly alive. "What do you think you're doing?!"
I stared at him mutely as he held me by the arms. I wanted to kiss him for being alive, and kick him for terrifying me like that. I touched the side of his face just to make sure. He tilted his head for just a moment, brushing his lips across my palm. I drew a shuddering breath and dropped my hand. I'm not sure if it was the relief that made me weak at the knees or something else.
"Well, my Lord Chang, are you going to stand there like a thrice cursed, mute idiot or are you going to kiss the girl?" Dorothy stalked towards us. Soot marred her gleaming hair, and there was blood on her hands, but she was still smiling that sly smile that suggested activities that you can't mention in mixed company. "She came all this way out of fear for you."
Wufei gave me a quick curious glance before turning to sneer at Dorothy. "I did not expect you to rouse yourself for my sake."
"Nor did I." Dorothy crossed her arms over her chest. "Hilde and I came to check out the scene; it's hardly a coincidence that only –your- offices get blown half way to hell before the Parliament of Nations can meet to discuss the logistics of the SI department. Someone wants this issue dropped." She looked at the still smoldering remains of the west wing entrance hall. "Permanently."
Hilde was in deep conversation with a fireman and one of the local police officers. She turned her head towards us for half a second before returning her attention to their hushed and hurried conversation. I knew in that one quick glance she had gotten all the information that she needed. She knew I was calm, Wufei was alive and relatively undamaged, and that Dorothy was handling the situation. I let Dorothy lead me away, and watched as she badgered Wufei into allowing the EMT's to treat his injuries.
Hilde came over after a little while, her eyes dark and serious. Her face was still impassive, shuttered and cold, but her eyes were flaming. The wolf snarled in those blue eyes, and I wondered what had brought about that rage. Hilde stopped in front of Wufei and gave him a quick once over before turning to growl at the EMTs. "Hurry the fuck up and treat the others. It hardly takes three of you to take care of one man."
The EMTs scattered under her hot gaze, and then she turned back to Wufei. "Deliberate. The bomb had a timer meant to catch the two of you on your way out. It was timed down to the minute that the two of you normally leave. Whoever it was couldn't place it within the entrance thanks to explosive detection units. So they mounted it on one of the outside walls." Her eyes flashed. "Which means our little explosive loving friend has to either work here or have connections. Good news is both the police and the fire department have decided to share information with Dorothy and I in hopes that when we do get SI off the ground we'll have a history of cooperation already."
Then she flashed Dorothy a lightening fast grin. "Got some interested in transferring into SI as well."
Dorothy arched an eyebrow. "It'll be a while before we can start recruiting."
"We need a clearer mission statement before we can do that," commented Hilde. Both of them turned to glare at Wufei and I. Wufei merely arched an aristocratic eyebrow while I squirmed under their combined gaze.
Dorothy shook her out her flowing mane of hair and hissed at the soot tangled in her tresses. "If we are quite through, can we all go home? I see very little that I, at least, can do here."
But her expression as she watched the EMT's rush people into the ambulances was pained and helpless. If there is one emotion that Dorothy cannot stand, cannot handle, it was helplessness. "Besides, we need to talk to Mr. Chang about what he saw."
"Go ahead. I'm going to talk to the police for a while longer. And your security." Hilde inclined her head towards me. "It's odd that they would pick the entryway."
I merely nodded. I was out of my field of experience on this one. I waged wars of words, not with weapons. It hurt to know that people may have been hurt, killed, all because someone disagreed with my political agenda. It seemed cowardly to strike out so haphazardly. Wufei stood and then swayed momentarily. When I reached out to steady him, he scowled.
"He's still a bit shocky, miss." An EMT came hurrying over, completely ignoring Wufei's glare. He gave Wufei a quick check, and then chirped to me. "Keep him off his feet. He was thrown a good ways, got a nasty concussion, some bruises and lacerations. Lucky for him no broken bones."
I politely thanked the man and got him out the line of fire before Wufei could growl at him. I held up my hands as if to ward off a blow when he turned that glare on me. "Hilde's suggestion has merit. We can talk this over at my apartment. You need to be watched anyway."
Wufei frowned at me, and would have protested but Hilde caught his arm. "Someone's gunning for you and for her. Keep an eye on her, ‘kay? I'm going to go ream your security team. Damned imbeciles."
Dorothy chuckled. "Remember that we need their help. Don't antagonize them too much. And yes, I'll keep an eye on the Ministers."
"Considering that's my job, I'd like to object." A rolling masculine voice cut in and both Wufei and Hilde turned with identical scowls on their faces. I turned to face my new chief of security. Jonathan, a former OZ officer devoted to Lady Une. Since she was now devoted to me, he was now equally devoted to me. I watched Hilde's face melt into the laughing lines of recognition. I frowned in displeasure when she launched herself into his arms.
"Jon! Shit, it's been a long time." He laughed and picked her up. He pulled back and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. Deep brown eyes stayed bright, interested. I didn't like it. Hilde turned back to us with a light in her eyes that I hadn't seen before. "This is Jonathan, but then you know that. We were in basic together." Something dark and disturbed rippled through Hilde's cornflower eyes. "Before I got transferred."
"You are close?" My voice was clipped, quiet, and painfully controlled. Hilde shot me a questioning glance, as did Dorothy. Wufei laid a restraining hand on my arm. I glanced up at him and sighed. "I suppose, then, you'll work well together. I'll talk to you in the morning, Jonathan."
I gave Hilde a long, long, look and she got a clear picture of my intense disapproval. She stood staring after us in confusion as it started to rain.
End Part 4
(:./dan/distraction4)
