Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell ❯ Crossing the Rubicon ( Chapter 52 )

Edulcorate (verb) - To free from harshness (as of attitude); to soften

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****NOTE: The previous chapter was originally missing one complete scene, so as mentioned earlier, please be sure you have read the revised chapter before continuing.****

I apologize to all and sundry for inadvertently leaving that scene on the cutting room floor.

If you read the earlier revision (only a handful of people did) and are not sure where the scene was added in the revised chapter 51, it takes place just after Quatre's and Heero's breakfasts are served and just before the Boeing 727 lands in LAX Airport. If the chapter you read stated that it had been re-uploaded to include a missing scene, then you are good to go!

Now that THAT little mess is (hopefully) cleared up, here's the next chapter.

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Chapter 52 - Crossing the Rubicon

"How I miss my friend Hastings. He had such an imagination. Such a romantic mind! It is true that he always imagined wrong - but that in itself was a guide." - Hercule Poirot, How Does Your Garden Grow?

"As to you, friend Watson, I owe you every atonement for having allowed your natural curiosity to remain so long unsatisfied." - Sherlock Holmes, The Dancing Men

~~~~~

Wufei's intercom buzzed just as he and Duo had decided they'd done more than enough as far as brainstorming for possible scenarios over the last two hours. He reached over and hit the button to the speakerphone.

"Wufei?" Janet's voice rang out. "They're here. Want me to show them to Conference Room A or C?"

"C," Wufei said, and Duo nodded. It was the one that they'd used the day Meiran had stopped by with Wufei's lunch. The fact that Janet hadn't offered Conference Room B, which was the largest by far, suggested that although Peacecraft wasn't alone, he hadn't brought an entire team with him, something Wufei approved of heartily. He hated men who hid behind others, preferring to do business directly with all parties involved.

They stood up and Duo found his palms were slightly sweaty, although he couldn't say why he suddenly felt nervous. It had to be the fact that the only reason he was in Los Angeles in the first place was because of this meeting, the one they'd been anticipating and hoping for all damn week.

Duo and Wufei waited until they were sure Peacecraft and whomever he'd dragged with him had plenty of time to be seated. They both felt more in control going in with all the parties assembled. Wufei had enough of surprise witnesses as a lawyer to suffer a similar fate when it came to closing a critical business deal.

Outside the conference room, they exchanged glances before opening the door.

Milliardo Peacecraft was standing against one of the windows, the sun reflecting off his pale hair. It made Duo think of the wig Heero had worn when they met, and he lowered his eyes, uncaring what Peacecraft might think of him as a result. His gaze traveled across the floor toward the other occupants of the room, where he saw two pairs of feet. One pair, most likely Relena's, faced Duo. They were shod in expensive shoes, leaving her ankles bare. He briefly recognized the pumps' sensibly low heels as the same style that Hilde seemed to favor.

Duo's breath caught in his throat when his mind registered the dark granite slacks worn by Relena's companion.

Relena was speaking to the man in a familiar manner, but her words were irrelevant to Duo. His eyes slowly traveled up the length of gray silk, over the backs of the thighs to where the slim cut jacket concealed what he just knew had to be the most perfect ass he'd ever seen, one he'd had the privilege of getting to know intimately. He continued his examination all the way up to the back of the man's neck and sucked in his breath as his eyes came to a halt upon reaching the pale golden hair that brushed the nape.

He blinked, reluctant to give up the illusion that it had been Heero standing there, wearing the custom tailored suit that Duo had picked out for him.

Wufei had just finished his staring contest with Milliardo Peacecraft and swung his gaze in the same direction as Duo, just in time to see the blond turn around. He made a small sound of surprise as he recognized the man from the bar.

"Gentlemen," Milliardo said, sounding pleased at the shocked look on both their faces. "Allow me to introduce you to the third member of our little merger. Wufei Chang, Duo Maxwell, meet Quatre Raberba Winner."

~~~~~

Duo shook hands with Quatre numbly, and found his hand held a moment longer than customary as Quatre murmured quietly, "don't lose faith, Mister Maxwell."

Duo's hand was released and he looked into the other man's eyes. It didn't seem as though Winner was referring to their upcoming business arrangement. He almost choked at those words, recalling with painful clarity the way his voice had sounded when he'd thrown them back in Heero's face.

He had difficulty comprehending the look of understanding in that level blue-green gaze. How could Quatre, a complete stranger, possibly understand anything? What was there to even understand?

Yet Duo couldn't shake the feeling that Quatre somehow knew that his chest had become impossibly tight, despite the fact that Duo was very good at hiding how he really felt from the world. Hell, he was good at hiding it from himself.

He should have been embarrassed. The first thing Duo had done when he'd laid eyes on Quatre Winner was ogled him, but he found that any potential humiliation took a back seat to the bitter cold disappointment that had lodged in his gut.

Quatre's face was all business once again, allowing Duo to compose himself. He'd barely exchanged two words with the man, but he suddenly had an immense amount of respect for him. Duo didn't usually feel that way upon meeting someone for the first time, and he almost always did his own investigation to verify his gut reaction, but he had a feeling that Quatre was one of the few trustworthy businessmen he might ever have the pleasure of doing business with.

It had nothing to do with the fact that he fit into that suit as if it were made for him, just like Heero had.

His eyes widened slightly, and he forced himself to face the fact that it was nothing more than coincidence that Quatre Winner was dressed just like Heero had been the night they'd gone to the gallery. An incredibly bizarre coincidence, but nothing more than that.

They all took their seats around the table, and Milliardo cleared his throat. However, the next words uttered were not an introduction to his proposal.

"Before we begin," Quatre said. "I would like to thank Mister Peacecraft for this opportunity. Winner Industries has been involved in some moderately successful ventures, but I have always wanted to seize the opportunity of expanding our scope. We cannot hope to grow, to truly be profitable, without exploring hitherto neglected avenues. I am looking forward to pooling our resources and creating something new and diverse. It's time for us to shift our paradigms and shed the cloak of the comfortably familiar to embrace the hope for our future with open arms. After all, what are a few risks when weighed against the possibility of a brighter tomorrow?"

He glanced at Duo just once during his statement, then opened the business plan in front of him.

"Shall we, gentlemen?" he asked.

Duo opened his leather bound report as well, but he couldn't focus on the pages in front of him. He looked over at Wufei, who was doing his best not to frown at Duo. His partner withdrew his eyeglasses from his pocket and placed them on his nose, then shot one more meaningful look in Duo's direction before turning his attention to his own copy of the proposal.

It was a good plan, Duo could see that much as he skimmed the first few pages. Instead of a straightforward acquisition of the Peacecraft Corporation which would then result in breaking it into smaller pieces for sale, the proposal suggested funneling investment funds from both Winner Industries and Maxwell-Chang into a realignment of the Peacecraft subsidiaries, creating a new entity. It looked synergistic rather than parasitic, and it was obvious that Peacecraft was willing to put a significant portion of his family's company on the line in exchange for some rather hefty financial assistance. In fact, the new business would create a new board of directors. One that would place Wufei, Quatre, and himself in the position of being major shareholders, right alongside the Peacecraft siblings.

His eyes drifted over toward Relena, who smiled as she scanned the proposal, and then flicked toward Quatre Winner.

Now that he had recovered from his initial shock, he realized that Quatre had apparently known Relena before today. Duo's mind abandoned the portfolio in front of him and he tried to recall anything she'd said during her brief conversation with the young blond businessman. She'd sent a few guilty glances toward her brother when she realized Quatre was looking at Milliardo curiously, but Duo's conscious mind hadn't processed those observations until he'd had a chance to recover.

He finished his visual circuit of the room when his eyes passed over Peacecraft and settled on Janet, who had cheerfully come in on her day off, with her taciturn intern in tow. She'd been a whirlwind of activity as she and Wufei tried to come up with every possible scenario that might be sprung on them. Neither had taken into consideration the possibility of a third party, however, which was a major oversight as the name Winner had cropped up several times. They'd dismissed the company outright because it didn't have the capital to provide financial backing to the Peacecraft Corporation. That is, they were unable to do so unless they convinced another company to share in the investment. A quid pro quo arrangement all the way around.

Janet had looked quite pleased when Wufei asked her to attend the meeting as well, to serve as the unbiased interpreter of all the legal jargon that Peacecraft was sure to have used. Wufei had commented earlier that he wouldn't put it past the man to have gotten Treize Khushrenada to assist him in drawing up the paperwork.

Duo forced his attention onto the leather bound report in front of him for a minute or two before he looked up questioningly.

"We are abandoning the pharmaceutical division entirely?"

Milliardo Peacecraft fixed a murderous gaze on him, and Duo would swear he saw Relena flinch slightly.

"I no longer wish to be involved in the manufacture of drugs, legal or otherwise. Aren't you the one who commented on the investigative department of the Food and Drug Administration, Mister Maxwell? Why invite trouble?"

Why indeed, when it seemed quite happy to make itself at home with the least bit of encouragement.

"Actually, most investigations regarding illegal drug use are conducted by the Department of Justice," Duo said, and was surprised to see Peacecraft's entire body tense. For some reason it seemed as though there were undercurrents in the room that Duo just couldn't for the life of him put a name to. Through all of this, Wufei seemed oblivious, and Duo knew that was not possible. Most likely he was merely allowing all others to reveal their cards, choosing to bide his time and then make his decision when everyone else had time to sweat it out.

Duo suddenly felt very tired. He no longer wanted to tango with Milliardo Peacecraft, and at this point, he could really care less about what came out of this meeting. Wufei seemed completely absorbed in reading the paperwork in front of him, and Duo was sure that his partner wasn't having any difficulty focusing on the written words despite the tension nearly crackling in the room.

He stood up. "I'd like to be excused for a moment, gentlemen. Please, do not let my absence keep you from your perusal of Mister Peacecraft's plan."

Quatre's face didn't change, but Duo would swear he lit up upon hearing those words, as if he knew something Duo did not. It was eerily reminiscent of some of the looks he'd gotten from Heero over the course of the week. Wufei raised his eyes over the rim of his glasses, and Duo said in a low voice, one just loud enough for his partner to hear, "the fat lady hasn't started singing yet."

Wufei's brows furrowed for a second before smoothing out, and he shrugged ever so slightly.

"Janet?" Duo asked, tilting his head toward the door.

She got up and followed him to the hallway, then closed the door behind them and looked at him expectantly.

"Do both Wufei and I both need to be present for this?"

She shook her head. "You can have your approval done by proxy, although it will need to be notarized to make it official."

"I don't suppose we have a notary public on speed dial?"

She grinned at him. "I obtained my commission shortly after I started working here."

He looked at her hopefully, and she nodded in answer to his unspoken question. "As long as you feel comfortable agreeing with anything Wufei decides, it's not a problem, Duo."

He placed both hands on her shoulders, leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Janet, you're a lifesaver."

He practically sprinted for the elevators, and Janet watched him go, touching her cheek with her fingertips and sighing.

He really was a remarkably good-looking man.

She mentally amended her initial assessment of his prowess in the bedroom. She'd told Nadia that you could tell he'd be aggressive, but she now suspected he would be just as capable of making love slowly and sensually.

She shook her head to snap herself out of her daydreaming and headed for her office to get her notary seal.

~~~~~

Nadia had taken the opportunity to go outside for a cigarette as soon as everyone filed into the conference room. She'd promised Janet to return to the legal department in case they needed to page her for anything as the meeting progressed. It was little more than a gofer job at this point, so she'd decided to satisfy her nicotine craving first before waiting by the phone like some lovestruck lonely heart.

The only drawback to coming out to the butt hut was that, although she had the security code for the main doors, she couldn't use the nearby employee entrance to return to the building, as it was locked from the inside.

She took another drag from her Camel 100. Janet was certainly an interesting character. She'd had no problem dropping everything to pick her up at the garage where Nadia had her car towed. Nadia felt the worst part was the waiting. She wouldn't know until the following day when the garage opened how much it was going to cost. The downside of owning a used automobile was taking on all the problems caused by previous owners, but she knew she shouldn't complain. She'd gotten a lot of miles out of it, and chances were good it would be wiser to put a little money into this one rather than starting over with another used vehicle and its host of problems. It was too bad she'd never found any friends who had been worth the effort of keeping the way she'd stubbornly clung to that car.

Worth the investment or not, it didn't make her any happier at the thought of shelling out money to fix whatever was wrong with it.

A natural born cynic, she had been shocked when Janet returned from her incoming call to ask if Nadia was interested in working with her today, at a rate of twice the normal wages.

She hadn't given it a second thought before telling Janet yes.

Janet was a good kid. Nadia was younger, but it seemed to her as though Janet still held an unsullied innocence, this untarnished ability to see the silver lining, despite her current status as a recent 'dumpee' in a failed relationship.

Nadia had never thought very highly of Janet's boyfriend, who worked in one of the other departments. She'd met him just once, and he'd had that oily used car salesman aura. She'd been incredibly disappointed that the normally savvy Janet couldn't see that he was a complete sleaze bucket. She couldn't even say love was blind, because she couldn't bring herself to believe that Janet had been stupid enough to actually fall in love with that jerk. Sometimes what people thought was love was little more than a justified case of rampaging hormones.

Janet had taught her not to accept things at face value, something Nadia would never have expected to find herself guilty of. Janet should have been the type of person Nadia hated. She was, for lack of a better word, damn near perky, and the blonde hair didn't help elevate the estimation of her intelligence at first glance, as Janet kept it long and loose, rather than gathered into a sensible bun or twist. Once in a while she'd opt to tie it back into a ponytail, making her look so much like a cheerleader that Nadia had once asked Janet if her pompoms had gone astray. The blonde had merely laughed and said that she could easily make new ones by sending a few of the documents on Nadia's desk through the cross-cut shredder.

Janet had this way of saying the most dead-on perceptive things, almost out of the blue, and Nadia slowly started to warm up to her co-worker.

The other thing she found interesting was that Wufei Chang seemed to put a lot of faith in Janet, and Nadia had known from the first time she'd met the man that he was not one to make rash judgements. Even Duo Maxwell, who Janet practically drooled over, seemed to be more than a pretty face. She'd often found that good-looking men were either arrogant or stupid, and she couldn't say that about either of the gents who had apparently built the company from almost nothing.

This was the second year she'd interned with Maxwell-Chang, and she had to admit she really enjoyed it. It almost made her think that some people were worth getting to know.

She extinguished her cigarette and walked around to the front of the building, where she saw a woman with short dark hair looking at the closed doors with a hint of frustration.

"Can I help you?" she heard herself ask. This was what her ruminations got her; normally she'd simply ignore anyone she had no reason to enter into conversation with.

The woman's posture was stiff, but she nodded brusquely, and explained who she was looking for. Nadia was still hesitant to allow her into the building until the visitor reached into one of her pockets and pulled out her identification, which Nadia glanced at briefly.

Well, things were bound to get interesting, Nadia thought, and agreed to grant the woman access to the building. She first inserted her key into the deadbolt lock and turned it to the left, then punched in the code for the alarm. Once they were in the lobby, Nadia reset the alarm before walking toward the elevators. The woman followed at a respectable distance, and as the building was practically empty, an elevator was already waiting at the ground level for them. The two of them boarded the lift closest to the entrance and Nadia jabbed her thumb onto the button for the floor where the conference room was located.

The numbers over the elevator next to them slowly counted down until they went from 2 to G, and the doors slid open.

Duo Maxwell stepped into the now empty lobby and made his way across the floor with determined strides. He moved like he was on a mission, which, he supposed, he was.

~~~~~

Nadia led the woman to the conference room. It looked like things were just wrapping up, as Wufei was shaking hands with the younger blond man who couldn't be more than Nadia's age. He then turned to clasp Relena's hands and smile at her as if they were old friends. She decided she'd accept the dinner invitation Janet had extended earlier. Nadia was bursting with curiosity to find out what her colleague made of all the players in this little drama.

The woman she'd brought into the building took up a stance near the open door, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the doorjamb.

Relena jerked her hands away from Quatre and shot a panicked look at her brother, who had already noticed the unexpected visitor. He did not look at all pleased, but he chose to ignore his sister as he made his way toward the dark-haired woman.

Wufei's brows furrowed as he tried to determine the identity of the woman who held a passing resemblance to Hilde, curious as to the sudden animosity in the room.

Milliardo spoke one word, and it seemed as if a judgment had just been passed in that single syllable.

"Noin."

tbc

~~~~~

Rubicon - a line that, when crossed, commits a person to an irrevocable change or decision. The Rubicon refers to a river that once served as a boundary between Italy and Gaul. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, it was tantamount to a declaration of war. Hence the phrase "to pass" or "cross the Rubicon" signifies taking "the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat."

Reference: http://www.hyperdictionary.com and of course, http://www.m-w.com, my friends at Merriam Webster online.