Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Price They Paid ❯ Shocks and Aftershocks ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Price They Paid 18: Shocks and Aftershocks

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Betaed by Skippyscatt

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Zechs was still packing their purchases into the bags when the door slammed open and two
figures rushed in.

"FREEZE!"

Everyone did.

Natalie snarled. "Dammit, not again."

Duo sighed and slipped out the back door into the storage/restroom area.

Wufei was caught in the back of the store near the coolers with Heero close by.

Trowa and Quatre were stuck right in the middle of the store.

Trowa stepped in front of Quatre and Heero got in front of Wufei. They all cursed the fish-eye
mirrors in the corners of the store. They were there to give Natalie a good view of the whole
store to prevent shoplifting, but now they could give the holdup men the same thing.

Zechs moved quickly to put himself between Natalie and the pointed guns. He just sat on the
counter and swung his feet to the other side and stood back up.

"What! . . stay put! Don't move again! You do, I'll shoot you. Give us the money and no one
gets hurt."

Natalie reached over to punch the 'no sale' button to open the register, but the other man snarled.
"Don't move." Natalie put her hand back up. Then first man demanded the money again, so
again she reached for the register. Again the man in the green ski mask told her to put her hands
up. Zechs rolled his eyes.

"Will you two make up your minds? She can't open the register without moving her hands."
Both men turned to him and he did his best to keep their attention. "Just one of you, please tell us
what you want us to do. Both of you yelling, isn't getting us anywhere."

The man in the green ski mask snarled. "I know you. Who . . . fuck. Merquise." He turned to his
companion. "It's the Lightening Count."

Zechs nodded and edged himself closer to the end of the counter, crowding Natalie with him.
"Yes, that is I. Do I know you? . . . oh . . . Sorry. I suppose that was a foolish question."

Quatre took that opportunity to crouch down behind the shelves and then lay completely down
on the floor. Wufei carefully opened the cooler door and slipped inside it. The shelves were on
rollers and could be pushed completely into the cooler, allowing for filling and other
maintenance without holding the doors open. He took advantage of that and pushed the shelf into
the cooler, got behind it, then quietly pushed it back in place. Zechs saw in a mirror and started
planning.

He could just see Quatre on the floor. He had no idea where Duo was, all he knew for sure was
somewhere in the back of the store, in the store room. Wufei was in the cooler, but could he get
out or was he trapped. Heero and Trowa were much too visible to do anything without getting
shot.

Quatre signaled to Zechs using hand signs they'd learned during the war. he hoped Zechs would
understand and sighed his relief when he got a slight nod in return. Heero and Trowa both made
soft noises that let him know that they'd understood too. Then Quatre carefully crawled toward
the same cooler door Wufei had used.

Meanwhile Zechs was still keeping the men distracted.

"I don't want to know who you are. I really would rather not be shot but I will tell you that this is
useless. Robbing this woman won't get you very far. If you want the money just let me open the
register and I'll give it to you."

The two men looked at each other confused. This wasn't as easy as they'd thought it would be.

"Look, Donnie. I don't . . ."

Black mask turned to Green mask and snarled. "I told you . . . no names. Dammit, now they
know my name."

Green mask whined. "I can't remember all the code shit. I never could."

Black mask nearly screamed. "Why the hell do you think I had you wear a green mask and me a
black one. You're supposed to call me Mr. Black. You're Mr. Green. Now point that gun at
blondie and keep it on him."

Mr. Green continued to whine. "I don't see why I have to do it. Why don't you keep your gun on
him? What about those boys?"

Mr. Black looked like he was about to explode. "THEY'RE A BUNCH OF KIDS." He took a
deep breath. "Just ignore them. They'll stay where they are. The Count could cause a lot of
trouble." Another breath and he calmed enough to try to plan. "OK. I'll keep my gun on him.
You get the money. Then we'll get out of here. Get moving"

So Mr. Green clambered awkwardly over the counter motioning Zechs and Natalie even farther
down the counter and punched buttons until the register opened. He clawed the bills out of the
drawer and stuffed them into his pocket.

~ * ~

In the storage room Duo was listening hard as he tried to figure out a way to help his friends.
Those two were loose cannons of the worst variety. Scared and stupid.

He heard a scratching noise from the cooler so he opened the door and Wufei and Quatre pushed
by him quickly and quietly.

"Hey. What's up? Quat' what do we do?"

"I told Zechs, Heero and Trowa not to antagonize them. We've got to do something quick,
though. Those two are scared and they're going to shoot someone sooner or later." Duo nodded
that he was listening as he scanned the ceiling "Duo, can you get into the air conditioning?"

Just then Duo spotted the ducts he was looking for.

"Nope. Too small by far. But . . . " Duo craned his neck. "I think I can get into the space
between the hanging ceiling and the roof. It'll be tight. But what do I do after I'm in there?"

"Can you make your way over the register? If we time it right you can drop out of the ceiling and
you know that Heero and Zechs will both jump them. Trowa will get Nat out of the line of fire."

"Did you tell them to do that?"

"Used hand signs. Zechs understood them."

Duo nodded. "Ok, Quat', give me a leg up. I'll see if we'll both fit. If not . . . Q-Ball. Man, I hate
to tell you this but there's no getting through. Too many conduits and stuff. I'll make way too
much noise. What next?"

"We get outside and see if we can't get back in from the front. Back door?"

While Duo had been examining the ceiling Wufei had been looking for the back door.

"Door." Duo and Quatre barely heard him. They were keeping their voices low so that the two
robbers wouldn't hear them, even though the chances of that were slim. The two were still
shouting, at each other and their hostages.

"Ok, we go out. Block the door so we don't get locked out. We'll go around and try to peek in
the windows. If we can get in and grab them without anyone being hurt . . . We'll just have to
play it by ear."

Duo frowned. "Not like we haven't done this a thousand times, but I don't like civilians in the
middle of shit like this. What are those assholes thinking?"

Wufei snarled. "They aren't. They just want what they want and don't care who gets hurt as they
try to take it. We have to make sure that Natalie doesn't get caught in a cross fire."

Quatre smiled softly. "Zechs is between her and our targets. He'll get her to Trowa. Trowa will
get her into the back. Hopefully, Heero will go for green and . . . Duo you help him. Wufei you
go for black with me. Ok. Let's see what's what."

They didn't bother trying to sneak, there was no cover, instead Quatre lagged back and let Duo
and Wufei go in first. They went in like any bunch of teenaged boys. Laughing and joking,
pushing each other; right into the masked men.

The minute Zechs saw them come in he grabbed the nearest coffee pot and threw the contents at
the man nearest to him. Mr. Green screamed and grabbed for his face. Zechs shoved Natalie into
Trowa's arms, she scurried into the back, with Trowa right behind her. He pushed her through
the swinging door and turned to see what he could do to help.

While Trowa was getting Natalie out of harms way, Duo had jumped Mr. Black and kicked him
behind the knees. The man tumbled to the floor. Wufei jumped over Mr. Black, the height and
length of his jump carrying him into range, and kicked Mr. Green in the head. Mr. Green yelped
and dropped to his knees. Zechs clobbered him on the back of the neck with both hands,
knocking him out cold.

Meanwhile, Duo was doing some kicking of his own. He'd gotten Mr. Black down and kicked
him in the solar plexus. While he tried to whoop some air back into his lungs, Quatre snatched
his gun up.

"Report!"

Duo spoke first. "Black hood down, you got his gun. No injuries."

Zechs reported immediately after. "Hostage safe. No injuries."

Then Wufei interjected. "No injuries. Green hood out cold."

Trowa called from the back. "All clear?"

Heero ambled up from where he'd pounced on the other hand gun. "All weapons accounted for.
No injuries."

Natalie rushed in from the back. "You boys . . . you . . . I'm callin' the Sheriff. You, be careful
with that gun. You . . . damn."

Natalie picked up the phone to call the Sheriff. Quatre kept his purloined fire arm pointed at the
two masked men. Heero shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He wasn't sure if he should
have picked up the gun or what. He didn't want trouble from the law, after all he was a convicted
felon on furlough.

Duo reached over and gently took the gun from Heero. "Got it. I'll hold on to this. You ok?"

"Yeah just . . . " Heero straightened his shoulders, then smiled. "We did it without shooting
anyone. Guess we did good."

"Yeah real good. Not a shot fired, no one hurt."

Zechs listened in as Natalie called the Sheriff's department. All she said was that she'd had a
robbery attempt which had been foiled by some of her customers. He couldn't hear what the
dispatcher said.

~ * ~

When the Sheriff's Deputy arrived, flashing lights and siren going strong, he took charge of the
two men. No one had bothered to unmask them, but the Deputy tugged the masks off and shook
his head.

"Donnie . . . Bob. I don't know what you to idjits are using for brains but you should get your
money back. It don't work."

Both men hung their heads and scuffled their feet. The deputy just pulled out two pairs of
handcuffs and made a 'turn around' motion with one finger. They obediently turned and he
cuffed Donnie.

Bob on the other hand had other ideas. He tried to run. When the deputy grabbed him, he turned
around and punched him in the face, knocking him down.

Heero reached out, grabbed him by the arm, and kicked his feet out from under him. The deputy,
half stunned, grabbed a can of mace from his belt and let loose with a stream of sticky slime that
stuck to both Donnie and Heero. Donnie immediately started chocking, his eyes teared up and he
dropped to his knees struggling to breathe.

Heero just wiped the mess off his face and pealed off his shirt.

Natalie blinked once, the deputy didn't say much, just handed Heero a damp paper towel. Heero
used it to wipe the last of the stuff off himself, then turned to watch the deputy use another of the
towels to wipe Donnie down. It seemed to help him, his breathing eased and his eyes quit
watering quite so much.

"Boy, I never saw anyone take a face full of mace like that and not react at all. You Ok?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah. I've been . . . um . . . tampered with. Stuff like that doesn't affect me. You
Ok. . ." Heero got a look at the man's name tag. "Deputy Kline? You ought to let Quatre take a
look at your nose. Might be broken."

The deputy took a good look at Heero. "Do I know you? I never forget a face . . . names and
such, yeah. Faces, never."

Heero just gazed at the man for a second then pointed to Duo. "Know him?"

"Yeah, I do." The deputy looked at all of them now that all the excitement was over. "I know all
of you from somewhere."

Natalie took that pause to just hand Heero a clean shirt off the rack nearby. Heero pulled it over
his head and emerged from the neck to see Natalie showing the deputy a magazine. Deputy
Kline examined the center fold then just sighed.

"Ok, got a problem here. You . . ." He pointed to Heero. " . . . and you." He pointed to Zechs.
"Are supposed to be in prison. Not making any judgments here. I got my own ideas of right and
wrong. So what's the deal?"

Quatre stepped forward. "Winner. I'm their sponsor. We're on a rehabilitative wilderness
expedition. I have custody of them for the next . . ." Quatre looked at his watch. "six hours. Then
they have to be back to the facility. So . . . I hate to be demanding, but could we get whatever we
need to do done, so I can get them back in time?"

Deputy Kline just nodded took out a note book and wrote something down. Then he got hold of
the dispatcher told her he needed help. He told her who they were and finished, "I got to get
these people on their way soon. Get Earnest and George here. A-sap."

But the damage was done. Someone had seen something, or someone with a police radio had
heard something.

The next thing they knew there were Vid vans and reporters everywhere. It was chaos.

~ * ~

"What are we going to do? I don't want this whole mess to explode. It'll look bad for . . ."

Quatre was wringing his hands, worrying. Trowa reached out and took the twisting digits in his
hands.

"Stop that. How could it possibly look bad? We stopped a robbery. No one was hurt. Capitalize
on it."

"We need to split up. We don't want the reporters to interfere with the investigation." He tugged
at the deputy's sleeve.

"Yeah, what is it? We've got a potential incident on our hands."

"Yes, and I'd really like to avoid it if it's at all possible. If we go out the back?"

Deputy Kline nodded. "Yeah. We'll take Donnie and Bob out the front. You guys catch my two
buddies in the back. We'll meet at the sheriff's station. You will come there, right?"

Quatre nodded. "Yes, we'll be there. I don't know what happened to my driver."

"Probably couldn't get through the road block. Which is another thing the sheriff is gonna have a
fit over. How did all these people get through?"

Quatre shrugged. "Beats me. They're like cockroaches, squash one and a dozen more show up."

"Yeah? Well, I got news for them. They interfere with this much more and they're all under
arrest."

The man fingered his sore nose and grumbled under his breath. "Damn fool. He's in real trouble,
robbery, assaulting an officer. Probably throw a few other charges his way and see what sticks.
Come on."

So the two robbers went out the front in the charge of Deputy Kline, whose bloodied appearance
attracted the attention of all the reporters. The rest went out the back, including Natalie.

They were put in three cars and taken to the Sheriffs station. Quatre got hold of his driver and
told him where to meet them.

Zechs looked around with interest. He'd actually designed the building himself, several of which
had been built here and there across Earth.

They were in a large meeting room on the first floor. It was nice, in an institutional sort of way.
The big central table didn't crowd the room, even with all six pilots, a transcriptionist, and the
Sheriff along with Deputy Kline. Kline looked a little worst for wear as his eyes had turned
black.

"Ok, people. We'll just do a . . ."

"Debriefing. God, not another one. I thought we were all done with this shit."

Heero turned to Duo who looked like he couldn't decide whether to cry or get mad.

"Duo. Love. It's ok. This won't take long. Why don't you let me go first?"

Duo was having trouble again. He was the one who had the worst flashbacks. Dr. Terry had said
it was because he was off center because Heero wasn't there. Quatre had Trowa and Wufei
hadn't bonded with anyone yet. Duo had bonded with Heero and couldn't get his 'feet' under
himself.

"NO! I don't want to be here. I want to go home . . . now! Heero get me out of here. It. . .
smells. . . I can't."

The sheriff came over and put his foot right in it. "Boy, ya can't leave until I tell you ya can.
Gotta get all the paperwork in order. Come on. Sit down and talk."

Wufei whispered "oh shit" Trowa and Quatre stiffened. Heero could only sigh. Zechs blinked,
things had taken a definite bad turn. He just wasn't sure how, yet.

Duo was backing slowly into a corner, eyes wild. Zechs turned to Wufei to ask what was going
on but Wufei was in almost as bad shape as Duo. He was hugging himself and shaking.

The sheriff was wiser than he seemed and realized that there was something very wrong. He
motioned for the transcriptionist.

"Yes, sir?"

"Call Dr. Franklin and tell him to get here now. We got somethin' goin' on with these two. What
I ain't sure, but I ain't takin' chances. Go . . . scat!"

It didn't take much time for things to fall completely apart. Duo managed to scoot himself under
a small corner table and wedge himself there. Wufei was wild eyed and shaking hard. All he
could do was stand and moan.

Zechs left Duo to Heero and wrapped Wufei in his arms cuddling and shushing him.

"Hush, Xiaolong. I've got you. Nothing will hurt you while I'm here. I promise. . . . 'Fei, tell me
what's wrong . . . What's wrong?"

Wufei turned into his chest. "Zechs, I've got to get out of here. The smell. . . I can't stand it. We
have to bring Duo . . . please . . . just get me out of here. . . . I'll be better . . . just get me away
from that awful smell."

Zechs glanced at Duo and saw that Heero had gotten down on his knees and crawled under the
table with him. They were huddled together like two puppies in a box. All you could see were
two sets of big eyes. One glaring fiercely, the other round with fear and tearing.

Heero rocked Duo while he whimpered. "I can't breathe, I can't . . . 'Ro, make it stop. The air . .
. that smell . . . please don't let them. . . . space . . . please."

Zechs put two and two together at the same time Quatre did.

Quatre spoke first trying to get the sheriff to listen to him, but all the sheriff saw was a boy and
Quatre was obviously reluctant to make the scene necessary to get listened to.

"Sheriff! We have to get them out of this room. Something . . . some smell is triggering the
flashback. We won't be able to do anything with them until we get them somewhere else. Out of
the smell. Come, Wufei. I'll take you away." Zechs turned to Heero. "You bring him out of this
room. Now! Come! We'll deal with the officials later."

Heero just nodded and hauled Duo out from under the table by main force and across the room.
He followed Zechs and Wufei out the door and down the hall. Trowa and Quatre ran interference
for them; sidetracking, or just plain stopping, anyone who tried to stop them. The sheriff
followed them, stopping anyone who continued to try to get in the way.

"Everyone out of the way. We got flashback's here. Just clear out. Where's Dr. Franklin? Get
him here quick."

A few people asked questions but most of them either got out of the way or started doing
something useful.

One officer showed up with blankets and another with hot drinks. They soon had Heero settled
with Duo on one blanket and Zechs and Wufei on another. They were wrapped in blankets and
given the hot drinks.

Zechs cuddled Wufei and rubbed his back, but addressed Heero. "Do you have any idea what is
wrong? Any at all?"

Heero grunted settling Duo more comfortably in his arms. "Yeah."

Zechs rolled his eyes. "Well, do you think you could enlighten me?"

"Tsubarov cut off their oxygen on moon base. Remember when we were all captured?"

Zechs grunted, patting a still shivering Wufei on the back again. "I heard something about it, but
by then I was pretty involved in problems of my own. They nearly suffocated?"

"Yeah . . . " Heero turned to Duo, who was still choking. "Duo, look. Stars. We're on earth.
There's plenty of air. Just breathe. Along with me . . . In . . . out . . . come on, baby." Duo
started trying to breathe with Heero. He realized that it was just the smell, but he couldn't do
much about his reactions.

Zechs realized that Wufei wasn't going to be able to help himself either, so he just wrapped his
arms around Wufei's chest. Then he squeezed him until his lungs couldn't expand.

"Listen to me. Breathe in. . . ." Zechs loosened his arms slightly. "In. Don't pant. I won't let you.
Breathe out." Zechs tightened his arms again, forcing Wufei to breathe out whether he wanted to
or not. Heero seeing what Zechs was doing, did the same with Duo. Someone took the drinks
away.

After a few minutes Wufei gulped, then choked out. "All right. Let me. I'm ok. Just . . . I'm ok
now. . . it was that damnable smell."

Zechs petted Wufei and handed him the drink that someone handed to him. "Here. Drink some
of this. It'll make you feel better."

Heero was cuddling Duo and helping him breathe. When Duo managed to reestablish a regular
pattern of breathing, Heero handed him his drink again.

Finally they both were settled in their protectors' arms, breathing regular again.

A man in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt approached them.

"Excuse me. I'm Dr. Franklin. I'd like to talk to you, if it's ok."

He crouched between the two pairs of men and waited.

Duo just shook his head and snuggled deeper into Heero's arms. He felt embarrassed and didn't
want to do anything more than hide his face.

Wufei sighed. "It was that smell. It brought back . . . things."

"What things? I think it's important to talk about it all now, before the sensations fade. If you let
this go too long, you'll have problems."

"I've already got problems. I'm seeing someone now. But . . . Duo. Do. Not. Hide. You know
Dr. Grace said it was bad. You have to face things."

Duo growled, "Fuck, Dr. Grace. I don't wanna talk about it. It doesn't do any good. I still have
flashbacks and nightmares. When are they gonna go away . . . fuck! I hate this."

"Well. I know Dr. Grace. You can't be seeing him. He's completely involved with treating the
Gundam pilots. All four of the free one's anyway."

Zechs grumbled, then announced. "All of these young men are Gundam Pilots. As am I, come to
think of it. They have been through hell and are trying to make lives for themselves. This sort of
thing isn't good for them at all. They need to feel safe, not have to rescue someone, then be put
through what amounts to an interrogation. I've seen . . . vid . . . that makes me sick. Some of the
techniques they've been subjected to . . . never mind. They'll tell you what they think you ought
to know. But I want them out of here. If you need more information. Submit your questions . . .
in writing, to their doctor. We'll see what we can do."

He stood up with Wufei in his arms, still clutching his tea. Heero hauled Duo to his feet then
picked him up.

"Mr. Winner." Quatre came over to Zechs from where he'd been talking on his phone. "Is that
your car?" Zechs nodded in the direction of a limo.

Quatre smiled, not a very nice one. "Yes. I just called my lawyers, and Dr. Grace. There should
be some incoming calls in a very few seconds. Or I'm removing some people from my payroll."

Zechs nodded. "We'll be going to the car now . . . Heero . . . come! Trowa . . . doors please."

Trowa just smirked at Zechs, opened the limo door and helped Heero get in without putting Duo
down. Then he climbed in pulling Quatre, back on his phone, behind him. Zechs handed Wufei
in the door, Trowa took him long enough for Zechs to climb in and get settled, then he handed
him back.

"I'm not a baby to be handed around like this." Wufei settled himself against Zechs, resting his
cheek on one shoulder.

"No, you're not a baby. But you've had a nasty flashback. Just rest. Your mouth as well as your
body. Hush."

Wufei started to grumble then decided to just enjoy the sensation of feeling completely safe.

"Woofers, just go with the flow. It's nice . . ." Duo snuggled Heero, "nice Heero. Nice hot
chocolate. Warm . . . good . . . mmmmm." Duo settled deeper in Heero's arms and fell instantly
asleep.

Zechs blinked at him, then gave Heero an inquiring look. Heero just shrugged, he had no idea
whether this was good or bad.

Quatre snapped his phone closed and turned to the others. "Well. That settles that. My lawyers
have called the sheriff and he's agreed; without argument I might add, to just accept a standard
mission debriefing from each of us. I also called the . . ." Quatre waved one hand dismissively.
"Whatever you call where you are. And they've agreed that you should come back there at once.
It'll keep the reporters off you. Sorry. I was planning a nice supper, but I think we all need to
have something light and go to bed."

Trowa glanced at his watch. It was almost eight in the evening.

~ * ~

Heero held Duo all the way back to the facility. He didn't want to let go, even after they drove
up to the intake doors. He reluctantly let Duo go when Dr. Terry met them.

"Heero, I know you don't want to let go. He's been through a bad stretch, but I got a call from
Dr. Grace, he's waiting for him at Mr. Winner's estate. Please . . . you know you have to let him
go."

Duo gave Heero a brave smile. "Go on, pal. It's ok. Wufei and I will be fine. I'm . . . better now.
That smell just got to me 's all. Go on. I don't want you to get into trouble."

Dr Terry turned to Duo. "He won't be in any trouble. I understand how hard it is to let some one
you love go, especially when there's been a . . . problem. We'll just take it slow and easy. Come
to terms with parting."

Duo got out of the car and stood wrapped in Heero's arms while Zechs got Wufei settled the
limo seat, still wrapped in the blanket.

"Will you be alright, Xiaolong? I'll see if I can't stay with you, if you like."

Wufei gave Zechs a grateful look, but replied. "No, I'll be alright. I'll have a hot bath and
meditate a while and I'll be fine. You go . . . look. The Doctor is waiting for you. Go on. Duo
and I will comfort each other."

Zechs pulled out of the car and straightened up. Duo crawled into the same blanket with Wufei.
Zechs smiled at the way Wufei opened his arms with the blanket still draped over them. He
looked rather like some sort of odd bat.

Heero sighed when Duo crawled into Wufei's arms. Zechs turned to him.

"You ok?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah." At Zechs and Dr. Terry's skeptical looks he shrugged. "I'm not jealous,
if that's what you're thinking. I just wish I could go with them. It's ok here. But it's better
there."

Zechs nodded his understanding. It was better 'there', there with friends and companions who
understood. People who would understand and accept, help with loving kindness, instead of
obligation.

"We better get inside."

Heero looked at slumping shoulders and an unhappy expression. He felt worse for Zechs than he
did himself. He had a some place to go, friends to be with, when he got out. And that would be
soon. Zechs had nothing and no one. If he ever got out of prison, he'd be a 'remittance man'. A
more horrible fate, Heero couldn't imagine.

~ * ~
The news covered the robbery of course. There wasn't a lot of footage, just what had been stolen
from the small store's security cameras. It wasn't very good, but it showed exactly what had
happened.

The reporters were all hammering on the few facts they had. And an interview with Natalie. She
told her story simply and powerfully ending with the statement, "if those brave boys hadn't done
something, those two fools would surely have killed me."

Relena watched everything on the vid case with interest. She hadn't seen her brother since he'd
come back from Mars. She was doing her best for him but she had to be so careful. Accusations
of nepotism wouldn't do anyone any good, and could do her political standing quite a bit of
harm.

So she had her undersecretary take care of most of her relations with Zechs. She kept an eye on
him, insisting on regular reports from his therapist and the facility. She didn't like most of what
she heard, he was uncooperative, sullen, destructive and evasive. She wished she'd been told
things much sooner. But as it was, she didn't know her own brother.

She watched the footage several times then asked Dorothy to get the uncut version. She watched
that once, noticing two things. One, that Zechs made every attempt to protect the woman,
Natalie, even going so far as to put his own body between her and harm. And two; he was
wearing a bracelet. Which was odd, as he hated jewelry and refused to wear even his signet ring.
Besides the fact that it was on his left wrist and would interfere with a watch. Very odd.

In fact, more than odd. She was sure that he would have worn the watch she sent him. Relena
crossed her arms over her chest and did some heavy thinking.

Dorothy came in with tea and asked Relena what her frown was for. "You'll get lines, as Mother
would have said. What is it?"

"Dorothy, do you . . . I haven't heard anything from Zechs since I . . . wasn't very nice to him
when he came back from Mars. I don't know what I'm asking. Do you know why? I would have
thought that he would at least have sent me a letter or two. Just because he's my brother."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow, now was the time she'd been waiting for. "I'll be back in a few
minutes."

When she returned, she was carrying a file that had to be an inch thick and another that looked
like a Psych report, and a small box.

Relena read the Psych report first and was relieved and happy to see that, while he was suffering
from mild depression, he wasn't considered psychotic or violent. Except when his legendary
temper got the best of him. Then the Doctor remarked that he was destructive to property, but
seemed to go out of his way to avoid harm to personnel.

Next she opened the box and was astonished and a little hurt to see the watch she had sent to
Zechs. She found a note wedged into the top of the box. 'Intercepted; not an appropriate gift.'
and signed 'Lloyd Webster' *That fussy little prick. I don't know why I chose him for an
undersecretary.* Her hurt turned to annoyance. No one had the right to intercept her gifts.

Finally she opened the file and got one of the nastiest shocks of her life. The file was full of
communiques from Mr. Webster to Zechs, most of them demanding apologies for one thing or
another and many of them secondary demands. It also contained detailed descriptions of Zechs
requests for visits or even a simple phone call. All with 'Refused.' scrawled across them.

Relena pressed the buzzer on her desk and summoned Mr Webster into her office. When he
entered, all oily obsequiousness, she pointed to the files and box and demanded, "What is the
meaning of this? Who do you think you are?"

"Why, Miss Relena, you don't want anything to do with that bloody handed 'person' he's not
worthy of your notice. I just took it upon myself to shield you from his annoyance."

He looked so pleased with himself that Relent lost her temper completely, proving that even a
total pacifist could be pushed too far.

"You nasty little toad! He's my brother. I've . . . he's. . . . he's the only family I have left and
you let me think that he didn't want anything to do with me. You . . . GET OUT!"

The greasy little man had been trying to interrupt Relena and finally did.

"But Miss Relena . . ." and that was as far as he got.

Relena picked up a Dresden candy dish and threw it at him candy and all.

"I never gave you permission to call me Miss. You will get out of here . . . now. Or I'll call
security. . . . Never mind . . . . Doro', call security and have this toad out of here now. Don't let
him go back to his office. Have him searched. See what else he's stolen. Perhaps there's a gift
from Milliardo for me somewhere in this mess. Something that I should have been able to
treasure? See to it . . . please."

Dorothy calmly bowed to Relena and did as was requested.

She returned in a very few minutes with chamomile tea and some mini scones. "Here. Relena,
my dear, please sit down and calm yourself. Now that we know what happened, we can . . .
repair the . . . damage? Perhaps."

Relena accepted the tea and sipped for a moment. "Yes, perhaps. I don't know if I'll ever be able
to fix this. What do I do? How do I start? Oh. . . if I were a swearing person."

"You'd sound like Maxwell at his worst. As to what to do. First, you tell Milliardo the truth.
Then you make arrangements to visit as soon as you can. "

Relena sighed. "Oh . . . damn." she looked up at a knock on the door. "Yes . . . enter, please."

A security guard stuck his head in the door and asked. "What do you want us to do with this
stuff?"

"What stuff?" Relena's heart sank into her satin slippers.

"Well, there's a pile of cards. Birthday, Christmas and all occasion, I'd say. And several boxes
that look like jewelry or something. All addressed to you . . . all unopened."

Relena held out her hands like a little girl. "Oh! Gimme, gimme . . . . As Duo would say. I . .
.I'd like to kick that nasty little toad."

The guard gave Relena a small tight smile. "I'll do it for you, ma'am. I'd say that little . . . ahem.
He kept a lot of stuff from you and sent a bunch of other stuff back. Never liked that guy. Too
full of himself by far." He entered with a file box nearly full of things. "There you go, ma'am."

"Thank you so much." Relena dug into the box and found receipts for returned food gifts, as well
as cards and letters. She wanted to cry and finally did.

Dorothy took over opening the letters and cards, just extracting the contents and handing them to
Relena to read. There was something for every major holiday and a 'monthly digest' letter for
every month for most of the last year. As well as a small gift for Christmas, birthday and several
'just because'.

The thing that broke Relena's heart was the digest letters, they were hopeful at first, but near the
last they were less and less so. Finally, the last letter, dated two months previous, only said that
he wouldn't write and bother her anymore. He sent best regards and asked her to get in touch
with him if she ever forgave him.

Relena took a deep calming breath. "Doro', I want every single communique between Mr.
Webster and my brother brought to me. I also want the backlogs searched for every email sent to
me or anyone in this office from him by whatever name he chose to use."

Dorothy didn't bother to say anything she just left and went to work. She got hold of Lady Une
and asked her to send someone that was capable of doing the work quickly. Lady Une wondered
a little but sent over one of her experts, never mind that it was nearly ten p.m..

Relena read through the retrieved mail with a mounting feeling of despair. They started out
chatty, went through puzzled into disappointed then became stilted and then about three months
ago stopped entirely.

Relena let her temper go again. "Damn that nasty little twerp. I wish . . . I wish . . . I wish Duo
Maxwell was here. I'd ask him to . . . I don't know what."

Dorothy quirked her lips. "Don't you mean you wish Heero Yuy was here?"

"No, I don't. He'd be suspect at once. Maxwell and I never really got along, but I don't see him
turning down an opportunity to blow up something. Or something."

Dorothy just pointed out that it was getting late. "You should go to bed. Tomorrow we'll see
what we can do about making amends."

Relena just nodded and trudged wearily off to bed.

Dorothy took a few minutes to go over Relena's schedule for the next few weeks.

~ * ~

Well, it's a little short, but as I've said before, they end when they end. Next chapter should be
longer.

~ * ~

Xiaolong - Little Dragon.