Sorry, Could You Repeat the Question
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Zechs with his head bent down was working hard aiming to complete his current report by lunchtime when two sturdy knocks broke through the silence of his office. Lifting his head from his computer screen he called out a swift invitation and waited for his visitor to reveal themselves. He didn't have to wait long as the door was immediately opened and Agent Yuy walked into the room closing the door quietly but firmly behind him.
Since Lady Une had managed to employ four out of the five former gundam pilots in the Preventers (Quatre Winner had declined Une's offer stating his responsibility to his father's business) Zechs was not surprised to find that he often had to work quite closely with the ex-pilots. They worked well together and Zechs had formed a profoundly efficient working relationship with all four agents.
"Yuy." Zechs acknowledged, setting aside his work and giving the other man his full attention.
"Merquise" Heero returned with his customary stoic stare, a stare that still made most of Preventers uncomfortable. Patiently Zechs waited for a few moments expecting Yuy to inform him or consult him on an issue regarding a case, the only reasons Yuy would ever drop by in his office. However Yuy remained silent and Zechs got the vague impression that he was being sized up. It was slightly disconcerting.
"What appears to be the problem?" Zechs asked, motioning for Yuy to have a seat. His offer, however, was ignored while the younger man finally decided to get to the point of his visit.
"Wufei" Yuy said bluntly expecting that a name would be enough for Zechs to understand where the conversation was heading.
It wasn't and Zechs confusion was growing by the second.
"Agent Chang?" Zechs asked just to confirm they were talking about the same person. Yuy nodded his head in agreement.
"I wish to know your intentions towards him." Yuy stated bluntly.
"Sorry? My intentions? I don't quite understand." Zechs spoke slowly thinking things over in his head just to make sure he hadn't forgot anything concerning his fellow agent.
"You're romantic interest has been noted, therefore I am checking what you hope to gain by pursuing him." Zechs' jaw metaphorically hit the table and he stared incredulously at the man in front of him. However Yuy continued speaking, paying no attention to Zechs' reaction. "Wufei is an honourable man and a good friend. If your intentions are impure or if he is hurt, your existence will be terminated in a way that will make your dental records a vital component for identifying the body." If Yuy's threat hadn't been enough to make Zechs' blood run cold Yuy's smile made him want to run away and hide behind his potted plant like a little girl.
Fortunately the smile was gone in an instant. Yuy, having given his warning gave Zechs one last nod of acknowledgement for taking up his time and swiftly left the room, politely closing the door behind him. Zechs heaved a sigh of relief. Aside from the obvious edge of fear and complete confusion the last few minutes had forced onto Zechs otherwise quiet morning he was still able to spare an absentminded thought to himself that Yuy had been spending a fair bit of time in Maxwell's company if the morbidly comedic aspect of his threat was anything to go by. Mentally shaking his head Zechs quickly reviewed his previous behaviour, specifically that involving the former Shenlong pilot hoping to find what exactly had led Yuy to confront him.
It was true that of all the pilots Chang was the easiest for him to approach and he admired his skills as a pilot and a fellow Preventer, but then that could be said about the other pilots as well. Furthermore he couldn't find any instance in his conduct which indicated some source of untoward proposition to the man in question, their relationship was strictly professional and nothing Zechs had done could reveal he wanted anything more.
On the other hand there had been the passing of mindless pleasantries sometime last week when he'd bumped into Chang by the coffee machine, an odd joke about stupid drug traffickers and a shared knowing smile. Was that encounter enough of a reason for Yuy to cite a romantic interest on his part? It was hard to say knowing Yuy and not completely improbable; it was no secret that the gundam pilots had a few odd quirks in their personalities. Yuy had a particular knack for misunderstanding social situations; although Zechs had been told on more then one occasion that this defect was hardly noticeable any more, however it had been Maxwell who'd been assuring him of this. These thoughts were unsettling and unproductive.
The best and easiest course of action that Zechs could come up with was to avoid Agent Chang for the time being until Yuy was no longer suspicious of his actions or had moved onto something else of interest. Confident in his strategy Zechs made a mental note to request he not be assigned any missions with Chang in the following weeks, hopefully it would not take too long for Yuy to reassess the situation. Putting the issue for now to the back of his mind Zechs returned to his work.
On a different corridor Heero had made it back to his own office, which he shared with Trowa Barton and where two gundam pilots were currently eagerly awaiting his return.
"Heero! Did you talk to him?" Duo questioned as soon as the other man came into sight.
"Mission accomplished" Heero replied with a barely perceptible nod of his head.
"Great! Ok guys hate to love you and leave you but I gotta get back to my desk before Wufei gets suspicious about my absence." Duo chirped, already rushing out of the room. Making eye contact across their desks the two remaining Preventers silently confirmed that it would probably be more suspicious if Duo spent more time at his desk.
xxxxx
It was coming to mid-afternoon and in Duo and Wufei's shared office Duo was scribbling furiously on a notepad, aka doodling, when Wufei returned to their room looking slightly confused.
"Hey man, have a good lunch?" Duo asked without looking up from his masterpiece (Wufei pretended not to see his colleague wasting company stationary).
"Duo, has something happened to Zechs?" asked Wufei, sitting down at his desk.
"What do you mean?" At the mention of Zechs Duo carefully put his work aside, instantly curious and slightly impressed that Heero's work in the morning was already starting to pay off.
"Some sort of mission trauma?" Duo was not surprised by Wufei's question; he was even expecting something like it. For one thing it was Wufei and as far as he was concerned almost everything could be put down to incompetence or mission trauma. Secondly if a colleague who you'd been working with for a while suddenly started flirting there was bound to be a bit of confusion. But Duo was there to smooth the transition.
"Uh, couldn't really say. Why? What happened?" Duo asked.
"I went to sit next to him in the cafeteria but as soon as I sat down he got up, said he was finished and ran off."
"So, he finished his lunch, what's wrong with that."
"He'd only sat down a couple of minutes before I got to his table; he'd barely had a sip of water. He also walked into the door in his haste to get out of the cafeteria."
"Ok, maybe that is a bit weird."
"And then when I was on my way back I had to go by accounts to drop of some receipts, when he saw me coming down the corridor he suddenly turned around and went down past Jenkins' office."
"So?"
"So? There's nothing down there except the women's lavatories and a cleaning cupboard." Wufei replied slightly exasperated.
"Alright, he's either a pervert or a clean freak. What do you think? Personally I think it could be a close call." Wufei sent Duo a withering glare not appreciating his sense of humour at the current time. "Look, he could just be having a rough day, nothing to do with mission trauma, as far as I know he's been in the office all week in meetings."
Sighing Wufei gave up for the time being and grabbed a pen, glancing up at Duo he snorted in amusement at the unoccupied desk.
Duo was already out of the room and halfway down the hallway, not one to waste valuable time he was on his way to confront his fellow pilot about his morning mission.
"Heero. When you said, and I quote "mission accomplished" this morning what exactly did you accomplish?" Duo asked calmly as soon as he entered the other pilots' office. This was not a good sign, if anything Duo's calm behaviour was a sure sign that he was silently simmering beneath the surface and both Trowa and Heero were paying close attention to where he put his hands.
However in the awkward silence Duo and Trowa noted signs of Heero's embarrassment, signs that would be invisible to the untrained eye. "Heero? What happened?" Duo prodded a little bit worried by his friend's expression, his anger subsiding a bit at the other man's uncertainty.
"I froze."
"What! What did you do!"
"I kind of went a bit 'Perfect Soldier' on him"
"Heero! You were supposed to just act like a concerned friend, and drop some hints about Zechs possibly having an interest in Fei, to slowly get him to pay more attention to their interactions! Did you completely forget the plan! It took me two days to come up with that! Jeez!"
"I did! I just may have done it in a way that struck terror in his heart at the same time." Heero hoped that a little humour would ease the tension in Duo's shoulders. Duo always seemed to be a little proud of him when he managed to crack a joke as if it was a personal accomplishment, however it failed to work and Duo's voice raised another decibel.
"You threatened him? Great! Just great. Tell me exactly what happened from the point you knocked on his door so I can figure out how I'm going to have to fix this." Duo's demand was quickly met and Heero retold the event verbatim and waited for Duo's response.
"Why didn't you say any of this earlier?" Duo demanded and Heero glared mutinously back at his indignant stare, Trowa was keep well out of the conversation, happy to sit back and watch the drama unfold.
"Mission was accomplished."
"What the hell man, no it wasn't." Duo was exasperated and stared incredulously at his colleague making the other man squirm uncomfortably in his chair. "Argh, I thought it would be best if we had you confront Zechs considering that Trowa didn't want to do it and he'd probably take it as a joke if I said anything. Damnit man I think I'm going to have to talk to him anyway."
xxxxx
Zechs wasn't sure what had come first; the knock on the door or Maxwell's presence in his office. The rumour throughout the Preventers was that Maxwell's everyday stealth was just an ingrained part of him, however Zechs had been informed by the man himself that he just like to keep people on their toes. Apparently he walked like an elephant at home.
He hadn't even needed to invite Maxwell to take a seat, the agent flopping down into the chair opposite him with a wide grin.
"What have you done?" Zechs asked, the underlying question of 'who are you hiding from?' remaining on the tip of his tongue.
"Hey now, can't I just pop by for a visit, a nice chat with an old chum without having to have done something wrong first." Zechs stared pointedly at him not deigning to give a verbal answer. Duo rolled his eyes.
"I'm not hiding from anyone. Anyway Trowa's gone all zen on me, Heero is in the naughty corner and Wufei is looking particularly fetching today don't you think?" There was a moment of silence that permeated the room but Duo's grin didn't falter and Zechs remained silent waiting for the other man to make his point. Sensing that as with most of his friends he would be the one to do most of the talking Duo gave up on waiting for a response from the other man.
"Sometimes we have urges, manly urges. Sometimes those urges can lead us in to strange situations which we should definitely not have gone down. Sometimes we need to smack those urges in the face. But occasionally those urges could be leading us down a very nice path, one which could be quite fulfilling. You get my drift?" Duo studied Zechs blank face and scowled in disappointment.
"Okay. So you like ice-cream? Yeah, good, so do I. I think ice-cream is great, and it can come in loads of flavours, so many flavours you don't even realise some of them exist. Then maybe one day completely by accident you end up trying one of those flavours that you always see but overlook because you always go for your old favourites and BAM it turns out to be amazing. Suddenly you can't get enough. You're not even sure why you like it so much but it's now your favourite flavour. So what I'm trying to get at is that you need to be a bit adventurous, head out into the great unknown and just try a new flavour that's just waiting for you to approach." Duo paused, hoping but not really expecting some nod of acknowledgement. Zechs still remained silent and Duo was beginning to suspect he was quickly losing his audience. Zechs on his part was subtly zoning out on the long-haired pilot's confusing nattering.
"So there's a new ice-cream place that opened up a couple blocks away. Go check it out. I went with Heero, he couldn't get enough, I'm telling you, man went crazy over their shakes. Oh and if you need some company, take Fei with you, tell him they have five different types of sprinkles. One more thing ice-cream should always be treated with complete respect and care and any ice-cream fiends will experience pain at the end of a frozen metal spoon." Duo's voice became oddly eerie and like a switch that had suddenly flicked on Zechs was paying complete attention to his last few words and the 'Angel of Death' smile that promised untold amounts of pain and humiliation.
xxxxx
At the end of another productive day in Preventers HQ many of the staff had taken off for the evening, leaving behind the staff who were on the night shift and those still determined to finish off some work before they had to come in the next day.
Those who were still in building were making a silent note to themselves to stay well clear of the office belonging to agents Yuy and Barton where an impromptu meeting appeared to be taking place and they didn't want to take any chance of overhearing and therefore becoming liable for one of Maxwell's unorthodox schemes. Inside the office Duo was silently stewing in a corner; he'd dragged a chair into the corner closest to Heero's desk. Opposite them Trowa was pointedly pretending to work, indicating that since Heero was practically sitting next to him it was his problem.
"Duo?" Heero asked hesitantly, after assessing the situation Heero had deemed that it was best if he approached the sulking man slowly.
"It didn't work. According to Anne from reception, who spoke to Jimmy on the 12th floor, who heard it from Louis in the PR department who spoke to Chris and Janine, Zechs didn't leave his office all afternoon. Not even when he clocked out, apparently someone saw him scaling the outside of the building when he left, although I heard that one from Alex in accounts so it could be a complete lie. All I did was hint that asking Fei out for some ice-cream wouldn't be a bad idea." Looking up imploringly at Heero for some comfort he was met with a questioning look, a look that didn't seem to believe him. "And, I may have finished it off with a smile." The look was still there and pointed in his direction. "And a death threat. But it was a subtle one!" Duo cried out unrepentant.
Checking the time Trowa sighed, he was supposed to have left 20 minutes ago and he didn't know how long he could keep tapping keys randomly on his computer that he'd turned off some time ago. If he left now it was possible that he could still get home in time for the programme he'd been planning to watch.
"I'll talk to him tomorrow." The words had already left Trowa's mouth before he'd even realised what he was saying, although his expression never gave away his surprise at his own offer.
"Really?" Duo asked brightly, looking up hopefully at Trowa. Seeing his chance Trowa nodded and quickly grabbed his jacket and was out the door before Duo could hold him back any longer. He'd figure out how he was going to approach Zechs in the morning or he'd just make it up as he went along.
xxxxx
Trowa Barton was sitting in his chair and Zechs had a strong suspicion he hadn't come in via the door, mainly because he'd had to unlock the door to get in himself. The younger man had also apparently made himself quite comfortable in Zechs' chair, leaning back comfortably nursing a coffee from that fancy coffee shop opposite Preventers' HQ.
"Have a seat." Barton gestured towards the 'visitor's chair'.
"Barton?"
"Your coffee is getting cold." Barton pointed at the Styrofoam cup resting unthreateningly on the desk.
"Right." Not wanting to kick a gift horse in the mouth Zechs humoured the man and took a seat, reaching for the coffee as he sat down. "Does this have anything to do with Chang by any chance?" Zechs asked sipping his drink, it was good, much better then anything they had at Preventers. Across from him Barton put down his coffee, pushed back his fringe and stared into his eyes. It was bizarre. Not the eye he'd just uncovered, there was nothing visibly wrong with it; it looked pretty much like his other eye, but Zechs could now see it and that was bizarre. Barton let go of his hair and returned to his coffee.
"You like Wufei." It was a statement not a question and like Barton's invitation for Zechs to have a seat Zechs decided to humour him.
"I do?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Since when?"
"You're not completely sure. It's been growing for a while you think but you can't pinpoint exactly when. But a couple of weeks ago you saw him working hard, you admired his tenacity and then it suddenly hit you, you like Agent Chang."
"You mean two weeks ago when I was in Prague?"
"Yes."
"How did I manage to get a look at Wufei working hard?"
"I emailed you a photo."
"I have no record of receiving such an email from you."
"Give me fifteen and you could."
"No never mind. I don't think having it or not would make a difference. Is there anything else?"
"Yes. You like his long silky black hair; you're longing to run your fingers through it to see if it's as soft as it looks. You also like his eyes, his beautiful eyes; deep, black bottomless pits that you could get lost in." Trowa spoke without any expression and Zechs tried not choke too loudly on his coffee at this sudden revelation.
"Uh right." Trowa however seemed to take that as the sign that his work was done and stood up abruptly from his relaxed position.
"Enjoy your coffee." Trowa said, walking leisurely to the door.
"Barton." Zechs called out, stopping Trowa just as he had reached the door. "How did you get in?"
"Window."
"Not the air vent?"
"That's more Heero's style."
"Ah right. What about Maxwell?"
"Lock-pick or explosives." Barton replied watching Zechs swap seats. "And Wufei?" Barton asked.
"Break the lock." Zechs answered without thinking and turned on his computer. Barton left him to it, thinking of the best way to keep Heero calm when he got to their office as he walked out of the door.
Heero would not be happy that he'd just given away his coffee; he would have to convince the trigger-happy agent that it was compensation for his death threats ruining Duo's well thought out plan.
xxxxx
Coffee finished, Zechs leaned back in his chair. So far Yuy had threatened him, Maxwell had probably also threatened him and Barton had just filled in the blanks on his non existent love life. According to Barton he was a complete sap that bordered on the creepy side but at least that revelation had come with coffee. Good coffee. And they'd approached him on behalf of Wufei, well his 'supposed' interest in Agent Chang.
Zechs groaned. What the hell was going on? He wouldn't be surprised if Winner suddenly breezed into his office straight from the airport and fresh from his tour of L3. Or maybe it would be Sally Po, she seemed to have a pretty good friendship with Chang and an immediate access to medical supplies which she used to threaten people, he'd seen her do it before.
Oh god, what if Une paid him a visit, it was no secret that Chang was one of Lady Une's favourite Agents; would she also be concerned about an 'office romance'? He hoped not, but just to make sure it wouldn't come to that he would have to pay Chang a visit. Maybe Chang's anger (there was no way Chang would be happy with his friend's interference) would be enough to call off his guard dogs. Well there was no time like the present and if he had any luck Maxwell would be one of his regular jaunts and out of the office.
Taking the long way round Zechs had stealthily walked past Yuy and Barton's office to confirm that Agent Chang would be alone in his office. Any sound coming from their room would immediately confirm that Maxwell was in their office, which he was.
With a polite knock on the door Zechs entered the other agent's office, not waiting for an invitation in case it gave him time to pause and change his mind about tackling the issue. At his desk Wufei looked up at his visitor, used to people walking into his office randomly, a consequence of sharing an office with Duo.
"Chang"
"Merquise. How can I help you?"
Involuntarily Zechs's eyes were drawn towards the other man's hair and then his eyes and with a mental shake he had to bring his mind back on track. His pause however was enough cause for concern for Wufei, particularly after the other man's behaviour from the day before. Rounding the table Wufei was suddenly standing directly in front of Zechs.
"Merquise? Are you feeling well?"
"Ah, I'm fine." Feeling especially aware of the younger man standing close to him and finding it oddly cute that Wufei had to tilt his head back slightly in order to look Zechs in the eyes from his current position, Zechs took a step back.
"Are you sure?" Wufei took a step forward, trying to assess if Zechs was in need of some medical attention or counselling. Zechs was once again drawn to the younger man's eyes and his look of concern. Zechs throat went dry.
"Do you like ice-cream?" Zechs blurted out suddenly, confused Wufei took a step back.
"What?"
"Ice-cream. I mean do you want to get some ice-cream. With me. There's a new place that's just opened up. I've heard they've got five different types of sprinkles." Zechs dearly hoped a black hole would just open up beneath his feet and swallow him right that minute. It didn't help that Wufei had gone from looking quite concerned to sour in a matter of seconds.
"Did Duo put you up to this?"
"No!" Zechs spoke vehemently, momentarily forgetting his own embarrassment and Wufei's sour expression changed once again, becoming puzzled.
"You just decided to come here to ask me if I'd like to get some ice-cream. Are you asking me out?" and Zechs embarrassment was back in a heartbeat.
"Possibly…" Studying him closely Wufei stepped forward, their faces barely an inch apart and Zechs was unable to turn away, not that he wanted to at this point. Seemingly satisfied Wufei glanced at his watch and then at the door.
"Let's go." He said walking to the door. "Before Duo gets back and sees us." Wufei glanced back with a smile, leaving Zechs to hurry after him.
-End-