Quatre Winner wandered aimlessly away from the small outdoor soirée.
His effervescent bodyguard followed him, a professional expression adorning
his dark-skinned face, so unlike the pale Quatre's.
A true Arabian bodyguard, Quatre thought sardonically. Lucky me. I get to be followed around by a near psychopath. Arabian's obsession with making everyone in society useful is terrifying sometimes. On the other hand, he's probably the only one here who wouldn't love to see me dead. The quiet discussion behind him suddenly erupted into argument, and Quatre noted, with the ease of long practice, that the dissidents were the Turkish Ambassador and the recently arrived Russian businessman. The Russian's name was Takarov, and he was extremely well thought-of in his homeland. Or, as Quatre's informant had put it, 'a shark.' According to Takarov's file, which Quatre had memorized as a matter of course, he had no family, and few lovers, a rarity among the 'rich and powerful' fools of the Earth's Sphere. Most, including the Turkish Ambassador arguing so vehemently with Takarov now, had both families and many lovers.
Still pondering the private lives of many of the important people nibbling at expensive foods at the party, Quatre cynically thought, These people are completely ruthless usually, but their personal lives are a huge vulnerability. They depend on the guilt of everyone else to keep anyone from speaking up. Everyone's guilty, so no one can accuse another. What a wonderful system. The argument escalated in decibel level , and Quatre stopped wandering; it was time to return and make peace. The many fractious personalities surrounding him often needed such placating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You thought you were there to guide me, you were only in my way, you're wrong if you think I'll be just like you..." Duo Maxwell belted out enthusiastically, to the severe annoyance of his companion, Chang Wufei. Duo smirked at him as he made a sharp turn at about 50 mph above the speed limit.
"I said the meeting was important, Maxwell, not urgent! Slow. Down. Five minutes isn't going to make a differen-"
The Corvette sped around yet another sharp turn, skidding more than a bit.
"I'm not speeding to get to the meeting," Duo said with a cocky smile. I'm speeding because I have this nice Preventer badge that allows me to drive as fast as I want, and, cliché as it is, I like speed. You know you like it fast too Wufferts. Or so Sally says, anyway."
Duo's grin grew in amusement at his suddenly silent friend, and gunned the car a little more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Qua, the 'q' on a double letter space, and the 'a' on a double word space...that's 44 points, please," said Catherine, proving again why she was regarded as the smartest person in the circus. Her smile said that she knew it too, somehow without seeming to brag.
"No. Way."
"ARE YOU JOKING?"
"That is so NOT a word!"
Trowa smiled quietly at the outbursts from the circus' three best acrobats. It was somewhat obvious that they were acrobats because they were utterly unsuited to a more academic job, and it showed even more in a Scrabble game.
Catherine screeched, stung by the accusation of cheating. "It IS a word, it means 'of.' Look it up!"
"We will!!"
The buzzing ring of the 'com broke through the argument easily. All the occupants of the room turned to look at it in surprise. They had chosen to play in Trowa's room specifically because no one ever called him.
"Perhaps you should leave," said Trowa tonelessly. The acrobats were gone so quickly, Trowa was distantly surprised that their Scrabble letters weren't still falling when the door closed. Catherine moved more sedately, but she didn't linger. Unfortunate experience had taught her that nothing good could come from Trowa's phone calls.
A moment after the door closed behind Catherine, Trowa stood up and purposefully turned on the 'com.
"Hello?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero Yuy sat impassively in front of his computer. The work in front of him abruptly seemed unimportant, in light of the call he had just received. None of the information in front of him could rival the current situation. And the Preventers weren't even sure what the current situation was.
The ringing of the 'com shook Heero from his semi-trance, and he answered it, bemused by his own shock. I've gotten soft in this peace,' Heero thought. I would have seen this coming once. And it wouldn't have shocked me that it was possible.
"Did you already hear, Heero?"
Trowa looks worried...I wonder who he's more worried about, Catherine or Quatre?
"Yes, I heard," he replied quietly.
"Do you have any idea how they could have done this? Or who 'they' are?"
"Do I have any idea? If I'd had any ideas Trowa, I would have at least attempted to prevent this," Heero snarled bitterly. "No one knows anything. The majority of the Earth's Sphere don't know they should be worried, although how long that's going to last is anyone's guess."
"Maybe some of Quatre's sources know something. They seem to be everywhere," Trowa suggested eagerly. "I'll call him-"
"No! Quatre doesn't know there's anything for him to find; he hasn't been told. And it will stay that way.
A true Arabian bodyguard, Quatre thought sardonically. Lucky me. I get to be followed around by a near psychopath. Arabian's obsession with making everyone in society useful is terrifying sometimes. On the other hand, he's probably the only one here who wouldn't love to see me dead. The quiet discussion behind him suddenly erupted into argument, and Quatre noted, with the ease of long practice, that the dissidents were the Turkish Ambassador and the recently arrived Russian businessman. The Russian's name was Takarov, and he was extremely well thought-of in his homeland. Or, as Quatre's informant had put it, 'a shark.' According to Takarov's file, which Quatre had memorized as a matter of course, he had no family, and few lovers, a rarity among the 'rich and powerful' fools of the Earth's Sphere. Most, including the Turkish Ambassador arguing so vehemently with Takarov now, had both families and many lovers.
Still pondering the private lives of many of the important people nibbling at expensive foods at the party, Quatre cynically thought, These people are completely ruthless usually, but their personal lives are a huge vulnerability. They depend on the guilt of everyone else to keep anyone from speaking up. Everyone's guilty, so no one can accuse another. What a wonderful system. The argument escalated in decibel level , and Quatre stopped wandering; it was time to return and make peace. The many fractious personalities surrounding him often needed such placating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You thought you were there to guide me, you were only in my way, you're wrong if you think I'll be just like you..." Duo Maxwell belted out enthusiastically, to the severe annoyance of his companion, Chang Wufei. Duo smirked at him as he made a sharp turn at about 50 mph above the speed limit.
"I said the meeting was important, Maxwell, not urgent! Slow. Down. Five minutes isn't going to make a differen-"
The Corvette sped around yet another sharp turn, skidding more than a bit.
"I'm not speeding to get to the meeting," Duo said with a cocky smile. I'm speeding because I have this nice Preventer badge that allows me to drive as fast as I want, and, cliché as it is, I like speed. You know you like it fast too Wufferts. Or so Sally says, anyway."
Duo's grin grew in amusement at his suddenly silent friend, and gunned the car a little more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Qua, the 'q' on a double letter space, and the 'a' on a double word space...that's 44 points, please," said Catherine, proving again why she was regarded as the smartest person in the circus. Her smile said that she knew it too, somehow without seeming to brag.
"No. Way."
"ARE YOU JOKING?"
"That is so NOT a word!"
Trowa smiled quietly at the outbursts from the circus' three best acrobats. It was somewhat obvious that they were acrobats because they were utterly unsuited to a more academic job, and it showed even more in a Scrabble game.
Catherine screeched, stung by the accusation of cheating. "It IS a word, it means 'of.' Look it up!"
"We will!!"
The buzzing ring of the 'com broke through the argument easily. All the occupants of the room turned to look at it in surprise. They had chosen to play in Trowa's room specifically because no one ever called him.
"Perhaps you should leave," said Trowa tonelessly. The acrobats were gone so quickly, Trowa was distantly surprised that their Scrabble letters weren't still falling when the door closed. Catherine moved more sedately, but she didn't linger. Unfortunate experience had taught her that nothing good could come from Trowa's phone calls.
A moment after the door closed behind Catherine, Trowa stood up and purposefully turned on the 'com.
"Hello?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero Yuy sat impassively in front of his computer. The work in front of him abruptly seemed unimportant, in light of the call he had just received. None of the information in front of him could rival the current situation. And the Preventers weren't even sure what the current situation was.
The ringing of the 'com shook Heero from his semi-trance, and he answered it, bemused by his own shock. I've gotten soft in this peace,' Heero thought. I would have seen this coming once. And it wouldn't have shocked me that it was possible.
"Did you already hear, Heero?"
Trowa looks worried...I wonder who he's more worried about, Catherine or Quatre?
"Yes, I heard," he replied quietly.
"Do you have any idea how they could have done this? Or who 'they' are?"
"Do I have any idea? If I'd had any ideas Trowa, I would have at least attempted to prevent this," Heero snarled bitterly. "No one knows anything. The majority of the Earth's Sphere don't know they should be worried, although how long that's going to last is anyone's guess."
"Maybe some of Quatre's sources know something. They seem to be everywhere," Trowa suggested eagerly. "I'll call him-"
"No! Quatre doesn't know there's anything for him to find; he hasn't been told. And it will stay that way.