Chapter Eleven
Mid-October AC-190
Lake Victoria Military Academy
Otto shot Zechs a concerned glance as the two of them stood with their fellow classmates in the corridor outside Major Valadin's lecture theatre but refrained from asking him, again, if he really was all right. Contrary to the front he generally presented to the rest of the world, Otto was neither insensitive nor stupid and he well knew that this was neither the time nor the place to resume that particular conversation with his friend.
Not that it would do any good, anyway.
The details of what had occurred in Treize's office after Otto's dismissal were something the dark-haired boy had yet to pry out of Zechs but it didn't take a genius to work out that the conversation hadn't gone well.
Though Otto had intended to wait up for his roommate, the stress of his globe-hopping flight and the exhaustion of his own exertions in the club had caught up with him and he had fallen asleep, only to wake sometime later to see Zechs sitting on the edge of his bunk, staring blindly at the floor. Otto had slipped out of his own bed and padded across the room, settling himself on the bunk at the other boy's side, intending to ask what was wrong.
He'd opened his mouth to speak and stopped as Zechs turned his head to look at Otto for a moment, and then leaned in and kissed him fiercely. Before Otto had quite realised what was happening, the blond had gotten him flat on his back and half undressed and had seemed to be intent on ignoring completely every last one of the few restrictions they'd agreed to on what they did together.
Shivering at the not-quite-sane look in his roommate's eyes, Otto had planted his hands against Zechs's shoulders and shoved as hard as he could, rolling the two of them over and pinning the taller boy down.
After that, greater experience had allowed Otto to wrest control of what happened from the other cadet and it hadn't taken much work with his hand to make Zechs climax with a keening cry, hard enough that every inch of his body was left trembling in the aftermath.
Otto's whispered, "Are you all right?" a few minutes later, when the shaking hadn't begun to ease the way he'd expected it to had been answered only with a silent headshake and Zechs rolling over to bury his face in his pillow. Wondering if it was only his over-active imagination that made him suspect that his friend was crying, Otto had settled himself into the bed behind Zechs, throwing the covers over both of them and wrapping himself around the blond, anchoring him with the weight and warmth of another body. Zechs's hand gripping his a moment later had let Otto know the gesture was appreciated and they had stayed that way until they both fell asleep.
The dark-haired cadet had woken alone the following morning, and if Zechs hadn't been withdrawn almost to the point of sleepwalking ever since, it would have been as though as nothing had happened.
"Is he okay?"
The whisper made Otto look away from Zechs and across the corridor at Noin.
The girl was staring at Zechs with every bit as much concern in her face as Otto felt, and though she'd refused to speak to either of them beyond acknowledging the apology they'd tendered her the day before, there was no doubting that she cared for the blond.
Otto shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "He's been like this since the evening I got back."
"Mr. Treize did say Zechs hadn't been well…" Noin offered tentatively. "Maybe..." she suggested but trailed off before she could finish.
Given that Treize was most likely the cause of this funk, Otto didn't quite know what to say to that. Fortunately, Major Valadin chose that moment to open her door to them and he was spared from having to make a reply.
The Russian major looked exactly as she always did – her uniform perfect and her manner unapproachable – but Otto caught a glimpse of sympathy in her eyes as she swept her icy grey gaze over Zechs.
Otto slipped into his normal seat, Zechs sinking down next to him, and fixed his attention on the front of the room on automatic pilot, three years of practice making the routine effortless. He didn't really need the sudden tension in the blonde's body to identify the elegant figure sitting on the corner of Valadin's desk, one booted foot swinging lazily as the cadets settled themselves and began to haul notepads and palmtop computers from their bags.
"What's Instructor Treize doing here?" Noin hissed.
Otto shrugged. "Don't know. Zechs?"
The blond didn't look at either of his friends as he shook his head.
"Great."
Valadin cleared her throat to call the class to order. "Good morning, cadets. I am delighted to see that you all returned safely from your break, and I am sure you will be equally delighted to learn that this is the last class you will take with me whilst at the Academy unless you have elected to specialise in intelligence work. It is, of course, also the hardest class you have taken with me so far. One in three of you will not pass."
Sitting behind Valadin, watching the reaction of the students listening to her, Treize was forced to repress a smile as she made that last announcement. It was, almost word for word, exactly the same speech as she had given to his class in his last year at the Academy. The comment about the pass rate had been true then, and was doubtless still true now.
"The title of the class is Practical Covert Technique – and you need not bother to write that down. Please put away all note taking equipment and refrain from bringing it to future lessons. You will not take notes for this class, there will be no handouts."
Liliya paused to allow that shock to sink in, and then she turned to Treize and offered him a small smile before looking out at her class again. "Now, you all know Instructor Khushrenada, of course. He has kindly agreed to help me teach this course this year."
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"Cadet Marquise, could you stay a moment? I'd like to speak to you."
Zechs froze as he registered Valadin's voice, knowing that her so-polite request may as well have been an order. He could ignore the one no more than the other. "Of course, ma'am," he agreed and sank back into his seat, watching helplessly as Noin and Otto slipped from the room, leaving him alone with the Major.
He felt himself tensing slowly as she ran her gaze over him, wondering what the hell she could possibly want.
"You've impressed me, Zechs," she said eventually, leaning back against the row of chairs in front of him and tilting her head to one side.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Zechs asked, confused. "I don't understand."
"Treize," she offered by way of explanation. "I'll confess, I didn't think you had it in you."
"I'm sorry?"
"To call him on his behaviour the way you did. I didn't think you had the nerve. I'm impressed."
She smiled a little and Zechs stared at her. "With respect, ma'am," he grated, "but what are you talking about?"
"Ah. So sorry. I should learn to begin at the beginning, no?" The smile settled, and her eyes began to sparkle. "Treize told me that the two of you had something of a falling out over the break, and what it was about. As I said, I'm impressed that you can stand up to him so but I wonder why you are so angry with him?"
Zechs glared at her, caught between shock and betrayal. "Did he tell you what he said to me?" he asked, forgetting that his initial reaction had been to tell Valadin to go to hell.
"Da, he did, and I agree with you – he is a hypocrite. If he had spoken to me as he did to you I would have stabbed him with something." Liliya paused and lifted herself from the support of the chairs to come and sit of the corner of Zechs's desk much as Treize had been sitting on hers at the start of the lesson. "But," she continued, "I would also have known why he was doing it, and I don't think that you do." Long fingers reached out and ran gently over Zechs's cheek before he could flinch back to prevent the touch. "Do you know who Treize considers the most important person in this world?" Liliya asked softly.
Zechs frowned. "Mariemeia, I suppose. Leia, if not her."
Valadin shook her head. "Nyet, Zechs. No. I have no doubt that he loves them both dearly and that he would die to protect them if he had to, but they are not the most important." She stopped and smiled gently. "You are."
"I don't think you know what you're talking about," Zechs hissed, forgetting all protocol as anger flared, quick and hot.
The Major raised an eyebrow. "Do I not? I have known Treize for a very long time, Zechs. I taught him some of the most important lessons he will ever learn. Believe me, I know a great deal more about him than you can imagine, and I know this. However wrong in his methods, he is only trying to protect you, darling. He loves you, and the idea of you being hurt in any way terrifies him as very little else can."
Zechs was looking at her, eyes wide behind his glasses, lower lip caught in his teeth. "I…"
"I've never seen him as he was when he came to me that night," Liliya added pensively. "You've hurt him, I think, and upset him rather badly."
Guilt bit at Zechs instantly, but he forced it down as he glared. "How have I hurt him? I didn't ask him to follow me. I didn't ask him to interfere. I certainly didn't ask him for his damned opinion on my private life!"
Valadin tilted her head. "I don't recall Treize asking for your opinion on his, Zechs, but that didn't stop you giving it when you found him with me."
"That was different!" Zechs retorted instantly.
Liliya smirked. "I rather thought you'd say that," she murmured.
"Given that it's the truth, I would hope so!"
"Really? Tell me, darling, how is it different? The both of you are doing something that the other objects to, and both of you are insisting on forcing their own point of view down the other's throat. If you aren't careful you'll choke each other."
Zechs stood up abruptly. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected you to understand," he snapped dismissively.
Valadin straightened. "Careful, cadet," she warned. "I'm not about to tolerate insolence from you. If you're referring to that fact that Treize is married…"
"Of course I am!" Zechs snarled, then shook his head. "He's not… he's not who I thought he was. I…"
"Very few people are who we would like to think they are, darling, but you did have him on something of a pedestal." She smiled. "In the end, this was always going to happen, I think. The both of you have such strange notions about the other that it was inevitable. You should perhaps be grateful that it happened over something so minor."
"Minor!" Zechs choked. "Ma'am… you weren't there. You didn't see him, didn't hear… what he said…"
Liliya watched as the boy turned away from her, obviously hurting, and knew she 'd found what she had come here to find. The story she had dragged from Treize had been complete but for one key detail – the other officer hadn't been able to tell her what it was that had prompted Zechs's sudden flash of temper. "Tell me," she encouraged, determined for the sake of both boys to lance this wound of its pain so they could begin to mend fences.
Zechs shook his head, so that, for a moment, she thought he was going to refuse. Then his voice echoed back to her. "Treize said… he said that he'd never seen anything so… So sickening…. That I…." He broke off, bringing his arms up to wrap around himself for a split second. "Why did you tell him?" Zechs demanded suddenly, turning back around to face the Major. "He would never have worked it out on his own!"
"I'm sorry?" Liliya asked, having the sudden sense that she'd lost control of the conversation.
"Treize said it was you who told him I was gay!" the cadet spat. "Why did you do that? He didn't need to know – I could have…"
"Lived a lie?" Valadin finished softly. "Could you have done that, really, darling? Have you ever kept anything a secret from him?" She shook her head. "I've seen the two of you together, Zechs, when you think no-one is looking. It would have killed you to lie to him like that."
"It would have been better than this!"
"No, it wouldn't have." Liliya stepped forward and again reached out a hand, running cool fingers against the cadet's flushed face. "Treize is what he is, darling. A product of his upbringing, his class, his culture – with all the faults and flaws that implies. It's why he needs me – as I think you knew." She smiled. "His reaction wasn't to you, or to the idea that you could be gay, but to the reality of what that meant. To seeing someone he considers a child still, someone he must protect, an innocent, in such a situation. You will have to give him time to process that."
Valadin's smile suddenly turned a touch wicked as she stepped backwards. "It was also the reaction of the typically arrogant straight male, with all those silly ideas of dominance and submission that they seem to have. Consider that he caught you on your knees, about to go down on your friend – why, it's something no man would ever do! It's weak and degrading and… " She trailed off, chuckling a little to herself, the tone mocking and after a moment Zechs joined her, wondering that he could have any common ground with this so severe woman.
Liliya nodded, pleased that she had managed to cheer Zechs a little. "Go and talk to him, darling. Clear the air between you – you'll both be the better for it."
"Yes, ma'am…. And thank you," Zechs added quietly.
"You're welcome, darling." She turned to walk down the steps and stopped a little way down, turning back to him with a sinful little grin. "Oh, and darling? Ask me someday how I made him pay for daring to think like that. I imagine you'll find it quite amusing…"
The ideas that called forth in Zechs's mind were positively alarming, the effect only made worse by the knowledge that this woman would be capable of every single one of them.
"Dismissed, cadet," Valadin called as she reached the door, and Zechs was left scrambling to put away his things as fast as he could.
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Treize was, as Zechs had expected him to be, in his office when the younger man located him but he was not sitting behind his desk, working. When he bade Zechs enter, the cadet had to look a round for a moment to locate the Instructor, who was sitting on the window ledge, staring off at something across the base.
"Sir?" Zechs asked hesitantly.
"Cadet," Treize greeted coolly. "Come in. What did you want?"
Zechs took a few steps further into the room, closing the office door behind him as he did so. "Major Valadin, sir… she said I should come and talk to you…"
"Did she now? What does she imagine we have to talk about?"
"What… happened, I think, sir. She said you told her and…"
Treize's body tensed noticeably, but he didn't look at the younger man. "Whatever I may or may not have said to Major Valadin on the subject is none of your concern, cadet," he snapped. "She had no right to mention it to you!"
Zechs nodded, trying not to wince at the blast of temper. "Maybe not, sir, but she did." He waited for the teacher to respond, to look round at him and when he continued to stare out of the window, Zechs bit his lip. "Sir, I'm sorry… I didn't… I didn't mean to hurt you, I just…." Words deserted the younger man and he dropped his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry," he repeated softly. "I'll go."
The cadet pulled himself to attention and snapped off a salute but just before he could turn to open the door again, Treize looked round.
Sapphire eyes scanned the younger man head to foot, and almost immediately the Instructor scowled, standing up to cross the room. "Are you all right?" he demanded. "You aren't ill, are you?"
Zechs blinked at him behind his glasses, taken aback by the sudden change of mood from his teacher. "No, I'm not ill… why?"
"You look…" Long fingers came up and pulled Zechs's sunglasses off, revealing red-rimmed dull blue eyes, ringed with shadows. "…terrible." Treize finished. "Zechs, what the hell is going on?"
"I didn't sleep well last night," Zechs protested automatically. "I'm fine. May I go, sir?"
"No," Treize denied. "Were you out again last night? Are you hung over? Is that what this is?"
"No, sir! Sir, really, I'm fine!"
"You aren't fine, Zechs… Did you look in a mirror this morning?"
"Of course I did, sir."
"Then how do you expect me to believe there's nothing wrong?" Treize's frown deepened, and then his eyes closed momentarily. "Did I do this to you?" he asked softly, and when Zechs opened his mouth to protest, stopped him with a raised hand. "The truth, please. I would like to think there's that much of our friendship left."
Zechs swallowed. "I was telling the truth! I didn't sleep well last night!"
"Oh? It takes more than one bad night to leave someone in this state, Zechs, but carry on. Why didn't you sleep well?"
"I just didn't. I haven't been for a while. It's nothing to worry about."
"Really? What constitutes 'a while', then? Since the night I caught you in the club?"
"The night we went to the theatre, actually. Between you and Noin…" Zechs shook his head. "I'm fine, sir. Or I will be." He shrugged. "I only came to apologise, sir, if you'll let me. I had no right to say what I did to you, and I never intended you to be hurt by it."
"Yes, you did." Treize corrected, though he didn't clarify which statement he was correcting. "Of course I'll accept your apology."
"Thank you, sir," Zechs sighed, feeling a weight lift from him.
Treize watched the trainee for a moment, then sighed. "Zechs, do you have afternoon classes?" he asked.
"No, sir. At least, nothing that I'm required to attend. I have an optional advanced physics course, but it's more a group study session than a class. I can miss it, if I need to. Why?"
Treize nodded. "Because I want you to go and get out of that uniform and meet me back here in half an hour. Can you do that?"
"Yes, sir. Of course I can , but… may I ask why?"
"I'll explain later, if you don't mind." Treize smiled slightly. "Hop to it, then. Oh, and wear something comfortable."
"Yes, sir."
