A.N: So the New Year's resolution I've set up for myself is to get a chapter out each month. And as such, here's a new chapter for the New Year and hopefully another one will come out in the next month...
SOUL'S REQUIEM
Chapter 11: Red, Orange, Yellow Flicker Beat
by: veGie-kun
Deafening silence permeated the room; no one had any words for what they just saw. But soon enough Commander Une quickly shifted gears and began issuing orders. She directed a group in the far right corner to scan security footage for any suspicious behavior within their department. Another group along the left wall was ordered to check their network for any security breach while another was tasked with re-interrogating Johnson and Alvarez. Immediately the ocean of bodies cramped within the room began to move towards the door, all eager to complete the tasks assigned them.
"I want to address the public."
And just as quickly as things were set into motion, the frantic bustling came to a sudden halt, her words stopping everyone in their tracks. All they could do was stare at the Foreign Minister, mouths agape amidst the confusion.
"What did you just say?" Commander Une stammered, thinking she must have misheard what just came out of Relena Darlian's mouth.
"I said," the young woman began once more, somewhat annoyed for having to repeat herself, "that I would like to address the public in regards to what just aired." She closed her eyes and took another sip of her coffee before opening them once more to add on. "And if at all possible I'd like to make that address sooner rather than later."
All eyes turned to the Commander just in time to see the older woman cross her arms over her chest and shake her head. "We can't afford to be rash about this. Our top priority now is to respond to this leak. Figure out how it happened and prevent anything else of this nature from occurring again. Only after that's done can we go about forming a proper response for the public."
Relena sighed audibly drawing everyone's attention once more. "The longer we stay quiet on the matter the more things may be allowed to blow out of proportion."
Une frowned and narrowed her eyes. "My concern is that we may be playing into their hands if we act too quickly and carelessly. Which is why we first need to figure out how this leak happened and then take the appropriate actions."
"Well, isn't it ironic then," Relena drawled condescendingly, "that you did take your time to carefully control matters in an attempt to prevent this very situation from happening and from what we all just witnessed here, it was a miserable failure." Everyone in the room sucked in a quiet and surprised breath, astonished by what the blonde had just uttered. Never had they heard her so blunt and borderline disrespectful before. The tension in the room was palpable and intensified as more words were exchanged. "But it's not as if I'm saying that you shouldn't take those precautions," the blonde continued on, "Just that while you're off doing your job, I can go about doing mine in addressing the public about what they just saw." She noticed Une about to speak and quickly cut her off. "It is my reputation on the line here, not yours. The way I see it, rumors need to be squashed before they get out of hand."
Silence once more descended upon the room. Both knew that the first to budge, even an inch, would lose the advantage, so they continued to stare at each other. As it was, the ball was currently in the Commander's court and all the agents in the room quietly awaited her response. "That may be true," Une hesitantly admitted unable to refute the Foreign Minister's words, "but we still need time to figure out what you'll say to them. We could end up making things worse and not only could your credibility be further jeopardized, it could be irreparably damaged."
The younger woman smiled coyly. "Oh, no need to worry about that," she replied, taking another sip of her coffee. "I already have something in mind."
Everyone could see how seriously their Commander was mulling over the options. "... Okay," she finally acquiesced, "but the earliest we can do this is tomorrow morning. We need time to get the broadcasting equipment ready and I'll have to get in touch with a few of my contacts at the local stations and ask them to let us air on their networks."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just hijack a satellite and beam Jousan's speech directly into everyone's television instead?"
Une sighed and brought a hand to her forehead to ease the growing migraine she was experiencing. "Let's not put any more fuel on the fire, Maxwell. We already have enough problems as it is, if the ESUN thinks we're abusing our powers they may have a reason to disband this organization." He gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged, dropping the subject without protest. "Is that alright with you, Foreign Minister?" She asked, redirecting her attention back to blonde.
"Those terms are agreeable." Came the even reply and with that the signal for dismissal was given and all too eagerly everyone left without further prompting.
Heero entered his dorm room wound tighter than a yo-yo. He slammed the door shut and proceeded to bang his head against it. The morning's incident, the laboring cleanup they had to do, the thorough chewing out they received from Une, and then there was all the work they'd put in to ensure that said morning's incident remained classified – he'd foolishly thought that things couldn't get any worse at that point – and everything still imploded around them. Relena's image, not to mention the whole of her political career, were teetering on the precipice of ruination and he, for the life of him, could not see how they were going to salvage it. Maybe the speech she planned to make to the public in the morning was the key. Maybe she had already predicted such a scenario and wisely created a contingency plan in case the other politicians somehow managed to turn the populace of Earth and Space against her. Then again, maybe it was nothing more than an unplanned, impulsive, erratic and irrational decision made on the fly because she wasn't in her right state of mind.
But wasn't she in her right state of mind? She had exuded nothing but a calm, cool, and collected persona throughout that whole report. It hadn't fazed her at all. And that was how Relena had always handled unexpected situations that came her way; in a sea of chaos many looked to her to be a rock of stability. And she had been nothing but from the moment she assumed rule over the former Sanc kingdom. So the reality of it may just be that the very thought of Rei was clouding their perception and judgment of the young woman. They were letting their fear overrule their rationale and in the end that would probably do more harm than good for Relena's recovery. He was at a crossroads for what to do and he hated feeling so helpless. Before he could sink further into his despair his mobile rang. He took a deep breath before pulling it from his pocket and answering it.
"Quatre." he greeted gruffly, too exhausted to feign pleasantries.
"Heero." came the acknowledgment. "I'm at the spaceport right now and I just wanted to let you know of the rather interesting news I'm now currently watching. I'm sure you've seen it too... and well, to make things quick – is it true or is what I'm seeing some sort of elaborate hoax?"
The Japanese remained silent, unsure of how much to give away. While Quatre was a trusted comrade, he wasn't part of this assignment. Getting him involved could create more problems and give the blond more unnecessary worry but the further he thought about it the more he realized that they needed someone with a substantial amount of influence in the political world on their side. The Winner conglomerate held enough financial power to influence the tide of politics and that was a trump card worth playing should the need arise. Especially if everyone in the ESUN decided to turn against Relena then Quatre may be the only one who could keep her from a worst case scenario, which in his mind was imprisonment.
"It's all real," he reluctantly admitted. "I didn't tell you about it when you were here earlier but it happened this morning."
"Hmmm. It all makes sense now – why you were so on edge this morning."
Heero gave a noncommittal grunt in response, he didn't appreciate being reminded of how little control he had over the situation. "What are your thoughts on this?"
"In regards to what? Miss Relena's decimation of her assailants or the way the media is portraying it?"
The Japanese groaned. "The latter."
There was a contemplative hum from the other end. "Well, I will admit I was quite surprised by how eagerly they seemed to turn on Miss Relena. One station was calling for her resignation and another was advocating for her incarceration to a mental ward."
Heero's fist clenched, disgusted by how superficial the loyalty of the public appeared to be. After everything she'd done, after all the long hours she'd toil away to ensure them that she could be trusted... all of it had been in vain, it was as if everything really amounted to nothing.
"It may be that those stations have ties to Miss Relena's assailants, their arguments were borderline vindictive and too well prepared – it's as if they were hoping something like this would happen. But thankfully a number of others are of the opinion that it was purely self defense... Both sides seem to be in a deadlock but aside from that it's very clear that someone has had a hand in all this... Not just with the way they're spinning the story but also how strategically timed the release of the footage was... Considering this all took place this morning, they're really not giving you any time to mount a thought-out response or to even thoroughly question those men and conduct a proper investigation... But I'm more surprised by the fact that you guys weren't able to prevent this from happening at all."
Heero flinched at being reminded of their failure. "We must have overlooked something... we thought we got all the moles within... Alvarez must have sent off that video before she decided to make her escape."
"Josie Alvarez? She was part of this?"
"Yeah... her and Johnson," he informed. "We're going to interrogate them again to see if they were withholding any more names from us... In the meantime Relena plans to address the public about this incident."
"That's probably the right course of action." Quatre agreed after a brief moment of silence. "It's not like this is something drummed up by the opposition's rumor mill; there's hard evidence of it being played on a continuous loop on all the news stations throughout the Solar System. If she stays quiet on the matter too long the public will probably think that something really is amiss. If whatever she wants to say to them can allay their fears, it might just give you guys enough time to spin the situation in a better light and also root out the culprits."
"I really need you to be right on this one." He sounded so very exhausted, everything was starting to take its toll on him.
"Is there anything I can do to help you guys out?"
"... Yeah," Heero gathered himself, he hated asking for too many favors. "Regardless of the outcome of Relena's public address, her reputation may already have been damaged. She may start losing supporters and her opponents may gain more influence... I want you to prevent that from happening. You have the resources at your disposal without the limitations and restrictions the Preventers have imposed on them." The other line when completely silence.
"I understand. I'll do everything I can to ensure that doesn't happen."
"Thanks, Quatre."
"Think nothing of it... Just remember to keep me informed... My work may take me far away and keep me too busy to visit her personally... and in light of recent events I might need more than the usual reassurances... otherwise I might not be able to conduct my work with a clear head."
"Acknowledged."
"Thanks, Heero."
He ended the call and shoved his mobile back into his pocket, prying himself from the door in the process. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was already past midnight and it was bound to be an exceptionally early morning for him. Figuring there was nothing else to do be done at the moment, sleep was the best course of action. If tomorrow was going to be anything like today, he'd need as much rest as possible. As he pushed off the door and made his way towards the bathroom a beep went off. Pulling his mobile back out of his pocket he turned it on and opened the text he'd just received.
[Mission received. Mission accepted.]
What may have passed as a smile graced his features. ::At least this god awful day is ending on a high note::
When he entered the conference room the next morning, it was still in the process of being turned into a filming set. It was brimming with activity as agents scurried back and forth to rearrange furniture and set up the lighting and cameras. He briefly wondered where they managed to procure the last two items on such short notice, being a top secret agency they weren't in the habit of making public announcements or things of that nature.
After a quick scan he saw his target in a far corner, sitting demurely in a chair as she watched the hustle and bustle. She flicked her eyes at him briefly but didn't bother to greet him when he approached her. "You look like shit."
The comment threw him off for a second. He'd never heard her curse before and it clashed terribly with the innocent image he always had of her. He couldn't tell if her comment was meant to sound sarcastic or accusing. "I'm still recovering from the shit storm your antics brought about yesterday," he bit back and regretted immediately once the words left his mouth.
"My antics?" Relena sounded bemused. "You make it seem as if I had a hand in everything that transpired thus far."
"You could have postponed that meeting until a later time," he ventured, "then we may have been able to uncover that assassination plot."
The blonde responded with a mirthless laugh. "Oh, Heero what a naive assumption. We both know that yesterday morning's transgression was inevitable. Whether it was then, this morning or a week from now, they would have stilled carried out that attack."
The Japanese bit the inside of his cheek. She was right and it was unfair of him to place the blame of his sleepless night and foul morning mood on her shoulders. "I know... Sorry." He apologized, embarrassed by his childish behavior. "I think the stress is getting to me."
"Apology accepted," she finally looked up and offered him a small smile. "It gets to even the best of us."
The tension between them dissipated in an instant and he found himself talking to the Relena he was most familiar with. The one who always knew the right things to say to alleviate his worries and gave him a shy smile every now and then, a smile that never failed to brighten his day. How was it possible that her smile had such an effect on him. When had this happened? It was scary to realize how much he'd come to depend on them to get him through his day.
An agent at the front of the room called out to them and waved a hand to beckon them over. "Are you ready?" His question was tinged with a hint of uncertainty.
"I have to be, whether or not I actually am." With that she got up and headed for the makeshift podium they'd set up at the front.
Commander Une entered the room then and crossed the floor to take a position at the Japanese's side. Both of them looked on with baited breaths as the cameraman began his countdown. And when it neared zero a chilling realization dawned on Heero; Relena had nothing written down. She was going to make this speech on the fly. But before he could say anything the countdown reached zero and Relena once more put on a mask of stoic professionalism and transformed into the unflappable diplomat that commanded the attention of everyone in a room with ease.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I hope this announcement finds you well." She opened with a smile that was a few degrees more frigid than her usual. "If you're wondering why I've commandeered this channel and interrupted your regularly scheduled program, it is to clear the air on the events that you were all made privy to yesterday. Judging by what's been airing on the news I assume that a majority of you are experiencing shock and disbelief." She paused briefly and shook her head as if to admonish the people whom she was speaking to. "And, as much as it saddens me, many of you are also screaming foul and decrying my instability and declaring me unfit to uphold my position as the Foreign Minister." She paused for a brief second before giving everyone a sly smirk. Heero knew at that moment, things were going to take a turn, for the better or worse, he couldn't say.
"That was the very reason that prompted Councilman Petrov and company to attack me. They feared my presence and irrationally acted on that fear. And in response I retaliated in kind. To all my detractors," her expression and voice became just as icy as her smile, "if any of you had bothered to actually look at the footage it would have been as clear as day to you that Councilman Petrov's man was the first to fire. And if any of you had cared to pay attention to the rest of it, you'd be able to see that aside from a few flesh wounds, every single one of those men were still very much alive which was not what they had intentioned for me. So I will now ask the rest of you, are you also afraid of me?" For a split second Heero could swear he saw her eyes twinkle with regret.
"When you watched that footage, were you surprised by what I was able to do even though you were already aware of how I came to acquire such abilities? Or rather did it shock you to see that I could be so brutal towards others? That I had the capacity to inflict pain unto men twice my size? Do you see me as a monster now? One lacking in control and unable to distinguish friend from foe?" Relena let out a sigh as her expression turned condescending. "Believe me when I say that if I were the monster many of you are fashioning me out to be, none of those men would be alive right now. Or is it that you would rather I had taken that bullet? Let them slay the monster before it had a chance to awaken? Would you have preferred I offered myself as a sacrificial lamb in the name of peace – play the martyr just like the late Heero Yuy? Would that have eased your mind and allayed your fears?"
Heero took a moment to look at Une and gauge her reaction. Sure enough, from her deadly glare and how her knuckles were clenched white, she was exercising an inordinate amount restraint. It was a wonder the woman hadn't already pulled the plugged on Relena. But he knew at this point, such an action wouldn't undo the consequences of the diplomat's address.
"Would mourning my death be a more palatable pill to swallow than having to live with the reality that I am no longer the defenseless little girl who was so easily swept up by the tides of politics that you remember? The little girl who had to bite her tongue and dissolve her kingdom because she had not the power to protect her friends. Or is the image of the girl who was so easily kidnapped again and again by rogue military factions more fresh in your mind?" She gave a deceptively friendly smile and lightened up her tone. "Pick whichever you prefer for it matters not because I will never be that person ever again. There is too much left to do in this world in order to turn it into a safe haven for our future children and I refuse to lay down my life until that dream becomes a reality. But I know that many of you will not accept me as I currently am which is fair enough, fear is a powerful emotion, one that is extremely difficult to overcome. With that in mind, I will leave the decision of my office in the hands of President Huisman. It will be his decision whether or not I am allowed to continue my job. His judgment is one that I respect and will abide by. And with that ladies and gentlemen I have said all that I have to say on the matter. Good day to you all."
The room was nothing but silence as everyone stared slack jawed at the woman behind the podium. They were doing their best to comprehend what had just come out of her mouth but their brains were slow to process all the details, including the full consequences of what she had just done. It was Une who finally stopped biting her tongue that broke through the confusion.
"What the hell was that?!" She practically shouted, her composure a mere shadow of the regal Commander everyone was accustomed to seeing. "I thought you said your address would fix everything!"
"It has," the blonde calmly replied, unfazed by the older woman's outburst.
"I fail to see exactly how it fixed anything," Une retorted back angrily. "From what I just witnessed, you've probably made it worse. What were you thinking attacking the public like that!?"
"I'm not doing anything that they haven't already done to me," Relena fired back with a steely gaze.
The Commander crossed her arms and returned the look. "That may be so, but you're not supposed to stoop to their level. You should have tried to appeal to their sense of loyalty, regain their sympathy, and assure them that there is nothing wrong with you."
Her expression turned patronizing. "I prefer to play to their sense of shame and guilt. Make them reflect on their impulsiveness with regards to condemning others based on fear. As for assuring them that all is right with me, I've gone one step further and placed my destiny in the hands of someone they still continue to trust. If he still trusts me, then the public will still trust me. Simple as that."
Une shook her head. "You may have just made the President another target for attack by whatever groups are out to get you. They may now try to discredit him in order to call into question his ability to judge the situation."
"Which isn't all that bad," Relena returned with a smile. "With their focus momentarily shifted over to someone else, we will now have time to launch our own investigation without being scrutinized every second of the way."
Une's mouth hung open, whatever she meant to say lost as the full meaning of what Relena had done dawned on her. As blunt and biting as she may have been with that speech, she had gifted them the lost opportunity to get to the bottom of this when the news erupted. It was true, by placing her fate into someone else' hands, she had made it seem as if she were giving away power, the very power that the public was now afraid of. It also reinforced the image that she was loyal to the President, someone whose reputation was at the moment in high standings with said public. There would be no objections if she made it look like she was ready to submit to the will of another. She hadn't denied anything. Hadn't tried to point the finger at anyone else. If she had done so, her opponents would have just fired back and clamored for evidence to support her accusations, evidence they currently were still in the process of collecting. It would have turned into a back and forth tirade that would give them more chances to drag her image through the mud. As much as she hated to admit it, the plan was quite brilliant on the girl's part. She really had thought it through in that short span of time. But a part of the plan still bothered her. "I can see where you were going with this... but the core of this plan means throwing the President to the wolves."
"Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good."
Une couldn't deny the truth in that statement, but something else bothered her. "I think you're overlooking the fact that the President may choose to take you out of office, even if it's just until this thing blows over."
"I have considered that as well," Relena acquiesced. "And I wouldn't be at all opposed if he did chose to replace me."
That admission made Heero frown and it was now his turn to question Relena. "What exactly are you trying to say...?"
The young woman remained silent and could only give him a smile in return. It didn't reach her eyes and with that she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
The afternoon news was unsurprisingly still airing Relena's public address; station after station still analyzing and deciphering the meaning behind her words, if there were any meaning at all. But along with the announcement came a clearer picture of who may have been in collusion with Petrov as the ones who were not appeared to look quite sheepish with their premature fear brought about by the footage. The ones who were however, were doing as Relena had predicted, calling out to the President and pressuring him into action. Into taking the right action.
Heero could only grunt in disgust into his coffee cup as he sat in the cafeteria glaring at the television. But despite his growing animosity towards the media, he refused to let that cloud his judgment now of all times. Relena had given them an opening in which to work and he wasn't going to look such a gift horse in the mouth. They had to act fast before the public's attention could turn once more onto the young woman.
As he mulled over the various routes they could take regarding this Wufei dropped down in the seat across from him. "That was a bold and reckless move," he commented, tilting his head towards the television.
"Hmph." The Japanese grunted. "Tell me about it. She nearly gave Une an aneurism. The Commander's gonna think twice now before she agrees to let Relena make any more impromptu speeches."
The Chinese huffed as he imagined what had transpired. "Speaking of the Commander, has she decided how to proceed forward?"
"No," Heero bit out, "and we're not going to wait for her to figure things out."
"Oh?" Wufei's eyebrows shot up with interest. "You've got something in mind?"
He nodded and discreetly looked about the room to see if prying ears were nearby. "I've already set a few things into motion. Quatre's going to handle the political end of things, gather as much support as he can for Relena and fight any calls for her incarceration – if it comes to that. What's left now is to get a hold of Dr. J and the others. I think Duo's located their whereabouts; he's already left to collect them. And while he's off doing that we'll look into the stations we know are working with Petrov and figure out where they got the security footage from if Johnson and Alvarez refuse to be forthcoming with any more details."
Wufei seemed to mull over all that was said and nodded in approval. "Sounds like a solid plan. But what's Darlian gonna do during this time? I know she's probably got her hands tied and can't do much until the President's reached a decision but I have a hard time imagining that she's just going to sit around and wait for someone else to make a move."
The Japanese grimaced, recalling her resigned words before she left. "Well, she wants to stay out of the limelight for the time being and Sally wants to write up a full evaluation report on her in case those in the ESUN want evidence of her mental stability."
"Hmmm..." Wufei crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "They may demand to see all her eval logs up to this point as well though."
"Would that be a problem?" Heero asked, mildly curious.
"Yes and no." Wufei sighed. "From all the ones I read through last night, some of them paint Darlian as being on the verge of a nervous breakdown: insomnia, withdrawn attitude, mood swings, depression, increased nervousness and paranoia. The ones that were written after her last treatment are better. It's a complete turnover of her previous troubling behavior but..."
"But?"
"Sally noted an increased ambidextrous nature. It seems to be subconscious though," he quickly amended when he noticed the scrutinizing look on his friend's face.
Heero remained unconvinced. "What level of ambidextrous are we talking about?"
"Just small little things." Wufei offered, hoping to assuage his concern. "Twirling her pen with one hand then switching to the other, being able to write with both hands, on occasion she's able to type with just the left... just things of that nature."
"Things of that nature?" Heero seethed. "That's Rei's nature if you haven't forgotten."
Wufei narrowed his eyes at the accusation. "I haven't, but it's the fact that she's using both interchangeably at the moment that has both Sally and myself puzzled. Rei was exclusively left handed just as Darlian is –" He paused and immediately amended his words, "was exclusively right handed. Technically it should be one or the other, but this blending is something new. Even though it should be evidence enough that Rei hasn't re-merged they could still interpret it as Darlian not being quite herself either."
"Why didn't Sally tell us this earlier? If we had known we'd have definitely canceled that meeting."
Wufei shook his head. "I doubt she could have predicted what transpired in that room. And despite the 'side effects' of Darlian's treatment, all evidence pointed to her making a full recovery. If they ask for all of Sally's data, we just need to emphasize those aspects as much as possible."
Heero looked to be really giving what Wufei was saying some considerable thought. "No way we can just conveniently erase all that data?" he pondered suggestively.
The look the Chinese gave him was scandalous, he was after all a by the books kind of man. "That's against regulation. No matter how it seems that something underhanded is happening right now, as an organization we have to remain neutral in terms of our support for the members of the ESUN with the exception of the President. We can't let our feelings cloud our judgment. If they ask for Sally's data we have to oblige them in their request. All we can do right now is continue to dig and uncover the truth behind what's happening."
Heero narrowed his eyes momentarily before relaxing his features. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but at times like these, I wish that Duo's disregard for authority and protocol would have rubbed off on you more. Instead it's Une who seems to have done so."
Wufei smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment of my mental fortitude for staving off the influence of that deranged fellow. So I take it we have some hacking ahead of us?"
"Correct, but considering the security systems those stations run, it shouldn't take too long, maybe an hour, two at most."
The Chinese nodded at the estimate. "Are we doing this here or somewhere else?"
"Let's go back to my apartment," Heero suggested. "I don't want anyone breathing down our necks while we do this in case we do have a mole we overlooked."
"Understandable," Wufei agreed. "Although Johnson and Alvarez are still insisting that there are no others besides the two of them, we can't be too sure."
Just as Heero had predicted, they made easy work of bypassing the security system to three of the stations most likely working in conjunction with Petrov. And at the moment they were going through the stations' emails as well as the email of every employee at each one to see who had been sent that file. It wasn't that much of a surprise when they discovered that the people on the receiving end of the email were the top brass of the stations. Nor was it a surprise that it was sent from within Preventer Headquarters. What did come as a surprise though was the exact location within Headquarters from which the email originated. The email address was a false one as was to be expected, but after identifying and tracking the ip address down and matching it up to their network's activity log they pinpointed everything down to Sally's laptop.
Wufei and Heero could only stare at the computer monitor in stunned silence. Of all the possibilities they'd conjured up that was the last thing they had been expecting. The Chinese turned towards Heero, trying to stave off the look of betrayal threatening to take over. "What could this mean?"
Heero had no words either, his thoughts a whirlwind he couldn't control. "... I don't know."
"Shit," Wufei cursed as he pushed himself up from his chair. "We need to bring this to Commander Une."
"Wait," Heero interrupted as something occurred to him. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. This only means that the footage was sent from her computer, not that she was the one doing the sending."
Those words did nothing to placate the other Gundam pilot. "But Sally's the only one with access to it."
"No, she's not," Heero shot back, his expression grim.
"Who –" Wufei stopped short as the answer dawned on him. "Dereks..." he breathed out in disbelief.
"That... would be the more probable assumption." A pang of guilt shot through his chest. "Sally keeps her laptop down in the lab most of the time and Dereks is about the only other person who frequents it as much as she does."
"But he's sworn loyalty to us, dedicated the last few months to helping us out. What reasons could he have for betraying us?" The Chinese shook his head as if to dispel the accusation from his mind. "I don't see what ties he could have to Petrov considering they're on opposite sides of the fence here. And he already lost his connection to OZ when Whitenburg died. I really can't see the motive behind him doing this."
"It's either him or Sally," came Heero's reasoning.
"Shit." Wufei could only curse at the implications of it all. Whoever it was, they had been directly involved with Relena's treatment.
"We need to get a hold of Dereks," Heero quickly concluded. "Bring him back here before he suspects anything and without alerting Sally. We can't discount the possibility that they may also be working together."
His comrade didn't respond right away, needing a moment to wrap his head around the situation. When he let out a rather lour exhale Heero knew that he'd finally resigned himself to the idea of the German being the culprit. "Shouldn't be a difficult task." The Chinese finally added. "We can just invite him over on the premise of working on this investigation. I doubt he's aware of how much we know."
"Alright." Heero agreed, also steeling his resolve. "Proceed on those parameters."
"What should I say to him?" Wufei asked as he pulled out his mobile.
"Tell him that we've found Dr. J and the others and that we may need him to accompany Duo on the trip."
"Well, there's some truth to that."Wufei mused as be began dialing. "He'll probably jump at the chance to work with Maxwell again considering all the shenanigans they managed to pull off when they were cooped up in the same office."
Duo sneezed quite loudly as he arrived at the Brussels Intergalactic Spaceport. Figuring it was just Wufei and Heero talking smack about him rather than his coming down with a cold he paid the taxi before slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder and proceeding into the massive facility. Taking out his mobile he dialed up Hilde.
"Hey, Duo. What's up?"
"Babe," he greeted with a lopsided grin, happy to hear her voice. "I'm making a last minute trip to the colonies and I need your help with a few things."
"Sure, what is it?"
He looked around to make sure he wouldn't be overheard. "I need you to get the black bag I have stashed under the floorboards of my closet," he requested in a hushed tone. "Then meet up with me at the Spaceport tomorrow at noon. I'll fill you in on everything once I get there, okay?"
"Not a problem. But if I'm gonna do this favor for you, I'd like something in return as well."
Duo pouted. "Isn't my love payment enough?"
"It's a nice thought, but not quite as satisfying."
"And just what do you mean by that?" He tersely asked.
"It means that I'm craving chocolate and I'd like you to get some for me. You know the brand I like, the shops right past security should sell them. Three boxes will do."
The American frowned, clearly unamused. "How the hell did I get beaten by chocolate? Aren't I sweet enough for you, babe?" He could hear laughter on the other end of the line.
"Oh, Duo, you will never be as sweet as chocolate."
"Heh," the American huffed as a devious smile spread across his face, "we'll see about that. You've just given me a mission I'm determined to carry out now."
"Bring it on, Shinigami."
As predicated, Dereks arrived at Heero's dorm completely unaware of what was to befall him. So as he crossed the threshold expecting to be given the normal noncommittal grunts that passed for greetings it came as quite the surprise when he was knocked to the floor and had his hands tied behind his back. For a split second there the shock of it all had him in a rather uncharacteristic stupor which helped to delay the natural onset of anger. "If I didn't know any better," he began in dry a tone as he tilted his head to the side and looked up at Wufei and Heero, "I'd say you two were into some pretty kinky stuff, but since I'd like to believe I do know you two well enough all I can say is – What the Hell?"
"We need to ask you a few things."
Derekes blinked up at them, bewildered. "Couldn't you have asked that in a more..." He shifted his eyes to the side before returning them to the two. "I don't know... normal and socially acceptable manner? Or is this what you Gundam pilots do amongst yourselves? Do you tackle and restrain Maxwell every time you need to ask him something? Does this mean I've been initiated into your club as well? Is there a secret handshake involved?"
"Will you shut up for a second?" Wufei huffed. "Honestly, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to split the two of you up, I don't think Headquarters can handle two Duo Maxwells." He bent down and helped the German into a sitting position. "This is all a precaution to ensure that you don't run when we confront you with the fact that we discovered that the security footage leak was traced back to Sally's laptop." The Chinese looked keenly at Dereks to gauge his reaction on that revelation and assumed they'd caught their culprit when the others' eyes widen in shock. However that was quickly dashed with the next words that came out of his mouth.
"Po leaked the video?" The redhead gasped in surprise.
"No, you idiot," Heero growled. "If Sally was the one we suspected of sending out the video we wouldn't be restraining you like this."
"You think I did it?" Dereks rasped out incredulously.
Wufei sighed. "You're the most likely suspect."
Dereks glowered at the both of them. "And Po isn't?" he seethed. "After everything she's done? All the secrets she's been keeping?"
"She's not the one with past ties to OZ." Heero pointed out coldly.
The German couldn't help rolling his eyes at that. "No, she only just happened to have been a doctor with the Alliance," Dereks shot back mockingly. "And if we're going to persecute based on past affiliations, why not set your sights on the Commander who, if I'm not mistaken, was Trieze Kushrenada's second-in-command." He let out a sardonic laugh at the cold glare Yuy sent his way. "Oh I get it now. You still don't trust me and you're just looking for a convenient excuse to hang me out to dry."
Wufei pinned him with a serious gaze. "So you're saying you weren't the one to do it."
"Why would I?" The German huffed, exasperated.
"Loyalty to OZ. Revenge for Whitenburg. Hatred towards Relena." Heero ticked off blandly.
The German groaned as he leaned back against the wall. "My loyalties to OZ only extended as far as my friendships to Anna and Julian."
"Really now?" Wufei mused.
"Look, I didn't join OZ on some lofty notion of its greater glory or what have you. I was forced into the military by my stepfather. From the moment he began courting my mother he held an instant dislike for me and couldn't wait to ship me off to military school the moment they were married. As for revenge, that's just so... cliché. Julain was a grown man and made his own choice to die out there in the field. It wasn't like any of you held a gun to his head and forced him push that button. And I never really hated Darlian... "
"Reports of your behavior towards Darlian during her captivity would suggest otherwise," Wufei noted dryly.
"Okay, I may have been a bit hostile towards her..." The redhead admitted rather sheepishly. "I was just a tad miffed that she was the one Julian chose to pilot the Neo Epyon. I realize that may have been somewhat petty of me but really, that was a work of marvel, you couldn't blame me for feeling like that."
"How much can we trust those words?" Wufei wavered, already knowing in his heart that Dereks was speaking truthfully.
Dereks groaned in frustration. "I wasn't even in the lab yesterday so there's no way I could have used her laptop. You can check the logs. The only two people who were down there were Po and Darlian. And I doubt Darlian sent out that that video herself... unless she wanted to shoot herself in the foot, figuratively speaking."
"Wufei, help him up while I verify this."
And true enough they confirmed that the German couldn't have possibly been the one to leak out that video. He'd spent all of yesterday compiling all the information from Quatre's interview with Dorothy as well as his own with Noin and Heero's with Pagan. As much as it was a relief for Dereks to have been exonerated of these accusations it left them with a far more sinister prospect: that either Sally or Relena had been the perpetrator.
"Now we need to bring this to Une's attention," Wufei reiterated. "We can't afford to wait any longer if one of them is responsible for undermining our efforts."
"Well you're going to have to video conference her on this," Dereks interjected. "She's already off to an emergency meeting with the President. In New York I believe. This all sort of broke out while he and his family were on vacation. She won't be back until the end of the week if I'm not mistaken... possibly longer depending on how it goes."
"We can't risk someone tapping into our line if we do that," Wufei pointed out. "If they get wind of this they might do something drastic in response." He brought a hand to his chin as he ran through possible options. "We'll need to send someone there to her. That's the best bet we have if we want to keep things confidential. Volunteers? Yuy, Dereks?" He glanced at Heero whose rigid posture practically screamed "NO" at him.
"I'll do it," Dereks spoke up hesitantly, "but you're going to have to find a way to explain my absence to Po. I am still her official lab assistant and she'll definitely raise an eyebrow if I'm gone."
Heero and Wufei exchanged glances, silently coming to an agreement. "Alright, pack your bags." Wufei announced. "We'll figure out what to tell Sally. Additionally, we won't be able to inform Commander Une ahead of time to let her know you're coming though, you're going to have to surprise her."
"Oh great," came the sarcastic response, "Does she even like surprises?"
"..."
It had been a cinch to hack into Une's itinerary, purchase a last minute ticket and pack essential clothing and gear. So as it was Dereks now found himself, just a mere 12 hours after they'd made this decision, outside of a small but elegant restaurant in SoHo, waiting for Une to finish up her dinner meeting with the President. He was doing quite the remarkable job at being inconspicuous, leaning nonchalantly on the wall near the corner of the building, sipping a cup of coffee as he watched the parade of people walk across his line of sight. Or at least he thought he was doing a great job of being inconspicuous. That was proven otherwise the moment he heard the entrance door open and a pair of heel clad feet walking towards and eventually stopping right next to him.
"Care to tell me what you're doing here?" Came Une's smooth voice.
The redhead looked up and had to do a double take. If he hadn't known beforehand he would have sworn this was more than just a business dinner by the way she was dressed. Clad in a royal blue wrap dress, nude heels, with a clutch purse and her hair in subtle wavy curls, Une was a breathtaking vision. He'd never had the opportunity to see her out of uniform, even at Darlian's birthday she'd been in dressed for work, and honestly he had no words to explain the sudden erratic beating of his heart or the flush that crept onto his face.
"Um... ah" he stammered dumbly before shaking his head to reorient himself. "Could I interest you in a late night drink? We can talk then." He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. To anyone on the outside he appeared to be like any other guy trying to score a date with a beautiful woman.
Une tilted her head to the side and seemed to contemplate the offer. A slow smile spread across her face. "Only if you're paying," she said coyly. "But I have to warn you that I do have expensive tastes. I don't do anything less than 25 year old single malt scotch."
His smile faltered and he hesitated a moment. "Will my Preventer card cover that?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "Only for official business and if I'm not mistaken I don't recall ever having signed off on this little trip of yours."
He did a mental calculation of his bank account and grimaced painfully before remembering that Wufei and Heero were as much involved in this as he was and swore he'd make them reimburse the cost. With that decided he took her right hand and brought it to his lips. "Well, it matters not as you are very much worth it, my dear Lady."
Heero entered his office with a harsh slamming of the door. The week had passed in a blur. As expected the President of the ESUN made the choice to stand by Relena though he still appointed someone else temporarily into her office until they could prove it to the rest of the council of her soundness of mind. Also expected was the shift in heat from Relena to the President though that didn't stop the barrage of calls to her office for an exclusive interview with the now suspended Foreign Minister. It was during this time that he regretted having shot down the idea of Relena getting a personal assistant. Since it was ill advised to have her speak to the media directly, Heero had been forced to act as the intermediary for her. God, he'd never dreaded the idea of waking up and going to work as much as he did the past few days.
And then there was the matter with Sally. After Dereks confronted Une about the issue, she ordered the doctor barred from the lab and put under house arrest until she returned. Of course the doctor didn't take so well to the news. Such an action also revealed the fact that they'd gone behind her back to dig through her work. Suffice it to say, they were now having a bout of trust issues. Which made her incredibly stubborn when they tried to question her about her actions. Though through it all she strongly insisted that the leak had not come from her. Which meant that, unfortunately, Heero couldn't do much more than sit on his hands as his and Wufei's investigation came to a dead end. All he could do now was wait on Duo and how much he managed to squeeze out of those old geezers.
"Rough morning?"
The Japanese quickly swiveled his head towards the sofa and was met with the dark green eyes of the Heavyarms pilot. As always he was the perfect image of unshakable calm and eating what looked to be the cafeteria's breakfast special, almond croissant bread pudding with a side of over easy eggs and a fresh berry medley. He took another bite before putting down his fork to grab the cup of coffee sitting on the table. The Japanese looked genuinely surprised to see the circus performer there. "I was by your apartment earlier this morning to drop off a gift," he answered in response to the puzzled look on his friend's face. "I'd forgotten that you wouldn't be back til later tonight so I hopped on the first flight here and then hunger struck." As if to emphasize the point he took another generous bite of the food. "I gotta say the food has gotten considerably better since the last time I was here. Did you guys hire a new head cook?"
Heero took a deep breath and moved to sit next to Trowa. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way," he began gruffly, "but now is not the time to make small talk."
The other laughed heartily. "I don't think small talk between the two of us is a possible feat," he remarked before turning back to his food.
"So where is the gift?" He inquired with a sidelong glance.
"Hmm?" The Heaveyarms pilot swallowed soundly. "Oh, I left it inside your apartment."
That gave the Japanese reason for pause and he narrowed his eyes. "Inside my apartment?" He reiterated sternly. "... You broke into my apartment." It was more of a statement than a question.
The green eyed young man quirked an eyebrow. "Of course, you didn't expect me to leave it laying around in the hallway, now did you? And I'm pretty sure you didn't want me bringing it here either."
The other knew Trowa was right but shook his head and let out a tired sigh nonetheless. "You and Duo both..."
The comment made the taller of the two stop in the act of placing another forkful of food into his mouth. "Duo? He's broken into your apartment before?"
The Japanese grimaced. "Yeah... a couple of times."
To that Trowa gave a small approving smile. "Well, it's nice to know that he's making good use of my Christmas gift."
A vein in Heero's forehead twitched at that admission and he had to refrain himself from taking the plate of food and shoving it in the others' face. It would be too out of character and he had an inkling that Trowa would no longer be apt to doling out favors to him afterward. So he reined in the pulsating urge to take revenge on an enabler of one of his greatest annoyances. ::All for the greater good:: He repeated mentally as he took calming breaths. "When you're done, we're gonna head back there."
"What about work? And Relena?"
"I've left Wufei in charge. He knows to contact me if anything happens..." He rose and looked towards the door. "So whenever you're done we can head out."
"Is that your way of telling me to pack things up?" Trowa asked with smile.
"Hn." Heero confirmed.
Trowa huffed but quickly polished off his food nonetheless. "You guys should call on me more often when you're short handed," he remarked, putting the last bit of eggs into his mouth.
Heero quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a genuine offer or your stomach talking?"
"Why can't it be both?" The clown asked innocently.
The Japanese leveled a scrutinizing gaze on him. "I take it Catherine's cooking hasn't gotten any better then."
Trowa smiled at that statement. "Why don't you come over for dinner sometime and see for yourself."
Heero visibly blanched as the memory of her soup came back to him. "I'll have to politely decline that invitation."
"Such a shame," Trowa cooed as he set his plate down and got up. "Shall we head off then?"
-to be continued-
A.N: Well, so much for getting this out on New Year's day – things got hectic and even though I don't like the holidays I always seem to get roped into doing stuff. With that being said, this chapter was surprisingly a whole lot easier to write than the last one. When I got to writing it, I was surprised by how easily it all came to me. Honestly I could have written twice as much and still gotten this out in the same amount of time but I'm too easily distracted by Tumblr. Seriously, that site is crack. I've stumbled on some of the most random shit ever and as such I procrastinated and procrastinated and so forth. I need to stay away from it as much as possible if I want to get anything done, fanfiction aside. Thank God for Starbucks though. I just turn off the WiFi, get some coffee and miraculously I bang out like two pages in a sitting. Again, there was so much I wanted to put into this chapter, such as a more extended scene between Une and Dereks (I dunno why but the more I write them the more I sorta like the idea of them being together – maybe I'll put that scene as an extra somewhere down the line), but I realized that doing so might actually bog down the story more. Sometimes things don't need to be explicitly stated and should just be left to the audience to fill in for themselves. I've also changed the title of the last chapter because I wasn't sure it quite fit it so I'm gonna make it an homage to Suzanne Collins' amazing works. And this chapter's title is in honor of Lorde's amazing song "Yellow Flicker Beat" as I was listening to it while writing the latter half of this chapter. Anyways, to all those who read my fanfiction and think it's interesting enough to follow: Thank you and have a wonderful new year.
