Title: The Agency: Meeting of Souls 29/??
//…// Thoughts
~/Italics/~ Telepathy
Many thanks to ShenLong Deb for betaing this chapter.
Title: The Agency: Meeting of Souls 29/??
Chapter Twenty Nine
"Yo, Zechsy! Enjoy your beauty sleep? I was beginning to think you would not turn up today!"
Zechs noticed Quatre wince at Duo's bellow as his driver brought the car to a standstill. No one he knew, other than Duo, could hope to match that volume without looking like they were straining against severe constipation.
"Thank you for the lift in," he murmured politely to his driver who nodded and grinned at him, quite entertained by Duo's antics.
"Duo, please! There is no need to shout. There is plenty of time for us all to get to classes, and you know Zechs was up late. I'm sure he was exhausted. "
"Enjoy your day, sir."
He had not expected to be greeted in the car park by his friends, but Quatre and the ever bouncy Duo were there, waiting. How they had known when he would arrive he did not know, though he supposed they might have been walking in the gardens and simply noticed the car. They had probably taken a short cut to meet him here. In a training institute for the psychically aware not even something as simple as good timing could be taken for granted.
For a second or so, as he opened the car door, he thought he 'felt' an unease, an unusual reserve emanating from Quatre. More disturbing still, Duo's initial psychic impression was markedly at odds with the wide grin and jaunty cockiness Zechs normally associated with his friend. His answering smile faltered for a second before, as his foot contacted the ground, he had something else much more shocking to deal with.
It was a momentary thing, a flash of searing emotion which blocked out all awareness of the world around him. It demanded of him a response the like of which he had not thought himself capable of. His reaction was instinctive, an automatic response to danger and, had they known of his action, his trainers would be more than content with their years of work to develop his talent.
Zechs threw up shields to protect himself, even as he found his awareness plunging deeply into his talent, tracing the rising tide of emotion to its source and he thrust himself into the awareness of a very angry Treize Khushrenada.
He knew here, within this linkage of mind to mind, the constraints of time meant nothing. Thoughts flew faster than seconds and what he assumed might be hours could in reality be days, or milliseconds, in the temporal reality of the mundane world. That he was caught in mid motion on leaving the car meant nothing to him. He found himself polishing and refining his shields to contain not only his own talent, but that of a ranked Prime who surely would kill someone if he did not gain control of himself.
He did not think of Prime talents as being capable of something as mundanely human as flying into a rage, and he had no idea what could upset one to the point he would unthinkingly threaten a few hundred training psychics. Even as the thought occurred to him he could feel the Prime reining back his temper, bolstering tattered shields and steadying himself.
Tattered shields?
He sensed shields that were far from effective in containing the flood of emotion. These were shields that, on first glance, were little more effective than the mess his own shields had been on first entering Tsuberov. How was it possible that these tatty shards were the shields of a working Prime?
A person's shields were their safeguard against the multitudes. They were to be maintained, refined and strengthened at all times, this was what he had been trained to achieve; perfection for his own self preservation. It was an automatic reaction in the face of such disorder that he began to effect repairs, to bridge the thinning and ripped fabric with something more substantial.
A presence surrounded him, enfolding him; mental impression of hands covering his as he worked to bridge a particularly ragged gap… what?
What was he doing? What did he think he was doing, invading the awareness of another person, and not just any person, but a Prime talent? What did he think he was…
He felt what could almost be called a caress of awareness touch him. Within the awareness he followed the flowing presence to discover links binding them; links he had not realized existed. His confusion further eased the temper of the presence and the Prime supplied him with information as they explored the boundaries of the links. Who had set the links became known to him, though not why, and her identity fuelled the anger in the Prime.
Gabriella. Her signature was unique.
The Gypsy Prime he had met the night past could only have formed these links during their three way contact. Why? He had the impression that Prime Khushrenada had not known the links existed any more than he had, and that ignorance opened up a wealth of questions he was not sure he wanted to have answered.
He received a succession of mental images that passed through his awareness with so much speed that he could not grasp more than generalities; impressions which rocked him to the core of his being. Too many, too fast, flooding through the binding links… He would need time to sort out the jumble and make some sort of sense of it all. Flashes of emotion, glimpsed visual images, a wordless jumble of sound that had to be voices… voices all jumbled together into a seething mass…
Abruptly cut off as the Prime sorted order in his awareness and set a barrier in place between them.
Through the onslaught all he could think to do was maintain the integrity of his shields, and hold those emotions and impressions that were not his own separate from the world beyond their merge. Until the Prime could effectively restore the integrity of his shields, Zechs had no choice other than to hold them both secure and hope no one else was affected.
Treize Khushrenada was angry, though anger seemed too small a word to describe this towering rage now being brought under control. He could sense the Prime's concern for him behind this swift squashing of rage and erecting of barriers. Any thought of Gabriella he detected caused a spike in the emotion of the Prime and he could only wonder what it was the Gypsy Prime he had liked so much had done to incite this outburst.
He wished he could be as efficient as the Prime. The man seemed to almost compartmentalize his emotions, efficiently and ruthlessly tearing his anger apart and stuffing wisps of it into niches that sealed as he moved on. For him to be considered a professional he would need to emulate this discipline, and sort his own thoughts and memories into something resembling the structured order of the other man's mind.
His teachers had attempted to describe it in terms he could understand, but 'seeing' it was far different to what he had understood they wished him to do.
~/Thank you. I must apologise for my unbecoming, and exceedingly unprofessional, loss of control./~
The mental warmth now focused on him was laden with apology and appreciation, and something else that Zechs dared not hope he really sensed. What was he to this wonderful talent, and to this man who was from a world so far above his own that they might have been from different corners of the universe?
Treize Khushrenada had wealth, position and prestige. Everything Zechs Marquise did not have this man took for granted. They were worlds apart in birth and background, but there was something about the Duke that drew Zechs unerringly toward him, defying the little voice buried deep within that kept reminding him of his proper place. Zechs knew if he had a physical form in this existence he would have been blushing, and hoped in that other reality his physical body did not emulate the blush.
Blushing at simply being the focus from that warmth of attention regarding him; it would not do. He was not some love struck teenager with a crush on some pop idol!
A pop idol was a far cry from one of the premier Psychics of the age and oh God, he did have a crush on him. He had it bad and he could purr with content to be within this warmth surrounding him and imagining it could be so much more. He had to respond somehow. He had to be coherent, polite; he needed to sound intelligent and mature… Professional.
~/It was… my pleasure to be of assistance but… what happened? I felt… your anger was… directed… at Prime Gabriella?/~
//Oh God, that was awful!// He quivered behind his privacy shields, calling himself an assortment of names at the sheer inadequacy of his response.
A quick flash of something, a snatch of conversation he could not quite hear, and the impression of walls surrounding him… it came from the Prime and through their link he could feel the rush of anger, though it was muted and contained behind secure barriers. It was enough for him to notice other things, things he had initially missed in his wonder at being where he was, nestled in the awareness of this one particular individual who fascinated him.
~/She has placed limits on your talent… but why? Why would she do this? Placing limits on another Psi is a serious breach of etiquette./~
His belief, tentative as it was, that Gabriella might be able to do something about the uncertainties surrounding his future, trembled in the wake of sudden fear. He did not know these people. Mind to mind could not lie, that was the catch cry of telepaths, and backed with the empathic strength of a T/E talent that was indeed the truth. But one could shade one's intentions if one practised.
Dare he really trust Gabriella?
He wanted to trust Treize Khushrenada, he could not deny that, but the man was angry with her… and rightfully so! Blocking another's talent; interfering with another's talent it in any way, was not only illegal, it was also immoral and subject to heavy penalties.
Was she so unscrupulous as to threaten another Talented individual's sanity? Dare he really trust her?
~.However, regrettably, sometimes it is necessary to place restraints upon a talent. I have been engaged in high level and taxing work recently, and I am due a period of rest to revitalize my shields and unwind. It is now apparent that Gabriella felt the need existed to ensure I did not fully extend my abilities; though she should have had the manners to mention it before she accomplished the deed and thereafter bolted./~
He hesitated still; he caught a fond image of a pointy hat and warty nose and the label 'witch' popped into his mind. But it was a fond warmth he sensed from the Prime, that came with the image, and he was not sure what he should think. Despite her interference the man seemed to not really mind… no that was not quite right.
The Prime certainly objected to her high handed methods, but there was something in their interaction, in the depth of their relationship, which reassured Zechs. She seemed dear to him, honestly precious to that integral part of who and what Treize Khushrenada was. Beyond training and abilities the man genuinely liked her, and considered her to be family.
Dare he hope then, that there might be help for him?
Something was distracting the Prime. Zechs could feel it tugging at him, demanding his attention, and Zechs sensed a label to apply to the distraction. A name. Chang. Was that not the name of the man's partner? He supposed the agent would be worried if he had chanced to notice something was wrong. Dare he hope this Chang had not been present when the Prime had lost his temper, and therefore might not have alerted the University authorities?
There were procedures and protocols to be considered, and if a Prime talent was in trouble every resource of the University would be focused on restoring the Prime's equilibrium. He sensed the Prime's wish for discretion, but such might already be beyond them.
He felt the older man hold to him firmly, even as a part of his awareness slipped away, and Zechs received the impression of a room…a window… debris.
A sound that might have been a foot treading on waterlogged carpet. A splat as soggy plaster fell. A fleeting visual impression of utter destruction; of twisted pipes, broken furniture, gaping holes in walls…
Gone, as quickly as it had come.
He… knew this place…?
~/Oh my…/~
A flare of emotion, anger once again, but not directed at him. A warmth; a soft caress was quick to assure him of that and he offered what assistance he could, allowing the man to use his talents as the Prime required, to effect control and restore damaged shields. No one knew their shields better than the person who wore them like a mental skin, and the Prime was swift and thorough in restoring his mental protection. Watching the Prime do it, feeling him work with Zechs' own talent, was more instructive than a dozen lessons in the laboratories of Tsuberov.
~/Thank you, Zechs. I have control now and the use of your shields was more than timely and, if I might say so, quite expertly executed./~
Smother the crushing disappointment; quickly and ruthlessly smother it. He could not reveal it, only the professional aspects must be adhered to, and personal pleasure came a distant second to the needs of the moment.
He had known it could not last, but it was too soon, however much time had passed in the outside world, it was too soon. He could languish here forever and savour the warmth and pleasure to be found in the older man's awareness. It felt so right, as though he belonged here and he had to forcibly remind himself of his proper place in the scheme of things. He had commitments, not the least of which was the class he needed to attend, and there were people waiting for him.
What was he to tell them? If hours had passed, even long awkward minutes of silence and staring at nothing… what was he to tell them?
~/I… was pleased to be of help./~
He sounded like a child! He was so far out of this man's social circle and he should never forget that. Best to withdraw quickly; ignore the need to linger and get it over with. Run and hide, that was what he wanted to do, but he could not. He was to be a Prime Talent, but even that would not make them equals. But perhaps sometime in the future they could, perchance, be at least friends? Not that he would dare to suggest anything of the sort.
The links binding them he must discount. Gabriella had established those links for her own reasons, and those reasons undoubtedly had to do with a heavy work load and the need to keep the Prime's mind sacrosanct from outside influences in the world. She must have considered Khushrenada's shields incapable of such a task at the present time, and therefore had established links to trigger and enable him to block the Prime's loss of control, should such a disaster ever occur.
Had she known such a reaction was imminent and she would not be present to effectively aid the Prime when he needed help? Had she… No. Why she had done it did not matter. Done was done and Tsuberov's students had been protected.
~/You will make a fine Prime talent and I will look forward to your joining our group. Forgive me, but I had best calm my partner before he does something we will regret. He looks to be about to faint at the prospect of having to calm me. Thank you, Zechs Marquise, and I am afraid I must request you keep what you have learned secret. From everyone./~
He could not offer so much as the impression of words; all he could do was offer a reassuring gesture that he knew his place and would keep his mouth closed. No one would learn from him any information, little as it was, that he had gleaned from their contact. This man was a professional investigator, and there had been some kind of crime, a serious crime, perpetrated. Zechs knew when to keep quiet.
He sensed a regretful farewell, and it brightened his gloom that the Prime did not seem so eager to break their contact. He could not help allowing a little of his own emotions to leak, so intimate was their contact, and he hoped the Prime would not think him forward, or a leech out for what he could get from their contact.
It felt cold, isolated. The breeze on his cheek was arctic after the warmth of that awareness surrounding him.
He was half in the car, his weight shifting forward to his extended foot and pushing on the hand against the car door. Surely if he had zoned out for any length of time he would have awoken in a bed in the Tsuberov infirmary, and have monitors and tubes sticking out of him to determine why he had collapsed. He managed a glance at his driver who was smiling as he nodded to someone who said something he could not quite make out.
Cronus… Time… That transient, unpredictable God that modern civilization bound itself to.
Next to no time had passed.
His perceptions were off and he drew a steadying breath, trying to gain precious seconds for his senses to begin functioning again… or rather for his conscious mind to become aware of the input provided by his physical senses. That was Maxwell he could hear, telling a joke, and as he straightened he noted Quatre watching Duo with something very like the urge to swat an annoying insect pest, glinting in his blue eyes.
Quatre had not sensed the surge of emotion? He had been that quick to contain it? Admittedly the link provided by Gabriella would enable him to sense it more quickly, but… They knew nothing of what had happened?
He must keep it that way and prove to the Prime that he could keep secrets. He must not compromise the man's investigation and he could not talk to anyone about what had happened; he could not allow either Duo or Quatre to suspect something had occurred.
Quatre might be inclined to allow it to pass, accepting his admonishment he could not speak of what had happened and what he had learned in responding to the situation, but Duo never would. Duo had an insatiable curiosity and would give him no rest from questions. No, he must somehow cover any hesitation his physical body might have made when he plunged into the mental plane, and pretend nothing untoward had occurred.
He had always failed theatre! His acting was atrocious, but in this he needed to act naturally enough to avoid suspicions and that effort would have to earn him an acting award of some kind.
Duo, being a kinetic talent, was unlikely to have tapped into anything wrong in the psychic ether. His talents were all keyed to be something other than an awareness to emotions; though he was quick to pick up on body language. Some people mistook that keen sense of visual awareness and suggested Duo had at least a trace of trainable empathic ability.
Quatre, of course, would be the problem. He was already a Prime level empath, though as yet untrained to a Prime's exacting standards. He had the raw talent and sufficient training to have picked up on his emotional responses to the Prime's stimuli. If he was fortunate Quatre might have been too preoccupied with Duo's antics to notice anything.
He could not take chances and he needed a distraction to ensure no awkward questions were asked of him. Duo could be a tenacious demon if he thought something was wrong; or if he suspected he was being excluded from something of interest.
And Duo would doubtless find the investigation underway of interest.
Politeness had been drilled into him since coming to the University, so Zechs took advantage of that need to turn and lean in to the car, to thank his driver once more. It gained him a few precious seconds to steady himself and strengthen his shields against any curiosity he might arouse in Quatre.
Straightening from the car and closing the door Zechs watched the car pull away and turned to his friends, making eye contact with Quatre.
"Duo is in fine form this afternoon. What is he trying to hide underneath all of that babble?"
Quatre's resigned sigh surprised him and he looked again at Duo, watching him with a little more attention than he had so far given his friend.
It appeared Duo was indeed trying to hide in plain sight.
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Quatre was glad Zechs did not notice him wince and wondered what he could do to distract their friend. Duo was trying too hard to appear to be… well… Duo. Maxwell had a reputation at Tsuberov, and Quatre could see he was overdoing the bright and chipper chatterbox with the insatiable curiosity. Zechs would have to know they had been up to something, if not by Duo's exaggerated behaviour, then by the simple expedient of him being a empath.
Neither he, nor Duo, could hope to cover their emotional responses sufficiently to fool a psi who had earned, if not yet received, a Prime level Empath certification. The best he could possibly hope for would be to distract Zechs from the actual source of their unease, and provide what was both a plausible and relatively harmless excuse for Duo's hyperactivity.
"You know Duo, he gets excited over the smallest things."
Well… How inadequate was that?
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Zechs was watching the braided wonder and adding two and two up and coming close to the magical four as an answer. In the past whenever Duo had been up to no good he became hyper; hyper active and hyper chipper. He fairly dripped innocence.
Just as he was now.
This could be his saving grace in this situation with Quatre, who had the raw power, if not the training, to pick up and interpret his emotional responses. If Quatre was given the time to really look at him he was in trouble, and if he noticed something off that might lead him to scan Zechs, then Quatre would simply have to sense something was wrong.
Well, not exactly wrong with him, but Quatre would certainly sense his confusion and excitement. He had been of service to a Prime, and he knew what he had done was no small feat, and it led to the adrenaline rush he did not have completely under control at this time.
To effectively hide from a high talent empath one had to have the emotional gradient of toast.
He could not reveal he had been in contact with the Prime for a number of reasons, not the least of which was Duo. The motor mouth of the University would not give him any peace wanting to know what he had 'felt' and what they had 'spoken' about. Duo could potentially spread that knowledge all over the University for his own warped reasons.
There was also the small matter that he had recognized the room he had glimpsed through the eyes of the Prime.
Though some people at Tsuberov considered him to be intellectually challenged, there was nothing wrong with his powers of deduction. He was uncertain if the Prime realized he recognized the room as his old suite, and that had drawn the admonition he not tell anyone what he had witnessed or if the Prime had been alerted by something else.
Brief though the glimpse had been it was sufficient; he had used that suite in the building for a number of years and recognized the angle of the view from the window. It was a unique view, one he could not mistake. It was their old suite and it was, in a word, trashed.
There was also the uncomfortable knowledge that someone had died at the University recently.
Otto had told them their first night back that there had been a death. One did not have to be an Einstein to put the condition of the suite together with the news of a death and at least suspect the two events might be related.
He would have liked to discuss what he knew and suspected with Duo and Quatre. Duo would be openly intrigued and want to learn more, and that he could not allow. It would interfere with the Prime's investigation and he could not hamper the investigators. Quatre would be curious, though he would not freely admit it, but he would end up aiding and abetting Duo.
Somehow Quatre always got sucked into Duo's nefarious deeds.
If his friends discovered he had glimpsed the suite and identified it as their own, then they would be insatiable in their need to know more. They would be particularly interested in the utter devastation he had glimpsed. It looked for all the world like a bomb had exploded, but the absence of scorch marks on the walls, or charring of the furniture and debris, informed him it had not been a conventional incendiary device.
//What it looked like was the work of a kinetic.//
No indication of a specific blast zone, no fire residue… no, it could not have been a bomb. At least not the mechanical sort, but he had attended enough lectures to entertain thoughts of what might have caused the damage. A strong kinetic could effect such destruction, and in very short order too.
It had to be the work of an exceptionally strong kinetic talent, and that would explain why the investigation team included a high powered telepathic empath such as the Prime, and a high level kinetic talent such as the Prime's partner.
He needed to exercise all care and maintain the Prime's requested secrecy. Perhaps, given that the Prime knew he had glimpsed the room, if he proved to be able to keep his mouth shut, he might be further enlightened as the investigation progressed?
Duo would never forgive him of course, but some things one had to treat with a certain measure of decorum, and an investigation into a murder and malicious damage on such a grand scale was surely one. It must have been a particularly messy murder, he decided, given the condition of the suite.
"Zechs?"
Pulled back from his contemplation by Quatre's voice and a feather light touch to his hand, which granted him a flash of Quatre's concern, confusion, exasperation and fear… fear?
What had Quatre to fear?
He stiffened his spine, firmed his resolve and pasted a smile of what he hoped reflected mild curiosity and just a hint of sheepish apology on his face. Looking around he found Quatre watching him with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Sorry. I guess I'm a little distracted. It was rather a late night for me, and while it was nice of them to let me sleep in a bit, I could probably have done with another hour or two."
Duo seemed to bounce across the footpath, a beaming smile growing to frightening proportions with every passing second. He was not in the least fooled. If there was one thing he could say about Duo Maxwell, it was that his emotions were honest. He simply could not hide from an empath; he was too transparent on the emotional level to submerge his emotions in deception. Duo was trying to cover up something Zechs knew he would not approve of, and that meant Quatre was hoping to avoid the subject altogether.
If he played along could he escape without any questions being asked about what he wished to keep secret?
"Quite a late night. We were told you met two Prime talents and they kept you out well past our normal curfew."
Last night was a far safer subject than the last few minutes ever would be. He could run with that for the moment and hope to steer his way safely through the next few minutes, at least until he could get safely to class.
"Who told you that?"
Quatre shrugged nonchalantly. It was no secret that Zechs had been undergoing testing last night, so had he; they had eaten the evening meal together.
"I met Prime Gabriella at the labs last night when she was being given the grand tour. The guard informed us at the hotel this morning that you had been up late with the Prime's in attendance, and that you would be coming in to Tsuberov late because of it. It was just as well you put the note in the living room asking us not to wake you this morning."
There had been a note requesting he not be woken? That was something of a surprise, but a pleasant one given the hour he had returned to the hotel. It had been the small hours of the morning before he had found the comfort of his bed, and he had been pleasantly surprised when he had received a wake up call so late in the morning.
"No, but Otto did accompany me back to the hotel, so he was probably the one who left it. Although when I left him in the sitting room all he said was that he would do a security sweep before he would be leaving the hotel."
"Otto's big on security sweeps." Duo grinned. "I think they have to be top of his favourite pass times list."
Zechs arched an eyebrow at the flare in Duo's emotions at the mention of the Security Chief. Such a significant reaction of what Zechs identified as worry could not be mistaken, which meant Duo had been doing something that involved Otto. That was the source of his hyperactivity; he was worried Otto would learn what he had been up to.
//Chalk up another notch in their personal duel of one upmanship. Ah, Duo what have you done this time?//
"He is, yes." Quatre looked nervous and offered a shaky little laugh.
//Dead giveaway you were in it with him, Quatre. You have got to learn to say no and mean it!//
Crystalline blue eyes pinned Duo for a long moment and Zechs saw the little gulping swallow that revealed Duo's guilt, just as much as his empathy detected his friend's emotional unease. Duo's body reacted both physically and emotionally to lying… well no, not exactly lying. It was more of a reactionary response that suggested to Zechs, knowing the rivalry between Duo and Otto as he did, that Duo wanted to avoid any mention of Otto.
"So what did you do?"
Blue-violet eyes blinked in innocent confusion. "Pardon?"
"I know you too well, Duo. What did you do that will have Otto breathing fire and brimstone down your neck when he learns about it?"
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Quatre could not help himself and snickered at the look on Duo's face. Offended innocence personified, done to perfection, thereby confirming he was as guilty as sin.
Duo might still harbour delusions of being able to keep Zechs in the dark concerning their recent activities, but Quatre was not such a fool. He knew there simply was no way they could cover their guilt and the excitement over what they had learned. Zechs might know they had been up to mischief, but they did not have to let him know exactly what they had done; or what they had learned.
The last thing he wanted was for Zechs to learn what they had discovered concerning his situation at Tsuberov. Zechs certainly did not need to know Otto was keeping a particularly close eye on him, and Quatre was curious enough to want to further pursue that observation. That was something he could not do if Zechs took an interest in their activities. He needed his friend to concentrate on his final evaluations for his accreditations and let them pursue their questions.
He liked Zechs.
Quatre was under no illusions about his personal past, or his future. He had never been so happy or content with his life as he had been since coming to Tsuberov and making the acquaintance of the odd friends that Duo and Zechs had been. They had been a part of Tsuberov, but they had gone their own way, not following the standards that Quatre was familiar with, and they were quite content to be the odd men out. They had greeted his interest in them with caution, but they had accepted him quickly enough on seeing he genuinely wished to know them, and he had not once regretted his association with them.
He wanted to protect his friends, and he wanted to be certain that Zechs, who had no real protection if his Guardian was intending to sell his services cheaply, or to nefarious connections, had both a secure and safe future. That safe future, he was certain, lay with the Prime Talents who now at least knew of the existence of a new Primary talent emerging.
It still amazed Quatre that news of Zechs and his abilities had been kept so quiet. The fact that he was unknown for so long suggested there had been high level power broking in select circles. The services of a Prime in the T/E field were not to be brought cheaply, and the safeguards surrounding such a talent were exacting. Someone might have gained an unfair advantage in having advanced warning of the emergent Talent.
Now that the Prime's were warned and actively interacting with Zechs, Quatre was confident his friend would receive a fairer deal than he might have had.
"Well… I like that! Don't you know the law? Innocent until proven guilty, Zechsy, not the other way round." Duo fairly bounced in place, scowling his disapproval at Zechs. "You know that is the way it is supposed to be, and don't you look down that long nose of yours at me like that. Contrary to popular belief, and I don't know how the rumours started I assure you, I am not the world's worst…"
Duo blinked, staring at the long haired blonde with widening blue eyes. He glanced at Quatre who wished he could walk away, but they were sunk if he did. Duo would surely blurt out what they had been doing and Quatre simply could not have that.
"Why are you laughing? Hey, come on, Zechsy! What ever it is it can't be that funny!"
Quatre could only shake his head sorrowfully. Duo had what had to be the world's worst method of keeping a secret that needed keeping he had ever had the misfortune to be a part of. At least Zechs was laughing, which was so much better than having him actively pursue what they had been up to. But the laughter and amusement, which was quite genuine, might not last for long.
Unfortunately for them Zechs was not so easily distracted, as Duo should know well enough. How best to cover for them?
"Duo, you can't lie to an empath, you know that," Quatre sighed.
"You are as guilty as sin about something, Duo, so come clean. What have you done?"
Well, Quatre had known Zechs would not be amused for long, but they needed to keep this as general as possible and keep off the subject of what exactly they had learned. Better yet, they needed to keep what they had been doing to rough generalities.
"I don't think I care to tell you!" Duo sniffed, elevating his nose an inch above his normal level, his eyes dancing with mischief. "I have been accused of dark and nefarious deeds! Innocent little me, who wouldn't harm a fly. So unfair."
"Me thinks he doth protest too much," Zechs snickered.
How true was that, but thankfully Zechs was taking it with a good deal of amusement, which was all to their benefit. If they could just turn the tables on him though and preserve their secret; at least until they knew what exactly it was that Otto was involved in.
"You know Duo, Zechs. He has to make things as difficult as possible for his own personal amusement," Quatre mock whispered.
Amused blue eyes turned to him and behind Zechs' back he could see Duo making expansive gestures, no doubt expecting him to capitalize on what little he had done. Why, he wondered and not for the first time, did he have to always give in to Duo's schemes? In the future he was supposed to run a corporation that spanned a planet and a few dozen space colony's… and he could not say no to that blue eyed idiot!
"So what did you both get up to?"
Avoiding it would not work, neither would making up some harmless story. You could not lie to an empath, so the solution was to tell the truth… just not all of the truth. And not necessarily in exact chronological order either. Anything to confuse the issue was good.
"Before you blow a gasket, he never got caught. No one knows what he was up to, so there is no drama."
"Hey! Me? We. We, Kitty Kat. You were in it too!"
He glared hard at Duo, wishing he was a receiving telepath, but Duo could only send and he was not inclined to try sending a message with Zechs around. Zechs had too much skill and talent as a telepath to try that in his immediate vicinity.
"Jigs up, Duo. We have to own up."
Zechs sighed, his broad shoulders hunching a little in reaction. "That bad."
"Hey, hey, hey! Quatre! No fair." Duo glared at the smaller blonde.
Quatre waved off Duo's protest with a flap of his hand. "Duo tested one of his robotic surveillance devices."
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Duo's glare raised a couple of notches on the incendiary scale. What was Quatre doing, letting the cat out of the bag? It had been Quatre who had been so adamant about not telling Zechs what they had discovered, and Duo did agree, it would not be a good thing for Zechs to learn what they now knew.
At least not yet.
He wondered why Quatre would now choose to confess all?
He liked the smaller blonde, a lot, but there was one thing that annoyed him about his friend. That incessant need of Quatre's to be honest really put a twist in his boxers. There was a time for the truth, just as there was a time for shading the truth.
Shadow truths, Duo preferred to call it. He firmly believed that sometimes it was infinitely preferable to present shades of the truth in place of the bold, brilliant, glaringly harsh truth.
He never lied, of course, but Duo had nearly perfected the art of evasion and providing just enough fact to get by without revealing all. It was a delicate balance and one that required the truth come out in little snippets instead of a single bold statement.
Quatre needed to learn the genteel art of saying a lot of nothing, and a little bit of something, if he was to succeed in the world of big corporate business.
Of course the problem was Quatre's empathy. His empathic ability already registered in the Prime range and he felt the results of lies and half truths told by people surrounding him each and every day. Duo was sure that was why Quatre stuck to the truth as though glue adhered his tongue to a lie detector. He could not bring himself to contribute to the evasions and outright deception some people practised.
That was all well and good, Duo knew, but sometimes one needed to be a little circumspect with what one said, for the greater good. Quatre would have no end of troubles in the world of big business if he did not get a grip on the need to shadow a subject.
//This would be a good time not to buckle under and spill the beans, Kitty Kat. Come on, I'm trying to distract him and you've virtually told him what I was up to!//
Quatre had been adamant about not revealing what they had learned from their observation of Otto's office, and yet here he was, not half an hour later, about to confess all!
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"Duo, shush. Zechs, you don't want to know exactly where he tested it or what it was; believe me, you don't."
Quatre glared at Duo, trying to get across to him in the glare that he knew what he was doing and to play along. They were working at cross purposes and they really needed to double team the older man.
"Suffice it to say the robotic device works; however, circumstances being what they were, he could not retrieve it as he…" Duo's glare was fierce, "Alright! We. We were interrupted before We could remove it."
The intent glare softened and Duo's eyes became more blue than violet once more. The faintest of nods led Quatre to hope he had finally gotten his message across to Duo that he was not about to reveal all.
"Everything is alright, we just need to wait until an opportunity presents itself for Duo to recall the 'bot."
Duo grinned sheepishly at the taller blonde as he was scrutinized by intense crystal blue eyes.
"I take it the test was performed in a location that, should the robot be discovered, will just about ensure expulsion from Tsuberov for all parties involved?"
"It's Duo," Quatre dead panned.
"Quite," a sigh.
"Hey!"
Quatre flashed a triumphant look at Duo and winked, then turned back to pin Zechs with an intent stare, a glint in his eye showing he was bound and determined to present questions his older friend would not like. He had to turn Zechs' attention away from what they had been up to, and the best defence was a good offence. He had remembered something that would be wonderful ammunition, and would surely have Zechs back peddling.
"Quatre?" Zechs queried, taken aback a little by that glint in gleaming blue eyes.
"So what happened in the parking lot?"
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Duo blinked, eyes widening in wonder as he watched a slow blush creeping across pale golden skin. Had he doubted Quatre? Silly him! Silently he congratulated his friend on turning the focus off their recent activities in one lightning engagement of words.
Wait a minute… something had happened in the parking lot? What had he missed?
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"Excuse me?" Zechs' smile looked nervous.
Quatre smirked, advancing half a step and was pleased when Zechs moved back an equal distance.
"I might not, as yet, be a fully qualified and registered empath of Prime level, Zechs Marquise, but I sure as hell felt 'something' happen in the car park. You were quick to blanket it, but I still felt the faintest surge of emotion, and that emotion was not yours. It 'tasted' of anger, but it was so quickly restrained and held that I could not get more than the 'flavour'."
Zechs looked at him, carefully blank faced, and Quatre was amazed at how tightly the other man's emotions were held under control. He could sense nothing from Zechs now and it reminded him of how far ahead of him in training Zechs was.
"You were on it incredibly quickly, I'll give you that. You 'received' a great deal more of what ever that was than I did. So what was it?"
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Duo looked between the two; Zechs and his deepening blush and Quatre, who had a positively evil grin on his face. He was actually a bit frightening, Duo decided.
"Fess up, Zechs." Duo cajoled. "If you come clean I'll save you from the big bad Kitty Kat."
//You've managed to distract him, that's for sure. I never felt or saw anything in the car park, so what the heck is going on? //
For a moment there Duo had noticed Zechs had looked a little distracted, it was while he had been joking with the driver, but Duo had definitely noticed Zechs hesitate coming out of the car. He had put that down to Zechs listening to the joke and bracing himself for getting back to work. From memory Zechs had a particularly gruelling schedule this afternoon, but the hesitation had only lasted a second or two and Zechs had greeted them with a smile.
So something had happened, had it, and Zechs did not want to share? Tsk. Naughty Zechs. This opened up so many interesting opportunities to the fertile imagination of one Duo Maxwell.
"Zechsy's blushing, Kitty Kat. Now why would Zechs be blushing, I wonder?"
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Damn! What had happened? One minute he had them on the back foot and everything was fine and then… he could not tell them anything and he wanted an out.
"Shut up, Duo." Zechs glared, more than a little unhappy. "Have you noticed the time? I at least have a class I have to attend."
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Quatre resisted the urge to snicker. Success was so wonderfully sweet.
As Zechs moved past them he exchanged a smirk with Duo.
Then he looked at his wrist watch and swore.
t.b.c
Karina Robertson 2009
Authors Notes
Zechs Marquise: Psi Student 5th year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Level 10 Receiving/Projecting Empath [approaching Prime Designation] + Level 9 Sending /Receiving Telepath, Projected L10 function. Finder function suspected, not officially registered. Country of origin, Luxemburg. [20 years of age]
Treize Kushrenada : Level 10 Sending/Receiving Telepath + Receiving and Projecting Empath at Level 10. Prime rated. Agency Operative contracted term of 5 years with 2 years remaining. [25yrs of age] Training facility: Psychic Institute Munich Division.
Quatre Rababer Winner: Psi student, 2nd year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Current Level 5 Telepath, projected Level 7, Current Level Receiving Empath 9.3, projected Level 10, Prime. Current Sending Empath Level 2, projected Level 4. Colony of Origin, L4 Cluster [18 years of age]
Duo Maxwell: Psi Student , 3rd year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Level 8 Psychokinetic ability, projected level 9. Sending Telepath Level 5. Colony of Origin L2 Cluster [ 18 years of age] Sweeper adoptee. Under pre contract agreement with Sweepers.
