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Prevention or Cure
A Gundam Wing Fic
By Sefilin
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Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
==========
Leaning back in his chair, Duo stretched, feeling a
pleasant pain in his back, arms and neck. It had been a long
day of collating data and attending meetings where nothing of
import was said. Then he'd had to run temporary interference on
a problem that, if left alone, could have developed into an
incident of world-and-colony-wide proportions. And completely
discredited the Preventers, which explained what he was doing
sitting in his office after midnight.
Things had been patched to the best of his abilities
and should hold for long enough to organise something more
permanent. What a rookie was doing running around making
mostly unfounded accusations and backing them with Preventers
authority Duo didn't yet know, but he was sure as hell going to
find out.
Which meant he was going to have a lot of work to do.
The Preventers were still a small, elite organisation
who supposedly received and gave the best possible training,
but if something like this could happen, maybe they needed to
review the curriculum. As head of the Preventers Academy, the
responsibility for any deficiencies in training would be laid
at his door and since he'd prefer that not to happen, he'd
rectify things as soon as possible. That he also headed to
European branch, from which the agent had hailed, made things
doubly worse and he rubbed at the bridge of his nose in
irritation.
Fortunately, he'd managed to get a hold of Heero who
had agreed, as their primary field troubleshooter, to head to
the colony in question with his wife first thing in the
morning. He'd get that end of things sorted out in short
order, send Duo what he needed and give the rookie a dressing
down he'd never forget - quite apart from busting him back to
desk work. Still, Duo thought he was lucky that Sally and
Wufei were on holiday with their family when he chose to do
something this stupid. To deal with the two of them would have
been much worse since they'd managed to perfect their
intimidation techniques years ago and always left the erring
child feeling exactly like that.
He grinned at the thought of his friends, rubbing his
hand across the tense muscles of his shoulders and neck. The
next thing he knew, his hand was joined by two others that
caught at the ache much more effectively and began to draw it
out and away. He glanced around and up, noting the white smile
on the face of his newest assistant as she began a massage he
could well appreciate.
He closed his eyes, murmuring something that could have
passed as thanks and relaxed into the professional strokes
against his shoulders and moving against the vertebrae high on
his spine.
"You shouldn't work so hard, Mr Maxwell," the voice that
had become so familiar spoke quietly as she continued her
ministrations, using a name he'd told her not to numerous times
before giving up.
"Mm," Duo replied, not in the mood to talk after his day
and during a massage this good. Instead, he allowed his mind to
wander, thoughts turning, unsurprisingly, to the woman standing
behind him.
Lieutenant Keeli Sand, to give her her full title, had
been an officer in the United Earth Army's logistics department
following her training at one of the top military academies in
the world. She'd remained there, running a wonderfully
efficient department for five years before applying to the
Preventers. She'd been accepted after passing the vigorous
testsing and ended up being assigned, four months ago, as his
assistant.
And a wonderful assistant she was too, he mused,
recalling the way she could anticipate many of his needs and
always did everything with a smile on her face and sparkling
lights in warm cinnamon brown eyes. The joy seemed to have
dimmed a little in the last few weeks, but it wasn't surprising
since it was likely just the novelty wearing off.
Back in the real world, pulled there from from one
second to the next, Duo noted that the massage had become a
touch too sensual to be comfortable.
Startled, he glanced at Keeli and noticed a soft, dreamy
smile on her face as she stared at something in the distance.
Figuring she was thinking about her long-time boyfriend, he
grinned and rose, forcing her hands to drop from his shoulders,
"Maybe you should head home to Thane. You've stayed long past
what duty demands."
She blinked at him for a second then blushed a becoming
shade of pink as she realised what she'd been doing and looked
away from him, "I... we broke up last week."
Duo's eyes widened, "You did? I'm sorry, I must have
forgotten."
Reddish curly hair bounced about her shoulders as she
shook her head, "I hadn't mentioned it."
"Ah," so that was the problem. He watched her for a
while, allowing her to talk if she wanted to. She'd told him
many things over the past four months, which is why it rather
surprised him that he hadn't known about her break up. Though,
now that he thought about it, she hadn't mentioned Thane for a
few weeks during their companionable talks.
Keeli shrugged, "It just wasn't working anymore, so we
decided to get out of it instead of wasting time and effort on
something hopeless." Her eyes flickered down to Duo's lips, a
wistful shadow passing through her eyes, then looked up again.
"Anyway," she spoke abruptly, "I should go. Sleep would
probably be a good thing."
Wondering if that glance meant what he thought it did,
he smiled almost absently, "Definitely a good thing. I think
I'll do the same."
She smiled back, "Of course, Mr Maxwell. Goodnight."
He waved as she left, then gathered a few papers,
checked that his communicator was in his pocket and left his
office, his thoughts still on Keeli. He hoped she wasn't
fixating on him in reaction to her breakup; that could lead to
unfortunate complications at work.
And besides, he was married.
==========
Sarah was still sitting at the kitchen table working on
her homework when he got home and smiled at him when he ruffled
her white-blonde hair as he walked past.
"Hi, Dad," she spoke.
"Good morning, what are you working on?"
"An assignment. I forgot about it till today and since
it's due in tomorrow..."
Duo grinned as her pale blue eyes sparkled with tired
mischief and took the seat across from her, handing her a mug of
hot chocolate, sipping at his own.
"Thanks. How was your day? We got the message that you
wouldn't be back till late."
He grimaced, "It was bad. An agent did something stupid
and got caught in a big way - had to happen sometime, I guess,
but it's still a pain. Heero's going to sort out the rest of it
tomorrow."
"I wonder if that's what Mom was mumbling about when she
got home. She looked a little worried about something, but she
doesn't say anything," Sarah wrinkled her nose, making it plain
that she wished her mother would share some of her problems - a
shared burden and all that.
Duo was of the same opinion and made a point of talking
about what was going on with his wife whenever possible, though
given how busy they both were, it wasn't as often as he'd like.
He had no problems mentioning things to Sarah and Sean, both of
them having grown up in an environment where maturity was
necessary, even if he didn't go into too many details.
"She's not used to talking about her problems."
"I know, Dad, it's just... she used to make an effort,
but she doesn't seem to even be bothering anymore. And you're
busier than you used to be, so we don't hear much from you
either."
There was a sadness in her eyes that he hadn't seen
before and it startled him to the point where he went back over
how much time he'd been spending at work and how much at home
over the past year or two. Sure enough, he had more memories of
work than home and he frowned. He'd vowed, when Sarah was born
seventeen years ago, that he would never neglect his family and
would make time for them if necessary. A spark of anger,
directed at himself, jumped and he reiterated that vow and
decided to see what he could do about clearing some of his
schedule beginning tomorrow.
"And you see each other even less than you see us. Sean
and I are a bit worried about things."
Duo grinned, glad they'd always encouraged their
children to speak their minds - with tact - no matter what it
was they were thinking. Admittedly, Sarah was better at it than
Sean, taking after him the way their son took after his wife and
was a lot more reserved.
"Is that why you're still up? To tell me this?"
Sarah smiled, "Nope. I did forget the assignment, but I
did stay in the kitchen to tell you, otherwise I'd be upstairs."
Duo laughed then sobered a little, "You and Sean talked
about this?"
"Always."
"Good."
Duo stood, "Well, I'll see what I can do about the time
thing tomorrow and talk to your mother as soon as possible about
our time."
Sarah smiled, "Okay. Why don't you take her out to
dinner or something - you haven't been on a date for quite a few
years."
"Yes, ma'am," he saluted smartly and left, yawning as he
headed upstairs for bed, leaving a satisfied, smiling daughter
doing an assignment in the kitchen.
He opened the bedroom door quietly, knowing his wife was
probably asleep and wouldn't like being woken up. She got
little enough sleep as it was, her schedule even more packed
than his and appreciated downtime whenever it could be squeezed
in. He paused by the bed as he loosened his tie and tossed his
jacket over the chair off to one side, letting his eyes adjust
to the silvered darkness within the room.
Touches of moonlight filtered through the cracks between
the heavy curtains painting a line of silver across the floor
and foot of the bed. Everything else was done in shades of grey
and indigo, including the figure lying on the bed, curled up
under the covers. At age 39, Relena Darlian-Maxwell was a
handsome woman, the slightly masculine beauty she'd possessed
when young having refined into an elegance that would remain for
the remaining years of her life. Her hair was much shorter now
than it had been - she'd cut it all off when Sean had been a
child and had the habit of tangling chubby fingers in the golden
strands and pulling a little too hard for comfort. It now fell
straight to her shoulders when it wasn't pulled back off her
face.
She shifted restlessly as he undid the buttons on his
uniform shirt and he paused, wondering when he'd last just
stopped and looked at this woman he'd married. His eyes
continued to adjust to the darkness as he ran his eyes over
Relena, noting that the shadows under her eyes were deeper than
he remembered and small stress lines were beginning to appear at
the corners of her mouth.
When had they both gotten so caught up in work that they
no longer noticed the small things? Time was they could
catalogue every freckle and lock of unruly hair, every scar and
blemish and love them all. And suddenly he missed the hours
they'd spent curled up on together in bed staring at each other
and talking quietly about everything. Even when the children
had been small they'd spent as much time looking at each other
as at them.
Duo sighed as he quickly finished undressing, slipping
between the sheets and reaching over to brush a stray strand of
hair out of her face. Then he shifted over, drawing her closer
and tucking her head under his chin. He drew in a breath and
the scent of her shampoo drifted across his senses and she
snuggled closer. He closed his eyes, a small smile lingering on
his lips as he drifted off to sleep.
==========
Relena woke to the sound of birdsong and blinked her
eyes blearily, wondering hopefully if she could possibly stay in
bed a little longer this morning. Especially since she felt so
very warm, safe and comfortable.
Her pillow shifted and she blinked again, focusing on
the lean chest she was lying against. She lifted her eyes and
gazed at the peaceful face of her husband, his eyelashes lying
adorably against his cheeks and his lips barely parted. She
found herself smiling at the picture he made, a flutter of love
moving through her stomach. She glanced quickly at the clock
noting that she had a little while yet before she had to get up
and head to work.
So she settled back down against Duo, resting her hands
across his chest and her chin on them in order to stare at him.
It was so rare for her to have the chance to just be with him
anymore because they were both so busy, their freetime never
seemed to coincide and when they were home one or the other of
them was catching up on what sleep they could.
She really needed to do something about it. Either
clear her schedule a bit or something... Easier said than done
though, given the amount of work she had to do as Foreign
Minister. It was times like this that she wished she could have
stayed as the Vice-Foreign Minister instead - at least she had
_some_ freetime to spend with her family. But she'd foolishly
given in to the pressure being exerted by her colleagues, and
she admitted, by the public. But then, she'd always had trouble
saying no to people who insisted they needed _her_.
At least she still found her job challenging, though the
sheer amount of it was exhausting and she didn't therefore enjoy
it as much as she used to.
The alarm went off and Relena moved reluctantly to turn
it off, sliding her legs out of bed and then pausing to look
down at Duo who's eyes had cracked open at the sound. Smiling
gently, she leaned over and kissed him, feeling his lips quirk
upwards under her own and his hands reached out to hold her head
steady as he deepened it. She laid a hand on his chest and
pulled away, brushing the fingers of her other hand across his
lips. He frowned for a second then a resigned look crossed his
face and he lifted his hand in farewell.
Annoyed at the world for a moment, Relena leaned over
and kissed him hard, promising herself that she _would_ get some
time off and convince Duo to do the same.
Duo looked much happier - and a little frustrated - when
she pulled away the next time and she was smiling as she headed
to the bathroom and cleaned herself up, dressing in the usual
pale-coloured suit that had become her trademark. She stuck to
on suggestion from her PR people who said something about it
making her seem wholesome, clean, pure and honest. There were
times when she hated having to live up to that image, but it was
useful, despite the restrictions it placed on both her and her
family. Duo hated the whole thing more than she did, but had
established a certain reputation for himself as fun-loving, so
he was forgiven for doing a lot of things that would condemn her
to ridicule. He also stayed out of the public eye as much as he
could, which was fairly often, and dragged the kids there with
him.
She glanced into Sarah and Sean's rooms as she headed
for the kitchen, smiling at the sight of her daughter sprawled,
stomach-down across her bed hugging a pillow. Her room was
papered in pictures of famous and not-so-famous bands, having
picked up the music-loving aspect of her father's personality as
well as all the rest. Sean looked up from his desk, still
wearing his pyjamas and looking at her with a question in his
blue eyes.
She smiled, walking over and leaning down to drop a kiss
on the top of his head, "Morning, love."
"Morning, Mom."
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Sean's caramel-coloured head shook and he agreed to go
down with her and Relena felt a ridiculous amount of pleasure at
the thought of having a single meal with even one member of her
family. She tucked her hand into Sean's arm as they headed
downstairs, "I haven't been around much lately, have I? What
have you been up to?"
Sean smiled his adorable small smile and shrugged, "Just
school and kung fu with Uncle Fei."
Surprised, Relena glanced at him, "Uncle _Fei_?"
Sean's smile turned into a grin, "Yeah. He finally gave
up trying to get Dad to stop and ever since Sarah and me have
been calling him that too."
Relena laughed, "What does Sally think about all of it?"
Sparkling blue eyes glanced at her from under jagged
bangs, "She justs sits there and smirks as usual, though she
frowns at Ling and Biao whenever they start laughing about it.
And Uncle Fei looks furious for a while then sighs."
Still laughing, Relena greeted their housekeeper and
gathered the plates from the cupboard since Grace was still
playing with the coffee machine. They'd long since established
the fact that Relena would do what she could when she could, it
going a little way towards making her feel useful - more like a
mother and wife - than if she did nothing.
Sean was sitting at the breakfast bar and she put the
plate in front of him, following it with the toast rack and
butter. He got stuck into that while she sat and smoothed her
skirt before buttering her own piece of toast and asking another
question about his life that she seemed to be less and less
involved in. She really had to do something about that and made
a mental note to herself to find a feasible solution.
Then she was off to work in the dark blue sedan driven
by Grace's husband Rene, burying herself in papers as soon as
the door was closed and the thought was drowned out by a
thousand others.
==========
Duo waited on the couch in the lounge, his legs crossed
and his arm against the armrest, fingers lying still against the
supple leather, no matter how much he wanted to drum them.
Relena was late.
No, scratch that, Relena was _very_ late. He'd been
sitting there becoming more and more calm as time went by and
even Sarah and Sean were beginning to just glance at him from
the doorway instead of talking to him. They had both sensed
that the delay was getting to him more than any previous sudden
change in plans and they weren't entirely sure why.
Duo knew, but it wasn't something he wanted to tell his
children.
It had been a few months since he'd cut his schedule
back a little and begun to spend more time with them, and they
were glad he was making the effort - even though there were now
times when they wished he wasn't around as often, because he
ended up monitoring them a lot more. He wasn't any more
restrictive - or he hoped he wasn't - but even having to tell
him was less freedom than they, as teenagers, liked.
Relena was still busy more often than not. She'd only
really been home for a reasonable length of time once in the
past three months and Duo had taken the chance to organise this
evening to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary. She'd
promised to make sure the evening remained free and, as far as
he knew, had stuck to the plan. But she wasn't here and Duo was
getting a little angry. Which made him feel guilty, which made
him more angry.
A self-perpetuating cycle, if you will.
He was feeling guilty because he was finding Keeli a
rather larger distraction than he'd like. She'd made it obvious
since that night three months ago that she was very interested
in him - an interest that seemed to be growing rather than
receding through the passage of time and Duo, flattered, found
himself internally returning the interest. Fortunately she had
remained on as the assistant to the branch manager when he'd
changed his schedule. Now she merely sought him out - which is
how he figured out for sure that she was interested.
He wasn't interested in an affair, though, knowing that
actually getting romantically or sexually involved with someone
other than Relena would eventually destroy him and his family.
But even the thoughts he'd had and hidden were enough to make
him feel guilty. And, damn it, Relena was supposed to make it
all easier for him by being there when he needed to reconfirm
that he loved and desired _her_. But she was off doing
something else.
At least he could be sure she wasn't involved with
someone else - she was far too busy to entertain a single
thought along those lines, even if she had the time to notice
the men she worked with. Resulting in him feeling even worse
about his impure thoughts.
He growled quietly to himself and drummed his fingers
once against the couch before shoving himself upright and
stalking to the bedroom to rip off his dress jacket and tie,
throwing them in the bottom of the wardrobe and standing there
breathing hard. He retained the presence of mind to be glad he
hadn't encountered Sarah, Sean, Grace or Rene on the way up and
to refrain from breaking the vase siting on Relena's dressing
table. It had been a gift from her mother and she treasured it
- meaning she would be devastated if it broke - and Duo's anger
was directed primarily at himself anyway.
Unable to calm the rush of blood in his veins, he
slipped into shorts and a sweater and made his way out onto the
tree-lined street and began running. The sound of his feet
against the pavement made a satisfyingly loud sound in the quiet
street and the angry adrenaline bled slowly but surely from the
bottom of his feet with each step until he merely felt
exhausted, emotionally as well as physically.
He missed Relena more than he would have thought
possible, given that they lived in the same house and slept in
the same bed. He wanted, more than anything, to be able to wrap
her up in his arms, bury his face in her neck and tell her
exactly how he was feeling. How much he loved her and how much
her absence hurt. He wanted to tell her about Keeli and beg her
forgiveness before asking her what he should do about it. Then
he wanted to drop into a peaceful, exhausted sleep with her hand
running gently through his hair as she murmured sweet-sounding
nothings in his ear.
He slowly ran himself to a halt and was surprised to
find himself standing in front of a friend's house. He wondered
if his unconscious mind had bought him here and shrugged before
turning in at the driveway, walking up to the front door and
ringing the doorbell.
He was ushered inside by a concerned Hilde, who had
somehow determined in the first split second that something was
wrong. Heero stood silently in the background as she rushed off
to make tea after installing him comfortably on the couch then
seated himself on the arm of the couch, watching him silently, a
supportive presence that asked nothing.
Then Hilde was back, a small whirlwind that placed a mug
in his hand, knowing he'd prefer that over the delicate china
Quatre favoured. She cast a speaking glance at Heero that he
would have been blind not to catch and sat on the chair across
from him, leaning forwards and fixing her eyes on his face.
"What's wrong, Duo?"
He smiled at the woman who was one of his best friends,
marvelling at the twists of fate that had brought them all to
where they were before sighing, "It's Relena's and my 19th
anniversary today. We were going to go out and celebrate, but
she didn't show up."
Hilde frowned, "I expect she was held up by something
important Duo."
"That's not all of it," Heero murmured, raising an
eyebrow to have his suspicions confirmed, and Duo nodded
tiredly, pushing his hands through bangs damp from the run.
"We haven't been seeing much of each other lately, one
or the other of us has always been busy and even Sarah and Sean
noticed enough to comment on it. I've cut back my schedule..."
Heero nodded, already aware that Duo had quit his duties
as head of the Preventers European branch. Now he was just
concentrating on the Academy, having a lot more time to teach
and actually get involved with other members of the
organisation.
"...but Relena's, if anything, busier than she was."
"Oh, Duo..." Hilde's voice was sad and a frown had
appeared on Heero's face.
"Have you talked to her?"
"Once. She said she knew she was working too much and
would try to do something about it, but she hasn't been able to
do anything yet without causing some kind of problem for someone
else and you know how she is."
His friends both nodded sympathetically and dropped into
silent, thoughtful mode while Duo drank his tea, put the mug on
the table and leaned dropped his head forwards, rubbing at his
forehead.
"What else?" Heero asked abruptly and Duo glanced up
startled, wondering, as always, how he managed to see completely
through him when no one else could - not even Hilde and Relena.
The other part of it, however, was a problem for him to
discuss with Relena and no one else, "The rest doesn't matter
just yet. I need to talk to Relena about it."
Heero, still frowning until the last sentence, nodded.
He was still very protective of Relena - much the same way he'd
jump to Hilde's defence if it was ever necessary. They'd all
been very close ever since they'd swapped partners all those
years ago following the strangest period of mutual angst he'd
ever been involved in.
Duo stood, "Well, thanks for listening, but I guess it's
something we have to work out for ourselves."
Hilde also stood, "Glad to be of help." She stepped
close and squeezed his hand, Heero laying his on Duo's shoulder,
"We're here if you want to talk again."
"I know," he smiled at them, truly grateful that they
hadn't all gone their own ways but stuck together - to the point
where they lived a bare half hour's jog away from one another.
They'd all found the short distance useful at times, often to
complain about each other to a caring and discreet ear that
could be trusted above any others. It was a good way to let off
steam before progressing to the kiss-and-make-up stage.
Duo waved goodbye and set off at a quieter pace this
time, reaching home forty minutes afterwards to find the lounge
light still on and Relena sitting on the couch where he had
been, staring off into space with a blank face. He shifted and
her head whipped around, identifying him immediately. She
jumped to her feet, face falling into an expression of distress.
"Duo! I'm _so_ sorry. Something came up and I forgot
about it. And Ilsa wasn't there to remind me. I'm so, _so_
sorry."
Duo stared at her blankly for a minute, hating the
misery that was scrawled across her face, wanting her to always
be the peaceful, strong and calm woman he'd fallen in love with.
She aborted the beseeching motion of her hand moving
towards him and took a step backwards, "I know I promised to be
here and that you, Sarah and Sean have noticed and I really _am_
going to do something about it. I just... just..."
Duo cupped his hand around the back of her skull and
drew her close enough to rest against him, sighing into her
hair, "It's okay. I understand. I may not like it, but I do
understand - you have a job to do."
"No!" Relena jerked her head up and her eyes flashed.
"Duo, it's _not_ okay to work so much I end up neglecting you
and the kids. It's not fair and it's the opposite from what I
wanted the world to be. I _need_ to do something about it and I
can't let my inability to say no..." a rueful, half-bitter smile
tugged at her lips, "ruin my life with my family."
"Then change things, love. I'll help in any way I can,
you know that."
Relena smiled, "Yeah, I do and I love you for it." She
grimaced, "I just have to figure out a way of doing it.
Preferably without quitting my job."
Duo blinked, "Quitting your... We'd never ask _that_ of
you."
"But I may ask it of myself. I refuse to let my job
rule my life - not anymore, anyway. I remember how disappointed
Sarah was when I missed her school production. The same with
Sean's martial arts tournament. I also remember how much I
embarassed you by turning up as late as I did to your work
Christmas party. And tonight... I don't want to have to live
with knowing I'm hurting my family that much. The world can
always find another Foreign Minister, but I don't want my family
to find another wife and mother."
Duo flinched briefly at that, an image of Keeli flashing
through his mind, and unfortunately, Relena caught it, connected
it to the correct thing and drew away, something in her eyes
that defied description. It was almost as though the solid and
defined blue fractured into something less than what it had
been. Duo shook his head to deny it.
"Relena, no... I... It's not what you think," now Duo
felt terrible, his heart breaking at the tears that glazed
across sky-blue and feeling the same tears come to his eyes. He
blinked them back furiously, wanting to see her, to let her see
him.
"Please, I want to talk to you, but... I, please, will
you listen?"
She swallowed and her chin came up, though the tears
remained and her mouth trembled. He caught her hands and drew
her to the couch, sitting down on it facing her, his hands still
holding hers. He looked down at them as he tried to figure out
how to begin and noticed the two gold bands entwined about their
fingers. He drew his thumb across the warm metal of hers then
looked up at her.
"There's someone at work - Keeli - she's really nice and
likes me quite a bit. It's kind of flattering for a girl like
that to find you attractive and..."
Relena's hands shook in his and Duo tightened his hold.
He didn't want her to escape, so focused his gaze more fiercely
on hers as well, "Yes, I found her attractive as well, but
nothing happened. Nothing ever will, but it made me realise how
much I missed you and the time we used to spend together."
Relena's eyes dropped away from his and her gaze
fastened on her hands, trapped within his larger ones. Duo
leaned forwards a little, unable to stay even that far away from
her and closed his eyes as he breathed the next sentence into
the air between them, thumb brushing over Relena's wedding ring
again, "I married you knowing I could love you forever, 'Lena.
That hasn't changed."
Relena's eyes lifted again but remained blank, a skill
she'd perfected over the years to the point where she could mask
what she was feeling from _anyone_. Duo began to panic in
answer to the marble figure sitting before him, "Please,
Relena..."
Then the stone facade shattered suddenly and a broken
sob emerged from the back of her throat as she suddenly folded
forwards until her head was resting against the leg that was
tucked under Duo and he stared down at her. Her blonde hair
spilled onto his bare thigh and her breathing was ragged against
his skin, tickling it in a way that was easily ignorable given
the situation. One of his hands moved to hover over her hair,
waiting for a sign of what was going to happen next.
Duo finally found himself able to distinguish the soft
sounds she was mumbling under her breath.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Shocked, he drew her upwards, pulling her forwards to
lean against his chest, arms curling about her as protectively
as possible and he breathed into her hair, " 'Lena, please
don't. It's not your fault, I should be..."
Relena shook her head, "_I'm_ _sorry_." She drew away
from him again, tilting her face towards his and looking at him
through shattered watery eyes, "It's my fault - if I'd been
around more, there would've been nothing for you to apologise
about."
Duo stared at her, wondering if that's all there was to
it. Confess, cry a bit, talk a bit and things would be okay?
He frowned and shook his head - no, it wasn't going to be that
easy, but at least they'd acknowledged there was a problem and
could now do something about it. But for now, he needed to find
a way to break Relena's self-accusation.
"So you think I have something to be sorry for?" he
murmured.
Relena blinked and stared at him then smiled weakly,
noting the ever so gentle mock-outrage in his eyes, "Of course.
You have, after all, been coveting your neighbour, or however
that goes."
"Technically, love, she's not our neighbour. I think
she lives somewhere over the other side of the city."
"And I hope she stays there," Relena's sudden fierce
exclamation and flashing eyes made Duo look at her strangely -
he'd never heard her be catty before, even in such a small way.
It was almost cute.
==========
Relena, feeling horrible after the tears that were sure
to have left her eyes red and raw and her skin blotchy, felt
even worse after speaking so about someone she had never met and
she was sure was very nice in person. Then she frowned and
decided that she wasn't, after all, being terrible given that
the woman had obviously made her wishes clear enough for Duo, a
married man, to pick them up and choose not to act on them.
The thought that he could have chosen the opposite
terrified her more than she cared to admit and she realised
again just how lucky she was that she'd ended up with someone as
loyal as Duo. Or mostly loyal - the fact that he'd considered
the other woman was something she'd have to deal with and even
though it wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult as dealing with
unfaithfulness, there were still issues.
She decided then and there that she was going to take a
long holiday starting next week and the Vice-Foreign Minister
could deal with all the appointments that couldn't be cancelled.
And this time she wasn't going to care what everyone said - she
had more important things to do. While she was on holiday, she
was going to have to seriously look at what to do about her job.
There was the possibility that if she went back to work without
at least sorting things out for herself, she was going to have
end up right back where she started from. And she wanted that
less than anything.
Still, that was for next week. For now Duo was sitting
there looking relieved, a little amused and still a little nervous
and there was this Keeli person to deal with... "No offence, Duo,
but is there any way..."
"Mm?"
Relena suddenly blushed and glanced away, her face
flushing in mortification and she shook her head. Could she say
it? Maybe it would sound as though she didn't trust him - and she
did, though she expected that she'd occassionally worry about
where he was more often in the furture.
"No, Relena, tell me. I don't care what it is, just -
please - tell me."
Shifting, Relena squirmed into his arms and tucked her
head under his chin, glad of his endearing honesty - something
he'd always prided himself on and something she'd always been able
to count on. She knew he'd answer her truthfully. It did make it
more difficult to give him anything but the same in return, but
that was a small price to pay. "I was wondering if it was, er,
possible to, um..." she took a deep breath, "Have Keeli
transferred."
Duo was silent for a few moments and Relena held her
breath, letting it out when Duo's shoulders began to shake.
"'Lena... 'Lena-love, _I_ transferred."
Frowning, Relena looked up at him, "What?"
"Don't you remember? I quit my job as head of the
European branch, now I just work at the Academy. Keeli stayed on
at headquarters and I only see her every now and then when she
comes around."
Outrage ripped through Relena as she wondered if this girl
was deliberately trying to seduce Duo, or if she was really stupid
enough to think that her interest wouldn't be discovered if she
followed Duo around all over the place, "She _what_?"
Duo grinned, "It's strange. But we are friends and ever
since she broke up with her boyfriend she's been bored."
"She broke up with her boyfriend? Why?"
A grimace crossed Duo's expressive face and he shrugged,
"According to him, she fell in love with me and tossed him out on
his ear."
Relena's eyes widened, "She dumped him in order to seduce
a married man?"
"Apparently. Keeli never said anything one way or the
other, but Thane, the boyfriend, visited me one day, told me I was
a bastard for seducing someone so much younger than I was and
cheating on my wife at the same time. Then he tried to deck me
and when he couldn't, he ran out," Duo shook his head, his eyes
distant and amused as he replayed the scene in his mind. "If he's
always like that, it's no wonder Keeli dumped him in favour of
someone better."
Relena, drawing in a sudden breath, jerked hard on his
braid in retaliation for that piece of vanity, though she
wholeheartedly agreed. Her husband was still in great shape and
looked younger than his 39 years, "Idiot."
Duo grinned then pulled her close until they were
literally nose to nose - she could barely see the blue-violet
colour of his eyes and whispered, "Love you."
Relena caught her breath, startled as she always was by
his ability to choose the strangest times and places to say that
and, somehow, to make her fall in love with him all over again.
She felt a sudden wash of tears and slipped her arms around his
shoulders, pulling herself tight against him and burying her face
in his neck. "Love you too," she whispered back and let herself
relax completely, her eyes drifting shut.
Duo's arms tightened about her and he turned his own face
into her hair, nuzzling it quietly. It was a long time before
either of them moved again.
==========
Foreign Minister Relena Maxwell-Darlian called in sick the
next day, informing her personal assistant that she'd be sick for
the next week at least and could she please reassign any meetings
to other people. Then she informed Ilsa that from that day on she
wouldn't be working beyond five o'clock in the evening, apart from
the occassional function and not to make any appointments beyond
those hours.
Then she handed the phone to her husband, Head of the
Preventers' Academy, who informed his secretary that he was taking
a break for a week or two. He hung up on the questions and
protests, kissed the top of Relena's head and, together, they both
fell asleep.
Half an hour later Sarah and Sean, surprised that they
hadn't seen either of their parents at the breakfast table that
morning, opened the door a crack. Heading back downstairs, Grace
and Rene, wearing his chauffeur's uniform, were surprised by the
wide, beaming smiles on both their faces. Then Sean murmured that
it looked like Rene had the day off and all four of them glanced
at one another in satisfaction and went about their days as though
nothing extraordinary had happened.
===Owari===
This is a possible answer to a discussion about Relena's job that
went on at the 2xR ML a while back, even if I did plan and start
writing before the topic came up. All marriages have their problems
and I think this would be something Duo and Relena might have to deal
with sometime or another. They also decided they loved each other
too much for this to follow the original plan, exactly, though it's
similar in many ways ^_^
Any secondary couples in this fic are a tribute to Lady Orla of
'Kimi no koto itsudemo Mamoru', 'Memory and Future' and
Sally-Wufei fame ^_^
Prevention or Cure
A Gundam Wing Fic
By Sefilin
============================================================
Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
==========
Leaning back in his chair, Duo stretched, feeling a
pleasant pain in his back, arms and neck. It had been a long
day of collating data and attending meetings where nothing of
import was said. Then he'd had to run temporary interference on
a problem that, if left alone, could have developed into an
incident of world-and-colony-wide proportions. And completely
discredited the Preventers, which explained what he was doing
sitting in his office after midnight.
Things had been patched to the best of his abilities
and should hold for long enough to organise something more
permanent. What a rookie was doing running around making
mostly unfounded accusations and backing them with Preventers
authority Duo didn't yet know, but he was sure as hell going to
find out.
Which meant he was going to have a lot of work to do.
The Preventers were still a small, elite organisation
who supposedly received and gave the best possible training,
but if something like this could happen, maybe they needed to
review the curriculum. As head of the Preventers Academy, the
responsibility for any deficiencies in training would be laid
at his door and since he'd prefer that not to happen, he'd
rectify things as soon as possible. That he also headed to
European branch, from which the agent had hailed, made things
doubly worse and he rubbed at the bridge of his nose in
irritation.
Fortunately, he'd managed to get a hold of Heero who
had agreed, as their primary field troubleshooter, to head to
the colony in question with his wife first thing in the
morning. He'd get that end of things sorted out in short
order, send Duo what he needed and give the rookie a dressing
down he'd never forget - quite apart from busting him back to
desk work. Still, Duo thought he was lucky that Sally and
Wufei were on holiday with their family when he chose to do
something this stupid. To deal with the two of them would have
been much worse since they'd managed to perfect their
intimidation techniques years ago and always left the erring
child feeling exactly like that.
He grinned at the thought of his friends, rubbing his
hand across the tense muscles of his shoulders and neck. The
next thing he knew, his hand was joined by two others that
caught at the ache much more effectively and began to draw it
out and away. He glanced around and up, noting the white smile
on the face of his newest assistant as she began a massage he
could well appreciate.
He closed his eyes, murmuring something that could have
passed as thanks and relaxed into the professional strokes
against his shoulders and moving against the vertebrae high on
his spine.
"You shouldn't work so hard, Mr Maxwell," the voice that
had become so familiar spoke quietly as she continued her
ministrations, using a name he'd told her not to numerous times
before giving up.
"Mm," Duo replied, not in the mood to talk after his day
and during a massage this good. Instead, he allowed his mind to
wander, thoughts turning, unsurprisingly, to the woman standing
behind him.
Lieutenant Keeli Sand, to give her her full title, had
been an officer in the United Earth Army's logistics department
following her training at one of the top military academies in
the world. She'd remained there, running a wonderfully
efficient department for five years before applying to the
Preventers. She'd been accepted after passing the vigorous
testsing and ended up being assigned, four months ago, as his
assistant.
And a wonderful assistant she was too, he mused,
recalling the way she could anticipate many of his needs and
always did everything with a smile on her face and sparkling
lights in warm cinnamon brown eyes. The joy seemed to have
dimmed a little in the last few weeks, but it wasn't surprising
since it was likely just the novelty wearing off.
Back in the real world, pulled there from from one
second to the next, Duo noted that the massage had become a
touch too sensual to be comfortable.
Startled, he glanced at Keeli and noticed a soft, dreamy
smile on her face as she stared at something in the distance.
Figuring she was thinking about her long-time boyfriend, he
grinned and rose, forcing her hands to drop from his shoulders,
"Maybe you should head home to Thane. You've stayed long past
what duty demands."
She blinked at him for a second then blushed a becoming
shade of pink as she realised what she'd been doing and looked
away from him, "I... we broke up last week."
Duo's eyes widened, "You did? I'm sorry, I must have
forgotten."
Reddish curly hair bounced about her shoulders as she
shook her head, "I hadn't mentioned it."
"Ah," so that was the problem. He watched her for a
while, allowing her to talk if she wanted to. She'd told him
many things over the past four months, which is why it rather
surprised him that he hadn't known about her break up. Though,
now that he thought about it, she hadn't mentioned Thane for a
few weeks during their companionable talks.
Keeli shrugged, "It just wasn't working anymore, so we
decided to get out of it instead of wasting time and effort on
something hopeless." Her eyes flickered down to Duo's lips, a
wistful shadow passing through her eyes, then looked up again.
"Anyway," she spoke abruptly, "I should go. Sleep would
probably be a good thing."
Wondering if that glance meant what he thought it did,
he smiled almost absently, "Definitely a good thing. I think
I'll do the same."
She smiled back, "Of course, Mr Maxwell. Goodnight."
He waved as she left, then gathered a few papers,
checked that his communicator was in his pocket and left his
office, his thoughts still on Keeli. He hoped she wasn't
fixating on him in reaction to her breakup; that could lead to
unfortunate complications at work.
And besides, he was married.
==========
Sarah was still sitting at the kitchen table working on
her homework when he got home and smiled at him when he ruffled
her white-blonde hair as he walked past.
"Hi, Dad," she spoke.
"Good morning, what are you working on?"
"An assignment. I forgot about it till today and since
it's due in tomorrow..."
Duo grinned as her pale blue eyes sparkled with tired
mischief and took the seat across from her, handing her a mug of
hot chocolate, sipping at his own.
"Thanks. How was your day? We got the message that you
wouldn't be back till late."
He grimaced, "It was bad. An agent did something stupid
and got caught in a big way - had to happen sometime, I guess,
but it's still a pain. Heero's going to sort out the rest of it
tomorrow."
"I wonder if that's what Mom was mumbling about when she
got home. She looked a little worried about something, but she
doesn't say anything," Sarah wrinkled her nose, making it plain
that she wished her mother would share some of her problems - a
shared burden and all that.
Duo was of the same opinion and made a point of talking
about what was going on with his wife whenever possible, though
given how busy they both were, it wasn't as often as he'd like.
He had no problems mentioning things to Sarah and Sean, both of
them having grown up in an environment where maturity was
necessary, even if he didn't go into too many details.
"She's not used to talking about her problems."
"I know, Dad, it's just... she used to make an effort,
but she doesn't seem to even be bothering anymore. And you're
busier than you used to be, so we don't hear much from you
either."
There was a sadness in her eyes that he hadn't seen
before and it startled him to the point where he went back over
how much time he'd been spending at work and how much at home
over the past year or two. Sure enough, he had more memories of
work than home and he frowned. He'd vowed, when Sarah was born
seventeen years ago, that he would never neglect his family and
would make time for them if necessary. A spark of anger,
directed at himself, jumped and he reiterated that vow and
decided to see what he could do about clearing some of his
schedule beginning tomorrow.
"And you see each other even less than you see us. Sean
and I are a bit worried about things."
Duo grinned, glad they'd always encouraged their
children to speak their minds - with tact - no matter what it
was they were thinking. Admittedly, Sarah was better at it than
Sean, taking after him the way their son took after his wife and
was a lot more reserved.
"Is that why you're still up? To tell me this?"
Sarah smiled, "Nope. I did forget the assignment, but I
did stay in the kitchen to tell you, otherwise I'd be upstairs."
Duo laughed then sobered a little, "You and Sean talked
about this?"
"Always."
"Good."
Duo stood, "Well, I'll see what I can do about the time
thing tomorrow and talk to your mother as soon as possible about
our time."
Sarah smiled, "Okay. Why don't you take her out to
dinner or something - you haven't been on a date for quite a few
years."
"Yes, ma'am," he saluted smartly and left, yawning as he
headed upstairs for bed, leaving a satisfied, smiling daughter
doing an assignment in the kitchen.
He opened the bedroom door quietly, knowing his wife was
probably asleep and wouldn't like being woken up. She got
little enough sleep as it was, her schedule even more packed
than his and appreciated downtime whenever it could be squeezed
in. He paused by the bed as he loosened his tie and tossed his
jacket over the chair off to one side, letting his eyes adjust
to the silvered darkness within the room.
Touches of moonlight filtered through the cracks between
the heavy curtains painting a line of silver across the floor
and foot of the bed. Everything else was done in shades of grey
and indigo, including the figure lying on the bed, curled up
under the covers. At age 39, Relena Darlian-Maxwell was a
handsome woman, the slightly masculine beauty she'd possessed
when young having refined into an elegance that would remain for
the remaining years of her life. Her hair was much shorter now
than it had been - she'd cut it all off when Sean had been a
child and had the habit of tangling chubby fingers in the golden
strands and pulling a little too hard for comfort. It now fell
straight to her shoulders when it wasn't pulled back off her
face.
She shifted restlessly as he undid the buttons on his
uniform shirt and he paused, wondering when he'd last just
stopped and looked at this woman he'd married. His eyes
continued to adjust to the darkness as he ran his eyes over
Relena, noting that the shadows under her eyes were deeper than
he remembered and small stress lines were beginning to appear at
the corners of her mouth.
When had they both gotten so caught up in work that they
no longer noticed the small things? Time was they could
catalogue every freckle and lock of unruly hair, every scar and
blemish and love them all. And suddenly he missed the hours
they'd spent curled up on together in bed staring at each other
and talking quietly about everything. Even when the children
had been small they'd spent as much time looking at each other
as at them.
Duo sighed as he quickly finished undressing, slipping
between the sheets and reaching over to brush a stray strand of
hair out of her face. Then he shifted over, drawing her closer
and tucking her head under his chin. He drew in a breath and
the scent of her shampoo drifted across his senses and she
snuggled closer. He closed his eyes, a small smile lingering on
his lips as he drifted off to sleep.
==========
Relena woke to the sound of birdsong and blinked her
eyes blearily, wondering hopefully if she could possibly stay in
bed a little longer this morning. Especially since she felt so
very warm, safe and comfortable.
Her pillow shifted and she blinked again, focusing on
the lean chest she was lying against. She lifted her eyes and
gazed at the peaceful face of her husband, his eyelashes lying
adorably against his cheeks and his lips barely parted. She
found herself smiling at the picture he made, a flutter of love
moving through her stomach. She glanced quickly at the clock
noting that she had a little while yet before she had to get up
and head to work.
So she settled back down against Duo, resting her hands
across his chest and her chin on them in order to stare at him.
It was so rare for her to have the chance to just be with him
anymore because they were both so busy, their freetime never
seemed to coincide and when they were home one or the other of
them was catching up on what sleep they could.
She really needed to do something about it. Either
clear her schedule a bit or something... Easier said than done
though, given the amount of work she had to do as Foreign
Minister. It was times like this that she wished she could have
stayed as the Vice-Foreign Minister instead - at least she had
_some_ freetime to spend with her family. But she'd foolishly
given in to the pressure being exerted by her colleagues, and
she admitted, by the public. But then, she'd always had trouble
saying no to people who insisted they needed _her_.
At least she still found her job challenging, though the
sheer amount of it was exhausting and she didn't therefore enjoy
it as much as she used to.
The alarm went off and Relena moved reluctantly to turn
it off, sliding her legs out of bed and then pausing to look
down at Duo who's eyes had cracked open at the sound. Smiling
gently, she leaned over and kissed him, feeling his lips quirk
upwards under her own and his hands reached out to hold her head
steady as he deepened it. She laid a hand on his chest and
pulled away, brushing the fingers of her other hand across his
lips. He frowned for a second then a resigned look crossed his
face and he lifted his hand in farewell.
Annoyed at the world for a moment, Relena leaned over
and kissed him hard, promising herself that she _would_ get some
time off and convince Duo to do the same.
Duo looked much happier - and a little frustrated - when
she pulled away the next time and she was smiling as she headed
to the bathroom and cleaned herself up, dressing in the usual
pale-coloured suit that had become her trademark. She stuck to
on suggestion from her PR people who said something about it
making her seem wholesome, clean, pure and honest. There were
times when she hated having to live up to that image, but it was
useful, despite the restrictions it placed on both her and her
family. Duo hated the whole thing more than she did, but had
established a certain reputation for himself as fun-loving, so
he was forgiven for doing a lot of things that would condemn her
to ridicule. He also stayed out of the public eye as much as he
could, which was fairly often, and dragged the kids there with
him.
She glanced into Sarah and Sean's rooms as she headed
for the kitchen, smiling at the sight of her daughter sprawled,
stomach-down across her bed hugging a pillow. Her room was
papered in pictures of famous and not-so-famous bands, having
picked up the music-loving aspect of her father's personality as
well as all the rest. Sean looked up from his desk, still
wearing his pyjamas and looking at her with a question in his
blue eyes.
She smiled, walking over and leaning down to drop a kiss
on the top of his head, "Morning, love."
"Morning, Mom."
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Sean's caramel-coloured head shook and he agreed to go
down with her and Relena felt a ridiculous amount of pleasure at
the thought of having a single meal with even one member of her
family. She tucked her hand into Sean's arm as they headed
downstairs, "I haven't been around much lately, have I? What
have you been up to?"
Sean smiled his adorable small smile and shrugged, "Just
school and kung fu with Uncle Fei."
Surprised, Relena glanced at him, "Uncle _Fei_?"
Sean's smile turned into a grin, "Yeah. He finally gave
up trying to get Dad to stop and ever since Sarah and me have
been calling him that too."
Relena laughed, "What does Sally think about all of it?"
Sparkling blue eyes glanced at her from under jagged
bangs, "She justs sits there and smirks as usual, though she
frowns at Ling and Biao whenever they start laughing about it.
And Uncle Fei looks furious for a while then sighs."
Still laughing, Relena greeted their housekeeper and
gathered the plates from the cupboard since Grace was still
playing with the coffee machine. They'd long since established
the fact that Relena would do what she could when she could, it
going a little way towards making her feel useful - more like a
mother and wife - than if she did nothing.
Sean was sitting at the breakfast bar and she put the
plate in front of him, following it with the toast rack and
butter. He got stuck into that while she sat and smoothed her
skirt before buttering her own piece of toast and asking another
question about his life that she seemed to be less and less
involved in. She really had to do something about that and made
a mental note to herself to find a feasible solution.
Then she was off to work in the dark blue sedan driven
by Grace's husband Rene, burying herself in papers as soon as
the door was closed and the thought was drowned out by a
thousand others.
==========
Duo waited on the couch in the lounge, his legs crossed
and his arm against the armrest, fingers lying still against the
supple leather, no matter how much he wanted to drum them.
Relena was late.
No, scratch that, Relena was _very_ late. He'd been
sitting there becoming more and more calm as time went by and
even Sarah and Sean were beginning to just glance at him from
the doorway instead of talking to him. They had both sensed
that the delay was getting to him more than any previous sudden
change in plans and they weren't entirely sure why.
Duo knew, but it wasn't something he wanted to tell his
children.
It had been a few months since he'd cut his schedule
back a little and begun to spend more time with them, and they
were glad he was making the effort - even though there were now
times when they wished he wasn't around as often, because he
ended up monitoring them a lot more. He wasn't any more
restrictive - or he hoped he wasn't - but even having to tell
him was less freedom than they, as teenagers, liked.
Relena was still busy more often than not. She'd only
really been home for a reasonable length of time once in the
past three months and Duo had taken the chance to organise this
evening to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary. She'd
promised to make sure the evening remained free and, as far as
he knew, had stuck to the plan. But she wasn't here and Duo was
getting a little angry. Which made him feel guilty, which made
him more angry.
A self-perpetuating cycle, if you will.
He was feeling guilty because he was finding Keeli a
rather larger distraction than he'd like. She'd made it obvious
since that night three months ago that she was very interested
in him - an interest that seemed to be growing rather than
receding through the passage of time and Duo, flattered, found
himself internally returning the interest. Fortunately she had
remained on as the assistant to the branch manager when he'd
changed his schedule. Now she merely sought him out - which is
how he figured out for sure that she was interested.
He wasn't interested in an affair, though, knowing that
actually getting romantically or sexually involved with someone
other than Relena would eventually destroy him and his family.
But even the thoughts he'd had and hidden were enough to make
him feel guilty. And, damn it, Relena was supposed to make it
all easier for him by being there when he needed to reconfirm
that he loved and desired _her_. But she was off doing
something else.
At least he could be sure she wasn't involved with
someone else - she was far too busy to entertain a single
thought along those lines, even if she had the time to notice
the men she worked with. Resulting in him feeling even worse
about his impure thoughts.
He growled quietly to himself and drummed his fingers
once against the couch before shoving himself upright and
stalking to the bedroom to rip off his dress jacket and tie,
throwing them in the bottom of the wardrobe and standing there
breathing hard. He retained the presence of mind to be glad he
hadn't encountered Sarah, Sean, Grace or Rene on the way up and
to refrain from breaking the vase siting on Relena's dressing
table. It had been a gift from her mother and she treasured it
- meaning she would be devastated if it broke - and Duo's anger
was directed primarily at himself anyway.
Unable to calm the rush of blood in his veins, he
slipped into shorts and a sweater and made his way out onto the
tree-lined street and began running. The sound of his feet
against the pavement made a satisfyingly loud sound in the quiet
street and the angry adrenaline bled slowly but surely from the
bottom of his feet with each step until he merely felt
exhausted, emotionally as well as physically.
He missed Relena more than he would have thought
possible, given that they lived in the same house and slept in
the same bed. He wanted, more than anything, to be able to wrap
her up in his arms, bury his face in her neck and tell her
exactly how he was feeling. How much he loved her and how much
her absence hurt. He wanted to tell her about Keeli and beg her
forgiveness before asking her what he should do about it. Then
he wanted to drop into a peaceful, exhausted sleep with her hand
running gently through his hair as she murmured sweet-sounding
nothings in his ear.
He slowly ran himself to a halt and was surprised to
find himself standing in front of a friend's house. He wondered
if his unconscious mind had bought him here and shrugged before
turning in at the driveway, walking up to the front door and
ringing the doorbell.
He was ushered inside by a concerned Hilde, who had
somehow determined in the first split second that something was
wrong. Heero stood silently in the background as she rushed off
to make tea after installing him comfortably on the couch then
seated himself on the arm of the couch, watching him silently, a
supportive presence that asked nothing.
Then Hilde was back, a small whirlwind that placed a mug
in his hand, knowing he'd prefer that over the delicate china
Quatre favoured. She cast a speaking glance at Heero that he
would have been blind not to catch and sat on the chair across
from him, leaning forwards and fixing her eyes on his face.
"What's wrong, Duo?"
He smiled at the woman who was one of his best friends,
marvelling at the twists of fate that had brought them all to
where they were before sighing, "It's Relena's and my 19th
anniversary today. We were going to go out and celebrate, but
she didn't show up."
Hilde frowned, "I expect she was held up by something
important Duo."
"That's not all of it," Heero murmured, raising an
eyebrow to have his suspicions confirmed, and Duo nodded
tiredly, pushing his hands through bangs damp from the run.
"We haven't been seeing much of each other lately, one
or the other of us has always been busy and even Sarah and Sean
noticed enough to comment on it. I've cut back my schedule..."
Heero nodded, already aware that Duo had quit his duties
as head of the Preventers European branch. Now he was just
concentrating on the Academy, having a lot more time to teach
and actually get involved with other members of the
organisation.
"...but Relena's, if anything, busier than she was."
"Oh, Duo..." Hilde's voice was sad and a frown had
appeared on Heero's face.
"Have you talked to her?"
"Once. She said she knew she was working too much and
would try to do something about it, but she hasn't been able to
do anything yet without causing some kind of problem for someone
else and you know how she is."
His friends both nodded sympathetically and dropped into
silent, thoughtful mode while Duo drank his tea, put the mug on
the table and leaned dropped his head forwards, rubbing at his
forehead.
"What else?" Heero asked abruptly and Duo glanced up
startled, wondering, as always, how he managed to see completely
through him when no one else could - not even Hilde and Relena.
The other part of it, however, was a problem for him to
discuss with Relena and no one else, "The rest doesn't matter
just yet. I need to talk to Relena about it."
Heero, still frowning until the last sentence, nodded.
He was still very protective of Relena - much the same way he'd
jump to Hilde's defence if it was ever necessary. They'd all
been very close ever since they'd swapped partners all those
years ago following the strangest period of mutual angst he'd
ever been involved in.
Duo stood, "Well, thanks for listening, but I guess it's
something we have to work out for ourselves."
Hilde also stood, "Glad to be of help." She stepped
close and squeezed his hand, Heero laying his on Duo's shoulder,
"We're here if you want to talk again."
"I know," he smiled at them, truly grateful that they
hadn't all gone their own ways but stuck together - to the point
where they lived a bare half hour's jog away from one another.
They'd all found the short distance useful at times, often to
complain about each other to a caring and discreet ear that
could be trusted above any others. It was a good way to let off
steam before progressing to the kiss-and-make-up stage.
Duo waved goodbye and set off at a quieter pace this
time, reaching home forty minutes afterwards to find the lounge
light still on and Relena sitting on the couch where he had
been, staring off into space with a blank face. He shifted and
her head whipped around, identifying him immediately. She
jumped to her feet, face falling into an expression of distress.
"Duo! I'm _so_ sorry. Something came up and I forgot
about it. And Ilsa wasn't there to remind me. I'm so, _so_
sorry."
Duo stared at her blankly for a minute, hating the
misery that was scrawled across her face, wanting her to always
be the peaceful, strong and calm woman he'd fallen in love with.
She aborted the beseeching motion of her hand moving
towards him and took a step backwards, "I know I promised to be
here and that you, Sarah and Sean have noticed and I really _am_
going to do something about it. I just... just..."
Duo cupped his hand around the back of her skull and
drew her close enough to rest against him, sighing into her
hair, "It's okay. I understand. I may not like it, but I do
understand - you have a job to do."
"No!" Relena jerked her head up and her eyes flashed.
"Duo, it's _not_ okay to work so much I end up neglecting you
and the kids. It's not fair and it's the opposite from what I
wanted the world to be. I _need_ to do something about it and I
can't let my inability to say no..." a rueful, half-bitter smile
tugged at her lips, "ruin my life with my family."
"Then change things, love. I'll help in any way I can,
you know that."
Relena smiled, "Yeah, I do and I love you for it." She
grimaced, "I just have to figure out a way of doing it.
Preferably without quitting my job."
Duo blinked, "Quitting your... We'd never ask _that_ of
you."
"But I may ask it of myself. I refuse to let my job
rule my life - not anymore, anyway. I remember how disappointed
Sarah was when I missed her school production. The same with
Sean's martial arts tournament. I also remember how much I
embarassed you by turning up as late as I did to your work
Christmas party. And tonight... I don't want to have to live
with knowing I'm hurting my family that much. The world can
always find another Foreign Minister, but I don't want my family
to find another wife and mother."
Duo flinched briefly at that, an image of Keeli flashing
through his mind, and unfortunately, Relena caught it, connected
it to the correct thing and drew away, something in her eyes
that defied description. It was almost as though the solid and
defined blue fractured into something less than what it had
been. Duo shook his head to deny it.
"Relena, no... I... It's not what you think," now Duo
felt terrible, his heart breaking at the tears that glazed
across sky-blue and feeling the same tears come to his eyes. He
blinked them back furiously, wanting to see her, to let her see
him.
"Please, I want to talk to you, but... I, please, will
you listen?"
She swallowed and her chin came up, though the tears
remained and her mouth trembled. He caught her hands and drew
her to the couch, sitting down on it facing her, his hands still
holding hers. He looked down at them as he tried to figure out
how to begin and noticed the two gold bands entwined about their
fingers. He drew his thumb across the warm metal of hers then
looked up at her.
"There's someone at work - Keeli - she's really nice and
likes me quite a bit. It's kind of flattering for a girl like
that to find you attractive and..."
Relena's hands shook in his and Duo tightened his hold.
He didn't want her to escape, so focused his gaze more fiercely
on hers as well, "Yes, I found her attractive as well, but
nothing happened. Nothing ever will, but it made me realise how
much I missed you and the time we used to spend together."
Relena's eyes dropped away from his and her gaze
fastened on her hands, trapped within his larger ones. Duo
leaned forwards a little, unable to stay even that far away from
her and closed his eyes as he breathed the next sentence into
the air between them, thumb brushing over Relena's wedding ring
again, "I married you knowing I could love you forever, 'Lena.
That hasn't changed."
Relena's eyes lifted again but remained blank, a skill
she'd perfected over the years to the point where she could mask
what she was feeling from _anyone_. Duo began to panic in
answer to the marble figure sitting before him, "Please,
Relena..."
Then the stone facade shattered suddenly and a broken
sob emerged from the back of her throat as she suddenly folded
forwards until her head was resting against the leg that was
tucked under Duo and he stared down at her. Her blonde hair
spilled onto his bare thigh and her breathing was ragged against
his skin, tickling it in a way that was easily ignorable given
the situation. One of his hands moved to hover over her hair,
waiting for a sign of what was going to happen next.
Duo finally found himself able to distinguish the soft
sounds she was mumbling under her breath.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Shocked, he drew her upwards, pulling her forwards to
lean against his chest, arms curling about her as protectively
as possible and he breathed into her hair, " 'Lena, please
don't. It's not your fault, I should be..."
Relena shook her head, "_I'm_ _sorry_." She drew away
from him again, tilting her face towards his and looking at him
through shattered watery eyes, "It's my fault - if I'd been
around more, there would've been nothing for you to apologise
about."
Duo stared at her, wondering if that's all there was to
it. Confess, cry a bit, talk a bit and things would be okay?
He frowned and shook his head - no, it wasn't going to be that
easy, but at least they'd acknowledged there was a problem and
could now do something about it. But for now, he needed to find
a way to break Relena's self-accusation.
"So you think I have something to be sorry for?" he
murmured.
Relena blinked and stared at him then smiled weakly,
noting the ever so gentle mock-outrage in his eyes, "Of course.
You have, after all, been coveting your neighbour, or however
that goes."
"Technically, love, she's not our neighbour. I think
she lives somewhere over the other side of the city."
"And I hope she stays there," Relena's sudden fierce
exclamation and flashing eyes made Duo look at her strangely -
he'd never heard her be catty before, even in such a small way.
It was almost cute.
==========
Relena, feeling horrible after the tears that were sure
to have left her eyes red and raw and her skin blotchy, felt
even worse after speaking so about someone she had never met and
she was sure was very nice in person. Then she frowned and
decided that she wasn't, after all, being terrible given that
the woman had obviously made her wishes clear enough for Duo, a
married man, to pick them up and choose not to act on them.
The thought that he could have chosen the opposite
terrified her more than she cared to admit and she realised
again just how lucky she was that she'd ended up with someone as
loyal as Duo. Or mostly loyal - the fact that he'd considered
the other woman was something she'd have to deal with and even
though it wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult as dealing with
unfaithfulness, there were still issues.
She decided then and there that she was going to take a
long holiday starting next week and the Vice-Foreign Minister
could deal with all the appointments that couldn't be cancelled.
And this time she wasn't going to care what everyone said - she
had more important things to do. While she was on holiday, she
was going to have to seriously look at what to do about her job.
There was the possibility that if she went back to work without
at least sorting things out for herself, she was going to have
end up right back where she started from. And she wanted that
less than anything.
Still, that was for next week. For now Duo was sitting
there looking relieved, a little amused and still a little nervous
and there was this Keeli person to deal with... "No offence, Duo,
but is there any way..."
"Mm?"
Relena suddenly blushed and glanced away, her face
flushing in mortification and she shook her head. Could she say
it? Maybe it would sound as though she didn't trust him - and she
did, though she expected that she'd occassionally worry about
where he was more often in the furture.
"No, Relena, tell me. I don't care what it is, just -
please - tell me."
Shifting, Relena squirmed into his arms and tucked her
head under his chin, glad of his endearing honesty - something
he'd always prided himself on and something she'd always been able
to count on. She knew he'd answer her truthfully. It did make it
more difficult to give him anything but the same in return, but
that was a small price to pay. "I was wondering if it was, er,
possible to, um..." she took a deep breath, "Have Keeli
transferred."
Duo was silent for a few moments and Relena held her
breath, letting it out when Duo's shoulders began to shake.
"'Lena... 'Lena-love, _I_ transferred."
Frowning, Relena looked up at him, "What?"
"Don't you remember? I quit my job as head of the
European branch, now I just work at the Academy. Keeli stayed on
at headquarters and I only see her every now and then when she
comes around."
Outrage ripped through Relena as she wondered if this girl
was deliberately trying to seduce Duo, or if she was really stupid
enough to think that her interest wouldn't be discovered if she
followed Duo around all over the place, "She _what_?"
Duo grinned, "It's strange. But we are friends and ever
since she broke up with her boyfriend she's been bored."
"She broke up with her boyfriend? Why?"
A grimace crossed Duo's expressive face and he shrugged,
"According to him, she fell in love with me and tossed him out on
his ear."
Relena's eyes widened, "She dumped him in order to seduce
a married man?"
"Apparently. Keeli never said anything one way or the
other, but Thane, the boyfriend, visited me one day, told me I was
a bastard for seducing someone so much younger than I was and
cheating on my wife at the same time. Then he tried to deck me
and when he couldn't, he ran out," Duo shook his head, his eyes
distant and amused as he replayed the scene in his mind. "If he's
always like that, it's no wonder Keeli dumped him in favour of
someone better."
Relena, drawing in a sudden breath, jerked hard on his
braid in retaliation for that piece of vanity, though she
wholeheartedly agreed. Her husband was still in great shape and
looked younger than his 39 years, "Idiot."
Duo grinned then pulled her close until they were
literally nose to nose - she could barely see the blue-violet
colour of his eyes and whispered, "Love you."
Relena caught her breath, startled as she always was by
his ability to choose the strangest times and places to say that
and, somehow, to make her fall in love with him all over again.
She felt a sudden wash of tears and slipped her arms around his
shoulders, pulling herself tight against him and burying her face
in his neck. "Love you too," she whispered back and let herself
relax completely, her eyes drifting shut.
Duo's arms tightened about her and he turned his own face
into her hair, nuzzling it quietly. It was a long time before
either of them moved again.
==========
Foreign Minister Relena Maxwell-Darlian called in sick the
next day, informing her personal assistant that she'd be sick for
the next week at least and could she please reassign any meetings
to other people. Then she informed Ilsa that from that day on she
wouldn't be working beyond five o'clock in the evening, apart from
the occassional function and not to make any appointments beyond
those hours.
Then she handed the phone to her husband, Head of the
Preventers' Academy, who informed his secretary that he was taking
a break for a week or two. He hung up on the questions and
protests, kissed the top of Relena's head and, together, they both
fell asleep.
Half an hour later Sarah and Sean, surprised that they
hadn't seen either of their parents at the breakfast table that
morning, opened the door a crack. Heading back downstairs, Grace
and Rene, wearing his chauffeur's uniform, were surprised by the
wide, beaming smiles on both their faces. Then Sean murmured that
it looked like Rene had the day off and all four of them glanced
at one another in satisfaction and went about their days as though
nothing extraordinary had happened.
===Owari===
This is a possible answer to a discussion about Relena's job that
went on at the 2xR ML a while back, even if I did plan and start
writing before the topic came up. All marriages have their problems
and I think this would be something Duo and Relena might have to deal
with sometime or another. They also decided they loved each other
too much for this to follow the original plan, exactly, though it's
similar in many ways ^_^
Any secondary couples in this fic are a tribute to Lady Orla of
'Kimi no koto itsudemo Mamoru', 'Memory and Future' and
Sally-Wufei fame ^_^