Torment of Paradise
Chapter 9
The quiet twitter of birds came through the glass to reach her ears as she sat in the small window alcove. 'At least they don't have to deal with the problems we do. They just fly around and do as they please; they only have to worry about cats and such.' She smiled a bit at her own mindless wanderings, before turning back to her work; all the damage reports and sheets requiring her signature wasn't helping her mood much.
"Stop procrastinating Lara; this war would never end if nobody did anything. Hell there probably wouldn't be a war if they did that." she muttered before going back to her work.
Pausing for a second, she turned and opened the window before going back to her desk and focusing on her tasks. She was so intent that she didn't even hear the door open or the silent figure that came and sat in the seat before her desk.
"For once I find you working, hm?"
Startled, she looked up. "Zechs! You really must stop doing that; you'll give me a heart attack one day!"
He chuckled. "Sorry; but seeing you actually work…I had to see this for myself."
"Are you implying that I don't work at all Sir?" she gave him a slightly questioning look.
"No. But whenever I come in here for something, you're usually looking out of the window or reading."
Her face flushed a bit. "My head may be in the clouds sometimes-"
"I'd say a good portion of the time." he replied quietly a smile on his face.
"But," she continued, face flushing even more. "I get my duties done and very well too; I'm not that willing to change my current method Sir."
"I see nothing wrong with it Lara. You do excellent work in fact." he paused, giving her a slight smirk. "I hope you do have those forms for me, ready to go."
"Yes Sir. They're right here." she reached into a drawer and took out the file. "They're even alphabetized and prioritized."
"You did all that?" he leafed through the folder. "I'm guessing you were one of those overachievers in school?"
"I…never thought so…I mean…" she trailed off at a complete loss of what to say.
"So was I; don't worry about it."
"Is there anything else you'll be needing Sir?" she asked, turning back to her work.
"Lara?" he asked.
"Yes?" she looked up at him, waiting to hear his response.
He simply looked at her for what seemed like an eternity, those blue eyes piercing into hers before he finally spoke. "I want you to supervise the overhaul of Tallgeese for me."
"Me Sir?"
"Yes, you. I think you'd drive the mechanics as hard as I would." he paused. "You seemed to have when we had the Gundam you found."
"Yes…well…things needed to be done and they weren't doing them. So I gave a small…. 'kick' so to say."
He chuckled a bit. "Then you'll do the job for me?"
"Yes Sir. If you don't mind me asking…where are you going?"
"Away for a bit; nothing big really." he rose and went to the door. "If I come back, will I find you doing your usual thing when I come back?"
"Most likely Sir." she looked up at him to see another question forming. "Yes Sir?"
"Would you stop calling me 'Sir' all the time. You can call me Zechs."
"But…that's not protocol Sir; it would be-"
"Fine then; I order you to call me Zechs; better?"
She couldn't help but smile as he did. "Very well…Zechs. I hope your trip goes well."
"I'll see you when I get back Lara." he said, closing the door behind himself.
As soon as the door shut, Lara felt a wave of relief wash over her; why did she always feel so nervous around him? He was her superior true…but why did she always feel some other sort of tension between them?
"Zechs…" she said again, his name moving over her tongue easily; it felt like a forbidden word to her.
Placing down her pen, she turned back to the window looking outside contemplatively. 'I wish my parents hadn't raised me in such the traditional way; I guess money does that to you though; binds you to your traditions and duties, while the rest of the world goes on changing and evolving.' Rising up from her seat, she went to the window, and sat on the alcove seat once more. 'They change and there you are stagnating and clinging to the dying ways.'
With a sigh, she looked down to see the birds, moving through the tree tops, happy in their world. 'We used to be like that once…me and Jess. Carefree, young…and I had to ruin it all for us; I was such the fool then.' She knew it would take a long time Jess to forgive her, someone didn't forget something like that so easily. Never would she forget the look on Jess' face when she stormed into the cafeteria; the whole place had gone deadly silent. And those words…they still scathed even now; because they were true to every last condemning one.
'But I had to stick to mob rule didn't I?' her face gave a bitter sort of smile. 'I had to be a gutless coward; well no more. I became myself a few weeks after.' That feeling had been so intoxicating; the freedom to be herself and not conform to anyone's standards; not have to wear particular clothes, act a certain way…she now understood what Jess had been talking about so many years ago, when she started talking about freedom of individuality.
'You can only be yourself no matter how many layers you put on; the real you is always there waiting to come out at one time or another.' she paused, staring out abstractedly at the grass below. 'How right you were Jess; how right you were.' Then she saw a slinking form go through the nearby bushes; a cat looking for its next meal. Silent she watched as the cat came closer and closer to its prey, the paws muffling its approach. Closer and closer it came before-
"Huh?" turning her head at he sound she looked at the phone. "Who is calling me now?"
Looking back outside, she saw all the birds in fight through the sky. Smiling to herself she sat back down at the desk, answering the annoying ring. "Yes?"
"You have a call from the Children's Hospice Lieutenant Barrask." came an operator voice.
"Put it through." she said rubbing her temple; why did she get a bad feeling already?
"Lieutenant Barrask...this is Andrea calling. We talked when you brought your brother here."
"Yes I remember; what has Adrian done now?"
"Yes…well…in regards to Adrian…he is a unique child, have no doubt-"
"Out with it." she growled; may as well get this over with.
"He can no longer stay here. He's too disruptive to the other children. I'm very sorry Lieutenant Barrask-"
"When do I have to pick him up by?" she sighed.
"By the end of the week would be good…if you can. Or you can send a relative or family friend to pick him up."
"I'll see what I can do Mrs. Connely. Thank you for your call." she hung up immediately. "I'm gonna strangle that idiot when I get my hands on him. It took me forever to get him in there."
With a sigh she rubbed her eyes and turned back to the work on her desk; may as well do it since her day was shot to hell. With a defeated sigh she turned back to her work, only to have the phone ring once more.
"It never bloody well ends…Hello?" she barked into the phone slightly.
"Nice to see you're in a cherry mood." came Jess' dry tone. "Look I need…some information Lara."
"Information huh? First off…how did you get the private number for this phone?"
"There are these things called computers Lara."
"Uh…huh…hacker; and what kind of information do you need Jess? How to find a boyfriend or something?"
"Don't you start with that again." Jess said in a warning tone.
"Well," Lara said a sudden idea coming to her head. "I'll help you if you help me; a fair trade off."
Jess paused for a few minutes. "I'm not telling you where I am; or where the others are."
"No no…this is much more important. I don't care about that; in fact I think with your skills, you'll do well in this."
"All right then; you make it sound like cake walk, but I get the feeling that I'm going to regret it for awhile."
"All right here it is. Adrian got himself kicked out of the hospice I managed to get him into and-"
"Oh thanks, make the spoiled brat's fucking babysitter. I swear to God if it wasn't for him, I'd…" she subsided into mutters.
"Yes well you take care of Adrian for a bit and I'll get you your information."
"It's highway robbery." Jess gave a disgusted sigh. "All right; but I'm not carting him round with me, you do realize that? I'll find him some other place to stay…maybe with my…I'll find him some place to stay then."
"Thank you Jess; now what information did you want then?"
There came a pause. "I want all the information you have on a Colonel Samuel Orton. Everything you have and I mean everything."
"Colonel Orton huh?" she paused thinking. "I never liked the guy; what's your beef with him?"
"Don't you worry about my beef with him; I have plenty of reasons to despise that…" Jess trailed off, seemingly regaining composure of herself. "All right. Where's your brother now?"
"At a hospice in France. That was the only place I could find for him." Lara paused, hearing a strained silence coming from the other end. "Jess…why are you…against Orton anyways?"
"None of your business." came her curt reply. "I'll find your brother easily. Just send me the information with him all right?"
"Yeah. Sure. Bye Jess." she hung up hearing a prompt dead tone.
Slowly, she hung up the phone, looking at it slowly. 'You're not telling me something, are you Jess? But what is it?'
Sighing while rubbing her eyes, Lara looked back down at the sea of files on her desk. It must have been about one in the morning and she really wanted to go home, yet the files couldn't leave the base. Which meant she was here until she had all the information that Jess wanted.
"Why does she have a beef against this guy anyways? How could she possibly know him?" she muttered to herself as she dove back into her work. "It doesn't make sense…her calling out of the blue like that; she's got to have a reason."
Turning back to her task, she began swimming back through the papers finding all the usual things and typing them away into the screen before her. Name, age, place of birth, all the usual things including a brief in depth biography of his life, all there for her to send off with Adrian. 'God, this guy led such a boring life and he's as messed up as he is now? I don't believe it; no body can be that fucked up from…there's something I've never seen before.' She looked through some of the other sheets and files; it wasn't there at all. 'Status: married. That's very interesting. Married life can mess up some people. Now who was he married to, that's the question.' Poring over the sheet, she couldn't find any reference to the lady's name.
"For God's sake, I'm done here. What is here, I'm gonna just send off to her." pulling out a disk from her drawer, she slid it into the drive, knocking over a pile of papers in the process. "Bloody fucking hell!!" she muttered, bending down in her seat and picking them up. Sitting upright, she saw something on the top page that she never expected to see and took her completely by surprise. "So that's why…" she whispered. "Why didn't she ever tell me?"
Finishing up quickly, she typed up the rest, before sealing it in a protected priority envelope and sent it off in the mail. That was the quickest way for it to get to France, and get this done and over with. Sighing heavily, she turned off the computer and headed down to her quarters at the end of the hall in the other building. She'd feel much better once she got in a decent night's sleep. Just as she changed in to some standard sleep clothes, a knock came at the door. Muttering darkly to herself, she got up from her bedside perch and went to the door.
"Yes? Can I help you?" she found herself looking into a pair of cold grey eyes that made her shiver despite the place being heated.
"Are you Lieutenant Lara Barrask?"
"Yes I am. May I ask who you are?"
"Colonel Samuel Orton." he said in an equally cold voice. "I noticed you just sent off a package to France." he frowned. "May I ask why so late?"
"The package couldn't wait until morning Sir. And it needed to be sent off by this morning eight a.m. to reach in time."
"Interesting. And all those files you pulled out." he gave her a dangerous look. "And all about me too. Tell me…are you one of those people whose obsession is others? That sort of behavior is very unflattering for someone of your rank Lieutenant."
She choked back her gall; how dare he. "If, and I am saying if Sir, I had any sort of compulsion that made me follow people around…it would have to be someone worthwhile." she held back her smirk. "I have always gone for the best that there was available…I tend to be 'selective'...'Sir'."
"How very good for you then; if you're under Zechs' command." he said in a condescending tone. "You'll need it."
"How fortunate then that I am capable of interacting with others on many levels and connecting with them to work much better." she stiffened her posture; that should shut him up.
"How very good for you then." he gave a cruel smile. "And you discovered this all before the tender age of nineteen. My, am I amazed."
She wished to God that this damnable conversation was done and over with at this very moment; Orton made her skin want to turn inside out. "Thank you…'Sir'." the word was tinged with slight sarcasm. "If you'll excuse me, I do have responsibilities to take care of in the morning and I would like to get some rest to do my duties to their fullest."
His eyes narrowed at the lack of 'Sir'. "I'll be watching you Barrask. Be sure of that. Something about you isn't right and never was if you ask me."
'But I wasn't was I?' "Am I dismissed Sir?" she passed a bored expression over her face briefly.
"Dismissed." he said curtly. "Oh," he paused as she froze at her quarter doors. "Say hi to your brother for me, would you?"
Lara didn't reply simply glaring at his back until he was gone from the hallway until she closed the door, stalking to her bed and fuming as she got beneath the covers. If Samuel Orton had one death wish, he would dare to lay a finger on Adrian; he wouldn't live to see the next day if Adrian was hurt in any way at all by that twisted mind.
"I am so glad that she's taking him away." she sighed as she turned onto her side settling down for a night of fitful sleep. "Even if she hates me still."
The clatter of tools being used and deposited back into boxes filled the room. In front of her was the massive white mecha that Zechs had left in her care. Even now as he looked at it, she still couldn't figure out how Zechs piloted the suit, it seemed very strenuous on the body with its sheer size alone.
"Lieutenant Barrask?"
Looking up at the call, she saw the mechanic up on the upper railing. Quickly she ran up, taking the offered clipboard. "What's the problem?"
"These outputs can't possibly be right for this suit, can they?" he looked at her puzzled. "These readouts indicate an output level that would kill someone if they pushed themselves even a bit past the edge."
"These readouts are correct," she glanced at the nametag. "Danny. These are the normals for Lieutenant-Colonel Zechs' suit. He has the ability to control this suit extremely well."
The mechanic took the board back and began looking over it. "These are the norms?" he shook his head. "All right Lieutenant; they just seemed so odd that I had to check."
"You're the latest mechanic aren't you?" she gave a small smile.
"Yes." his face went a bit red. "I'm terribly sorry to have called you up here unnecessarily and-"
"Better you did and there's nothing wrong than not and having something malfunction." she looked up at the suit. "This suit will be in perfect working order when Zechs gets back."
"It will be Lieutenant, don't worry. Does he return today? Or tomorrow?"
"As far as I know, he returns tomorrow." she glanced at the man. "Can't wait to get back to the other hangars?"
"In a way." he admitted after a few minutes hesitation. "I miss my Jeeps."
"The sooner you get Tallgeese up and running……"
"Yes Ma'am." he got back to work, understanding the implications.
Smiling a bit, she made her way back down to check up on the electricians and the many other various things that required her supervision in some form or another. The time seemed to fly right by until she looked up and saw the clock and saw the time.
"All right everyone. Twenty-one hundred hours!!" she called out loudly. "Time to pack it in for the night!"
Even as she sat down at the computer console, the entire crew filed out, leaving her alone in the silent empty hangar. Slowly, she looked up at the mecha again for the countless time that night. She walked up to it via the railing again, standing before it, thinking; how did Zechs feel piloting such a suit, especially in battle when one move could mean his death? Slowly, she reached out to touch the metal; in all of the five days that she had been doing this she had never once touched the suit…and the urge was strong now.
"It's not as if I'm going to break it by doing this." she scoffed lightly at herself, yet her hand remained poised out there in the air, daring to but not too sure.
Finally, balling up the feeling and pushing down past her stomach, she reached out and touched the metal, feeling the smooth paint beneath her hand. She couldn't quite believe what she was doing; it was too much like a guilty pleasure. But everything about Zechs was like that to her; she couldn't have him or even tell him how she felt; he was her superior officer and of course it would be against all decorum to say such things to him.
'Zechs…if only I could tell you. Maybe one day after this war is over and we return back to our lives. But would you remember me? Would you even care? Would you reciprocate?'
A sudden slam of a door made her jerk her hand way guiltily. Peering down quickly over the railing edge to see two figures enter the hangar; one unknown, the other Samuel's; she'd recognized that unreal tall form anywhere.
"Is anyone in here?" came Samuel's voice.
"No Sir. The maintenance crew cleared out about forty-five minutes ago."
She clapped a hand to her mouth quietly; had so much time passed by already? Had she really been that oblivious? She kicked herself as she realized that anyone could have seen her perhaps; she had been lucky tonight in some respect at least.
"All right, I have a mission for you, private; nothing too hard at all; very straightforward. Here's your outline."
"Yes Sir." came the salutatory voice. "I shall do this to the best of my abilities and send your reports to your secretary every day and-"
"Not to my secretary Private. That would mean that these reports would have been read." a pause came from Samuel's end. "I want this kept as quiet as possible. No one must know that I'm looking for her. Not a soul; not even Treize Khushrenada himself."
"Colonel Orton Sir…"there came a brief pause. "I shall finish my mission Sir. According to this, she was last in the U.S., seen by Lieutenant Barrask. Pick up the trail from there?"
"Yes."
"And when I find my target?"
"Don't do anything. Just follow her and alert me immediately. I will fly out there to wherever myself and take over from there."
"Yes Sir. Dismissed?"
"Yes Private. Dismissed."
The sound of boots was heard echoing away followed by the closing shut of the door. Keeping close to the opposite edge of the rail, she tried to shrink back even more. Samuel was now looking for Jess; was what it said in the report true? It couldn't possibly be-
'Oh fuck.' She watched as a missed tool went over the edge, hit accidentally by her wrist, and slamming into the floor with a ringing echo.
"Who's there?" Samuel's voice reverberated around like a disembodied person. "Show yourself! Now!!"
Lara looked around frantically as she heard Samuel's footsteps start up the stairs slowly, the sound of a gun being cocked reaching her ears as well. Rushing up to Tallgeese she didn't hesitate to open the door and get in, praying that Samuel didn't check it; she got the feeling that he wouldn't be beyond framing her for something.
"Must have been my imagination." the words reached her through the metal sheets of gundanium. She didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief as long as he was still out there on the railing.
"Ah…Colonel Orton. You are on time. I was almost expecting that you wouldn't show." came a silky voice.
"And disappoint a fellow Colonel? Have you no faith in me Une?" came a slightly mocking tone.
'Samuel? And Une?' Still she held her breath as the words started to filter in to her ears. Half the things she heard them talking of shocked her too the core; what they were proposing was insane suicide for the Oz organization; assassinate Treize and take control for themselves? Never in her life had she heard of such lunacy; Treize was what kept Oz going strong and on its present winning streak. Even against the Gundam pilots.
"That they would do such a thing…" she breathed as Samuel and Une kept up the lengthy discussion as to how to go about their plans in the quietest way. "Such…idiocy…human stupidity and greed beyond any I've ever seen; they wish to plunge the world into chaos!"
"Oh Une?" came Samuel's voice one more. "You do remember what I told you about my small personal 'problem'?"
"Yes, very well. I still say you should find her; you would be doing the right thing in bringing her back to your side; such a disobedient wife, callously abandoning you like that. Obviously there was a way her parents raised her that was wrong."
"Your advice on the matter was most helpful. I intend to contact her parents and say that I'm in the effort of finding their daughter." he paused. "I may have to leave for a slight period of time once she is found. Shall this be a problem?"
"None at all; simply send the papers to my desk and I'll sign them right away." Une replied back promptly.
"Thank you very much in this matter Une." he said, graciously.
'Sure…just be all nice and charming to the one holding the cards huh?' Lara held back from gritting her teeth; that might have given her away. 'Two can play at that game Orton.'
"And you have been an invaluable help in the plans we have formed together." she paused for a second. "Get some rest Samuel and we shall discuss this matter tomorrow further when we have our meeting."
Breath bated, she waited until pure silence enshrouded her in the cockpit of the mecha. Her hands slid over the controls, briefly noting that these were the same ones that Zechs himself used. The door opened to reveal an empty railing which she stepped out onto silently. Her feet were sure as they took her back to her quarters for her rest; it must have been at least one in the morning now and she was exhausted. But even as she went to sleep, a childish form of glee suffused her.
Sitting serenely in her office, Lara worked at the desk, the window wide open allowing in the soothing music of the birds perched outside in the trees. She was actually feeling a bit cheerful…but then again, she always felt cheerful when she was about to undertake something this dangerous albeit it was foolhardy enough.
"Reports, reports and more reports." she mumbled as she sifted through the pile on her desk. "These things multiply like bunnies; I had two and there they go exponentially." she sighed before looking over the latest one she pulled out from her pile.
Soon enough, her door opened and when she looked up she saw a face that she most certainly didn't want to see. "Yes Colonel?"
Samuel walked into the room. "What's this call you had on Monday?" he demanded almost testily.
"You would know about that. It is authorized for the Hospice to call here; by Colonel Une if I recall correctly."
"I mean the call afterwards. That you took; from an unknown source too may I add." he rested his hands on her desk.
She looked up at him and almost smiled. "It was a telemarketer. You know…those annoying people who usually call during dinner thereby interrupting it? It got through somehow and I was the unlucky recipient."
"Don't give me your smartass comments Barrask." his eyes narrowed. "If you are consorting with the enemy, I shall have you court-martialed and executed."
She simply rose, looking him dead in the eye. "How pleasant 'Sir' "this time she didn't bother to hide it, allowing the full sardonic tone to come out. "I'm sure I shall be careful of my actions in the future to prevent further arousal of suspicion on your part."
"See that you do." he replied, seemingly accepting her appealing pacification.
"Oh…Colonel Samuel?" she called walking to the front and leaning against her desk edge as he opened the door.
He threw a glare back at her not deigning to answer; that didn't ruffle her much.
"I would be wary of court-martials yourself." her eyes suddenly developed an avid and dangerous gleam. "And I for one have the no faith in you unlike Colonel Une last night."
Samuel's' entire body went stiff before he slammed the door shut immediately. Lara went back to her desk, humming happily to herself; and it was in this mood that the door opened again once more twenty minutes later.
"Humming now also?"
"Yes I am Zechs." she looked up to see him leaning against the door. "How was your trip?"
"Very well." he smiled back at her. "I trust that Tallgeese is in perfect working order?"
"Of course Zechs." she rose from her desk. "I can show you now if you wish."
Leaving her office, she and Zechs headed down the hall to the hangar, talking about the finer points of the suit as they went. Even as they passed by Samuel en route, she didn't do anything, not even bat an eyelash; not only was it not worth it, she always played for keeps when it came to hardball.