Walk Through the Fire
Author: Madisonne (fireelfreihotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Do not own, do not sue, do not steal.
Part: 1/1
The Preventers building was eerily quiet for a Monday morning. There were no hearty "guffaws" at government jokes, no chattering secretaries in the break room - in short, rumour had spread fast and the whole building had fallen into a hushed speculation.
Those not usually susceptible to intrigue were thrown amongst the gossip-mavens when Wufei had arrived that morning sporting a nasty bruise on his right cheek.
It had taken a lot of control to calmly make his way to his office while under the stares of everyone from interns to Une herself. 'Rumour spreads fast when you substantiate it.' He thought, a wry smile tweaking the corner of his lips.
Of all the reactions his fellow gundam pilots could have had, theirs certainly was not the best. 'But, it's better than being shot in the head.' This time, the smile caught him off guard and settled itself firmly onto his face.
He set down the pen he had been lazily twirling around his fingers and turned to look out of the window behind him.
Four stories below, crowds of people shoved their way through the busy New York City street.
His thoughts brought his eyes skyward as he reflected on the past thirty-six hours.
He and Milliardo had let their guard down. They had not intended for the other gundam pilots to find out that they were in a relationship quite so soon and having the others catch them ice skating, quite terribly at that, was certainly not their preferred method by which to "come out".
Wufei had, however, been a bit surprised that Heero had slid out onto the ice in order to pull Wufei away and subsequently berate the Chinese pilot.
While Quatre, Trowa, and Duo watched, Heero had reamed him out for consorting with the enemy.
When Wufei had insisted that Heero not call the fellow Preventer an enemy, the Japanese pilot had dragged the fact that Wufei had spent time with Treize before the man's death out of him.
At that, the other four had gasped, and Wufei's heart fell as he saw the disgust in their eyes.
It was at that point that Milliardo had figured out how to work the ice-skates and had made it over to where Wufei stood face-to-face with four irate ex-pilots. The supportive arm the blonde slung over his shoulder certainly did not help his case with the others.
All things considered, Wufei himself was surprised that the other gundam pilots had experienced such shock over finding out that he had spent time with the newly deceased general. After all, he was the "black sheep", so to speak, of the gundam family and often found himself left out. At those times, he had met with the man he considered an intriguing moral character and an intellectual equal on safe grounds.
His relationship with the blonde had begun as a communal mourning for the general and ended with them connecting on a deeply spiritual level.
That was when Heero had decked him.
Once Milliardo had ascertained that Wufei was alright, the Chinese man had to physically restrain the blonde from retaliating in kind.
With a sharp tug on Milliardo's coat, he led them away from the four irate pilots.
After careful consideration, he and Milliardo had decided that it would be easier and, ultimately, less painful to just let the whole office know of their relationship. So, that morning they had entered the building together, the blonde grabbing his hand for moral support and calmly walked through the office to where their paths to their desks diverged. A quick peck on the cheek and they were ready to get to business for the day.
A loud "thump" from Milliardo's side of the building let Wufei think know blonde's secretary had fainted at the sight of them holding hands.
With one last sigh, he brought himself to look up at the clock. 'Five o'clock already?'
Shuffling a few papers, he slid a folder into his brief-case and grabbed his coat.
By taking a less frequented hallway, he was able to make it to Milliardo's office without making eye-contact with anyone.
The blonde had apparently figured out Wufei's plan and was ready to leave for the day when he pushed open the office door.
"Walk through the fire?" Wufei asked as he extended his open hand towards the Preventer.
"With you, anywhere." Milliardo quirked the left side of his mouth up in a semi-smile, took the outstretched hand in his and took a deep breath.
Together, they walked through the office, down the stairs, and out of the door to disappear into the glow of the bright afternoon sun.