The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell - 57/?
~~~~~
**NOTE: If you failed to read the footnotes for the April 1st post, let me point out one thing.**
IT WAS A JOKE!
I certainly would not cheat you all by falling back on the "all a dream" ploy a la Bobby Ewing's death in Dallas...errr...dating myself now.
My apologies for any distress caused as a result of the April Fool's joke. Most of you were very good sports and I thank you for that!
~~~~~
Warnings: AU, yaoi, coarse language, violence, angst, cliffhangers, red herrings, mention of various vices, random bits of useless knowledge, occasionally explicit sex, enough footnotes to choke an army of horses.
Spoilers: Nah
Disclaimer: I don't really need to be Captain Obvious here, do I? No ownership, no money being made, yadda yadda. Written for fun, not profit.
Pairings: 2x1x2, 3+4, 4x3, 5+M/5xM
Archived at:
http : // www . atsui . org
http : // www.gundam-wing-diaries . 150m . com
Edulcorate (verb) - To free from harshness (as of attitude); to soften
~~~~~
Just to reiterate - this is the real chapter 57, if you were unfortunate enough to read my (cough) whimsical attempt at an April Fool's joke. If you read a version titled "Bringing Mayflowers" - that's the fake one.
~~~~~
Chapter 57 - Liberty and Prosperity in the Violet Garden - Part 1 of 2
"I've forgotten you...The way you walked, the way you talked...I couldn't say for sure today whether your eyes were blue or gray...I've forgotten you, I never think of you...oh, what a lie..." - Performed by an unnamed African cabaret singer, Yellow Iris, Agatha Christie
~~~~~
Heero sat on the examination table, wearing the paper gown that had been provided, and looked at the framed degrees and certificates on the wall opposite. Kaydence Stevenson was apparently fairly young, based on the dates of her residency.
A firm knock sounded on the door and he was pleased that he was not kept waiting for very long. He acknowledged the knock to indicate he was ready and was surprised to see a petite woman with prematurely gray hair, pulled back loosely and pinned behind her head. Her face was smooth and unlined, and she smiled at him warmly.
"Heero Yuy," she said, extending a hand. "Kay Stevenson. Welcome back."
He was partially relieved that the normal protocol required the filling out of a standard questionnaire. A complete blood screening would be performed regardless of the answers provided, but the sheet of yes-no questions meant he did not need to enter a discussion of his promiscuity with the doctor. Not with this one, at least.
"One of the nurses will be in to draw your blood shortly," she said. "That provides two witnesses that the blood did indeed come from you." She showed him the vials, explained the battery of tests that would be performed on various bodily fluids.
"I obviously don't need to check for foreign substances on your person," she said, gesturing to his disposable attire, "so you know what to do." She handed him a cup and pointed to a door that was behind a curtain that was pulled halfway around the examination table. He accepted the container and entered the bathroom, which contained nothing more than a toilet and a toilet paper dispenser.
He brought the cup back and she capped it. "Please note the numbers on the specimen bottle as well as the envelope," she requested, peeling a large strip of adhesive tape off a sheet of labels and using it to seal the jar. She then had him sign his name across the tape after he'd verified the numbers matched.
She added her signature below his and placed the cup in the envelope. As if on cue, a young male nurse entered with a tray containing more of the labels as well as several vials, an elastic band, and a syringe in two individually wrapped sections.
Heero again had to confirm that the labels matched his identification number and they were applied to the vials. Within moments, the band was around his upper arm and the needle inserted intravenously.
He said nothing as several vials were filled, although Stevenson and the nurse made idle chitchat about the weather and similarly innocuous topics. From their conversation Heero gathered the young man's name was Trey.
After Trey removed the needle and Heero was told to hold the gauze in place, Doctor Stevenson sealed the vials with more of the coded adhesive tape and they went into a smaller envelope. Heero signed across the tape on the flap, then both envelopes left with the nurse on his way out.
"Heero," Stevenson said, firmly closing the door before turning to face him. "I understand you have an appointment with Jamie after we're done here, so I won't keep you longer than is necessary."
"Thank you."
"However," she said. "I must review the answers you provided on your health history with you before I can forward a recommendation one way or another. I must ask first; do I have your permission to share information with Jamie if I find anything that I believe would be beneficial?"
Heero frowned. "Beneficial to whom?"
"To you, of course," she said.
"I wish to be informed first and foremost of any results before I can make that determination."
"Understood. Trust me, Heero, patient confidentiality will not be compromised."
There was a bit of unspoken communication, a measuring of each other, before Heero broke the silence.
"I am no longer engaging in risky sexual behaviors."
She nodded slowly. "I rather suspected that was the case." She pulled a pair of glasses out of a pocket in her white coat and put them on. It seemed to Heero as if she were hiding behind them, and he realized he was projecting his fears about the test results onto the doctor's innocuous behavior.
"I assume you will your reasons for such activity will be discussed with Jamie later this morning. Now," she said, putting her stethoscope in her ears and moving behind him. "This is going to be cold..."
~~~~~
Two hours later, Heero was seated in Doctor Hunter's waiting room. His hands were clasped hands between his knees and he was looking down at his feet while he waited for the receptionist to indicate that the psychologist was ready to see him.
As he'd expected, his physical health was fine. The only thing unknowns were dependent on the results of his lab work. The drug testing would be done on site, but the other tests would be sent to an independent laboratory. They'd be repeated two more times in the future as well, to insure that he was, indeed, free of any communicable diseases.
Although he was well aware of the risks of any sexual activity, he was not particularly concerned. He'd been more than careful. It had been the feeling of someone pounding into him, letting his mind go in that other place, that had been the driving force. He hadn't been out to self-destruct by way of a compromised immune system or even a fiery burning in his nether regions. He winced at the visual image that those thoughts conjured.
He would feel better, though, once he was sure. Then and only then would he know that he hadn't put anyone else at risk. He wasn't worried about Quatre, as it had been just that one time, and that had happened before he'd accepted other sex partners. He did, however, worry about Duo.
The sound of his name being called pulled him from his self-recrimination. He stood and walked into the room where a middle-aged man was gesturing for him to enter.
Jameson Hunter introduced himself and they shook hands before the psychologist took a seat in one of the armchairs. Heero followed suit and waited for the other man to begin.
"I've looked at your record, Heero," he said. "And I am surprised I haven't seen you in here sooner."
Heero said nothing. He'd already covered this with Quatre. You couldn't get emotionally involved in the cases. Once you started doing that, you might as well turn in your badge.
"Why don't you tell me what I don't see in the file?"
It was easier the second time, to talk about Kitty, although, having an unbiased listener this time around, Heero chose his words carefully. He'd already gone through enough self-flagellation for his misguided attempts to rectify things and was sparing with the information he shared.
It didn't take long at all to explain what happened to Kitty, the thing that broke him when nothing else had. Hunter didn't so much as take notes, much to Heero's surprise.
Of course that was just the beginning. Hunter prodded for more information. Asked him to recall one good memory of Kitty. Asked him how they met. Asked him what the first thing he'd thought was when he heard she was dead.
"No..."
"What was that, Heero?" It was the doctor's voice, calm and inquisitive.
"No," Heero said, his voice a bit stronger.
The psychologist looked pleased. "Understand, Heero, that is a perfectly natural reaction. Denial is a natural reaction to a loved one's death."
Heero knew that. He was well acquainted with the stages of grief. They'd been reviewed with him, as well as a few others, to aid in their dealings with those who'd 'suffered a tragic loss.'
Ironically, the agents had undergone 'grief training' in an attempt to prepare them for retaliation from family members of a well-known drug lord that had died during a skirmish. It was the so-called 'second stage of grief' that most agents were already familiar with. Some of the backlash from family would be due to pride, pure and simple, but heaven help the agent who wasn't prepared to accept a double shot of anger from someone whose identity was known but whose whereabouts were not.
"At what point did you start feeling angry?" the doctor asked, sending a chill down Heero's back as if Hunter were reading his mind.
"When the manager suggested it was Kitty's fault she died."
"Do you know why you are here now, Heero? Now, as opposed to right after Kitty's death?"
"I could not separate myself fully from my job. My performance would have been compromised."
There were several other questions asked, all seeming disjointed to Heero, despite their obvious relation to Kitty.
"Why are you feeling guilty now, Heero?"
"I wasn't there for her," he replied automatically.
Hunter shook his head. "No, Heero. I disagree."
Heero would have gaped at him if he weren't forced to realize the truth of what had been said.
"Heero," Hunter said after an uncomfortable silence. "You have a remarkable understanding of your own mind, your own strengths and weaknesses, and what you perceive as your own flaws. You've done more analysis on yourself during your leave of absence than I could ever hope to accomplish in the same time frame, at least as far as your post traumatic stress.
"One thing to keep in mind. It is not uncommon to have a relapse. Just when it seems that everything is under control, there's something that triggers the onslaught of memories all over again. Seeing someone who resembles Kitty might do it, certainly, but the other senses are just as capable of bringing back painful memories. Voices, background noises, and odors are very powerful stimuli.
"I have no reservations about recommending that you return to work immediately, provided there is no need for you to travel extensively or to bury yourself deep undercover where you will be unable to maintain regular contact with me. I will clear you with that one restriction with the provision that you must continue these appointments twice a week. Failure to attend a single session will automatically change your status to inactive, pending further investigation into mitigating circumstances and a reevaluation of your mental stability. You understand, Heero?"
Heero nodded, but his expression was puzzled. He'd expected he'd be lucky to get a desk job for the next few months. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.
"There's something you haven't told me, Heero," Hunter continued. "And I have no desire to force it out of you until you are ready. There are a number of things that it could be, but I would stake my career on the fact that it has little or nothing to do with Kitty.
"However, I do not think it is something that you will allow to interfere with your job performance. You will not empower this issue, and I can tell that you've reached a good number of conclusions about it as well."
Heero didn't know what to say to that. It was almost like speaking with Quatre. His hand strayed to the cell phone at his hip. He touched it lightly then returned his fingers to the arm of the chair.
"We're almost out of time for today, Heero," Hunter said. "Keep one thing in mind. This five-stages-of-grief tripe is not like a recipe. You don't have to get through anger before you become depressed. You may never go through the bargaining stage. The important thing is that you allowed yourself to mourn, although I suspect not in a conventional manner, and you have gotten to where you're ready to accept it and move on. It's not just the acceptance that is important, Heero. It's what you do with it.
"You can accept that your house is overrun with termites, but that doesn't mean the house will be able to remain standing without damage if action isn't taken. You've called the exterminators, Heero. Our next few sessions will not only be to keep an eye on the foundation for signs of a new generation of termites, but to determine if carpenter ants have joined the party."
Heero thought his head might spin, but he nodded slowly, then stood up. Hunter did the same.
"You could put me out of a job," Hunter said, looking altogether serious, although a trace of humor and admiration was in his eyes.
He scribbled on a multi-part form on his clipboard, peeled off the bottom page, and handed it to Heero.
"Welcome back, Special Agent Yuy."
~~~~~
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Heero Yuy," Sally said, shaking his hand. "Sally Po, Mid-Atlantic Lab Rat."
Heero accepted the gesture in a firm handshake, not realizing that it no longer bothered him as much as it used to. Noin, who did notice, quirked her eyebrow at the minor change in her partner's attitude.
"Infamous?" he asked in an amused tone.
Sally rolled her eyes. "How do they love thee? Let me count the ways," she drawled. "I was getting tired of the lovesick sighs I heard every morning. Apparently your arrival at the start of the workday was the highlight of the entire day for the front desk clerks."
"You're exaggerating, Po," Noin snorted.
"You think so? I swear, I thought the two of them were going to start wearing black arm bands," Sally said. "You didn't hear anything because you weren't the one taking his place. I suppose if I looked like your former Adonis," at this Noin rolled her eyes, "then at least they'd have had someone else to drool over. Although they seem to be fickle. After they tired of wishing I was Yuy, they seemed to find another man they'd met to rave about. They're probably tired of mooning over Blondie, though, so I'm sure they'll be thrilled that the original stud is back."
Sally leaned forward and peered into Heero's eyes. "You don't mind, do you?"
He met her gaze curiously as her brows crinkled in thought.
"Po, what are you doing?" Noin asked.
Sally's eyes moved to Heero's spiky bangs. "Hmmm," she said. "Just wondering what kind of chocolate this is. Not milk...must be dark. A lot of people don't like dark chocolate. They think it's too bitter."
It was Heero's turn to snort. Despite Sally's deliberate meandering from the topic, he knew what she was talking about. The two youngest members of the predominantly female clerical staff weren't exactly discrete. The fact that they seemed to be on permanent assignment at the reception desk was either a sign of brilliance or immense stupidity on the part of the DEA.
"Still not sure about the eyes, though," she mused. "So far they've been described using three different gemstones, two of the four elements, a country, two international cities, a vanquished kingdom, and four different flowers. Have you made a habit of flirting with them, Yuy?"
He almost recoiled at the idea, but managed to glare at Sally instead.
She glanced at Noin and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Guess I know what the grapevine will be saying tomorrow."
Noin waved her hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter. There are worse things to be accused of than getting hot and heavy with Yuy here."
Heero looked dangerously close to blushing.
"Hey, Yuy," Sally said, apparently not quite done with her light-hearted tormenting. "I don't suppose you have a platinum blonde Marilyn Monroe wig in your repertoire, by chance?"
'Lorelei Lee,' he thought, then blinked at her.
Sally shrugged. "Ah, well, I suppose they will have to content themselves with only one of their blue-eyed fantasies, then. Besides, you're just not tall enough." She ignored the confused expression on Heero's face and changed topics abruptly.
"I can't tell you how glad I will be to crawl back to Largo," she said. "And use a computer with a REAL keyboard."
Heero perked up immediately, all traces of embarrassment gone. "What's wrong with mine? It's orthopaedically neutral!"
Sally laughed. "I'm not arguing...it's just abnormal."
Noin half expected Heero to swoop down on his keyboard and cradle it protectively. Instead he walked calmly over to it and demonstrated the benefits by tapping on the keys, explaining to Sally all the ergonomic advantages.
Sally actually looked interested, even though she once looked over at Noin and gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. Heero nudged her hip with his elbow to indicate he'd caught her.
Noin laughed. "It's your turn, Po. You should have seen him the week before it arrived. I think I knew the specs in my sleep by the time he got it hooked up."
"Yuy," Sally said. "It's not natural to type with your palms facing each other. It's like you're ready to hug the computer." She glanced at Noin, who held in the snicker that threatened to erupt.
Heero turned and glared at both of them. "You don't know what you're missing," he huffed. "If you want to develop a cumulative trauma disorder-"
Sally leaned over and put her lips close to his ear. "Yes, dear," she soothed. "Whatever you say." Then she leaned back and fanned herself, winking at Noin as she did so.
Heero glowered, causing Noin to let out another burst of laughter. "Neither of you are acting very professionally," he muttered.
"Pouting isn't exactly befitting a federal agent, either, but you manage to pull it off quite nicely," Noin said. She reached one hand toward his face.
"If you pat me on the cheek, you can forget that neck massage," he threatened.
Sally shook her head. "I don't know how anyone who spent any time with you two could think you were sexually involved. You act like brother and sister. Or maybe an old married couple, because you know they never have sex, either."
Noin sighed. "If you say so." Her tone implied she'd never personally know one way or another.
This time it was Heero and Sally who exchanged glances. Sally looked at her bare wrist. "Will you look at the time," she exclaimed. "I really should get packing. My flight leaves in the morning."
Noin looked surprised. "I thought you weren't leaving for another week."
Sally smiled at her. "I've managed to finagle a way to mix business with pleasure," she said. "How's the weather out west, anyway?"
"Iria?" Noin asked.
"Bingo. The two of us have only spoken on a professional basis since..." she noticed Heero's look of surprise. "Oh, sorry, Yuy. Iria Winner is a former schoolmate of mine. She's been kind enough to act as an external resource while I've been stuck here as a field agent."
"Iria Winner," Heero said. He shook his head and repeated her name. He shook his head a second time, then got up and made a show of checking Sally's sleeve and collar as if expecting to find something there.
"Do you think I'm wearing a wire?" she mused. "Want to pat me down, Yuy?"
He snorted again. "Just looking for any stray threads."
"Threads, huh?"
He nodded, then smiled. "Red ones."
Noin interjected with, "he does that a lot. Says something enigmatic. He thinks he's the Dali Llama or something at times, I swear."
Sally nodded. "Except I get what you're saying, Heero," she said. "Po isn't exactly an Irish name, you understand. I received my obligatory jade stone, too. Think you and I are destined to be together?" She tried to bat her eyelashes flirtatiously, but couldn't pull it off.
"I'd love to chat with you both some more, but I am sure you have a lot to catch up on," Sally said. She reached over and pulled a yellow Post-it note off the side off the bottom of the flat screen monitor and handed it to Heero.
He saw nothing but rows of tally marks and raised his eyebrow in question.
"I started keeping track of every time someone came in here looking for you," she replied.
Noin made an impatient sound. "That's an exaggeration," she said.
Sally shook her head. "Not at all. I'm not saying that they came in and asked for Yuy. They just poked their heads in and saw me, then got this puzzled frown on their face before leaving. Didn't make a big announcement that you were taking a leave of absence, did you?"
Heero shook his head, then frowned. "That reminds me," he said. "Alvarez, you remember him, Noin?"
She put her thumb and forefinger under her chin and closed one eye. "Oh, yeah. You worked with him when you went undercover about a year ago."
A dark look crossed Heero's face. "He needs to be reminded that he could have blown my cover, had I been undercover."
Sally showed no signs of leaving, despite her earlier comments.
"Tell me he didn't," Noin said.
"Apparently someone thinks that it's acceptable to approach another agent and identifying him for all and sundry."
Sally sighed heavily. "A rookie?" she asked.
"Yes," Heero said, at the same time Noin replied "no."
"He's an older agent," Noin clarified.
"Inexperienced," Heero followed up her comment immediately. "Age is irrelevant. He should know better. For all he knew, he could have caused irreparable damage to a case."
"You're going to tell Une," Noin concluded.
"Damn right," he muttered.
"Before I go," Sally interjected. "I wanted to let you know I left you a present." Her words were directed at Heero, who winced as she gestured to the computer screen.
"All the files I've been working on reside in Noin's network directory."
Noin nodded in agreement, then Sally shook her hand firmly. "I'll miss working with you."
"You don't think you're getting out of this that easily."
Sally laughed, a deep, hearty sound. "I do expect to see your ugly mugs via teleconferencing on and off over the next few months." Her face sobered for a moment. "I'm concerned. This substance is still showing up. Someone is carefully engineering its release so the occurrences are seeping primarily into the college sect."
Heero frowned, and Noin took a deep breath. "I hope you've eaten a hearty breakfast," she told him. This could take a while."
Sally bade them farewell with promises to call them from Nevada. As soon as she departed, Noin turned to Heero and gestured to the computer screen.
He sat at his computer, his fingers dancing over the keys quickly as he logged into the intranet. Much to his relief, his password hadn't been reset, although it did prompt him to enter a new one.
With Noin's running commentary, Heero spent the next two hours reviewing Sally's notes, ranging from transcriptions of emergency room cases and electronic sticky notes Sally had used to keep track of comments her lab colleagues had made off the cuff. A copy of the fax Iria had sent recently had been scanned and saved electronically as well.
"The question is," he said, pushing his chair away from the computer and leaning back, rubbing a hand over his face, "whether nor not Romefeller is a cover for another income generating operation, or if they merely have knowledge of what's going on. Either way, it looks like this has the potential to spread nationwide very soon, if it hasn't already."
"You were, of course, the person Relena hinted about," Noin said. "I wish I could say I figured it out myself when she called me with the information the other day. Damned Zechs," she muttered. She returned to her own desk and started powering it down. Her finger was on the monitor's power button when she turned her chair to face him.
"It's good to have you back, Yuy." Noin's tone was matter-of-fact, but her eyes lit up warmly as if suddenly realizing it was the first time they'd seen each other in months. She looked far more tired than he, and Heero felt a twinge of guilt that she'd been dealing with this while he'd been...he tamped down on that thought.
He stood up and crossed to her chair, then spun it so it was facing away from him. He put his hands on her shoulders and started working on the tension there.
"It's REALLY good to have you back," she groaned in satisfaction. "If ever you need to take a second job..."
He grunted.
"I was worried about you. Wondered how you were doing. I should have known you'd find a way to stumble upon a potential case. Oh, right there," she sighed as one of his thumbs worked on a knot near her shoulder blade.
"Relena's a sweet kid. I'm sure you thought so, too," she continued.
He made a sound that she assumed was agreement.
"Something bothering you, Yuy? You're not usually this monosyllabic." His fingers slowed down for a moment before he resumed his work on her neck and shoulders.
"Relena Peacecraft is the type of person you want to protect, even though you know she has the strength to stand on her own. She just needs the opportunity to exercise it."
"See? And you only knew her for what, a day? Zechs never could see that she couldn't be shielded from reality forever. In another time, another era, he'd epitomize chivalry, I think, with a generous helping of aristocracy. He never pulled that protective male crap with me."
"He knew better."
She laughed. "Damn it, Heero," she said, leaning her head forward into her right hand. "I can't believe I went to see him."
"You're a good friend, Noin."
She groaned again, but not as a result of anything Heero was doing. He removed his hands and moved to the edge of the table where their printer resided, leaning against it so he was facing her. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
She looked up at him, taking in the eyes that Sally had apparently heard more about than she'd ever want to. Noin's own grew wide as something occurred to her.
"Noin?" Heero prodded.
"Zechs," she breathed. "He knew you had blue eyes." Her brows furrowed as she recalled Sally's comment earlier. "I never told Sally what he looked like, either. Son of a bitch! He was here, damn that asshole. I could wring their scrawny necks."
"Lucy and Ethel?" Heero asked, referring to the indiscrete clerks at the reception desk.
Noin was livid. "Yes, those two addle brained gossipmongers. Unprofessional. Damn them. Damn him." Her features alternated between fury, disappointment, hurt, and a little bit of that schoolgirl crush that Sally had affected earlier.
"I'm a complete idiot. Tell me, Yuy."
"You're an idiot," he repeated automatically. Then he repeated the comment in both Spanish and Japanese.
"The point is that he didn't trust me, though. Right? It's not going to change anything, just because he came here to see me. I'll bet it was when we were in Buffalo. Damn it."
She bit her lip and worried at it before releasing it.
"Heero," she said tentatively. "Be honest. Not that I think you won't be, but don't try to avoid hurting my feelings, okay? Tell me the truth."
He looked at the pleading expression in her eyes and nodded.
"I shouldn't even be considering giving him another chance, after he made me feel like a nymphomaniac who couldn't maintain a modicum of professionalism. I should castrate him for even thinking I'd consider throwing away a relationship I invested a hell of a lot of time in - more than he ever did. I should be hog-tied to prevent myself from doing something stupid like calling him.
"We loved too young," she said. "Too young, too hard, and too much. At least on my part. Too damned much. I suppose the circumstances under which we met weren't exactly conducive to a typical wining and dining romancing, but I don't think I'd have thought of him the same way if it had. Comrades before lovers, though - wouldn't you think that would have set a solid foundation?"
She closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "I dislike this feeling...this temptation...to just forgive him anything. It's like there are two sides of my brain at war. One side remembers what it was like working with him, before the physical attraction kicked in. We worked together well, Heero, much like you and I do. You know what I'm thinking half the time before I finish forming the thought."
She looked up at him and he nodded.
"I think if it had started from simple infatuation," she said with a frown. "This wouldn't even be an issue. I respected him as a soldier first, then as a man. He respected me as well, but perhaps not as a woman.
"Then I continue to make these allowances for him, Heero," she sighed heavily. "It's got to be love, or extreme stupidity, because I seem incapable of letting him go, despite the fact that he's a pompous ass."
She went on in that vein a while longer, and Heero prompted her at various intervals with nods and grunts. It was apparent when she was done that she was more than aware of all of Zech's faults, as well as taken her share of the blame when it came to having a chip on her shoulder, as a woman in the military and as Zechs' rival. That comment reminded Heero of Meiran Long and Wufei Chang, although through most of it he felt the way he imagined Jameson Hunter must have earlier, watching someone work through their problems on their own.
It convinced him all the more that he'd made the right decision in California.
Noin seemed to come to a conclusion of her own. "Is it giving up too much of myself to offer him a chance to walk all over my feelings again?" It seemed as though she were asking herself, then she looked up at her partner.
"Tell me one thing, Heero. If I do give him another chance...give our relationship another chance...will you still respect my ability to make decisions in a crisis?"
Her words reminded Heero of another question.
//Can you imagine anyone going to the lengths Christine did for the man she loved? Could you ever be that devoted to someone?//
He reached over and nudged Noin on the shoulder with the thumb side of his fist.
As their eyes met, she noticed that his lit with determination.
"Yes."
~~~~~
The other half of Chapter 57 is coming...just need to proofread it...footnotes will be at the end of that...