Part Five

Wufei didn't wake up until mid-afternoon. Sally wasn't there -- he assumed she was at work -- and nor did there seem to be any police officers pounding on the door to arrest him. Grateful for the leisure time, Wufei was slow to go through the motions of getting up. It took about an hour after he first opened his eyes to actually end up freshened up and dressed.

And then the doorbell rang.

Should I answer it?

When, a few minutes later, it hadn't rung again, that decided him. If it was the police or some such other organization, they wouldn't have hesitated to start pounding on the door and threatening to break it down. No, it should be safe. And if it wasn't…well, he wouldn't worry about that.

The girl who stood outside was too tall and too skinny. She had her head bowed down to stare at her toes, and her red hair hung just past her chin, shielding her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest as though she knew not what to do with them, and her posture was one of someone utterly uncomfortable inside their own adolescent body. It was an altogether unbefitting picture for one of the almost-dictators of the Earth-sphere.

"Miss Barton," Wufei said stiffly, a little surprised by her presence.

The blue of Mariemaia's eyes, when she looked up at him, was exactly the same as he remembered it, piercing, and hauntingly reminiscent of a certain other soldier Wufei had once stood before. They mockingly informed him that if he was going to be haughty and formal then so was she.

"I overheard Miss Sally's phone call to my mother this morning," she said, "saying that you'd returned home. I didn't really believe that you'd be stupid enough to come back though."

"Is that so?" Wufei returned dryly, and, uncomfortable standing out in the open as they were, he stepped back farther into the house, inviting Mariemaia to do the same. Her cheeks flushed as she walked by him. "Well as you can see, you were quite wrong."

Mariemaia sniffed indignantly. "That's quite plain without your pointing it out to me, Preventer Chang."

"Oh, so I am still a Preventer, then?" Wufei queried, keeping his tone carefully casual. "Your guardian hasn't taken it upon herself to fire me?"

The teenager didn't answer him right away; she was peering about the little annex in feigned interest -- her eyes were very carefully avoiding his own, as if she were embarrassed about something. Wufei shut the door and watched her as she moved around, bending to examine a low-hung photograph on the wall more closely. She was trying to ignore him, but shifting uncomfortably under his gaze.

"What can I do for you, Miss Barton?" Wufei asked finally, fed up with skirting around the girl in front of him. "Why are you here?"

"To welcome you back, of course," Mariemaia replied flippantly. Her casualness was strained, Wufei could see; she was as uncomfortable around him as he was with her -- that had, of course, been the reason he'd avoided being around the young lady for so long. It brought back some treacherous memories to the forefront of his mind, ones which he certainly didn't need to go back over now. Certainly not now.

"The truth," he demanded.

She flushed darker, the pinkish tinge spreading higher on her face. "I -" she began, and spun away from him, once again the fumbling, awkward adolescent. "I wanted to see you, that's all. There's no crime in that, is there? I just…I really didn't think you'd be so stupid as to come back, and I really don't think I could bear the idea of never seeing you again, and I…and I…"

Mariemaia shut up suddenly. Wufei remained in his position near the front door, staring at the girl's hunched back wonderingly. If there was an end to her sentence, she never spoke it, and he didn't press her to. He didn't say anything at all, couldn't think of anything. They stood like that for Wufei didn't know how long -- five minutes, ten, perhaps longer.

"Nobody understands," Mariemaia whispered finally, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen.

Wufei felt he must protest or somehow betray some nameless entity hiding somewhere in the depths of his conscience. "I do," he said, trying to make his voice sound gentle.

"No you don't!" she shrieked at him, spinning. "You hate me just as much as they do! You, you hate me too!"

What on Earth was he supposed to reply to that? Wufei wondered to himself. He couldn't very well agree with the statement, but he wasn't entirely certain it wasn't at least partially true, in which case he wasn't going to lie to her by denying it. "I -" he began, but stopped, still not having sorted out what he was going to say.

"It's all right," Mariemaia told him, calming suddenly, but bitterness was still tightening her voice. "You don't have to deny it, Wufei -- I do understand; entirely too well, I think." The guise of a self-important aristocrat was slipping easily back into place over Mariemaia's face, and for all Wufei could see suddenly, she was perfectly at ease again. He almost would have believed it, too, if he hadn't seen the crack but moments ago. "You see," she continued, in a voice that might have well been the same tone that she had used six years ago to declare war on the Earth-sphere. "No one is capable of forgetting that I was very almost the cause of what may have been approximated to the enslavement of the entire human race. My professors at school are actually quite frightened of me; my peers avoid me as though I might infect them with the plague." She laughed a little, a light, girlish sound.

"Mariemaia…" Wufei tried to interrupt, but she no longer seemed to even be aware of his presence.

"I can't blame them, though…I don't suppose anyone could -- I know I'd be just the same if I were one of them instead of myself. There…there are only two people I know who I used to think might possibly not join those crowds of gagglers to alienate me. I - I just wanted to see you, Wufei."

He understood now. And he had always known, subconsciously perhaps, at first, that by taking measures to ensure that he would not have to face Mariemaia Khushrenada-Barton ever again that he would hurt her in the process. But, no, he hadn't cared about that at the time, had he? And over the years, he had grown to care even less, thinking -- hoping -- that perhaps by then she may have even begun to forget his involvement in her army. One of only two people she currently knew who had any involvement in it. No, less. Trowa Barton was off wandering the world, and after all, what had he really been to the Mariemaia cause but a spy?

One person. The only person. He was.

He felt a bit guilty now. But unfortunately that didn't diminish the feeling of discomfort he felt at her presence or his desire to get away from her and turn away from those awful feelings she never failed to stir in him.

She had broken again, the second time in possibly as many minutes. The corners of her lips had involuntarily turned downward in a pout on a face still childish enough for it to look somewhat natural.

"My father," she began, but it was hard to understand the words; her voice was trembling with the effort of holding back tears. "M-my father…"

But Wufei didn't have to hear what Mariemaia was about to say about Treize, for right then Sally arrived home, and in relief Wufei turned round to her, a muttered prayer of thanks underneath his breath. Mariemaia glanced up towards her too, and somehow managed to swallow the sob that had been rising in her throat, choking on it instead.

"Mariemaia…" Sally said with some surprise, glancing back and forth between the girl and Wufei. "When did you get here?"

"I - I stopped here on my way home from school," she mumbled, staring back down at her feet again, but her voice had mostly returned to its normal tones.

"I see…I hope Wufei got you something to eat," she said, giving him a pointed look and mouthing, 'What did you say to her?' 'Nothing!' Wufei mouthed touchily back, glaring.

"Ah, no, but I'm quite all right, thank you," Mariemaia replied awkwardly. "I'd better be going home, actually. I - I imagine Une will wonder where I am if I'm not home soon."

"Wufei and I will drive you," Sally volunteered cheerfully -- entirely too cheerfully for Wufei's liking. "We need to speak to Une anyway." She glanced at him, and Wufei felt a sinking feeling in his stomach -- obviously, the discussion was going to be on his unauthorized rescue, which he had rather hoped to put off until the next day.

Mariemaia gaped at Sally a moment, obviously as displeased with the arrangement as Wufei was, but she managed to stutter out a word of thanks after a moment, and grudgingly accepted the invitation.

The drive was just as excruciating as Wufei had expected it to be, but Sally pretended not to notice from her position behind the wheel, and painstakingly forced the conversation along at a snail's crawl. She avoided the subject of just why Mariemaia had been at the apartment, but Wufei got the feeling that it would be part of their conversation on the way home.

Une lived about half an hour away, but it was true that Mariemaia could very well have simply stopped at Sally's on her way home from school -- she attended the Strasbourg International School, which was in fact a shorter distance from Sally's home than it was from Une and Mariemaia's. When they arrived, Mariemaia darted inside in front of them like a frightened rabbit, stopping only to give Une a swift greeting before disappearing into her bedroom.

Sally knocked awkwardly on the open front door before herding Wufei inside and shutting the door behind them. Then Une herself strode out from the living room to greet them, a tight, humorless smile adorning her face. "Delivered him to me safely, did you, Sally?" she said, and Wufei couldn't tell whether she was joking or not. Sally didn't laugh, at any rate, and neither did he. "Well come inside, come inside; sit down, both of you." Une ushered them back into the room she had just vacated and gestured vaguely around it to the sofa and various armchairs scattered about. She herself went first over to the cupboard in the far corner and drew out a bottle of scotch and a glass. She threw a questioning glance behind, too, but both Wufei and Sally politely declined the drink.

A few moments of strained silence began the conversation, as Une paced slowly back and forth. "I hope," she finally began, "I hope very sincerely that you understand the awkward position you have put me in, Preventer Chang." Wufei nodded once, silently, from his position on the couch. "Hm. I have spoken to the police about the, ah, situation, and I have managed to convince them to turn over handling you and your…chastisement to me. I may, therefore, be able to provide you with some levity with regard to the charges against you and the accompanying punishment -- however, the public is expecting something and I must, of course, be fair to both sides. And I am also very, very disappointed in you and your behavior. I expected better than this breach in conduct…duty…law."

Une paused to levy a piercing stare at him, gauging his reaction to her so far. Wufei was careful to offer none, and was once again grateful that he had long ago schooled himself in keeping his face devoid of expression, as he had once so admired Heero Yuy for doing. Une sighed, and let her glass dangle dangerously from her slender fingers. Sinking down into a chair across from him, she continued, exhaustion coloring her tone, "As I suspect you know, I hold a fair amount of sympathy for your cause, but unfortunately that in no way diminishes the gravity of your actions, and I must act accordingly. You aided in the escape of a potentially dangerous mental patient who is suffering from delusions, and worse still, your actions caused the death of one of the hospital employees, Dr. Peter Cummings. Abuse of your Preventer badge; planned and assisted escape…assisted murder. I ought to fire you right here and now and turn you over to a court of law. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Preventer Chang?"

"No, ma'am," Wufei said coolly, meeting Une's gaze easily. As he'd told Sally the previous night, he believed he'd done the correct thing, correcting an obvious wrong through the only means available to him. He didn't regret helping Duo in the least bit, and he was willing to pay whatever penalty Une saw fit to give him.

"Well, do you accept the charges as they stand?"

Wufei opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative and then hesitated. Abusing his Prevention Organization badge, certainly, he'd done that; assisted in Duo's escape, most definitely; but he hadn't planned to do it, and nor had he meant for anything to happen to Cummings. But to start disclaiming those actions now, he felt, meant turning his back on Duo once again, and betraying his loyalties. And Une was waiting for his answer… "Yes ma'am," he finally muttered.

Une leaned forward and set down her scotch on the coffee-table. "We really ought to be doing this in more formal settings," she half-apologized, and then came back to the situation again. "Preventer Po, do you bear witness to all this?"

Wufei shot a glance over towards Sally, seated next to him on the sofa, and she peeped guiltily down at her clasped hands. "Yes," she mumbled.

"Well then," Une sighed, leaning back in her chair and tilting her face up to the ceiling. "Wufei, I'm suspending you from the force for two months. More than that, in accordance with police wishes, you may not leave the city under any circumstances for an additional six weeks after that. During this time your actions will have to be closely monitored to ensure that you are not only not violating any of these provisions, but also that you are not plotting something else." Une smiled another tight-lipped smile and nodded toward Sally. "I place you in charge of that," she said.

And while she spoke, Wufei suddenly came to a realization. Une was not punishing him because of any thought that she had that he deserved it. She was doing it merely because it was expected of her and had been demanded of her. She didn't really believe that he had been involved in any great wrong. She hadn't demanded to hear an explanation or a justification of his actions; she hadn't even asked if he had any. She was accepting, at face value, that he was, on some baser level than all these alleged crimes he had committed, innocent. The idea, in fact, seemed not to have even occurred to her that he could be otherwise, and for a moment, that realization actually stung. For all Une's talk about the law, she beheld him with enough respect that she was willing to allow his utter negligence of it slide.

Was this what he was then? Was this what he had come to be?

After this sentence-giving, Wufei could already tell that there was going to be nothing more, that things would continue on as unchanged as though he'd never been to L-2.

Wufei supposed that he ought to consider it a gesture of respect and something to be grateful for. But he didn't. He felt almost…offended. This was no punishment; this was hardly respect for the law either, was it? This wasn't…

what…

he'd fought for…

He felt chilled suddenly, as though by a breeze passing through the room, but there was no window open. He felt paralyzed, constricted by his racing thoughts, and remained that way until he became aware of Une's and Sally's eyes resting on him with concern.

"Are you all right?" Sally demanded of him, and from her tone it sounded as though she'd had to repeat it more than once.

He pulled sharply away from their concerned stares. "I'm fine," he answered gruffly, and turning to Une, "Continue; please."

Exchanging a look with Sally, Une cleared her throat and did so. "I only have left to ask whether or not you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Duo Maxwell."

"None whatsoever," Wufei returned coldly, and Une nodded as though this answer was what she'd been expecting -- Wufei had no doubt that it was.

"I shall be sending two of our more trustworthy -" slight emphasis on 'trustworthy' "-agents out to aid the L-2 police in the search for him." Wufei nodded. That was exactly what he had been expecting as well. Une glanced down at her watch, sighing. "I believe that's all. Thank you."

"Not a problem," Wufei replied curtly and stood, more than ready to go.

Une stood also, and walked him and Sally to the door. Just before they were about to go, she stopped them suddenly, reminding Wufei, "You can, of course, expect this information regarding your punishment to be made known to the public."

Wufei returned Une's false, tight smile with one of his own. "Of course."

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Well I had hoped to get a little more in here, but it'll keep I think. Sorry for being such a slowpoke everyone! You can thank the fact that I don't have a math exam tomorrow for this chapter getting out tonight, lol. Thank-yous to sadineye, Anoni, Elizabeth Culmer, Relwarc, KaT, and marle for the reviews -- it's always very encouraging to hear from you all! ^_^ Next chapter hopefully something vaguely action-y centric will happen or something. ::sweatdrop::