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Heero's Past Meets Paris's Future
Paris could still remember the first time they'd met, though they had been too busy trying to get out of the base alive to have a conversation or even to exchange names. After all he had just blown a sizeable hole in the bases walls and buildings, it wasn't like he could stand around and chat. It had been during the war, towards the end of it as he'd been finishing up an assignment to piss off the Alliance some more. It had only been fate's intervention that had brought Sue-Ling to him, had he been a little faster or slower he would have never been there to save her from the guards. He'd stolen a uniform and was casually striding towards the exit when he'd heard the sound of gunfire. As he still had a few minutes before the explosives were to have gone off he'd looked to see what they were shooting at and had watched as a figure, a male he'd presumed throw the person at his side at the shooters. Being three floors higher then the people shooting at them Sue-Ling had not been in great condition when she'd fallen on them. But she hadn't gone quietly and had scrambled to her feet, knocking the soldiers down as she ran from them like the demons of hell were after her. She might have made it to if her partner hadn't decided to silence her, permanently. Another shot had rung out, the bullet going through her chest, just barely missing her heart, the intended target. Down she'd fallen and at first he'd assumed that she was dead, killed by her betrayer. Then the soldiers had taken her pulse, hauling her to her feet with the comment that she should live long enough to be interrogated. He'd watched them carry her in his direction and when she'd found the strength to lift her head slightly it had been like a blow to the stomach. She was so small and delicate looking, most likely younger then himself who was now being dragged to an interrogation room to most likely be tortured until she died shortly from blood loss. Not while he'd been around. He'd managed to get behind them and had taken the guards out, by that time she'd been unconscious and he'd had to throw her over his shoulder to carry her out. Luckily she didn't weigh much and his explosives had gone off giving him the chance he needed to get them the hell out of there.
He'd taken her home with him and ignoring Doctor J's orders had stayed with her while she'd recovered from her injuries. He could have identified her easily, she had two very identifiable markings but he hadn't, having the feeling that letting anyone know he was looking into her information would be a bad idea. He'd recognized the tattoo on her shoulder as being that of a member of the Chinese Shang clan, well known for producing mercenaries and assassins. The second tattoo across her upper chest had been unfamiliar to him and had been removed soon after she'd regained conciseness. All he knew about her and her past was from her; he'd respected her enough not to pry into her past life, which is how she referred to her life before they'd met. It would be easy with his hacking skills to get all the information he needed but he had given her his word and his honour was one of the few things he had left.
Now he had to go and face the people he had considered his friends, still considered his friends if he was honest with himself. He'd never been one to hold onto anger long, that was more Rome's style then himself. They had used his feelings for Relena against him, but as a soldier he understood and accepted that, he would have done the same. Not to say that it hadn't hurt like hell what they'd done, but Asia had explained what their intentions had been. I wonder what they would say if they realized there's another among them who isn't what she seems Paris wondered with a slight smirk. While Sue-Ling was his ace in his sleeve Asia was Rome's. They'd decided to have Asia remain at Preventers to take care of things on that end, she'd alert them of any trouble heading their way of Preventers way. Plus Quatre needed her to take care of him Paris thought with a wider smirk then before, Asia was a born nurturer and she'd made it her duty to keep Quatre health and as stress free as possible. It was really too bad that Asia had a thing for bad boys, otherwise she'd make Quatre a great wife. Of course then she'd have to tell Quatre who she was exactly which wouldn't be good for them either.
Oh well, that really wasn't worth thinking about since it would never happen in a billion years. What was important was deciding what to do about Zechs. Of course he knew that the proper name was Peacecraft but he preferred Zechs, then he could temporarily forget that Relena was related to him. What he wanted to do, had wanted to do for some time was blow the son-of-a bitch to hell but that option was no longer available since Rome had to go and fall in love with the moron on Mars. My god she'd gone with him out of slight feelings of friendship for the guy and comes back head over heels for him like she'd been pretending to be before Mars. At first he'd comforted himself by saying that all the pretending had caught up with her, she'd simply become confused and as a result began to believe she felt the feelings she'd been pretending to have. But after a while that excuse hadn't lasted and he'd had to start facing the fact that he could very well end up with the asshole for a brother-in-law. Of course after a while it had become apparent that Zechs wasn't asking anytime soon which had alternately relieved and pissed him off. On the one had he'd rather get his head blown off then have the guy marry his sister, on the other hand he had had a traditional Italian background and the guy was dishonouring his sister by not marrying her. Their father was probably rolling in his grave as he thought this all through. So now here he was in a position where he could either do what he thought was best concerning Zechs or do what was right for Rome. God but he hated the guy and now, because of Rome he was gonna have to help the son-of-a bitch get his sister back. By God he was going to owe him big, both of them were, big time!
Trowa figured the Heero would be paying them a visit in the near future. If he knew his friend at all Heero wouldn't wait long to return to Preventers to take care of the unfinished business at hand. Heero wouldn't be returning to Preventers permanently, Trowa was pretty sure in that regard. But would he forgive them for unknowingly betraying him? He agreed with Duo for once in his assessment of Heero, or Paris's personality. It was most likely that the Heero they knew was very similar to the Paris they'd met in order to keep the lies viable and the characters straight. Heero was a cool thinker, if Paris was the same then he would see their side of the story and would let them live and possibly stay in contact with himself and the other pilots. As to his views on the Peacecrafts that was up in the air entirely, Trowa couldn't say what Heero would be feeling towards them at the moment. Absently rolling a pencil around on his desk he looked up for a second and made eye contact with Heero who's soundless slipped into the room.
"Paris." Trowa said quietly, figuring that he might as well be up front about how much he knew or at least expected. "Is Rome with you?"
"No, she remained behind." Paris replied, appreciating as always Trowa's honesty and up front manner. "I decided to come to you first because I figured you would be the one who'd put the most pieces of the puzzle together by now. You didn't disappoint me."
"I don't know if it means anything but we didn't mean to betray you, you're like family to us, we'd never do that." Trowa said looking him straight in the eye. "I hope you know that, even if you didn't see fit to tell any of us about your past."
"You wouldn't believe how many times I came close to, Trowa." Paris said with sigh, dropping into the chair in front of Trowa's desk. "After Rome left here I started to drop hints and snatches of my past, with her gone I thought I could slowly give you enough to get an idea of who I was before you met me. I bet you're wondering who I am given what you must have seen in the club, saw how I acted. But I suppose out of all of us you'd be the one most able to understand masks, how everyone has them and uses them to shield themselves from the world around them. Heero Yuy was one of my masks, just as the Paris you saw at the club was a mask. In truth the Heero you know is more me then the Paris you've seen so far. I came here to clear some things up with you guys, explain some things you need to understand and know."
"I'll call the guys into Conference Room 2, as I recall its empty until after dinner." Trowa said getting out of his seat. "That suit you?"
"Yeah, I guess it does." Paris said getting out of his seat as well. Trowa walked around his desk and held out his hand to Paris, asking without words if he had been forgiven enough for Paris to take it. Staring at it for a moment Paris kept eye contact with Trowa as he took his friend's hand in his own before pulling him in for a rough embrace; an awkward one to be sure, but a start.
The guys came into the room, all with similar reactions to the sight of Paris calmly standing beside Trowa as they waited for everyone to get there. Quatre was the first to arrive and as soon as he saw Paris he was across the room and at Trowa's small smile had pulled Paris into a hug, which had been returned. Next had come Wulfei who had come up to Paris with a small and knowing smile. Maintaining eye contact Wulfei had given his friend a slight bow and had shaken his hand, understanding each other without words. Milliardo had been next and he'd simply looked at Paris with his usual cool eyes which Paris had returned, the later motioning for him to take a seat. Lastly, as always was Duo who didn't even bother to see if he was forgiven or not, he'd flown across the room and had nearly sent Paris flying backwards at the force of his hug. When his hug was returned Duo had looked like he'd just been told that he'd won the lottery.
"Took ya long enough to get here." Duo said with a slightly choked up voice. "Run into some transportation problems or something?"
"I had to beat up every punching bag in the house before I could think clearly enough to arrange for a flight back here." Paris said as he drew away from Duo, motioning to the seats around the rectangular conference table. After everyone was seated Paris continued. "First off I'm not here to stay, I've already submitted my resignation to Lady Une and it will be effective as of the end of the month, I'm using all the vacation time I've saved up to cover it. Secondly I'm returning to my old life, whether you guys want to be a part of that is entirely up to you."
"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, that goes for all of us." Duo said loudly and firmly, the other gundam pilots nodding their agreement. "So what are you going to do now that you're no longer a soldier?"
"As Trowa's already informed me you're aware that I'm independently wealthy though no longer to the extent you think. However like Quatre I'm not the type to sit around and do nothing, I extend to take a more active role in my business. We'll be meeting in the boardrooms most likely, Quatre."
"I'll look forward to it, Paris." Quatre said with a smile and nod. "I have a feeling you'll drive a hard bargain."
"Count on it." Paris said with a small smile of his own. "Now I'm sure you guys have questions, so let's hear them and I'll answer what I can."
"Well how about how you ended up working for Doctor J and Noin ended up in the Academy on the opposite side. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Noin to have been on our side?" Wulfei said with a frown. He'd been rather worried about how Heero would treat him, especially since the first time he'd met Noin he'd nearly killed her.
"Trowa, what's the best way to go about bring an organization and getting access to classified information and people?" Paris asked looking knowingly at Trowa. His friend had infiltrated enough organizations to know the answer.
"Noin infiltrated Oz by going through the Academy and working her way up the ranks." Trowa said confidently. "By becoming part of the organization Rome was able to gain access to the things she needed to destroy Oz from the inside. It would explain why she never made any real attempt to go any further then lieutenant and instructor in the army. She never made any attempt to see battle and she had constant access to Une and Trieze, the perfect set up."
"Right in one, Trowa." Paris said with a knowing nod. "Meanwhile I started training as soon as Rome joined up with the Academy, we arranged for me to be tutored in everything from weaponry to languages. Eventually I spent a year training under Odin Lowe, then we gave Doctor J a lot of money to finish creating the suits and take me on as the pilot for the Wing Zero."
"You guys are responsible for the Gundam Suits?" Duo said in surprise.
"Not alone of course, we were just major contributors, a lot of people gave up a lot so that they could be created." Paris said with careless shrug. "Didn't you ever wonder why Doctor J always took the destruction of my Gundams so well? He knew that I could replace it easily."
"What about after the war, why didn't you leave us then or tell us who you really were?" Quatre asked kindly, more then willing to let Heero have his say.
"I had intended to leave but- I took lives during the war and I shouldn't have had to-working here was my way of atoning; and insuring that another war didn't break out again, especially after Maia Maia." Paris said with a sigh. "As to why I never told you, I didn't see the point. I knew I could trust you with the information, but I wasn't alone in who it would effect. I should have told you, but I figured that things would be simpler if you didn't know."
"So you weren't ever going to tell us?" Duo said, hurt in his voice though he'd gotten over the worst of it. He'd have lied to protect a sibling; he couldn't hold it against his best friend for doing the same.
"Actually I did after Rome left here, I began to drop hints." Paris said with a slight smirk. "I figured that I could slowly let you guys in, gradually letting you see me for myself as well as Heero."
"Is Noin-I mean Rome coming back?" Trowa asked, taking pity on Milliardo who'd stayed silent all during the exchange.
"No, she stayed behind and I doubt she'll be coming back any time soon." Paris said looking directly at Milliardo who returned his gaze without flinching. "She'll likely be joining up with the business as well, she's not much for laying around and doing nothing either."
"Paris, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you three, you, Rome and Julian work for your grandfather's company, why build your own? Especially when they tend to go head to head in direct competition?" Quatre asked with a puzzled look. "Does your grandfather even know what you and No-Rome were doing during the war?"
"As far as I know he has no idea what we were doing, as far as he knows we were in school, Rome anyway, its doubtful he asked about me." Paris said with a smirk. "My grandfather is very traditional Italian, he doesn't recognize me as a legitimate heir. He doesn't recognize Rome or Julian anymore because of me which is why we don't work with him, we're no longer recognized as his blood."
"But why, what could you have possibly done to deserve being cut off from your family." Duo demanded looking absolutely appalled. As far as he was concerned nothing could be worse then being thrown out of your family.
"Well if you know anything about Catholics you know that marriage is sacred to them, even in today's day and age it's considered a black mark upon the family's name and honour. My father's first marriage should never have happened and my dad went against his entire family and got a divorce for the sake of himself and Rome. When he married my mother his family only came out of a sense of duty, they never considered my mother and I family, they tolerated me for Rome's sake. You see Rome was my grandfather's favourite and she never went anywhere during family gatherings without me because our cousins tended to pick on me because I was small for my age and because no one bothered to stop them. So he had to accept me at least but after my father and mother died he had no reason to show me anymore love then one give a piece of fruit." Paris said with a careless shrug that belayed the hurt. "Trowa told you about the adoption problems, Rome went on a hunger strike when they tried to separate us, made herself ill before the old man would let us be together. After that I've never spoken to him and Rome only a bit more, long enough to get disowned anyway. Julian came to our defence, the only one who did and got the same response. Nice family huh?"
"I'd say that Julian and Rome are a great family, Paris." Trowa said in a firm tone that bore no argument. "How long are you staying?"
"A few more hours, I have another stop to make before I head home." Paris said thinking of Relena and the confrontation still ahead. They had a lot to talk about and even more to settle. It was time she realized the penalty of messing with the perfect soldier.
Okay, I know I promised lime here but so many people wanted me to give them a better understanding of the McMasters that I'm pushing the lime to the next chapter and instead went into more detail here about Paris's past. I promise that next chapter will have lime and Paris's one on one with the Peacecrafts. Please stay tuned for more and review cause I'd love to hear from you.