Sincerity and (In)Sanity

Chapter Two:

Duo stared into the paper he had been reading. This was ridiculous. How could someone who was as smart as that kid be so stupid when it came to writing down his problems? Shane was a very smart, independent kid. Too bad he thought he didn't have to answer to anyone and that his problems were no one else's trouble but his own. On the paper he had turned in, it read just a few simple words.

'I Have No Problems!'

Snorting softly, Duo set the paper aside and slowly began to rub his neck. His muscles were bunching from all the papers he had to read. Some of them actually helped him understand the children better. Other ones of them simply made him want to strangle them. Why did all children have to think that nothing was positive anymore. It was really sad to see them like this. Even those who came into the Maxwell Church during the beginnings of the war hadn't been this pessimistic. Perhaps it was just what happened after the war. Who really knew? Duo certainly didn't.

Behind him was his diploma, as well as his accreditation from the Sank Kingdom for helping keep peace alive and several other important papers. Several newspaper clippings from his time as a pilot were also in frames behind him. As was his picture of them as a group. On his desk was the one of Heero and himself. The one of all of them with their Gundams was at his small home, sitting on his dresser. It was something he wanted to keep for himself. After all, only a handful of people knew he used to be a Gundam pilot. Everyone who came into his office usually ignored what he had on his walls and simply tried to get him to ignore them. Some of them even tried to get him upset, but it usually fell through. Too bad for them, he was the master at annoy others and he wouldn't let anyone try to beat him at his own game. It was one of the things that made him so good.

"You know, you really shouldn't work yourself so hard," a sweet, very familiar voice called from his doorway. Looking up in surprise, Duo's smile was almost as big as his entire face.

"Quatre!" Duo exclaimed, rushing out of his seat and over to the blond. Instantly he was warped up in his embrace. They hugged each other for a long moment before stepping back and taking a good look at one another.

"Those vid-phone conversations didn't do you justice, Duo. You've really grown up." Duo smirked and lightly punched Quatre's shoulder.

"You didn't turn out so bad yourself, Q-bean," Duo said softly, his voice a little husky at having missed his friend and almost brother. In some ways, Quatre had said they were, and Duo had leapt on it with everything in him.

"Don't forget about me," Trowa said slowly, laughter in his tone as he watched Duo and Quatre. Duo made an about face and threw himself at Trowa. Trowa chuckled once more, hugging the exuberant man. Obviously, Duo hadn't changed much in the years they had been apart.

"Still as childish as ever I see, Maxwell," Wufei commented, as he came into the room behind Trowa. Duo stopped hugging Trowa and rushed into Wufei's arms, hugging the surprised Chinese man. Wufei eventually hugged Duo back, a small grin on his lips. "Good to see you Maxwell," he said after a moment. Duo stepped back and nodded.

"It's good to see all of you." He then paused and looked around. When his eyes couldn't find Heero, he turned his violet gaze back on the blond.

"He'll be around tomorrow. He's still on his way back from L4 with Relena," Quatre answered the question in his eyes. Duo nodded slowly.

"I see. So he's still Relena's bodyguard?"

"Yes," Quatre said, moving close to Trowa. "Seems she's been targeted several times since the Eve's War. Being a well known personage who just happened to help bring about peace seems to have made her more disliked by some people." Duo simply nodded in understanding.

"So, you all decided to come here, huh?" Duo asked, changing the subject. Trowa chuckled once more.

"Yes. No one believed it would be a true reunion without you." Duo flushed softly.

"I really am sorry, you guys. Yet I've got two other Speaking Engagements to go to. I might not be able to do anything until later in the evenings, and even then I'm still on call." Wufei blinked.

"What in the world is it you chose for a career?" Wufei questioned, walking over to the wall with all his papers.

"I'm a psychologist. I help children get past their pent up emotions. Many of them that come to an orphanage seem to come with a large chip on their shoulder, so this is what I try to get past."

"Go figure. It takes a nut to help a nut, eh Maxwell?" Wufei questioned. Duo laughed at that while Quatre huffed.

"Wufei, that's mean," Quatre complained. Duo merely shrugged off the insult.

"But very true. Most psychologists have their own psychologist. It's just the way things go. Yet I'm crazy enough to understand what's going on. So I don't need one. I wasn't certain what I was going to become until I met Professor Laurens. He told me about the orphanage and group home he was opening and, well, I just figured my past could come in handy."

"From what I've heard, it's come in very handy," Quatre said. Duo nodded.

"It has. I've even gotten some adults who've wanted to have me as a psyche, although I've had to decline some of them. I try to stick to children and teenagers. I can understand them better." Wufei snickered.

"Must be because you're so much like them." Duo and Quatre laughed richly while Trowa merely chuckled lightly.

"Must be," Duo agreed. He then looked at his clock. "I hate to rush you three but I have a client coming in about five minutes. Most of them don't take kindly to strangers. So how about we make plans to meet back at my place? I've got two spare rooms. It'd be nice having company for a change." Wufei raised an eyebrow while Quatre nodded.

"That'd be fine. We'll go get something to eat and see you at your place in about two hours?" Quatre questioned. Duo nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, that's about right." Wufei moved to leave, as did Trowa.

"Try not to be too long," Quatre said once he reached the door way. Duo laughed softly.

"I won't. I promise."

"Good. Don't make me come after you." Duo shook his head.

"No plans on that, Q-bean. Just get out of here before I have an even tougher job than normal." Quatre swiftly moved out the door. He didn't even bother to comment about it. He just agreed with a nod of his head before he ran out of the office.

Ten minutes later, the door to Duo's office opened. Without looking up, Duo flipped his page in the book he was reading and called out. "Enter, and you're late."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Maxwell," a soft voice commented as the door opened and closed.

"Please, call me. . ." His voice trailed off as he looked at his patient, his eyes widened to twice their usual size.

"Duo?" Relena Peacecraft-Dorlin commented as she looked into his surprised violet eyes. Her own blue eyes were wide in surprise as well.

"Relena? You're my new client?" Duo questioned.

"Ye. . .yes, I didn't realize you had become a doctor," she said, looking at him. Duo smiled and placed a hand behind his head.

"It's not much. Just a doctorate in Psychology. I mostly handle children, but lately I've been taking a few adult clients in order to earn a little more money so I could take off for the summer so I could spend some time with my friends on the colonies." Duo brought his hand down and gave Relena a soft smile.

"How come you decided to work on Earth?" she asked, taking a seat when he motioned to one. Duo turned toward his bookshelf and placed his book back onto it. Relena's eyes took in the rest of the room, a smile coming to her lips as she saw the picture of Heero and Duo on his desk.

"I felt that there was more for me here than I could find on the colonies. Once I began my psychology classes, I found myself wanting to be a child psychologist in order to help those who had become orphaned during the wars. After all, it's the least I can do." Relena gave him a warm, understanding smile and placed a hand onto his desk.

"I think it's wonderful of you. How long have you been a psychologist?" Duo thought it over.

"For about a year and a half now. I'm mostly on call for the Maxwell Orphanage and Halfway House, but I'm also here in my office for about half of the day. That doesn't sound too bad, does it? I mean, I'd like to think my job sounds pretty cool, considering I love it dearly." Relena laughed softly, her blond hair pulled back in a French braid.

"I think you couldn't have found a better job. When I had asked for the best, I had been referred to you. I just didn't realize that the Dr. Maxwell they had talked about was actually you, Duo." Duo waved off her words.

"Not too many people would figure that out. After all, I'm not actually the kind of person you would be able to see behind a desk and actually enjoying it." Relena shook her head. Yet before she could reply, Duo spoke up once more. "So, why do you need a Psyche? You aren't the kind of person I would believe to have need of a shrink."

"It seems I've been obsessing over someone for a long time now and I've come to the realization that he isn't the one for me. I've also realized that he doesn't see me that way and only wishes for my safety, nothing more. I need to find a way to let him go, but it's become difficult." Duo felt his expression go into serious mode. This just meant that he was all set to be the great psychologist he was and get busy.

"Can I be blunt with you, Relena? You don't mind me calling you that, do you?" Relena shook her head.

"That's why I came to a shrink, as you called it. I want honesty. Coming from you, I know I'll get plenty of it." Duo laughed, but it wasn't a happy one. It was just meant to let her know that he understood her words.

"Seeing things that way, then I'll make my comments short and do the point. The one we're talking about is Heero, isn't it? He's whom you've cared about for a long time and as of now, have just come to realize that it was him who was trying to tell you he wasn't interested in you that way, am I right." Her eyes widened in mild shock. She hadn't expected him to understand the situation so quickly.

"Yes. I realize you knew him back before he was on my security team, but how could you possibly know the rest?" Duo smiled softly, in understanding.

"Heero never talked much. In fact, I had to get used to reading what he meant by his body language instead of his actual actions. Yet it didn't always turn out correctly. The one thing I was always sure of was that he didn't care about you romantically but that he did see you as something that was necessary for peace. With that in his mind, I knew you would always be the one he protected. Knowing that much, I simply put the rest together. After all, you did say you had just realized the truth of it had to of been something Heero had said or done that had finally helped the message sink in." Relena nodded.

"it's true. In fact, he had told me that he had given himself to the one he really cared about and as soon as he was off of the contract, which ends this year, he was going to be with HIM. That's when I realized that Heero wasn't seeing me as a potential wife. He saw me as a thing." Duo shook his head.

"Not just that, he sees you almost as a sister. As do the rest of us pilots. You shouldn't let the fact that he doesn't love you as you love him get you down. Unrequited love helps a person find the one their soul is meant for. For you, it just wasn't him." Relena glanced at the picture on his desk once more and laughed softly.

"Was it you he was talking about?" she asked after a moment. It was already evident in her more relaxed and regal posture that she was taking this all a lot better than he had ever dreamed possible.

"I wish. . ." Duo wished, trailing off as his eyes looked at his picture as well. "No, he left me new years day. I haven't seen him since. He never answers the emails I send and I've yet to see him try to call. I don't have his number, so I couldn't call him."

"Duo, you're a former terrorist. Isn't it possible that you could have hacked a computer and found it out?" Duo snorted.

"Not really. He's one as well and knows how to hide what he doesn't want the rest of the world to know." Relena nodded, knowing full well how much of the soldier was left in Heero.

"He's taking tomorrow and Friday off for the reunion. I was invited as well to meet with everyone on Friday. I was thinking of bringing Dorothy along with me." Duo raised one curious eyebrow.

"Why Miss Relena, are you thinking of dating someone of the same sex?" Relena blushed furiously and looked away.

"Tell anyone and I'll make certain you can never work again." Duo chuckled at the threat. Relena had always known not to try to deny things around Duo. He was always very good at figuring people out. He was just even better at it now.

"Don't worry. I keep true to my client-doctor privilege. No one besides you, me, and the walls know what we're talking about." Relena sighed.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing, Duo? Or am I simply throwing my anger at Heero's rejection toward every other man and looking for a woman's comfort and understanding?" Duo shrugged.

"Only you can answer that, Relena. Yet I don't think that's what you're doing. Besides Heero, Dorothy is the only other person you've felt close to. In that respect, you've grown closer to her than anyone else and thus your heart is leaning for something it knows is a little more possible."

"But what is Dorothy isn't. . ."

"A lesbian?" Duo questioned. Relena flushed, but nodded. "Don't worry. I happen to know she'll take whatever you give her. She's been watching over you for a very long time."

"How do you know all that?"

"Psychologist intuition. . .not to mention I talk to her twice a week and all she can talk about is how beautiful you've become, among other things." Relena flushed once more before standing up.

"Thank you for you time. I know this hasn't been a whole hour, but I'd like to end things for today. Perhaps we can continue this some other day?"

"Of course." Duo stood up and walked her to the door. Relena looked up at him, a soft smile on her lips. "Take care of yourself, Relena.

"You too, Duo. Just so you know, if Heero is seeing someone else, then he's stupid. The best thing he could have had was you." Duo flushed this time and gave the girl a warm hug.

"Thanks Relena. Perhaps I'll try to win him over during the two days I have off. If I can't win, then I'll send him off to his love with my entire blessing." Relena laughed softly and hugged him return before stepping out the door. Duo sighed and stared at the door. Relena had grown up in more ways than one, and she was obviously going to make Dorothy very happy. Now if only he could get his own life in order. Turning back to his desk, he got ready to make plans for something that he would set into operation tomorrow, when he saw Heero.