Pre-Brat Aftermath

Hotaru happily jumped up and down around her four newest friends as they all stood in the hallway munching chocolate bars and sipping pop. The older kids were explained exactly what the Pre-Brats were known for. The Pre-Brats in the world of Preventers were sort of infamous in both a bad and good way. On one hand they helped out with all of the kids, but on the other hand they got into places most of the higher-ranking Preventers wouldn't dream possible. Only their good deeds outweigh the constant trouble they get into that kept them from being banned from the building for life.

Diana sipped her pop thoughtfully, "You know Mr. Yuy will freak when he finds out."

"True, we aren't technically on his good side not after someone," Jace glared at Zack, "Rewired the P.A. System so it would play 'This Is The Song That Never Ends'."

"What? It was wholesome for the kiddies," Zack chuckled as he remembered the look on everyone's faces when the P.A. started to play that.

Dana muttered, "And the time we all shuck into the hanger didn't help much neither."

That had to be the biggest problem for the Pre-Brats or in this case for the Preventers. The four were the brightest kids around, which just added onto the amount of trouble they got into on a regular basis. Of course now that they had a cute and adorable I-Can't-Do-A-Single-Thing-Wrong Hotaru Yuy things were going to get interesting.

Hotaru was more or less bursting for joy, "I can't wait to tell everyone!"

"Oh? Tell them what?" Diana inquired.

"That I'm a Pre-Brat of course!"

Everyone coughed on their drinks; they doubted that her Uncles or father would find as much joy in Hotaru's new position as Hotaru did. Perhaps though Duo would be the exception to the rule, but still they could only imagine that looks on their faces.

Zack coughed, "Can't breath…"

Dana gave him a hard whack on the back, she hit a bit too hard since it sent Zack crashing to the ground. Zack looked up from his spot on the floor.

"We need a camera," Zack crackled.

Jace sighed, "Here we go again…"

Quatre had just finished working on a company contract that should allow more of a trade flow between Colonies and Earth. Normally he would be doing Preventer work, but he had already finished his side of the report. The only other report that he needed to do was his thoughts and observations on Hotaru. She was becoming somewhat of an enigma, and though she was the sweetest the little he had ever met he wondered what secrets were hiding in her. As if that thought had summoned her Hotaru burst through the door with her hair, dress and too big leather jacket flying. Wait, leather jacket? Quatre did a double take as Hotaru stood cutely in front of his desk looking up at him. She rocked on her heels with her hands behind her back looking up at Quatre with an expecting smile.

Quatre stood up and looked over his desk, "Do you need something Hotaru?" he asked sweetly.

Hotaru's smile got wider as she spun around on her heels with her arms out showing off the jacket. It was clearly way to big on her. The sleeves hung over her hands, which could have been easily used to hit someone with and the jacket reached down to her thighs.

"What do you think Uncle Quatre?"

"Uh… Hotaru, where did you get that jacket?"

Hotaru smiled more sweetly than ever a sign of pure innocence, "Ace gave it to me."

"Ace?"

Quatre was dumbfounded; no Pre-Brat has ever given up his or her jacket to a little kid, unless… The SandRock pilot shook his head, there was no way they would make Hotaru was Pre-Brat. Then again, they made Diana a Pre-Brat, but that was only because Dana was threatening an all out war against the boys if they didn't. Still, that didn't explain why Hotaru of all people had Jace's jacket. Jace was a normally quiet and calm kid, it was only when someone took the jacket did he get as bad as Heero at times.

Quatre gently questioned, "Hotaru, why did Jace give you his jacket?"

"Because I'm a Pre-Brat silly!"

If Quatre hadn't been gripping on to the desk he would have fallen over at that moment. His mind started to go in circles so full of questions it left his head spinning. They had only left Hotaru here for half a day and she was already getting into trouble. Now that he thought of it, she was too young to start getting into trouble. Heero was going to be incredibly pissed off, he out of all the Preventers were the least tolerate with the Pre-Brats. Not to mention there was Milliardo, he would rather hang himself than see his niece as a Pre-Brat. The shock must have been clear on his face because Hotaru's smile drooped a little.

"Uncle Quatre?" she whimpered, "Are you upset with me?"

"No, no, its just… I'm shocked…"

To lack of better words Quatre was and it wasn't like he had anything against her being part of the group. It was just that there would be others that would find a problem. Namely Heero and Milliardo, though it would be interesting that the two would agree on anything.

"So, its alright that I'm a Pre-Brat?" Hotaru asked hopefully.

Quatre could almost feel the hopefulness of 'yes' bouncing off her in waves. He personally had no problems with Hotaru being with the Pre-Brats, despite all of their pranks (most of which was Zack's doing) they were really good kids at heart. They were probably a bit too smart for their own good, but otherwise it was no doubt they would go far in their lives. Hotaru needed friends, and out of all of the children the Pre-Brats were the most likely to understand her dilemma, but still the final vote couldn't come from him.

"Maybe you should ask someone else," Quatre suggested, "Look, I have no problem with you being a Pre-Brat, but you must convince your Uncle Milliardo and your father first okay?"

Hotaru's eyes lit up, "Okay! Thanks Uncle Quatre!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran out of the room to tell the others.

As Quatre stood there in the wake of Hotaru's shocking announcement he wondered if maybe getting her to tell the others was a bad idea. He wasn't completely sure of what the others thought of the Pre-Brats. Quatre knew that Duo actually had a favourite Pre-Brat, but other than that he wasn't sure. He could only hope that there would be no serious aftermath to contend with. Slowly he sat back down in his chair, ignoring his work for once to sit back and think. Minutes passed and the only sound that could be heard was the soft ticking of the clock. The lull of silence was calming compared the to chaos that was going on outside his office. Loud, vocal and imaginative swearing coming from Milliardo Peacecraft's office shattered this peaceful silence.

"I guess she told Milliardo," Quatre told himself aloud.

Meanwhile Hotaru watched with utter fascination as her Uncle Milliardo turned several shades of purple and red before yelling on top of his lungs. Most of what he said was only muffle to her since Noin was kind enough to cover her niece's ears. For Noin on the other hand Milliardo's choice in words were quite interesting and physically impossible as far as threats went.

"…ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Milliardo roared loud enough for Hotaru to make out.

Noin argued as she took her hands away from Hotaru's ears, "Now Milliardo be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable!"

"You said she should have friends."

"Her own age!"

Noin raised a brow.

"What?"

"Dear, most children her age are just learning how to read. Hotaru is reading Shakespeare. I think age just got thrown out the window don't you?"

"But the Pre-Brats of all people?"

Noin walked up behind her husband and put her arms around his shoulders, causing her to stand on her tiptoes. Hotaru looked up at her Uncle with the trademark wide eyes. Milliardo wondered if maybe the term puppy dog eyes started with his niece, because damn if there was such a thing in the dictionary her picture would be beside it.

"Please Uncle Milliardo?" Hotaru pleaded, "They're really, really nice…"

Noin whispered into Milliardo's ear, "Yes, Milliardo please?"

"Noin you aren't helping," Milliardo growled with irritation.

"Think of it this way…" Noin pointed out helpfully, "With Hotaru in the group it'll finally balance everything out and maybe the Pre-Brats will get into less trouble. After all then it'll be Jace, Diana, and Hotaru versus Zack and Dana. The sane people will out weigh the crazy ones three to two."

"Hey!" an indigent voice squealed.

Startled the couple looked towards the door where the voice had made itself known. Disengaging himself from Noin, Milliardo took several long strides for the door. When the door opened down tumbled a pile of Pre-Brats with Zack being on the bottom of the pile.

"Ow…" Zack moaned.

The only person who wasn't in the pile was Diana, which made sense in some ways. Falling to the ground in a dress was probably most embarrassing thing to the girl. Zack craned his neck around to look up at a glaring Milliardo.

He gave a sheepish grin, "Uh… we were just passing by?"

"You mean like the time you were 'just' passing by one of the main computers?" Milliardo questioned.

"Now that was an accident, how was I supposed to know the computer would do that?"

"Zack, shut up now. You aren't helping our case," Jace told his friend sternly.

There was nothing that could be done, Milliardo was already upset at the fact they had involved Hotaru and listening in wasn't helping them neither. At this point it looked like Milliardo was ready to just ready to have kittens.

"Raging tigers are more like it," Dana thought to herself as Milliardo started to develop a twitch in one eye.

At that moment whether it was just plain bad luck or some other part of ill fate Heero Yuy made his appearance. He showed no sign that he had been chasing Cecil down the hallway earlier that day, nor did he even raise a brow as he stepped over the pile of Pre-Brats. Heero didn't even batter an eyelash as he looked down at his daughter who was wearing a Pre-Brat jacket. In fact Heero looked as calm and collective as if he had just a normal day in the office. Well as normal as anyone could be when their six-year-old daughter straps herself to their leg.

"Why are you wearing a Pre-Brat jacket?" Heero asked emotionlessly.

"Because I'm a Pre-Brat Daddy!" Hotaru exclaimed.

Jace could hear Zack's face connect with the ground. No doubt regretting every prank he played in Yuy's present. Dana just shook her head; they were in for it now. If anyone hated them more than Peacecraft it was Yuy. Heero slowly pried the girl off his leg so he could bend down to meet her at eye level. As a solider he always felt Hotaru was at a disadvantage being far shorter than him. It was best if he could talk to his daughter eye to eye, after all there were times they were equal on certain matters.

"So you've decided to be a Pre-Brat huh?" Heero questioned, his voice betraying nothing.

Diana put her face in her hands torn between horror and outright amusement. Things were getting more interesting by the minute. Her poor twin sister though was thinking of the thousand and one things that could possibly go wrong. Jace was just plain nervous. Yuy was being calm about this, too calm.

"Uh huh…" Hotaru nodded, "So can I Daddy? Please?"

The tension for the Pre-Brats rose as the silence between father and daughter grew. Hotaru was the only one who didn't seem to notice this as she smiled as if expecting her daddy to say yes. Heero gave a glare at the Pre-Brats, studying them and weighting each of them. He looked back at his daughter whom was being as still as a six-year-old can be. Yuy put his hand to his chin looking at his daughter thoughtfully. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Heero smirked. It wasn't just any smirk; it was the smirk that sent most sane people running for their lives.

Zack hit his head on the floor again, "We are so dead…" he murmured.

The next three words out of Heero's mouth would bring all the chaos and havoc his smirked promised.

"Sure, why not?"

"WHAT?" six voices rang in unison.

 Heero shrugged, "I don't see the problem with Hotaru having a few friends. As long as they look out for her."

Milliardo spluttered, "You can't be serious Yuy! This is the Pre-Brats you're talking about!"

"I know, but Hotaru seems to like the well enough and she isn't usually wrong," Heero replied as he got up and brushed himself off, "Why Peacecraft? Do you have a problem?"

"Of cor-"

Noin cut him off, "No, of course there isn't a problem Heero. I think you're right."

The Pre-Brats were stunned at what they were hearing. Heero Yuy of all people actually approved of them. Never mind the fact that Zack had played enough pranks to rival Duo Maxwell. Never mind the fact that they have stuck into more restricted areas than anyone in the history of Preventers. Heero actually didn't mind them!

Noin smiled at Hotaru, "Now why don't you and the others go find something to do? I think your father and your uncle have something they need to talk about."

"Okay," Hotaru hugged Heero, "Thank you Daddy!"

Heero grunted and turned towards Jace, "Bring her back at 3:00 or else…"

He gave them the glare that promised a painful death. Quickly the Pre-Brats rushed to their feet, straightening themselves out while giving a quick salute.

"Yes sir!" Jace nodded.

As the five left Milliardo's office Jace tapped Diana on the shoulder.

"What's the matter?" Diana asked.

"Cover Hotaru's ears."

"Why?"

Jace looked over his shoulder, "Because knowing Mr. Peacecraft, there'll be a lot of swearing in the next two seconds."

Without another word they hurried out of sight.

Author's Notes: Sorry about the long wait people. My excuses for it this time around are two things. First before summer was the exams, I did Algebra and failed. As a result of failing I went to summer school, not to retake Algebra, but took Writer's Craft instead. I took a break after school before summer school to rest up for the trials ahead. Not a bad bargain really, 18 days of hell for a completely new credit. The last project though nearly killed me because all of the writing that was needed. So a week after summer school I was all written out. Pretty much my final project consisted of:

One Resume

One Business Letter

One Personal Letter

Two Diary Entries

One Script

One Short Story

One Poem

One News Article

All to be done within a week. Love my life. Also it all had to be based on a real person not a character. So I spent two days out of that week researching Catherine of Aragon. So I had five days to finish it, well… four since I didn't want to show up for exam day since I don't have an exam for that course. Now I can only pray at least got 80 in that course otherwise my parents will kill me. So that's how my summer has been.

As for the story, I know I said Halloween, but I couldn't help but say a bit more about the Preventer Brats, and about some other reactions to them. I swear Halloween is next. It's in the works right now and should be done by next week.