Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and original characters, everything else is copyrighted by rich people who own what I can only dream about tears up Oh well, anyway hope you enjoy and please review, thanx.
Unintentional Consequences
Noin woke up with three thoughts running through her head as her eyes stared up at her ceiling. One was that she felt really sore and just plain crappy. Two was that she was tucked into her bed like her mother used to do when she was a small child and three was that she had no idea how the hell she'd gotten home. Sitting up Noin wrapped her arms around her stomach which wasn't feeling good and looked around her, trying to remember coming home but couldn't. The last thing she remembered was crying-Oh God-crying on Wufei. Getting out of bed a lot quicker then her body would have wanted Noin headed to the large mirror on her wall and stared at herself. She was still in her uniform and there were definitely blood stains on it Noin thought as she took off her shirt and looked it over carefully. And they weren't hers. She'd made him bleed the jerk, Noin thought as she threw the shirt on the bed. Well who was the big man now? She'd been depressed and weak and she'd still...beaten him? How the hell had she done that? Noin wondered as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, a puzzled look on her face. Only to herself would she admit that when it came to hand to hand combat she likely wouldn't stand a chance against Wufei and in swords it was laughable to think they were in the same league. But Wufei wasn't the type to play with an opponent, he was more the type to quickly beat you and settle it that way. Which posed the question again, how had she lasted as long as she had and drawn his blood. Playing back as much as she could remember from last night Noin slowly began to put the pieces together and was getting an uncomfortable picture. She could remember quite clearly the way Wufei had egged her on and needled her into challenging her and that didn't fit him at all. True it was like him to question her capabilities in certain areas but never like that, not so deliberately designed to piss her off. It wasn't like him which meant he'd done it on purpose and remembering what she'd been like when he'd come in she had an idea why.
He'd done it to distract her, take her mind off her problems and if he'd looked and seen enough from testing those blades out. He'd goaded her into fighting then let her work out her anger and pain by letting her unleash it on him, letting her hurt him. And when she'd tackled him to the ground and had beaten her fists against his chest he'd let her get in some hints and when she'd cried he'd simply let her cry herself out. And he must have been the one who got her home because who else could it be? Preventers had been basically deserted and he wouldn't have just left her there. Wufei might have quite a few bad qualities but he had good ones to, one being that he respected women and would never leave one in distress. Which is why he'd picked the fight, why he'd let her attack him and why he'd taken her home when she was all used up. Oh God, Noin thought as she moved her right hand to her cheek, absently noticing that the knuckles were swollen from connecting with Wufei. How the Hell was she going to face him?
Meanwhile
"Wufei, you aren't going to work and that's final. We'll chain you to that bed if we have to but you're staying put." Quatre said with a look that said he wasn't going to budge on the matter and that Wufei should just give up on the matter. "You can barely get up as it is and you're no good to anyone as you are right now. I'll have one of the guys bring you paperwork after lunch but other then that you're to rest and heal from your encounter with that tree."
"Must have been some tree because Wo-man you definitely look like Hell." Duo said cheerfully as he carried in the tray with Wufei's breakfast since Quatre insisted that Wufei was too weak to join them at the breakfast table. Since Heero was already gone for the morning and Trowa had made the breakfast Duo was stuck being the delivery boy. And boy did Wufei look like he'd been in one hell of a fight and lost, Duo thought as he set the tray on the table beside Wufei's bed. Wufei's right eye was swollen shut basically and he had bruises on his face, shoulders and all over his chest. There were also cuts here and there to add insult to the wound as well as torn muscles according to Trowa who'd ended up having to patch Wufei up. Luckily he'd done it last night while Wufei was conscious because Wufei had been nothing short of a bad tempered ass since he'd woken up.
"Shut up, Baka." Wufei hissed as he sent Duo's a dark look before forcing himself to sit up, his stomach muscles screaming in agony as he did so but he ignored it. Grateful for the large headboard on his bed Wufei leaned against it before reaching for his tea. Picking it up for him Quatre held it out to Wufei since Wufei obviously wasn't close enough to get it without having to move again. Nodding his thanks Wufei took the tea and sipped carefully. He really couldn't go to work like this and the last thing he needed was Noin bragging about it. Not that she would likely but on the slight chance, besides he felt like he'd self-destructed in his Gundam and as Heero had put it that hurt a hell of a lot. "I'll stay here for the day." Wufei conceded after thinking it over. "But just for today."
"Well I'm glad that's settled." Quatre said with a smile as he dragged Duo out of the room while trying not to look like he was doing it. The last thing he was going to do was promise Wufei that they'd let him go to work tomorrow when odds were Wufei still wouldn't be up to it. Better to leave arguing about that till tomorrow.
An hour later
"I can't believe he did that to you, after you rearranged your schedule so that you could get this afternoon off and bought that new dress and everything." Hilde said with a dark look, the three girls congregating in Sally's office with Wufei. "I hope you let him have it, he can't keep doing this to you."
"It wasn't that bad and I still have the afternoon off, which will be a nice change." Noin said weakly, glad for the support even though she wished that they could be talking about something else. She was on pins and needles as it was without being reminded of why. She knew that Wufei was usually in by now and she was getting more then a bit anxious.
Sally must have been thinking the same thing too because she looked at the clock with a bit of worry as well. "That's strange, Wufei's usually here by now, I hope nothing's wrong. He stayed here late doing paperwork and lord only knows how long he went at it." Sally commented, as much because she was a bit worried as well as to change the subject that was making Noin uncomfortable. Sally personally thought that Noin needed to wake up when it came to Milliardo Peacecraft but the girl didn't look well and she didn't want to make things worse.
"Maybe he and Duo finally killed each other. I can see it now, W0-man vs The Braided Baka in a fight to the death that ended up killing them both." Hilde said with a chuckle as she leaned against Wufei's desk, well aware of the fact that the two could very well have done it over one of their stupid arguments that only made sense to them often. It was lots of fun to watch though so she hoped they were both alive. "Don't worry, Sally, I was kidding. He'll probably come in here any moment and glare at me for leaning against his desk and lecture us about getting to work instead of standing here talking about him."
"Actually he won't be, at least not today anyway." Duo said from the door as he walked into the office with his hands behind his head as he stretched lazily. Boy would he kill to be in Wufei's place at the moment; home and in bed. Minus of course the extreme pain the poor son of a bitch was likely in at the moment. "The Wo-man is out of commission for the time being or as long as Quatre can keep him in the house and off his feet."
"Is Wufei sick? He seemed fine yesterday though he was complaining about a headache from all the paperwork we've been getting lately." Sally said with a look very much like a concerned mother worrying about her child. Even though she was far too young for the role she'd gotten into the habit of worrying about him like one. "He didn't get into an accident or anything last night? I know he was here late and I told him that it's not a good idea to drive at night, especially when you've already worked a full day."
"Don't worry, Sals." Duo said as he walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Sally's shoulder, sorry that he'd upset her accidentally by making her think the worse. "He kinda did get into an accident but what he hit was a tree and he hit it, not his car or another car. Apparently he really was tired because somehow he managed to fall down a hill and into a friggin tree. He said he tripped over something in the dark and was too loggy to catch himself."
"Ouch, bet that one hurt. even with that hard head of his." Hilde said with a wince, betting that Wufei's pride was hurting just as badly which was even bigger them the guys ego. "So how bad was the damage? Must be pretty bad if Quatre actually managed to keep him in bed."
"Well his face is several pretty colors as is his chest; it's mostly a lot of bruising, a black eye and some torn muscles all in all. He's most definitely not happy about it either but since he can barely sit up on his own without killing himself he decided to let us bully him into staying put." Duo said with a slight smirk. "I was sent to let you know he wouldn't be in and I'm to ask you for some of his paperwork to run over to him on my lunch break." Duo said with a mock salute.
Noin had been listening without saying a word, feeling more terrible by the minute. From the sounds of it she'd really hurt Wufei and he was so bad he had actually stayed home from work which was something he never, ever did. In fact Sally often said he'd come to work when he was dying. She hadn't meant to hurt him, she'd been mad at two people last night and he wasn't one of them but he'd been the one to suffer most from it. "I could take it to him." Noin blurted out before she could think better of it, the idea coming into her head in pieces. At their startled looks she explained. "Well I have the afternoon off, it would be no problem to swing over and deliver them to him. Then you wouldn't have to use up your lunch break, Duo."
"Really? Must be nice to have the afternoon off." Duo said with an envious look in his eyes. He'd kill to get an afternoon off, especially today since he hadn't slept well last night for some reason, too much cake for dessert had been Quatre's diagnosis which was probably correct but it had been too yummy to stop at one piece and since he and Quatre were the ones with the sweet tooths it wasn't like he was taking more then his share. "And are you sure you wanna do that? I mean Wufei's never in a good mood when he's banged up and he might take it out on you unintentionally."
"I doubt he can dish out anything I can't handle." Noin said, working up a sassy smile which seemed to fool them into thinking it was genuine.
"Well then that would be great, I really appreciate this, Noin." Duo said with a big smile since he'd been hoping to convince Hilde to have lunch with him at this new place one of the other mechanics had recommended. "I'll have Trowa bake chocolate chip cookies tonight and bring you some as a reward for your sacrifice."
"I can't wait." Noin said and this time her smile was more genuine, it was hard not to smile when you were in a room with Duo. "Now I should likely be heading to my own office." Noin added as her eyes were caught on the clock again for a moment. "I'll stop by around twelve to come get the stuff, Sally?"
"Yeah sure, and after work I'll stop by to check on your patient, just in case." Sally said with a nod before turning to Duo. "And I'll bring more paperwork as an incentive for him to stay in bed tomorrow too."
"Sounds like a plan, Quatre figured you'd do that so Heero's making plenty of hamburgers tonight." Duo said with a thumbs up sign. "Yummy yummy I guarantee."
"Well I'll see you guys later." Noin said with a wave as she headed out the door and into the hallway, her heart beating more rapidly with every step that she took. Thankfully she'd been spared looking like she'd cried last night or even a single bruise from it though her wrists were a bit tender and red from his hold. And wasn't that just fair. She gets a sore wrist; he gets banged to hell, Noin thought darkly as she automatically turned left and towards her shared office with Milliardo. The more she thought about it the more she forgot about the other person she was dreading to meet, so much that she walked into their office without even looking at him as he sat in his desk drinking coffee. Her hello to him was automatic as well as she sat down at her own desk.
"Good morning, Noin." Milliardo said as he looked up from his coffee, looking like his calm and collected self as always. Noin could count on one hand the number of times he'd ever showed any sign of being anything but the ice man he was known for being. "I was beginning to wonder where you were."
"I was in Sally and Wufei's office, talking to Sally, Hilde and Duo. Apparently Wufei hurt himself yesterday and won't be in today, the guys are making him take the day off." Noin said casually though she wished she could tell the truth, that he'd gotten hurt helping her. But obviously Wufei didn't want it that way and she didn't either to be truthful. It was bad enough that shed come so close to a nervous breakdown without everyone else knowing about it. Odds were Lady Une would even force her to go to a shrink or on a vacation. Certainly everyone would treat her differently and that was the last thing she wanted or needed right now. That along with his ego was likely why Wufei had chosen to use his tree excuse.
"He must be pretty banged up to let them." Milliardo said with a slight smile before taking on a more serious look. "By the way, Noin, I want to apologize for yesterday. I should have told Relena I had plans or found someone to take my place instead of breaking our date." Milliardo said with his usual calmness though inwardly he winced as he recalled the tongue lashing he'd gotten from his sister over the matter. Since she'd been off planet she hadn't known about the date and had given him a stern lecture for not telling her about it instead of canceling it. "If you want I can get Quatre to take over for me tonight and we can still go out."
"Thanks, but I have plans that I can't break." Noin said with a sugar sweet smile and felt suddenly a lot better. It was time that she stopped acting like a doormat and started making him realize that she wasn't to be taken for granted. He could either shape up or he could just ship out, Noin thought with a growing sense of power and strength. She was never going to become the woman she'd been last night ever again. "But thanks for asking." From this day forward she was going to be the tough and independent woman she was constantly trying to be.