Disclaimer: The same as all the other disclaimers in all the other chapters lol. Though now I actually have some original characters lol.

Started Out The Same Old Way

Monday morning at Preventers was like every workplace in the galaxy in that people pretty much had to drag themselves in to work, most doing so under the steam of way too much coffee. Along with a driving need for more. Duo walked with Quatre, Heero and Trowa, a dazed and hazy look on his face as a result of having stayed up too late and Quatre wasn't much better thanks to too much paperwork to get done. Heero and Trowa looked fine but then they always did even when they were bone tired like right now. They all felt slightly off since Wufei wasn't with them and they'd all been coming to work together as a group since they were in Preventers practically. They'd catch themselves expecting him at home and they all missed him though all but Quatre would bite their tongues before admitting it. But they'd see him around work and he still came over to visit and they came to visit him and the dog.

"Hey guys, I can't recall ever being this tired and that's saying a lot. Stupid convention. Stupid speech." Relena muttered as she joined the group as they all walked towards the meeting room for their way too early in the morning meeting. "I'd give about anything to be able to go back to bed."

"The meeting shouldn't be that bad but ya, I know what you mean." Quatre said with a sigh as he patted her on the shoulder with a look of mutual pity. "I think we'd all love to be home in bed right now."

"Well someone's looking cheerful..on a Monday morning..that's just so wrong." Duo muttered as he looked over at Noin who was sitting outside the conference room with a wide awake look and a smile on her face as she smiled and waved hello to them. "I want whatever she had for breakfast...two helpings."

"Hey, Noin. You're looking chipper this morning. By the grace of God was the meeting canceled meaning I have a chance to get an extra hours sleep before my next meeting?" Relena said with a smile of her own, thinking that maybe her brother and Noin had made up when she wasn't looking. After all Noin did look pretty happy and she hadn't seen Noin look this well rested and happy since that big fight.

"Nope, sorry kids but as far as I know it's still on unfortunately. Lady Une's in there going over some stuff with her secretary so I've been told to wait out here. I'm guessing the same goes for you guys." Noin said with a laugh, Duo's words definitely tickling her funny bone. Though she supposed he would have liked what she'd had for breakfast that morning that wasn't what had put her in a good mood all weekend. "And I just had a good weekend, Duo. My breakfast was some toast and cereal with fruit juice."

"What did you do?" Quatre asked as he took a seat beside Noin thinking she really was giving off happy vibes. Since they'd passed Milliardo in the hallway on the way here and he was still giving off subzero chills Quatre was pretty sure things hadn't been fixed between Noin and Milliardo. In fact come to think of it Noin was giving off vibes similar to the ones his sisters always gave off when they were feeling particularly mushy, crushy happy. Oh boy.

"Nothing much which was likely why I had such a nice weekend. Did a lot of sleeping, napping, eating stuff that was in no way, shape or form good for me and even went out to see a movie." Noin said with a grin knowing that even though that was all true it had been her Friday night that had definitely set the tone for the rest of her weekend. After she'd watched him drive away she'd gone back to her apartment in a daze that had turned into huge spikes of energy that had had her cleaning her apartment from top to bottom, watching the entire Star Wars series in order, back to back without stopping and ODing on ice cream and still feeling as though she were on an unbelievable happy drug. A drug she was still ODing on even though she hadn't seen him since Friday. But she'd see him soon, Noin thought practically hugging the idea to herself. She'd never been..okay when she was a teenage girl with a crush she'd been like this but she was in her late twenties as her mother was so fond of pointing out. You didn't get crushes at this age. Then again he was kinda still young enough to have crushes so did that make it normal? How the hell was she suppose to know and where was he anyway? Oh God but if she turned into a mindless idiot he'd go running in the other direction. She was a commander, had trained soldiers and fought during times of war so for God sakes where the hell was her control? She was just nervous, Noin told herself silently. Since she hadn't seen him all weekend she didn't know if he'd changed his mind about things and if he did change his mind what was she going to do? She had already figured out that this wasn't a rebound thing because if it was there were a lot more likely candidates to rebound with. She was, God help her, interested in Lieutenant Wufei Chang and if he hadn't changed his mind he was interested in her too. And she'd thought her life was getting boring in her old age.

"Sounds like heaven to me, Noin. All you need to do is add some muscle bound hunks in there and you've got the ideal weekend." Relena said with a chuckle though she wasn't quite sure how she felt about Noin seeming so happy when Milliardo was obviously still suffering since Noin would have mentioned a reconciliation by now. She didn't think Noin was just trying to keep up appearances and that worried her.

"Hey, here comes Sals and Wufei." Duo said with a wide grin as he watched the two walking towards them with the two partners looking to be having an argument about something which was likely to prove entertaining. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey, Duo, and quit pouting, Wufei. I said I was sorry already." Sally said as she smiled at Duo before sending an exasperated look at her partner who had opted to lean against the opposite wall, refusing to look at her. Seeing the questioning looks Sally explained Wufei's sullen behavior. "A good natured Wufei brought in donuts for breakfast and I jumped to the conclusion that he'd done something wrong since he never brings donuts unless I ask him too. Plus he's always nagging me about eating such an unhealthy breakfast so you can understand why I was suspicious and now he's mad that I assumed it was a bribe. Plus that good nature is history. Unfortunately."

"Bring the onna donuts and I get the third degree." Wufei muttered with a dark look in Sally's direction which was better then staring at Lucrezia which is what he wanted to do. The smile she'd sent him when he'd looked at her had made him come within inches of grinning like an idiot back at her. And then their friends would have jumped on it like vultures on a corpse and then it would be out of the frying pan and into the fire in a hurry. Plus he was mad at Sally at the moment. He'd been in a good mood if a bit nervous when he'd come to work but Sally had ruined that real quick with her interrogation as to why he'd taken the time out of his busy schedule to get them donuts. They'd been fresh donuts too. "Hello." Wufei added to everyone in general before risking meeting Noin's gaze for a moment before going back to glaring at Sally who glared right back.

Later that Day

Having opted to have lunch together Heero, Trowa, Duo, Sally and Heero's occasional partner Trinity headed down the hallway to meet Relena, Noin, Quatre and Wufei in the cafeteria. The hallway was basically deserted since they'd opted for a late lunch and they were chatting amongst each other when a cadet came running at them in full speed. Everyone going quiet they watched her come to a stop in front of them, stopping to take her breath then gasped out, "Trin, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it, squirt?" Trinity wanted to know and the rest of the group remembered that Trinity had a kid sister in training. This must be her. Trinity had boyishly short blonde hair and green eyes while this girl's coloring was darker, the resemblance was there in the facial structure.

"Commander Noin has dumped Peacecraft for some hot young hunk!" The girl blurted out with an absolutely delighted look on her face, unable to hold it in until she could speak to her sister alone. "I just heard it from Heather who heard it from Mary who heard it from Tristan! Isn't that just the weirdest thing you've ever heard? I mean Noin and Peacecraft were like the supreme Preventers couple and now she's up and dumped him for another man! How iced is that? Just like a soap opera!"

"First off, Maria, you just announced what's likely nothing but bull gossip in front of some of Commander Noin's friends. You also didn't address our ranks and on top of that how many times have I told you not to gossip about people, baka." Trinity said with a dark look on her face as she stared her sister down with a death glare very similar to her partner's which had her sister squirming in her place. "Now apologize and be glad Commander Noin or Colonel Peacecraft wasn't here to hear you."

"Well if they were here I wouldn't have said anything." Maria grumbled but she knew better then to mess with her big sister. Ever since Lady Une had partnered her sister up with Captain Heero Yuy her sister had become more and more of a pain in the ass. "And I apologize, Lieutenant Maxwell, Lieutenant Winner, Captain Barton, Doctor Po, Captain Yuy...Lieutenant Jordan. I should have waited for a more appropriate time to relay the news to my sister. I hope you'll accept my sincere apologies." Maria added sending them her best aren't I just so adorable look. "And it was true, Trin. Tristan saw the Commander with the guy on Friday night and you know Tristan isn't some idiot gossip who would lie about this. I confirmed with her to make sure I got the story accurate from Heather, I swear."

Since Trinity did indeed know Tristan and knew the girl to be a sensible if slightly too girlie person she couldn't see the girl making this up. "Well then maybe she misunderstood what she saw? I mean this could just be that male friend she's mentioned and Tristan simply mistakened the situation."

"Well last time I checked friends don't lock lips or put stars in each others eyes." Maria said with a pout at her sister's lack of faith in her.

"Okay back up. She was actually kissing this guy?" Sally demanded to know as she thought of the unusually good mood Noin had been in that morning. Could it be true?

"Oh yeah and apparently this guy has moves!" Maria said, forgetting again who she was talking to as she launched into a recount of the story she'd been told. "Apparently Tristan was going to the apartment building Commander Noin lives in because she has a friend who lives there who was like, really sick. Anyway Tristan is walking down the street and turns to see this motorcycle roaring towards her from behind. Well it had rained that night so she moves onto the grass so she doesn't get accidentally splashed and keeps walking. She's watching the bike though cause she's trying to figure out the make since she likes motorcycles and because the driver wasn't wearing a helmet. So anyway the driver pulls up in front of the apartment building and the driver's passenger got off and Tristan was thinking the pair were a couple since the passenger was a woman and had been plastered against the guy's back. So the woman gets off and walks up onto the sidewalk and takes the helmet off and Tristan recognizes the Preventers uniform right away. Then after the woman hands the guy the helmet she walks towards the building and the street lights show that it's the commander so Tristan is gapping because, like, Colonel Peacecraft has white hair and this guy has black hair. Not to mention that he's dressed all in black looking like a motorcycle sex god or something so it's like hey, what's she doing with this guy? So then he calls the commander's name only he calls her by her first name and NO ONE calls the commander by her first name, not even Peacecraft right? So the commander stops and the guy gets off his bike and walks over towards her and they talk for a moment then he reaches over and pulls her into his arms for a kiss Tristan said would put a movie star to shame. And it wasn't like one of those plaster the girl against you and devour you moves either. Apparently he did it real gentlemanly and smooth, like you would probably do, Lieutenant Winner. And Tristan said he was a real gentleman, I mean like he wasn't feeling her up or anything and kept his arms around her waist though Tristan said the commander had her hands in the guy's hair." Maria said with a dreamy sigh. "She said she would have traded her entire vid collection for a guy like the one the commander bagged for herself."

"Holy shit. So that's why she was all happy and cheerful today. Way to go, Noin." Duo said as he whistled with his eyes dancing with merriment. "Well I for one want to be in the room when Peacecraft hears about this. On second thought..maybe I don't wanna be. He's liable to be pissed off if only for the fact that people will be gossiping about him even more then usual now. So did your friend recognize him?"

"No but Tristan said he's about the commander's height with shoulder length black hair and she said that he walks like you guys do." Maria said with a grin on her face and a dreamy look on her face that was similar to one had when talking about their favorite movie or rock star.

"Like we do?" Heero said with a confused look on his handsome face as he tried to figure out what the kid meant. What on earth did she mean by walking the way they did? How many ways were there to walk after all?

"The predator cat walk?" Trinity asked and when Maria nodded it was and Trinity had to agree that Noin had got herself a nice catch from all appearances if Tristan wasn't exaggerating, added to what Noin had told her about the mysterious friend of hers. Seeing the guys were still confused Trinity grinned and explained with great delight. "All you pilots, especially Trowa and Heero walk like big cats on the prowl. You know the whole soundless and deadly grace with the added bonus of majorly adding to your already huge sex appeal. All you pilots have it, that's why girls always watch you when you walk past them." Trinity said with a laugh which only grew when Quatre went red and the rest looked startled as hell which was indeed a rare look for the Silencer and the Perfect Soldier. "Girls actually stack out spots to stand before you come to work to watch you guys walk in as a group."

"Predator cat..." Quatre said with cheeks flushed bright pink as he could recall all the times he'd noticed girls watching them walk by but had always assumed they were simply standing around waiting for someone or just bored. Dear God.

"Yeah well, anyway, apparently the commander and the mystery guy were busy locking lips for a while." Maria said, not wanting to lose her audience, especially when she was drawing envious looks since she was getting the full attention of four of the best looking men Preventers had to offer. They were all older men too! Her popularity and prestige was sure to skyrocket. "So eventually the guy lets her go and actually kisses her hand good night before saying something to her in this really sexy European accent though Tristan couldn't catch what he said though she did say it sounded hot. So then he puts his helmet on and heads back onto his bike and takes off but get this..the commander walked back out onto the sidewalk and stayed there until he was out of sight, watching him go. So Tristan hangs back because she doesn't want the commander to think she was spying and waits for the commander to turn back in before following her in. So then there they are, waiting for the elevator to come down cause the thing's really slow apparently, and Tristan says there were stars in the commander's eyes and that the commander was like in a daze so that Tristan figures the commander didn't even know she was there half the time. Can you believe it?"

Meanwhile

"Why is everyone staring at our table?" Relena wanted to know getting a bit freaked out as she fiddled with her fork as she looked over at Noin who was sipping her pop. Ever since they'd sat down it was like everyone's eyes were on them and she was close to threatening to sic Heero on them if they didn't stop it. "Or is it just me?"

"It's not just you." Hilde said with a shake of her dark head as she looked around and couldn't help but get the feeling that the stares weren't aimed at their table so much as a person at the table. Had Noin had another fall out with Milliardo or something? Noin seemed oblivious to the looks but Hilde noticed that the girl's fingers were occasionally tightening into fists, a sure sign she was feeling at least a little agitated by all the stares. "Any ideas, Noin?"

"No, I wish I did." Noin said with a rueful look as she fiddled with the wrapping around the sandwich she'd brought. They were waiting for the others otherwise she would have gobbled down her lunch and gotten the hell out of there before she went nuts. She didn't need this right now. She didn't have time to think about why they were staring, she was too busy trying to pretend she still saw Wufei the way she'd always seen him. Not an easy task at all. "I don't have a sign tapped to my back or anything do I?"

"Nope, maybe they're staring at Wufei thinking how lucky he is to be sharing a table with not one but three beautiful women. Or wondering how someone who never pays attention to the opposite sex except to criticize managed it." Hilde said with a chuckle, lightly slapping Wufei on the back which made the man send her an exasperated look for her joke though he let the comment pass. "Or maybe they're wondering about your mystery guy, Noin."

"The other guys better hurry up, I'm going to go buy a dozen cans of pop, shake them then unleash them upon people if they don't stop gapping at me like I've grown another head." Noin said sending hard looks to some of the officers she knew, staring them down.

"Commander Noin?"

Noin blinked when she realized someone was saying something to her and turning in her seat Noin twisted in her seat to see one of her former cadets and some other girls she didn't recognize. "What can I do for you, Cadet Mason?" Noin asked as she raised an eyebrow at the way the lunchroom had quieted down. What on earth was going on here? "Would this have something to do with all the stares I'm getting by any chance?"

"Yes, ma'am. It was all Mary's fault really, Commander. She's such a blabbermouth and couldn't keep a secret to save her life." Cadet Mason said with a roll of her brown eyes before launching into the reason she'd come over. "Anyway, Sir, I just wanted to say congratulations. You made the right choice."

"The right choice?" Noin said with a decidedly clueless look on her face.

"Dumping Colonel Peacecraft for your new guy, Commander. I hear your new guy is really hot and I just wanted to say that I think you were smart to give up on the Ice Man. This hot hunk on wheels sounds like a girl's dream come true if you ask me." The cadet said with a grin that bloomed even as Noin paled. "You see one of the other cadets saw you guys on Friday and now it's kinda all over Preventers. I just thought I should tell you since I figured you'd want to know why everyone was acting like this since you were obviously clueless. Well I'll be going now...good luck with your sexy man in leather, sir. We're all rooting for you, ma'am." The cadet added with a wink before she and her friends left the table where all the people sitting there were quiet as mice.

"Noin?"

"Yes, Relena."

"Is it true?"

"I'm going to hunt down this Mary and the cadet that was spying and I am going to kill them until they're dead." Was Noin reply as her gaze went to Wufei who was so busy sending everyone looking at them a version of Heero's death glare that he didn't even notice she was looking his way.

"That would be a yes, Relena." Hilde said with a delighted laugh. "Way to go, Noin!"