Three weeks, six days, and fourteen hours. That was how long it'd been since he'd last seen or heard from Soren. Or any of his friends for that matter. He did understand that they had to minimize contact, but isolation was wearing on him. His mind felt fractured again. His certification was important to him and he felt exhilarated that it was almost over. But on the other hand almost everyone he cared about with the exception of Catharine was together working on a massive project that was of great importance to the Earth Sphere Unified Nations. He didn't expect the exclusion from the project or his absence from Soren to hurt but it did.  

With an aggravated sigh he closed the book he was trying to study from and packed it away with the others. He couldn't concentrate to study. Now that his tests were almost over the conflicting emotions that had been plaguing him on his return had gained in strength. He had one last practical one to finish tomorrow then he was on the first shuttle out of here.

For about the thousandth time that day his gaze wandered across the room. She'd given him one of her clocks as a good luck present telling him that he had no excuse now not hurry back to her. The thing was bloody hideous. It was three bright green frogs that sat on Lilly pads. It stuck out terribly with the monochromatic color scheme in his room but that wasn't the worst of it. The damn frogs croaked every hour on the hour. Thankfully it had a volume switch or he would have killed it his first day back. It was that infernal clock that kept reminding him just how long he'd been alone waiting for his exams to end.

The loud knocking at his door brought him out of his brooding. Figuring it was another of his classmates trying to coerce him into one of the end of term parties he ignored it. The intruder just kept knocking. Annoyed he got up and was about to make the unwanted visitor sorry for the intrusion when he heard a very familiar voice on the other side of the door.

"You know it's very bad manners to keep Preventers waiting."

With a much better mood in place he opened the door to see a grinning Wufei and his new girlfriend Cole. "Wufei! What are you doing here?" He couldn't quite stop himself from checking past them to see if he had any other visitors. Nor could he stop the small feeling of disappointment when he knew Soren wasn't there with them.  Wufei and Cole both noticed and gave him knowing smirks.

"We're actually out getting supplies, but thought we'd stop by and see how you were doing." His friend answered stepping into Trowa's small room. "So how are your tests going?" he asked blandly. There was a small gleam in the other man's eye but Trowa missed it.

How are my tests going? Jeeze Wufei, next you'll be talking about the weather. "Fine. I have my last one tomorrow then I'm finished." It wasn't like Wufei to fill the air with useless talk. Slightly irritated he prompted Wufei for the information he really wanted. "So how are things progressing?"

"Fine."

"That's it? Fine? You don't have anything else to say?" his irritable mood came back with a vengeance.

"Oh? Is there something important you want to discuss?" This time Trowa didn't miss the gleam in his friend's eye. What was he up to?

Cole rolled her eyes at her lover. "Oh for heaven sakes! You'll have to forgive him Trowa. Weeks spent in close quarters with Duo who can use Shelby to read minds is taking its toll on his sense of humor." She gave the Chinese man a fierce glare that was totally spoiled by the deep affection in it. "He seems to think its someone else's turn to be tormented." She then reached over and snagged something from out of Wufei's coat before he could stop her. A data disc. "Someone left you a message." She watched him with and amused expression as he tried to accept the disc while maintaining a calm and cool composure. He knew it had to be from Soren. There was no one else it could be from.

"I hope you appreciate this Barton." Growled Wufei "I don't like anyone's errand boy."

Well now what was he going to do? Sprint to his computer and view the disc, or be polite and talk with his guests? He sighed. As much as he wanted to se what was on the disc, he'd rather view it alone. That meant he'd have to wait.

"So how are things really going?" he asked.

Wufei was more forthcoming this time "Better. We ran into a few problems the first week but we seemed to have straightened most of them out. The biggest problem came from the preventer teams that came with Heero and me. They spent the whole first week worrying if their minds were being read until Quatre and Duo lost it."

"Why would they complain? Were your people acting inappropriately?" Trowa asked. It was Cole who answered.

"Quatre and Anna bonded mentally just like Duo and Shelby. That means the two men can pick up whatever the two women can. Unfortunately, they haven't learned the trick of tuning out what the psi call background noise."

Wufei picked up the tale "According to them it was like having someone go 'Can they hear me? Can they hear me? Can they hear me?' twenty four hours a day in your head. Finally at dinner Quatre jumped up and screamed 'YES! Yes they can hear you! We can all fucking hear you! And if you think I'm interested in listening to a bunch of mentally stunted Neanderthals worry about their ridiculous petty secrets, think again! So by all that's holy, quit broadcasting your fucking trivial lives to us!"

"Actually I think he called them mentally stunted baboons, but you got the point across." Added Cole. Trowa was a little shocked at Quatre's behavior. It usually took a lot for the blond man to loose his cool so bad. If Quatre was that upset…

"So what did Duo do?"

"Duo was a lot less sympathetic to everyone's discomfort. It took a while for most people to get the concept of not thinking of a secret to keep a secret. Whenever someone got too close to him and was clamping down hard on a secret he'd just blab it out to everyone else in the room. I must say there have been some startling revelations. I've gotten to know a lot more about my co-workers than I ever wanted to know." commented Cole

Wufei picked up at this point. "It worked though. People were very quick to get the idea. They either changed their thinking or went the other way when they saw him coming."  Trowa was listening to the couple, but he was also marveling at watching Wufei talk in tandem with his mate. Trowa remembered the moody solitary boy he'd met all those years ago. It seemed that love had truly changed the man.

Love. Yeah right. Trowa decided to ask the question that had been lurking in the back of his head for the past few weeks. "Wufei there's something I've been wondering about Soren." The auburn haired man ignored the amused looks from the couple. "Did Anna and Shelby set me up with Soren?" the twin stares of amusement turned to surprise, then disapproval. Wufei was looking at him like he must have had some kind of head injury in the last six seconds. In an effort to justify the question he foolishly went further. "It just feels like now that everyone is happily paired off, they just pointed me in the direction of someone they knew I'd be right for. It's not something I'd put past Quatre or Duo." He ignored the squirming in his stomach. Now that he'd voiced the question, it didn't feel quite right.

Instead of answering him Wufei turned to Cole and took her hand. "Why don't you go check to see if all the supplies are gathered and come back here when you're done?" the woman nodded to him giving him the briefest of kisses before she left shooting Trowa a dirty look.

"What is it?" Trowa asked. There was unpleasant sensation happening to him and he was very certain he didn't like it.

"I didn't want the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with knowing my closest friends are jackasses. After all she's already met Duo." That stung

"Do you really think that after everything that's happened, anyone would even bother… or would have the time to set you up on a blind date? We have two very strong psionics going through a load of medical tests despite past traumas that make them inclined to stay clear of doctors for the rest of their lives. They're terrified of the tests! Anna's agitation leaked over into Quatre so bad we had to sedate him during some of the tests just so he wouldn't harm himself or others!"  

Okay Trowa was starting to feel a little more than stupid now, but instead of relenting Wufei kept driving the point home. "Let us not forget that someone is creating augments and training them as weapons!"

Okay Wufei I get the point, you can stop now. But his Chinese friend just plowed on "Of course none of this covers your appalling opinion of Soren. You really have no idea what she is like, do you? How brilliant she is? She works eighteen hour days with an unfailing dedication and enthusiasm that tires everyone else out just watching her. Sally is determined to recruit her to the preventers when we're done."

"And when Soren is not being brilliant, or dedicated, she's grilling us all about you! Although the reason she does that escapes me right now." Wufei finished his tirade apparently satisfied with what he saw in Trowa's reaction.

Trowa had identified the unpleasant sensation. It was embarrassment mingled with shame. Wufei was right, he was a jackass. Now he couldn't look the other man in the eye. "I'm sorry Wufei, your right. I guess I'm just not feeling myself lately. I've been feeling a little dichotomous. Or trichotomous, really. I've been doing things and feeling things that are out of character for me and I guess I was looking for a reasonable explanation. It was just easier to accuse Shelby and Anna of manipulation than try and figure out what was really wrong."

"And just what do you think is wrong with you?" his friend asked.

"I've been looking forward to my certification for years, and I was going to skip over it like it was a high school math quiz. I swore to myself and to Catharine I was through trying to save the world yet here I am again involving myself in matters that don't concern me."

"You would have helped anyway. You always have to play the silent hero in the background. It's a very annoying habit of yours." Wufei smiled to take the sting out of his words. After all wasn't it Trowa who infiltrated OZ and Mariemaia's forces sabotaging them from the inside? Trowa smiled at the memories. He supposed the man was right.

"That's not the worst of it. Whenever Soren's near or even mentioned rational thought flees. I'm used to carefully planning my actions. When I'm around her I feel like my body's doing what ever it wants and my head is just along for the ride."

His friend started to chuckle at that. "Sounds like a classic case to me." The grin he shot the green eyed man with looking far too smug and knowing.

"What are my chances of recovery?" playing into the comment

"Terminal case I'm afraid."

"Damn. I was afraid you'd say that."

Wufei regarded him with a slightly more serious expression "Speaking as the voice of recent experience, things will go a lot smoother for you once you get your head to accept what your body and heart already have."

They continued to talk for another half an hour over inconsequential things 'til there was a knock on the door to Trowa's room. As expected it was Cole. "Ah there's my little lotus blossom." Wufei said his tone full of affection and humor.

"Aw knock that shit off Chang." She said blushing. Despite her words she walked into her lover's arms.

"There! Do you see what I have to put up with? Duo calls her a ray of sunshine and she gushes all over him. I say one nice thing and get smacked down for it."

Trowa controlled his surprise. He could tell he was being included in a rare moment between the two. Neither of them was big on open displays of affection, but they made an exception for him. Perhaps they wanted to show him what caring that deeply for someone could be. The tender moment was broken by a horrible noise. It sounded like someone trying to sing while belching.

"What the hell is that?" asked Cole.

"That would be the last gift Soren gave me." And he pointed to the hideous croaking clock. The other two both started laughing.

"It makes an interesting addition to your room." The other man said diplomatically.

"It's an annoying addition to my room. Listen, I'd like to ask you if it would it be possible to delay your return until I finish tomorrow? I'd like to catch a ride with you if possible."

Cole beamed at him "Not only can we give you a ride; you'll make it just in time to watch the first big psionic field test."

"The what?"

"Until now all the tests have been medical with very little use of power." Explained Wufei "The next test is designed to tap them to their limits and determine its effect on them. The Maganacs have been busy trying to design the test so it should be interesting. Even Une is coming. Everyone wants to see what they can really do."     

"That would be something to see." The three worked out arrangements to meet the following day and the two preventers left Trowa to his message.