Okay, so...I'm a bit unsure about this chapter...but it demanded to be written.
I wish I could avoid writing drama, but sometimes my brain demands it.

I need a hero (or six). I'm holding out for a hero (or six) 'til the end of the night.
(Yes...this is a song pun.)

"So...did Relena tell anyone that she was going to be running late?" Quatre asked, looking around the room at his fellow ex-pilots and Hilde. Trowa just shook his head in response as Hilde glared at the screen of her cellphone, scrolling through the chat in hopes of seeing a new message op up...and tapping her foot agitatedly on the floor when nothing happened. "No. I texted her to ask if she's caught up at work or in traffic or something, but there's still no response."

After a second of silence from everyone, the former freedom fighter added: "And now I'm honestly getting concerned."

"...Duo." Heero started only for the long-haired male to bolt out the door, not unlike he was being shot at, as soon as the first syllable of his name had left the other ex-pilot's lips. "On it, 'Ro!"

"What is he on?" Hilde asked, just barely resisting the urge to make a joke at her boyfriend's expense...this time anyway. After all, there were far more important things potentially at stake, so anyone could, would, and should be excused for not making snarky jokes.

She'd get her fill on the unspoken joke quota the next time, after all.

"Getting his laptop and hacking into the security cameras, if not the entire security system, at Relena's office."

Hilde blinked at Wufei's words...before giving a small shrug because she quickly realized that she should have expected something along those lines considering each of the guys' respective pasts. Especially since, last week, Heero and Trowa had figured out how to use a drill to make the blender functional (because everyone had wanted a smoothie that unseasonably-warm day) so that Quatre could repair the blender base in peace with only a screwdriver, some wire scraps salvaged from somewhere, and what had looked like an improvised soldering iron that Duo had somehow cobbled together out of God only knew what. "How good is he at hacking actually?"

"Not perfect...but effective." Heero said after a moment, only for Wufei to chime in with a dismissive flick of a hand. "He got better after Relena bought him a better laptop and gave him a highly illegal 'key' to the security system."

"Highly illegal..." Hilde started only for Quatre to give her a small smile. "Since he's not in politics, and is technically a former terrorist, he really shouldn't have this 'key'. Relena just did it because she didn't want him to accidently cause a full-building lockdown and raise the terror alert from "find a helmet" to "put on a helmet"."

"For the third time." Trowa muttered in a tone that only those who were the closest to him knew was fond with a touch of genuine amusement.

"SHIT!" Duo's shout from another room wasn't that abnormal...but, given the current context, the entire group rushed out of the game room...only for Duo to barrel out and meet them in the hallway, almost crashing headlong into Wufei, who at least reached out to steady him rather than letting the brunette end up sprawled in a graceless heap on the floor...again. "We gotta go now. Zechs is dead-ass at Relena's office and, from the audio-visuals I got, they've been yelling behind a locked door for a solid forty-five minutes."

As soon as they heard the part about Zechs being at Relena's office, Heero and Wufei both had already bolted down the hallway and headed for the garage to get in the jeep, with Hilde hot on their heels, and Quatre and Trowa only taking a moment to share a look before they followed the rest with Duo bringing up the rear...though the long-haired former pilot yelled out "Does 'Fei need his sword?!"

Sure, Wufei had taught Relena self-defense and she had gotten quite good at it, and they still trained and sparred every other morning...but it was still Zechs. And even if they knew that, logically, Zechs might not, at least on a good day, hurt Relena in any physical way...none of them wanted to take any chances.

=[insert dramatic fade to black with the epic musical accompaniment of your choice here]=

"-NO! I do NOT approve of this! ANY OF THIS!"

"I'm sorry but the LAST TIME that I checked, YOU HAD NO SAY IN MY LIFE!"

"I am your OLDER brother! I have EVERY say in your life, Relena!" Zechs snapped, staring down at the diplomat in front of him...while, yes, technically she had a point that he really didn't have a say in things, that wasn't going to stop him from trying. He had failed as an older brother many times in the past, and he certainly wasn't a good person by any means, but he also couldn't feasibly see a scenario where his little sister marrying five ex-terrorists and a 'freedom fighter' would end well, especially considering Relena's current and former political status. Those six, especially the five former pilots would be the death of her...and if not that, they would break her heart at the very least.

"Excuse me? No! Did you suffer a head injury recently, because there is something seriously wrong with you if you think, for even a second, that you have any kind of say and-or control over who I love and who I choose to marry!" Relena all-but snarled out as she stood toe-to-toe against the former Lightning Count, a small part of her cursing about how ridiculously tall that the platinum blond was...while questioning if she needed to start investing in high heeled footwear in an attempt to match just how many people in her daily life were hogging all of the height.

"They are all murderers, or at least those five are!" Zechs practically growled at he reached up to rake his fingers through his fringe. "Two are assassins who don't even legally exist beyond their 'codenames'! One is an arsonist who I'm pretty sure only became that because he has a fire fetish and a thing for huge explosions! One carries a sword almost everywhere and I'm pretty sure that I was told that he bare-handedly ripped a man's beating heart out of their chest! And the last one of those is a cult leader who blew up a colony! A. Colony. Relena."

"You don't really have a leg to stand on here." Relena said with a scowl. Sure, she knew what the guys had done, all of them knew...and she accepted it. Heero had told her what he could remember about his own past...from what had been down to him and all the way back to before the doctor had gotten a hold of him. He had told her the name behind the codename, that he chose to claim as his...Odin Lowe Jr., after the assassin who had taken him in and raised him up until the man had died. He considered that name as the one thing that was specific to him beneath everything that he now was; it meant so much to him, even if he couldn't fully articulate just how much, and she could respect that he wanted to keep that name a secret, even from the others, for now.

After all, Heero had the right to such a valuable secret and to have something that he considered as being solely his. He had the right to have something to ground him when he began to get too deep into his own head or began to lose himself...he had the right to have something that reminded him that he was still a man beneath the "war machine".

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?!" Zechs blinked, genuinely stunned by Relena's words as he was not a murderer, especially not one in the sense of those five teenagers. He had been a soldier, if not a knight, and that was very clearly different from being a murderer in any sense of the word. Was his sister's pacifist view clouding her judgment on seeing that there was a clear divide between what he had been and what those five boys were?

"You killed how many people exactly? And I don't just mean while you were being Khushrenada's lapdog." Relena said, folding her arms over her chest. Trowa had confided to all of them that he didn't remember who he had ever been before he had been 'No Name'...but he liked being Trowa Barton, he liked being Catherine's brother, and he liked being with all of them. Even though none of it had been "true", in the most literal sense of the word if only due to him not being the person that he had been portraying himself as, he wanted it to be "real"...maybe even needed it to all be real. He didn't want to go back to being nameless and being completely alone again. He was happy, in his own ways, with everything as it was even if so much of it hadn't originally been his, even if a part of him believed that none of this was ever meant for someone like him...and none of them were going to let any of his newfound happiness be taken away from him.

Trowa deserved to be happy after everything that he had already lived through. He deserved to have all of this be real in every sense of the word and all of them would fight their hardest to make sure that he got to keep this happiness that he finally had.

"That was different, Relena! I was a soldier following orders back then!" Zechs snapped in frustration at just how stubborn his little sister was being over this. He was right on this, was he not? Yes, he had done a considerable number of things with and for OZ that would be morally ambiguous at the best, but he had been following orders given at the time and he had followed them to the best of his ability without compromising his own views nor his own personal code of honor, so really...there was no correlation with him being a 'murderer' like those five, thank you very much.

"And, how exactly, does that make you any different from the guys just 'following orders' back then?" Relena demanded, glaring up at her brother. Duo had told her what life had been like on the streets and how even at the orphanage, despite Father Maxwell and Sister Helen's best efforts (and how his time under their care being the best of his life at the time), life had still been difficult. Fire had been a way to provide light and keep warm at first...and after, it had been to both distract and to make people pay attention. Was he proud of it? Not really, especially since he was partly certain that it had created an addiction in him...but he could live with it and move past it, he was sure of it. He just needed time...and to remind himself that he didn't need to go that route anymore. He needed to remind himself that he wasn't struggling to survive on the streets nor was he still knocking on Death's door in the middle of a warzone. He was safe, warm, and people were paying attention to him.

Funnily enough, Duo had admitted to all of them that he had, at several points, been considering becoming a priest...but that he couldn't bring himself to do it, at least not yet...and all of them had understood the reasons why without anyone needing to say it: Duo didn't want to be alone...and he didn't want to ever be that boy on the streets again.

"They were terrorists!" Zechs all-but spluttered out, disbelief written all over his face at how anyone could not see the difference between what he had been for OZ and what the five ex-Gundam pilots had been. They had been terrorists sent down specifically to cause chaos and disruption so that no one would notice, until it was far too late, that a colony was going to be dropped. The entire Operation: Meteor was a terrorist act, the doctors and anyone else behind it had each been terrorist cells all of their own and the Gundam pilots had been their key weapons and distractions just as the fodder in terrorist cells were. How was any of that the same as anything that he had done?! "I was a soldier, they were terrorists...what part of this is not getting through to you?!"

"Soldier or not, you also went terrorist. Full genocide terrorist. Or do you not recall your little stint with White Fang?" Relena snarked, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes...if only because she was certain that she might harm herself somehow or change the Earth's polarity. Wufei carried his sword to protect himself and all of them. No matter how much the guys, or even Hilde and herself on the odd day, might irritate him in some form or fashion, he refused to lose any single one of them like he had lost Meilan. Relena saw how he still grappled with that loss, even now...even if he wouldn't say it out loud, they all had learned how to recognize the times when the memories of Meilan's death began to weigh down on him like a millstone hanging from his neck. He would watch all of them far more closely, refusing to let them out of his sight for too long; he would initiate small contact with them just to remind himself that they were all alive and safe even if only for that moment.

Wufei refused to ever allow himself to be unable to defend those whom he loved for a second time, even if he would never say those specific words to any of them when they could hear them...but they all knew the truth. Now, if only he would fully grasp that all of them felt the exact same way towards him...but that would happen in time.

"I admit, I was not in my right mind at that particular moment in time, but it does not count in this situation." Zechs said firmly, almost as if he were trying to sweep his own past under the proverbial rug for the moment. Yes, he had done that...and most days everyone who had known about it, or had enough braincells to rub together to put the evidence in place to realize who he was, did look at him as if he was one step away from going back to that...but he wasn't. Even his latest therapist (that Une demanded that he see and that Noin forcibly abducted and dragged him to three times a week) was sure that he was making "just fine progress". He was fine now.

He was a completely functional and rational adult save for the odd hiccup brought on by 99% of the people that he had to deal with on a regular basis...and, besides, that whole prior incident had only been a little slip that had excellent reasoning fueling it.

If only everybody else would see it.

"And Quatre wasn't exactly in his right mind during the colony incident either, so don't you ever bring that up again!" Relena snapped, gripping the sleeves of her suit jacket to keep herself from either punching her brother's lights out, as Hilde would say, or "slapping the taste out of his mouth", to quote Duo. Quatre couldn't truly be blamed for that entire debacle as far as all of them were concerned: he was under a lot of stress at the time and had been for years by that point, on top of who knew how many other issues that had formed due to his father's 'excellent' parenting, to be completely honest...and the Zero System hadn't helped matters in any way, shape, or form. If anything, Relena was certain that he, and all of them really, was affected by some form of post-traumatic stress disorder...but what could they do beyond trying to help him heal, Hilde or herself escorting him to his own therapist, letting him known that it was okay if he wasn't happy all the time, and just all of them generally trying to give him a constructive and efficient outlet for all of his stress in a safe environment? "Furthermore, Rashid is practically Quatre's dad, and the Maganacs are as much his family as all of his sisters are! You have absolutely no right to ever speak poorly of any one of them."

And Rashid had ever offered his services to walk Hilde and herself down the aisle during the wedding whenever it may be...if anything, Relena had been so touched by the offer, perhaps even more so than when Rashid, the Maganacs, all of Quatre's sisters, Catherine, and everyone from the circus had all offered their help with decorating and set-up whenever the wedding date was finally set. Quatre's sisters had even offered to help Relena and Hilde get ready the day of with their clothes, hair, and even make-up while Catherine had said that she would work with anyone else willing to assist in both getting the guys ready and keeping the quintet out of trouble for the ceremony.

No one doubted that Catherine could and would be more than capable at keeping all five of the guys in line...especially with the reminder that she was very fast on both draw and release with those throwing knives of hers and had apparently been the one responsible for teaching that skill to Trowa.

"And on all of those notes, don't you dare bring up Operation: Meteor again! All of them tried to stop that or refused to participate in it! You even participated in trying to stop it the second time around!"

"I cannot even talk to you about any of this because you are refusing to see anything even remotely approaching reason in this situation!"

"Well...NO ONE asked you to show up here, keep me late in my office, and have this argument with me!"

"Damn straight!" Came Duo's voice from the doorway as all five of the guys and Hilde made their ways into the room, after Quatre's excellent job of picking the lock on the door so that Relena wouldn't have to spend money to replace said door if Wufei had kicked it down or Heero had shot out the lock again. Trowa's eyes narrowed in a glare behind his bang as he moved to stand just in front of Quatre.

"Sorry, 'Lena. We were getting worried." Hilde said with a scowl on her face, clearly directed at the blond man. "Clearly we had a reason to be worried."

"No, none of you did." Zechs muttered, glancing at each of the six's hands and taking note of the gun in Heero's hand...and how he had just slipped a gun into one of Wufei's hands. The others had yet to draw, but Zechs knew them well enough in the "I had to deal with you" sense that the rest had their guns ready to be drawn if they decided that they needed them. "This is a familial discussion between siblings...which none of you were invited to."

"I wasn't invited to it either." Relena snarked, eyes narrowed in fury. "I sure as hell didn't invite you to come into my office and start arguing with me about my life choices."

"I am your older brother, Relena...I am concerned that you being involved with all of them-" Zechs waved a hand in the group's general direction...only barely noticing how all six had moved from the doorway and were now forming a semi-circle around Relena as if they were an honor guard of sorts protecting her. "-and now talking all of this madness about marrying all of them. There is no good that will come out this."

"All of us will be happy and doing something that we want to do." Quatre said firmly from where he stood behind Trowa, reaching out and wrapping a hand around one of Relena's own...gently encouraging her to release her white-knuckled grip on her own arm. "I would have to say that is an exceptionally good outcome."

Hilde pressed a hand firmly to Relena's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze to reassure her. "And the rest of our families and friends who know are not only aware, but are happy and supportive of us."

"Thus, your approval does not matter." Wufei said firmly, standing in front of Trowa and opposite of Heero; the Chinese ex-pilot's free hand clenched into a fist with the urge to break the man's face. "Nor will your arguments be taken into consideration in any form or fashion."

"Translation: fuck off asshole!" Duo shouted from his position behind Heero, but in front of Hilde. "If you don't like it, then you're not part of this family!"

Zechs twitched, eyes narrowing but not closing as he took in what he was seeing in front of him. Did he want to just reach through the six and grab his sister by the harm to haul her off somewhere else so that he could try to convince her to see reason and just how bad of an idea that all of this was? Yes...yes he did. Would he lose a limb and/or his life in that attempt? Also yes. "Relena."

"No." Was all that the diplomat said as the six around her moved in a barely perceptible step closer...as if that single word had been a signal to the group to be prepared to fight. With a scowl on his face, Zechs turned and walked out the door. "I will give you time to calm back down Relena, but we will be having this discussion."

"Talk to Noin first and see if she can pry your head out of your ass." Relena said through gritted teeth, leaning slightly into Quatre and Hilde's comforting grips on her as Duo chimed in with a: "Might need to get her a shovel or a pick axe."

Not another word left the former Lightning Count as he shut the door quietly behind him when he exited the office. Relena breathed out and Quatre wrapped an arm gently around her waist to pull her into a firm hug. "Are you okay, Relena?"

"I...I admit, that I was not prepared to deal with him today." Relena said as she rested her cheek against Quatre's; the blond really did give the best hugs, especially in moments like this.

"Fair 'nough." Duo said as he reached up and undid the ribbon holding Relena's hair in its ponytail, threading his fingers through her hair once it was free. "So...what does everyone say that we get some cheap take-out, go home, and just binge-watch movies until we pass out in a nice big pile?"

"We have a game session-" Relena started only for Heero to lay a hand on the hand not still held by Quatre, slowly curling his fingers around it as if to remind himself that his girlfriend was safe and sound with all of them...right where she belonged. "Not tonight."

Trowa picked up Relena's briefcase from where it sat on the desk, giving the room a quick once-over to make certain that there was nothing else out of place to imply that the diplomat had intended to take it home with her...before nodding to himself in satisfaction and rejoining the group just as Wufei draped Relena's coat over her shoulders. The Chinese ex-pilot carefully adjusted the material to sit properly as he spoke. "You're riding with us. We brought the Jeep."

"I'll tell the driver that he can head out." Hilde said, giving Relena's shoulder a gentle squeeze before she headed out the door ahead of the group, leaving the guys to walk Relena down to the car. And walk down to the car they did...with Quatre keeping on arm around her waist so that she could easily lean in for another hug should she need it, Duo on her other side and bringing up suggestions for what take-out to get while Wufei, who walked ahead of them alongside of Heero and had pre-emptively passed the gun in his hand back to the brunette in question, repeatedly shot down every Chinese restaurant that the long-haired ex-pilot was suggesting just to get a rise out of Wufei. Trowa may have been walking just behind Relena, Quatre, and Duo, but they knew that he was only doing that so that he could be assured that no one would sneak up on them from behind.

As they walked the corridor down to the Jeep, Relena could only think about their game...and how much alike her boys and Hilde were to their characters. In-game and out, Heero and Wufei acted as a vanguard to protect the others in their own ways...Trowa stood ready to assist in whatever way that he was needed while Hilde would both assist and 'scout' ahead...Quatre would comfort and heal while Duo tried to relieve the tension of a moment with his own breed of humor, even if that humor came at the expense of someone else's blood pressure.

And how, right when she had needed someone, all of them had shown up like the cavalry to provide back-up.

Sure, Zechs wasn't exactly some "evil foe" to be vanquished, at least not in the fantasy setting their game was, but her brother was still someone whom she did not want to deal with on a good day...and it was comforting to know that Hilde and the guys would come to her aid if she needed them, even if it were for something like this.

I couldn't resist Relena making the comparison at the end of Hilde and the guys to their D&D counterparts, nor the party coming to make sure she's safe.

Also, I don't hate Zechs, I promise. I do find him interesting as a character beyond him being a convenient humor outlet for the guys to prank. His intentions here were born out of him being worried about Relena...but, he shoved both of his feet down his throat and forgot that Relena didn't want his opinions. Noin'll probably set him straight.