A.C. 198
"You've accrued too much power Relena."
His voice drifted to her in the dark.
"The war is over, people of the Earth can no longer be united behind one figure, not without a tangible common enemy."
He only gave utterance to what she did not want to say out loud, the irony of the reversal of her public persona was not lost on either of them.
She was not afraid of death, he had known this about her early on in their acquaintance. What she feared more and more was the power vacuum that would be created by her sudden demise, which she no longer considered a mere possibility, but an unavoidable eventuality. As sharp and paranoid as he was, Heero was not infallible, and sooner or later he would slip up. All it would take was one mistake and... She was unafraid, he was terrified. He took to sleeping on a cot in the corner of her room, a guard posted outside her door, another stationed on her balcony. He hated that she had a balcony.
"Your office was never meant to carry so much influence, you were only supposed to be a glorified ambassador." He was exhausted and grumpy, the pitch of his voice sounded almost petty.
"Thanks a lot Heero, should've told me that three years ago." She rebutted gently. She was so tired, but sleep did not come easily to her.
It wasn't just the Foreign Minister's office, Heero saw the same problem brewing with the Preventers. A few key individuals called all the shots, without whom the entire organization would collapse. Une refused any and all directives to expand recruitment numbers. She did not wish to amass an army, she much preferred small, semi-autonomous elite teams of agents to keep the organization agile and adaptable. However, it also meant they were spread thin and vulnerable to corruption. Trowa had ferreted out a few bad actors over the years, but it was not a long term solution. The screening process for new recruits was beyond vigorous, but the high-achieving talent they sought in a candidate also tended to come with ambitions across other domains.
Wufei was the first to sound the alarm, being the most well-read on military history out of the group. The glaring weakness of their current system, he cautioned, was its absolute universal monopoly on the use of force. Never had a more centralized military power ever been conceived. Under the ESUN charter at the time, it was the only legal armed force. Heero knew, that the problem with the Preventers was not only structural, but built-in to the very justification for its existence.
"We do not have a lifetime to accomplish universal disarmament, our lives will be cut short." He did not survive the war just so he could watch her die. "The moral integrity of our successors cannot be guaranteed. Such a concentration of power can and will be abused." He paused pointedly, "not to mention the horrors that will be done in your name, justified by your death."
They were both quiet for a long moment, time imperceptible in the darkness of her room. He had actually removed any timepiece of hers that ticked, saying it could mask the noise of an intruder. In any case it wouldn't do for him to become accustomed to white noise.
He knew she was still awake from the rhythm of her breathing. He knew too, when she inhaled deeply to speak, that she had made up her mind.
"We must diminish our roles, I must make myself...redundant."
She was hesitant but spoke with a certain finality. He was confident that her mind had already started working on an exit strategy, they would talk it over in the morning.
Satisfied by her answer, he listened as her breathing evened out to a light snore, then he too allowed himself to drift into unconsciousness. They did not know that in three hours, they would be roused by news of a coup d'etat.