Underline= telepathic thingy
Italic= thoughts
Fate sighed, taking a sip of her coffee. She finished the final bits of her fifth report that morning and leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms behind her. Yawning, she glanced at the time. 11 in the morning. She'd been working for barely two hours. Two more hours, she thought glumly. And that was only until her lunch. She dreaded to think of the five or six more hours after her meal. Oh, how she hated desk jobs. But there was no choice. She had wanted to quit entirely, but they were still holding onto her. She could still quit though. It was her choice in the end. The only problem was that she didn't have it in her to insist on retiring. She couldn't deny the fact she loved her job as an Enforcer.
But you're not doing much enforcing now, are you? Sitting behind a desk at the Grand Catheral.
She forced the thought out of her mind. This was for the best, after all. Well, maybe not the best. She felt caught in between. She couldn't bring herself to go back on active duty, but neither could she quit the job she loved. She was well and truly stuck. Suddenly, the sound of a car driving up to the road to the Grand Catheral broke the silence of the room. Standing up, Fate went over to the curtain and pulled it open. Though it was morning, she still kept it drawn. Looking down from her room on the second floor, she recognised the car. Hayate's. She watched as she got out, along with Signum and entered the Grand Catheral.
Hayate POV
We stop talking once we enter the catheral. Some thing about the atmosphere is like a library. We climb the grand staircase up two stairs and then I hesitate. Carim or Fate? Business or friends? Well Carim isn't exactly business... I turn to Signum. She shrugs. I sigh. She isn't helpful at times like these. I should have brought Shamal. Then again, Signum is the closest person to Fate. Other than...her. I bite my lower lip in indecision. I mentally flip a coin in my head . Wait a minute. It doesn't work like that...Shrugging to myself, I head to Fate's room. Well, Fate's rooms. Might as well get it over with.
I pause in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, I knock on it.Super powers of persuasion don't fail me now!
"Come in." I hear Fate's voice say softly.I open the door, smiling as cheerfully as possible. Until she gives me a wierd look. I wince. Too cheerful.
"Hey, Fate," I say, entering the room. Signum follows close behind." How you doing?" I mentally congragulate myself. Good opening.
"Not bad. Same as usual. Hello, Signum."
"Testarossa." We sit on her bed. She stands at the window, patiently waiting for us to say what we came for.
"Soooo," I say. Stalling. Great tactic. "How you doing?" Signum nudges me. I cringe. Damn, I can't think when she's looking at me like that.I clear my throat. " I mean, wow, nice room, huh?" Signum rolls her eyes.
Fate sighs. "What are you here for?" she says bluntly.
"H-here for?" Damn it! Stop stammering. "Can't I just visit an old fr-"
"She wants you to join Riot Force 6." I facepalm. These two have no talent for small talk. "I do too, actually," she adds.
Fate stares out the window. "I've already said no."
"So, you're just gonna sit here and do desk work for the rest of your life?" Good comeback. We can do this. Fate hates desk work.
"Yes." I stare at her in disbelief. "I mean, I'm not really much help on the field, am I?"
"Of course you are! You're on of the best Enforcers-"
"Not anymore."
"Come on. Just because of that one time, you think you can't do your job. It wasn't your fault. Nobody could have-" Signum steps on my foot. Glaring at her, I turn back to Fate. Uh oh. Not good.
Her eyes have taken on that blank look. The one that she always had right after.. that incident. "It was my fault," I see her clench her fist. "And if I can't even protect ...her, how am I supposed to help anyone else?"
"You can start by pulling yourself back together," Signum replies.'Go talk to Carim. I'll convince her' I blink, then get up. 'If you're sure...' I leave the room.
Starting up the stairs, I climb two more floors. Why can't they have elevators? I knock on the door to Carim's study and enter.
She turns around, looking up from her book. "Hayate! Sit down." She gestures to a leather armchair. I sink into it.
"You should think about getting an elevator."
She laughs. "I'll think about it. Tea?" I nod. She pours two cups, takes a sip from one and then looks at me.
"Ah, I came here for some information work and all. Also, about Fate..."
Signum POV
There is silence after Hayate leaves then: "How are you and Shamal?"
I shrug, saying nothing about the obvious change of topic. "Going pretty well. How about you? Meeting new people?"
She laughs. Bitterly. "Nope. I haven't met anyone at all."
"Then maybe you should get out more."
She shakes her head. Moving from the window to the door, she turns to me. "Walk with me?" I get up and follow her.
We walk down the corridor, not knowing what to say.
"This is the first time you've come here, right? Hayate's been a few times, but you haven't. "
"Yes. Carim gave you quite a lot of space."
"Too much, I think. I would have been okay with just a room, but she insisted. She said no one was using them anyway."
"She is very generous." We turn into a room. It would have been small if it had not been almost empty. As it was, there was only a piano, right in the center. The curtains were pulled back allowing light from the floor to ceiling windows to stream in. "I would have visited sooner if I wasn't so busy with work. Something which you should be doing." I turn and stare into her eyes. Her blood red eyes look away uneasily.
"I have been working." She runs her hands along the piano, absentmindedly.
"I mean your real work."
She shrugs. "This is my work now."
"You can't expect me to believe you. I thought you wanted to help people." Silence. "How are you going to do that stuck behind the desk?"
"Hayate does that."
"You and Hayate are two different people. She is more comfortable behind a desk. You, on the other hand, belong on the field. You've always complained about desk work and anyone can see that being an Enforcer is the best choice you have ever made."
"But I can't do that now."
"Why not? What's different from before?"
"Because I let her get hurt, Signum!" In a quiter voice, she continued, "Those people...put their lives in my hands. I can't let them down. I can't let them misplace their trust."
"It wasn't your fault, Testarossa."
"It was." her voice is barely above a whisper. "She said so."
I've heard this argument many times. I still can't get over her words. The fact that she absolutely believes them. And even more the way Nanoha acts. As if it's true. They're both idiots.
"All I saw during that mission was you trying your best. And succeeding. If you or Nanoha-" she flinches at the name. "-think that there is more to it than that, you are mistaken. People get hurt. It's a fact. People die too. But she didn't.
You didn't lose her. Not yet. If you don't hurry up and pull yourself together, you will lose her. Permanently."
At this, the door suddenly swings open and Hayate bounds in.
"Good news! I've already settled everything with with Carim!"
Hayate POV
The two look at me. I can tell they were having a serious talk. Maybe I shouldn't have disturbed them... Oh, well.
"I haven't agreed yet." Fate says.
"You'll love it there. Your room's next to mine. I share it with Signum and the others, of course. I'll even fit a piano in for you. I'm such an awesome commander," I say, ignoring her.
"I still haven't agreed."
"Well, I'm your superior and therefore I can do whatever I want." I love abusing my power.
"Not if I quit." I hold her gaze for a few seconds. And sigh inwardly in relief. She won't. I can see it in her eyes.
"C'mon Fate-chan. We need you there. We gave you time off to pull yourself together, but that time is up. You need to get out there and do what you do best." No way she can refuse that motivational speech. I mentally pump my fist Hayate: 1 Fate:0
"Well..." I can see it in her eyes. She's wavering.
"You won't even have to see her. She'll mostly just be training the recruits. You'll be running around doing mission and stuff Your schedules won't collide." I wonder how I said that with a straight face.I'm a good liar.
There's no way I'm leaving those two alone. My money- I mean my best friends' relationship depends on it.
She still looks uncertain. For crying out loud... Just say YES!
"Well, I'll see you on the morrow, Fate-chan!" I say before grabbing Signum's arm and dragging her from the room. Don't ask me where I got that expression from. I don't think I know what it means. Hopefully Fate does.
Section Six HQ
Bwahahahahaha.
I rub my hands together gleefully. Fate's room is finished. I prepared it beforehand, knowing we would almost surely be successful. Her office is done too. I wasn't lying when I said her room was next to mine. Or about the piano. Geez, Fate plays like an angel! What I conveniently forgot to mention was that next to my room was, you guessed it, Nanoha's room. The part I was lying about was tthe missions. She' going to be team leader. Nanoha is already one. It's inevitable that they meet or go on missions. "Bwahahahaha!" This time, I laugh out loud. Then stop when I notice Shamal giving me an odd look. Clearing my throat, I turn away. Grinning to myself, I hum innocently. Commence operation: Get The Idiots Back Together. Otherwise known as: Get Rid Of Ferret-Face.
That's all for now. Is it moving too slow? I think they were mostly just talking this chapter. Anyway, I promise I'll get on to something more interesting in the next one. Maybe. Soooooo, reviews. anyone?