UNDERLYING AGENDA

CHAPTER ONE

The base of her head still ached where she had fallen that one night last November. Especially when she looked down below, just there, where the waves and the limestone collided to form the sharp and jagged edges, those that nearly split her skull and popped both lungs like a pin to a helium balloon. The icy wind and rain sliced through his body and nearly anesthetized his extremities as he stumbled through the thorny wood in search of her. The t-shirt and jeans were soaked through and his hair was a tangled, matted mess by the time he reached the edge of the clearing, the edge of the ravine. "Noin?" He shouted, despite the cold gripping his throat with an iron fist, the sting and blood seeping from the superficial scrapes on his face and arms. "Noin, dammit, where are you!"

"Here."

Zechs sat up, squaring his shoulders as the golden blonde crossed the wide expanse between the double wooden doors and his desk. Pivoting in his leather chair to face panoramic window behind him, Zechs took a deep breath to still his agony and instructed rather caustically for her to, "Please knock before you enter."

"Yeah, sure." Agent Poe reached the edge of the desk and knocked on the pristine glass surface, her characteristically warm persona completely undeterred by her patient's ever present detachment from his duties, from the living world ever since she left it for another they'd all know soon enough. So why brood?

"What is it, Agent Poe?"

"I come bearings gifts," she started, pulling out a leather clad file from beneath her arm. "Chief Une's quarterly in-service agenda, a copy of the finalized budget for the next biennium, and the gift that keeps on giving…"

When Zechs turned Sally had gone. There were no reports left behind, just a sole bottle of Excedrin. Moments later, his boss's stern voice sounded through his personal pager. "Go home, Zechs."

"We've got a debriefing in five minutes, Une."

"I wasn't asking."

Uncapping the bottle, Zechs swallowed two with a forceful toss of his head and a fleeting grimace and stood up. "Your threat is palpable, Chief, but we've wasted enough time. I'll see you in the conference room."

It was of no surprise to any of them- Barton, Chang, Yuy, Maxwell, or Une- that someone like Zechs would deny himself the human necessity to bereave. If you knew his history, lived it as they all had, there was nothing to really discuss. There was little they could offer him. In fact, there was nothing they could offer him, but admitting that would fabricate the meaninglessness of trying to live in peace when all they've ever known is war. The bliss of living a dream only their tortured existences could make a reality was their only therapy. This was the only life Zechs knew and would've never had to know again if what remained of his faith hadn't died with Lucretzia Noin.

"Are there any other questions?" Zechs asked, powering off the overhead monitor and reopening the electronic shades. The view of the city at the end of October was a superb painting of vibrant yellows, oranges, reds, and the soft, cool caress of the impending December chill. Zechs frowned. All he saw was November.

"…-mittals…?"

Chief Une and Barton shared a knowing glance. Agent Chang sighed, losing his patience, and tried again as evenly as he could, "Agent Merquise, what about all those transfer transmittals?"

"That all?" Duo rolled his eyes and swung his right leg off the arm of his chair, stood and stretched with a loudly vocalized yawn. "Just shred the damn things for Christ's sake."

Wufei quirked a caustic brow at his partner, "There was a reason I didn't bother asking you to begin with, Maxwell."

"He's right," Zechs interrupted, having returned to the present conversation by the saving graces of Duo's obnoxiousness in time to end it. "They're far too archaic even to be physically archived. Either have Intelligence file them electronically or get rid of them altogether."

Duo chuckled, gathering his Preventer's jacket and tossing it over his shoulder and slipping on his aviators. "Shred that shit. Heero'll kill you otherwise."

"That's quite enough." Lady Une stood. "Consult Agent Yuy and finalize the solution, Agent Chang. This meeting's adjourned." Chang and Barton picked up and exited quietly, followed by a rather concerned Chief Une who shared one final look at a vacant Zechs Merquise before she too took her leave for the day.

"What keeps you Agent Maxwell?"

Duo tossed his jacket back in his seat and set his shades back down quietly on the conference table. He took a moment to admire the beautiful landscape quietly before he looked up at the taller man through a canopy of cinnamon bangs, "You look like toasted shit, man. Quite frankly, I'm worried."

"Worried?" Zechs scoffed, "How sordid."

"Indeed. So how about you let me buy you a beer and we can hash out whatever's bothering you like real men, hm?" Duo watched the blonde slip on his trench coat over his pristine Zegna suit and went to hand him his gloves.

"No thank-." Zechs prickled as he swiftly yanked them out his reach like a trickster child.

"Come on," Duo whined tenderly, leaning back against the edge of the table and smirking enticingly at him. "Ice cold and…free."

Zechs's patience only seemed to wane.

Waiving the gloves teasingly in front his nose, Duo took his chances anyway, even if he was skirting on the edge of being bought a shiner he'd never forget. No pun intended. "Let it go, Zechs. Not even the infamous Lightning Count can pass up free beer."

Repossessing them gruffly, Zechs held up a sharp pointer digit to provide him a warning and stress the intention as requested. "One."

"All right, all right, one beer. Not two, no matter how sorry for yourself you say you're feeling." Duo reassured, smirking smugly as he followed Zechs into the elevator and down to the admin parking lot below street level. Only Chief Une, Senior Agents like Zechs, Noin, Sally, and other important admin personnel were authorized to park down there. Hell, they even had reserved spots with gold engraved nameplates. Agent Noin's still remained. The spot now empty beside Zechs's BMW M3. Tactfully, Duo said nothing about it and simply climbed into the coup.

"Cool ride," he finally said, nodding appreciatively. "How much do these babies run for?"

"It's my gift to you, Milliardo. The price is irrelevant…"

Zechs shook his head, "I'm not sure."

"Man. I wish I could buy a car like this and forget the price tag."

Roaring into a space, Zechs yanked up the parking brake and turned toward him. "I don't need your charity or your sympathy. So what is it you want, Duo?"

"God damn, Zechs." Duo chuckled and looked away, his palms breaking into a nervous sweat. "I just wanted to be a pal and buy you a drink. Is that a fucking crime?"

Zechs searched him suspiciously as Duo looked away, caught in the embarrassment of acting on an underlying agenda. He flushed a deep crimson that swarmed down his neck and far beyond his shirt collar. Zechs hadn't expected this.

"You're such a dick sometimes…" Duo muttered meaningfully. And yet he didn't budge.

Unscathed, Zechs reached over and tucked a lock of wild bang behind his ear, and when he turned to face him, Duo quivered as he huskily offered, "How about a drink at my place instead?"