Chapter 23: Trouble at Home
The doctor was removing Duo's stitches before they went to see their loved ones.
Quatre stood watching in bemusement. "You really will have a scar there."
Duo shrugged, unable to talk until the doctor was finished.
"These certainly are some unusual stitches." The doctor said as he finished.
"Eh, it was for a good cause." Duo said with a grin.
Quatre chuckled in amusement. "I already know you won't tell me, so I won't press you."
"Damn straight I'm not." Duo said proudly.
"Come on, the others are waiting for us." Duo nodded gleefully as the two pilots bolted from the doctor's office, eager to see their companions.
Hilde, the Maganacs, and Catherine were tensely waiting in a specially set-up lounge. They had been requested to come without being given any reason except that it was an important one. They were distracted by a television that was playing the news, so they didn't notice Duo leaning against the doorway with a wide grin.
Trowa glanced worriedly at Duo as he realized Duo really had been planning something.
Duo made a motion for him to keep quiet when he noticed Trowa's mouth open.
Trowa and Quatre rolled their eyes as Duo slipped low to the floor, well below the back of the couch where everyone had been told to wait, and paused behind Hilde.
Wufei and Heero shook their heads as they stayed in the hallway, since there was nobody there for them, and waited for the explosion resulting from Duo's actions.
He leaned on the back of the couch behind Hilde.
"So, did we miss anything?" Duo asked.
Hilde yelled in surprise, turning around and instinctively punching Duo, knocking him over before realizing who it was she had hit.
She could only stare at him as he rubbed his freshly healed scar, checking to make sure that it hadn't reopened.
The others had jumped at her yell and stared at Duo for a few moments before hopefully looking at the doorway.
Quatre and Trowa waved to the Maganacs and Catherine, who could only stare in surprise as they approached.
Before either could help Duo to his feet, Hilde scrambled over the couch and threw herself on him, hugging him tightly.
"It's about time you came back, jerk…" She said into his shoulder.
He shrugged to the other two as he returned her hug.
Quatre and Trowa simply shook their heads before Catherine hugged Trowa and Quatre was swept into the group of Maganacs, disappearing under their chaotic attempts at personally welcoming him back.
Duo finally managed to get Hilde off of him long enough for him to be able to sit on the couch, where she traced a concerned finger along his scar, only to be brushed off with the same reaction he'd been giving the others.
Catherine began telling Trowa about what had been happening with the circus since his disappearance, and the Maganacs began assuring Quatre that nothing bad had happened to the Winner Corporation in his absence, claiming that they never put any of his contingency plans into effect even after the pilots had been declared dead.
Heero and Wufei stood in the doorway watching them fall into deep conversations with their respective loved ones.
"Feeling out of place?" Sally asked as she stood behind them.
"Not really. I'm right where I want to be." Heero replied as he closed his eyes.
Wufei nodded in agreement.
Sally chuckled. "Come on you two, I guess you can help me then. There's some things I need to do and your help will be greatly appreciated." She said before walking away with Heero and Wufei behind her, leaving the others to catch up with their loved ones.
Trowa was the only one to take note of their absence, but knew there was no point in worrying about them as Catherine told him about his replacement.
However, the reunion bliss was short-lived.
The pilots were forced to remain at the facility and their loved ones were sent back with the promise that the pilots would resume their normal livelihoods as soon as the red tape had cleared on bringing them back from the dead.
In the meantime, trouble was almost guaranteed whenever any of the new pilots encountered any of the older pilots… which made their first scheduled joint-training session a nervous affair for Relena and Milliardo as they went to oversee it.
"Do you have the disciplinary reports?" She asked warily as Milliardo brought out an extremely thick book with a nod.
Just the sight of the book's thickness produced a sigh of disappointment from Relena.
"Heero and Caden have caused the most trouble with approximately fifty incidents each. However, I have a feeling that's just the tip of the iceberg and many of the incidents involving one or the other weren't reported."
Relena sighed in exasperation and shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"
Milliardo schooled his amused expression as he flipped past the detailed reports of Heero and Caden's troublemaking.
"The others aren't exactly any better though. Trowa, Quatre and Andrew are the only ones who are in the single digits for disciplinary reports, but not even they are completely free of having been disciplined."
"Should we call off the joint-training then?" She asked worriedly.
Milliardo shook his head. "They aren't supposed to be using their real weapons so it should be fine, but I have a contingency plan in place if things get rough."
Relena looked up at him in confusion as they entered the control room that looked out into space where the five Gundams of the older pilots stared down the nine Gundams of the new pilots.
"Now remember that the new Gundams are only seventy-five percent completed, so please go easy on them. That goes for both parties." Relena warned.
Once both sides acknowledged her warning, Milliardo ordered the training session to begin.
Everything seemed to be going well at first, until Caden's Gundam brought out its real beam sabre and slashed at the Sandrock, which barely got out of the way to avoid taking unnecessary damage.
The Deathscythe Hell immediately retaliated with its real beam scythe, which in turn forced Yamato's Gundam to retaliate.
Eventually the training session turned into a real battle as both sides retaliated against an action taken by the other side.
"Milliardo, whatever that contingency plan is, hurry and put it into effect before they destroy each other." Relena said shakily as she watched the battle unfold.
Milliardo nodded and vanished from the control room just as the Altron ripped the incomplete arm from Yamato's Gundam.
The only thing Relena could do was hope that Heero wouldn't use the twin buster rifle against the new pilots. They had decided to keep the power of the new Gundams to a minimum because of how little they could trust the new pilots; so none of the new Gundams had anything comparable to the twin buster rifle because they couldn't handle the output of power it had.
Several large and powerful blasts forced the battle to a halt, as all involved were forced to dodge them.
Relena frowned as she saw what Milliardo's contingency plan had been.
The newly mobilized Tallgeese III held a dobergun aimed at the feuding Gundams as it stood near the mouth of the hangar where it had been hidden.
"All of you to your quarters at once!" Milliardo snapped.
The older pilots obeyed without protest, heading towards the open hangar where the Tallgeese III stood.
However, Caden's Gundam charged at the Tallgeese III with its beam sabre.
The Tallgeese III stood still until the beam sabre was at the tip of the dobergun. The dobergun was quickly discarded as the Tallgeese III brought out its heat rod, which wrapped around the other Gundam's arm before the Tallgeese III threw it into Yamato's Gundam, which had been aiming its gun at the Tallgeese III hoping to capitalize on the distraction.
"That is an order! I will not repeat myself again!" Milliardo roared angrily at the new pilots.
The new pilots quickly realized the leader of the Defence Council was not fooling around and obeyed his order.
The older Gundams hovered near the Tallgeese III.
"Feels good to be back in the pilot's seat, doesn't it?" Heero asked casually.
"Indeed… I must admit that I belong on the field of battle with you five… not stuck behind a desk like I am…" Milliardo said in agreement.
The older pilots chuckled as they followed the Tallgeese III back into the mobile suit hangar.
All fourteen Gundams and the Tallgeese III were under restraints and all of the pilots, except Milliardo, were placed under arrest for their actions in the battle.
The ambassadors were furious and demanded a meeting when their selected pilots were sent back to their countries and colonies to spend their arrest periods at home with the request that they did not return when it was done.
The older pilots weren't sent back to their homes; instead they were confined to their rooms within the facility that had essentially become the ESUN's temporary headquarters during this time.
The ambassadors got their meeting and arrived several hours early simply to irritate Relena with unnecessary complaints that were unrelated to the pilots.
The tension was high when the time for the meeting came and Relena, Milliardo and the older pilots sat waiting for the ambassadors, who were nowhere to be seen despite arriving early.
"Why am I not surprised?" Duo grumbled.
Relena sighed. "Please don't cause yourselves any trouble. Thankfully the facts fall in your favour, but that doesn't mean they'll try and make you look bad. Don't go saying or doing anything that will help their case."
Milliardo smiled in amusement at them. "Your return put a wrench into their plans that they've had in motion since they first learned about Relena's considerations for new Gundams to act as deterrent agents."
"Let me guess: those plans involved gaining more influence within the ESUN?" Quatre asked grimly.
Relena and Milliardo nodded, glancing cautiously at the door.
"Your positions as Gundam pilots hold a much stronger influence than you may realize. If the ambassadors were able to brag that they had a Gundam pilot on a leash, even if it wasn't one of you five, they'd gain a great deal more influence and respect in their countries." Relena explained quietly.
They nodded in grim understanding as they were made to wait quietly for the ambassadors, all of whom mysteriously seemed to have forgotten when and where the meeting was supposed to take place.
Noin finally escorted the nine older men into the meeting room before shooting a worried glance at Milliardo, who nodded reassuringly. She sighed and reluctantly returned his nod before leaving, shutting the door behind her.
The ambassadors seemed to ignore the impatient glares they were receiving as they took their time in being seated.
Milliardo scowled as he noticed something missing. "Where are your pilots? You were asked to bring them."
The European ambassador brushed aside Milliardo's question with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We decided it was in their best interests not to come… after all, your pilots have a history of violent behaviour. We didn't want them attacking our pilots." He said gravely.
"What was that? It was your pilots who did all the attacking!" Duo snapped, jumping up from his chair, only to be wrestled back into it by Quatre and Trowa.
"Please stay calm. They're trying to rile us up, just like Relena and Milliardo said they would." Quatre hissed in Duo's ear loud enough to be heard by the others on their side of the table.
Once Duo nodded, they let go of him as the ambassadors watched at him warily.
Relena sighed and shook her head. "I apologise. Mr. Maxwell has been through some stressful events during their time away and it seems to have affected his emotional state." She lied as Heero shot Duo a dangerous warning glare.
Catching sight of the glare, Duo slipped low in his chair, to the point that he almost slipped right off his chair.
The ambassadors frowned at her; however they had no choice but to believe her until they could prove otherwise.
Once things had settled down, Milliardo passed each ambassador a folder.
"You will find in those folders detailed reports of all incidents up to, and including, the joint training session that resulted in their arrests and the lockdown of their Gundams." He said as he stood behind Relena, staring icily at the ambassadors.
The icy gaze forced the ambassadors to look at the folders in an attempt to avoid staring at him or the equally icy gazes of the Gundam pilots.
After a few moments of reading, the ambassadors stepped away from the table to confer with each other.
The ambassadors seemed tense and nervous as they quietly argued with each other.
Wufei smiled. "Their backs are to the wall and they know it… They're trying to find some way to discredit us, but can't…" He said quietly so that only the others could hear.
A slight smile appeared on Heero's face, much to the worry of Relena and Milliardo. "Our plan is working perfectly…"
Relena was sorely tempted to ask what plan Heero was talking about, but the ambassadors had finally stopped talking and were returning to the table.
It was obvious that they were trying to ignore the pilots' icy stares that had quickly replaced their satisfied smirks.
The North American ambassador sighed as he looked at Relena. "We have to concede that it appears that our pilots have been the cause of more than half of the incidents in this report, including the joint-training incident."
Duo looked as though he was going to say something, but Quatre quickly covered his mouth.
"It may be due to their youth or due to the environment they've grown up in, however we will pull them from duty. We'll have to compensate them in some way, but they will no longer be pilots unless the situation is dire. Is that a fair arrangement?" The L1 colony ambassador asked flatly, although he and the others seemed to disapprove of the measure they were being forced to take.
Relena and Milliardo nodded in agreement. "However, their Gundams will remain in our care to be dismantled and used as repair parts for the other Gundams."
The ambassadors roared in protest before Milliardo informed them that the meeting had come to an end. The snappish tone of finality forced the ambassadors to become silent and sullen.
After a few moments of this, the ambassadors quickly stood and began to leave; hoping that their angry scowls would go unnoticed by Milliardo and the dangerous Gundam pilots.
"We'll deal with all of the needed arrangements. You have other, more important, matters to deal with now that this mess has been cleared up. I assume you'll be returning to the Sanc Kingdom soon to deal with them." The L2 ambassador said stiffly before he left, shutting the door harder than necessary.
Relena glanced at the pilots as their icy stares turned into congratulatory handshakes and high fives. "Your plan was to force them to remove their pilots, wasn't it?" She asked flatly.
Heero nodded. "Shall we begin preparing to escort you home?" He asked.
She sighed in defeat, knowing they wouldn't feel any guilt about what they did. "Fine… go ahead. The other Gundams will be shipped down to Earth at a later time."
Heero and the others nodded before leaving.
Milliardo chuckled before she turned on him and began berating him about keeping the Tallgeese III's reactivation a secret from her.
Duo took a deep breath of Earth's air as they stood in front of the ESUN Headquarters' main entrance. "Freedom at last…" He said with a grin.
"I wonder how things are going in that other universe…" Quatre said worriedly.
"I'm sure things are fine now that they're working together. Come on, I'm hungry. We've got loads of time to kill before our shuttle is ready, so let's grab something to eat." Duo said as his stomach loudly agreed with him.
Trowa chuckled. "I guess I can agree with that."
Quatre nodded.
"So long as you're buying, I'm in." Wufei said coolly.
"I guess Duo's picking up the tab then." Quatre said with a grin.
"Hey!" Duo's indignant tone brought laughter from the others.
Heero remained silent as he began to walk away.
"Heero? Aren't you going to join us?" Trowa asked.
Heero shook his head. "I'm not hungry, so I'll just go and check on the Gundams before the shuttle's ready to leave."
"So you're skipping out on a free meal? Your loss then." Duo said with a shrug.
A slight hint of a smile appeared on Heero's face. "I'm just keeping it for another occasion. You aren't off the hook, Duo."
"Hey!"
The others laughed as Heero walked away. "Come on, before Duo changes his mind." Quatre said as Trowa began to push Duo away from the headquarters.
They were grateful to be home and had found a new appreciation for the peace their universe had, after being reminded of the horrors that war could bring…
Author's Note: Last chapter for the A.C. Universe! Whoo! Second last chapter overall! We'll reveal how things are going in the C.E. Universe in the last chapter, flipping things around from the opening starting in the A.C. universe. I'll be taking a break for the rest of November before unleashing the evil second part of the Gundam Trilogy. Expect it to resume in December. Hope you've been enjoying things!