Chapter 7
Later that week after speaking with Quatre, Heero texts Wufei in order to arrange another vid call, letting him know that she and Relena want to talk with him.
01. 24261515 418719 9 71494 2030.
(01. Call with R Tmrw. 20:30.)
Wufei, having no doubt already heard about Heero and Relena's new business venture, must be intrigued because he messages her back within a minute with a confirmation.
05. 2621211891426718522.
(05. Affirmative.)
Sure enough, when Heero and Relena turn the vid screen on at the appointed time, they already have a call waiting from L4. Knowing that it is extremely unlikely to be Quatre contacting them again so soon, although Heero wouldn't put it past him, she connects the call expecting to see Wufei.
She's half-correct. "Agent Parks?" Heero asks in surprise. "What are you doing there?" The last time that Heero remembers seeing Agent Parks is when the man was waiting to be questioned by the Preventers Board of Professional Review during her inquiry.
Agent Parks quirks half a smile at her in greeting. He looks tired. Heero can't help but frown at the new lines of stress that she can just make out on his face through the connection. He starts to say, "It's great to see you again, Agent-"
"Heero," she interrupts, correcting him. "I'm not a Preventers agent anymore." And she definitely doesn't want to be referred to by him as Miss Yuy.
That gets her another smile, this one more sincere. "Yes, ma'am," he says. She mock-glares at him for that, although the effect is somewhat ruined by Wufei and Relena both stifling amused chuckles.
"How are things going with you, Wufei?" Heero asks, pointedly moving the conversation along and ignoring their amusement.
Wufei waves a hand idly, still smiling. "Fine. Busy as usual, but at least I'm not in the middle of an important case this time. How goes the new business?"
It figures that Wufei would want to skip the small talk as much as Heero does. She approves. "Right on schedule," she affirms.
Relena nods. "Yes. In fact, we're thinking of expanding our clientele in space. Quatre has already talked with us and agreed to lend a hand, but he also recommended that we get in touch with you."
Wufei quirks an eyebrow at that. "Interesting."
"He says hello," Heero mentions, before she forgets to pass along the greeting. Not that Quatre would be angry at her for forgetting, but Heero doesn't want to accidentally hurt the feelings of one of the only people whose opinions she cares about.
"Of course he does," Wufei says, sounding fond and exasperated in equal measure. "Never mind that we talked less than two weeks ago."
Heero can't say that she's surprised, and hides a snicker. Quatre's overly-polite manners are often a source of amusement to the rest of the Gundam pilots, considering that his politeness never stops Quatre from doing what he must. "Did he tell you to expect a call from us?" she asks, curious.
"He may have hinted at it," Wufei agrees. "What specifically do the two of you want my help with?" Underneath his question, of course, is the unspoken observation that Wufei's unique skills are highly specialized, and not for working towards peace.
Relena's smile is purposely innocent. Judging from the look on Wufei's face, he doesn't buy it any more than Heero ever does. "Nothing much, really. Only that we could use some friends among the Preventers. Of course, Sally and Une are our friends, but neither of them is stationed in space."
Neither of them is an ex-Gundam pilot, either, though Heero knows that both of them are formidable fighters. Wufei knows this, too. The look he gives them at Relena's answer is sharp and searching. "You-"
"I'll help," Agent Parks interjects. Wufei frowns at being interrupted, but he lets the other man lean forward and speak. "I'd prefer to help more directly, but I'll absolutely help you two with whatever you need."
"Thank you," Relena says, and Heero nods in agreement, "but what do you mean by 'directly'?"
Agent Parks exchanges a look with Wufei, who inclines his head slightly in encouragement, and then he turns his attention back to them. "What I mean," Agent Parks explains further, "is that I'd like to quit Preventers and come work for your company."
Heero isn't expecting that response, and since Relena's never met Agent Parks before, she obviously isn't either. Because of that, both of them are speechless for long enough that Wufei coughs into his hand. Agent Parks looks a little happy to have caught them off-guard, and patiently waits for their decision.
It's because of those old rumors about the two of them, of course. Heero doesn't know why she didn't put it together when she first saw Agent Parks in Wufei's office. Agent Parks must have transferred to the colonies in order to get away from the gossip. Either that, or he was sent there by Une. Heero doesn't feel guilty about it, because what happened certainly isn't her fault, but she is sorry that Agent Parks got caught up in the middle of everything. The last eight months obviously haven't been especially kind to him.
"If you'd like," Heero says finally, "we'll take you on." Really, she can't say anything else. Agent Parks is a very competent agent, and he could be very useful in the security side of their company. Besides, if he's that miserable in Preventers now, then he deserves the option of quitting for a different job.
Relena adds her agreement to Heero's, and Agent - no, just Parks now - nods gratefully at both of them. "Thanks," he says. "It might take me a few weeks to pack up and convince the wife to move again, but I'll be there."
Heero hopes that his wife will be fine with her husband's decision, and that he talks it over with her first before officially quitting his job at Preventers, but it's not Heero's problem, so she doesn't ask. Let him take care of his own personal life.
"Now that that's all settled," Wufei says, still watching Heero and Relena carefully, "perhaps you two could enlighten me on why you need more contacts in Preventers and space." His tone makes it clear that this is closer to a demand for information than an actual question.
Not that either of them are planning on withholding the requested information from Wufei. Relena sighs and drops the innocent act. Heero watches in amusement as Parks does a double-take at Relena's suddenly hard expression. "I want peace," she says.
Heero sits back and lets Relena make her pitch. Even all these years later, humanity's peace is definitely still a sore topic for Wufei, and his eyes are slowly narrowing. But he remains calm, and he listens patiently to Relena, which is all that Heero could want for now.
At Wufei's continued silence, Relena speaks on. "I don't want another war to tear humanity apart again. Do you?"
That was a calculated dig. Heero watches the slight twitch of Wufei's eyebrows at that. He crosses his arms. Parks has leaned back, and is, like Heero, obviously intent on staying out of this for the moment. "And how do you propose to stop people from acting on their natural instinct to war against others?" Wufei asks eventually.
It's a very valid point. Relena doesn't blink, though. "By ensuring that all of humanity becomes the same people, of course, leaving them with no one to fight against."
Wufei stares silently for a long minute, his eyes clearly measuring Relena's determined expression. Eventually, he sighs, and reaches up to nudge his glasses out of the way so that he can rub at his eyes. "And you really believe that something like this is going to work? People have little problem with fighting their own neighbors."
Relena smiles. "That's why all of our clients so far have been those of considerable influence." The people that are perfect to blackmail, and perfectly overconfident in their own power. Easy enough for Heero and Relena to arrange safety precautions in their security systems that will allow them to be easily shut down if necessary. Relena doesn't say all of that out loud, of course, but Wufei certainly picks up on at least some of it if the reluctant huff of amusement he lets out is any indication. "I know it's not a miracle cure," Relena adds on quickly, "but people are less likely to start another war if they know that it will directly affect them negatively."
True enough. Parks' eyebrows have flown up his forehead, and he's eyeing Relena with a bit of reasonable trepidation now. "You can change your mind," Heero tells him, now that he understands more about what he's getting himself into.
Parks shakes his head slowly. "Wouldn't miss it," he assures Heero, though he still looks a little shocked.
Relena looks inquiringly at Wufei, silently asking whether he has any more questions for her. Wufei inhales sharply through his nose, but nods firmly. "I'm not sure that I agree with you," he warns them.
"But you don't disagree, either," Heero adds, amused all over again at Quatre's ability to accurately predict the reactions of his friends.
Wufei smiles sharply. "Exactly. Besides, if nothing else, watching you two try this will be interesting."
Knowing that Wufei considers 'interesting' to be both a blessing and a curse, Heero reflects that sometimes she and her friends are not the nicest people. She shares a look of dark amusement with him, agreeing. Whether she and Relena succeed or not, the process will definitely be interesting.
"Thank you, Wufei," Heero tells him sincerely.
"You two had better not mess this chance up," Wufei tells them both. Heero's well aware that he will be one of the first people to oppose them if they do.
"We won't," Relena replies.
After that, the four of them spend a few minutes going over exactly how Wufei can help Relena and Heero out, and also describing for Parks what his new job will entail. Heero briefly brings up the idea of them simply having Parks set up another office on L4, but if he's going to be helping her out with security jobs, even Parks admits that he might as well live nearby.
By the time they hang up, Heero and Relena have definitely gained some new allies. Even more importantly, they now have the blessing of one of the few people who could have become a serious threat if he'd instead chosen to oppose them.
Knowing this, Wufei's agreement to help them comes as a huge relief to Heero, and one glance at Relena's face tells her that her friend feels the same.