A Fine Line - Part 5 by Gossamer Wings
Standard disclaimers apply

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Gathered in Lady Une's office at 0800 were Wufei, Sally, Scott and Dr. Springer. Heero obviously missing. Showing irritation, Une could wait no longer.

“Scott, what have you determined are the extant of Quatre's abilities?”

“He picked up on my interventions immediately in the first short session. I expected him to take all week to be able to block out all interference, especially due to his young age.”

“You'll find that even though they are all young, they are very disciplined when it comes to training. They would not have become Gundam pilots otherwise.” Sally explained.

“Now that Quatre is able to block out distractions, the rest of the week we will work on exercises to read emotions and actually look for them in people. Next week we will do some practice interrogations with volunteers; then onto a local hospital to get experience with mental health patients with different disorders. That way he might be able to pinpoint something in Relena.”

“Then he should be ready when Relena arrives.” interjected Wufei.

“Technically, but Quatre is new at this so please don't expect perfection. Dr. Springer can elaborate on his own observations during the session.”

“From Quatre's history, as given by Wufei and Sally, he is disciplined, willing to learn and eager to please. I am concerned about an episode during the first Eve war, in which he seems to have had a breakdown of some sort and attacked his own comrades.”

“Dr. Springer, I can assure you, that incident can never occur again. It was caused by use of the Zero System, the operating system of one Gundam. That system was destroyed. It was also determined that there was no permanent damage to Quatre or any of us. For Trowa it cured the amnesia he had.”

“You were all exposed to this Zero System?”

“Yes, we were the only ones to survive its effects to my knowledge.”

“I see. Then he is a strong young man indeed. He does depend on his friend Trowa, which is good, he needs support and affirmation in his work. Trowa will be assisting in practice exercises as well. They do work together well as a team.”

“Thank you Dr. Springer.” Une said. “Wufei, you, Trowa and Heero will be gathering the information Relena has requested. Have it completed as soon as possible and triple check for any discrepancies. Where is Heero? Wasn't he supposed to be here?”

“Duo probably delayed him as usual” Wufei huffed.

“Wufei.” Sally warned him with the sound of her voice.

“I'll fill him in on developments when I see him then.”

Scott and Dr. Springer rose to leave “We have a full day session with Quatre; we'll let Trowa know to meet you for his assignment. Until our next meeting then.”

“Sally, what about Quatre's physical condition. Trowa mentioned he was quite worn out before their arrival. Will the intense training cause any adverse effects?”

“So far he is holding up well. They are all scheduled for full physicals. You'll have my results then.”

“That's fine. Then until our next meeting.”

Sally and Wufei left the office stopping at Vivian's desk. “Vivian, has Heero arrived yet?”

"Why yes Mr. Chang. He and his friend checked in at 0700. They've been in computer room 5 since they came in.”

Sally looked at Wufei “Now would be a good time to speak with Duo, Wufei.”

Wufei gave her a simple nod and headed for room 5.

`Maybe Mr. Chang is going to ask Duo Maxwell to stay on like the others. I hope so, then I might have a chance to have a pilot of my own, like Miss Relena.' Vivian thought as she watched Wufei walk down the hall.

****

Duo sat back in his chair letting out a deep breath, blowing his long bangs from his face. “Well, I think I have enough to go to Lady Une with. The Preventers haven't really paid attention to the PPO at all. Why investigate a Pacifist organization. Right? The recent violence has been attributed to other outside groups noted for disrupting any peaceful gathering. I'll bring this information on their lobbying policies so she can review the situation closer.” Duo removed the disk from the copy drive. “Do you think she's available to see me?”

Heero rolled his eyes. “When has that ever stopped you?”

Duo gave a sheepish grin. “I want to do this right, going through the proper chain of command and all that stuff.”

“It's 0900. Check with Vivian and set up an appointment for today. I'll start background checks on leaders of the PPO.”

“Vivian? Oh, the red head. I won't be long.” As Duo opened the door to leave, he just about knocked Wufei down. “Sorry Wu-man, I didn't hear you knock.” Duo apologized.

“It's not to worry about Duo. I need to speak to you about yesterday”

“Then I guess I'll apologize about that too. I shouldn't go sneaking around like the war is still on. I must have embarrassed the hell out of you in front of everyone. I didn't mean to hurt your pride Wufei. I'll behave while I'm here.”

“You can leave my pride out of this Duo. I believe I overreacted to your sudden arrival. I apologize for the way I treated you. It was rude of me to act that way toward a friend, if you would allow me to still call you one. Though I believe your behavior can never be changed, if it was, I doubt people would believe you were the real Duo Maxwell and life would be very dull indeed.”

“Thanks Wufei, that means a lot to me.”

“Heero, Relena has informed us of her impending visit. You, Trowa and myself are to gather data she has requested to review. I'll see that you get a copy. I must go now, Sally is waiting.”

After Wufei left, they just looked at each other, speaking in unison, “Sally is waiting?” Both of them bursting into laughter so hard they had to hold each other up. A few minutes later the laughter transformed into stifled snickers.

“Heero, when did you get a sense of humor?” Duo raised his head from Heero's shoulder looking him in the eye. There was a twinkle in those pools of blue that had never shown there before. Did his eyes deceive him, was that the traces of a smile creasing those cheeks? “Ya know, I like it.” They stood silently as they still stared at each other. “I better go make my date with Une.” Duo said, as he separated himself from Heero, somewhat reluctantly. It was the second time that day he had Heero's arms wrapped around him.

****

“Oi, Vivian, could you help me. I need to make an appointment to see Lady Une today. Could you find out if she'll see me?” Duo gave her one of his trademark Maxwell smiles.

“Of course Mr. Maxwell, just a moment.”

“Just call me Duo. That Mister stuff is for old people.”

“Of course… Duo.” Vivian nervously reached for the appointment schedule, knocking the phone and various small items on the floor. “Oh, darn it!”

“Here, let me help you.” Duo offered as he came around the desk. As he bent down to pick up the smaller items that had rolled under the desk, Vivian's eyes widened at the sight. Duo was on his hands and knees, the form fitting black pants showing off his perfect form as he moved about. His braid almost floating in various directions with each twist of his head. “There you go.” Duo said, as he piled the items on the desk next to the phone Vivian had set back on the desk.

“Thank you for your help Duo.” She said as she picked up the phone. Then she frowned. “I think I broke it.”

“Let me see it.” Duo offered his help again. A few quick movements and the phone was working again. “The cord only came loose. Know what? I'll just head over to Lady Une's office and you can tell her I'm on my way.” With a wink and a flip of his braid, Duo headed for Lady Une's office.

Vivian kept Duo in sight until he stepped onto the elevator. “ I can't believe it, he was flirting with me. A Gundam pilot, interested in me.”

****

The elevator doors opened, revealing a plain hallway. Duo walked with a spring in his step until he reached an open doorway marked Lady Une- Director. As he entered, Une's personal assistant was just hanging up her phone. “You must be Mr. Maxwell.” She stated flatly. “Lady Une will see you in a few minutes; have a seat while you're waiting.”

“Thanks” Duo sat in an uncomfortable chair next to the door. He started whistling until the woman gave him a stern look. He felt like he was waiting for the Principal in one of those boarding schools he and Heero used to hide out in. The few minutes felt like hours now. Duo picked up the end of his braid, took off the band and unwove a large section combing it with his fingers and began rebraiding it. He started wrapping the rubber band back on when it broke. “Shit!” Duo immediately looked up at a frowning secretary. “Sorry.” Duo tried to give her one of his smiles but it quickly faded with the woman's stare. “My band broke. You wouldn't happen to have an extra one?”

Reaching into a drawer, the woman handed Duo several.

“Thanks, I only need one.”

“Keep them, then you won't have to ask again.”

“Ohhh Kayyy.” Duo felt like crawling under a rock just about then when Une's office door opened.“Duo, I'm sorry I kept you waiting, come in. What can I do for you?” Lady Une greeted Duo's smiling face and ushered him into her office, closing the door behind them.

“Does she bite?” Duo asked.

“Madeleine? She's stern I know, but she was very loyal to myself and Mr. Treize. I kept her on as payment for that loyalty. Now, what can I do for you Duo?”

“I want to do this right. I'm sorry about the ruckus I caused yesterday. Old habits are kinda hard to break.”

“You'll have to let our security chief know where his holes are.”

“I can do that and give him designs for a whole new system by the end of the week.”

“Isn't that a bit much for someone on vacation Duo?” Une asked suspiciously.

“Nah, but then, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I might be cutting the vacation short if this job offer I have in mind comes through.”

“Job offer? I thought you ran your own business Duo, salvage yard wasn't it?”

“Uh… yeah.” Duo fidgeted. “But due to unforeseeable difficulties… I may have to liquidate and uh… I think my difficulties and your difficulties are kinda one and the same. I'd like to help like the others are Lady Une.” Duo took out the computer disk he had collected his information on, handing it to her. “I've collected some research that may be of interest. It's not a direct connection to Relena, but there are some interesting coincidences.”

“So Heero has told you why he is here.”

“Yeah, I know the whole plan. But I didn't know until I got here, honest. I didn't even know Quatre and Trowa were here. I just came to see Heero and I guess you know the rest.”

Lady Une looked at the disk in her hands. “I'll review your information Duo and give you my answer by
the end of the day. Where can I find you or will you find me?”

“That'll be easy. I'm hanging with Heero today.”

“Then until later Duo” Lady Une turned to the insert the disk.

“I guess I'll go now.” He stammered backing out and closing the door behind him.

Lady Une looked up at the door shaking her head. “Unbelievable. In one way or another all five Gundam Pilots have been drawn to the Preventers like moths to a flame. Why do I feel like the small storm cloud of Relena is going to turn into a major hurricane? Are they here to save us all again?” She continued reading Duo's disk.

****

“That should do it.” Heero smiled to himself as he closed out and exited the backdoors he had left on one of his clients systems.

“Hey Heero, have you ever met Lady Une's personal secretary? I swear, if she ever smiled she'd crack her face.” Duo said as he plopped himself down next to Heero. “Did you find much on the PPO people?”

“Not yet, I've started an autosearch. What did Lady Une say?”

“That she'd let me know by the end of the day.” Duo said a little to quiet.

“Remember what I said, I'm out of the deal if she doesn't take you.”

“I'm not worried, I think I hooked her. Now enough talk. LUNCH!!! I'm starving.”

****

Looking for a table in the crowded commissary, they spotted Trowa alone, reading.

“Trowa, care for some company?” Heero asked.

“Yes, it would be a good time to discuss this list of data requests.” Trowa said, as he held up the sheaf of papers he was reading. Then he looked from Heero to Duo and back again with a questioning look.

“It's alright Trowa, he knows about the whole operation.” Heero said.

“Wufei's ok with this even if Duo's not a Preventer?” asked Trowa.

“Yet.” added Duo. “I've asked Une if I could help.”

“We could use all the help we can get. Dividing this list among four is easier than three.”

“Wufei mentioned a list, not a book.” Heero remarked, as he eyed the thickness of the so called list.

“Well, well, who's the dog wagging their tail and playing fetch now?” smirked Duo.

“Wufei and Lady Une expected her to do something like this, but I don't think to this extent.” said Trowa.

“Just be happy she didn't convince the ESUN to do a complete audit of all operations.” added Heero.

“So Duo, it looks like your vacation had been extended. Is that alright with Howard?” asked Trowa.

“Huh? Oh, sure, it's a slow time for the salvage business anyway. Now, what part of the list is mine?”

****

Lunch went quickly after Trowa divided the massive tome almost equally, the extra odd pages given to Wufei's share. It was now time to hit the computers and get down to business.

“Everyone ready?” Duo asked, just before entering their building.

“Ready for what?” asked Trowa.

“Operation R of course.” stated Duo. “Ready or not, here we come.”

With that affirmed among them, they entered their section with determination.

“Oh Duo.” Vivian interrupted as they past her desk. “This envelope came for you.”

Duo accepted the official looking envelope, casting a nervous glance toward Heero.

“Remember what I said.” Heero said calmly.

Slowly opening the awaited answer from Une, in a very un-Duo like way, his face reflected his reactions to each section, from nervousness, to happiness, to confusion.

“Well, what does it say?” Heero asked impatiently.

Duo finally looked up with a huge smile on his face “I'm in!!”

“How wonderful Duo! It will be a pleasure working with you!” Vivian gushed. `I just knew he wanted to be near me.' She thought.

“ I told you she would accept you as a Preventer.” Heero said.

“I know, but what's this appointment with Sally for?” Duo asked, showing Heero the letter.

Recognizing the date and time Heero answered. “That's for our scheduled physicals.”

“What!!” exclaimed Duo.

Medical physicals, Duo.” Heero repeated.

“I heard you the first time.” Duo said, as he grabbed the letter from Heero's hands and began walking down the hall mumbling to himself.

Trowa and Heero just looked at each other, confused over Duo's reaction

“What was that all about?” asked Trowa.

“Let me talk to him.” Heero turned, following Duo into the computer room.

“Duo, why get so upset about a physical?” asked Heero.

“You wouldn't understand. It's probably a dumb reason anyway.” Duo answered, not wanting to face Heero.

“You've never done anything without a good reason Duo. You don't have to tell me why, just know that we'll all be there to support you. The four of us have the same appointment.”

“That's even worse.”

“Then you better tell me what is bothering you.”

Duo hesitated, but knew he could trust Heero with anything. “OK, don't think bad of me, but… I've never had a complete physical finished before. Oh, Doctors have tried, but the end result is an injured Doctor and the words `Don't come back, your healthy enough!' ”

“You're afraid of Doctors? What about Sally?”

“No, not afraid of Doctors themselves. I guess I'm just afraid of what they might find, so I never let them do anything.”

“What do you mean about what they might find? Is something wrong?”

“No. That's just it Heero, I've never been sick my whole life. Not even a sniffle.”

“Then why worry Duo?”

“I just feel like there is something waiting to get me. My life, it seems until now, was meant to be a Gundam Pilot and now that it's finished, I'll end up like my friends on L2 did.”

“You've never really talked about your life on L2 much. From what you have let us know I understand it wasn't easy.”

“I've told you about living on the streets with a gang of other kids and ending up at Maxwell Church. I left out a part. Those were the plague years and being poor street kids, we weren't able to get the medicine we needed. Some of the gang started getting sick, so I stole some of the medicine for us. It wasn't enough, some still died, our leader was one of them. But me, I didn't take the medicine or get sick. I just figure it's still inside me like a time bomb just waiting to go off, but I don't want to know for sure. Can you understand that?”

“I think so Duo, but isn't that the reason you should know for sure. To take away the uncertainty? The war may be over and you're no longer a Gundam Pilot, but your life still has meaning. You're a Preventer now, still working for a lasting peace. Nothing will interfere with that.”

“Ok then.” Duo said after a long pause. “I'll let Sally, and only Sally, do the physical. On one condition.”

“Go on.” urged Heero.

“You'll be right there with me.”

“Of course I will. I said you're my best friend, I'll do anything for you Duo.”

“I don't know how you put up with me.” Duo said, shaking his head. “Come on, let's go and start on these lists before Wufei blows a gasket.”

*******

TBC…

*******

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