Part Seven

I kicked off my heels with far too much glee for a grown professional woman and dropped into my chair. I blinked when the door opened shyly. I wasn't expecting anyone. Jonathan peeked his head around the corner of my office and I motioned him in.

"Difficult meeting?" He walked in with an easy sort of grace that said he didn't think about himself much.

I laughed. "Why do you ask?"

"You kicked your shoes across the room hard enough to leave dents in the wall." He gave me that disarming Boy Scout smile that always made me smile in return. "The L4 delegate giving you problems?"

"When isn't Madeilina Albright not giving anyone problems?" I gave him a slightly frazzled look. "I thought Wufei was going to kill her."

"Well, that would solve the problem now wouldn't it?" He stretched his long frame out and gave me a rueful look. "To bad murder is illegal."

I gave him a look that bordered on disapproval and laughter. "Lets not go there."

He gave me a slow smile. "No problems here. Besides I came to talk about a far more... ah... personal matter."

I could feel my shoulders start to tense. I thought I knew the topic he wanted to deal with, and I wasn't sure I was willing. "I'm not sure how much say I have over your personal life, Jonathan."

The gaze he leveled on me was so serious it was painful. "Relena, I respect you, admire you, and am completely loyal to you. I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in Hilde, but if you disapprove I won't even think in that direction."

The absolute loyalty in his voice, and the weight of all that devotion terrified me to my core. I swung my legs over my desk so I could sit directly in front of him and stare into those shocked brown eyes. "Jonathan. I do not have that much control over your life. I'm your boss, and that's it. If you want to date Hilde, that's between you and her." A small, very selfish part of me want to tell him to stay far, far away from her, but that would be completely unethical and I knew it. I settled for a more subtle form of discouragement. "Although I'll warn you, she's got a mean right hook."

"You're making up the right hook part." He grinned me, relaxed and calm. "I should know, we were in basic together. It's her left jab you have to worry about."

I laughed out loud even though a small part of me was very afraid. Duo, Heero, you two had better hurry up, or your love may be with someone else.

Part Eight

Dorothy greeted me at the door when I came home, late, cranky, sopping wet, and very nearly violent. I snarled at her wordlessly when she got between me and the couch that I desperately wanted to sink into. She merely gave me a smile full of sweetness.

"Well, now, aren't you in a lovely mood? You'd probably feel better if you got out of your shoes and those wet things." She laughed when I looked down at myself, sighed, and then stripped then and there.

"That's efficient." Hilde was leaning against the wall looking as if she wasn't sure she should stay or run. Her eyes were full of apprehension and regret. I hated that look more than I hated the pain I normally saw in them because I knew I had caused it.

"Hilde..." I walked across the room to hold her hands. "I'm so sorry."

She frowned at me. "Why? I was the one being bitchy."

"I think we both were, honestly." We looked at each other and couldn't quite figure out how to say we were sorry and make it sound sincere. We were, but the words had gotten so tired that they didn't mean anything anymore.

Dorothy held up a hand and walked over to us. "Okay, wait a minute. What the hell is going on? You're both making idiots out of yourself. Not that it's all that unusual but normally Relena does it with her clothes on." Trust Dorothy to put things in perspective.

It didn't do much for pride when Dorothy all but fell over laughing at us when we explained how we had managed to hurt each others feelings last night. "You two got into a tiff over men? Lord, that has to be the stupidest reason on the face of the planet." She crossed her arms over her chest, "Now kiss and make up, and then we'll have a lovely little reconciliation party."

Hilde perked up at that. "Party?"

Dorothy snickered. "I think getting smashed is in order."

I arched an eyebrow at the pair of them, and a lovely pair they were, perfectly complementing each other. Dorothy's long blond hair, elegantly scooped up into a sweeping ponytail. Hilde's short black hair a mess of curls about her face. Short and dark matched against tall and fair. The sudden burst of affection made me stupid. "Sure. Why not? My day had been pure hell anyway, might as well get wonderfully drunk."

Hilde grinned at me, and Dorothy ruffled my hair in affection. "That's the spirit. Lets get wonderfully snookered, silly, and then maybe you'll let me try on all your clothes."

She did manage to talk me into let her try on all my clothes; it only took a bottle and half of Dom's to talk me into too. We were well into our third bottle of bubbly and I needed held up to navigated the hallway from one room to another. Once Dorothy had gotten through my clothes she started in on Hilde's. It had already been decided that we were definitely due for a shopping trip. According to my wonderful best friend my clothes were more likely than not to attract pedophiles, and Hilde's dress clothes had caused our fashion conscious friend to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"I can't believe you have nothing to wear when you go out." Dorothy huffed at Hilde. Apparently not owning at least one mini-skirt, black dress, or pair of heels was a major crime in Dorothy's book. Her commentary on my clothing had been almost as bad.

"I do too. Those black pants are perfectly fine." Hilde growled and swatted away the dress Dorothy was trying to tug over her head. "Not wearing a damned dress to go out dancing. Gets in the way."

Dorothy arched one eyebrow and commented dryly. "Oh, I think Duo and Heero would beg to differ about it being in the way."

It took me a minute to process that comment. When I did I dissolved into a fit of giggles. "CAT! I can't believe you said that!"

Hilde's cheeks were a brilliant stain of red, and she gave us both a fair approximation of Heero's scowl. "I'm not even going to go into how wrong you are. Those two don't care about me."

I crossed my arms over her legs and rested my head on them. I smiled up at her. "Oh, I don't know about that." Before she could reply I turned to Dorothy with a mock solicitous tone. "Well, since you have shown great disapproval with our wardrobes, care to show us how it should look?"

Dorothy pretended to give the request great consideration before nodding her head with a drunk's sense of decorum. "All right. I'll show you how a proper wardrobe is to be put together."

I sighed realizing that going to Dorothy's room would require me to actually stand up and move. Something I'm not real good at when blasted out of my head. Hilde slid to her feet with the boneless grace of a trained martial artist and offered me her hand. Between the two of us we managed to get through the door of her room to the hallway.

"Whoops. Watch out there, Rel." Hilde tucked one arm under mine and we tried to make a straight course for Dorothy's room. "Easy does it, nice and slow."

Dorothy snagged the bottle of bubble and tittered her way down the hall, humming like a lunatic. I dissolved into giggles for the third time in the night. So I'm a giggly, friendly drunk. Better than a brooding one.

"Oh my god. I am so, so, so, so, soooo unbelievably drunk." The world was nice and warm and definitely fuzzy. I liked it being fuzzy.

"I think we have definitely reached the snookered phase." Dorothy snickered. She was leaning precariously against her door as she watched us make our way from Hilde's room. I lived in an apartment for God's sake. How did it get so big?

Hilde grinned and then giggled as I started to slide perilously close to horizontal. "Man, Rel you have abs-fucking-lutely no tolerance. Sheesh, one bottle and you're smashed."

I blew at my hair and sneered at her. "Laugh it up, shorty. You ain't so sober either."

"More sober than you."

"Are not."

"Are too. Who's the one wobbling down the hallway?"

"Are not. Who's wobbling with me?"

"Shut up. Are too."

"Won't. Are not."

"Are too."

"Are NOT."

"Are too. Are too. Are too!"

"Girls, girls, a little dignity please. We are grown women here, not three year olds." Dorothy struck what she thought was a matriarchal pose; unfortunately for her, that took her back away from the wall that had been supporting her and she slid quickly to the floor looking a little flustered.

"Shut up, Barbie." Hilde shot back with all the decorum of a sailor.

"Barbie!" Squeaked Dorothy.

"Definitely Barbie. Look at you. Great tits, more blonde hair than you can shake a really big stick at, and legs up to your goddamn ears. Barbie." Hilde finally got frustrated enough with our lack of progress that she just picked me up. I squeaked and her eyes nearly crossed with concentration as she tried to walk down the hallway without us both landing on our rumps.

"I always wanted to be Barbie." I commented from the unstable security of Hilde's arms. "That bitch has everything."

"Ken ain't bad either." Hilde replied. Then she looked at me. "So THAT explains your fascination with pink."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Oh, now that's mature, Ms. Minister of Foreign Affairs."

"But extremely satisfying."

"Bah. Ken's overrated." Dorothy pushed herself up and followed us to the bed. It wasn't fair. She didn't even sway. I have two glasses I can't walk straight to save my soul. I can tell you everything that is happening, but I've got absolutely no motor control. It's not fair.

"So says the woman who tossed over Quatre." I muttered.

"More like got tossed over by him." To my utter horror one crystalline tear slipped over the edge and spilled down her cheek.

"Cat? Oh baby..." I crawled across the bed to cuddle her. "What happened then? I thought you divorced him."

"Only after finding him in bed with Trowa." She smiled at my dumbfounded look even though those silver tears kept slipping down her cheeks. "I knew. I'm not stupid. You'd have to be absolutely blind not to notice what was going on with them during and after the war. I just didn't think I'd find him boinking him in our bed. That's all."

Hilde snuggled up to Dorothy's knees from her position on the floor. "I'd've killed him. It's a matter of principle."

"Why did you marry him if you knew?" I couldn't quite comprehend this one. In my alcohol befuddled mind I couldn't quite grasp it. "Why did he marry you if you knew? My brain hurts."

"I think we were using each other to fix ourselves. Sort of some sick form of punishment." Dorothy sighed and flopped over backward onto the bed. "He wanted to rescue me from me. He wanted to fix me; make me into the sweet kind person he saw in his head. And he didn't want to admit he was gay. His religion sort of frowns on it."

Hilde crawled up the bed to lean over Dorothy to give her what would have been a very serious expression if she hadn't been drunk out of her mind. "Fuck him."

"That's right." I nodded and then moaned when it made the world spin. "Men only see what they want to see of women anyway. Mother or child, virgin or whore, they only see what they want. Bastards."

"I say we paint his gundam pink." Hilde announced with great relish.

"They blew them up, remember? He doesn't have a gundam any more. Besides, what's wrong with pink?" I huffed at her. "It's a very dignified color."

"Yeah, if you're five and a daddy's girl." Hilde sneered at me.

I gave an inarticulate shriek of rage and whopped her a good one with a pillow. Clobbering Dorothy in the process.

"Hey! I'm neutral here! Leave me out of it." Dorothy whapped me with a pillow in self-defense. "Besides, I'm the one suffering here, remember?"

"Nothing like a pillow fight then." Hilde replied. "WAR!!!"

"That's it girly, you are so going down." Dorothy grabbed two pillows and proceeded to clobber the snot out of both of us with them. I'd forgotten what a warmonger she'd been.

Part Nine

We woke up somewhere in the late afternoon the next day. I was half buried under a pile of clothes and pillows. I guessed Hilde was curled up asleep on the foot of the bed. All I could see was her dark purple hair and one naked foot. I rolled over onto my back. Despite the raging headache I felt wonderful. I'd never had girlfriends come over and get gloriously drunk with me before. We'd been so silly. It had taken both me and Hilde to take down Dorothy once she got going.

Dorothy.

I sat up fast enough to make the world spin and my stomach protest but I needed to find our local blonde. It was the hair that gave me a clue. She was wedged between Hilde and me; one hand on top of Hilde's head, the other flung out into space. I sighed in contentment. She looked fine. I brushed out her hair in with one hand.

She peeked open one eye. "Mornin'"

I giggled. "You sound like shit."

"You should hear yourself." She sighed and stretched before snuggling back into the covers. She held out one arm in invitation. "Wanna sleep it off?"

"Sure."

I skipped work. Hilde called me in sick, and explained the situation to Sylvia Noventa, Junior Minister of Foreign Affairs. Somewhere during the conversation Wufei had gotten involved and the yelling was enough to make my head ring three doors away from the vid phone. Hilde finally ended the conversation with some expletives that made my cheeks burn just to hear them. Then she came stomping into my room and glowered at me.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yep."

"Good. 'Cause I just proved it with that call. Pig-headed bastard." She grumbled as she turned to stomp back out of the door, just before she opened the door she turned to me. "Duo and Heero...Are they really coming back to Earth?"

"Yes, they insisted." We watched each other for a long time.

"Why?"

"Hilde," My voice held the same tone as a disapproving teacher. "I'm sure you know why."

She just sighed and walked back out the door. I fell back onto the bed and sighed at the ceiling. Sometimes I wondered if I was doing the right thing, or if I was just making things worse. Dorothy sighed softly before reaching out to tangle her fingers with mine, a small show of support and an appreciated one. We lay there breathing together companionably before she shifted her weight to one side to look at me.

"Relena..." Dorothy frowned and blew at one shimmering strand of hair in irritation. "How to say this.... Hilde understands that you mean no harm. She knows that. But her pride makes it hard for her to accept what's freely offered."

"Offered by me, or by them?"

"Hmmm, both, I think." I tilted my head a little to get a better look at her and smiled a little. She chewed at one fingernail before I pulled it away. She scowled a little. "I still chew on my nails."

"Nervous habits die hard. Thanks for the support." She grinned and tugged on my hair.

"Anytime. Being best friends with the Minister of Foreign Affairs has its perks."

"Still using me for my position, I see." I tried to look offended, but ended up laughing.

"If something works you stick with it."

Part Ten

I woke up to Dorothy shaking me hard enough to make my teeth rattle. Her face was pale and tense, a look that made my stomach do a slow roll before twisting into a hard knot. Dorothy was already on her feet. My eyes narrowed when she slipped into a shoulder harness. I knew she carried, and had authorized it, but Dorothy never went out armed unless she thought something dangerous was likely to happen. I looked up into Dorothy's eyes and they were as distant from my understanding as the moon. It was as if a switch had been thrown to conceal my sweet, loyal friend. "Cat, what's going on?"

"There's been another bombing." Her voice was iced over; fury hummed underneath it like the warning growl of a large cat. "Hilde was caught in it. Chang called. Both Maxwell and Yuy were on their way there. The L4 delegate was caught in the blast as well."

I pressed my palms against my eyes and rocked for a moment. "When? Where?"

"Fifteen minutes ago, at the suggested site for the SI home office. That's why Hilde was there, and the delegates. Apparently the L4 delegate was hassling Hilde, and that's why they were in the building at the time." Dorothy turned around to look at me. I reached out to touch her, gently, and she grieved for just a moment. For one moment she let me keep her steady, then she pushed away to compose herself. "We can be there in ten minutes."

"Make it five."

We didn't talk on that tense drive. My stomach had twisted itself into a hard knot of fear, guilt, and grief that refused to go away. We had nothing on Hilde's condition. At that moment I couldn't care less for Albright's status, but Hilde.Hilde worried me. Scared me senseless. I couldn't stand to lose her. It didn't make sense to lose her now, after the insanity of the war--for her to die now would be the ultimate insult from God.

The harsh daylight made the blast seem so much worse than the one before. Darkness had given the other one a surreal distance, blurring on the bloody edges. Sunlight gave us no such comfort. I pressed my hand to my mouth and moaned. It was either that or scream.

I saw Heero first as I walked towards the ruined building. His face was perfectly blank, but when he looked at, me his eyes drown me in his sorrow and fear. I just reached out to hold him for a moment and rock. Jonathan came running towards us on his long legs; his eyes were dark with more emotions than I could put a name to, but they ripped him apart.

"They haven't found her yet. Fuck, I didn't know she would be there today. I didn't know." I placed two fingers on his lips and quietly hushed him. Heero stiffened in my arms before gently untangling himself. He brushed his hand over my hair.

"Wufei wants to see you," and then he vanished into the rushing crowd of EMTs, firemen, police, and rescue personnel. I swayed for a moment at the loss of his support before collecting myself.

"Jonathan. Make sure this place is closed to everyone. And I mean everyone. Get Une and Sally in on this, and have them talk to Dorothy. We might be looking at a terrorist attack." I laughed to myself a little. "As a civilian, I shouldn't be here."

Jonathan gave me a curt nod and jogged off. Give the boy some orders and he's good to go. I stumbled towards the ruined building, half-blind by fresh tears. Hilde had joked that we would need to demolish the place before it could be usable; that joke seemed horribly macabre now. Hands caught me and held me against a warm chest. I let Wufei hold me, and it was like I was holding up him for a little while. He breathed into my hair. I reached up to stroke his cheek.

"She'll be alive." She had to be alive. She just had to be. After everything that she's been through, she had to be alive. One person who should have been here wasn't. I couldn't find him. That thick braid should have been the first thing I saw. "Where is Duo?"

"He is with the search crews. He started digging at the rubble with his bare hands, until they dragged him away to bandage his bleeding hands." Wufei pointed to the long braid that I could barely make out over the field of strewn brick bits. "There. He's been there since they got started."

Duo was covered in the thick white dust of the ruined concrete. I couldn't see his face, but his movements were those of ruthlessly controlled fear. He nearly blended in with the rest of the rescue crew. His shirt rolled up to his elbows and his lower face covered by the now gray mask, but one quick flash of his eyes and I could see the desperation.

I made a move to go to him, but Wufei held me tight against him. I relaxed against him. He was right. Now was not a good time to try to comfort Hilde's lover. Duo was the type to need distance, and something to do. He needed to feel like he was doing something to help her.

"Do they have any idea of..of.well," I couldn't figure out the right way to ask the question.

"They think Hilde and Madeliena were at the floor level." Wufei sounded tired, bone-achingly tired. "But if they were far enough away from the blast site, they should be fine."

I touched his cheek. "There was no way you could have known."

He looked at me, and the pain in his gaze was older than it had the right to be. "I can't ever seem to protect what I love."

I winced at that, and then, very deliberately, kissed the palms of both hands. "You have protected us, many, many times. But sometimes-"

"Shit happens." Sally was walking towards us with a grimly determined look on her face. "There was nothing either one of you could have done. Now could we stop the guilt fest and get on with the rescue operation?"

Trust Sally to put things in perspective with the truth. She surveyed the scene in a manner that reminded me so much of Hilde that it brought a fresh bout of tears. She smiled and gently brushed her thumb over my cheeks, removing the tears. "Don't do that; Hilde would get upset."

That made me laugh--a weak shaky one, but a laugh. "You're right." I made a helpless little gesture with my hands. "What should I do?"

Sally jerked her thumb behind her. "Keep those mongrels at bay."

The reporters had already come sniffing around. It made me growl low in my throat. I understood the need for news media, but the way they feed on the suffering of others enraged me. "I'll handle them."

"Don't alienate them, Relena." Wufei's voice held more amusement than warning.

I turned to him with wide, innocent eyes. "Who, me?"

Sally gave me a little push towards the gathering horde, but not before whispering in my ear. "I'll take care of things on this end. You make sure those idiots out there don't make it worse."

I nodded. I trusted Sally to bring order to the reigning chaos. In so many ways, Sally was like a protective older sister to the pilots and I. She was fiercely protective and loving, but definitely not above giving one of us a quick boot if she felt we needed it. She'd take care of things.

The reporters started yapping as soon as I neared them. The mere cacophony of their voices made the headache brewing in my temples throb, and threaten to double. I held up my hand for silence. It took them a few minutes, but when they realized that I wasn't going to talk unless they shut up, they settled down. And who says reporters are stupid?

"One question at a time, please." They all started waving their hands around like excited preschoolers. I scowled at them before I caught myself, and was amazed when they reacted like I had scolded them. Their heads went down rather sheepishly. "I don't have a mike, so you'll have to be quiet. The story should be worth it."

That got a few quick grins from the younger ones. It was rare for me to break out of the strict etiquette that had been beaten into me, but the highly informal setting and the stress of the situation merited it. "I can't tell you details at the moment. The police will issue an official statement when we have a better idea of what happened. No, I can NOT comment on speculation."

There were a few shouted questions--some very good ones, surprisingly enough--but I shook my head. "I am not at liberty to give you detailed information at this time. Obviously, there was an explosion, and the police and fire departments are currently searching for survivors and the cause. There will be an official press conference later in the day."

"Minister Darlian!" A fresh-faced girl with huge brown eyes pushed her way to the front of the crowd. "What are you doing here? You weren't here during the explosion, were you?"

She was young enough that curiosity and honest worry warred in her voice and eyes. Everything she felt was reflected in those honest brown eyes. I smiled at her. "I wasn't here during the blast. This is the site of my pet project; I came as soon as I heard."

"By 'pet project,' you mean the Special Investigations Bureau?" An older man with salt-and-pepper hair asked.

"Yes. But there will be an official press conference for that as well."

"Not nearly as much fun, Minister," a younger man protested. He had a lightning-quick grin and probably just oozed charisma when he was on camera. "We don't get to banter with you."

I laughed at that, and it wasn't bitter and hurting. Sometimes moments like this reminded me that I liked my job. I bitched and moaned about it, but honestly I liked it. "I'm probably not supposed to do this right now; however, I'll see if I can arrange an informal press conference sometime. For right now, we don't know exactly what happened, but we will."

"Sounds like a promise, Minister Darlian," the older gentleman stated.

Part Eleven

The reporters dispersed, a few lingering in hopes of nabbing some tidbit more that would land them the front page. The Red Cross showed up with coffee for the rescuers, and medical attention for anyone who needed it. I worked with them handing out coffee and wrapping people in blankets. It was hot, grueling, but it kept my mind off the fact that Hilde was buried forty floors down.

"Relena." I blinked at Heero's quiet call, and then gasped, but it ended in a sigh. He was carrying Duo in his arms like you would a sick child, or a hurt lover. With Duo cradled high against Heero's chest, with all that beautiful auburn hair falling like a waterfall, the pair looked like a picture out of a romance novel. Except that Duo's face was pale and drawn, his hands seeping blood through the torn bandages, and his knees ripped open. I opened my arms and delicately wrapped a blanket around him as Heero lowered him gently to the ground.

"How long has it been?"

"Too long."

I touched Heero's cheek, and when he turned to look at me his eyes were beautiful in the depth of emotion that they held. "They'll find her."

He dropped his forehead against my palms, and we sat there with Duo cradled between us. Duo's moan was so low that I wasn't sure I would have heard it if it hadn't been for Heero's immediate reaction. He shifted Duo's weight into his lap so his face, not the crumpled mass of the bombed building, was the first thing that Duo saw. I watched as Duo opened his eyes, adjusted to the situation, and decided what to do; it took less than a minute. There was no slow fluttering of those unfairly long lashes, no questioning look around; his eyes just snapped open like he'd shaken himself out of a disturbing dream.

He sat up, and grimaced when he tried to run one hand through his hair, which was tangled and covered with that fine white powder from the demolished concrete. When Duo looked at me his eyes were tired and a little ashamed. It was a look that he'd given me more than once during the war. "Relena, I-"

I put two fingers to his mouth. "Duo, be quiet."

"You're the only one he ever shuts up for." Heero sounded mildly aggrieved.

I blinked at Duo, and he just grinned sheepishly and shrugged. He grimaced when the movement jarred his shoulder. He looked down at his hands and then over at the rubble that was being excavated as quickly as was safely possible. The look on his face was frightening in its intensity. I gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be fine; you have to believe that."

"I know. Hel will be just fine," Duo said quietly, and then grinned up at me. "You can't kill a Valkyrie, can you?"

"No, you can't." Heero held Duo tightly about the waist, burying his face in Duo's vibrant hair. I wished Hilde could see them this way, to know how much they both loved her. Part of the problem was her pride; the other part was something very close to insecurity. I wondered if she knew just where she fit into their world, and what a central part of it she was.

"I haven't been handling this very well, have I?" Duo asked me. I remembered my blind, pounding fear when I thought Wufei might have been killed, that I might have lost him forever before I'd even gotten a chance, and I thought I might be able to understand what Duo was feeling. I squeezed his hand; there just weren't words for it.

"They think they might have found the central support structure," Wufei stated quietly. Sometimes I think he doesn't walk; he just beams from place to place like Captain Kirk. I was the only one who jumped, but Wufei's voice had been making me jumpy lately. He watched Duo with fathomless eyes. "They think they might be close to where Hilde is. Please don't do anything rash, Maxwell. Dammit."

I could have told him his last plea, and it was a plea as much as he might have liked to deny it, would be in vain. Duo was already sprinting towards the site, with Heero not far after him. I had always thought that Heero was the faster of the two. Wufei sighed in frustration. I smiled up at him from my kneeling spot on the ground. "They love her."

"Aa." We looked at each other in what might have been a revealing moment if it hadn't been for Duo's shout of discovery.

People converged on the spot almost instantaneously. Wufei and I were forced to push and shoulder our way through the crowd of excited EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and other assorted personnel. When I took the third elbow in the side, I'd had enough.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I know I'm just a civilian, and I know that I had absolutely no reason to be there, but sometimes there are perks to being a World Leader. People scrambled to get out of my way so I could make the appropriately dignified approach.

What I saw made my heart do a small spin and then settle into a nice puddle of sappy goo. Duo cuddled Hilde against his chest, face buried in her short hair, just rocking very slowly. Heero, the ever-practical one, was trying to pry his lover's hands away so he could check Hilde for damage. Hilde was either too tired, or too overwhelmed, to make much more than a few token complaints about being manhandled. But when an EMT sidled up to the trio, she treated the poor girl to a glare that promised a slow and painful death if they were interrupted.

"Duo," Heero finally growled in exasperation. "We need to see if she's been hurt."

To my utter amazement, Heero's befuddled horror, and Duo's distress, Hilde began to cry. She hid her face against Duo's chest and sobbed. Duo held her closer, while Heero made anxious squeaky sounds. I don't think Heero could have been any more surprised if she had reached out and slapped him.

When Hilde finally turned back to the two men who were desperately trying to comfort her, I could tell that she was laughing. Despite the blood that had dried in a sharp line down the side of her face, the bruises that darkened one side, and her obvious pain, I had never seen her quite so happy. Heero looked as if someone had dropped him the middle of a play and he had no idea what his lines were. She reached out and cupped his face.

"I'm happy," She laughed at his dumbfounded look. "I know, I know. But I'm happy. I missed you two so much." Her voice broke and Duo held her tighter. "So much."

"I hate to break up the happy reunion, children." Sally's voice cut through considerate silence and shook us all back into reality. She stood with one hand on her hip, watching the trio like an indulgent older sister. "But we do have one more victim down there, and Hilde does need medical attention. Now."

Warmth and amusement tempered the obvious command in her voice. Hilde squeaked when Duo simply stood, still cradling her in his arms, with one smooth movement. The rescuers made an aisle for the threesome, and the EMTs had enough sense of self-preservation not to crowd them as they made their way to the ambulance.

I watched with a happy little glow in my stomach as Duo stalked towards the ambulance. Only when Duo was feeling intense emotion did he ever shut up. Besides that one inarticulate cry of discovery, he had not spoken since they had found her. He stood in front of the ambulance, with Hilde cradled against his chest like she was a child, for a long time. Heero placed a hand on his shoulder, and Duo shuddered once.

When Duo did speak he didn't look at her, but his tone held more emotions than I had thought possible; "You little fool."

"I thought you'd say something like that." I couldn't see her face, but I know she was smiling that smile that women sometimes get when the men they love are doing something typically male.

"Don't you ever leave me alone again." Duo's voice shook for a moment. "Don't leave me."

"Never." Hilde grasped Heero's hand and he threaded his fingers through hers, and then rested his head against Duo's. "We'll figure this out. Even if it kills us."

Wufei snorted, not unkindly. "More likely they'll end up killing each other before the week is out."

I stomped on his foot and dabbed at my eyes. So I'm a closet romantic; so sue me.

Part Twelve

I watched the ambulance drive off with a highly sedated Madeliena Albright and a very irate Hilde, but the EMTs had both Duo and Heero to protect them from the diminutive German. Wufei leaned against one of the fire trucks and closed his eyes.

"Is there any evidence?" I asked him.

"Usable evidence, you mean?" he replied without opening his eyes.

"That's what I mean." I leaned against the truck next to him, and he very carefully wrapped an arm around my shoulders like it hurt to move.

"I don't know. I'm not trained to pick up the pieces." He opened one eye and shot me a sardonic look. "And I doubt they would have much tolerance for a civilian mucking around in their affairs."

"I suppose not," I said in the same self-mocking tone.

"Besides, we've created a department to handle such matters," Wufei said, and smiled like he was sharing a private joke.

I looked at him steadily for a long time before laughing. I laughed longer than I should have, and sighed gustily at the end of it. I was still tired, sweaty, and aching, but no longer quite so heartsick. The problems that had been weighing on my mind didn't seem so heavy anymore, because I knew that I didn't have to deal with them alone anymore. I've always known that, but this was the first time that I realized it. Wufei was watching me with an expression that made my breath catch in my throat.

"Wufei?" My voice sounded a little breathy. It made me wince inside, but there was an intensity to his gaze that made his eyes seem darker.

He blinked, and I could see him start to pull away from whatever it was he'd been about to say. He looked away from me. "I have things I should attend to."

"At seven in the evening on a Friday?" I asked incredulously. He shrugged imperially and started to turn away. I caught his arm and made him look at me. "Oh no you don't."

"'Oh no I don't' what?" he asked. His voice sounded amused, like I'd done something cute and girly, but he didn't meet my eyes.

"You explain to me what that look was all about, Chang Wufei." I made him face me. We were playing a little came of cat-and-mouse with our gazes.

"What look?" I made a small huffy sound and he smirked at me, which was his mistake because it made him look me full in the eyes. The look I saw in them made my toes curl and my stomach tighten. I smiled like a cat with cream, which made his eyes widen.

"That look," I said softly. I had an impulse that was so sudden and unexpected that it made me shudder. I wanted to kiss him, just to see what he would do, just to make sure I was right. Looking up at him in the dusky light, I couldn't think of a reason why not.

I know that there were other people moving around us, but for that moment there was just him. I watched the small lines form between his eyes, but before he could form a question I kissed him, just a chaste brush of lips. It felt like an electric shock ran down my body. This was what I'd been waiting for, my heart told me, this was what I'd been hoping for. Just the touch of our lips made little fireworks go off in blood. I pulled back from him, feeling breathless and giddy. Wufei was watching me with narrowed eyes, like he was concentrating fiercely on something. Concentrating on me; the thought made me shiver.

Wufei was not satisfied with a mere whispering kiss. He slid his arms around my waist and deepened the kiss slowly, so that pressure built inside me and melted my knees. I didn't close my eyes, but watched him as he watched me; never had I felt anything quite so right. I was dimly aware that my hands had slipped up to clutch at his back. I moaned before I could stop myself when he pulled back reluctantly.

"Doing this in public is not a wise idea," he whispered, his voice deeper than normal. There was a little sigh from the people watching us, and I suddenly became aware that we were the center of everyone's attention. I blushed before the anger came. I did not want to share this moment of revelation with anyone. This was between us, and us alone. They had no right to be openly staring at us as if we existed for their entertainment. The one thing that I despise about my life is my utter lack of privacy. Well, now I was going to insist that this one small moment be private.

"I'm sure all of you have better things to be doing," I stated coldly. Wufei glowered at them with the full force of his disapproval and scorn to emphasize my words. No one would meet my eyes as they hurried to be anywhere else. Wufei gave me a pleased smile. I didn't smile at him when I turned to him. I took his hand in mine. "This is between us and no one else. They have no right to watch us as if we were here for their entertainment."

He simply nodded.

"It's not fair that we have to be the center of everyone's attention all the time," I said, trying to find the words that I wanted. "This moment is ours alone, even if it did have to take place in public."

He nodded again.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked.

"Sometimes silence is a virtue," he said sententiously.

I swatted at his arm irritably. "Stop smirking at me."

That made him grin unrepentantly. He pulled me into the circle of his arms, and lowered his lips to my ear so his next words seemed like a caress. "Tell me you don't have anything planned for this evening."

I stared up into his eyes. One kiss and we were both more than ready and willing to jump in the sack. It made me wonder about my self-control. There was something else in his eyes that stopped that train of thought. There was lust in those dark eyes, but there was also this need. A need so deep and overwhelming that it threatened to eat away his heart. He had been alone for so long, and it gnawed at him. I realized then that I wanted to take away that loneliness, that aching regret. I wanted to hold him until it eased. I put what I felt into my eyes when I answered him. "For you, I will always be free."

He traced the curve of my cheek with his thumb as he pulled back from me. "You humble me."

"It's a tough job," I told him with grave seriousness. "But someone has to do it."

He laughed quietly, but it ended in a sigh. It was late, and we were both exhausted. I supposed that could be the reason for our odd behavior, but somehow I didn't think so. A dam had broken, and there was no taking back the emotions that had finally surfaced. I think he knew that too. He looked at me, and shrugged slightly. A simple gesture, but unbelievably communicative coming from him.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied thoughtfully.

I smiled softly. "Well, I guess a good start would be a date."

"A date?"

"You know. You pick me up, we go out to dinner, maybe a movie. A date." I gave him my best wide-eyed and innocent look. He regarded me with deep suspicion. I guess he really did know me a little too well. "Normal people do it all the time."

"Since when has either of us ever been normal?" he asked dryly.

"Then we'll have a not-normal date," I replied crisply. Then I grinned; I couldn't help it, we were being cute and the irony was finally dawning on me. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"You're wheedling," he said with more suspicion than amusement.

"I'm quite good at wheedling; it's my job, after all," I informed him with mock seriousness. I smiled at him adorably. "Don't you want to go on a date with me?"

He was giving me a look that said he wasn't sure where the trap was, but he was positive there was one. "All right."

"That's enthusiastic," I huffed in a tone that said I was only pretending to be offended. I crossed my arms over my chest, and gave him a fair imitation of his glower. "Stupid male, you can't even see a perfect opportunity when it comes and knocks on that thick skull of yours."

Wufei gave me a sideways glance, and then laughed. "Determined, aren't you?"

"You should have learned by now that I rarely give up when I truly want something." I took his hands in mine and looked down at them to cover my blush. His hands weren't all that much bigger than mine, and long-fingered. There were calluses on his palms and the tops of his first two knuckles. "I want to be with you. I want to figure out this with you."

"8 o' clock then," he said quietly. His hand felt comfortable in mine. "Dinner, and maybe a movie."

I smiled at him. "Sure."

Score one for the blonde.

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