Notes: You guys pretty much better be prepared for anything from this point here on out. And that's pretty much all I've got to say about that.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
--- John F. Kennedy
"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."
--- Malcolm X
Requiem for the Sinners Part 3
Waltzing On Razorblades
"That was foolish."
Relena stood in front of the vast vanity mirror, taking out her earrings distractedly, scowling as she worked them out. "I know. He never should have challenged me in front of the entire Council like that."
"I was talking about you, Relena," Heero replied, his tone flat and frustrated.
"Unzip this, would you?" Obligingly, Heero stepped behind her unzipped Relena's dress. She stepped out of it dressed only in her bra and slip, moving to the walk-in closet. Heero was her personal guard, and she had long since gotten over the embarrassment of undressing in front of him.
She had also gotten over her childhood infatuation with him. The entire Cinq Court still believed she was sleeping with him. That he was her "consort." And how could they not? She thought. He followed her everywhere. He slept in the same room with her. He was incredibly gorgeous; she didn't have to eavesdrop on the female courtesans to know that. And it was a court; if there was no gossip, someone would make it up.
They thought she was sleeping with Heero Yuy the war hero, and that was exactly the way she wanted it, although she really didn't have time for that kind of thing, and had already pegged a romantic relationship with him as a lost cause.
If the court and the politicians gossiped about things that weren't true, then it kept them from talking about things that were.
It was to the point that he wasn't so much like a brother to her, or even like one of her other guards; he was more like a very pretty ornamental statue that followed her around, and gave rather good advice, when asked. Or even when not asked. As was the case now.
Relena rummaged through her dresses, talking to Heero without looking over at him where he stood in the entrance of the closet. "How was it foolish of me, Heero?"
"You couldn't pacify him? Why can't the World Nation give L2 what it wants?"
After pulling down a beautiful long dark blue silk dress and picking a pair of heels to match, Relena turned and glanced at him, giving him a serious, speculative look. "You really are naive, aren't you, Heero?"
He was silent.
/ She's calling me naive? /
Relena shook her head slightly, then pushed past him to lay the dress out at the foot of her canopy bed. "I don't know how to explain it to you, Heero, other than to just say it. We only have so much money to go towards war relief, and L2 is low priority."
She sighed, softly. "Besides, I'm just a figurehead now. You know that. The real power lies with the votes of the councillors, and you know as well as I do how the vote would have gone. It was better just to bring it down quickly."
Heero watched her examine the dress for any stains or tears before pulling it over her head. She really was growing up into a beautiful woman. Elegant cheekbones, clear cerulean eyes, smooth complexion. But there was a coldness to her now, a distracted cynicism brought about by too much politics.
"...Crossing Duo is dangerous, Relena."
Relena looked at him, then laughed a little. Nervously. "It's all right, Heero. He isn't used to politics yet. He just lost his temper. He'll cool off."
/ I hope so. Because he looked as if he was just waiting for you to say no to what he wanted. But waiting for what? /
"Don't underestimate him, Relena."
She cocked an eye at him skeptically. "Don't be stupid, Heero. Come over here and zip this up for me."
~~~Don't be stupid, Duo.~~~
Heero placed one hand, firm and cool, against her hip, zipping up the dress carefully with the other. Relena put her hand over his on her hip to steady herself.
/ He's not joking. Not this time. /
When he finished, Relena took his hand in hers and brought it to her face, closing her eyes a moment before looking up at him, smiling a little. He had grown taller in the four years since the first war.
But he was still her knight. He always had been.
"Don't worry, Heero."
"I'm Captain of the Guards, Relena. It's my job to worry."
She kissed him on the cheek, leaving a trace of perfume on him like a brand before she drew away to pick her jewelry.
"Then don't worry so much. Go find something to wear to the ball tonight."
Heero nodded at the dismissal.
And headed off to find Duo.
~*~
When Heero got to the conference center where the visiting councillors' quarters were, he approached the lobby desk. A vaguely pretty young girl was reading a paperback novel there, absentmindedly brushing a lock of her hair beneath her chin.
"Excuse me."
The girl looked up, and Heero saw the panicked recognition in her eyes as she put the book down quickly, straightening up. Everyone in the Cinq Kingdom could recognize Relena's Captain of the Guard. He was a legend.
Heero hated it.
"I'm sorry, Captain Yuy. How can I be of service to you?" She looked as if she might burst into tears if he said a cross word to her.
"Yes. I'm looking for the suite that was assigned to Councillor Duo Maxwell."
The girl nodded and swiveled her chair over to the computer, typing quickly at the keyboard. After a moment of scanning the monitor, she looked up at him. "The L2 representatives are being hosted on the seventh floor. Councillor Maxwell's room is 402."
"Thank you."
~*~
Heero knew which room was Duo's. He didn't need anyone to tell him the room number. It was the only door with a guard posted.
A young man sat casually in a chair outside of room 402, a pair of earphones buds in his ears, eyes closed as he moved his head gently to the music. He was young, but still older than either Duo or Heero. His hair was white-blond, blindingly so, and fell in soft, ill-cut waves. A jagged scar ran from his cheekbone all the way to the edge of his jaw.
He saw with alarm that there was a pistol across the young man's lap.
As if the guard had felt the vibrations of his approach, the young man's eyes opened, and calculating eyes the color of dead winter slush. He pulled the earphones from his ears and stood, gun in hand.
"May I help you?" The young man's voice was rough and husky, most likely from years of smoking cigarettes. The cordial words sounded strange coming from someone who looked like he would just as soon rob a liquor store.
"I'm here to see Councillor Maxwell-" Heero looked at the young man's laminated badge,
"Mr. Harper. Could you let him know I'm here?"
Harper narrowed his eyes at Heero suspiciously. "And who do I tell 'em is askin'?"
"Heero."
Harper gave him one more look-over. "You armed?"
Heero smiled slightly. It was a dangerous sight to see. "I'm captain of the imperial guard. I'm always armed."
"Hmph." Harper opened the door to Duo's suite. Heero could hear loud rock and roll music issuing from the room. ~~I hear you callin' and it's needles and pins, I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name, don't want to touch you but you're under my skin, I want to kiss you but your lips are venomous poison...~~
Heero expected the young man to go in and tell Duo he was here, but he simply shouted in. "Hey! Duo!!"
/ He calls him by his first name? / It reminded Heero achingly of the wars, when they had been friends. Allies. And even a little bit more than that. Why did Duo let his subordinates call him by his first name?
An answering cry came back. "What?"
"Somebody's here to see ya! Heero!"
"Just send him in."
Harper looked back at Heero, eyebrows raised, then shrugged a little. "You heard the boss. In you go then."
"Thanks," Heero replied drily, unable to keep the slightest tinge of sarcasm out of his voice.
~*~
Duo was sitting at a wide table close to the open balcony. His feet, clad in black military boots, were thrown up on it, legs crossed casually at the ankles. Papers were spread haphazardly across the table, pinned by paperweights to keep the late afternoon wind coming in off the balcony from blowing them away.
There was a goblet of some light amber drink on the table, and he had a book outstretched across his thighs, reading. He was dressed in a pair of dress slacks and an unbuttoned dress shirt, which exposed his tanned, muscular chest and stomach.
Heero didn't remember him being that bronzed or athletic, but he knew that after quitting the Preventers, Duo had worked in a salvage yard before being brought into his... current occupation. So it made sense that he would be in even better shape than he had been back during the Wars.
Still, it was... surprising.
He looked up as Heero walked in, grabbing a remote off the table and turning the sound system down to where it was almost inaudible.
"Hey." He closed the book, and Heero caught a glimpse of the title. Machiavelli's "The Prince." He raised an eyebrow at Duo questioningly, who misinterpreted it.
"Don't give me that look, Heero. I can read, too."
The two of them looked at each other a moment silently, sizing each other up, and then Duo cracked a grin. "Well, buddy, as they say on this big ol' ball of dust, drag up a chair and come sit a spell."
Heero scowled. "Don't be flippant, Duo. I hate that."
"Right." Duo closed his eyes, smiling a little still. "Sorry. Want a drink?"
Heero glanced at the drink on the table. "What is it, champagne?"
Duo snorted. "Beer. Pretty glass though, don't you think?"
Heero smiled a little himself. "Sure."
Duo nodded his head towards the small refrigerator in the kitchenette. "There's the fridge. Maid's day off." He laughed. "You have no idea how hard it is to get a simple beer in a wine country like this..."
"Yes, I do," Heero replied curtly, and Duo laughed again, more warmly.
Heero walked over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out an iced bottle. He popped the cap on the edge of the table, settling into a chair beside his ex-partner. He took a swallow of the beer thoughtfully, letting the heady taste roll on his tongue. The two of them stared out at the darkening twilight.
"What're you doing here, Heero? Aren't you afraid someone will see you coming in here? Scandalous," Duo said, laughing a little bit. Heero could tell by the deep flush in his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes that Duo had already had quite a bit to drink.
"No. I don't care about those things."
"You wouldn't, would you?"
They were silent again. The quiet after Duo turned down the blaring music was heavy.
"You still angry?"
"That's a stupid question." Duo smiled a little. "And it's not the one you really wanted to ask, is it? I don't think so."
Heero sighed. "What are you doing, Duo?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out."
"Duo..." Heero said warningly.
Duo was silent, as inscrutable as a sphinx.
They were both silent. The radio was still playing softly. ~~Friends and liars, don't wait for me...'cause I'll get on, all by myself...I put millions of miles, under my heels...and still too close, to you I feel, yeah....~~
"Why can't things be like they were before, Heero?" Duo asked softly, sipping his drink.
Heero took a couple of swallows from the beer, draining almost three-fourths of it. He was thirsty. And he wasn't sure he wanted to answer.
"Because things change."
"Not everything."
Heero looked over at him, and Duo looked back. Their eyes met, and Duo smiled a little.
Heero knew what he meant. He shook his head, smiling a little, then drained the rest of his beer. He set the bottle on the table with a clunking sound. "The ball is soon."
"Hn," Duo said, smiling just a little. It was that strange, secretive grin. Heero didn't like it.
"I have to go, Duo."
Duo's smile faded, and he gazed out across the vineyards beyond the balcony. "...I know."
"Baka. Don't be stupid."
Duo looked over at him sharply. "I'm not stupid, Heero."
Heero's eyes widened a little. But his composure quickly recovered. "I know that. You know what I mean."
Duo continued to look at him hard for a moment, and then the former Deathscythe pilot seemed to shrug the comment off. "Yeah."
Heero risked reaching over. He laid his hand on Duo's shoulder, feeling the hard muscles beneath the soft cotton of the dress shirt, wishing there was nothing between them at all. "You'll be there?"
That smile again. "Yes."
Heero stood and stretched, vertebrae popping. He picked up the bottle and tossed it lightly into the open garbage can in the kitchenette, feeling a strange satisfaction as he heard the bottle shatter.
"See you, Duo." He started to leave.
"Heero?"
"Yeah?"
Duo looked over his shoulder. That expression was on his face again. That inscrutable, hidden expression. Sphinx eyes.
"Be careful."
Heero raised his eyebrows slightly. "Of what?"
Duo turned back towards the balcony.
"Choosing the wrong side."
TBC...
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