Give a little time to me or burn this out,
We'll play hide and seek to turn this around,
All I want is the taste that your lips allow,
My, my, my, my, oh give me love,
My, my, my, my, oh give me love
-Lyrics to 'Give Me Love' performed by Ed Sheeran
That Which Mends Part 12
Wufei was napping soundly when he felt something gently tickling his nose, stopping him mid-snore. His face scrunching, his hand automatically reached up to lazily swat at whatever the bristly offender was when he heard a familiar giggle. [1]
His onyx eyes blinking open, the Chinese agent quickly adjusted to his bright surroundings and turned his head to his left to find Anna propped up on her side and grinning down at him. Quickly placing himself on the blanket that they had set out for their picnic in the middle of his sprawling back yard, he smiled up at his lover, "Hey. Sorry I dozed off there."
"It's alright. You needed the nap and I was enjoying watching you sleep for a while now," Downs smirked as she tossed aside the long blade of grass that she had used to wake him. "But I also know how you don't like to mess up your sleep at night by napping for too long during the day."
Chuckling deeply, Chang folded his hands behind his head and replied, "More proof of why we work so well together." He winked with a sincere, "Thanks for taking care of me today. I feel worlds better than I did when I got up earlier."
The weapons expert beamed, "Good. Then I accomplished my mission for the day."
Pushing herself upright, she quickly cleared away the handful of cups, plates and snacks that remained out to place them back in the wicker basket that she had assembled for their outing as she informed, "I was thinking of reporting back to work in a little while to try and figure out that Gundanium- Hey!"
Anna's surprised cry at suddenly being gripped at the waist and moved to straddle the other officer turned into laughter. Shifting in her long, teal skirt with little yellow flowers to make herself more comfortable on top of her partner, she gave him a mischievous smile. "Or, I guess I could stick around," she snickered.
With a smirk curling his own lips, Wufei hummed an affirmative. "I know you can't stop thinking about your work, but please try for the rest of the weekend," he urged as he ran his thumbs over her hips that he continued to hold onto. "Let's just spend what time we have together before we absolutely have to report in for a change."
It wasn't very often the 'pack leader' suggested that they stay away from their office or duties, which made his request all the more profound. Blinking widely, Downs bit her lip and fought the burning of her cheeks.
"Okay," she nodded, the last thoughts of that pesky metal that had become her nemesis leaving her for good in that moment. "I have to admit, I like the sound of that," she purred as she ran a finger over her boyfriend's jaw line.
"Good," Agent Wolf nodded firmly back when his long-time crush descended upon him for a fiery kiss that took him by surprise for only a breath before he closed his eyes and returned the gesture while burying his fingers into a waterfall of red curls.
By the time the desperate exchange left the pair panting for air when they parted, Agent Fire leaned back so that she was sitting up on her counterpart's waist once more. A frown marring her face, she bit her lip and asked quietly, "Does it bother you that I was with all of the other guys before you?"
Abruptly aware of why she had initiated that passionate kiss, Chang's eyes grew. It appeared as though the topic of her past endeavors with the rest of their team had made more of an impact on her than she had originally let on.
Quickly recovering, Wufei shook his head and answered honestly, "No. That doesn't bother me at all, Anna. I wasn't exactly making my own feelings known back then and what you did, who you did it with or why was all entirely your right... it still is, the only difference is now you know where I stand."
Looping his arms around her waist, he shrugged, "Besides, I realize that what you had with them and what you have with me is night and day."
Downs swallowed hard and nodded vehemently.
At that, the handsome young man reassured her, "You're here with me now. That's all that matters to me. I love you and nothing that's behind us or in store for us is going to change that."
Her eyes shimmering, Anna giggled softly and bent down to claim his mouth again, this time for a much more soul-touching kiss. "I love you, too," she sighed as she finally let him up for air. She rocked her hips, making her lover groan.
"Now to make sure you know just how much," the redhead declared as she moved in to put her words into action.
* * * * * *
The weekend crawled into Sunday for Heero.
Well ahead of his courses, he saw little need to proceed in reading or planning his studies further than where he had left off. He did have some semblance of a life, after all... it just happened to not include friends or family.
And that was exactly the heart of Yuy's current problem.
Damn that Duo Maxwell for talking him into going out to Charlie's with the Preventers. That night brought on the first real check of reality for the psych major in being a part of something that he didn't realize he was missing from his existence until then.
And it was becoming increasingly difficult to deny the fact that he might have wished he had friends he could hang out with and talk to.
Studying the ceiling of his dorm room with his arms folded behind his head, Heero sighed. He had done everything possible to occupy himself and his trailing thoughts, from going out for a run to even going out to a movie he was interested in catching. But at the end of it all, he continued to come back to an empty place with no one to share his experiences with.
Fuck Duo Maxwell. Everything was as it should have been until that braided agent lured Yuy into his world.
A series of three firm knocks filled the air... a sound that had never resonated in the young scholar's room ever since he began his semester. It was so foreign, in fact, that he pushed himself up to stare in disbelief at the door. After a long pause, there were three more knocks that came on a little louder this time.
Someone actually was paying him a visit.
Frowning as he pushed himself up from his bed, Heero called, "Who is it?"
"Just a few friends stopping in to say 'hello,'" the muffled voice on the other side of the door replied.
Though he had only heard that timbre on one other occasion, the psych major instantly recognized it. And he wouldn't have called the man it belonged to a 'friend'. His frown deepening, he opened his room up to a tall blonde flanked by his smirking tight band of cohorts surrounding him.
Nodding firmly to the ring leader, Yuy folded his arms across his chest as his eyes narrowed. "Zechs Merquise," he greeted, his tone short and irritated. "This is unexpected. How many privacy laws did you break in tracking me down?"
Bemused, the federal agent smiled. "None," he answered, "we're here because this is a matter of your security and potentially the government's, which gives us every right to search through your residential records."
"My safety?" Heero repeated in confusion, though he held onto his displeasure of having the smug brood on his doorstep. "What are you talking about?"
His reaction didn't sit well with his guests, who matched his glare. "I think it would be best if we discussed it inside," Merquise suggested, gesturing to the closed off rooms down either end of the hallway. "People around here are a little jumpy after what happened to your classmate. It wouldn't be wise for them to overhear anything they shouldn't."
Reluctantly seeing his argument, the counselor stepped aside so that his unwanted company could file in. Sealing off his room, he turned to face the agents as he snapped, "Whatever it is, get to the point. I'm not buying your excuse to find me."
Noin raised her hands, grinning, "Hey, hey, kid. We're just trying to get to know you better, which is a matter for your safety as well as our own, since we're all on the same team now. Nobody around the office had any idea as to who you are or what you do now that you're clearly working with that sorry group of misfits. We just want to make sure that government dealings are safe with you."
Oh, they had tried to come up with a good enough cover for this visit, but Heero saw right through it. "If you were able to find where I'm staying, you obviously dug further to find what I'm studying, so you have that much on me," he shrugged.
Lucrezia, Alex, Mueller and Trent all blinked in shock, telling him that he had yet again deducted what was being fed to him correctly.
Chuckling, Merquise remained amused. "Just what I expected of the Preventers' new profiler," he commented.
The college student kept his face a blank mask, though the revelation took him aback. So, his friends' adversaries had looked into his background and come to the wrong conclusion that he was using his psychology major as a profiler as opposed to a counselor for Lady Une's crew.
It made sense considering how his true purpose had been kept private for the benefit of the young agents who were already dealing with ridicule and taunting from everyone who wasn't on their team.
And the very last thing Yuy was about to do was arm Zechs and his minions with his real reason for reporting in on their floor every day. Now that they had their theory, he was going to keep them down that path.
"Congratulations on figuring that out on your own. I'm impressed you didn't need someone to hold your hand in figuring out what a second grader could have put together," Yuy heard himself snort, surprising himself for going that far in defense of a group of people he had only known for a week. He never had to stick his neck out for anyone before, but he couldn't deny his urge to do so for the Preventers.
That got a reaction from the cocky blonde in the form of his eyes narrowing and teeth clenching. "You little sh-," he snarled, but stopped himself with a shake of his head. Clearing his throat, Merquise forced a grin as he said, "We came to offer you the opportunity to enlist with us. It's an invitation not extended to many since the FBI only takes on the best of the best."
Heero figured this was where the conversation was heading. Recalling the mention of a case of theirs that had gone wrong from bad profiling the last time he encountered the agents in the federal building's cafeteria, they were no doubt looking for someone reliable to pinpoint the psyche of whoever they were after.
Crossing his arms, Mueller suggested, "If you're not sure who you should be working with, you should ask your teammates what happened to their last profiler... Things didn't exactly go well for her. It'd be a shame if the same thing happened to you."
'Her,' the scholar locked away into his vault of gathered information on his new friends. The sixth agent was a young woman. What fate she had faced remained unknown, but that was not important in this moment.
With an eyebrow lifting, Yuy asked, "Is it common practice for intimidation to be used by the FBI for recruiting? Flattered as I am that you want me that bad, I'm going to have to turn down your offer. I'm already working with the best of the best."
To the shocked faces watching him, he ordered, "If there's nothing else to be said, get the hell out of my place. As you said, people around here are a little jumpy. If no one's noticed your unfamiliar car in the lot by now, they will and they'll be reporting it in as suspicious. I highly doubt that would look good to your superiors if they have to explain something like that away with the authorities at a sensitive time like this."
Zechs' enraged expression shifted into one of panic at that. Growling, he spun to back to his accomplices and barked out, "Let's go."
A pleased smirk curling his lips, Heero opened his door and stepped aside to give his guests enough room to file out. Staying back at the end of the line, Merquise paused in the entrance to bore down on his host. "Don't expect us to play nice going forward, kid," he warned. "You're either with us or against us and you just made it clear which side you're on."
"Threatening now," the student mused. "I'll be sure to remember that's another protocol that the FBI uses in trying to make friends. You'd catch more flies with honey, so you might want to change tactics there."
His jaw dropping, the tall agent snapped it closed as his face reddened. Storming away with what dignity he could still hold onto right then, he grumbled under his breath.
Not waiting to finish seeing the team disappear down the hallway, Yuy slammed his door closed and fell back a few paces as his hands began to shake ever so slightly at his sides. He wasn't used to standing up to anyone like that before... and he never could have dreamed that he would have been so bold when dealing with federal officers.
Dry washing his dampening face, he sighed in relief. Staring at the door once more, he murmured, "H-holy shit."
And just moments ago, he was sure that the rest of his weekend was going to be dull.
* * * * * *
Monday morning was pretty open for the students at Great Lakes Villanova in preparations for their midterms and spring break. For Heero, he only had a paper to hand in following his early breakfast.
And the second he handed his report over, he headed for the federal building to report in for the remainder of the day.
"Good morning, Heero," Catherine smiled brightly as she always would when the scholar walked towards her glass station. "You're in early today."
Yuy grinned back, "'Morning. I figured I'd take advantage of my slow class schedule." There was that, but he also had an agenda to see through... one that he had assigned himself with following his visit from a certain handful of FBI agents. "Has Lady Une come through yet?" he asked.
Nodding, the redhead answered, "She checked in about five minutes ago. She'll probably be rounding up the troops for their Monday follow up meeting pretty soon."
Perfect timing. Nodding firmly, Heero replied, "Thank you, Catherine. Have a good day."
"Thanks. You, too," Bloom beamed as the intern slid his access card over the scanner by the double glass doors that sealed off the main corridor.
Making his way for the elevator, Yuy was lost to his thoughts of what he was going to tell the Preventers' Commander when he turned the corner and called for an elevator. At the bright ring of the one that appeared first, he just managed to get a foot through the sliding doors when he heard someone running up the hallway as they called, "Hold it open, please!"
Automatically keeping himself in the opening to prevent the elevator from sealing up, the student turned to find Anna rushing around the corner in a full protective body suit that a welder would wear including a flip mask that was lifted to reveal her face. Over her shoulder, she carried a massive sack filled with an arsenal of clanging gear that was mostly covered except for a blowtorch that peeked out at the top.
Her friendly smile washing over her face when she saw who was holding the door for her, she greeted, "Hey, Heero! Thanks for waiting up on me."
Finally blinking his wide eyes, the counselor got over his surprise and smirked, "Hey, Anna." Waiting until they were both in the elevator as it closed up behind them, he contained his laughter and eyed the redhead while they stood shoulder-to-shoulder. "Getting ready for a zombie uprising?"
"Oh," Downs laughed, her head dipping so that she could acknowledge her attire. "Nah. If that was the case, this would just be the tip of the iceberg of what I'd be packing," she snickered to the counselor. "I just headed back to my place this morning to get a few things that'll help me get to the bottom of that Gundanium. One way or another, I'm going to make it my bitch today."
Unable to keep his eyes from growing or his jaw from falling, Heero shouted, "You have all of that just sitting around in your home?!"
Shrugging, Anna giggled, "Of course. And I have a hell of a lot more where this came from." With her own blue eyes growing in realization, she looked to the door and murmured, "Which reminds me I have to sort out where I'll be storing all of that. It will have to be a cool, dark place for the explosives..." In the middle of her musing, the elevator came to a halt on the seventh floor and opened to them.
"Then there's the chemicals. I'll have to come up with a safe way to dispose of those before the move..." The weapons expert was still going on when she stepped out and moved for her office as Yuy stayed back to stare at her retreating back in disbelief.
Ending his round of pinball in the rec area, Duo grinned, "There's my girl ready for battle, I see." he ran to give her rear a playful slap when they crossed paths and told her, "You've got this, Annie."
From his desk, Trowa called, "Give that weapon hell, boo!"
Une looked up from her talk with Wufei by the printer and lowered the plastic cup of coffee she had been drinking from. "Just try to not get the fire department involved like the last time, Anna, dear." Glancing over to his lover, the Chinese agent chuckled and shook his head.
The redhead waved in the Commander's general direction as she reassured, "Don't worry. This should be done before I set off any smoke alarms..."Bending her hand back and forth like a teeter, she added, "More or less." At that, she reached her space and sealed herself off from the rest of the world.
Slowly entering the cluster of desks, Heero maintained his dumbfounded expression. "This seriously doesn't bother anybody?"
"Nope," Quatre smiled as he finished typing to meet his gaze. "Just another Monday. Don't worry. You'll get used to it after a few months."
Yuy snorted, his head shaking. Once again, he was reminded that it was simply better to not ask such questions and leave well enough alone.
Only then seeing the scholar, Duo approached with a friendly, "Hey, 'Ro. Didn't expect to see you here this early. Just can't stay away from us, huh?"
"Yea. I'm a glutton for punishment that way," the Japanese young man smirked and his new associates laughed in acceptance of his retort. Turning his head towards Middie as she joined them, he informed, "Actually, Lady Une, I was hoping we could meet privately if you have a few minutes."
Briefly taken aback, the Commander's eyebrows lifted. "Of course," she replied, holding a hand out to her office. "After you." Duo, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre exchanged confused faces as their department head and the counselor entered the room.
When the door closed behind the young woman, Yuy took one of the chairs before the main desk, frowning, "I'm sorry to have to interrupt your day like this, but it couldn't wait."
Making herself comfortable in her leather seat, Middie smiled, "First off, there is no need to apologize if you need to talk with me. As far as I'm concerned, you're every bit a part of my team as my agents." she folded her hands together on her desk and inquired, "What's going on?"
Heero took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Yesterday, I had a visit from Zechs Merquise and his crew at my door room."
"What?!" Lady Une shouted, her entire body bolting upright. Brown eyes narrowing, she reached for her phone receiver, growling, "I'm calling HR. That son of a bitch has some nerve to-"
Before she could punch in a couple of numbers, the Japanese student leaned forward, urging, "That's not why I'm bringing this up. It's not going to happen again. If you get HR involved, we won't be able to use what they told me against them."
Her eyes growing anew, Middie locked gazed with her intern. Setting the receiver back into its cradle, she sat back and stated, "You have my full attention. Please explain what you mean by using this against them."
Yuy grinned darkly, "They think that I was hired on as a new profiler for the Preventers and tried to strong arm me into a job with them instead."
For a solid thirty seconds, Lady Une stared at him in sheer astonishment. Then, her head fell back with a howling round of laughter that was loud enough that she must have been heard by her team beyond the door.
"Oh, that's fantastic!" she cheered once she was able to get her bearings and wiped at the tears of mirth in her eyes. "Easily the funniest damn thing I've heard in a long time!" Chuckling deeply, the counselor bit his lip.
With a deep sigh at her catching her breath at last, the Commander smirked at the young man across from her. "Well, if that's the story that's going around there is only one way to proceed from here. And if I'm any judge of character, you already know what that is. You wouldn't have come to me with this if you didn't."
"Yes, ma'am," Heero agreed with a nod in a willing acceptance of his fate that he had sealed.
Taking that as his blessing of permission, Middie took punched in the command for her phone to go to speaker and dialed an extension. In two rings, the front desk receptionist answered, "Hello, Lady Une. What can I do for you?"
Arms folding behind her head, the officer reclined further back in her chair as she responded, "Hello, Catherine. In a few minutes, I am going to be sending Heero down to your office so that his measurements may be taken so that he can be fitted for a Preventers' uniform order. And I am going to need have a new desk assigned to be brought in on the to join the others at the main work station on our floor."
Clicking in the inside of her cheek, she added, "Lastly, please upgrade Agent Wing's access badge to a permanent one that he can wear it on his person going forward."
In hearing his being addressed as 'Agent Wing,' Yuy was momentarily caught off guard. But that start was calmed when he told himself that if he was going to look the part, he was going to have to fit every aspect of a Preventer to keep up airs.
Bloom's voice returned with a ring of surprise when she stammered, "Y-yes, ma'am. I'll get right on that for you. I'll keep an eye out for the new addition when he can come back down for those measurements."
"Thank you kindly, darling," Middie concluded with a smile, an arm reaching to disconnect the call. "That ought to shut the rumor mill up," she muttered. Folding her hands in her lap, she appraised the scholar and commented, "It's no one else's damn business why you're really here, but I'm in your debt for your dedication to protect my agents' honor by keeping your true purpose here between all of us."
Shrugging, she giggled, "Hence your code name. I consider you like a guardian angel to them and the first image I get of angels is their wings."
Heero almost blushed at the compliment over his actions... almost. It definitely made him appreciate her choice for his code name- whether he was an actual agent or not. He gave her a small grin to make his approval known.
Relieved as he was that there wouldn't be a hard time given to his friends by their peers for having a counselor assigned to them, Yuy also struggled to keep one particular bit of information from Zechs' goons at bay. "There is one favor I'd need to as of you," he requested tentatively.
More than happy to appease whatever he wanted to know, Middie didn't hesitate to offer, "Name it."
Just as sure of himself and of what he was after, Heero said, "I want to know what happened to your sixth agent... your profiler."
TBC...
[1] Inspired by the 2nd lovely pic of these breathtaking two that were commissioned by T-shirt: http://skylark92.livejournal.com/331730.html
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