Woke Up One Morning... Part 52
Good news really does travel fast amongst the Preventers.
When Heero, myself and our support crew returned along with Ivanov to Peacemillion, we were given a hero's welcome back. As soon as the hanger doors opened to the rest of the ship when the cabin was stabilized, Sweepers and agents alike stormed in cheering and applauding as we stepped out of the shuttle.
Clearing a path so that Sally and the nurses with her could wheel Ivanov out on his stretcher for the medical wing, the crowd approached me and my husband to pat our backs and give one-armed embraces.
Still stunned that we actually had the ringleader of the massive underground chemical production and distribution world, I was almost numb to the praise.
The remainder of our team as well as the other groups that had been out hitting Sergey's other bases all received the same attention upon their safe returns. Now, almost an hour later, the celebrations throughout the ship are still going on even as Sally is treating our most prized captive.
After a long search, avoiding the festivities the whole time, Heero and I were finally able to find the Commander in the midst of all the confusion as she was speaking with several excited agents.
The second she spotted us and saw that we were the only ones in the crowded room not smiling, she collected herself and quietly led us to her office.
With the door closing behind us, Une turns to face us and frowns deeply, "The two of you should be out there enjoying yourselves and celebrating with the others after everything that you have done for this case. So, the fact that you're not has me worried." Sighing, she asks, "What's wrong?"
Heero and I share a solemn glance at the question. Taking a deep breath, my husband is the one to answer the Commander as he meets her gaze in that matter-of-fact tone of his, "Ivanov is not the only person we need to be worried about. He was not the one behind the attack made against the Assembly months ago."
Blinking in surprise, Lady Une's mouth opens and closes but her voice is not operating for the first couple to tries. Quickly regaining her composure she squares her shoulders. Shaking her head, she questions, "He told you this? How are you so certain he was not just saying that to not add onto the charges against him?"
I'm the one to reply calmly, "Ivanov thought that he was going to die when he denied his involvement. He had nothing to lose by coming clean with everything as far as he thought. He did admit to orchestrating the hit on headquarters."
Spreading my arms out, I shrug, "Why only be partially honest unless his telling us he was not responsible for both attacks really is the truth?"
That simple logic hits the Commander like a smack to the face and her jaw falls open. Covering her mouth, she begins to pace the room for a moment. When she faces us again, she sighs, "Then we will have to question him as soon as Sally deems him fit for talking."
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Heero speaks up to announce, "We do have a complication with that as well." A flash of tired frustration filling her brown eyes when she glances at him, our 'Ma' gives him a firm nod to continue. His cobalt eyes peering at me from the corner, I nod as well and bite my lip nervously.
"Duo and I have come up with some theories as to who this other person could be," my partner comments. Hesitating only a second, he declares, "And we both have reason to believe that it is someone working in the Assembly."
Stunned, Une's eyes widen in disbelief over what she's hearing. "But I had every member investigated," she responds. "Not long after the strike, I had all of their records, accounts, affiliations... everything researched on them. Not one of them has a tie in to Ivanov or any of his associates."
Gathering up my nerve, I ask, "What about the new members to the Assembly?"
And it's almost as if the wind is knocked right out of the Commander as she gasps and wraps her arms around her abdomen. "Oh my God," she breathes, eyes as wide as they'll go. "I-I only knew who they would be weeks ago... and I never thought..."
Instantly, I'm by her side and resting a hand on her shoulder to squeeze it while reassuring, "It's not your fault, 'Ma. We never would have come up with the idea to do our own research on them when they were named. This was an honest mistake that we can fix, but we need to start doing that now."
Walking up to us, Heero nods, "He's right. Even if Ivanov does tell us who was responsible for the attack, no jury would take the word of a criminal like him so we need to pull together our own evidence. Whatever the Assembly missed on their background checks of the new members Heather and her staff will be able to find it."
"But even before we get them on that, we have to keep in mind that Sally will be finished her treatment of Ivanov any minute and we have three members of the Assembly here waiting for word on his condition," I warn. "And if word that he was captured spread before we arrived, imaging how quickly the rest of the board will hear about that."
Alert and very clear on the course of action, the Commander quickly turns on her heels and rounds her desk to reach for her phone receiver.
Dialing the extension to I know belongs to the com to the medical branch, she waits for the buzz announcing she is on and orders, "Sally, before you do anything else, please contact me in my office immediately."
Slowly lowering receiver back into its cradle, she smirks at us, "I think our friend, Ivanov, is about to have a turn for the worst."
* * * * * *
The door just beyond the medical wing of Peacemillion is the most crowded on the whole ship. Most of the agents who had been avoiding the parties like Heero and I have been hanging out here in the waiting rooms to get the first word on Sergey's condition.
Cradling Phoenix in his arms as she happily works on a bright lilac pacifier that matches her one-piece, Wufei occupies one of the seats beside where Heero and myself and sitting. Trowa, Quatre, Relena, Zechs, Noin and Scott are all present in the filled room as well as they all talk quietly amongst themselves.
Near the doorway, Heather rests her head of blonde hair against Tony's shoulder while he plays with little Carissa in his lap. Seems since he stood as guard for Agent Storm and her family, the Italian has become quite the fixture with them. His holding Heather's hand is further confirmation of that.
And at the back wall, Lady Une leans back with her arms folded and eyes watching all around in a silent observance of her 'kids.'
There is a thick, abrupt silence that falls on the room the second Sally walks into the room dressed in her white doctor's coat. A deep frown in her face, she shakes her head, "We did everything we could to reverse the damage done by the cyanide, but we were not able to get to him quickly enough. Ivanov is dead."
For those agents around who have not been involved in the case for too long and only know the man as the one responsible for the death and devastation that has happened since summer, the news is not exactly the most unwelcome.
Wide, pleased smiles tug their lips but they refrain from any further reaction.
Ryan Jacobs is the most vocal with a snorted, "One last monster to have to worry about." Considering the fact that he lost his two best friends on account of the man, I really can't blame his sentiment, nor the others who are nodding in agreement to it.
Those of us who have been devoted to this investigation, however, find nothing to smile about. Every one of us wanted to see the man get the justice that he deserved, namely a long life in a tiny cell.
Heather and Tony are amongst the least pleased by the information in the room. Small tears of anger filling her brown eyes, the young mother takes up her daughter and her boyfriend's hand to leave the room quickly.
I only half pay attention to the rest of the scene around, keeping my eyes on Scott to watch his reaction.
Ever since Heero and I have come to this theory of a new Assembly member possibly being tied into the attack against the board, I've been sick to my stomach worrying that it may be him. He has been a bit enthusiastic about learning what he can about this case.
As it stands right now, there is little to not response from him as he just wraps an arm around 'Lena's waist. There's no even anything readable on his face to say one way or the other what he's thinking.
It's a relief to see that there is nothing immediately there to tip him off as a suddenly very happy man that no one will be able to link him to a serious crime.
With any luck, maybe Heero and I were wrong with our theory all together.
Getting to his feet, Wufei walks towards his wife with their little one to offer her a one-armed embrace of support that she gladly accepts and returns. The remainder of the audience around begins to head out, rubbing the doc's arm and offering their own reassurances for her efforts before they leave.
Heero and I get to our own feet to be the last to reach her to be sure to give her our best along with Lady Une.
When we near along with the Commander as the last ones to move out, Sally turns to her husband and smiles, "I'll be back at our quarters shortly after handling the death certificate and other paperwork, Wufei," she tells him quietly while handing their baby back over. "Would you mind settling Phoenix down for bed for the night?"
"Of course," he replies and kisses her cheek. Grinning down at his little girl, he heads out of the room still every bit the proud father.
A check to see that there are no ears within hearing range and Sally turns towards the three of us still remaining in the waiting room.
"Okay," she begins in little more than a whisper, "Give it a couple more hours and Ivanov will be up to talking. He's unconscious night now since his system has been through a lot thanks to that cyanide."
Focusing on Une, she informs, "Once he is awake and ready to be seen, the nurses on duty have been told to contact you, Commander. They all have been advised of the order to keep the fact that he is still alive classified until they are given further notice. They can be trusted just as much as you trust me."
With a sigh, our leader nods, "Thank you, Sally. I appreciate your understanding that we need to keep this between a very carefully selected few."
The braided doctor just smiles and holds her hands up, chuckling, "Not a problem. I know how things work with the Preventers- sometimes we can be aware of every little detail for a reason but it is all explained later."
Spinning on her heels, she smirks, "I'll just be cleaning up my office to stall for time before going back to my quarters for the night so that you know where to find me if I'm needed."
I snicker and wave her off, "Have a good night, Sal." Calling the sentiment back over her shoulder, she rounds the corner further down the hall and disappears.
Une faces me and my husband while running a hand through her hair. "You best head back to your own quarters to be available for my page when Ivanov is awake."
My hand rises to my forehead in a salute that she laughs at and we give our salutations before parting ways for the moment.
* * * * * *
Laying back on our bed, I let out a long sigh and throw my arm over my eyes, even though the room is only being lit by the moon just past our large window. "Nothing is ever easy is it?" I grumble.
"For months now, we've been so sure that catching Ivanov would be the end of this cat and mouse game. And now that we have him, we find out that someone we're supposed to trust the fate of both the Earth and Colonies to could be tied into all of this bullshit."
I feel the other half of the bed sag under Heero's weight as he sits beside me. Working the joints to my brace, he removes it and sooths, "We could always be wrong in our theory that any of the new Assembly members may be the one we're after, Duo."
Letting my arm lower back against my side, I peer up at my husband and frown, "God, I hope so. It's not the best feeling, thinking that some elected official could possibly be capable of something like what happened."
My fingers run over our blue, woolen comforter and my head turns to face the ceiling without really seeing it as I lose myself in my thoughts. "I really don't even want to think of the chance that Scott could be responsible. I actually like the guy and I know that if he was involved with Ivanov, it'd crush 'Lena."
Heero lowers himself to lie beside me, making me turn my head back to face him as he replies, "I like Scott, too." The corner of his mouth turns up in a smirk as he snickers, "Any guy willing to put up with the hard time we've all given him just to stay by Relena is a good guy."
And that little sense of humor, I know, is his build up to getting to what's really eating away at me.
Lightly brushing his fingers through my bangs, his smile fades as he whispers, "You're also worried about what it would mean for L2 if one of the new members is who we're after... since it would look terrible to the other members what extremes anyone willing to help the Colony would go to in order to get what they want."
Slammed that nail on the head.
I can feel the early sting of tears coming on at that and barely fight off a whimper that cuts off in my throat. Swallowing roughly, I groan in a whisper, "I know that it's incredibly selfish of me to be worried about that, but I can't help it. Jesus, 'Ro, we were so close to possibly having L2 on that list for aid."
Pushing myself to sit up, I shake my head and stare through the window on the wall ahead. "It's been... five damned years since the end of the war and since the Assembly has been together," I hiss bitterly. "And it's taken this fucking long for there to even be the slightest chance for that Colony to finally get the help it needs. If our hunch is right... how many more years will it be set back?"
Heero slowly sits up beside me and reaches out to gently grasp my chin and twist my head to meet his deeply saddened eyes. "I know," he breathes with all of the sincerity in the world. "And it's not selfish to be worried about that since there are many lives that this would affect. I'm every bit as worried about us being right for the same reason."
That reassurance is enough to push back any further tears from sliding down my face. Sniffling, my eyes close as a calloused hand wipes away the drops that escaped.
As I open my eyes again, 'Ro leans in to rest his forehead against mine and says quietly, "I made a pact to you more than five years ago when you agreed to be my partner with the Preventers that I would help you in your mission to reestablish L2 when we were done. I meant that promise then every bit as I do now."
Ok. So the waterworks are not completely done yet as those words reach right into my damned soul in such a way that I'm actually starting to shake. This time I do outright whimper while he leans in to press his lips against mine in a chaste kiss.
Pulling back but setting our foreheads together again, my husband says, "Of course, it would be nice to have our goal supported by the Assembly to make the work easier." He reaches over to take my ringed hand into his and squeezes it.
"But if we have to do this on our own, rebuild L2 from the ground up with our bare hands, so be it," he vows, completely resolved in that decision. Smiling, he shrugs, "It may not be the easy way of doing things that we had hoped, but we're not going to fail in that plan."
Suddenly, I'm all but hurling myself at him, claiming his mouth in a much deeper, much needier kiss that the last one. Everything in me is poured in as he returns the favor, all of my appreciation, love... all of it.
When we pull back, panting, I whisper, "You have absolutely... no idea how much I love you, Heero." His face lights up in a brilliant smile at that, telling me how much the sentiment means to him.
Looking down at our hands that are still joined, I grin and rub my thumb over his wedding band. My thumb continues to lightly rub over his wedding band as I chuckle, "You know, our whole accidental marriage is easily the best thing that's ever happened to me."
That smile is gone when I peer back up at my partner. His eyes looking away for a second and back on me, Heero takes a deep breath and whispers, "Duo... there's something that I need to tell you..."
I blink in surprise and wait patiently for him to continue.
Just as his mouth opens, a slight look of panic on his face, Lady Une's voice breaks in over the speaker to announce, "Wing. Scythe. Ivanov is awake. Meet me in the medical branch in ten minutes." And just as quickly as the connection came on, it's cut off.
My head falls back as I laugh to break the sudden tension that had built in the air. "That woman sure has a way with timing," Meeting my partner's gaze, I raise a finger and warn lightly with a grin, "You're not off the hook, mister. As soon as we're finished, you're telling me whatever it is you were about to say."
"Oh, I wouldn't expect any less," Heero snickers. But I still can't help picking up the slight hint of relief in him as he moves from the bed. Holding his hand out to me, he grins, "Let's go get that answer we're looking for."
Gladly accepting his hand, I rise up to my feet with his assistance and mentally prepare myself for what that answer will be.
TBC...
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