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"Straight to My Head"Written By: Miss Murdered Disclaimer: I don't own the GW characters - am just borrowing to torment for my amusement Rating: NC 17 Warnings: light angst, awkward romance, some smut Pairings: 1x2 Summary: Heero's yearly Preventer
evaluation is usually an annoying formality. But this year, it is
much more complicated due to a certain Duo Maxwell... "Straight to My Head " Chapter 9: A Screenshot of Youth
Heero knew it was part of procedure. Yet he still couldn't understand why he had to see Commander Une herself rather than some random Human Resources person and why this discussion was required face to face when his email had seemed more than adequate. Duo had agreed that the email should have been enough. But then Duo was not one for process and procedure and so his advice could be ignored - he had never been a fan of Preventer's bureaucracy. Or rules in general. The email had perhaps been basic and to the point though Heero was sure that Commander Une would appreciate the sentiment being that she received scores of electronic communication via different channels every hour. So his being easy to read and understand surely was better than a long letter detailing his reasonings - but it seemed the email was not enough. So Heero sat in Commander Une's office trying not to feel irked as he had been forced to trek into Preventer HQ so that "administrative processes" could be complete. Administrative processes that would ensure that Heero Yuy was no longer a Preventer agent of any type, special or otherwise. It seemed that history was repeating itself as Heero sat in Une's office, tapping a rhythm on his knee as he waited for the Commander, his memories of that fateful day when Duo re-entered his life flooding to the surface. It felt like a lifetime ago yet only a handful of heartbeats at the same time - everything now seemed right between them. Not perfect - things were never perfect. They were complicated and they were both irrational and figuring out how to breathe around one another was still a struggle. But they were trying and it was working. It was working. Heero could hear Commander Une arriving, barking orders at her secretary and the door opened with a resounding bang indicating that today was not going all that well for the Commander. He wondered briefly if it was work or personal - after all, he was aware from Duo that MarieMaia had become a handful but he dared not ask. It didn't matter if it was work - it was not his job anymore. And he could provide no advice on teenagers when he had spent his teenage years piloting a Gundam. "Yuy," she said briskly as she marched to her desk, sitting down and pulling the document close to her. Heero had left his full resignation letter there - waiting for her - along with his Preventer badge and his Preventer issued gun. He hadn't cared about the gun - he had other's at home and the Preventer issue weapon was nothing special but the badge he had held in his hand for a few seconds, spinning it around in his fingertips. It was the end of an era leaving Preventer. It meant he was truly no longer a tool for violence, no longer needed to serve and protect, it meant he was just… him. For the first time in his life, he owed no one anything and it felt strange. Not exactly bad just different. "I cannot persuade you to stay in an advisory role of some kind," she said after a few minutes, her eyes having scanned the content of his letter. "What sort of advisory role?" Heero asked, puzzled as he had already had a very vague role within Preventer as a "special agent", a role that existed to no one else but him. "I don't know," she said with a sigh, massaging at her temples. It was only 11.28am and she clearly had a headache - Heero felt her day was not going to get better after their little meeting. "I'd just like to keep you as a Preventer." Heero was about to open his mouth but Une looked up then, a small smile on her face as she looked at him from over the rims of her glasses. "I understand, Yuy. You deserve peace." "Do you accept my resignation?" "I do. I don't require notice period and I'll accept this meeting as part of your exit interview," Une said and she got to her feet, walking to the other side of her desk so that she could perch on it. She offered Heero her hand and he reached for it, shaking it somewhat awkwardly. It seemed a bizarre practice to Heero yet he understood the meaning as their hands separated, Heero wiping his palm on his jeans. "I think you've done enough to help achieve and maintain peace, Heero. Now enjoy your retirement." "Thank you," he replied - and he meant it. Not for just allowing him to leave Preventer yet also for all that she had done for him - trusting him and being unafraid to go up against the vocal minority who had been prejudiced against the a former Gundam pilot joining the agency. He got to his feet then, not intending to look back yet Une spoke, pausing his steps. "Yuy," she said, softly, and when he glanced back over his shoulder, her glasses were off and her expression was calm, "may I ask what you intend to do now?" Heero smirked slightly For the first time in his life there was no plan, no mission and no real answer to that question. There had been fighting and war and keeping peace and now there was nothing. No, it wasn't nothing. It was just something else. Or everything he'd missed. "Whatever Duo suggests." Une laughed with a knowing smile on her face. "Enjoy." He didn't know how to respond to that, instead, he left walking away from Une's office and to the elevator without looking back. The concept of retirement was weird - he was not old enough yet he had lived a dozen lifetimes in his meagre years and he deserved rest if nothing more. Heero was sure he would work again - check whether there were suitable positions among the Peacecraft security detail or even work for Preventer again but right now he was going to do whatever he wanted to do. Or whatever he and Duo could agree to do together. Which was a different thing entirely. As he left Preventer HQ, he strolled slowly towards the coffee shop where he had left Duo prior to his meeting - the very same coffee shop they had visited after Duo had walked back into his life. Heero saw him in the window as he approached and Heero slowed his pace even more. As Duo was not alone sat at the table nearest to the glass. No, he was sat with a little boy making paper airplanes out of the free colouring pages that the coffee shop offered to children and parents in need of two minutes of peace. Heero watched through the window at the way Duo was concentrating, how he was giving instructions to the little boy and then how he was overly excited when the paper airplane flew halfway across the coffee shop. He smiled as he saw Duo high five the boy and it made Heero realise - his life was going to be different now but he wouldn't trade being with Duo for anything. Not after everything they had been through. It seemed his observation of the scene was noted as Duo was smiling and beckoning him inside with exaggerated movement and Heero nodded, entering the coffee shop to hear the tingle of bell and smell the rich scent of coffee. "This is Sam. I'm teaching him the perfect engineering of a paper airplane," Duo explained as soon as Heero stepped inside, not bothering for breath in between his words. "This is Heero and he is so much more cleverer than I am about this stuff." There was a moment of hesitation on Heero's part then as this boy - Sam - looked up at him expecting some great lesson but then he felt a gentle touch on his arm and he saw the smile on Duo's face and Heero knew he could do it. He nodded. "Let me show you how to make a superior paper airplane…" ~ * ~ A/N: This is the last full chapter - just a little epilogue to go. |
