Author’s Note: Just a few quick reminders, this is the sequel to Alone/Together but I suppose it can stand alone if you don’t want to read the first one ^_~ Midii Une is a character from Trowa’s Episode Zero Manga. I do not own Gundam Wing or its character or storylines, I only like them very, very, very much!!!
The Price of Redemption
by Midii Une
Chapter 3
Sally’s head was throbbing, she closed her eyes and pushed her hands up beneath her golden braids to cover her ears from the cacophony of sound emitting from the video phone.
It was even worse with her eyes closed, Wufei’s indignant Chinese tirade clashing with Midii’s venomous French complaints was nearly making her head explode.
“Stop it right now,” she finally said in a loud stern voice. “You two are acting like a couple of spoiled children. Now talk in normal voices and let’s all use the same language if we can.”
Wufei and Midii subsided into sulks and pouts respectively, occasionally shooting death glares at each other while Sally wondered what the hell she’d gotten herself into.
“Now,” she said, trying to maintain a calm tone as she imagined one would with a pair of disobedient children. “What seems to be the trouble?”
Midii opened her mouth to speak but Wufei shoved her unceremoniously away from the screen.
“That crazy onna ran off last night and I had no idea where she went,” Wufei said. “I think she’s double-crossing us.”
Midii dug an elbow sharply into the Chinese pilot’s ribs and Sally thought she could hear a pained “oof” coming from the usually stoic Preventer.
“I am NOT double-crossing you,” Midii insisted, appearing onscreen in Wufei’s place and staring Sally in the eye. “He has no instincts for this. No idea what he’s doing. If I’d taken him with me last night my contact would have easily seen through my plans. This isn’t going to work. Can’t you order him to come back to headquarters?”
Wufei’s face appeared on screen again and Sally groaned as the two of them started going at it again in their native languages so that suddenly she knew just how the Christian God had felt at the Tower of Babel.
“Enough,” she finally said again. The low, serious tone of her voice silencing Wufei and Midii.
“Now Midii, part of your agreement was to train Wufei in undercover work, a skill that he lacks. From now on brief him on your movements and tell him what you need him to do,” Sally said, continuing on quickly as Midii opened her mouth to protest.
“Wufei, as for you, you accepted this mission. It’s a matter of honor for you to keep her safe, to do that you have to listen to what she tells you. Trust me, a little stealth and caution will do you a lot of good,” she added, feeling a smug smile appear on her lips at the sight of their outraged faces.
“That’s all. Now the two of you come to some type of agreement you can work with and check in tomorrow morning,” Preventer Water signed off before they could start in again. She leaned back in her chair and took a well-earned sip of her scalding hot coffee.
Despite the tension between her agents it appeared the matter in Brussels was well in hand. Just as Sally started to relax a bit a calm, but questioning, voice broke into her thoughts. She turned and blinked at the handsome, slender man leaning in her office doorway.
“What was that all about and what are you keeping from the rest of us,” Heero stated flatly, his voice hiding the tension building inside, the call to act.
*******
“Must you conduct all your business in bars,” Wufei questioned as Midii glanced up at him, blowing lightly on freshly painted fingernails.
“They’re dark and crowded and loud, the perfect place to discuss disreputable business,” Midii explained, striving to be patient. Her eyes flickered over Wufei and she wondered if dared to broach the next subject.
“Umm, you’re not planning on wearing ‘that,’ are you,” she asked. “You’ll hardly blend in with that disgruntled look on your face and wearing all white like you’re the God of Justice or something.”
Wufei muttered under his breath about weak women taking Nataku’s name in vain, but Midii ignored it.
“Well,” she asked again, quickly losing what little patience she had. Her head ached and she was exhausted having hardly slept the night before. As was becoming habit he stalked out wordlessly. Midii shrugged philosophically and thought that if he didn’t come along she had at least tried and Sally couldn’t blame her if he complained again.
******
When all that was left of Duo’s visit were a couple of empty styrofoam coffee cups and a pile of pastry crumbs, Trowa was left alone again with his thoughts. He had the feeling Duo was right, somehow she’d gotten out of telling him exactly where she was calling from the previous evening. All of a sudden he had no idea where Midii was or what she was doing or when she would call again.
He was starting to wonder why he put up with her secretive nature. It drove him crazy. Trowa pulled his shirt over his head, feeling something catch in his hair. He pulled the shirt back off and sat down on the edge of the bed, undoing the crumpled notepaper she had planted inside.
“Missing you. Always remember that I am yours and you are mine. Love, Midii”
Pink lipstick kisses decorated the white paper. Trowa flopped back down on the bed, closing his eyes, almost feeling her there with him. He remembered her saying those words to him before. Remembered coming home to the apartment at dusk to find her waiting in bed, pulling him down into her embrace. Saw her face looking down on him between the curtains of her hair as she straddled his thighs and the feel of her hands pressed against his shoulders. He could have easily thrown her off--if he’d wanted to.
The feel of her lips leaving pink lipstick stains all over him. The feel of her hair sliding over his skin as she bent over him and undid his shirt.
“Rappelez-vous toujours que je suis à vous et vous êtes les miens[1], ” she whispered, staring directly into his eyes.
“I have to be at work,” he protested half-heartedly.
“I called Cathy and told her you’d be indisposed,” she answered smiling, pulling her own shirt over her head. She reached over to the nightstand and picked up her lipstick, reapplying it thickly on her pouting lips and proceeding to kiss every inch of his face and chest.
“Don’t want to miss a spot,” she whispered, pushing his bangs back and kissing his forehead. Then she sat back and looked at him critically, admiring her abstract artwork.
“Hmm,” she said. “One last touch.”
She picked up the lipstick again and leaning close so that her hair tickled his bare skin she drew a heart on with an arrow through it on his skin and carefully wrote her name in it.
“Take a look,” she said, giggling like the teenager she still was. Despite everything and all they had been through they were both barely 19. “You like, mon amour?”
He’d laughed his rare laugh at the sight of his image in the mirror she held, covered with cotton-candy pink lipstick kisses. Then he’d suddenly grabbed her around the waist and pinned her beneath him, snatching the lipstick tube from her hand.
“Your turn now senorita,” he said, drawing a large heart on the soft skin just above the black lace bra she wore.
“P-r-o-p-e-r-t-y o-f T-r-o-w-a,” he wrote inside.
“Trowa,” she whispered softly, before his lips closed over hers finally. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.”
“I am yours and you are mine,” Trowa said softly, deciding then and there to rectify the mistake he had made in leaving her alone.
Duo’s words echoed in his head as he packed his bags.
“If there’s trouble out there she’ll find it,” he’d said.
Not if I find her first, Trowa thought, slamming the door behind him.
*******
“You have an admirer already Marguerite. Shall I go and tell him to put his eyes back in his head Deejii-chan [2],” Ichiban said to Midii.
She glanced casually around the room and nearly sputtered out the sip of wine she had just taken. “Take it easy Ichiban,” she said calmly, hiding her shock. “I think he’s harmless.”
He had taken her advice, she couldn’t believe it. “If Cathy could see you now,” Midii thought, unable to help but admire the slender muscular frame he usually hid under his loose clothing. “She’d pin you to a wall with her knives and not let you go till morning. I think I’m starting to understand her attraction.”
Wufei in black leather with his hair down was a sight to make any female heart pound a bit faster. Midii even noticed her companion’s friend Eva taking a second look. She frowned, the obvious stares he kept casting in her direction were far from subtle.
“He is rather attractive,” she made herself say, not that it was a total lie. “Perhaps I should have a word with him myself?”
Ichiban shook his head, flashing an angry look at the competition.
“Come dance with me Marguerite,” he said standing and tugging at her hand. “I can tell you what I expect of you and I will show that man that you are off limits.”
Midii frowned, he was acting very possessive despite being obviously involved with the dark-eyed woman called Eva. Eva was just the type who would have appealed to Stefan, Midii thought, eyeing the other girl curiously. Tall, curvaceous and as passionate as a gypsy. Perhaps Ichiban was trying to make his new lover jealous by flaunting his own past with her?
The plan was simple, they usually were. A series of terrorist actions to destroy the people’s confidence in the new world order, and voila instant support for new national armies and a new market in arms and weaponry to bolster a world economy that had been floundering in the past few years of peace.
“Midii,” Ichiban said, tightening his hand on hers, calling her attention back to him. Her eyes narrowed in irritation at his use of her real name. “I’m sorry--Marguerite. When all this is over you can be yourself again, not that I don’t find the new you interesting . . .”
“Ichiban if you’re done explaining I’d much rather sit down,” Midii said uncomfortably, he was taking advantage of her and she didn’t like it. His renewed ‘interest’ was apparent as his arm tightened around her waist, molding her body closely to his and she couldn’t help but remember the past. But she didn’t want to remember that time when she had been sure she’d never see Nanashi again or even if he was still alive. A time when she tried to fill the void inside of her with someone else. Someone she thought had understood her, someone who wouldn’t hate her for the things she had done to stay alive.
“We have something personal to discuss,” he said, holding her closer. “I have to explain.” His hand slid into her hair and pressed her head against his heart tenderly. “There’s something you need to know. ”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “There is nothing personal between us anymore. You saw to that yourself,” she said, trying unsuccessfully to pull away. “This is business, pure and simple. Who I am and where I go afterward is none of your concern.”
“I know that I hurt you,” he continued. “Things were crazy at the end of the war, when Romefeller staged their coup. I was young, so were you but I thought you’d be there when I got back. One of the reasons I took this mission was for revenge because I heard they’d killed you. It broke my heart . . .”
“You told me you didn’t have a heart. I know where this is heading and I’ve already told you no,” Midii said uncertainly.
“I was a fool Midii. You haven’t forgotten how it was between us? I still remember your tears. Forgive me. I’ll do anything you want, court you, worship you. This is the beginning of a new era. The two of us could go so far now that we are together again. The chaos people like us thrive on is coming back, we’re going to bring it back,” Ichiban said, searching her eyes for a sign of the feelings she had once had for him.
She sighed and leaned her head back down on his shoulder, the hand in her hair that should have been soothing making her heart ache for the one she really loved--Trowa. The situation was worse than Sally or any of them had thought, she would have to play this game longer than she had intended. It would be worth it in the end, she promised herself that, but a solitary tear made its way slowly down her cheek. She felt so far away from Trowa, worlds away.
Eva Ketto [3] furiously crumpled and uncrumpled her napkin as she watched the couple on the dance floor. Was that genuine emotion she saw gleaming in Ichiban’s eyes? She hadn’t thought him capable of true feeling. She didn’t care anything about him, he was only a warm body to keep the loneliness she felt for Stefan at bay.
She spotted the tear streaking Marguerite’s cheek and Eva glanced at Ichiban again. Was he the one Midii Une cared about or were her tears for someone else? She would have to know for sure before she could strike. She moved her hand unobtrusively under the table and slipped a listening device in the shape of a small safety pin into a crevice of Midii’s purse. One way or another she would find out where the other girl’s heart lay.
And then she would rip it out.
******
“Heero,” Relena asked her husband, her hands sliding over his tight shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Heero made an inarticulate sound but turned toward her and gathered her close in his arms. He silently ran his fingers through her silky, honey-colored hair but the texture didn’t soothe him as it usually did. Sally had ordered him to stay out of the new situation, she said Wufei had it under control.
“You’re a newlywed Heero,” she’d said. “Relena needs you by her side. Things like this crop up all the time and you can’t be involved every time there’s even a suspicion of trouble.”
“Then you suspect trouble,” he’d countered.
Sally had sighed tiredly, it seemed like to her that she had already had more than she could handle for one day and that he was just adding to her problems. Heero didn’t care.
“I said that you must suspect trouble,” he’d repeated.
“If things change I’ll keep you informed,” she finally agreed. “But for now don’t worry. You and Relena deserve to enjoy your time together, you need to be discovering each other and growing closer, you can’t do that if you’re chasing every little problem down yourself. Let the rest of us handle some of these things, please.”
******
Midii gazed at herself in the ladies’ room mirror considering her options. It didn’t look like she could drop out of sight yet. Ichiban was being too stingy with his information, stringing her along and not incriminating anyone with what he said. Yet the facts he had revealed were enough to frighten her. Random terrorist actions could have horrible implications.
She jumped as Eva touched her on the shoulder and she raised her eyes to meet the other girl’s reflection.
“Are you alright, Marguerite,” Eva said coolly, finding it hard to put up a pretense of friendliness with someone she hated so much. “You’re acting rather strangely.”
Midii gulped softly before answering carefully. “It’s Ichiban, he’s being rather insistent,” she said. “I hope you don’t think I’m encouraging him, I know that you two are involved. I can’t think why--”
“I don’t blame you at all Marguerite,” Eva lied. “Please don’t concern yourself. We’ll be working together and I hope we can get along. Stefan talked about you so often that I feel I already know you. Perhaps the two of us can even become friends?”
She smiled softly and Midii noticed how it enhanced her dark, exotic beauty.
“Of course,” she said automatically. “In fact Eva, if you would be so kind as to give Ichiban my regrets. I’m really not feeling well, it must be the smoke in here. I’m just going to duck out of here early and call it a night.”
******
Sally curled up in her bathrobe in a cozy chair and stared out at the darkness. At times like this she missed the rural quiet and peace of her home on Earth. During the day the artificial conveniences of the colony were fine. But at night she wanted to see the moonlight and hear the hum of insects in the distance. She idly untwisted her golden braids and let the silky, crinkled hair loose around her shoulders. Sally leaned back her head and her eyes fluttered slowly. It had been a hell of a day and in the morning she had to look forward to another report from Midii and Wufei. She cringed in anticipation both of what they might have found out and as to how they were getting along, or more likely not getting along.
If she wasn’t so worried about what she was doing she might have been amused by such childish antics from a pair that had been deeply involved in the war and its aftermath since childhood.
Her conversation with Heero had left her uncertain about what she was doing. Was stealth the right approach? Or should she go ahead and call in everyone and plunge right ahead, despite her lack of any solid proof that some organization was plotting something?
She jumped a little when she realized someone was knocking on her door, probably had been for sometime. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had gone off from the real world for a bit. Sally clutched the bathrobe around her and answered the door.
Trowa Barton. Could her day get any worse?
“Sorry to bother you at home so late Sally,” he said apologetically, his emerald gaze taking in her dishevelment as he stepped inside. “I just got in. I really need to talk to you. You were the last person to see Midii. Do you have any idea where she went?”
*******
“Please Trowa, answer,” Midii muttered as she waited for Trowa to pick up the phone. “I really need to talk to you.”
“Hello,” a female voice finally answered, lavender eyes looked at the face on the screen sleepy and puzzled. “Who--oh my God. Midii! What have you done to yourself?”
Damn, Midii thought. She’d forgotten to tamper with the screen in her anxiety to get through to Trowa. Exhausted, upset tears filled her eyes.
“Cathy, I can’t talk about it right now. I need to talk to Trowa. Can you put him on,” Midii said.
Cathrine frowned coming fully awake at the desperate sound of her friend’s voice. “I don’t know where he went. I assumed he was meeting up with you. He’s been missing you awfully Midii. Please tell me what’s wrong, you look upset. Are you in trouble?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just miss him too, you wouldn’t believe how much,” Midii said, trying to put Cathrine’s fears to rest. “If you talk to him tell him I called. Good night.”
“Good night,” Cathrine said, looking at the already-blank screen.
Midii stared back at the empty screen, she wasn’t on top of her game at all. She had changed too much. It had been easy to pretend when nothing in this world had mattered to her but now there was so much at stake and she had never felt less confident in her ability.
“Why now,” she asked herself. “Why now when it’s so important that I succeed?”
To be continued . . . Heero and Trowa infiltrate Sally’s office . . . someone is following Midii.
Author’s Notes: [1]Always remember that you are mine and I am yours. [2] Deejii-chan=Daisy-chan; Marguerite=Daisy [3] Eva Ketto: Eva-evening Ketto-two in Hungarian (FYI: Eva Ketto is the opposite of Midii Une, Midii-midday, Une-one in French, the dark and the light mwahahahahahahah-cough, ahem)
Geez I take these name things WAY too seriously!!
Chapter 4