Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Kyou Kara Maou Fan Fiction ❯ Justice! ❯ An Intolerable Situation ( Chapter 1 )

Author's note: It's that time of the year again, and my friend Pam asked for another birthday crossover. So, here it is, by special request...please enjoy it!

Preventers HQ, Earth Sphere, AC 197

When Chang Wufei, former Gundam 05 pilot, left his disciplinary hearing, he came face-to-face with the fact that true humiliation lay not in realizing that this was his second disciplinary hearing in less that six weeks; nor in enduring a semi-public tongue-lashing on his recklessness and unprofessionalism from no less an august personage than Lady Une herself; nor even in leaving the hearing to find Sally Po waiting just outside the doors for him.

Sally was his partner, after all, and so, naturally, was aware of the unfortunate chain of event that led to his present troubles.

No, true...and complete... humiliation was to be found in the presence of one Duo Maxwell, former Gundam pilot 02, who was, at the present moment, standing next to Sally and smiling warmly at Wufei.

"Wufei, buddy! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around lately!" Duo called in his deep, pleasant voice, laced with the drawling accent of the L2 cluster colonies. He was wearing his Preventer's uniform, his long brown hair pulled back in its customary neat braid.

Was there a trace of pity in Duo's eyes? Pity for Wufei?

Which meant he knew.

How dare Sally gossip behind Wufei's back! Of course, he had inarguably made some hasty...and perhaps even ill-considered decisions in the past two months. But that was not the issue here!

Wufei tugged at the tight, uncomfortable collar of his Preventers' dress uniform, glared wordlessly, and started to stalk past them.

"I'll just leave you two to get re-acquainted, then," Sally called behind him. "Bye, Wufei! Call me tonight--I want to know what happened at the hearing!"

Sally, you traitor! Wufei thought about sacrificing his dignity--that is, those few shreds that remained to him after two weeks of traffic duty in front of the local high school--and simply running away from Duo. He had a head start. He could probably--

Then it was too late. Duo's arm dropped around Wufei's shoulders, heavy as shackles. "I heard you've been kicking ass and taking names, ol' buddy," he said, conspiratorially.

The other ex-pilots had all assured Wufei that Duo only teased the people he genuinely liked, but Wufei was willing to bet that in his case, Duo just liked the drama reward of provoking Wufei's explosive temper.

Well, he wasn't going to give Duo the satisfaction. Not this time.

Wufei hunched, biting back the first ten sarcastic replies that came to mind, and tried to stealthily wriggle out of Duo's grip.

Duo was having none of it. He squeezed Wufei's bicep in a friendly grip that left Wufei unable to make an escape.

Wufei turned found himself nose-to-collarbone with Duo, and glared up at his erstwhile comrade-in-arms. Revered ancestors, when had Duo gotten so tall? Wufei wasn't exactly short, but colony-bred Chinese rarely achieved the towering stature of their Earth-born kin.

"Sally is a terrible gossip, and you shouldn't believe a thing she says," he tried.

Duo shook his head. "Man, she'd eviscerate you with your own sword if she heard you saying that."

Despite himself, Wufei gave a quick nervous glance over his shoulder as Duo steered him down the hallway. He had nothing but the utmost respect for his partner, of course, after working with her for the past year on a number of difficult anti-terrorism operations. His respect was laced with a healthy caution for her right hook.

Duo noticed the glance, much to Wufei's irritation, and chuckled. "But it's not just Sally, you know. Didn't you watch any of the news reports on the destruction of that Henderson Earthsphere Industries factory?"

"I didn't need to," Wufei pointed out. "I was there. They were clearly planning to manufacture a new generation of mobile dolls under the guise of agricultural machinery."

"Planning to being the operative phrase, Wufei," Duo said. "They didn't find a single mobile doll, nor any banned components, after sifting through the rubble. I don't know how clear it may have seemed to you, but Henderson's lawyers having been having a field day, and Une's been having a cow."

"I know, and what are you, the mobile disciplinary committee?" grumbled Wufei, having heard this all before and resentful at having it brought up again. "Look, I admit I may have been a bit...hasty in my use of explosives."

Duo threw back his head and gave one of his patented full-throated laughs at this. People--some of them Wufei's co-workers--stopped in the hall to stare at them, and Wufei felt his face grown hot under their curious looks.

"Understatement of the year!" crowed Duo, his cobalt-blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "You took out the entire plant, plus most of the office block!" Then his expression turned sly. "But really, when was the last time you got laid, buddy? Sally's kinda worried about you. Living like a monk, and all... You obviously need some, um, stress relief."

Wufei gaped at him. Had Duo really just said that out loud, in public, and at that volume...?

He had. Someone nearby snickered, and Wufei was torn between wanting to glare at them until they went away, and hiding like a coward.

His fists clenched, and he practiced deep breathing for a few moments. Two black marks against his record already, and he was quite certain that third disciplinary hearing, this time for assaulting a fellow Preventer, no matter how provoking, would prove to be the end of his career in law enforcement.

And Maxwell probably knew that, the bastard!

"I had a method of stress relief," Wufei gritted, finally, through clenched teeth. He mimed pressing a trigger button. "Unfortunately, I let you all talk me into destroying it."

Truthfully, it had been more than mere talk that had convinced Wufei to punch Nataku's self-destruct button. After his ill-considered support of the losing side in the Mariameia Rebellion, the new rulers of the Earth Sphere Alliance had offered him a choice: prison or Preventers. They wanted a highly-trained warrior on their side, but they also wanted a demonstration of the sincerity of his repentance and new-found support for Total Pacifism.

And so, he'd been forced to sacrifice his Gundam, precious relic of the trust that the elders of his lost colony had placed in him. A trust that he'd been unable to live up to--in the end, he could not prevent the destruction of his clan. The great war machines, Shenlong and its successor, Alt-Long, had always been Nataku to him--his companions, his allies, and the visible reminders of the duty he now bore as Dragon Clan's last living representative.

Worst of all, Wufei suspected that the other pilots had all been forced to destroy their Gundams, as well, because of what he'd done.

Of course, the official story given out by Preventers was that the destruction had been voluntary, a sign of the faith that the pilots had in the new regime of peace. But Wufei had to wonder, especially when the others, one by one, had joined Preventers.

Duo had already worked for Preventers once before, and Wufei could understand him craving a more adventurous life than the odd jobs he'd held in the year since the Mariameia Rebellion.

And Heero, too, had surfaced after six months of aimless wandering...the poor guy had probably been at a loss without orders to follow, Wufei thought.

But Trowa had seemed content in his life as a circus performer, so his continued willingness to take on undercover assignments for Une had come as a bit of a shock to Wufei, and had raised the first nasty suspicions about how voluntary the ex-pilots' enrollments really were.

Only Quatre had been able to remain in the new life he was building for himself and others, but he, too, had publicly destroyed Sandrock. And Wufei had no doubt that the Earth Sphere's watchdogs were observing the young head of Winner Enterprises very closely for signs of subversive activities.

And it's all my fault, thought Wufei with an internal sigh. I've failed everyone. Nataku, forgive me.

Duo was still talking "...now, I can understand wanting to take that prick Henderson down a couple of notches--hell, Heero and I did surveillance on him for months, and we just knew he was up to something. But being busted down to traffic duty," he shook his head mournfully, "–and then destroying a civilian vehicle? Wufei, buddy, why the hell did they let you wear your sword on duty? And what made you go apeshit on that SUV?"

"Have you ever seen the traffic patterns around a school during morning drop-off?" Wufei shot back. "The parents driving those children are the most combative, short-tempered, insane..." He scowled in the face of Duo's obvious skepticism. "If OZ had recruited some of those mothers as mobile suit pilots during war, thing might have gone very differently for us. No, really! Those first few mornings directing traffic as some of the most dangerous action I've seen since the war, Maxwell! And last week...I was wishing I'd saved some of the explosives I requisitioned for Henderson's facilities."

Duo shook his head vigorously, long braid swinging. "Wufei, buddy, that's where you're wrong. This is the new era, and if you're thinking that the answer to your problems is blowing things up..." he paused to sigh with theatric mournfulness. "Maybe you should schedule an appointment with Dr. Rush. She was able to help Heero, you know. He's really lightened up a lot, and doesn't sound nostalgic about self-destructing any more."

"You're making me feel nostalgic about self-destructing," muttered Wufei, pushing open the door to the men's room in an attempt to escape Duo and his obnoxiously well-meaning torrent of advice.

As expected, Duo tried following him inside. "–really think you should at least talk to her once–Pamela's the best when it comes to dealing with post-war syndrome--"

Wufei turned, and put a firm hand in the middle of Duo's chest, halting his advance. "Stop. Following. Me."

"But what about lunch? Sally said I should–"

Breathe, Wufei reminded himself. Find your center. Don't give Duo his drama reward. "I was held captive in that hearing for three solid hours, Maxwell. Lunch can wait just a few more minutes. But if you come inside and continue hectoring me, I swear I will drown you in one of the urinals. Do I make myself clear?"

"Like crystal." Sadly, Duo didn't look the least intimidated. He leaned comfortably against the wall just outside the men's room, and crossed his arms. "You do know that there's no window in that one? Just in case you were thinking of sneaking out on me."

Trust Maxwell to have scoped out every possible escape route from the building. Wufei contented himself with an eye-roll before closing the restroom door firmly in Duo's grinning face.

He made his way over to one of the toilet stalls and took care of necessities, fuming over the injustice of being punished for saving Earth and its colonies from Henderson's mobile suits–even if that slimeball's lawyers were now busily revising history to prove their client innocent.

He had moved on to daydreaming wistfully about much easier directing traffic would be if he still had his Gundam as backup, when he noticed something very odd happening in the toilet bowl.

The water was glowing softly, and swirling furiously, and somehow seemed to occupy more space than was physically possible. Alarmed, Wufei tried to take a step backward, but it was too late.

With a sudden rush and gurgle, he found himself swallowed up in a vortex of the glowing water, and being pulled down, down, down...

His last thought, before losing consciousness, was: Maxwell is going to kill me, if Sally doesn't get to me first.