Title: One Word Joke
Chapter: 25/25
Author: Dancho
Over all Rating: R
Pairings: Eventual 3+4, 5+S; Established 13x11, 6x9, DxRxD, 2x1.
Disclaimer: Own nothing… I live in a box and wear a barrel.
Summery: The special ops unit under Colonel Une is busy working as an interstate police force, mostly dealing with criminal organization Romefeller. Things have fallen into such a routine that everyone's begun to ignore the quirks and duplicities and are accepting everything as normal. But with the new recruitment of Quatre Raberba, the former Quatre Raberba Winner, will the unit learn that normal is just a word for someone you don't know very well?
Warning: Pretty damn short.
Where ignorance is bliss/'tis folly to be wise. -Gray, On a Distant Prospect of Eton College
One Month Later:
"Good morning, Hilde," Une smiled as she walked past security. Her uniform was perfectly pressed and her hair was down. Even her glasses were absent from her smiling face as she waved to the security guard and stepped into the elevator. Hilde waited for the elevator doors to close before frantically dialing the number for Wufei's office. He picked up in three rings and she gave him the message.
Colonel Une, unaware of the pandemonium occurring on her floor, stepped out of the elevator to see Sally waiting for her.
"Doc."
"Colonel Une!" Sally grinned, saluting lazily with her right hand, while her left remained in her pocket. "Thank God you've returned. I'm relinquishing command to you."
"That bad?" Une asked returning the salute.
"Your job makes jungle surgery look like an easy affair."
"Thanks for watching them, Sally," Une smiled. "Were they good?"
"For the most part."
"Uh-huh. Uh, sorry about your car. Did you get it back okay?"
"Wufei took me to pick it up," Sally nodded, and Une noticed she was blushing faintly. "Oh. Here comes Duo."
"Duo, nice to see you again," Une smiled as the younger man approached her. He was holding the hand of another man, around his age. "Who is this?"
"Colonel Une, this is Heero Yuy. Heero, you remember Une," Duo smiled, and the other boy snapped to attention, saluting Une crisply.
"Colonel Une! Heero Yuy reporting for service after prolonged absence due to death."
"But… I don't understand…" Une whispered. "You're dead, and you look nothing like him. But you… act so much like him…"
"And he knows everything Heero should know," Duo interrupted. "It's him, all right."
"But how?" Une asked.
"When everyone thought Duo was crazy for seeing me around, he wasn't. When I was killed, my soul was still imprisoned by IRIA. I was able to remain in this plane of existence. I found a body about a month ago that was lacking a soul, because the soul had died, and I took the body."
"I… see…" Une nodded slowly, when Wufei distracted her by approaching. He saluted Une weakly and moved to stand next to Sally. "Wufei."
"Colonel. Glad to see you again."
Quatre was sitting behind his desk, with his broken leg propped up, and he could still hear the group talking with Une. Une had just been told about Sally and Wufei's relationship.
Quatre hoped that Wufei gave Sally the engagement ring soon. Some might think the move might be too early, but everyone at the office knew they'd been dating for at least a year. It was just a pity that Wufei and Sally hadn't known at the time.
Opening a sealed file marked for him (sometimes it had was beneficial to have friends who were international photographers), Quatre pulled out a small bundle of photos with a letter.
'Quatre- I checked out the couple you wanted me to look for. Your idea was dead on. Check out my stuff. By the way, I had a stop over in Luxembourg to visit my brother, and check out what I found. See if these are of interest. –Alex.'
Turning to the pictures, Quatre saw that the first half were pictures of Dorothy and Relena living and working in Japan. Some of the photos were of Dorothy behind the counter of a book store, some were of Relena at rehearsals and auditions, some were of the pair at their apartment and even a few were of the couple having sex.
Blushing, Quatre flipped past those pictures and found that the next set were even odder. They were pictures of Treize and Une holding hands and kissing in public. There were a few of the couple having dinner together and a few showed them shopping together. The last picture was of a French marriage license for a Treize Khushrenada and Lady Une.
Looking back through the pictures, Quatre realized that both couples looked happy and he just couldn't turn them in.
'And as long as they stay out of the country and don't go back to their previous profession… I suppose people change,' Quatre tried to rationalize. Looking up, Quatre heard Trowa announce that he would go get Quatre. Hurriedly, Quatre hid the photographs in his desk and covered them up. 'After all, everyone has their secrets. I'll just keep tabs on them… to be safe.'
"Hey Quatre," Trowa's voice called to him from the doorway. "Une's back. You should come out and say hello."
"Coming," Quatre smiled, reaching down for his crutches. Pushing himself out of the chair, Quatre hobbled down the hall to meet his commanding officer.