Disclaimer:  I don't claim to own Gundam Wing, this is just for fun.  No money being made here.

Warning:  Swearing, violence (though not in this chapter), and yaoi.

Epilogue

Two Weeks Later.

Quatre walked across school grounds for the last time.

The sun shone down brightly, leaving no room for shadows.  Chattering students loaded down with books dashed past the blonde carrying his suitcase, eager to get home for a little fun before the day came to an end.  He passed a teacher, who was trying to look stern and forbidding to keep the students from having their 'fun' right here, but a small, amused smile kept sneaking on his lips.

Quatre Raberba Winner knew now that he didn't belong here.

He had spent his first week after being injected with the Red Formula in the company of a group of very discreet doctors, psychological and medical.  They had finally pronounced him fit to leave, saying that as far as they could tell there were no traces of the drug left anywhere in his system.  Though they couldn't tell him whether or not his other personality had been completely eradicated, or was just lying dormant.  Only time would tell.

Lady Une was still there with the team of specialists, though they were making significant progress.  Marameia was there also, helping her adopted mother, and her presence seemed to have the most positive affect on fixing Une's splintered brain.  Her breakdown had been kept quiet, and when she was finally well again chances were that she would rejoin the Preventers again.

After being released from the hospital, Quatre had immediately begun to shoulder his responsibilities at W.E. again.  With all the damage Everett Orth had done, there was a lot for him to do.  Some of the senior members who had backed Orth, had been giving him trouble, saying that as he wasn't twenty-one, he had no say in the company.  But with Ira backing his every decision they had no choice but to submit to his demands.  Not to mention the fact that they were scared shitless as Quatre had already gathered evidence from the secret labs against a number of them which had led to their arrests. 

The blonde had also been doing all he could to track down the family member's of those who had been experimented on.  Though it in no way compensated for their loss, he was letting those he found know that justice was being served and making sure that they were comfortable for the rest of their lives.  As for all the survivors, those that had family returned to them, and those that didn't (and there were a lot of those as mostly people that wouldn't be missed had been taken) had opted to help Quatre clean up the mess the Red Formula had made and make sure justice was served to those involved.  Carly, who had been one of this group, had been hired on as the blonde's personal secretary.  Not only was she quite good at her job, but also she was just fantastic at dealing with families who had lost people to the experiments.  She had made it her personal mission to help them and any others affected.

Terra Winner had been absolutely devastated when she had found out what her fiancé had been involved in.  But with the help of her family, she had begun to turn her depression into outrage at being betrayed.  With a new sense of purpose, Terra had also gotten involved in helping fix W.E.  The senior members were even more afraid of her than they were of Quatre.

Heero had disbanded Red Thorn.  The members had gone their separate ways, none had been arrested, though some still had to deal with being under the very close eye of the Preventers.  Wufei and Sally were keeping watch on those that could still possibly be dangerous.  As for Mia Shahar, she had found that she was better at working on the side of the law then she had ever been at being a hired gun.  She was helping the other gundam pilots clean up any and all corruption in the Preventers.  Her brother had been moved to a state of the art hospital, where Winner Enterprises was footing all the bills.  The doctors were hopeful that someday he would make a full recovery.

The blonde was jerked from his thoughts when somebody stopped in front of him.  He looked up from the grass to see Eric Davis.  Eric had been released from Red Thorn and sent back to his father shortly after the fight under Orth's house.  Quatre could see that his friend's dad stood several yards away, shaking hands and talking animatedly with the principal.  "So," Eric said hesitantly, "I hear that you're leaving school?"

"Yes, the press knows where I am now, and I have responsibilities that I really should take care of at W.E.  I heard that you weren't going to go here either anymore?"

"Yep.  My dad decided that he wants me close by."  Eric grinned, the expression lighting up his whole face and making him look almost attractive.  "After the kidnapping, he realized what he was missing, and we're going to try and get to know each other and actually act like father and son."

The blonde smiled.  "That's great!"

"Yeah, it really is.  Quatre, I just wanted you to know, I'm not going to tell anyone about your past.  I know the media would just hound you to death."  He grimaced.  "Believe me, I've gotten a little taste of what that's like in the last couple of weeks."

"Thank you, Eric."

"Yeah," he absently pushed his glasses up on his nose, "I'm the one that should be thanking you.  I know it's because of what you did that those people let me go."  He peered shyly at Quatre from behind his glasses.  "I was just wondering, if maybe we could stay friends?  I mean, I know I'm not nearly as interesting as the people you normally hang out with, but maybe we could get together some time?"

"I would love to, Eric."

"Really?"  He smiled again.  "That would be really cool!"  He glanced over at his dad who was beckoning him over.  "Looks like I have to go.  Take care of yourself Quatre."

"You too, Eric."

The blonde watched the other boy sprint over to his father.  He couldn't help but smile.  I'm glad things are working out for him, he deserves it.

Quatre took one last look around at the schoolyard, his expression slightly wistful.  His attempt at being a normal kid had failed miserably.  His past had interfered spectacularly.

A horn honked impatiently.

Quatre glanced up to see a blue sports car.  Heero Yuy was behind the wheel.

The other pilot had kept his promise.  He had barely left the blonde's side in the past two weeks.  Not only had he became Quatre's lover, but he had also taken it upon himself to reorganize security at W.E.  It kept him busy, but he had also been put on as backup on the Preventer agent's list.  Just in case.

The blonde grinned and walked over to the car.  He casually leaned into the opened passenger side window.  "What's your hurry?"

Heero snorted.  "I've just been informed by Duo that we're all going to a fancy restaurant tonight.  And apparently I'm paying, as he says that I owe them for being stupid and not trusting them.  If we hurry, we'll have time to drop your stuff off at our apartment before we have to meet them for dinner."

Quatre's grin got wider.  He still enjoyed hearing that it was their apartment.  He tossed his suitcase into the back of the vehicle.  He opened the door and got in, turning to looking at Heero as he did so.  He grinned impishly.  "It's a pity you're in such a hurry."

Heero raised an eyebrow.

"I thought maybe we could . . ." he reached over and stroked the other pilot's thigh, "celebrate our new home?"

The blue car peeled out of the school parking lot so fast that it left smoking tire marks behind.

Duo and Heero were right.  Sometimes normality really was overrated.

Notes:  And that's the end.  I hope everyone enjoyed reading Trying Normal as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Thank you all for reviewing, especially those that were wonderful enough to leave feedback for nearly every chapter.  Diane, I did make Heero take them to a nice restaurant, you were right, it is the least he can do.  Of course, who knows if he and Quatre will ever actually get there . . .

I do plan to keep writing and submitting stories to ffnet, so keep an eye out for them.

Thanks!

GreenLady