Heero gave Duo one last kiss and watched as he hurried to the limo. The organizers had managed to get them all out of the mall proper and into the back without much fuss. Heero and Zechs were going to wait a while longer and then slip out a side door.

Heero turned away from the door then stopped suddenly. "Damn"

"What? Are you all right?" Zechs suddenly remembered the caution that the therapist had given them that Heero was not to overexert himself. Too much strain on his leg wasn't good. "Dammit. Is your leg hurting?"

Heero nodded absently, "Your computer! I forgot. We have to go get the components."

Zechs shook his head. "You have to get off that leg. I'll . . ." catching sight of a Mall Customer Courtesy Representative Zechs motioned him over. After a quick consultation the man hurried off. He came back soon riding in a scooter.

Heero blinked for a second, then smiled "Thanks. That's nice. I need to go to the electronics store."

Zechs slipped the man a tip and smiled back at Heero. "You want to finish shopping? We cleaned up enough that I don't think anyone will notice us."

Heero shrugged. "I don't care if they do. We have a right to be here, the facility says so. I don't think anyone is going to take a shot at us."

Zechs shook his head. "Probably not. But they can get unpleasant."

"J was unpleasant. What can they do? Get nasty? If they do, we just walk away."

"In your case ride, but I take exception to being spat on."

Heero gave Zechs a sideways look. "Not while I'm around. Let's go."

Zechs followed Heero in the scooter as he zipped through the hall. Heero kept his speed down to a brisk walk. Zechs was a little amazed that Heero had taken the scooter without argument. His leg must be hurting.

Heero stopped at the electronics store and looked at the door and aisles. There was plenty of room to get through, so he headed for the back and the components. The clerk came over to help him.

"Hey! Got rid of that crutch. Great. How you feeling?"

"Pretty good. Over did it a little. Look the . . . " Heero fished around in a pocket and pulled out the receipt for his parts. "Computer worked out great. My friend . . . " Zechs felt a strange glow. "Likes it so I said I'd build him one."

The man took the receipt and started picking out the components. "I'll just pull the parts and package them up. You want them delivered?" Heero nodded "ok ummmm . . . here's your slip back. I don't need it anymore. I'll ring it all up real quick and you can be on your way."

The clerk carried all the boxes to the register and rang them up quickly. A signature and they were on their way.

Heero slowed at Zechs request so he could walk beside Heero. ‘instead of trotting along behind like a dog.' Heero just snorted.

They noticed some whispering and pointing but no one bothered them, they just looked. So they took their time, hoping that the reporters outside would get bored and go away.

Heero stopped in front of a small out of the way shop and looked in the window. His fingers twitched on the handlebars then with a sad backward look he started to drive away. Zechs stopped him gently, pulling his hand off the accelerator.

"What did you see? Why are you leaving?"

Heero froze for a moment then turned back. He parked by the door and got off the scooter. The shop was too small for it so he had to leave it by the door. The owner was watching through the window and smiled as Heero left the scooter.

"Hello, come in. Feel free to look around. I have safety mouth pieces for most of the wind instruments, just ask if you want one." Zechs was wandering around examining the store.

It was small and narrow with chairs scattered around so that people could sit down to try out guitars and banjos and such. But he was attracted to a harp. He reached out to touch it and the owner called out. "Please don't strum the harp. It's hard on the strings."

Zechs smiled sat on the small bench and tipped the harp to his shoulder. He started by playing a rippling arpeggio, testing the attack of the strings. He picked gently through several partial songs then played something all the way through stumbling several times.

Heero listened with appreciation Zechs was good or would be with some practice.

"That was nice. When . . . er . . . I didn't know you played an instrument."

Zechs stroked the back piece gently, then tipped the harp up again. "I can get that for you in rosewood, if you'd prefer. It's a nice house harp."

"I'll take this one if you don't mind. It's already played in. I like the tone."

Heero saw the whistle display and went to it. He reached out hesitantly and picked up one.

"If you like I have one of each that you can play. They're dipped in sanitizing solution between customers."

Heero accepted a whistle from the man and put it to his lips. He played a scale and then carefully picked out "Country Gardens" an old, old song. Then he clutched the whistle to his chest obviously upset.

Zechs put his arms around Heero and hugged him gently. "It's all right. Take it easy."

Heero just wrapped his arms around Zechs waist and held on. "I . . . want Duo. I miss him so much. That little bit of time . . . It . . . damn."

Zechs just rubbed his shoulders and back waiting for him to get himself together.

Heero turned into Zechs' chest and shuddered. "I'm sorry . . . I feel stupid."

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

Heero straightened up and swiped at his cheeks with the palms of his hands. The owner slipped into the back again to give them some privacy.

"I had a whistle a long time ago. I think my father or grandfather gave it to me. Just an impression, not really a memory. I kept it forever. Oden . . . he didn't want me to have it for some reason, so one day it just disappeared. J promised me one for some accomplishment or another but I never got it. Just . . . " Heero sighed. "I really liked that whistle."

"Well, . . . .You probably attracted too much attention if you were good."

Heero just nodded. Then he brightened. "I can have one now, though. And all the books I want."

He turned to the rack of music books and started picking carefully. Zechs reached out and handed him an O'Neals. "You want this one above all the others. It's ancient but it has every Irish tune ever done, in it."

Heero added it to the growing pile of books and music chips. "Ok, thanks. There's a lot of really ancient music out there. I think I knew . . . never mind I'll just get maudlin again."

He looked at the display of whistles and noticed something in the back of the case. It was a roll of whistle parts.

"That's odd. What's that?" Heero pointed to the roll. The owner came back into the shop and opened the case. He took the roll out of the case and placed it on the top. Heero picked up a part and eyed it then looked at the owner.

"It's a whistle set. See?" the man picked up a mouthpiece and screwed a piece of tubing into it Heero realized that it was a whistle shaft. "There's two mouthpieces and eight shafts. With the differences in mouthpieces you have a complete set of eight whistles and eight fifes with only ten parts. Keeps the set small, easy to transport and makes it a lot cheaper than a full set of each, without compromising quality. Try it."

Heero took the whistle and realized that it was a C instead of the traditional D. He blew into the mouthpiece and smiled around it. It was a very nice quality instrument. It took hardly any breath at all to produce a good tone. He looked at the price, it was a little expensive; but not as expensive as the set of one-piece whistles he'd also looked at. Not to mention the eight fifes.

"I want it. I'll take all this." Heero absently rubbed at his leg.

Zechs gently bumped the back of his legs with a chair. "Here, take a load off. That leg is going to give out on you, if you don't sit down."

Heero sat and waited while the owner started putting his merchandise in a bag. Zechs noticed that he wasn't ringing anything up, but didn't say anything. The man handed Heero the bag and smiled.

"There you go. Have a nice day."

Heero glanced from the owner to Zechs then back "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. I owe you. The Alliance nearly drove me out of business. I used to own one of the biggest music stores in town. They made it impossible for me to get instruments for some obscure reason or another. Then . . . " he smiled at Heero. "I moved to a smaller shop and managed. I was also an information drop for the Resistance. Without the Gundams . . . well, I hate to think what might have happened. So " He opened the door and bowed slightly. "Have a nice day and enjoy the whistles."

Zechs smiled at the man and nodded. He figured his chances of getting the harp had disappeared. As he passed, the owner gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You were always honorable. It's nice to see you two getting along. That harp will be delivered tomorrow." They gave each other slight smiles.

Heero got back on the scooter with a sigh, his leg was really aching. Zechs pointed to the door at the end of the wing "That's the door I was thinking of. It leads directly to the outside, it'll cut off about four blocks. I usually come the other way because I like the walk and this way goes through an alley. Not pretty." At Heero's worried look, he hurried to reassure him "There's no danger, it's just access ways and docks, not what I want to look at."

When they reached the door Heero started to get out of the scooter but Zechs told him to stay there for a little while. He disappeared into a store Heero watched people for about fifteen minutes until Zechs came back with a backpack.

"Here. Put your stuff in this."

Heero gave Zechs a grateful look, he hadn't been looking forward to carrying the rather large bag, and managing a cane as well. He stuffed everything into the pack, stopping just long enough to caress the box containing the whistles in their protective roll.

He shouldered the backpack and then was startled as Zechs took his cane, collapsed it, and stuffed it into one of the outside pockets.

"Umm I need that . . . I . . . wha . . . ?" Heero flinched slightly as Zechs squatted down in front of him with his back turned.

"Get on. You're not walking another step. Miss O'Donnell will have my hide off in strips."

"You sure? I'm heavier than I look."

Zechs snorted, "Please. I think I can manage. I'm a Specials Officer, remember?"

Heero climbed onto Zechs' back and wrapped his legs around his waist. He carefully put his arms around Zechs' neck, he didn't want to choke him. Zechs started for the door and was slightly surprised when a woman held the door for him. Heero thanked her then put his red face in the curve of his elbow. *That was weird*

Zechs walked down the alley and out onto the street, they attracted some attention, but most of it was people smiling at them. Heero over heard part of a comment ‘nice boy, carrying' he snickered softly in Zechs's ear.

About half way there Zechs stopped and sat Heero on a low wall, settling beside him. "I'll take a little breather. You're no heavier than a full pack, but I don't think I'm in quite as good shape as I was then either."

Heero stretched. "Well, thanks for carrying me. I wouldn't have made it. My leg aches like a bitch. I think Miss O'Donnell is gonna get both of us. But . . . it was fun . . . wasn't it?"

Zechs stretched too "Yeah. It was fun. I always liked working on my suit. I didn't get to as much as I wanted because of my other responsibilities." Zechs stood up again. "We better get going."

Heero climbed back onto Zechs back and settled himself. "I wonder if my stuff has been delivered yet."

"Probably. Why?"

"You'll find out."

~ * ~

When they checked back in, the desk guard politely asked Heero to show him what he had, so Heero pulled out the merchandise and let him go through it. He passed everything with a quick poke and shuffle. Heero was slightly shocked, he'd expected to have to give up something.

Zechs showed up with a wheel chair and glared Heero into it. Heero grumbled a little, but had to admit when ‘ordered' that he wasn't feeling quite up to walking very far.

"You're going to get both of us into trouble. Open the door, please." Heero leaned over to swipe his key card, opening the door. Zechs carried him in the living room and helped him settle on the couch.

"How bad does it hurt?" Zechs was hoping that he wasn't going to have to call someone to look at Heero's leg.

"I just over did it. Another forty-eight hours and I won't even know it was broken."

"Yeah? If Miss O'Donnell comes down on me, I'm getting you back."

Heero snorted, then grinned.

"Would you bring me the box from the tea store, please? Oh, and then could you get me a pill. I think I really need it."

Zechs brought Heero the requested box and then hunted for the pain pills. When he found them, he brought one to Heero along with a glass of water. He was astonished to see the tea and accessory's Heero had purchased.

The pot was a plain brown betty pot that would go with the plain buff colored china provided by the prison. Heero had also bought a complete set of utensils for a Japanese tea ceremony, and cozies, strainers and some things that Zechs didn't recognize.

Zechs gathered the tea and boxes of accessories. He took them into the kitchen and started to put them away. Then he quickly rinsed the pot out, stuck his head around the corner to check on Heero. He saw that Heero was engrossed in a music book, so he set the kettle on to boil and made a pot of tea.

He filled the sugar bowl and the cream pitcher. *No lemon. Oh, well. I don't take it.* Carefully placing everything on a tray he carried it out and gently booted Heero's feet off the coffee table.

"Oh. Tea. Gimme."

Heero held out his hands for the cup and saucer with an expression of such delight on his face that he looked about six.

"There's no lemon. I don't take it. Just a half spoon of sugar."

"I don't take it either. I like mine plain." Heero sipped "Oh, man. That's good. Here."

Zechs took the package with a raised eyebrow. "For me? What is it?"

"Open it and find out. " Heero settled back with his tea and watched as Zechs opened the box.

Zechs examined the one shot with interest. And exclaimed in delight at the tea. "Well, thank you very much. But maybe I won't have that much use for it?"

Heero smirked over his cup. "Maybe, maybe not. How ‘bout those Mets?"

And they started an argument that lasted through two pots of tea and the rest of the afternoon.

~ * ~

Quatre settled in his favorite chair with his feet on a stool. Trowa sat across the tea table from him and ‘played mother' pouring his tea and adding the right amount of cream.

"Well, that was fun. I've got my people looking into acquiring the rights to that game. That bunch will have it FUBAR in less than a month."

Trowa poured his own tea and sighed in contentment. "It's a beta, so maybe they made the units on the cheap so they wouldn't waste money on units that won't be in production. I'll admit that I really wanted to try it out. Heero looks good."

Quatre rested his head on the back of the chair. "Yeah. I nearly fell over when I realized who was standing behind him."

"Mmm. Me too. Never thought . . . well . . . what's up with him."

"Can't say. But he's . . . Relena . . . dammit. Trowa you know I'd tell you if it was my secret to tell."

Trowa nodded and offered more tea, Quatre held out his cup. "That's ok, Quat. If you can't tell, you can't. I respect that you won't tell even me if you promised. But I'll admit curiosity is eating me alive."

"I'll tell as soon as I can. Things are certainly looking up. The publicity from that little exercise in team work will help Zechs as well as Heero."

Trowa smiled over his cup. Quatre kept his cards close to the chest. He definitely was up to something.

They drank tea in companionable silence, playing footsie on the stool.

~ * ~

Duo leaned over Wufei's shoulder for a moment then asked Wufei to come with him.

"Duo, I'm tired. What do you need?"

"Not much. I just thought, if you weren't real busy, we could go to the Jade Room. I've got a surprise for you. I hope you like it."

"A surprise? That's nice." Wufei sighed. Duo tried hard, but some of his surprises were less than pleasant. He braced himself for another ‘treat' of loud antique rock or some similar surprise.

Duo carefully bowed at the door. He motioned gracefully, "Please be seated."

Wufei glanced around the small dining room and was surprised to see it set up for a tea ceremony. A Chinese-style tea ceremony.

He seated himself at the place of honor and prepared himself for anything.

Wufei watched as Duo stuffed the small teapot with leaves. He also scattered a few on the tabletop. Then he poured boiling water into the pot until it overflowed holding it over a large jade bowl to catch the overflow. He immediately poured the water out of the pot. he waited a few moments then he handed the pot to Wufei. Wufei took it and sniffed carefully.

"Very nice. Sweet and green without being grassy."

Wufei handed the pot back to Duo who immediately poured hot water into it and sat it aside to steep.

"Do you like a long steep, or short."

"For this, I think a short one. You should pour it now. Please."

Duo poured tea into shot glass sized jade cups. He handed one cup to Wufei holding it with both hands, fingertips holding at the middle of the cup. Wufei took it with one hand under it, the other fingertips grasping the lip. They both bowed slightly.

They sipped in appreciative silence, then Duo asked Wufei if his unworthy tea should be thrown out. Wufei smiled and allowed that it was much more than acceptable. Duo poured a second water on the tea and waited a moment, then poured a second cup.

"I don't think this tea likes a second brewing. This is . . . sour."

Wufei sipped as well. "Yes, I think you're right. That's unusual in a white. I'll send you some of a sort I have."

"Thanks, but don't bother. I don't care particularly for white. But I know you do." Duo examined the leaves on the table then pushed them to Wufei who shook his head. "What is it?"

"It's not a real good quality, I think you got cheated."

"I'll give it to you, do what you want. I don't feel cheated, the lady just picked for me as I don't know much about white tea."

Duo set the pot aside and emptied the large spill bowl into a container on the floor.

"Now there's another nice tea. Here."

Duo again stuffed leaves into the pot. Wufei realized that it was a different pot. Duo had gone to a lot of trouble for this, all the traditional forms were observed. In very nice style, if he did say so.

Again Duo poured, dumped, and poured again. Wufei took the cup with a deeper bow this time.

"It's a nice green. I chose it because it's not grassy. I don't like tea that tastes like hay. I hope you like the jasmine."

Wufei tasted the tea and smiled. It was one of his favorites.

"This one is particularly nice as it was one of my mother's favorites. I've been drinking it since I was a child."

Duo smirked into his teacup. "I remembered. I wondered how tea could be a pearl so I asked the lady at the teashop. She tried to fob me off with a cheap one, but I told her I wanted the finest Dragon Pearls she had." He sipped carefully. "I think it was worth it. But . . . there's no flowers in it."

Wufei sighed happily, this was one of the finest teas he'd had in a long time. "The best Dragon Pearl doesn't have flowers in it. It's layered with flowers, a layer of tea, then gauze, then flowers. Seven times the layering for seven days and nights. It's packaged without flowers." He finished his cup and set it down. "I think this tea will allow several brewings."

So Duo brewed a second cup, then a third; while they discussed the tea, or Wufei told Duo about it. Duo listened with real interest. Now that he wasn't so worried about staying alive, he felt differently about many things. He had more patience as well.

"Well. That was interesting. There's one more tea. An Oolong that I happen to like. It's called Ti Quan Yin. I picked this one myself. It's a little more peachy than any I've ever tasted before. I think you'll like it."

For the third time Duo went through the routine of readying the pot, pouring the water, and steeping the tea. Wufei watched as Duo handled the tea things. He seemed much more practiced than you would have expected from a coffee drinking American. He suddenly realized that Duo had practiced quite a bit in order to be this skilled at the ceremony.

After tasting and appreciating the tea Duo sighed. "This is nice. Much more calming than I thought it would be. It's so different from the Japanese tea ceremony. All that washing and fussing, flowers and I can't remember what all. This is just about the tea. Very nice."

"Yes. I hold a Japanese style ceremony for Heero and he has a Chinese style for me. We've only managed . . . three I think. Squeezed them in between missions when we were holed up together. We took turns. I still think he owes me one, but at this stage of the game I just want him here so we can . . . Oh, I forgot we flipped for it. Heero gets his next . . ." Wufei looked at Duo. "Would you like to attend?"

Duo thought while he sipped his tea. They were already on their third brewing the small pot and tiny cups only allowed three or four sips per cup.

"No, I don't think so. That's for you and Heero. I'd just get fidgety and spoil it. But I thank you for the invitation . . . Wufei?"

Duo busied himself cleaning up after the tea. He nervously dumped leaves out of one of the pots into the bowl. Then he started cleaning the second pot Wufei realized that he wasn't going to speak without encouragement.

"Duo, just spit it out. At the worst I'll say no."

Duo grinned. "Yeah. Well, do you think Heero will make his parole."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about. Have you been . . . I know you have, that's stupid. You've been watching all the histrionics on the vid. By the time Quatre gets done, the parole board wouldn't dare turn him down."

"His . . . I'm not sure what that means, but if it's anything like hysteria you're right. And . . ." Duo snickered. "He's in the same facility as Zechs. That's a hoot. The fact that some dummy made Zechs his sponsor just . . . "

Wufei interrupted, a thing he rarely did. "Zechs as Heero's sponsor is just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. "

"Yeah" Duo finished cleaning the pots by rinsing them with hot water. "I really like this kettle, heats really fast. But they seemed to be getting along fine. Heero always admired him, you know. Said he had honor, even in the last. I think Relena is being really mean to him."

Wufei sighed. "Yes, she seems to have cast him off. But . . . she's not the type to do that. I'd like to know what she and Quatre have cooked up between them."

Duo shrugged. "We'll know when the time is right. Until then I'm not gonna sweat it. Here."

"What? But. . . Duo, those pots have to be. . . "

Wufei snapped his mouth shut. The pots were old, but obviously not family heirlooms as he'd been about to say.

"I found them on the net. They're all from different L5 colonies. There's another one that we didn't use. One for white, green, oolong, and red. Along with the other things they make a really good tea set. Do you like it?" Wufei sniffled then gave up and cried softly. "Hey! . . . Wufei, I didn't mean to make you cry. I thought you'd like it."

Wufei stood up and bowed deeply. "It is quite beyond my capacity to express my eternal gratitude. It was very nice of you. Now, hug me before I cry again."

Duo gathered Wufei into his arms and just stood hugging him; rocking back and forth.

~ * ~

Relena sighed and settled into her chair. This was going well, Heero and the others, including her brother she was glad to see, had made a very nice picture working on the broken game. Team work between Zechs (she'd resisted his name change until the last) and the Gundam pilots had been a very pretty picture.

"Pagan, will you please quite hovering? I'm fine. Just tired. This tour is wearing me out. Go here, then there, then hurry back for more negotiations. I'm so glad Quatre agreed to take care of the publicity for our little scheme, if you can call it that."

Pagan poured her more tea, offered cookies and left. Relena sipped tea and waited. Her next appointment was with some official from one of the places she was going to visit. She was in the process of visiting all the major penal facilities, not something she was happy about, but she felt she should.

"Ah, Mr. Compton. How are you? I know you need to speak to me about my visit to your facility, but my time is severely limited so I hope you don't mind having tea with me."

Mr. Compton sat in the chair Lady Relena indicated and smiled at her. "No, not at all. I'm really a coffee drinker, but one of my charges mentioned that hot tea was very good. I tried it and find that it's not bad. Heero was such a pleasure to work with. So ready to work hard at getting . . . er . . . more socialized. Excellent young man. He said that he knew you?"

Relena realized with a small shock that this man was the warden of the facility she and Quatre had managed to get Heero into. "Heero was at . . . what. I'm sorry, I don't seem to have my notes. Where . . . ?"

"Fitzroy. Has a fancy name, but that's us."

"Oh, well. Tell me a little about your . . . campus."

So Mr. Compton told Relena about Fitzroy as they drank tea. She was going to be interested to visit this facility at least.

~ * ~

Zechs opened the letter with a feeling of dread. No one wrote paper letters in this day and age unless it was either very important, very private or both. In this case he knew it was both.

After reading the letter Zechs had to hold onto his temper with both hands. He wanted to scream, or smash everything in the room, or both. None of which would do him any good, and a great deal of harm. So instead, he took off running.

Heero saw him, and the letter he let drop, as he started running. He snatched it off the ground and read it in one glance. He called to a guard who was helping one of the other occupants, "I'm going after him. Do something useful."

Heero ran after Zechs, thanking fate that his leg was finally well, although Miss O'Donnell was going to give him fits again.

Zechs ran across the lawn, long legs eating up the distance in seconds. He jumped the wall in two bounds, one to the top, dodging the wire, and the other down on the other side. He continued to run on into the park on the other side of the wall. Heero stuck to him with little trouble. He might be shorter by a head, but he was still in ‘battle ready condition'; Zechs had gotten soft on Mars. Although soft was a relative term.

Heero stretched out and caught up with Zechs. They were running full out so all he had to do was tap Zechs on the shoulder. He fell hard, rolling and sliding. He wound up in a small depression behind some bushes.

Heero pinned Zechs flat on his belly with one arm twisted behind his back. "Stop. It's not worth it . . . I'm not letting you do anything stupid . . . hold still."

Zechs squirmed and writhed desperately, trying to shake Heero off. He didn't seem to even know what he was doing.

"Be still! You're not running. . . . I don't care what happened. You can't . . . you can't. Stop it."

Heero wasn't a bit surprised when Zechs stilled, then broke down completely. He was pinned with Heero on his back, twisting his arm and Duo sitting on his legs Wufei had grabbed the other arm or rather hand and was patting it, frantically murmuring. "It's all right. We'll fix it. Calm down. Tell us."

Zechs finally sat up, palming the tears off his cheeks with one hand. "I feel like such a fool. I knew she wouldn't be able to keep . . . to stay . . . she . . . damn."

Wufei tugged on the hand he still held. After some shuffling and scrooching Zechs wound up with Wufei kneeling facing him in the vee of his thighs with Duo on his left and Heero on his right.

Heero stroked his shoulder while Duo ran his fingers through his tangled, half-unbraided hair. Wufei patted him on one thigh and sighed. "Can you tell us about it?"

Zechs drew a hitching breath and, while he tried to collect his thoughts, Heero produced the letter he'd kept with him. He turned to Zechs with one eyebrow raised. Zechs just nodded. Heero read the letter:

Dear Zechs

I don't understand why you've chosen to stay here. We could go back to Mars and help turn a desert into a garden.

I can't stay here any longer. I'm lonely and tired of it. If you won't show some common sense, I don't know what else to do.

Please forgive me. I'm going back to Mars. My ship leaves at 7:45 p.m. on Wed. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to wait, but my life is slipping away. I want children of my own and a real family. Something Relena is determined to deny us. So I'm going to Mars and do something constructive.

Good-by

Noin.

Duo muttered "Oh hell."

Wufei just sighed. "She wants . . . family . . . children. Not an unending fight to find normalcy. Zechs. I'm so sorry."

"I wanted a family too. But . . . Relena was right. Noin isn't strong in a way that . . . she doesn't . . . understand. It's all slipping away from me. I'm . . . sorry. I . . . "

Zechs nearly broke down again, he found his cheek resting on Wufei's shoulder. Wufei had scooted closer and now had his thighs draped over Zechs's, ankles locked behind his buttocks.

"Don't cry. Please don't. I can't fix it. But . . . maybe . . . I could help you some how."

Duo sighed. "Man that sucks. I'm really sorry. Heero . . . how . . . shit! I hate to bring this up at a time like this but he's in deep shit you know?"

Wufei stroked the bangs back from Zechs's forehead and wiped at his cheeks. Duo fished around in his pockets and handed his bandana to Zechs.

"Here. Wipe, then blow; not the other way around . . . nasty. "

Zechs managed a rather watery smile. "Yes, I'm sure it is. Thank you . . . " Zechs sighed heavily "All of you. Now, all I have to do is . . . I'm in a lot of trouble. Damn!"

Heero looked around. "Where's Quatre and Trowa?"

Wufei answered, as Duo was busily combing out Zechs hair. "They went to L5. That's where we were. Seeing them off. We were on our way back home and saw you running after Zechs, so we bailed on the driver and came after you. Good thing too."

Heero grimaced, he'd hoped Quatre could help him find a way out of this for Zechs. He felt he was covered as he'd told a guard what he was doing.

Wufei patted Zechs on the back and thought hard. "Well, if we can get him back without anyone seeing . . . " he gave Heero a tired look as he started shaking his head. "Ok. That won't work. Shit"

Then the guards came up to them. None of them had noticed them and, since they weren't running or even moving, the guards had let them take care of getting Zechs calmed down. Now they came up and made the group aware of their presence.

The Sargent addressed Zechs. "I'm sorry, but we have to take you into custody. Come now. Please don't make this harder than it has to be." He nodded to Heero "Mr. Winner-Yuy."

Zechs stood up and gave Duo back his bandana with a soft thanks. Then he went to the guards and just waited. Heero gave Duo a quick kiss and caught up with him.

Zechs stood and waited as the guards put leg irons on him, then handcuffed his hands and wrapped the belly chain around his waist. Heero put out his hands to be cuffed as well. Zechs gave him a sad look, but the guard shook his head.

"You're not in any trouble. You told Frank where you were going, it was an emergency. So . . . " the man shrugged. "But . . . well, unless there's extreme extenuating circumstances, Mr. Merquise is in big trouble."

Wufei stepped up. "In the interests of justice I must say that . . . well, once he got himself under control he didn't attempt to escape from us. He's had a nasty shock and . . . a natural reaction to such a thing is to escape from the . . . pain."

"There'll be an intervention and his therapist will have the final say on what happens. Now . . . Heero, you better go back. It'll look better if you go back on your own. I'd like to let Mr. Merquise go back himself, but I don't feel that it's a good idea. Mr. Chang . . . he seems to be calmer around you. Would you mind coming with us? Just for a while."

Wufei had stepped up beside Zechs and was rubbing his back in small circles, trying to help him calm down. "I'd be pleased to come with you. Zechs, you'd like that?"

Zechs hung his head and sighed again. "I don't want to be any more trouble to you. You should just go on home and forget about me. . . like everyone else."

Wufei hated to see so proud a man brought so low. "Stupid onna. At least she could have told you herself. A Dear John letter is . . . cowardly, to say the least. I'll go with you . . . " Zechs started to say something but Wufei cut him off. "Silence seems to be a good idea."

They wound up splitting up, heading back for the facility in two groups. Zechs, Wufei and the two guards in their van, and Heero and Duo, after telling the driver where to meet them, walked back the way Heero had come. They jumped the wall into the prison and slipped through the side door where one of the guards met them.

"There you are. Did you catch him?"

Heero nodded and pulled Duo to him. "Is it ok if Duo comes in? He was with me . . . after I caught Zechs. Maybe the warden will want to talk to him too?"

"Sure. I think you're right. Whatever possessed him to do that? He's always been a model prisoner, never any trouble as far as I know. I'm sure we can get it cleared up . . ." The guard rubbed the back of his neck while he thought. "Umm . . . Heero, why don't you take Mr. Maxwell to your rooms and give him some . . . refreshments. I'll get back to you as soon as I know want we're supposed to do." He walked off muttering, ‘what a mess, what a mess.'

Heero looked at Duo. "I'd rather meet them at the door. They'll bring him in through intake. Come on."

~ * ~

Zechs didn't resist when the guards led him to the van. Wufei helped him get in without bumping his head or tripping. He was glad to see that the guards treated Zechs with respect, even kindness. They even seemed to hover a little until Zechs was seated in the van.

When the door slammed Zechs flinched slightly so Wufei took his bound hands and began stroking the long, elegant members with gentle fingers. "It'll be ok. You'll see. Don't fret"

"How can it ever be ok? Sometimes I wish they'd executed me like they wanted to. I . . .God, I sound like such a whiner. All I want is . . . I'm not sure what I want anymore. Noin . . . Mars . . . just." Zechs stammered to a halt and looked at Wufei, he recognized that look, Duo had turned it on him often enough.

"I don't know. But . . . you can't sustain this level of grief for long. You'll make yourself sick."

"What do you know about it? You've never lost . . . "

Zechs flinched back from Wufei's furious look.

"What do I know about loss? My wife, my colony. My best friend's freedom. Seems like quite a list to me. So don't ask me any more foolish questions. Get a grip on yourself while I try to see some way out of this mess . . . stupid onna. Why now?"

Wufei didn't realize he was now stroking Zechss' arm. Zechs didn't ask him to stop.

~*~

When they got to the facility, the guards helped Zechs out of the van and allowed him to go ahead of them into the intake area, where Heero and Duo met them.

"Well this is quite a mess. Mr. Merquise, I'd suggest you get cleaned up a little. You have an emergency intervention with your therapist. If you have an explanation for this, you better . . . oh. What's this?"

Heero handed the guard Noin's letter. "Take that to him now. I'm going to take him to his rooms and help him get cleaned up like you said." The guard nodded and motioned for them to go.

As they walked down the hall no one realized that Wufei had taken point, while Heero flanked Zechs on the left, and Duo on the right, the ‘real' guards brought up the rear.

"Well, well. Looks like our precious Prince Peacecraft has gotten himself into a spot of . . .

Wufei was in the fat mans face at once. It was like seeing a Bantam rooster taking on a bulldog. Unfortunately for the bulldog the little rooster had way more heart.

"Excuse me. If you have a problem take it up with the proper authorities. Now get out of the way."

The man backed down from the fury in Wufei's eyes. He started to sneer but thought better of it when he realized that Heero and Duo had also gotten between him and Zechs. He mumbled something and stepped aside.

Wufei turned to ask Zechs something and saw that he had frozen; not in place, but mentally. It was somewhat like watching the picture on a vid screen shrink away to nothing. He just turned and started down the hall again. Heero took Zechs by the arm and tugged gently. "Come on. Ignore that bastard."

"Oh, he's no bastard. He's not smart enough. Just get me to my rooms please. I . . .just . . . "

Zechs just stopped talking, as he couldn't really think of anything to say.

When they got him to his rooms, the guards left them to their own devices, only saying that they should ring if they needed anything. Also to ring when they were ready to go to the therapist's office.

They headed into the bathroom and settled Zechs on a small bench, which they pulled out into the middle of the room.

Zechs hung his head, he looked so sad, so tired, that Wufei's heart went out to him. He started unbuttoning Zechs's shirt but he realized that they had a problem. The cuffs and belly chain would keep them from taking Zechs's dirty clothes off.

"Never mind. It doesn't make any difference. I'll just go like I am."

Duo snorted. "Man, you think I'm gonna let any friend of Heero's . . . and mine. Go out lookin' like that? You're nuts. Hold still."

Duo twirled the lock pick between his fingers and Zechs could only laugh. "Where did that come from? I know they didn't search you, but the metal detector should have gone off."

"Gundanium doesn't set them off." Duo poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. "There you go. Now, into that shower and wash your hair. It's full of . . . Stuff."

Duo's efficient lock picking had quickly opened the locks at wrists and ankles. Zechs turned to take off his cloths, and while he was getting his shirt off, Duo picked the last lock and dropped the belly chain to the floor.

Zechs unraveled his braid and stepped into the shower. While he was showering, Heero got into his closet and got out some clean clothes for him.

Duo rummaged around and found clean towels and a comb with wide teeth.

Zechs got out of the shower and took a towel from Duo with soft thanks, he dried off and wrapped the wet towel around his head, sopping most of the water out of his hair.

Wufei found himself tucked into a niche between the back of the shower and the linen closet. He took the opportunity to admire Zechs. He was muscular without being bulky, no body builder here. Zechs was all long, lean muscle, tightly knit like a dancer or, Wufei decided, a martial artist. His eyes met Zechs in the mirror and Zechs smirked.

Heero handed Zechs the pile of clothes. "Here, get dressed before you catch a chill."

Zechs took the garments and pulled on boxers, then a pearl grey shirt. The charcoal-grey linen pants followed and he sat down to put on silk socks that matched the shirt. That was when Wufei cursed in Chinese and grabbed his hand. He had a ring of bruising around his wrist that was familiar to all of them.

Zechs pulled away gently. "Don't bother, it's nothing."

Heero sighed, this was going to be hard and Zechs didn't need anyone making it harder not even Wufei. He caught Wufei's eyes and shook his head behind Zechs back. Wufei nodded to Heero when Zechs bent to put on his shoes.

Duo interrupted to lighten the mood. "Hey, nice shirt, you better let me do something with that hair or you'll just get it all wet. Here, put this around your shoulders." Duo draped a clean, dry towel around his shoulders and walked around behind him. "I'll just comb this out." Duo started combing "Man, and I thought I had a lot of hair. Why did you suddenly start braiding it?"

So Zechs explained about the family tradition of neither braiding nor cutting his hair while Duo combed, braided and fussed about split ends. When Duo was done, Zechs stood up and found Wufei there in front of him.

"I'm so sorry. We have to put these back on. I don't think they'll take it properly . . . that we removed them without permission . . . " He smirked slightly. "or a key."

Wufei gently took the elegant hands in his. He snapped the cuffs back on, careful to leave enough room that the metal didn't press into his already bruised flesh. He couldn't resist gently stroking those long fingers, Zechs gave him a bemused look, then sighed softly. While Wufei had been distracting him, Duo had snuck the leg irons back on.

"Come on. Let's get this over with. All he'll do is tell me I've lost my privileges until further notice. And tell me I have to ‘get a grip'" Zechs started for the door with the others trailing after him.

~ * ~

Heero looked into the room ready to argue with the therapist. He was surprised and pleased to see that it was Doctor Terry.

Hello. Oh Heero and . . . Wufei and Duo?" Heero nodded. "Pleased to meet you all. Mr. Merquise . . . I don't think those are needed, are they?"

Zechs just looked at Dr. Terry for a moment, then entered as Heero pulled him out of the doorway, allowing Dr. Terry a good look at the others and allowing them to enter. They all took seats on the couch except Heero. Zechs sat on the couch, with Wufei on one side, and Duo on the other. Heero stood behind Zechs with his hands on his shoulders, which he rubbed in a comforting gesture.

Dr Terry called for a guard to come and take the shackles away. He also rather sharply called his attention to the bruising, telling him that someone needed retraining.

Zechs sat on the couch waiting for his dressing down and the announcement of his punishment. He didn't realize his hands were shaking until Duo took hold of one and Wufei the other. Dr Terry sighed, rubbed his forehead and looked at Heero. "Right in front of him, I'll ask you. Do you think he could use a mild sedative, or should we just jump right in?"

Heero considered for a moment. "I don't think jumping right in will do any good at all. He's quite aware that what he did wasn't very smart. But I don't think it was really an attempt to escape from anything more than just the pain of the moment. He would have come back on his own, but I was afraid that someone would shoot him, or something equally nasty."

"I see." Dr Terry took time to give Heero a look of delight. "That's not good. I think . . . just . . ." he rummaged around in his bag. "Heero, if you would, please." Dr. Terry poured a glass of water and handed it to Heero along with the pill in a little paper cup. Heero turned and handed them to Zechs who swallowed the pill indifferently. After drinking half the water, he returned the glass to Heero and settled back on the couch, picking up the end of his braid.

Duo sighed when Zechs settled back and took hold of his braid. He reached over and started gently petting Zechs' arm with one hand, while he clutched his braid with the other. Wufei leaned into Zechs on the other side and held his upper arm gently, squeezing it from time to time.

Doctor Terry took the time to reread Noin's letter, then shocked Zechs by sighing and remarking. "I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking you how you feel. You're obviously extremely upset. I don't blame you. This is . . . well, I won't insult the lady, but I would have thought she could find a . . . gentler . . . no, that's not what I want to say. There is no gentle way to break up with someone, but. . . perhaps, nicer way to do it. Dear John letters are just so cold."

"Has that pill taken effect yet?"

Zechs nodded "Yes. I'm not sleepy or groggy, just slightly detached. Like . . . drifting."

Doctor Terry smiled and nodded. "Good, . . . good. Do you do any meditation techniques?"

"No, but I'm fairly good at getting in touch with my feelings. Given time."

"Take all you need. I'm sure your friends will be happy to wait."

Zechs sat thinking and stroking his braid. It was a self-comforting gesture he'd picked up quickly. Duo sat stroking his own braid and patting Zechs thigh. Wufei kept hold of Zechs arm and Heero stood behind them with one hand on Duo's shoulder and the other on Zechs.

"What are you thinking?"

Zechs rubbed at his eyes and picked up his braid again.

"You really want to know how I'm handling this. But I'm not really ready to decide how to handle it. I feel . . . I feel let down, I feel abandoned. Like every thing I ever worked for or wanted is slipping away like sand through a too tightly clenched fist. First, Treize, then the Zero system. Relena, just turning her back. Oh. Ever so politely, no crudities or recriminations. But she never returns my calls and so on. Even Mars doesn't want me. And after I get out of here what am I going to do? I'm not fit for much.

"So, Relena will settle me in one of her minor residences. I'll . . . garden and . . . raise dogs. The black sheep remittance man. God."

Heero hurt for Zechs. It was bad enough that he had lost the war, but he'd lost everything else as well. No home, no family. His profession would be denied him. What was he going to do? There wasn't that much demand for a black sheep prince.

Doctor Terry nodded, made a note, and eyed the group with a pleased expression. "Well, I don't see much need for you to be so negative. But if that's how you feel, that's how you feel. I'm sure there's something you're able to do. We just have to find out what it is."

Duo rolled his eyes and Heero sighed. Wufei openly sneered. "Yes, there's such a need for Gundam pilots in these days of peace. Please don't patronize him. It's . . ."

Zechs patted Wufei on the leg. "Be nice. He's only trying to help. Better than the last guy by a long shot. He kept trying to make me admit that I'm . . . a failure. And I am. I thought that what we were doing was right. Treize . . . he was so persuasive. I'm just so tired of all this struggle. I think I'd like raising dogs. Or maybe horses."

Wufei snorted rudely, but Duo brought it out in the open. "You're just as fucked as we are. Heero took the hit for us, but we're suffering just as much as he is. And you're so alone it makes me want to cry."

Then he blinked "Umm, . . . dude? My braid. And . . ." They both realized at the same time that Zechs had been stroking Duo's braid while Duo had been self-comforting with his.

Everybody started laughing. Zechs leaned back in the couch and wound up with his head on Heero's belly while Heero did his best to hug the other three. Doctor Terry was treated to the sight of the three Gundam pilots doing their best to comfort their former enemy.

Dr. Terry nodded. "Well, I'm glad to see that you four are getting along. I see that Heero is due for a furlough next week. Zechs . . . as his sponsor you'll be going along. I hope you have a nice time. Oh, and all your visitors passes have been approved. All your friends are free to visit you anytime they want. Within proper hours of course."

Zechs just raised his eyebrow at the doctor. He'd thought his privileges would be revoked.

Dr. Terry obviously knew exactly what he was thinking, so he shook his head. "We're making allowances for extreme mental anguish. This is much better than your former reactions."

Duo made a questioning sound and Zechs explained. "When I was first incarcerated, I tended to take my . . . ire out on the furnishings. But smashing things leads to cleaning up after, so I . . . broke myself of the habit. I really don't like house work."

Heero snickered. "And who was it just the other day telling me I needed to dust."

"Me and take my word for it. You don't want to wait until it gets out of hand. A little along is better than having to spend the day cleaning up and then listening to a lecture by the warden about how this facility has standards. As if."

Wufei made a rude noise some where between a snort and a choke. "No one has higher standards, or had, than the Specials. I'm sure you did plenty of time on your knees making sure the floor was clean."

"Oh yes, and polishing the porcelain. And cleaning out the cockpit of my mobile suit. That's one of the reasons that I hate cleaning."

Duo and Heero both had to laugh. The vision of Zechs on his knees scrubbing floors was just too much.

Duo sighed softly. "Look, Doc. I really think it would be good for Zechs if he could go on furlough with Heero. He's welcome. Would you make sure he can go? "

Zechs started to say something, but Duo just turned around and put his hand over Zechs mouth. "You're comin' . . . don't argue. Heero will tell you arguing with me is an exercise in futility. So just stick a sock in it already."

Wufei added his two-cent worth to the conversation. "It is unkind of you to make us beg. So we will just expect you to acquiesce gracefully."

Zechs startled them all by starting to cry again. He was so plainly out of control that Heero pushed and poked him until he stood up. Somehow they wound up with Zechs standing in the middle of the room holding Wufei while Duo stroked and petted his tightly braided hair and Heero held him from the back.

Doctor Terry touched Heero on the shoulder. "Do you think you could get him to his quarters? I'd like to get him to bed. He's not handling this very well. I don't blame him. He's had everyone he ever loved ripped from him. But we need to get him calmed down before he has a complete break down. I'll sedate him and set up a series of intensive sessions . . . oh, . . . Heero?" Heero spared the Doctor a quick glance. "I'm very pleased with your progress. I've been transferred here until further notice. . . . Let's get him to bed."

They managed to get Zechs to his quarters and into bed. He was cooperative to the point of docility, so they undressed him and tucked him into bed. Doctor Terry offered him a pill, which he took, and asked Heero if he would stay with him. Heero agreed to do that and had Wufei see him to the door.

After the Doctor left, Heero took Duo to the living room for some quality time and Wufei sat down in a chair by the bedside to watch Zechs sleep.

~ * ~

Authors notes:

When brewing tea, some tea leaves can be brewed more than once. Each successive brewing is called a ‘water'.