~ * ~

The next day Heero got a call from Dr. Terry asking him to come to the Psych office. Heero knew what it was about and was more that willing to see the doctor. He met Zechs in the waiting room.

The waiting room was unlike any other waiting room Heero had ever seen. It was very small containing two seating groups made up of very comfortable furniture. One area was a couch and love seat with coffee and side tables. The other was made up of three high-backed wing chairs with foot stools and side tables.

Zechs was seated in one of the wing chairs waiting for the doctor. Smiling Zechs offered coffee, remarking, "Dr. Terry said he'd like to see us both at one time if that's ok with you. It's fine with me, so it's up to you."

Heero accepted the coffee, fixed just the way he liked it. He'd rather have tea but coffee was all that was drinkable in the public areas. He shrugged. "I don't care. All he'll do is ask me . . . come to think of it he might not." Heero sipped at the coffee thinking.

"If you get any more cryptic you'll be incoherent. Explain." Zechs rolled his eyes, sometimes Heero was still so terse as to be almost mute.

"I don't like it when ‘they' ask me how I'm feeling. Sometimes I'm not sure and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I get confused and that makes me angry. Therefore, we don't get anywhere. Dr. Terry usually doesn't ask me how I'm feeling. He sometimes tells me how I should be feeling and that really helps. Do you know why he wants to see us together?"

Zechs shook his head. "Not a clue. I'll admit it is unusual. And around here unusual isn't good."

"In this case it is. We'll listen to Dr. Terry tell us we have to deal with things ourselves, then he'll give us some good, and I mean good, advice. He'll also probably have a stroke when he reads your file. I know he will, read it that is, he read mine when there was only one page in it."

"Read my file?" Zechs raised one eyebrow. "And how do you know what's in my file?"

Heero smirked at Zechs. "This place is a cracker box. I like to know what I'm dealing with."

"And my file told you . . . what?"

"That the shrink who was treating you is an idiot. He was supposed to treat me. But . . ." Heero shrugged, sipped coffee, and raised an eyebrow of his own over the cup. Zechs couldn't help the quiver that went through his shoulders. He wasn't laughing, really he wasn't. He could just see his old psychiatrist dealing with Heero in sullen mode.

~ * ~

When they both got in to see Dr. Terry, Heero smiled. Dr. Terry was dressed in casual jeans, a flannel shirt and loafers sans socks. He looked like everyone's older brother. Zechs, who had seen the man several times now, smiled.

"Going fishing?"

Dr Terry sighed. "Don't I wish. You two ok? Want to talk about anything?"

Heero nodded. "Yes. I don't understand why Duo and Wufei lost it. We were in the clear. At the sheriffs station no less. And they both went . . . South."

"Yes. Can you tell me more about it?"

Heero looked at Zechs. Zechs shook his head. "Not much. They both complained of . . . smells?" Zechs turned to look at Heero for confirmation, Heero nodded.

Dr. Terry sighed. "Well, that explains quite a bit. Something in the smell brought back sense memories of something bad. Smell is one of the things our subconscious remembers best. Good smells bring back pleasant memories of picnics and Mother's arms etc. Bad, and not necessarily unpleasant, smells bring back bad memories. Sometimes the worst memories are triggered. . . . I had a patient who was raped. She was baking sugar cookies when the man broke in. The smell of sugar cookies just sent her right over the edge. We never quite got her over it. But . . . what could have been in there to trigger a panic episode?"

Heero scrunched his face up thinking. Zechs thought too, without the facial gymnastics.

"Smell . . . what did we smell? Disinfectant . . . cigar smoke . . . I don't." Zechs trailed off still thinking.

"And ozone. Something citrus. . ." Heero shook his head. "Nothing that unusual. Just your normal cleaning products, gun oil, air freshener, that sort of thing. Really common on most . . . space . . . station. . . . oh, shit. It smelled exactly like that damn holding cell."

Dr Terry made an noncommittal sound and waited. Zechs bit at his lip for a moment, then gently poked Heero. "More Intel, please."

Heero flinched slightly, then told them about their captivity on the moon base ending. "We barely got there in time. Several of the prisoners nearer the pumps did die. That fucker Tsubarov wanted us all dead. If he couldn't use us, he didn't want anyone else to either. Then there . . . well. That's another story for another time."

Dr. Terry knew better than to push Heero, if he didn't feel it was pertinent to the present problem getting him to talk was like pulling teeth. Instead he turned to Zechs.
"And how did you feel." At the disgusted face he got, he laughed. "Let me finish. How did you feel watching them work?"

Zechs sighed. "It was like watching a commanding officers wet dream. I've never see such cooperation. It was as if they read each others minds. Fascinating. They even incorporated my natural leanings without a problem. I'd . . . like to . . . work . . . never mind, that's impossible."

"What is?" Dr Terry gave Zechs time to organize his thoughts.

"What am I going to do if I ever get out of here? I have money. Not that much in the grand scheme of things, but enough to live quite comfortably. But . . . I just don't see myself raising horses or dogs. . . or farming. God forbid. I can't even keep a Ficus alive."

Heero shrugged. "A Ficus is hard to raise. You'd do better with . . . never mind. I did take your point."

Dr. Terry smiled and turned to Heero. "I'd like to know what you think he should raise."

"Well . . . a philodendron would do, or a Christmas cactus that would flower. Or any ivy, or . . . there's a bunch of house plants he could grow that don't take a lot of fussing."

"You've been looking into house plants? I wouldn't have thought." Zechs examined Heero's pink cheeks with some, carefully hidden, amusement.

"Duo likes them. I . . . some day . . . fuck! What am I . . . Dr. Terry?"

Heero turned to Dr Terry for help.

"Well, here we go . . . you are feeling several emotions at once. Remember we talked about that? You don't have to pick one. If you feel embarrassed, why?"

Heero thought about it for a moment. "Well. Embarrassed . . . men aren't supposed to like house plants . . . are they? And research . . . it's for Duo. I'd do anything for Duo. If he wants to live on a farm and raise turnips, it's ok with me. So . . . research."

Dr. Terry nodded. "So . . ."

Heero just shrugged. "So . . . but I know that some men will laugh at me. And I don't like being laughed at. Maybe more so that a lot of others. I'm so young still . . . and people look at me and see a boy, that pisses me off big time. If they'd had to do half what I have, they'd be under a bed with their head covered, probably screaming, if they weren't comatose. Never mind my training. So I'm just a little sensitive."

Zechs abruptly left the room. Dr. Terry looked at Heero for an explanation.

"He gets upset easily. I think he got a hold of some of my files at one time or another. He'll be back when he's sure we've changed the subject."

"Do his feelings interfere with your relationship?"

"Not that I'm aware of. He's really a very nice person, all things considered. I . . . I think we're friends, at least I consider us so. I hope he feels the same."

Dr. Terry tugged at his lower lip for a moment. "I believe he considers you a friend. I'm very glad to see that you and the others seem to be including him in some of your activities. He's so lonely and . . . I'm sorry to say. Alone. But . . . Heero . . ." Dr. Terry folded his hands in what Heero privately thought of as his ‘I mean business' posture. "If you . . . uumm . . . either be his friend, or make sure he knows that it's just a casual relationship. It will hurt him a great deal if you . . ."

Heero gave Dr. Terry such a fierce glare that he trailed off. "I know what you're trying to say. I would never be so cruel as to offer him false friendship. I wouldn't have gone as far as I have if I didn't intend to . . . accept him with open arms. We . . . we're very alike. We went through many of the same things and I really like him. So do all the others. Duo, quite frankly, would take up with Jack the Ripper if I liked him. But he likes him for himself." Heero smiled. "Wufei . . . likes him. . . a lot. Quatre likes almost every one and Trowa . . . you never really know about him sometimes but . . . I think he likes him as well. No reason for any of us to actively hate him." At Dr. Terry's skeptical look Heero grinned. "He tried to kill me just as hard as I tried to kill him. We got over it . . . the others can't dislike him if I don't. It's just the way it is."

Dr. Terry looked behind Heero to see Zechs standing in the open door with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

"Zechs, come in please. You look . . . can you . . . oh, my." Dr. Terry sighed, he wasn't sure if this was bad or good. Zechs didn't usually break down. His file said that he was emotionless to the point of frigidity. He wondered if it wasn't armor against the cruelty of his situation. It wasn't any better than breaking up the furniture, neither was very productive.

Heero didn't pause long enough to think, he just dragged Zechs to a chair and sat down. Zechs fell to his knees with his arms around Heero's waist. Heero let him put his head down in his lap. He patted the shuddering shoulders and made crooning sounds. Dr. Terry offered tissues and waited until the storm passed.

Zechs finally got himself under control and sat back on his heels. "I'm sorry. I . . . well, that was quite embarrassing. I don't . . . lose control. It's not . . . I wasn't trained."

Heero reached out and smacked Zechs on the back of the head. "Shit! Get over yourself."

"Well, I wasn't!"

"Yeah! Like I was?"

Dr Terry didn't quite keep up with all that, but decided that they knew what they were talking about and seemed do be doing a good job of helping each other cope. He had a warm feeling about both of them, finally.

"Here. Wipe then blow." Zechs took the offered tissues and did as he was told. "Now, up front. I like you. Do you like me?"

Zechs sighed "We really have to do this?"

"Yeah"

"Ok. I like you. I like Duo, Quatre, even Trowa. I think I more than like Wufei." Zechs turned a little pink.

Heero smirked. "I'm stoic, not stupid. You be careful of him. He's . . . fragile. Not . . . I'm not sure how to put it. Merian hurt him a lot, then his colony. He's . . ."

"I think the word you're looking for is brittle. His temper is . . . like an over sharpened sword. . . don't know how to put it exactly. He's. . ." Zechs swiped at his face again.

Dr Terry interjected to help a stumbling Heero. "What you are trying to say . . . I think. . . is that he's been over trained, he needs time to relax, come to grips with all that has happened to him. He doesn't need anymore emotional upheavals. He's had enough."

Heero just nodded.

Zechs sighed. "Haven't we all? Had enough emotional hurts. . . I . . . just . . ."

Heero pushed and poked at Zechs until he was on his feet, then in a chair. "I don't even want to contemplate . . . I don't remember my real family. I'm sure I had one. I mean I didn't hatch or just magically appear under a cabbage leaf or something. But to see my . . ." Zechs gently put a hand on Heero's lips. Heero smirked and licked the palm.

"Ack! That's just nasty. Where's that been recently? You . . . well . . ."

Heero darted behind Dr. Terry, Zechs pursued him. Dr Terry just ducked under the swipe Zechs made at Heero.

Heero and Zechs played ring-around-the-rosy around the desk and still seated doctor for several minutes. Then the doctor called them to order.

"Ok, you two. That's enough. If you want to continue this sort of behavior, you should take it outside. In fact, do exactly that. Out . . . both of you. You're functional . . . scat."

Heero grinned at Dr Terry and grabbed Zechs. "Come on before he changes his mind. I'm hungry. Let's go to that Chinese restaurant down the street and get noodles."

Zechs found himself laughing. He straightened his clothing, cleared his throat and calmed himself, a little. "Very well. Let's do that. I'm hungry too." He reached out, swatted Heero on the back of the head and took off running. ‘Race you' trailing behind him.

Dr. Terry just called the front desk to make sure their fun wasn't spoiled by having to check out.

~ * ~

Duo sighed, Dr. Grace was a good guy and he liked him a lot. But sometimes the man just had no clue at all. He kept asking questions that had no answers. Like now.

He didn't know how he felt and he didn't want to examine his reactions. He wanted them to go away . . . now.

Dr. Grace had enough experience with Duo by now, to know that they were reaching an impasse. Duo could and did get stubborn. If he felt threatened, he got defensive, which, in his case meant that he clammed up. He didn't get nasty or smart mouthed, just really quiet.

"Duo, I know this is difficult. I can't understand how anyone in their right mind would send five fifteen year old boys into combat. Never mind trust them with something like a Gundam." He held up his hand to stop Duo from interrupting. "I know . . . all of you did jobs a full-grown man couldn't have, that's not what I mean. It's not that you're untrustworthy. It's your age that has me flummoxed. Why so young?"

Duo shook his head. "I know this. It wasn't age that was the prerequisite. It was size. The only Gundam that was built for a full-grown man was Heavyarms. Trowa is the biggest of us. The rest of the Gundams were built to . . . smaller standards. In order to include all the onboard systems needed, they had to save on space somewhere, that meant that the cockpit could only be so big. And a full-grown man wouldn't fit. Also, young minds are more impressionable. We were the only one's who could have the commitment to do what we did. And we're expendable. They had no expectation that we would live more than six to eight weeks at most. We were supposed to break the Alliance's back and die trying.

"Well, we sure fooled them. We managed to do our duty, survive . . . and be a pain in the ass to everyone. But . . . Doc. I really gotta tell ya, I don't like the alternative at all. As long as you're alive there's a chance. So . . . you tell me . . . what the hell happened? If I knew that, I think . . . well, I don't like being so out of control over nothing. They didn't handcuff me, or hit me, or anything . . . only . . . that awful smell."

"And that's exactly what did it. The smell." Then Dr. Grace went on to explain exactly the same thing to Duo that Dr. Terry had to Heero.

Duo blinked and said. ‘Well . . . hell. Do you mean to tell me that every time I smell stuff I'm gonna freak out?" Duo hung his head. "Shit! That really sucks. You know that . . . most space stations, colonies, and even shuttles use the same stuff?"

Dr. Grace bit at his lip, he knew what was coming next.

Duo looked up at him, wide eyed. "What am I gonna do? I wanna . . . I want to go back into space. You mean to tell me every time I get on a shuttle. . . I can't go home like this. . . I'll be in a constant state of funk. I can't work like that. I can't do anything like that. Oh, hell. I'm so screwed."

"Duo, look at me." Duo covered his face with his hands. "Duo, it's not that bad. It's bad. But we can work our way through this. You have smelled each individual smell without trouble. In fact, I'm sure you've smelled that particular combination any number of times before last night. But something was added to the mix that wasn't there before . . . listen . . . would you mind if Wufei was here too. I think we might have a break through for both of you. Duo?"

Duo sighed, took his hands down and thought. "I don't mind. Wuffers won't laugh at me. He had a freak of his own. So . . . yeah . . . call him in. There's no reason for him to have to wait. A group . . . is two a group? . . . never mind. You know what I mean. Go ahead and call him. I'll make some tea while we wait for him. He'll want it. And, Doc . . . ya know, I find it kinda nice myself. You tell him that and I'll deny it."

Dr. Grace just smiled at him and made his call.

~ * ~

Wufei entered the office and settled himself into the comfortable chair. He looked at Dr. Grace and waited for him to start a session. He wasn't best pleased right now but he was willing to try to be accommodating. The doctor was trying to help, although, sometimes he asked the stupidest questions.

Duo handed Wufei his cup of tea. Wufei nodded his appreciation and sipped happily.

"Well, to start off, how does it make you feel to have Duo wait on you like that?"

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "It makes me feel thankful that I have such a considerate friend. He's learned to make it just as I like it. You're implying that I'm making some sort of servant out of him. I'm not. Don't read more into this than there is."

Dr. Grace blinked. He had read it wrong. "Well, are there times when you wait on him?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "He hates coffee. But he learned to make double double latte mocha with extra foam and chocolate curls. Hand cut, at that. Just for me. So, if he want's a half spoon of sugar and two thin cut rounds of lemon. That's what he gets."

"I see. That's . . . charmingly supportive of each other."

Duo looked at Wufei and rolled his eyes. Wufei just sipped his tea, with that expression on his face that meant he wasn't happy.

No one else would have noticed, except one of the other pilots, but Duo knew that tiny frown line between his eyebrows and slightly curled lip meant ‘real short fuse'. A thing that Dr. Grace didn't seem to be able to get through his head.

"Charmingly supportive? I find that condescending . . . at best. Duo remembering my secret vice when he only saw me drink it once is more than that."

Duo grinned. "Eidetic memory. Don't forget much of anything."

"Yes, and I find that fascinating. How do you account for that? Is it a mnemonic trick?"

Duo blinked then turned to Wufei. "A wha'? Who?"

"Mnemonic means a pattern of words or letter used as a memory aid."

"Hell, Wuffers. Why didn't he just say that?" Wufei just shrugged and sipped. "Well. Look. I grew up on L-2 Cooper. It's the first L-2 module and the poorest. I never even saw a book before I was . . . like nine or so. So if I wanted access to information I had to remember it. Then Professor G. trained me even more. I don't forget things. Ever . . . I think that may be one of the reasons I'm having troubles now. I don't forget, even when I want and need to. I can't get things out of my head. They're just as fresh as if they happened yesterday."

"I see. Another question. How did he train you? It's possible that his techniques may be useful to others."

Duo shrugged. "Carrot and stick. Or in my case Cookie and stick. Remember, get a cookie; forget, get the stick. I'm not fond of pain."

Dr. Grace made a face. He couldn't get use to things these boys said. He just wasn't wired to understand the level of abuse the pilots seemed to take in stride. Almost as if they didn't expect any better.

Wufei eyed the doctor. "Tell me what you're thinking. I'm interested." He cocked his head and waited for the doctor to speak.

"I don't understand how he can be so . . . detached? Calm? His attitude is incomprehensible. Almost as if being trained to be a Gundam pilot was better than what he had before. And young Yuy, just blows me away."

Duo gave Dr. Grace a sharp look then realized that he really meant what he said.

"Ok Doc I'll give you the skinny and you ain't gonna like it. By the time I was six I was an accomplished beggar and thief. Begging comes easy when you're young and I look a lot younger than I am." Duo put on his best puppy dog eyed expression, let his lip tremble a little and sighed heavily. "Please, Mister. I ain't ate in . . . I forget. Just a Bit. All I need is three and I can get all you can eat noodles. Please?" He dropped the expression and grinned at the doctor's horrified expression. "And if you can get a baby to pimp . . . claim it's your brother or whatever, you can really clean up. Stealing? I was good, but my conscience got in the way. I hated to steal from people who were as bad off as I was. And the one's that were fairly well off did pretty good at holding on to it. I mostly stole food . . . and medicine. . . and a leo. That pretty much cured me of stealing. That turned out to be a whole other level of horrible." Duo shook himself. "We'll change the subject now."

"Well, I'd really like to pursue that story line."

"No."

"Duo."

"I. Said. NO!"

Dr Grace gave up before he lost control of the session.

Wufei knew better than to do what he did next, but he couldn't help himself.

"Doctor, I don't understand your inability to turn loose of a hot potato. Do you really enjoy burning your fingers that much?"

"Not really. But part of my job is to open festering wounds. It's the only way to heal them. But naturally anyone resents and dislikes someone who constantly brings up unpleasant memories. Poking bruises is the only way to find them. Sometime it's hard to tell whether it's the right time or not."

Wufei made a sour face and glared at the man until he squirmed slightly.

"I really don't understand how teenagers can . . . make a grown man like me so uncomfortable. It's really annoying. Can you explain that?"

Duo piped up. "Sure can, Doc. I don't make people who don't know me uncomfortable. Just people like you, who either naturally realize what we are, or know. See. Any of us could kill a man in several nasty ways or so quickly that they won't even know they're dead until they hit the pearly gates. Or the hot one's." Duo shrugged. "It's a thing."

Wufei snorted. "Yeah and it doesn't hurt that you took dirty look lessons from Yuy. He could kill with a glance. Give a guy a heart attack."

"Yeah. You ever get a good look at Q-ball when he's pissed. Fry an egg, he would. And Trowa?" Duo shivered dramatically. "Brrrr. Freeze your balls off."

"Yes, we are talking about an impressive collection of nasty looks. Too bad I don't have one."

Dr. Grace snorted his tea up his nose. Duo whooped.

"Woofers! That ‘Burning Justice' look of yours would set a forest on fire. And you've also got a supercilious, down the nose ‘Excuse me worm you spoke' look that's worth money. Geeze, all I've got is "O-may o kur oss" from Heero and that street rat glare that Heero always laughs at."

Wufei eyed Duo in astonishment. "That street rat glare scares even me. But the one that really means business is the one where you smile. Now that one is piss worthy."

Duo looked a little abashed. "Smile and make them wonder who you're gonna hurt next."

"Exactly"

Dr Grace realized that they'd gotten completely off track and managed to get back to the subject at hand.

"You two do realize that we've wandered fairly far afield . The smell. Back to the problem please."

"Ok, you figure out what to do about our reactions to that smell. Duo can't go home until we figure this out "

"Ok. This is the way I see it. You've all been exposed to the smells several times without problems. This time there were grave problems. Reactions that you couldn't control. So something else had to be a factor. But what?"

Wufei thought, he looked at Duo who just looked back. "Got me. Woofers, your guess is as good as mine, probably better."

"Very well. Uniforms, for one. Deputies all over the place. And . . . stress. Adrenalin to burn and no place to go with it. And the sheriff started out with an attitude. Sounded like he was ready to start an . . . interrogation . . . hhuumm."

"Yeah. Well, I think it might have been all those things put together. But the smell was what we noticed the most for some reason." Duo looked thoughtful. "Doc, what do you know about desensitization therapy?"

"Not that much. I do, however, know that it's very effective. If the subject is cooperative and willing. I'll see what I can find out. I think if we're going to do something like that . . . especially with you two . . . I'd rather turn the therapy over to someone much more experienced."

"Sounds good to me, Doc. Can we go now. I'm hungry again. I was too nervous to eat a good breakfast."

Wufei grinned. "Yes, it was quite inadequate. You only ate four eggs. And two pieces of toast." He grimaced slightly. "I didn't do much better. All I could stomach was tea and toast. I hate it, I just hate this." Duo looked for cover. "I . . .HATE . . . THIS!" Wufei threw his tea cup across the room spattering tea everywhere.

Duo shook his head at Dr. Grace, who was ready to buzz for help. "I got him. You take off."

Wufei just stood where he was. He couldn't have moved if the floor was on fire.

"Easy there buddy . . . I got ya . . . come here." Duo held out his arms and just waited. Wufei turned his head and looked blankly at Duo. "Come on. Chang, you gotta let it out. It's eatin' ya up alive."

"Grammar, Duo grammar. Watch your grammar." Wufei couldn't figure out whether he wanted to scream, cry, or break everything in the room, and it showed.

Duo had been expecting this for a while. Wufei hadn't shown much emotion all through the trials and the rest of their troubles, so he was due for a really big blow up. He even deserved it.

"I need to . . . do kata. . . meditate. I can . . . I don't. . . I can't. . . "

"Fuck! Chang Wufei, make up your mind, so I'll know which way to duck." Duo waited while Wufei got himself together a little.

"I'm going to meditate. I need to be calm."

Dr. Grace put in his, well intentioned, two cents worth. "Why?"

"Because if I don't, I might do this." Wufei brought his hand down on the coffee table in a ‘Dragon Hammer' which broke the solid slab of maple in half across the grain. "Or this." He kicked the pillar between two sets of French doors. It shattered into splinters. "Or this." Duo grabbed the doctor and dragged him from behind the desk just before Wufei smashed it into the wall, breaking it into bits and knocking a huge hole in the plaster.

"Doc, we better just leave him to it. He's been saving up for three years. Wife, colony, Heero, too much fighting, too much death. He stays calm, keeps it all together. I don't know how. But now he's off and trying to stop him is just asking for a boot up your butt. Come on. Let's get out of here before he remembers he's Chang Wufei and above this sort of thing."

They got out the French doors and left Wufei to his well-deserved temper tantrum.

Quatre and Trowa came running up. They'd come to the office through the hall, but hearing the noise for themselves, they'd decided discretion was the better part of valor and come through another room to the terrace.

"What's going on? Is . . . oh, Duo? I . . . who . . ."

"Hey Q-ball. Wufei finally flipped his lid. Give him some time and we'll go in and lasso him. ‘K?"

Duo was cheerfully ignoring the sounds of destruction.

"Is he going to hurt himself?"

"Probably. But gotta do. Ya know? Let him be. He's held on long enough."

Trowa looked through the broken French doors and decided that Wufei was in no danger of really hurting himself, or anyone else. The furniture didn't matter.

Quatre glanced at Trowa and received a slight nod. "He'll run down in a few minutes. Leave him alone."

"Ok. What do we do next?"

Dr. Grace couldn't believe how calm they were. If he'd had a friend who suddenly started smashing everything in sight, he'd be at least a little upset himself.

Quatre took over. "Duo. Go get his tea for him. That . . . you know how he likes it?"

"Yeah, on the job." Duo left for the kitchen.

"Trowa, could you get . . . towels? Blanket?" Quatre bit his lip. "Both, I think. After this, he's going to be a little shocky. Keep him warm, dry off the sweat. I wish Heero was here. If we have to restrain him, we're in trouble. Doctor? Could you please explain to me how we came to this?"

"Too much repression too long. Pressure cooker. He's just finally let go. He'll feel much better after this. Expecting this level of self control from such a young person, yourself included. Is . . . outrageous, counter productive, and unnatural. You all need to . . . fool around, indulge in horse play. Have fun. Be young."

Quatre gave the doctor a disgusted look. "We used up our childhoods producing peace for humanity. I have a company to run. We all aren't children, expecting us to act like seventeen year olds will only lead to disappointment."

"I realize that. But still. I don't aim for normal. I'll settle for functional. And this sort of explosion is not functional. How many times has he done this?"

Duo arrived with tea, in time to hear the last question. "Never, Doc and that's the problem. You said it yourself. Too much too long. He's entitled."

"I see. You all are so self-contained. It's hard to treat you when you won't tell me things. I understood that he's always had a temper. I thought . . ."

"Thought wrong. Temper, yeah. But not destructive. Just rants about justice and whatnot. He'll wind down about the time he smashes every thing in the room."

Dr Grace smiled. "You all mostly have a fairly good grasp of what's going on. I don't know what you need me for."

"To tell us when we're off track. You're doing a good job, Doc. Don't give up on us just yet." Duo peeked in the door. "Come on. He's winded."

So they went in and no one but the doctor was surprised at the mess. Every piece of furniture was smashed, the upholstery ripped to shreds, stuffing all over. Papers and books were ripped to bits and the computer was in bits in the fireplace along with most of the china and glass in the room. Wufei stood in the middle of the mess, panting and sweating.

Duo came at him carefully, from the front. "Hey, Chang Wufei. Got some nice tea here. Just like you like it. Don't know why you want sugar and lemon. Didn't you tell me once something about . . ."

"You're not supposed to sully the flavor with additions. Tea is to be drunk pristine, so that you can savor the tastes of the tea. Gimmie."

Wufei took the tea mug from Duo and sipped, then gulped the scalding liquid.

"Oh. Well, who the hell told you that particular piece of crap." Duo took the blanket from Trowa and wrapped it around Wufei. Dr. Grace wisely stayed out of the way simply observing.

"Master O. Before I was accepted to be trained along side Merian. I like it plain. But when I'm off center. I want sweet and sour. I . . . well, I like it, be damned to them all. It's my tea and I want sweet."

Wufei started shivering. The sweat drying off him was making him chill.

Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei and hugged him. "Here, dry your hair." Wufei started to reach for the towel Trowa was holding. But the blanket slipped. Quatre pulled it back up and carefully got hold of Wufei from the other side. That put Duo on one side of Wufei and Quatre on the other. Trowa just stepped up and put the towel over Wufei's head and started drying his hair.

"Quatre, we need to get him into a tub. He'll stiffen up something awful. You run up and fix it, will you? Don't leave it up to a servant."

Quatre sniffed slightly. "As if. They're all afraid of us, when something like this happens they run like rabbits. I'll warm the oil, shall I?"

Trowa nodded. "Yes, please. I'll give him a good rub down, then we'll get him into bed." Trowa turned to Duo. "You ok?"

"Surprisingly, yeah. I'm fine. Think I'm a little more used to flipping out than he is. Bothers me but . . . well, hell. Whatever. I could use a nap though."

Wufei gathered himself together. He turned to Dr. Grace and bowed. "I'm sorry for the scene. I . . . feel much better. If it's any comfort. Oh, Quatre. I'm sorry about the furnishings. I'll . . ."

"Shut up." Quatre pulled Wufei toward the stairs. "It doesn't matter in the least. Come on."

Quatre hurried ahead to fill the tub. Duo took one side of Wufei and Trowa the other. Together they helped him up the stairs and into his bathroom. Quatre had the tub half way full and was scattering bath salts into the water when they came in.

"Mmmm, smells nice. I'll leave you to your bath. I'm going to go have one of my own . . . Chang. . . you need anything?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, Maxwell, you've already given me the one thing I need the most. Go have your bath. Trowa will see to me. Scoot."

Duo gave Wufei a cheeky grin and a last long evaluating look.

~ * ~

Trowa stopped Quatre in the hall. "What do you think?"

Quatre considered. "It's the break through we've been waiting for. Duo's doing fairly well. He's open and honest about his feelings. Wufei is so used to being strong that he's falling apart inside. I've got my eye on Zechs for him. Heero and I had a short talk. Zechs needs us as much as we need him. Go to Wufei. I'll take a quick peek in on Duo. But I've got to be in my office in half an hour. I'm . . . Trowa. Those three sisters of mine are becoming a real problem."

Trowa took time to just cuddle with Quatre. "Don't worry. You know between us, we've got enough voting stock to squash them. I just wish we knew who had that odd six percent."

Quatre took his peek at Duo, got a jaunty thumbs up and after a stern look, headed for his office.

Trowa went to Wufei.

"Chang? You awake?" Wufei grunted. "Can I come in?"

"Yes. Come on in. I'll be out of the tub in a minute."

"Come to the bed when you're dry."

Trowa put the oil warmer on the night stand and spread towels on the bed. He rubbed his hands together.

"I'm ready." Wufei walked into the room unselfconsciously naked. Trowa examined him dispassionately. If it had been Quatre that would have been a whole other thing.

"You didn't hurt yourself?"

"No. Not a scratch." Wufei lay on the bed on his stomach. He turned his head to the side and rolled his eye to gaze at Trowa. Trowa gazed back calmly.

"I'm going to give you a deep massage. You'll probably fall asleep. I'll cover you with a sheet. When you wake up, just use one of the towels to wipe off the rest of the oil. If you take another bath, you'll stiffen. Ok?"

Wufei sighed. "Yeah. But . . . do I always have to ‘pop my cork' as Duo would say, in order to get a massage?"

"No, but you do have to ask. I can't read your mind. Muscle reading is about as far as I go. And your body lies."

"Hmpf. Doesn't!"

"Does. You don't look stiff when you are, and sometimes, especially when you're mad, you look stiff when you're not."

Wufei grunted when Trowa touched him

"See? I know my hands aren't cold, I warmed them. But you . . . you feel like wood. Relax."

"Harder to do, than to say." Wufei tried to relax, but he still felt off.

Trowa dug his thumbs into oak hard back muscles and worked them gently until they started to loosen. Then he dug in. Wufei moaned softly. It felt so good, Duo tried, but no one gave a massage like Trowa.

When he was finally done, Wufei had fallen asleep, just like Trowa had said he would. Trowa took the folded sheet and unfolded it half way. He covered Wufei with the double thickness of flannel, tucked it in around him, then carefully lifted his head enough to tuck the pillow under his cheek.

Wufei barely stirred when he shut the door with a soft click.

~ * ~

Quatre wandered into Duo's bathroom for a few minutes.

"You really ok?" Quatre worried about Duo, the flashbacks were few and far between, but they were always bad.

"Yeah. Will you look into desensitization therapist? I like Dr. Grace, he does good. But I trust you better."

"Desensitization therapy . . . um . . . what do you know about it." Quatre hadn't heard much about this form of therapy.

"Not much. I'm gonna take a bath, then a nap. When I wake up, I'm gonna eat a horse and spend the rest of the day surfing for intel. You better leave soon. You need to be in your office to talk to Yasmine in about . . . ten minutes. What you gonna do about her?"

"Not sure yet. I hate to exercise my option, but it looks like I may have to. Those three are tearing the company apart."

"We all vote on your side. It gives you, I forget how much. But with all the stock on your side, what's the problem?"

Duo sank farther down in the tub, closing his eyes.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life micro managing this company. I'd like to get it set up so that inertia will keep it on the right track for several years. With just a little fiddle from me once in a while."

"Oh, . . . um . . . why?"

"Need to get things taken care of on several fronts. I can't do that if I'm constantly trying to keep my stupid sisters from partitioning the company. Isn't good."

"Hmm. Partitioning the company. That's not good. Why the hell would they want to do that?"

"Power."

"Hh. Wish we knew where that odd six percent is. According to company what you call it. That would give us a lock on things."

"By laws. And it would. I could set things up and just check on a few people once in a while. Until I get my sisters off my back, I can't do some of the things I want to do to help Heero and Zechs. And I'm forever watching my back. Dammit!"

Quatre punched the air in frustration, nearly fell into the tub and snarled sourly, eyes snapping sharply.

Duo scrunched deeper into the tub. "Well, don't have a cow. We'll figure out something. Just you wait and see. What we need to do is have a good old fashioned planning session. Set the whole thing up like a mission, figure out what to do with all three of them to keep them occupied until you can squeeze them out. Where's their power base? Do they really have that much power or are they just running a scam and hoping you won't realize it until too late?"

Quatre stood up, straightened his clothing, and said softly. "Duo. You're shrewd as it comes. Anybody tells you, you don't understand business, tell them to fuck off. You just saved me a bunch of trouble. I have to go. I need to do some research. Then . . . all bets are off. I'll treat them like I would anyone trying to pull this shit. I have to get rid of this problem. The pirates are ruining the shipping business. They . . . you don't need a lesson in corporate diversification. Gone . . . bye."

Duo settled into his bath with a sly smirk.

~ * ~

Quatre spent several hours at his computer. When he was done, he had pinched two of his sisters out of the business completely. He'd found firm evidence of inappropriate dealings and could now force them to sell him their stock. He did.

The last of his problem sisters had just enough stock to be able to hold him off. But her husband was a reasonable man. He hadn't realized what she was up to. He was wise enough to know when he had it good. Quatre had been trained from birth to run WEI, he knew the ins and outs of the company without really thinking about it. It didn't matter to Douda how old or young Quatre was, as long as the money kept coming in. To interfere with things, just because you could, didn't seem wise to him. He agreed to sign over all proxies in perpetuity, in exchange for stock in a more malleable company. One sister Fatima could manipulate to her heart's content, at least until she ran it into the ground.

Wufei slept most of the afternoon and late into the evening. He woke up, put on a kimono and found a book. He spent the evening reading, reacquainting himself with one of his favorite poets. Duo brought him supper on a tray.

Trowa went to the gym to work out, then spent the rest of the day, except for lunch which he ate with Quatre, arranging for their trip to L-5. He sighed. He wasn't too interested in going to L-5 again, but if Quatre was going, so was he. He wasn't going to be parted from his lover ever again.

Duo took his bath, ate in his room, then went to sleep. He wished for Heero as he fell asleep. When he woke up, he started researching desensitization therapy and found out some very interesting things. He got the name of the best in ESUN and sent a file to everyone. Then he went in search of Wufei.

"Hey Woofers. What cha readin' Somethin' good?"

Wufei took his reading glasses off, he was far-sighted and needed them to read. "If you like ancient Chinese poetry, it's good."

"Don't know that I've ever really paid attention to it. Read me one?"

Wufei smiled as Duo settled himself in the opposing chair. "Very well. I'll have to translate on the fly, so it might be a little rough."

Wufei read Duo two poems. Ones that were his particular favorites.

"Well, that's good. I'm gonna go now. You finish up. I got you some supper. Just a cold sandwich and tea."

"Thanks."

"Oh, sent you a file. When you get a chance, read it will you. Then we need a meeting. G'night."

~ * ~

Heero and Zechs made a day of it.

"Hey! Don't hog those noodles. I ordered enough for four."

"Yeah? Well, you eat as much as Duo. ‘S why you're a giant."

"Can't help it if you're a midget." Zechs reached over to help himself to more soba and tofu

Heero smacked his hand without heat. "Don't reach. I'll pass."

"I can reach, you're busy eating". Zechs scooped noodles into his bowl.

Heero grinned at him around a mouth full of ramen and shrimp.

"Yeah, they don't call it boarding house reach for nothing."

Zechs eyed him questioningly. "Boarding house reach?"

"Yeah. When I was with Oden, we'd stay at boarding houses sometimes. If you wanted something you'd better be able to reach it for yourself. No one much passed things. Some of the houses even had the one foot rule posted in the dinning room."

Zechs gave him an enquiring look. Which made Heero snicker, Zechs had a wad of noodles dangling from his lips. He quickly slurped, chewed and swallowed. "One foot rule? Tell!"

Heero took time to chew and swallow his own mouth full of food. "Yeah. You have to keep one foot on the floor when reaching for things at the other end of the table."

Zechs nearly choked.