Mission: Marriage Part 10
Entering the office, Sally said, "I can't believe you sent the Vice Foreign Minister an email message about her choices with regards to her head of security."
Lady Une looked up and replied, "I thought I'd let her get the hysterics over with before I actually had to deal with her. She isn't going to like either of her options, but she'd better get used to it. They're the only ones she's got."
"Well, she's on Line 1 right now, and she's absolutely livid."
"I wonder if she remembers that all calls to and from this office over the standard lines are automatically recorded," mused Une. "Oh well, it's not my fault if she doesn't."
Snickering, Sally shook a scolding finger at Une, "So that's why the secure line has been 'out of order' all day."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the Preventer chief said primly. "Now, unless you want to be in her firing range too..."
"I'm going, I'm going..."
As the door closed behind Sally, Une drew a deep breath and mentally braced herself before reaching out to accept the call on Line 1.
"This is totally unacceptable!" Relena raved, waving a computer printout at the vid-phone. "Converting part of the palace grounds into a Preventers training ground so that Maxwell can continue his job here on Earth! Sabotage and demolitions training on my palace grounds! Maxwell living in my palace! This WILL NOT HAPPEN! Am I making myself clear?"
"Fine. Then I transfer Yuy to L4," Une shrugged.
"NO!!"
"Look Minister, it has to be one or the other. Earth Sphere labour laws are perfectly clear. When spouses are employed by a company or organization, said company or organization is obligated to give them positions that do not separate them for more than a total of one month per calendar year. That means either Yuy is transferred to L4 or Maxwell is transferred to Earth. Period. And since Yuy's position as your head of security requires that he live at the palace, per Preventers regulations we are required to supply accommodations for himself and his spouse.
"As far as converting part of the palace grounds goes, that also falls under Preventers regulations and Earth Sphere law. The Preventers are entitled to appropriate the use of facilities owned by Earth Sphere political bodies and their appointed representatives as needed to carry out their appointed duties. Maxwell provides stealth, sabotage, and demolitions training, among other things, for our agents. On L4, we have an existing facility for carrying out said training. On Earth, we don't. Since we are going to have to build the facility, it only makes sense to locate it on the same property that he will be living on. Considering how much it will cost the Preventers to relocate Maxwell to Earth, I don't think anyone will object if we choose to appropriate part of the palace grounds. Unless their objection is that it would make far more sense financially to send Yuy to L4 instead."
"I... I cannot have demolitions training on the palace grounds," the very unhappy girl said reluctantly. "It is not appropriate in conjunction with my pacifist beliefs."
"Then I have your permission to transfer Yuy to L4?"
There was a very long pause before finally, softly, a defeated-sounding voice breathed a single word.
"Yes."
"Very well. I will assign you a new head of security effective immediately since Yuy is on vacation until after his wedding," the Preventer chief said. "Good day, Minister Peacecraft."
Relena simply hung up.
An instant later, Sally poked her head through the office door. "How'd it go?"
"Better than expected," Une admitted. "She agreed to Heero's transfer - the demolitions training tipped the balance. Which reminds me, I need to make sure Duo knows that's been added to his job description."
Grinning, Sally said, "Heero sure called that one right. Though really, Duo probably should have been doing that training all along. He's certainly much better qualified than whatever poor shmuck has been doing it."
"I don't know if Chang Wufei would appreciate being called a 'poor shmuck' but considering that he's been complaining about being stuck with doing all the sabotage and demolitions training, I don't think he'll be too upset to see it go to someone else."
************
Glowering, Duo crawled into the guestroom bed. 'Just who does he think he is, yellin' at me like that! I've been ridin' Q's horses ever since I moved in here! So I forgot the fuckin' helmet, sometimes I do. It's none of his damn business whether I had one on or not!' Curling into a tight ball, he thought, 'Dammit, Yuy, you don't own me! You can't tell me what I can or can't do! Maybe a night with an empty bed will remind you of that!'
Duo was half asleep when he became aware of the soft sound of doors opening and closing. "What the fuck..." was all he got out before his own opened, a familiar figure entered, then the door closed again. "Get out!" he ordered, sitting up in bed.
"No," Heero said calmly, crawling into the bed.
"Then I will."
Starting to scramble out of the bed, Duo didn't make it very far before he found himself tightly caught in a very strong pair of arms. "Let go, Yuy!" he warned.
"Duo, just stop and listen to me for a minute, please."
Testing Heero's grip, Duo decided that he wasn't going anywhere anyway, at least not without using some rather dirty fighting techniques that he was reluctant to use against his lover even if he was extremely pissed at him.
"Fine. One minute. Start talkin'."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. But seeing you taking that horse over jumps with no helmet on scared me. Unavoidable risks, risks in the line of duty, those are one thing. Ignoring a simple, sensible precaution like a helmet is something else entirely. I know I can't make you do anything you don't want to, and I shouldn't have ordered you to put a helmet on or get off the damn horse. So now I'm asking you as your best friend - please, please, take sensible precautions when you can, and I'll do the same."
Relaxing slightly in Heero's iron grip, Duo reluctantly said, "Okay." 'If only because if Q finds out I forgot my helmet again he'll give me his sad face then ban me from ridin' for a few weeks anyway, same as when Tro caught me last time.'
"But marryin' you doesn't change anything. Some stupid ceremony doesn't mean you'll own me," he warned rebelliously.
Deciding that Duo wasn't going to run off again, Heero relaxed his hold. "No, I know it won't. I don't want to own you. Partners, remember? Partners don't 'own' each other, but they do look after each other. What would you do if I started doing Preventers missions without the bullet-proof safety gear?"
"Get damn pissed and make sure you didn't do it again," Duo said, twisting in Heero's loosened arms to glare at him. "So don't even think about doin' it just to prove your point. Which you have just made quite effectively. So drop it."
"Okay, consider it dropped," Heero said, mouth twitching slightly as if he were trying to prevent a smirk from appearing. Abruptly serious again, he continued, "But Duo - next time something happens and we have a fight, I have two specific requests to make. I promise to stick to them myself and I would really appreciate it if you would as well."
"What are they?" Duo demanded suspiciously.
"First - no matter who's in the wrong or how mad we may be, we sleep in the same bed. I don't care if you want a line of pillows between us or a rolled up blanket or whatever - this isn't about sex, it's about having a relationship and keeping that relationship intact - but we sleep in the same bed. No guestrooms, no couch, no floor. Second - we don't let the sun go down - artificial colony sun or not - without at least trying to settle our differences."
"I can live with the first one, but I dunno about the second one." Reluctantly, Duo admitted, "I usually need longer to calm down than that."
"Okay, then how about this - if we don't settle them the same day, then neither of us leaves the room in the morning until they are settled, even if that means calling in sick to work."
'Did I just hear Heero Yuy suggest skippin' out of work if we're havin' trouble settlin' an argument? Oi, is he serious?' "This really means that much to you?" Duo asked, his forehead creasing as he frowned slightly.
"Duo, you're my best friend, my lover, and soon to be my spouse. When we're mad at each other, I feel awful until we settle it. I hate fighting with you, but I know damn well that we will - we're both too damn independent to get along perfectly all the time," Heero answered, shrugging slightly. "You'll just have to work on cooling down your temper faster, and I'll have to work on not pissing you off so much," he quipped.
Duo gave a short bark of laughter, then gave in and hugged Heero, "Okay, it's a deal. Now c'mon, let's go back to our own bed - this one's not near so comfy."
TBC...
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