Evoke, Chapter 3

[miz_lou]

Evoke by Miz
Chapter One
Chapter Two

Chapter 3
Rating: PG

Word of Heero?s disappearance had spread through Preventor?s Headquarters eliciting varying responses. Many of the uniformed force thought Heero to just be doing his own thing, secluding himself as usual from any kind of structured humanity. On the other hand there were those who sincerely wondered how long the Perfect Soldier would actually go without reporting in or getting in contact with anyone.

?Remember the one time he took off to L2 without so much as a goodbye? He?s unpredictable.? Quatre overheard as he passed the breakroom.

The female countered back. ?Yes, but that was maybe for a week tops. It has been well over a month now.?

Quatre sadly nodded at the words as he continued to listen to the fading voices. He agreed with both sides, Heero?s volatile personality did make him unpredictable; to the point where he was able to leave for large amounts of time without the responsibility, or common sense assumption, of checking in. He was not a member of Preventor?s after all. Heero didn?t keep those he considered friends. No one to ask about his well being.

It was the perfect situation for the Perfect Soldier to do as he wished.

Trowa stood down the hall and motioned with a slight tilt of his head for Quatre to come to the room. He looked curiously around the corner and found the frail form of Relena silhouetted by the light from the window.

?What is she doing here?? Quatre?s voice held concern. ?I?ve never seen her here.?

?That?s what we?re trying to figure out.? Trowa's tone held emotionless.

Duo hovered around the form in an attempt to comfort her and Relena gave a small smile reflecting her true appreciation of the effort. ?I?d really just like to see Preventor Une, please.?
?As you wish, my lady.? He jovially winked at Relena and made his way to the entryway where the audience of two was. They moved into the hallway before continuing the conversation.

Duo cast an exasperated face. ?She wants to see the boss-lady.?

?And what, you thought she came here to see you?? Wufei was coming down the hallway with eyes closed and arms crossed.

?Well, no,? he scratched his head in a characteristic matter and effectively resolved the insult with inherit humor. ?That was just supposed to be a perk.?

Quatre returned the discussion to the original issue. ?Duo,? and waited until Duo gave him his attention. ?She is the? boss-lady, as you put it. Why would someone as important as Relena come down here??

?Man! No one ever told you?? Duo looked incredulously at the faire-haired comrade. ?She?s madly in love with Heero!?

Quatre cast the nastiest look he could give but the softness of his features just wouldn?t allow it. ?Surely if that is what it was all about she-?

The five immediately broke from their huddle as Relena exited the room. She had a sort of sorrow that dissapaited when she realized she was not alone in the hallway and cracked a small smile, but the smile could not hide the stream of tears that had clearly cut their path along her cheeks. Switching her briefcase from her right hand to the left she fastened the single button on her jacket and headed out of the hallway. Une had followed her out to the door and assured Relena securely reached the limousine before returning to the office.

?So it?s done.? Trowa said with the knowing air that accompanies his personality. The other pilots looked toward the tall figure as he settled against the wall, arms crossed.

Wufei narrowed his eyes. ?So it?s serious then.?

?What?? Duo asked much like a small child suddenly interested in an obvious conversation. ?What?s serious??

Quatre took in a small gasp. ?Nobody told Miss Relena he was missing all this time.?

?It makes sense. There was no leakage to the press, only Preventors knows of the missing person.?

?Don?t talk like he doesn?t have a name.? Duo shot back almost too angrily.

?Heero, then.? Trowa continued unbothered but Quatre shot a credulous look over at Duo. ?Perhaps when Lady Une called her down here Relena knew something was going on. She has never before been to the Headquarters and it also explains her eagerness to see Lady Une.?

?Instead of entertaining you, Duo.? Wufei slipped in.

?So,? Duo uncharacteristically ignored the remark. ?Une and Preventor Headquarters officially declare Heero missing.?

All the pilots stood in a heavy air as the news permeated it. It was unbelievable that Heero would be caught by anyone, especially after the reputation he developed during the war. But, that was five years ago. Each pilot was reminded of how dangerous a position they were still in; they could never erase their role in the war. And even five years later, any one of them could pay for it. They were all affected by it.

?Then again. Why did PHQ delay telling her until now?? Trowa asked in his monotone, nearly indicating there was nothing out of the ordinary. ?Did they think him not missing??

?Man, everyone?s acting wacky around here.? Duo confessed. ?I mean, Heero in jail and now this-?

Trowa stepped out of character interrupting. ?Heero did the right thing there.?

After he had the attention of the pilots he continued. ?We aren?t the pilots we once were with mechs and orders. We are ordinary civilians now, as hard as it might be for us to accept this. Heero understands this. When authorities are involved, we must submit to them as any other civilian. Heero just happened to be the first one.?

?It wouldn?t have happened if he had had his badge.? Wufei said.

?That?s his choice.? Trowa easily cleaned up. ?He?s made some strange decisions in the past. But he?s always known what he?s doing.?

?Yeah, that?s true??



Une shuffled papers and nervously packed them on the surface, knocking a pen off of the desk. She bent over to pick it up and crossed her legs when she sat back up in the chair.

Relena had handled the news? well, differently than she had imagined she would. It wasn?t like the young politician to show any kind of emotion. Heero had disappeared before and there had been periods of time he was actually thought to be dead. But immediately when Relena was informed the tears began to come.

Even more difficult to watch was how Relena had visibly tried to stop the tears from coming. The emotion was something she was keeping in check, as she had learned to do as a requirement of young women when dealing with the news of the world in the public eye, but this emotion was too strong.

Perhaps she knew this was the end of a peaceful era as well? Une reasoned while tapping the pen on the desktop.

Sally?s report had come back with nothing. There were no clues, no locations, no slip-ups that could give them some sign of tracing. Sally insisted she would continue over the manuscripts until she found something and Une shook her head as she thought on the events.

So many dedicated members of Preventors, and even though they were considered a small government-funded organization in comparison to others, the amount of heart and soul put into the work was immeasurable. Every one of the Preventor?s believed in the mission set in front of them, they weren?t afraid to question motives when appropriate and put their very heart and soul into their work.

Then there was Heero. He never seemed to be able to commit on that level to anything. Sometimes Une found herself wondering about the background of the boy- young man, she corrected herself in her internal dialogue. It had been years, but she still felt that each of the gundam pilots, although mature beyond compare, were still boys in her mind?s eye. Or perhaps that was her way of granting them their stolen youth back.

She tapped the pen nervously on the top of the desk and sorted out her thoughts. It was difficult to find out if Heero had deserted Preventors, to determine if his pride had been hurt enough by publication of jail time to keep him away from the institution or if he had been actually been missing the entire time.

But Relena?s visit to see her had confirmed that beyond a doubt.

Apparently the young pilot was starting to come around in some sort of way.

It was Relena who requested their meeting at Headquarters, not Une.



?Wufei.?

He never opened his eyes from meditation. ?Wufei.?

?What, woman.?

Sally didn?t even try to protest it.

?Thirteen times.? She said in an uncharacteristically monotone way.

That or she was being awfully cryptic. Wufei furrowed his brows. ?What are you talking about??

?Psem.? She spelled it out. ?It shows up in the documentation thirteen times.?

He turned back to his original orientation and after a few minutes got up to gather his coat. ?Thirteen times, huh??

Sally smiled at him with an air of respect. The way she had acted toward him gave him every right to act smug about the situation, which she half expected. But one thing to learn about these boys was just that, with age comes maturity. The pilots were now men.

But she would not let him win so easily. ?It could just be a transmission glitch you know.?

?Let?s find out what it means.? Wufei said without doubt and exited the room. Sally stood a minute looking after him before exiting the small room and taking her place in the driver?s seat of the truck.

?I hope we can.? Sally pulled the resistant clutch into gear. ?I?ve been going over these documents for months now Wufei, there is just nothing to link.?

He sat silent and respectful in the seat listening to Sally explain the constructive steps she had taken the last four months. And he decided it was nice to hear someone other than Preventor Une speaking all the time.



Relena watched the scenery pass in the car window and found herself chewing on a fingernail as she propped her chin in her hand. The blurry vision was starting to wear on her nerves and she finally gave up, fell back into the seat and sobbed into a tissue.

Heero was missing.

As precisely as would be expected of the Perfect Soldier, every month Heero would leave some small package, a letter, anything for her indicating his affection from afar. Through the tears Relena smiled to herself. He would never call it affection. It was such a novelty to see him like a little schoolboy, adorable the way he was horridly awkward in trying to act on his emotions.

And at the very same time it was sad. But such were the casualties remaining after war. These were the consequences commonly overlooked, unlike a physical injury that can be attended to.

After nearly two months and no sign from Heero, Relena knew something was wrong. The day she decided this she picked up the phone and called Preventor Une. And hence the meeting had commenced.



Hilde ventured over to Relena?s mansion. Duo had told her the decided news nearly two months ago. He had explained all of what had happened that day at the office, or how much he knew of it. But two months, Hilde shook her head. It had been nearly six months since Heero?s disappearance.

Carrying a basket of homemade goods, humble though it might be, Hilde thought that a touch of home would be a comfort for a woman who never even saw her meals cooked.

A tender knock on the door. The basket suddenly became dead weight in her hand and Hilde shifted the load before setting it down on the porch. She admired the flowers, the perfectly symmetrical bushes lining the brick walled mansion and brought a foot up to tug at her sock nervously. All of a sudden it was bothering her.

When a couple minutes had passed she pulled at the heavy weight in the center of the door. It boomed so loudly Hilde nearly jumped. Her heart rate did not come back down until she passed Pagan?s lead to where Relena was.

Relena looked perfect as always. Not a snobby-I-spend-hours-in-the-bathroom-to-look-better-than-you perfect, but just the air she carried about her was naturally graceful.

?She is a politician.? Hilde reminded herself. The characteristic skills of a job either are a part of who you, or they become a part of you. Either was a tall order to fill.

?Hello Hilde!? She welcomed her in an embrace. Even though they had not seen one another in person very much, there was always a strong bond between the two woman when they finally chanced to get together.

She returned a warm smile and wafted the picnic basket in the air. ?I brought us a nice, quiet dinner.?

Relena expressed her gratitude and informed Pagan that they?d be in the back. Hilde produced a red and white cross hatched blanket and spread it out on the lawn. Relena had picked a spot right under the tree and her horse made short time of detecting food as he was soon over swishing his tail, tangling it with Relena?s mane.

They laughed at the predicament and Relena scolded her steed playfully. Hilde spent some time scruffing up his hair and nuzzling his sweet spot with slim fingers before Relena led him in for the night.

Upon her return Hilde twirled a swatch of hair between her fingers and feebly issued forth, ?Relena, uhm, so how are you doin???

The blonde beauty looked over at her, her eyes revealing the sadness she felt. Otherwise there was no indication of the pain. Hilde felt the ice touch her soul.

?It?s just a bad dream,? Relena managed in suppressing a sob after a decent silence, her voice already soft and cracking.

At least she could control the tears now. The violent shaking of her body no longer kept her up at night. No, it was thoughts that now kept her up all night. Differing senarios of Heero?s wearabouts and how they came to be.

Hilde placed the loaf of bread she was in the processes of putting up in the basket and went over to Relena with a comforting arm. But, Relena gently but firmly broke the embrace and stood up.

Noticeably, Relena was affected by the circumstances and, not completely unlike the missing pilot, would not show anyone. But in the single motion of removing her arm so abruptly and using it to break any kind of comfort concerned Hilde, although she could not blame her.

But in Heero starting to gain his emotion, Relena could just as easily loose hers.

?Can I help you clean up??

[Morrighan]

Poor Relena!! And where's Heero?

Can't wait to see more!!

[matisleonhart]

Well, I was doing homework, but now. Oh you just can't leave us like this with such a stirring drama in place. WE NEED MORE!!!

[The Angry Angel]

I like the descriptive words. Very pretty. Evoke? Definitely. I'm totally identifying, here. Great job at making the intensity of emotions so palpable--they shine through the computer screen. Wow!

[amulak]

Heeeeerooo!!! Where could he be? What a stinky situation everyone is in- poor Relena... Can't wait for the next chapter!!