For the second time, Duo blinked himself awake. He looked around the hospital room, blinking fuzzily. He vaguely remembered the conversation with Heero, and vaguely realized that Heero was mad at him. He gave a little half-sigh, looking around. Then he nearly fell out of bed as he saw Heero curled up in the ugly chair next to his bed, fast asleep with a hospital blanket tucked around his shoulders.

That is so cute, I’m going to be sick, he thought bemusedly. Or maybe just goggle. Okay, and drool a little. And be stunned that he bothered to stay here with me. Maybe he’s not quite as emotionless as I thought . . .

He realized that he was hungry. Very hungry. And if he watched Heero sleep any longer, the drool might short circuit his brain. He reached for the call button.

The doctor who came in was vaguely familiar, but Duo was too busy wondering how on earth her hair twirled like that to make the connection. “Um . . . hi,” he said. “Can I have lunch? Or, um breakfast? Or whatever meal is appropriate for the time of day it is? What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s about nine in the morning,” the doctor answered.

“Oh. Okay. Breakfast then.” Duo tried to sit up, then slumped backwards. “Owie owie owie . . .” His face squinched up. “Remind me to never do that again.”

The doctor just shook her head. “I’ll be back with your breakfast in a minute.”

“You should probably get something for Heero, too,” he added.

“If he hasn’t woken up through us talking, I’m not going to wake him up. He was awake all day yesterday after being up all night; it took me three hours to convince him to go to sleep in the first place.”

Duo glanced over. “Really? Heero’s not usually that stupid.”

“He was worried. I’m telling you because he’ll never admit it. Now wait while I get your food. Don’t sit up.” She disappeared from the room. Duo shrugged and waited until she returned with a tray of food. “I’m Sally Po, by the way.”

“Oh, you’re that doctor whose hospital I blew up!” Duo said with a grin.

“That was you? Thanks,” Sally said dryly.

“Hey, I was rescuing Heero,” Duo said, smirking. “You must be that doctor he mentioned when I woke up yesterday. Who knows what’s going on.”

“That’d be me,” Sally said. “How’re you feeling?”

Duo considered this for a second. “Like shit, thanks.”

“I meant specifically.”

“My ribs hurt, my head hurts, my back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my neck hurts, my . . . I hurt.”

Sally sighed.

“What are all these damned IVs for, anyway?”

“Well . . . the blood’s been replaced by now. One’s because you’ve been dehydrated since you’ve been unconscious for a while. And the other is antibiotics, since the interior of a Gundam isn’t the cleanest place in the world. At least, not if it’s going to explode all over you, which yours did.”

“Great,” Duo said. He paused. “Is Heero mad at me?”

“Yes,” Sally answered. “May I ask what possessed you to refuse to retreat?”

Duo shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Sally sighed. Again.

Duo put his food aside. “So why is Heero asleep in that stupid chair? We’re both missing classes.”

“As if you care about your school records,” Sally said. “Heero is asleep in the chair for two reasons. One: He refused to leave. Two: Even if he had wanted to leave, I didn’t have time to drive him back to school and I wouldn’t have let him drive after being awake for thirty-six hours straight, several of those hours being in battle, so he had no way of getting back to school. Therefore he stayed here. With you. It was very cute. I brought him a blanket after he fell asleep.”

Duo looked at her. “Are you making fun of us?”

“Not at all,” Sally said. “Now don’t wake him up. I have work to do.”

“Is there anything to do here?”

“I’ll see if I can find you a book.”

****

I am having such a bad week. So I’m feeling that it’s reasonable to avoid my paperwork as usual and hide in my office. Basically I’ll look for any excuse in the book to avoid paperwork, but I have so much to worry about that paperwork has singularly little of my attention.

I am having numerous problems.

One: Tsuberov has constructed fleets of his mobile dolls - without my permission, I might add - and is using them to drop ‘subtle’ threats. When I say subtle, I mean glaring. Think lead bricks. With the words ‘I hate you’ engraved on them.

Apparently Tsuberov doesn’t like me. Of course, I always knew that. And it never bothered me because I don’t like him. It’s a good situation. We know where we stand. But apparently he stands a bit higher than he should.

Last night the two Gundams took out - or at least did a good job on - one of his Mobile Doll factories. He was ranting at the meeting this morning. It was all I could not to laugh in his ugly face.

Regardless, that’s my second concern. The Gundams. There are two in operation. Can you guess why this bothers me? Because it’s two. Not three. There are three Gundams out there that we haven’t found or caught. And yet there are only two fighting, with reliable information, which means that they must have someone on the inside of OZ.

This upsets me.

It would stand to reason he would be about the same age. It would also stand to reason that he - or she, mustn’t be sexist, Une would have my head and I know several very competent female mobile suit pilots - would be in the area. The three remaining pilots must be wondering where their companions are. If the infiltrator has found them, he’s probably trying to get close to them.

Unfortunately, I know very little about Rigel and Xiaolong’s social life. And I’m not sure how well they’d take it if I just randomly asked. They do have a tendency to view me as a sort of favorite uncle. However, I’m also an adult. I don’t think they’ll be too eager to share.

Which means that I need to observe them. For me personally, this is simply impossible. Therefore, by process of elimination, I need a spy to find a spy.

I have a cousin of approximately the right age . . . speaking of women who would have my head for being sexist. She’s intelligent, observant, and I think she would get along with them fairly well. If she didn’t hold true to her habit of alienating them at first meeting. And I have to admit that I’m running out of options.

They’ll know she’s related to me, so I think I’d better just introduce them. She has the family eyebrows. (Don’t laugh. It’s hardly our fault. I’ve considered trying to do something about them, but waxing is so . . . painful. And undignified.) I’ve already sent for her. She should be here tomorrow.

So in the meantime, what do I do about the other two Gundam pilots? I certainly can’t allowed them to continue on their rampage. Though, from what I understand, they received a fair amount of damage at the mobile doll factory. Tsuberov was very quick to point that out. He wants to be sure I understand what excellent weapons they are. I do understand that - that’s the problem.

I probably have at least a week to think before the Gundams attack anything again. Maybe I can get rid of the spy and block their source of information before then. Or maybe I can get Rigel and Xiaolong out to fight them. Or something.

****

Heero vowed that he was never going to sleep in a hospital chair again. His back hurt and his shoulders ached and his neck didn’t even bear thinking about. Next time he’d just sleep on the floor. He yawned and stretched, rubbing his neck and trying to ignore the various aches and pains.

“Morning, sunshine.” Duo was grinning at him. And watching him stretch.

Heero glared at him.

“Yeah, good to see you too. Want some breakfast? Er, lunch. I think it’s about two in the afternoon. I’m glad you’re awake. I’ve been bored out of my skull.”

“It’s nice to know I’m good for something,” Heero muttered.

“What was that, Heero?”

“Nothing. I’m going to go get our things from the school, and erase our records. Certainly can’t go back after missing two straight days of class with no explanation at all. Right after an OZ base was attacked.”

“Man, will you think about something else for three seconds?”

“Such as what?”

“I don’t know. Food, movies, girls, something.” Well, maybe not girls. Think about me? That would be cool.

“Hn.”

Duo resisted the urge to strangle his partner. “Well, fine, if you’re going to be that talkative, go ahead and get our stuff. See if I care.” He stuck his tongue out and turned away.

Heero sighed.

“Can I go with you?”

Heero stared at him. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re injured.”

“So?”

“So you have to stay in bed.”

“I’m bored with bed.”

“Too bad. I don’t want you to be anymore injured than you have to be.”

“And why not?” Duo asked, glaring. “The mission?”

Heero tried not to flinch. Here we go again. He’s back to being pissy. “Baka.”

“Oh, we’re reduced to name calling?”

Heero just rolled his eyes. “I’m going to get our stuff. You can’t come. But I’ll bring you some things to keep you entertained.” Peace offering. Maybe that’ll help. Please, just accept.

“Well . . .” Duo frowned. “Okay, I suppose.”

Thank God. Heero escaped the room.

****

“How’re things going?”

Heero looked down at the bag he was carrying. “Hopefully it’ll start going better now that I’ve brought him some things to keep him entertained.”

Sally raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Duo’s getting into one of his crabby moods. I can see them coming.”

“He was perfectly cheerful this morning.”

“I know. Isn’t it scary the way he does that? Trust me. Talk to him tomorrow. He’ll be incredibly cranky, difficult to deal with, and it’ll get worse until he can get out of bed. Or a week or two passes and he’s out of his funk. How long ‘till he can get out of bed?”

“Three or four days at least.”

Heero drooped. “Wonderful. Maybe I will go on some more missions, after all . . .”

Sally rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m going home for the evening. If you need anything else, let me know.”

****

“So I get to meet the famous Gundam pilots?” Dorothy grinned, quite charmingly, for her.

“Sort of,” Treize replied. “Just remember everything I explained.”

“I will,” Dorothy replied. “I won’t mess up, I promise. And I’m just supposed to figure out who they’ve made friends with and tell you?”

“And anything else you might happen to notice. Like one of their friends might happen to be the third Gundam pilot, who’s infiltrated,” Treize said dryly. “I’d be pleased if you found that out.”

Dorothy just smiled. “I’ll do my best, Treize.”

“Thank you,” Treize said. “Une?”

Une poked her head into the office. “Treize-sama?”

“Get Rigel and Xiaolong for me, will you?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it; they’re in Calculus again. I’d prefer to avoid pulling them out of that class. By the ponytail.”

“Xiaolong started wearing his hair down after that, you know,” Treize said.

“Yes, I know.” Une sighed. She checked her watch. “They’ll be out of class in ten minutes.”

“All right, go get them then.”

Une simply nodded and left the room. About fifteen minutes later, she came back with Rigel and Xiaolong in tow.

“Hi, Treize,” Rigel said cheerfully. “Thanks for not interrupting our class this time.”

“I didn’t want to risk another show of insubordination,” Treize said.

“It was more irritation,” Xiaolong corrected.

Treize eyed him for a long second, then said, “And when did you start leaving your hair down?”

“About the time Une mistook it for some sort of leash,” Xiaolong grumbled.

“Exactly,” Treize said. “Anyway, I want to introduce you to my cousin, Dorothy Catalonia. She’s a transfer student.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rigel said politely.

“Dorothy, this is Rigel, and this is Xiaolong.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Dorothy said.

“I was wondering if you two could show her around,” Treize said. “Since you are the two students I know best, and you know what it’s like to be new.”

“Sure, Treize,” Rigel said. “No problem. What classes do you have, Miss Catalonia?”

“Please, call me Dorothy,” the blonde girl said with a smile. “I have . . .” She fished out her schedule, “Fencing, Calculus, chemistry, Strategy and Tactics, and Diplomacy.” She made a face.

“Diplomacy?” Xiaolong asked skeptically.

“It’s basically a class that tells me which fork to use at dinner and how to lie with a smile and insult my enemies politely. All at once, if I’m really good,” Dorothy replied.

“Sounds like fun,” Rigel said.

“You’d be surprised.”

Rigel laughed. “Well, I have fencing, and we both have calculus, but other than that you’re on your own.”

Treize looked startled. “You have fencing?”

“Yeah, they let us pick what we wanted to switch into when we tested out of mobile suit training and I thought that looked interesting,” Rigel replied. “Xiaolong was boring and took a computers course.”

“Oh,” Treize said. “Why didn’t you take fencing?”

“I don’t fence,” Xiaolong answered, simply enough.

“What do you do?” Dorothy asked curiously.

“All manner of things, but fencing isn’t one of them.”

You were pretty handy with a sword last time you ran into me, Treize thought. Then again, that wasn’t fencing. That was . . . something Oriental. “Regardless. Isn’t it time for you to go to lunch?”

Rigel checked his watch and jumped. “Oh yeah! Come on, Dorothy, we’ll show you around after lunch.”

“Someone wants to see Trowa . . .” Xiaolong said very softly in a sing-song tone.

“Shut up,” Rigel said.

“What was that, Xiaolong?” Treize asked.

“Nothing,” Xiaolong said with a smirk.

“Nothing at all,” Rigel said firmly, then turned to leave the room.

****

The books and things Heero brought did indeed keep Duo entertained. He still got crabby. Heero ended up sleeping in the hospital, for lack of a better option. He woke up to the sound of creative cursing. He wasn’t even sure what half of the terms meant. “What’s wrong?” he asked sleepily.

“My poor hair,” Duo moaned, looking at it. “It’s dirty and grimy and tangled. I could deal the first two, but I want it untangled.”

“So brush it,” Heero suggested.

Duo glared daggers at him. “I can’t. The damned IVs keep getting in the way. I’ve been trying for the last forty minutes!” He chucked the brush across the room and leaned forward, looking bitter.

Heero climbed out of the chair, neatly folding the blanket and keeping an eye on Duo. He’d almost gotten accustomed to sleeping in that chair. Duo had drawn his knees up to his chest and was glaring at them. “Don’t sit like that.”

“Huh?”

“It’s bad for your ribs.”

“Ask me if I care.”

“Out of curiosity . . .”

“I don’t care.”

“I wasn’t going to ask that. I was going to ask if you had a death wish.”

“Only on alternate Tuesdays.” Duo’s voice sounded one millidecibel less hostile.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Take it how you want.”

Heero fished the brush out of the corner, still watching his roommate. “Well, don’t sit like that anyway. I don’t care if you care.”

Duo glared.

“Be nice and I’ll let you sit somewhere else later today.”

Duo rolled his eyes.

“Turn around, I’ll brush your hair.”

Duo blinked at him.

“What? I thought you wanted it untangled.”

“Well, yeah . . .”

“Then turn around.”

“Promise not to pull?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Duo unfolded and turned so his legs were dangling over the edge of the bed. Heero very cautiously began to brush Duo’s hair. Sure, this wasn’t an excuse to be near him or anything. He considered making a comment on how Duo was right and it was grimy, just so he would feel a little less guilty about what struck him as a blatant come-on, but then he decided it was a bad idea. Duo would kill him. Heero wasn’t quite sure how, but somehow he would end up dead. He searched for something else to say. The silence was getting a bit thick.

“You know, Heero, it’ll take a little more abuse than that. I’m sure you don’t want to be here all day.”

Oh, I don’t know . . . Heero thought. It’s got a certain appeal to it. “Hn.”

“Thank you, Captain Talkative.”

“You’re welcome, Sergeant Sarcastic.”

To his surprise, Duo laughed. “Hey! You’ve got a sense of humor too!”

“I try on occasion.”

Duo leaned back a little into his hands, enjoying the opportunity to tease the other pilot. It took all of Heero’s willpower to not flinch backwards. Or maybe lean closer. He wasn’t sure which. All he knew was, he wasn’t moving, and it took a lot of willpower. This is ridiculous.

He finally got Duo’s hair straightened out. “There.”

“Aren’t you going to braid it?” Duo asked. “It’ll just get tangled again, and then you’ll have to brush it again.” It’s okay, don’t braid it . . . this was fun.

In that case, do I have to braid it? Heero wondered. “I don’t know how to braid.”

“Oh. Well.” Duo considered. Now that he’d made the request, it would look odd if he backed out. “Okay. Divide it up into three equal strands.”

“Hn. All right.” There was a long pause. Duo could feel Heero’s fingers moving through his hair.

Another long pause. “Um . . . Heero? What’s taking so long? They don’t have to perfectly equal.”

“Oh.” Pause. “Okay. Now what?”

Duo closed his eyes, trying to picture it. “Okay. Take the one on the left. And cross it over the one in the middle.”

“Okay.”

“Now take the one on the left and put it between the other two.”

“Okay.”

“Now the one that was originally in the middle should be on the right.”

Pause.

“Is it?”

“Sort of.”

“Okay. Now cross that one into the middle.”

“Okay.”

“You see the pattern?”

“I think so.” Heero kept braiding. “Yeah. I see.”

“Okay. Then take it out and start over. Please.”

“Why?”

“Because you did the top too loose ‘cause you didn’t know what you were doing and it’s pulling funny. I know it sounds like I’m whining, but it’s like someone pulling your hair all day long.”

“I can see how that would be uncomfortable.” And I hardly mind keeping this up for a while . . .

“Just pull it tight. I mean, not ridiculously so. But tight enough that it won’t fall out. Or tangle.”

“Ryoukai.”

Within a few minutes, Duo had a perfectly serviceable braid. He grinned. “Thanks, man.”

Good. He’s stopped being pissy. Remind me to do this for him every morning. “Hn.”

****

“Hi, Trowa!” Rigel bounced across the cafeteria to wrap his arms around Trowa’s shoulders.

Trowa smiled and hugged him back. “Rigel, when was the last time I told you that you’re adorable?”

“I think last night,” Rigel said, pulling away. “But it’s been too long anyway.”

A rather loud cough reminded Rigel of his roommate’s presence, not to even mention Dorothy’s. He blushed a little bit and pulled away. “Oh. Um. Trowa, this is Dorothy Catalonia. She’s new, and Treize asked us if we could show her around.”

“Apparently we’re the welcome committee,” Xiaolong said with a nod.

“Nice to meet you,” Trowa said to Dorothy. “I’m Rigel’s . . . study partner. In physics.”

“Yeah, you study each other’s tonsils,” Xiaolong remarked, leaving to get his food before Rigel could hit him.

“That’s biology, not physics,” Rigel called after him. “Come on, Dorothy, I’ll show you where to get food.”

Dorothy followed him to the line, then to a table where five other students, plus Trowa and Xiaolong, were seated. She sighed inwardly. They would have a lot of friends and make it more difficult for me to find the spy, wouldn’t they.

“This is Dorothy, she’s new,” Rigel told everyone. “Dorothy, this is Michael, Thahn, Shiran, Sanghita, and Aiko.”

There was a chorus of greetings. Then there was a resounding whack as Rigel whapped Xiaolong upside the head.

“What was that for?” Xiaolong asked, smoothing his hair back into place.

“Your comment earlier. Did you think I’d forget?”

“I was hoping,” Xiaolong grumbled as Rigel settled into his place between Trowa and Xiaolong.

“What comment?” Michael asked.

“Oh, he was just making fun of me and Trowa’s study habits again,” Rigel said.

“What study habits?” Thahn asked with raised eyebrows.

“I’m doing better in physics than you,” Rigel said. “And Trowa is too. So there.”

****

“Ne, Heero, can you braid my hair again?” Duo asked. “These IVs are such a pain in the ass.”

“Sure,” Heero said, figuring that if he agreed, Duo might stop being pissy.

“And I want a shower,” Duo said. “How am I supposed to take a shower?”

“With great difficulty, or so I would imagine,” Heero said calmly, pulling the brush through Duo’s hair.

“Shut up. That’s not funny.”

“I wasn’t meaning it to be funny,” Heero replied.

“Oh.”

“I’ll ask Sally about the shower. But you’ll probably have to wait until the IVs come out.”

“I’m sick of being here.”

“It’s only been two days.”

“Who cares? It’s making me claustrophobic.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I want to go for a walk.”

“You can’t.”

“Who says?”

“Everyone.”

“You gonna stop me?”

“I could tie your braid to the bedpost.”

Duo turned just enough to give him a withering look. “Didn’t know you were into that, Heero.”

Heero considered whether or not to get embarrassed and what he should say. Surprisingly, what he heard come out of his mouth was, “There are a lot of things about me you don’t know.”

“Well, if you ever bothered to talk once in a while . . .”

“If you stopped ripping my head off whenever I opened my mouth, maybe I would.”

“I don’t always do that.”

“No, just alternate Tuesdays.”

“Shut up.”

“See, there you go.”

Duo just gave a disgusted sigh.

Heero finished the braid. “There, your hair’s done.”

“Good, I’m leaving.”

“You are most certainly not.”

“Stop me.” Duo grabbed the edge of the bed and put his feet on the floor, then slowly pushed himself into a standing position.

“I won’t need to,” Heero said, waiting patiently for Duo to fall down.

Duo glared, hanging onto his IV pole. “Just watch me.”

“Duo, where do you think you’re going?”

“The hallway. Anywhere but near you.” Duo used the pole like a crutch and used it to get into the hallway. Heero followed patiently.

“Duo! What are you doing out of bed?” Sally hurried over.

“I’m going for a walk.”

“Get back in bed.”

“Shut up,” Duo snapped.

Sally stared at him. He kept going.

Heero looked at her. “You have any ideas?”

“And stop talking about me behind my back,” Duo called over his shoulder.

Heero waited until Duo was out of earshot. “Welcome to my Hell,” he said to Sally.

“What’s with him?”

“Hell if I know. He’s gone into ‘shut-up-Heero’ mode.”

“Apparently it’s ‘shut-up-everyone.’”

“It’s nice to know I’m not alone.”

Sally was frowning. “Does he do this . . . often?”

“Sort of. Once a month or so. He gets into a bad mood for little to no reason and then stays in it for about a week or two. Then last time he cured this by eating a lot of sugar and then he nearly got himself killed and now he’s pissed off again.”

Sally was frowning thoughtfully. “You said he was acting strange before the battle. How so?”

“Just . . . strange. Hyper, but . . . I don’t know. Almost like he believed he couldn’t get hurt. He kept saying you couldn’t kill Shinigami.”

“You two are how old?”

“Fifteen. Or so. Why?”

“All sorts of interesting things happen during adolescence,” Sally told him. “Let me look into it, okay?”

“Sure,” Heero said.

“Now see if you can get Duo back in bed.”

“Oh, right,” Heero said, walking off in the direction Duo had gone in. He found Duo sitting on a couch at the end of the hallway, sitting at the window. “Like the view?”

“It’s certainly better than being stuck in my room.”

“Mind if I sit down?”

“It’s not my couch,” Duo said.

Heero sat on the sofa next to him. “I’m surprised you didn’t make a break for it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not a total idiot.”

“Feeling a little better?”

“No.”

Heero sighed. “I don’t know why I try to be nice to you.”

“You’re always nice at the wrong times,” Duo snapped.

“There are right times?” Heero asked.

“Well, let’s think about this,” Duo said. “If I’m in a bad mood, I’m not going to be receptive of your concern. Why can’t you ever be nice when I’m in a good mood already and I might appreciate it?”

“Because when you’re in a good mood, you don’t let me get a word in edgewise,” Heero said dryly.

Duo opened his mouth to say something. After a pause, he admitted, “Yeah, you’re right there.”

“So will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t know?” Duo asked. “Sometimes I’m just in a bad mood, okay? God, let me be pissed off, it’s legal.”

Heero paused. “I’m just worried about you.” Did I just say that? What is my problem?

“Are you sure you’re worried about me, or your precious fucking mission?” Duo snapped.

Say the mission. Say the mission. “Duo, the mission is nowhere near as important to me as your safety.” I’m digging my own grave here. Why didn’t I say the mission?

“Don’t get too close. It’s not good for your health.” Duo looked steadfastly at the floor.

Now what the hell is that supposed to mean? “Last time I checked, unless you planned on stabbing me in the back, I was capable of taking care of myself.”

“I’d hardly plan on offing you myself.”

“So you don’t hate me?” Heero asked.

“No. I never did. Not really.”

“You certainly acted like it sometimes.”

“No, usually when I’m acting like this, I hate everyone.”

“Oh.”

“Can we please stop having a heart-to-heart now?”

“If you’ll go back to your room.”

“Let me take walks when I want to.”

“Okay.”

Duo nodded once and attempted to stand up. His arms crossed over his ribs and he sank back onto the couch. “I think I’ll just sit here for a few minutes. Or hours.”

Heero sighed. “Sally would have my head if you stayed out of bed that long.”

“I don’t see how it matters,” Duo said, “if I sit on my ass here or I sit on my ass there.”

“Neither do I, really, but she told me to get you back in bed.” Heero stood and carefully scooped Duo up in his arms.

“Hey!” Duo protested.

“Shut up and enjoy the ride.”

Duo opened his mouth, then shut it with a confused look. Heero was calling for a nurse to push the IV pole behind them. “Careful how you handle the damaged goods,” he complained.

“Sorry.” Heero shifted his grip a little. “That better?”

“Yeah.” Duo leaned his head against Heero’s shoulder. I could get used to this . . .

Heero carefully put Duo back in bed. “I’ll talk to Sally about trying to get you a shower.”

“Thanks, Heero,” Duo said. “Sorry for being such a jerk. Don’t expect it to stop, but I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Heero replied. “I feel better knowing you don’t hate me.”

Duo grinned. “Aw, Heero, I didn’t know you cared.”

Heero rolled his eyes. “Then you’re an idiot.” And he turned and left the room.

****

Part Fifteen
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