Chapter Text
President’s Suite
Brussels, Belgium
23 January 211
“What was their response?”
“‘Okay.’”
Duo snorted and looked up at Zikri, the new special assistant—his successor, truthfully—who hovered at his desk, wholly unsure what to do with the bad news. He looked young, though Duo knew full well that he couldn’t have been more than a few years younger than himself. At most.
“‘Okay,’” Duo echoed at last, incredulous. “So somewhere between ‘Uh huh’ and the thumbs-up emoji.”
“Basically yeah.”
“Jesus.” He sighed and tousled his bangs, sitting back in his chair as he mulled their options. A senior staffer on a key committee blowing them off wasn’t exactly new, but he was reluctant to let it slide this early on in the new administration. Sitting upright, he pulled up his email and started scrolling through names. “I’m going to give you contact information for some of the other staffers. Be delicate. I don’t want this guy to get wind that we’re talking to other members’ teams, but I also don’t trust him as the be-all and end-all of their collective opinion. Ya know?”
“Tracking.”
“Good.” Duo sent the list over and then stood while Zikri headed back to his desk. Duo stood as he tucked his folio under his arm, walking toward the back of the presidential suite to collect the boss. Over his shoulder he instructed, “Give ‘em a call and let me know what we’re up against.”
“Roger that.”
Duo shook his head, grinning and stifling his laughter. They were going to have to do something about the kid. He was giving him some serious flashbacks to a certain someone from what felt like centuries ago. At the thought, he checked his watch.
Right on time the mobile in his breast pocket vibrated and with a grin, he pulled out the device to read the message from Heero. Good luck. Don’t start any wars.
Duo smirked and slipped the device out of sight again. One more meeting. One more meeting and he’d be free for the evening. Or as free as this job would allow him.
Walking into the President’s office, he prompted, “Ready?”