Callous Revenge

Chapter One

History is like an Endless Waltz in three-four time.

The Never-Ending steps of War, Peace and Revolution.

Those were the historic words spoken during the greatest war the Earth had ever seen. It was those words that were inscribed above the entrance to the Preventor Headquarters. Every morning when Preventor Agents walked through the large double doors, they were reminded of the war they had survived, and it gave them strength to march through the halls to their offices or on to their missions. Even now, five years after the war had ended, peace had reigned and revolution had changed the world, those words remained a pillar in society.

Many things had changed since they end of the war: All of the mobile suits had been decommissioned and destroyed; The Earth Sphere United Nations had been renamed The Planetary Alliance and now included the new colonies on the moon and on Mars; and the Sanc Kingdom was commissioned as the new Capital of Earth and home to the Planetary Alliance Headquarters.

Relena Darlin was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Planetary Alliance and took up residence in her old Kingdom along with the other ministers and politicians. Heero Yuy remained with her as her body guard, determined to keep his promise to her and insure her safety. Duo Maxwell joined the Preventors and became the Electronics Technician and Specialist. He rarely goes on missions, preferring to work with the computers and things that can't fight back. Chang Wufei also joined the Preventors and is now one of their best agents. He is partnered with Zechs Merquis, who joined the Preventors with his wife, Noin, as soon as the Terraforming Project on Mars was complete. Trowa Barton remained with the circus, enjoying the leisurely travel and athletic work. Quatre Raberba Winner took over his fathers company and expanded it to not only the creation of colonies, but also the creation of buildings and houses on Earth as well.

Life had become routine and the peace was unnerving to most and welcomed by others. Duo was somewhere in the middle. He still wasn't used to peace, but he wasn't complaining either. The day had started like any other; Duo walked into Preventors HQ, clocked in, and sauntered back to the Chief's office to announce his arrival. One…two…three knocks and behind the closed door Duo heard the feminine voice of his boss telling him to enter. He opened the door and smiled.

"Hey Sally! I'm here!" He announced.

Sally looked up from the piles of paper work on her desk and smiled. Five years and still Duo acted like a juvenile. She shook her head laughed to herself.

"Good morning, Duo."

Duo strolled in and sat in the chair just in front of her desk. "So, anything new for me today?"

Sally ruffled through a few papers and shook her head. "Nope. Doesn't look like it. Just the continuation of updates." She looked up at the braided ex-pilot. "The new shipment of computers should be getting in today."

Duo grinned. "Good! It's about time! I'm tired of having to doctor those worthless pieces of junk in the office." He stood. "Well, I'll get to work then." He turned and left the room with a wave.

On his way down the hall to his office, he met Wufei, who was just coming in.

"Hey Wu-Man! Long time no see!" He smiled and held his hand out.

Wufei smirked. Though he didn't want to admit it aloud, he had missed Duo's flamboyant personality. The friends shook hands and Wufei bowed his head.

"So, Mission Complete?" Duo winked. He knew he didn't have to ask. Wufei would never return from a mission without it being complete.

Just as Duo expected, Wufei nodded. "Of course."

Duo chuckled and nodded. "Good! It just wasn't the same around here without you, Wu-Man!" He smiled and slapped his friend's back affectionately before continuing on his way down the hall.

Wufei turned and watched him go with a shake of his head. As much as Wufei had enjoyed his privacy, since the war he had learned to not only tolerate, but actually enjoy Duo's company as well. He still wasn't sure why, but Duo had a calming effect; and after being gone for two weeks on a mission, it was nice to see his smile again.

Wufei stalked purposefully down the hall and entered Sally's office without knocking. Without even looking up she waved.

"Hello Wufei." She looked up and smirked. "Report?"

Wufei approached her desk and dropped a thick folder in front of her. "I finished it on the way here."

Sally nodded. She wasn't surprised. Wufei always finished his report before walking through the doors of HQ. She briefly flipped through them and smiled up at him.

"Good work, Chang."

Wufei bowed and turned to leave the room when Sally's voice stopped him.

"And Wufei…"

He stopped and looked back at her.

"Try and relax for a while huh? That was a tough mission." She winked.

Wufei couldn't help the blush that crossed his cheeks. He quickly recovered with a glare and left the room, conveniently forgetting to close the door. Wufei hadn't been overly pleased with the alias he had been assigned for this mission. It was his luck that the rebel spy happened to live in a prominently gay community. Wufei's alias was that of a male escort so he could learn the secret information he was after. Unfortunately, the rebel wasn't the first one to call on his "services." He had to put up with an overly emotional teenage girl, a horde of horny old men, and a woman old enough to be his grandmother before the rebel had finally called. Needless to say, he was not in the mood to talk.

He entered the office he shared with Zechs and slammed the door. Zechs looked up from his desk and smirked. Besides Sally, Zechs was the only one who knew the details of Wufei's mission. The Chinese man glared at his partner as he sat at his desk.

"Not a word." He threatened.

"Of course not." Zechs replied and continued filling out reports, though the smirk never left his face.

The blond stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "Well, I'm going to head to the break room." He said and began walking to the door. "You want some coffee?" He asked.

"Hn." Wufei grunted as he shuffled through the piles of paper on his desk.

Zechs smothered a chuckle and left the room. He had been sent on missions similar to the one Wufei had just returned from so he wasn't about to tease, even though the thought made him want to burst out laughing: Chang Wufei, Male Escort. It just wasn't his style. Zechs chuckled as he entered the break room and pulled two coffee mugs from the cupboard. It wasn't until he was standing in front of the coffee maker that he noticed the pair of legs sticking out from under the sink. He blinked and moved back to get a better look. Duo was laying on his back under the sink.

"Duo?"

A loud 'clank' sound echoed through the room followed by a pained shout. "Hey, what's the idea?" Duo shouted and pulled himself from under the pipes, rubbing his head. He looked up at Zechs and smirked. "Ahh, Zechs. What's up?"

Zechs shrugged and continued filling his mug. "Sink acting up again?"

Duo nodded, annoyed. "Yes. Damn thing keeps spewing water at random angles. What we need is new equipment. But heaven forbid the budget go to something we need." He complained.

Zechs chuckled. "I'm sure you'll convince them eventually."

Duo mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "fat chance" before crawling back under the sink. "Hey Zechs, have you heard from Heero and Relena lately?" He called from inside the cabinet.

Zechs smiled as he added sugar to his coffee. "Just yesterday, actually. They're doing good."

"Has the council changed their mind yet? Or do they still think that Relena is going to marry that bozo from Colony X-19889?"

Zechs laughed. "Oh no, they don't know about her and Heero yet. Though I have a feeling they will soon."

Duo stopped working and peeked out with a large smirk on his face. "Why's that?"

Zechs chuckled. "Relena's two weeks pregnant with Heero's baby."

Duo doubled over in laughter. "Oh…my….no….way…!" He laughed. "That's too much!" He shouted as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Well, they better get a move on. And hey, tell em I said congrats!"

Zechs nodded and waved, leaving Duo to his laughing fit. Heero and Relena had been a couple for the past few years; the only problem was that the council of the Planetary Alliance didn't think it would be appropriate for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to marry a Gundam Pilot. Relena understood their point but she loved Heero. In order to stop her, the council announced to the world that Relena would be marrying a politician from the colonies named Alex Ventamer. Determined to keep the peace, Relena hadn't confronted them in front of everyone, but now she was determined to make them see that her marriage to Heero would make no difference in her leadership. So far they haven't listened to her.

Zechs reentered the office to find Wufei having a heated conversation through the Vid-phone. As Zechs set the coffee mug down on his partners desk, he saw Quatre's face on the screen, and he didn't look amused. Not wanting to butt in, Zechs returned to his desk and continued working; conveniently listening to every word.

"You're being foolish, Winner." Wufei hissed.

"Humor me, Wufei." Quatre replied. He was smiling but his tone was hard. "You've been gone two weeks and need to relax."

"I will do no such thing. There is to much work to be done."

"Wufei, I will not accept no for an answer."

Wufei was silent. As much as he hated it, Quatre had a power over him; over everyone. It was one of the reasons Quatre's business had grown so large in so short a time. Wufei glared into the tiny screen.

"Very well."

Quatre's voice changed instantly. "Great! See you there!"

Wufei closed the Vid-phone and began scribbling on random papers. Zechs looked up and raised a brow. "Something wrong?" He asked.

Wufei glared but continued scribbling. "Winner wishes us to join him at his manor this evening for dinner."

Zechs smirked at Wufei. "And that's bad?"

Wufei huffed but didn't answer. Zechs chuckled and continued writing. He knew why Wufei didn't want to go anywhere tonight. He probably wanted to shower twenty times and meditate until he forgot all about his mission; he also didn't want to answer any questions. The two friends had been working together for so long that neither had to ask what the other was thinking. Instead of teasing Wufei, who he knew was sensitive to matters of the heart (and other forbidden body parts), he looked onward to dinner with Quatre. The food at the young Arab's manor was always the best and the conversation even better. He was excited to see everyone again. It had been a long time since they last met. Wufei had been gone on mission after mission for the past few months, Trowa had been traveling everywhere with the circus, Duo had been trapped under piles and piles of paperwork for the new computers, Heero was busy with Relena and her meetings and Quatre was having problems with his underlings. It would be nice to see them all again and he was quite looking forward to it.