This is set in an AU. It's our world, but I kept the Unified Nations in tact. Not as AU as it could be, but not within the Gundam universe either. If you guys comment and fave and stuff, I'll update it really soon. So... enjoy!

A Rebel and Anomaly
Taka Momos

A smoky steam rose from the wintry streets below as Heero looked out the window of the high-rise building, the urban headquarters that his "employer" preferred to do her business in. Relena Dorlian was in actuality his romantic interest, but few suggested that the respected and powerful woman would have feelings for her own bodygaurd.

Even though he was her personal bodyguard because of her feelings...

Not to say he didn't take his job seriously; he took it very seriously. And he made sure to keep his feelings in check while on duty. He never questioned, however, the feelings he had for her. Despite few memories of actually feeling them (or feeling much of any emotion in his lifetime for that matter), he never pressed the issue in interest of keeping Relena happy while at the same time keeping an emotional distance to keep her adequately protected. Being the leader of the Unified Nations, Relena deserved the best protection that he could give her.

With that in mind (as it always was), he looked down with contempt at the protesters that had appeared across the street from the entrance of the headquarters building. Protesters, especially as of late, had proven to be nothing more than anti-unification terrorists that put up a front of innocent demonstration before quickly turning to violence when their puppy-dog eyes didn't get them the attention they wanted. It had only been a few months since the limousine he and Relena rode in on their way to a meeting was almost blown up by a crude form of grenade that was tossed underneath the vehicle without warning.

That was an accurate description of their methods – crude. Crude and unprovoked. They were terrorists, a violent guerrilla faction with political motives behind their underhanded acts of aggression; the only true purpose their actions had was to inject chaos into the peaceful world that Relena had fought hard to create. He had little sympathy for them.

"Good morning, Heero. How are you today?" Heero turned to see Relena enter the office, her concentration buried in the notes of a recent meeting. He gave a last, short glance at the protesters just beginning to spout their usual "pity-us-or-else" messages. "No current dangers present, ma'am. It looks to be safe for the given time." Relena laughed at his almost robotic response.

"Not 'How are things?', how are you?" Heero's only response was a blank "I just told you" stare. Relena, used to the emotionless look, busied herself on her computer, typing up some kind of document. The erratic ticking of the keyboard keys slowly faded as his attention once again returned to the protesters, who seemed to have grown slightly and settled into their position. A few streetgoers interacted with the group, dressed in their usual worn and dirtied clothing, although almost all of the interactions were of disgust, a few being openly hostile as they were pushed and shoved out of the way of busy businessmen.

"Heero, we have a staff meeting in an hour, and then a meeting over at the Assembly Hall. Will you have the transportation ready in time?" Heero gave a curt nod, before stating in his usual monotone voice, "Of course, ma'am. I'll do that while attending to some other business." Relena gave a distracted "thank you" that Heero didn't hear, already thinking of the task at hand – calling Chang to help rid of the protesters. He walked briskly past the secretary, who was seemingly busy listening to messages from the night before, and instructed her in passing to "ready a limousine for Ms. Dorlian". Walking out of the office, he turned and walked across the floor's lobby into a blank and mostly-empty hallway, finally turning to enter a heavy, black metal door that led into the building's security center. He picked up the phone and quickly punched in numbers, completely oblivious to the people working around him at various stations that monitored all rooms, hallways, elevators, and stairwells in the entire building. The other end of the line picked up with a click.

"Yes?" Heero instantly recognized the voice of his friend, Wufei Chang – a highly respected officer who personally led, by volunteering for the job, the team that kept peace and order within the city. He considered order to be a refuge in which all the people of the world would live peacefully and "honorably".

"Chang? Yuy. We have some more troublemakers that I need dealt with before we leave for a meeting." Even the venomous tone he used to emphasize the word didn't help the taste that was left in his mouth. Heero found it difficult to refer to the rebels in a way that didn't step over the line into profanity, which he would not stoop so low as to insult his own intelligence by using.

"Fine, expect an ETA of about ten minutes. How many do you estimate?"

"Thirty and growing."

"Handle it our usual way?"

"Of course. Yuy out." Heero headed out of the dark room, lit only by the glow of variously-sized screens and monitors, towards the elevator. He punched the G button and straightened various articles of his black suit, a ritualistic preparation for the adrenaline that came with throwing scum into the trash can where they belonged – a jail cell, where they could rot away out of the sight of the law-abiding public.

---

Dressed to fit in with the surrounding public, he adjusted the collar of the coat to cover the wide grin he couldn't help let plaster itself on his face – the sight of a suit, clearly security, walking out of the building straight for what he knew would end up being a confrontation always gave him a whirl of excitement. The rough, over-sized trench coat and formal hat (the hell if he knew what it was called) gave him an odd, but not-too-noticeable, look. He shoved his hands in his pocket, feeling at the explosive he would throw. He also fingered the weapons on his person through the silky fabric, a habit he'd developed to help calm himself.

It would be a good day.

He glanced across the street to an accomplice, who gave a discreet nod, before turning to the other undercover member who gave a similar signal of readiness.

And, like a watchmaker enjoying a newly made watch turning its gears for the first time, he leaned back and watched as the suit reached the group of demonstrators, the plan unfolding almost by itself.

Yes... a very good day...

---

Heero looked at the protesters with an air of contempt, sickened by the complete lack of respect they had for those around them. Their clothes, as usual, were dirty. He was still feet away and he could already detect a certain scent about them, probably from the slums. He didn't fail to notice the way their chattering faded and eyes dimmed when they noticed him. Almost as if the reason they were there had drained out of them.

He loved that feeling.

"I'm here to instruct you to leave. The authorities are already en route. You have no right to be here, and I'll ask you politely once to leave immediately." What little light was left in their eyes dimmed, except for one loud-mouth who chose to raise his voice in disagreement.

"We have every right to be here!"

"You have no permit, meaning quite the contrary."

"Ya think we didn't try gettin' one!? How're we s'pposed to get a protesting permit when the pigs don't want us here!?"

"I believe that's the point of denying you one. They don't want you here, deciding that the legality of protesting outside a government building to be questionable. You should have taken their denial as a suggestion to protest elsewhere, not to protest anyways." Heero couldn't help but smirking evilly, yet at the same time beginning to feel annoyed by the stupidity of the man.

"Just 'cause you government big shots don't want us here doesn't mean we don't have the right to be!"

"I believe we've just established that you, in fact, do not have the rights that you claim." The wail of a siren was faint in the distance, but Heero knew it would be little under a minute before an entire squad of riot police would arrive to usher the protesters away from the area.

The protesters began grumbling, making a half-hearted attempt to dig themselves in before the soldiers arrived. As Heero had anticipated, it was not long at all before a large vehicle with flashing lights pulled up behind him, the siren turned off so as not to disturb the workers in the buildings nearby. Black and blue clad soldiers filed out of the vehicle, guns in hand, ready to take aim when the order was given. As they formed a line behind Heero, a Chinese man in a hybrid uniform, crossed between the armor of a soldier and tight-fitting, informal clothing, a POLICE badge hanging from his neck, walked up beside him.

"Are these the demonstrators?" Heero gave a quick nod, his eyes never once leaving the now awe-stricken creatures before him, whose resolve had quickly shrunken to that of a small rodent trapped in a corner.

As Chang began his usual reading of rights, almost as if they had any, Heero couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. The feeling, however, remained. Passer-bys had stopped to watch the incident, cars slowed to see what was happening, it was all as it was the many times before. By the time he noticed the man dressed in an ill-fitting trench coat leaning against a wall by an alley, suspicious even barring the fact that he hadn't moved the entire time, never once looked up to watch the exchange (unlike everyone else around him), or even the heavy boots that clearly stuck out once he'd taken a more attentive look, it was already too late.

The sound of metal bouncing off asphalt was all he heard before the massive explosion.

The officers behind him were hurdled forward, the vehicle they'd been in just moments before now ten feet in the air, a fiery wreckage that was quickly descending back down to the street it had once been parked on. The carcass let off flaming pieces of debris when it landed. It was only then that Heero noticed he and Chang were on the ground, his friend yelling loudly into his radio -

"We need back-up at the UN HQ, NOW! We're under attack! Officers are down! GET BACK-UP NOW!" He turned his head, still numb from the explosion, just in time to see the man he'd been watching quickly approaching, a grenade already in his hand. He couldn't hear himself yell out to Chang that there was another bomb, and he was barely aware that he was pulling his gun and taking aim at the man. The grenade, however, was no longer in his hand.

A second explosion tore through the line of soldiers that was rebuilding itself and preparing for a confrontation, throwing most of them like ragdolls into the air. A heat quickly rushed across his body, and he realized the second grenade had been distinctively unlike the first – wherein the first had the power to take out an armored vehicle, the second had a more liquid quality to it. It was then that he finally noticed what was going on around him.

A soldier fell lifeless beside him, his clothes and skin burning from the fire he was consumed by. The second grenade was a firebomb.

His entire body now numb, his consciousness becoming more like a surreal painting, he tried to stand and find the man he'd seen. All he saw, however, was smoke blowing over an empty street. The man was gone.

Sirens quickly approached. The screaming around him suddenly pierced through his daze, and his adrenaline was quick to kick in. He saw Chang shooting at a man running away. The man grabbed his arm and fell. Chang began to rush to the body, but stopped when one of his injured men called to him. It was lucky for him he was distracted.

A third explosion launched the body of the attacker high into the air. Heero covered his ears and ducked, turning back when he'd fully recovered. He saw Chang staring wide-eyed at the spot where the body had once been, his face drained of all color. He ran to his friend when he fell backwards, shell-shocked at what could very easily have been, and almost was, his death. The sirens descended on them, ambulances and police cars packing the street. He helped to usher his friend to one of the paramedics scrambling out of an ambulance, himself still dazed by the events that had just unfolded.

While his friend was being attended to, he took time to look around. Uniformed men swarmed the streets, quick to secure the area before any further attacks could be made. He was surprised to notice the protesters he'd been talking to cowering behind their signs, some of them bloodied from the attack. He was quick to realize –

Rebels didn't attack themselves.

He turned his head when a familiar voice broke through the chaos; Relena was fighting the officers trying to keep her in the building, telling her to that her safety couldn't be jeopardized. He was quick to walk over to her.

"Go back inside, Relena. You might get hurt." His voice was as cold and emotionless as usual, unlike her frantic yelling. "Heero, you're hurt!"

He looked at his arm, unaware that he'd been injured. His dress shirt, usually white, was red from his blood, exposed by a tear in his black suit. He'd waved it off and repeated his command, telling her to get inside where it was safe. He walked calmly away, almost relieved to be done with her dramatic yelling. There were more important things to be done.

There had to be. Otherwise, he'd have to think about why he was relieved to be rid of Relena...

---

He let himself lean against the door of the taxi, doing his best not to let the blood running down his arm get on the seat. He grunted an incomprehensible command to stop, and, the driver getting the message, grit his teeth as he was slammed into the door by the sudden turn. He reached in his pocket and threw what seemed like the right amount of fare, not really caring if it was. He staggered down the sidewalk, a haziness drifting through his head, until he noticed a familiar door lit by the orange glow of the streetlight.

He gave the door a heavy kick with his boot, not feeling like going through the usual niceties of knocking. The familiar blond opened the door, quick to wrap his arms around his neck.

"You're alright! We were so worried! He got back a few hours ago, what took you!? ..." The blond rambled frantically in his worry, before stopping suddenly. He glared out the corner of his eyes, bracing for what would come next –

"You're hurt!" The cry was shrill, leaving an unpleasant ring in his ears. He was quickly pulled inside, his now bloody coat done away with.

"Trowa, get out here! Duo's hurt!"

Quick footsteps against the wooden floor was the last he heard before his vision finally left him, blackness overtaking him.