Too Far
à The Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is copyright its respective owners. This fic is not intended to infringe on any copyright laws, nor do I intend to make a profit from it.
The Groundwork: This fic is set in A.C. 200. It introduces several original characters which I'd like you to be aware of. WARNING: these characters ARE paired with the pilots. Hopefully you will get to know the new characters well before the romance plays a part.
à EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS POINT OF THE FIC (Important): The Preventers have been hunting down several top business leaders suspected to be part of a large illegal arms trading circle. Large office buildings with the name WingsIncorperated have sprouted up all over the colonies and the Earth Sphere, all owned by these top business leaders. Preventer Chang Wufei has been following the case for several months. His search has led him to pinpoint several targets which must be destroyed before the leaders of this Arms Trade are alerted to the Preventers' interest in them.
à L-4 Colony Cluster ß
"Yes, Iria, I'll be home for Christmas." Quatre Raberba Winner fought an intense urge to sigh at his sister's superior tone. He was even on the verge of insisting he had cell phone troubles. "Yes, yes, there's plenty of room."
Iria Winner did sigh on her end. "Where are you heading now, little brother?"
"Straight to a meeting. Then I've got some Christmas shopping to do," Quatre answered. He kneeled, setting down a jet-black briefcase just inside the empty lobby of a giant office building.
"Who's the meeting with?"
"Lady Une, regarding the—"
"Preventers' budget?" There was obvious disdain in Iria's voice. Quatre frowned. He'd been supplying the Preventers with money and equipment for the past four years. Sometimes he did feel a little drained from dealing with Une's constant hints that more funds would be required—
"Yeah," he answered as he shut off the phone. He opened the door to his car just as the massive building behind him was ripped apart by explosions. "Something like that…"
Wufei's face flickered on the small screen near the steering wheel of the car. "Winner…how did it go?"
Quatre shook his head slightly as he pulled away from the curb. "It's done, if that's what you mean." Quilt twisted his handsome features.
"I'm sorry I had to put you through that."
"Yeah…" Quatre looked blindly through the windshield. "I know."
à ß
Angel Tsuiraku had almost caught up with her boss as he placed his briefcase down. She smiled, taking a step forward to hand her boss an important file from one of his sisters, when the building blew up. She ducked behind a wall of the nearest building as the blasts showered debris all over the block. Her eyes flew to her boss' car as he calmly steered it away from the curb.
"My God…" she whispered, watching him drive away. Just what was he thinking?
Angel had been working for Quatre Winner for two months, but her loyalty and devotion spanned a lifetime. She was deeply indebted to him for the many times he'd saved the lives of her father, Rasid Kurama, and the Maganac core that he commanded. Essentially, every Maganac was like a father to her, and at some point or another, her boss had saved each one.
But now…
She slipped the file back into her bag and walked away from the wrecked building. Now it was time to do a little investigating.
Her hand strayed to the company cell phone at her waist. She tapped out the number as she ducked into a subway station.
"Hey, Lian? Hi babe…listen, I need you to run a very detailed background check." As Lian paused to make a note, Angel smiled. "I need you to run Quatre Raberba Winner through your 'system.' Thanks, hon." She snapped the phone shut again and paid for a subway ticket.
After all, she wasn't a Deathmonkey for nothing.
à ß
Lian Nataku's fingers tapped quickly over the keyboard of her personalized laptop. Finding information about the universe's youngest and most successful business leader wasn't hard. At least not finding all the topsoil. But Lian had a way of digging underneath the surface, finding things even the best of hackers couldn't. She quickly discovered, however, that Quatre Raberba Winner was a clean sweep. Apart from being a natural-born baby and extensive training to become a Gundam pilot, the topsoil just about covered it.
As for the natural-born baby…she doubted he realized that himself. From information she'd obtained from Rasid's account of their first encounter, she knew he believed himself to be artificially created. Quite an interesting little fact
But if that was the only deep dark secret there was about Quatre Raberba Winner, then why would Angel ask for a background check? As far as she could tell, he had no dealings with illegal arms trade, drugs, corporate scandals, murder plots…nothing that would suggest that his past was worth delving into. Besides, all of that would be absurd, considering the man had once piloted a Gundam.
She shook her head and shut off the computer. Nothing more she could do except contact Angel and let her know. She was heading over to the phone to do so when there was a knock on the door. When she opened it, her eyes widened.
"Y-you…?"