She lives!!! Oh, my gods, I haven't updated since 2007! It's horrific, but, my horrendous writers block is beginning to lift and thus, here I be. And with a new story for you all! I haven't' seen this being done for Gundam Wing yet so let me know what you think, if you like the idea and it's worth pursuing.
Enjoy
Xandrandra xxx
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Two sides, One coin
She scribbled her name on the pieces of paper that were thrust at her, a grin on her face, the mask secured across her eyes as random hands reached to remove it. Eventually a hand at her back signalled her to move towards the waiting car where she climbed in, turning to wave at the camera flashes before the door was closed and the car sped off. She grabbed one of the bottles of water that waited for her on the seat and gulped it down, stretching out she watched the world fly by the tinted windows as the night crawled over the city, sighing as the night disappeared above the roof of a car park, she waited for the door to open and she stepped out onto the concrete, typing in the password to access the lift she stepped inside, her driver and body guard staying with the car. She stepped out of the lift when it reached the ground floor, her heels clicking on the tiled floor of the lobby as she passed the receptionist without a glance, walking by empty offices, their lights off, she headed for the row of lifts, hitting the button she took out a packet of what appeared to be cigarettes, pulling one out and placing it between her lips as the doors opened to an empty lift, she stepped inside and pushed the button, putting the packet back in her pocket, pulling out the lighter and taking a drag as she lit up, red and blue smoke curling around the lift as it made it's sedate rise. She left the lift with a dusting of ash on the floor and a single butt, a newly lit one between her fingers, her heels made less sound on the now carpeted area, corridors leading off in the three remaining directions the lift left, sofas filling the current space, a number of people looking over the backs at her, their eyes going wide, one girl, still in her teens stood and made her way over with a magazine and a pen,
'Ah, could I…'
'Sure kid.' She held the cigarette between her lips as she scribbled a quick message to the girl on the cover, just under her own picture,
She left the girl in her own world, walking past the sofas, hips swinging in her tight mini skirt, the open shirt she wore revealing little more than a strapped tube top, though her skin was still covered in the body paint she always wore onstage, matching the different patterns on each of her masks, be it polka dots or tiger stripes, the current design of colourful swirls accented every curve she owned, spreading under the little clothing she wore and down her legs until they met her shoes, stiletto heels in a lewd orange, clashing with the green mini and purple top she wore, the shirt was black, borrowed from a technician at the show in exchange for a kiss on the cheek. She ignored those she passed though another brave girl stepped forward with another magazine, to which she obliged before moving on, eventually reaching the office she desired, the lights on and voices from inside, the PA looked at her with wide eyes before reaching for the phone, barely beginning to speak before she had opened the door and walked inside, closing it behind her. There were a number of people in the room, all sat around the large table Une used as a desk, six men and two women, then Une at the head, the phone to her ear,
'Never mind then, I trust you've had a good night,' she only inclined her head in reply, 'did you find anything out?'
'I pulled a few likely ones backstage, they didn't know much but the Mexico military site was one thing they all agreed on.' She smirked to herself,
'Where are they now?'
'on their way to the emergency room I think, got into a fight after leaving my dressing room, two of my people are keeping an eye on them though, make sure they get home safe and that.' Her smirk grew wider,
'Let me know if you find out anything else, if anything new comes up, I'll let you know.'
She turned on her heel, leaving in a swirl of coloured smoke, making her way back to the lifts and down to the car park where she got back in the car again, pulling off the mask and throwing it on the seat beside her, the paint covering her body making another mask beneath the worn one, for emergencies. She kicked off her heels and massaged her feet, downing another bottle of water, watching the world once again until they entered the gates of a six story apartment complex, the car drove around the building and into the car park where the car stopped and she left her driver and body guard in the car as she headed for the lift, heels and mask knocking at her thigh, she could hear the metal gates that led to the car park slam shut as the lift opened and she stepped in, pressing the button for the top floor, a retinal scanner blinking into life to prove her identity, the button having already scanned her thumb print. One of the handy things about being involved with the preventers was the security around her home, this seemingly normal apartment building housed, in truth only herself and a handful of others including security guards, a cleaner or two, the rest of the rooms were a variety of luxuries, a gym, swimming pool, recording studio etc, her home occupied the entire top floor, gym below that with the recording studio, three more levels of accommodation and swimming pool on the ground floor along with the reception. The lift doors opened to a very short corridor with a single door ahead of her this door required a correct voice match and a numerical code, it clicked open quietly, the lights turning on automatically, she could hear the shower start running as she closed the door behind her, next to the door a touch screen panel that controlled almost everything in her home, she always grinned at the thought of what her friends would say if they found out she was such a techno junkie. In front of the door in the main hall area was her grand piano a glossy black with plants on top, on carefully designed bases of course, round to the right were the living area and her kitchen diner, all possibly too large for one person but she liked the space, it was filled with clutter, photos, mementos of trips, junk she'd got given for birthday presents, her platinum disks lining the walls, a ten seat dining table filling most of the space left over by her L shaped sofa, giant flat screen plasma on the wall the entire apartment decorated like a picture in a magazine, off white carpets and walls, it's furnishings adding colour, the black marble kitchen with it's red accents and chrome finishes, the clear glass table and the different coloured glass chairs, the sea blue sofa and the not quite green blue fluffy rug, cushions and bean bags of all shapes, colours and textures thrown about the living area giving, what she thought was a cosy lived in feel to an otherwise open cold space. To the left of the piano sat her study, open plan like the rest of her home, but smaller, thanks to the walls of her bedroom and bathroom, her wrap around desk giving her fantastic views of the parkland that surrounded the apartment building, her computers filling almost all of the space, with a small area for her paperwork, a few filing cabinets a scanner, printer, fax machine, all the toys she could find, she knew a few people who would raise an eyebrow, if not envy her. She headed left, but walked through one of only four doors inside her apartment and into her bedroom, once again, luxury queen sized bed, chez lounge, large vanity area taking up and entire corner with a full length mirror beside it, a large dresser and a door that led, technically behind the lift but really into her wardrobe, her bright outfits, shoes, hats, masks and accessories on the left, blander, in comparison, clothing to the right. In the bedroom, lined along one wall were four wooden boxes, fitting with the rooms light wood and creams, each about waist height, one for masks, one for accessories, one for clothes and one for shoes, she stripped off, throwing her things in the respective cases, someone would be round tomorrow while she was out and have them cleaned and placed back in her wardrobe for her, she headed through the final door in her room and into her bathroom, another door led to the rest of the apartment, but once one door was locked, both were locked, not that she ever locked the doors, she was the only one inside and if her security system didn't alert her to a break in, a lock door certainly wasn't about to slow them down. The bathroom was warm with the heat of the walk in shower that sat at one end of the room, passed the two sinks that sat opposite the extra large, extra deep tub and the toilet opposite her, next to the other door. She stepped into the shower, double checking that there were towels laid on the counter for her, as usual, jumping under the stream of water, her soaps and shampoos in a rack on the wall, she pumped the plunger and lathered herself up scrubbing at the paint that water alone wouldn't shift without some serious work, one wall of the shower, away from the head was a non steam mirror, she used this to check that the paint had gone, making careful work of her hairline where it tended to stick before moving onto washing the colour, glitter and products out of her hair singing as she did. Finishing, giving herself one last check over in the mirror before hitting the touch screen to shut off the water, wringing out then wrapping up her hair before rubbing herself down with another towel, sitting at the vanity and blow drying her hair until it was dry, giving herself one final rub with the towels before throwing them in the clothes bin and sliding between the sheets, touching a panel on the bedside table, setting her alarm and turning off the lights.
'I don't wanna go to work,' she muttered to herself, getting up anyway, turning off the alarm, the sound of the radio taking its place,
She walked into her wardrobe, looking to the right and pulling out a pair of grey suit trousers and a baggy beige top, launching them both onto the bed, she examined the shoes and jackets a little further along the rail, a mustard yellow jacket landed on the bed and a set of grey slip ons landed on the floor beside it. Moving to the dresser she pulled out a set of camel underwear, nothing pretty, just plain, they do the job underwear she always said, pulling them on and wiggling into the trousers and top she applied a little mascara and eyeliner, a simple pale ochre to her lips before pulling out a pair of odd socks and pulling them and the shoes onto her feet. Pulling her hair up into a bun she made her way to the kitchen opening the bread bin and making some toast, pulling out butter and marmite while waiting for it to pop, the days paper sat in it's usual place on the counter, she opened it with one hand while pouring some orange juice into a glass with the other, moving to butter and marmite the toast before heading back to the paper, leaning over the counter to eat off the chopping board rather than a plate. She read the reviews for last nights performance and the days main headlines, making short work of the toast and juice before grabbing her pre-packed bag with purse, keys and phone before walking out the door and making her way to the lift, tapping her foot to a tune in her head as she descended and out of the main doors. The walked out the front gates and up the road to where the bus stop stood, she jogged the last couple of meters to jump on the bus, flashing a grin at the driver who by now, knew her face and the fact that she had a pass and took a seat, looking out the window as they began to move. She got off at her stop with a "thank you, have a nice day" to the driver she stopped in at the coffee shop, getting her usual order and the weeks magazine she made her way to work, her flat shoes silent on the tiled lobby floor as she passed the receptionist with a smile and a greeting, walking by offices, their lights on and people coming and going, she headed for the row of lifts, hitting the button she opened the magazine and began to read, she stepped inside and pushed the button. She left the lift with her nose still in the magazine, her feet making even less sound on the now carpeted area, corridors leading off in the three remaining directions the lift left, sofas filling the current space, greetings thrown at her as people passed,
'Oh, Lady Une!' she called, making a half jog towards her, the magazine stuffed under one arm, 'Coffee, as usual,' she pulled the cup out of the paper bag and handed it to her,
'Thank you, Maxwell is running late, as usual, and therefore so is Chang…'
'I'll shuffle their schedules if it needs to be, they'll just have cold coffee again.' She shrugged, walking with her until she reached her office, the entrance to the five ex-gundam pilot's offices,
She walked in, putting her bag behind her desk, quickly looking to see if there were any messages on the phone and hitting the on switch of her computer, she pulled out three of the coffee cups and headed off to the first of the five offices, placing the first on Heero Yuy's desk, picking up the list of things to do and shoving it under her arm, slightly pleased he was out, she then entered Trowa Barton's office, putting his coffee on his desk and picking up his to do list, giving the quietest and secretly her favourite of the five a brief good morning before making her way to Quatre Winner's office,
'Morning Sir,' she chirped,
'Call me Quatre,'
'Will do Sir,' she grinned at their usual morning greeting, 'good night off?'
'Didn't happen, something came up and we all ended up staying late, Wufei is still trying to get Duo out of bed,'
'So I've heard from the boss lady, what's happened? Or is it all hush hush?' she asked picking up his to do list,
'Confidential I'm afraid, how was your night?'
'oh, my, god, it was amazing, I went to the Rita concert, she is amazing!' she waved the papers about for emphasis, 'she had this swirly body paint, so that's going to be the next fashion craze, oh, I just love her, you know that.' She shook her head with a laugh, 'you sure there isn't another page to this? It's not even a third of what the other two have got,' she asked, waving his to do list,
'it's all quiet on the political front today I'm afraid, I'll see if I can find some envelopes for you to write or something,' he chuckled,
'Righty oh sir!' she saluted, hitting herself in the eye with the paper, making them both laugh,
She took her seat at her desk and logged onto the computer, pulling out her coffee and the two remaining cups, throwing the bag in the recycling bin she pulled up the five's schedule, Yuy in a meeting from half 11 until 1pm, the rest free until half 1 when all five had to have a meeting with the board about the latest funding. She set to work on the three to do lists she had, printing off the necessary information and forms and binding them together, putting smiley faces on the post it notes with the relevant name on it, holding out one of the coffee cups as Wufei Chang stormed in, taking the cup and slamming the door to his office closed behind him.
'What did you do this time?' she asked, looking up at the last of the five, Duo Maxwell,
'Like I know!' he shrugged, taking his own mug and perching on her desk, 'so, what did you do last night?'
A grin grew on her face as she showed him the cover of her magazine, 'I managed to blag a ticket!' she squealed,
'You what? And I wasn't invited why?' he grabbed the magazine from her,
'Because I could only get one and you were supposed to be having a blokes night in, playing poker or something, weren't you.'
'Oh yeah, but still, you get any photos? Autographs?'
'Even better,' She grinned, reaching into her purse and pulling out the CD case she'd grabbed earlier that morning, 'the new album, not out in shops yet, she happened to sign it for me too!'
She watched his jaw drop and she waved the case back and forth, his eyes following it,
'Bitch, next time, I'm coming with you.' He gave her a half glare, taking his coffee and heading towards his office,
'Yo, Duo! Belated Birthday present, catch!' she frisbeed the case to him, almost making him drop the coffee,
'Quatre!' he yelled, changing direction as he read the message on the case, 'Henry got this signed for me, by Rita! Oh man! Rita touched this case! Ah! This is the best day ever!' he flew back out of 04's office and into the first, finding Heero missing he charged out of the office completely,
'I know, I know, I should have waited until after work, but I couldn't wait that long.' She called out to the three remaining.
The day passed without further incident, she joined the other receptionists in the canteen for lunch, each gossiping about the previous night's concert, though she made her excuses and headed back to the office before lunch had finished, checking all her email accounts while no one was around. She headed home at six and looked forward to nothing more than a quiet night with a book, though she had no such luck, she was about to board the bus when her phone ran, glancing at it she shrugged at the driver and headed back to the office, jogging into Lady Une's office,
'What now?' she slumped into one of the chairs, crossing her legs and leaning back,
'You were right about Mexico, partly at least, appears to be more than just a training ground.'
'And?' she yawned,
'You need to go,'
'What? You're not serious.' She let her head flop back, 'You know I've booked my holiday! It starts on Monday, can't it wait?'
'No, I want you to go to Mexico, just general surveillance, that can be your holiday.'
'My bonus better be huge this month, fine, I'll organise something, and you owe me, got it,' she glared, standing and leaving the room, heading for home once again.
She phoned the relevant people when she got home, organising a gig at the training grounds, she was known for doing such things at short notice, she had a short work out in her gym though her heart wasn't in it, her mind couldn't focus on a book either so she settled for TV, though that was short lived as she appeared to be on every channel in some shape or form, the concert from last night or her latest interview. She sighed and headed for bed, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before her annoyance fizzled out and she drifted off.
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So, up to standards? Let me know! You know how much I like to hear your comments, be constructive; I don't care for the effing and blinding kind of reviews. Let me know if there is anything you'd particularly like to see in this. It will be an OC/03 eventually, but I don't really do sappy love as those who've read my other stuff will know. But ideas are always welcome.
I'll update soon!
Xandrandra xxx