The Aftermath

Chapter 1: It Begins

It is two years after colony 197. There was a general sense of peace between the Earth and the colonies. The gundams had been destroyed a year and there was no enemies to be found. Many people were enjoying their freedom under the alliance and everything seemed to be fine. Nevertheless, not everything is, as it seems.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the colonies Duo and Hildi were hard at work. What they didn't know was that there was someone hidden nearby with a gun. As Hildi walked towards the office she saw a young girl jump over the fence and yell, "Watch out!" Hildi turned round and seen the gunman, but it was two late. Even as the young girl ran over the yard a shot was heard. Duo froze with shock on top of the spare parts pile. He listened as shot after shot left the gun. All six shots hit their target and Hildi fell back with her eyes shut.

The young girl just made it in time to catch Hildi. As she lade her down on the ground Duo was unconsciously running down the pile towards them. All Duo could see of the girl was her hair that had fell over her face as she took Hildi's pulse. The young girl stood up and heard the laughter coming from the other end of the yard. Duo was now close enough to hear the girl say "I swear I will get you for killing her!" Duo stopped on the spot. Hildi was dead and that gunman had killed her. Duo's blood boiled as he thought of this.

He was about to go after the man when the girl jumped over Hildi's body and ran after the man. By now the man was sliding down the junk pile and had nearly reached the bottom. Duo wished he had a gun handy to shoot the man but Hildi had made him keep them locked up in the office. The girl then pulled something out of the back of her trousers…a gun. Duo was shocked the girl looked no older than 16 and she was running around with a gun hidden under her jacket.

The girl came to a dead stop and fired. The man who was running down the hill collapsed and fell down the rest of it. When he looked up he had a huge cut down his face. He then seen the girl and swore. There was blood coming gushing out of a hole in the man's leg and there was a bit of bone sticking out as well. The man raised his gun and was aiming at the girl. Duo couldn't stand it any longer. He ran to try and protect the girl. She was too young to die but he was too late. He heard a shot and grimaced. He then realised it had come from the girl's gun. With the barrel smoking the girl lifted it towards her mouth and blew. The smoke stopped and she put the gun back into the back of her trousers. Duo looked to where the man was what he seen even made him feel slightly sick. This was a very hard thing to do considering that he was an ex-gundam pilot. The man was lying against the fence with a hole in his head. Duo had to admit the girl was a good shot. Duo now had recovered enough to stare at the girl who had tried to save Hildi.

The young girl was shorter than him and had almost waist length dark brown hair. The girl was wearing white trousers, a black leather jacket and a tight pale blue top. The really strange thing was the girl's features. Her facial expression, the way she stood, the way she had fired the gun and her clothes made her look a lot like Heero, but that was impossible. The only difference was the knee-length black boots on top of the trousers. Then the girl caught him watching her and looked straight at him. Her blue eyes sparkled like they were full of fire. Duo couldn't help but shiver.

The girl then suddenly just took off. She ran quickly towards the gate. Duo took off after her. He was shocked to say that the girl was faster than he was. This was bad as he was an ex-gundam pilot and was known for his speed. Duo followed the girl out the gate and saw her grab a motorbike helmet of the wall and put it on. He then saw her hop on a pale blue bike, kick-start it to life and roar off into the distance.

Duo headed back towards the yard. There was a lot he had to do and there were too many questions with very few answers right now. As he looked at Hildi's body lying on the ground a huge wave of sadness broke over him. He walked over, picked up her body and headed towards the office. He would take care of the body of the gunman later. Duo's pace slowed as he thought of what he would have to do. Suddenly a thought hit him, how did that girl know about the hit man and how did she know he was going to shoot Hildi? Duo hurried towards the office and had only one thing on his mind. He had to call the others and see if anything had happened to them.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Meanwhile flying down the motorway on her motorbike the girl was deep in thought. Even thought she was going over 80 miles per hour she wasn't concentrating. She knew that if anything happened her reflects would take over and get her out safe due to her training. She was thinking about how slow she had been when she had tried to rescue that girl. "I'm going to get fried for this!" she thought and then groaned out loud. Even though she was only 15 she had been trained for years. There was only one flaw in her according to her trainer, she had a soft heart, which made her give compassion and feel anger. All her years of training were toughening her up but the murder of an innocent girl still made her blood boil.

Suddenly her earpiece picked up a message. A female voice came over the piece, "Firefly to Dark angel! Come in! …Firefly to Dark angel! Come in! … Come in you little brat!" The voice sounded very pissed off. The young girl called Dark angel smiled, which is a very rare occurrence for her. "Dark angel here. The sparrow has fallen," she said in her normal neutral voice. The other side of the line was quiet for so long you would have thought they had hung up. There was then a cough and Firefly's voice came over the piece, "Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly. "Do you think I can't do my job?" was the neutral reply. At the other end of the line there was a gulp. "No, I know you do your job well. The assassin?" Firefly asked. "Dead" was the reply in the same neutral tone, "I'm coming in" and with that the transmission went dead. Dark angel was glad at least she knew that Firefly wouldn't annoy her tonight but that couldn't be said for Brave heart. Dark angel sighed. It would be a long night and who knew how much work she could get.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Duo had Quatre on the videophone and had told him about Hildi's death. "Duo I'm so sorry about Hildi but this girl is something we should watch out for." Quatre said while a frown creased his forehead, "I'll try and reach some of the others. By the way have you heard anything from Heero since he has disappeared?" Duo shook his head sadly. It has been a year since Heero had disappeared and Relena was always looking out for his return. It was sad what love did to some people. She was still continuing her job but secretly she was searching for Heero. As Quatre thought about Relena's troubles he got another call. "Sorry Duo! Someone else is on the line." Quatre put Duo on a sideline and allowed the other call through. "Hi Quatre!" a young man on the other line said. The young Arabian's face brightened. "Hi Trowa! We haven't heard from you in a while." was his reply. "I know but I was wondering has anything weird happened to any of the others." Trowa's voice sounded confused. Quatre looked worried. This was two occurrences in a few hours. Something was happening but what. Then somebody saying his name snapped him out of his thoughts. Quatre remembered Duo on the other line and split it so they could all talk to each other.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

As Duo's face came up on the screen beside Quatre's. Trowa was wondering 'why had he called Quatre?' As he listened he found out about Hildi's death. Trowa's thoughts went elsewhere. He thought of Catherine's attempted assassination and how that girl had foiled it, but then he thought of how the young girl then kidnapped Cathy. Then he noticed that Duo and Quatre were saying his name. Trowa then described the whole ordeal.

"We were practising for tonight's show when we heard something outside the tent. When we went outside I saw a man on top of the lion's cage teasing them. Catherine ran up to the man shouting at him to stop. Suddenly the man whirled round and aimed a gun straight at Cathy's head. He was about to shoot when a voice came from behind the tent. It said, "I wouldn't do that if I was you!" Then this girl who looked a lot like Heero came out and the man backed up a step with a look of panic on his face. The girl couldn't have been any older than 16 but she walked straight past me and slowly walked towards Cathy. She then said to the man on top of the lion's cage, "You should remember our last fight and not want to be in the same state as last time!" The man cringed but aimed again. The girl then said just as he was about to pull the trigger, "Just think of this. The last time we met I was in a good mood this time I'm in an extremely bad one. Do you want to try your luck?" The man then shot but before it could hit Cathy another bullet hit it and sent it flying off course. The girl had a gun out and it was smoking. Then I heard a second shot and the man on the cage fell back with a hole in his head. That girl was a brilliant shot and she looked like she had barely moved an inch. The girl then walked up to Cathy, knocked her out with the gun, hoisted her over her shoulder, and ran off with her round the side of the tent. I ran after her but by the time I had reached her she was away on a pale blue motorbike with Cathy on the back. Then I came back and called you."

Trowa sighed after this and looked extremely tired for some strange reason.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Duo and Quatre looked confused. This was two incidents with the same girl in under an hour. Quatre asked what the girl was wearing and Trowa described the same clothes that Duo had seen the girl in. This was getting too strange. Quatre then told them that he would do all he could to find out more about this girl and where she took Cathy and he would also warn Wuffei. With that Quatre hung up leaving them even more puzzled than before. Duo said goodbye to Trowa and hung up. Quatre was never rude to them before and he wondered why he had done it. Duo stood up and stretched. All this wondering made him tired and he still had a lot to do concerning the bodies outside and all his other work. This was going to be a long day.

Quatre sighed wearily as he hung up. It had been a long day and he couldn't help but think that something serious was going on that they didn't know about. Even with all his connections he hadn't heard of any attempt on anyone's life. He hadn't even heard of anyone else who was as good as the gundam pilots. As he sat back in his chair he remembered something that had happened to him earlier that morning that he didn't want to mention to Duo or Trowa. Suddenly the door behind him swung open and Quatre whirled round. "Sorry Master Quatre! I didn't mean to startle you," the man said. Quatre relaxed it was only one of his men. "Master Quatre, are you alright? You look stressed. Is there anything I can do?" the man asked. Quatre smiled and said, "Could you give me some advice on a problem of mine and keep it a secret from the others?" The man nodded and sat down after locking the door. Quatre told him about what had happened to Trowa and Duo. When he had finished he paused. The man started to talk but Quatre interrupted him saying, "Sorry, but there's more. The biggest problem is that I've seen this girl before any of them called."

"Earlier this morning I was having a peaceful walk in the park when I heard a scream come from the alley nearby. As I went over I saw a bunch of boys who were about just older than me and they had a woman with a pram surrounded. I was about to help her when I seen someone jump from the fire escape on the building. They then landed right in front of the woman, between her and the boys. When I got a good look I saw it was a young girl and I have to admit an amazing one at that. She jumped from a second storey platform to protect a stranger. The girl turned to the boys and said, "Why don't you run before along you get hurt!" Honestly I don't know who was more shocked the boys or me. The girl just stood her ground and when one of the boys tried to knock her out of the way she sent him flying with one punch. The guy hit the ground so hard he was knocked unconscious. The boys just looked at the girl, grabbed their friend and ran when she shifted. She then turned and looked straight at me. I don't know when she noticed I was there but I had a funny feeling run through me as she looked at me. Then suddenly she took off in a run and I followed but I lost her in the crowd. Somehow I felt as if I had lost something as well." Quatre said with his voice becoming softer and gentler as he talked about the girl. "I don't know what's wrong with me! So is there any advice you can give me?" he said looking at the man.

The man smiled and thought 'so the young master has found his first love and boy does she sound tough. Somehow I think that this girl must have felt something too.' He just said to Quatre, "Give it some time I think both your problems will be sorted out together." The young boy looked confused. "Just trust me Master Quatre you'll sort out your problems in time. Have patience!" he said; "Now I have to get back to work."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The man was right DA (Dark angel) had felt something. After she had saved the woman and her child DA felt nothing. When she looked up and seen Quatre she thought she was looking at an angel. Quatre's expression was so innocent that she felt kind of guilty for hurting somebody in front of him. She felt very weird and the expression on his face seemed burnt in the back of her mind. It was this incident that had made her late and had cost Hildi her life. She had saved Catherine and kidnapped her but it was her job to help rescue them all. As soon as she had captured Catherine she'd taken her to the hideout and put her into the caring hands of BH (Brave heart, one of the people who had hired her). Soon after she had arrived at base Firefly came with a message. The pilots were onto us. The next person she had to kidnap she would have to be more careful with. Firstly, not to alarm the pilots even more and secondly, to make sure she don't let another assassination to happen.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Over the next week people important to the pilots started to disappear even when the pilots were alerted. After Catherine's kidnapping Sally Po was taken and then a pilot disappeared.

Wuffei was on a routine check and was very edgy. He had just checked out a cargo shuttle when an intruder alert sounded through the base. Wuffei had grabbed his gun and checked every room in the base. As he edged towards the last room, Sally's room he heard someone humming from inside. Confused he opened the door slightly to allow him to see into the room. Sitting on the couch with their back to the door was someone with a long, brown plait. 'Duo' thought Wuffei as he lowered his gun and opened the door wide. "Duo! What are you doing here?" Wuffei started in a relieved voice but he stopped when the figure turned around. It wasn't Duo, it was a girl with a gun pointed at his chest. "I'm sorry about this but its for your own good!" the girl said. As Wuffei tried to move his gun a soft voice whispered in his ear "I don't think so!" As soon as his gun had been pulled roughly out of his hand the hidden speaker came into view. It was the girl who looked like Heero. She walked forward unloading Wuffei's gun with her back to him. The girl holding the gun took a quick sideways glance at the other and asked, "What now DA?" she asked. The girl who looked like Heero raised her head and said in the sort of neutral tone that made her sound exactly like Heero, "Easy! We knock him out and take him back to base. I thought you knew this Firefly!" The girl with the plait flushed with anger and yelled "Hey! I…" before she was cut of by the hand DA put over her mouth. Then DA walked up to Wuffei and before he could react brought the handle of the gun to hit the back of his head. As Wuffei crumpled the girl called Firefly protested, "That wasn't necessary Dark angel!!!" as her colour rose. The other girl allowed a small smile to form on her face as she looked at Firefly before she said "Just get him into the car!" Firefly stomped angrily up to the unconscious form of Wuffei and looked directly at Dark angel. The girl just said, "Alright!" as she opened the window and whistled out it. A few minutes later another girl with black hair ran into the room. "What is it?" she asked breathlessly. Firefly simply replied, "I need your help with this Brave heart!" signalling to Wuffei. The girl called Brave heart just sighed, grabbed one side of Wuffei and together they dragged him from the room. This left Dark angel alone in the room. She walked up to the security camera and said simply, "You're lucky! This is the only time we been caught on tape! Enjoy!" She then took a step back, withdrew her gun and shot the camera only leaving it recording static. This was the only tape the pilots had of the kidnappers and it was their only lead. Unfortunately these girls were good at covering their tracks and the pilots couldn't follow them. This left them angry and frustrated.

**************************

thanks for reading my first story please review but be warned flames will be replied with a vengence

hee hee

Devils tear

REVIEW