A/N: Well... I'm back! *looks around with guilt-filled eyes* I'm sorry! The good news is, I'm so into this story right now it's insane. I'm predicting it should be nearly if not totally finished by the end of August, so I can move on to other projects. I'm happy to let you know that, per your suggestions, the Prologue and Chapter 1 posted previously have been re-worked to get the kinks out. I've also added dates and places; if you find this useful or just plain annoying, let me know!
Anyways, on to the fic! I hope you enjoy!
-picimadár
When You Run Among Shadows
Prologue
November, A.C. 200: Brussels
They were all seated, each race, colour, language and religion represented among their numbers. Some of these factions were larger than others, yet there was no air of competition or anger. Not for each other, anyways.
A solitary, booming voice was lifted over the many gathered men and women, echoing in the vast, dimly lit hall; "But you still haven't told us why we're here!"
No one offered a response. They simply waited, their minds slowly milling the same question to themselves.
The woman seated before them slowly stood behind the podium. A small sigh exited her lips before she began to address their concerns. "We can all see that some of our seats are vacant," her typically pleasant voice began, with a hint of dismay. "Some have not left our numbers because they wished to be relieved. Some left because they believe that this peace we have been given, this peace we have all sacrificed for, is too…. artificial for the people to accept."
Turning and focusing her pale blue eyes on the left side of the arc of seats, she remarked, "especially those people living in the colonies." The ripple of chagrined comments passed through the crowd like a muffled thunder. A new kind of silence stilled them; it was angry and disbelieving.
"We cannot blame these persons for choosing to leave us. They believe that they are doing what is best for them and those with whom they associate; we will make no move to force anyone to stay with us against their will."
The speaking woman was briefly interrupted by one of the affiliates of the group, a lean, blonde man of thirty who stood to address the group as a whole. "What the Minister is saying is right. It wouldn't be beneficial for us to keep anyone here who has motives elsewhere. All they would do is weaken our force and endanger those who are here for the most important reason: everyone else." With those notions added, he turned back to where the woman stood at their apex, just as she had since she was a young girl, and begged her a simple question.
"Relena, what on Earth has happened?
Again, the woman sighed, the weight of what she was about to say showing its magnitude as she struggled to continue.
"What I have been attempting to admit is that one of our own has launched a very serious threat against not only myself and my family, but also all of us assembled here. You are probably not aware, but I was threatened quite forcefully earlier this week by one of our newly -ah… 'dispatched 'members. I trust you can all guess who I'm speaking about?" Relena quietly asked as she looked up at the faces of her audience. Being met with only a few that held complete confusion, she hastily continued, "Those of you who do not will soon be informed by your respective superiors. Look, everyone, we have reason to believe that this man is not alone, that he will and has been aggressively recruiting amongst us as well as the members of the general public, specifically those who were involved more heavily in the wars of the recent past."
Several gasps of shock and a few nods of understanding were seen out of her nearly closed eyes as she felt them begin to water, not for the first time that day, and not for the last. Relena gripped the sides of the podium before continuing.
"I must implore those of you that remain to refuse to buy into the scheme of this madman. He has already convinced some of those that were truly close to us that his plans for domination and destruction are truly the best option for those who feel oppressed by this 'forced peace'. This is simply because himself and some other individuals feel less than pleased with the fact that they can no longer tote guns and be recognized as superiors by rank alone.
"Please, please, please, I have to beg of you; if you at all feel this way, you must understand that there are other options! And right now one of those happens to be combating this threat to what we have been working the last five years to create: peace."
Relena walked from where she had stood, a slightly raised stage, down to where the rest of her companions, lifelong friends, sat before her.
"If anyone is interested in helping me with this task, please know that you will be asked to work alongside the Preventer's already established force, and that you will be well equipped to deal with any hazards as well as financially compensated."
A young brunette hastily interjected, voice wavering, "Hazards? What do you mean, hazards?"
Relena deflected the question, raising a hand to her right in introduction. "Jesse," she said, addressing the still panic-stricken man young man, "I'm afraid I simply can't answer your question personally. I'll leave that to Preventer Grace Velasquez. She has more information than I do about the logistics of this situation, and she has agreed to share it with us. She has agreed to a bond of secrecy, and I personally can attest to her dependability." With that, Foreign Minister returned to the front row of the auditorium, taking her seat.
The solid, round-faced woman Relena had introduced took her place confidently at the podium, adjusting her uniform before speaking. "We have to assume that this group are just as readied to deal with a conflict as we will be. We, being the Preventers, also have reason to believe that they are in the process of building some kind of…. Well, for lack of a better term, 'super-weapon' in order to establish their superiority in the colonies with more ease than simple man-power. Several large shipments of metals and moulds for mass weaponry manufacturing have been intercepted in space. Thus far we have been unable to determine their specific destination, but it's obvious the shipments all originated from Earth. Other than that, we're as much in the dark as you are, I'm afraid."
Grace took her seat, gently rearranging her hair as she quickly stole a look at the unsmiling man beside her. He turned slightly to meet her gaze.
"I'm not sure it was wise to speak as much as you did. Some of us are reporters, you know," he whispered to her as the others began to more openly converse, "the last thing we need is the public being aware of what's really going on."
The woman nodded, surprised that the man was actually acknowledging her presence. "You can relax, Chang. I know their policies on privacy and silence just as well as you do."
Wufei grimaced. "Yeah, well, Jacobs knew it, too, the bastard," he said with disdain, watching the fellow agent's face tighten as he let himself relax back into his chair.
He then turned to his right, looking at the face of the small, silent woman seated next to him. Wufei had expected Ming herself to make some sort of comment to Grace, however her temper seemed indisposed. Gently he set a hand onto her dark hair and started running his fingers through it. She showed no reaction, except for a small tensing when one man shouted, "You never answered the question! What do you mean hazards?! A 'super-weapon'? I mean, please!"
He continued ranting, his deep green eyes full of anger, "I'm sorry if this seems ridiculous, but my people are all colonists. I'm not going to willingly put them in danger to protect one person, whether it be you" he said, jabbing a finger at the young Foreign Minister, "or anyone else." He sat back down with a huff, running a hand through his short copper hair.
"We understand your concern, Lee, but this isn't just about me," Relena insisted, walking over and squatting in front of the man.
"Do you really believe I would be selfish enough to ask for all this help every time someone threatened me?" She allowed herself a brief chuckle. "You would never get enough time to sleep at night if I woke you each time I was in a 'threat situation'!"
She stood again, looking back around the group, all seated behind their dark, mahogany desks, looking much like her typical audiences in the Senate, only the demographic here was at least 30 years younger. The people quieted, their eyes locked on Relena as she addressed them all again.
"I would never ask you here to save me. I'm asking you here because we have reasonable doubt that this man is just throwing out an empty threat, and because I am not the only one he is threatening. You are all correct; if his problem is with me, it is not for you to deal with, however this man is willing to take the lives of innocent people in order to further his ideal, rather than simply negotiating."
"Relena's right," added another young woman, clad in a rather flattering green dress that drew out the grey of her eyes and the blonde of her hair. "This guy isn't just messing around. You can all see how many of us are missing! Who knows who else this guy has convinced. Now, you all can do whatever you want, but me and my group are behind you one hundred percent, Relena." The men and women seated strategically around her nodded in agreement.
"We stand with you as well, Relena. We know that if this man takes over the colonies he won't be satisfied there. We will protect our land and yourself at any cost," one dark skinned man said, standing up and turning to see the people seated behind him.
"We'll make sure he doesn't get that far! The colonies belong to people who wish to live in peace!" A young man shouted as he jumped up, his own exuberant group cheering with him as many others made their pledges of allegiance to the woman standing before them.
Relena waited a moment before she continued to appeal to the crowd for the last time. "If any of you do not feel at ease with making this type of commitment, I will not be offended. The coming years will not be an easy one for anyone sitting in this room who sides with us. If there is anyone who wishes to stay and protect their own, please let us know now, so that we can begin planning with whatever numbers we have to stop this menace."
She waited in silence along with the others who began looking around, some expectantly, others with a shimmer of pride in their faces.
A few minutes passed, and Mingmei stood from her perch. "Well, since it appears no one has made an ass of themselves by abandoning us or Miss Relena, I suggest we adjourn. You should get back before your guard misses you, shouldn't you?" She suggested, giving a meaningful glance to Wufei.
"Yes, unfortunately we must depart. You will contact us again when you need us, correct?" said an Asian man, speaking his English fluidly, despite his lack practice with it.
"Yes, Cuong, we'll let you know when and where we need you," the Mingmei responded, giving everyone the cue to begin leaving.
Wufei noticed Ming stand, her eyes focused on Relena. She turned to Wufei, their eyes meeting for a moment. "How's Mai?" He asked with concern in their native dialect, looking the beautiful and well-feared lady up and down.
"She's fine. Growing fast." She quickly returned, turning back to Relena. "I think Lena wants me for something; I'd better go check it out." She started walking away, then paused and turned back to the young Preventer.
Her voice was heavy and sarcastic. "Wufei, Mai asks for her 'daddy' every night at bed, to read her a story." The woman's voice quavered slightly as she turned away again. "What am I supposed to tell her? 'Oh, sorry, sweetheart, Daddy's too busy saving the world to visit… Again'?"
With that she started walking quickly over to where Relena and the fair-haired woman in green stood waiting for her, leaving Wufei looking guilty and confused in her wake. He frowned, shook his head, and walked stiffly out of the room.
The women watched Mingmei as she approached, and smile crept onto their features. "Man, what did you say to him? He looks like somebody just died!" The grey-eyed woman laughed, patting her on the back. Mingmei sighed, shaking her head. "I didn't say anything he doesn't know already, Middie."
The other two women nodded, understanding her situation. "Well, Ming," using the woman's nickname, "after we get this all worked out, hopefully everything'll be normal, right?"
"That would be nice. Relena, what did you want?" Mingmei just got right to the point, a habit amongst her and her group that Relena was growing to appreciate more and more.
"Well, it would seem that one of the pilots will soon have to chose between us and Jacobs," Relena said, the other two trusted women gasping out the names of those closest to them.
"No, no, not either of them," Relena said, shaking her head as she looked at her feet. Ming immediately sensed the source of Relena's anxiety over the past few weeks.
"Relena, we'll know where he is, regardless. You know he wouldn't just screw us over and fight with them," the blonde assured her, trying to peer around Relena's hair as it blocked her face from view.
"Middie, she knows that. That's not what she's on about." Ming laid a hand on her friend's back.
"Relena, nothing is going to happen to him. We'll make sure of that."
The fearful woman just shook her head. "You don't understand," she whispered, looking dismal, "he's more than a handful.."
She was quickly cut off by the laughs of the other two women echoing around the meeting room. Mingmei patted her on the back heartily as she held up her free left hand.
"Relena, look who I married!" She said as she shook her head, making her case in point clear to the other two women as she left the assembly room, Middie following quickly after.
