Characters/Pairings: Lockon, Tieria; Setsuna, Lyle, Regene. Tieria x Lockon if you squint?
Warnings: None.
Notes: I felt Lockon was quite OOC in here, but you'll be the judge to that. To KyoShi8018: Thank you for reviewing! Haha, I like Tieria a lot too; I hope you like this chapter also.

Early update for you amazing people who have read this little drabble~

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[ Echo, Echo ]
Sometimes when I close my eyes...

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"I thought you would've sold her," Lockon said as he patted the resilient Lancia fondly.

"Neil." From his tone, Lyle wasn't all that happy to see him. "Never thought I'd meet you here."

Lockon's lips twitched slightly upwards. "How about we have coffee to conmemorate our great reunion of sorts?"

Lyle took a long drag from his cigarette before carefully blowing the smoke skywards. He stomped on the half burnt stick and threw the Lancia's keys into Lockon's expectant hand.

He sped away from the gloomy clouds that threatened rain at the cementery.

Setsuna sometimes thought about the past. About the world before Celestial Being and the one they had left behind.

Somewhere deep inside him he began to understand that peace could not be attained by force. Yet when the only ones that had the resolve to stand up to violence were only broken people that only knew resentment and force... What could be done?

He covered the Gundam Exia's left shoulder with a cloth and tied it securily. He pulled and tightened the knots.

Setsuna sometimes felt glad that Tieria Erde wasn't here to witness the world that they had created.

"So, Lyle," Lockon began as they sat down at a table for two in a crowded café, "how're things over at Kataron?"

His brother inmediately tensed, eyes searching him suspiciously. "What are you? An agent from the Federation or a long lost brother who is suddenly worried about the sibling he hasn't seen for what? Eight, ten years?"

Lockon almost laughed. "You're so cold to me, Lyle!" I'm neither. I've watched over you for all these years yet I couldn't bring myself to even contact you.

I know, I know, you crazy stalker. Lyle stared absently at the "No smoking" sign overhead. He decided to change the topic.

"What's with the patch?"

"A scar of war," Lockon said easily. He patted the material over his eye. "Thought I'd die, but it turns out that Lady Luck really loves me.

"But you know, Lyle, I fought to change the world... and now look how it is."

Lyle leaned back in his chair, hands in his coat's pockets, regarding him almost carefully. "Fight? I never thought you'd enroll into the military—"

"I was a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being." Taking in his brother's evident surprise, he continued on, "As you can see, I'm not as good as I need to be." He gestured towards his eyepatch.

"You want be to become your replacement, is that what you want to say?" Lyle's words were full of resentment.

"Lyle, do you want to change the world? Do you have the resolve to do so?" Lockon frowned. "Because I couldn't. I couldn't change, I couldn't leave behind my —our— past; I put revenge before my mission... And I never forgave myself for letting down the ones I cared about." He glanced at Lyle briefly before returning to glare at the table between them. "I lost a comrade when I could've saved him if only I'd noticed sooner."

He sagged in his chair. "I'm becoming an old man, aren't I, Lyle?"

Lyle pushed a recently arrived cup of streaming coffee towards him. "Yes, you are."

They sipped at their coffee silently; the last time they had a shot at it Lyle had ended up storming out of the café after a few words.

"Here," Lockon placed a data storage device on the table, "you'll find information about us."

With that, he stood up. Lyle found his brother's cup empty, even though he knew Neil disliked being hasty with the coffee.

"About your merry party," Lockon said as he passed Lyle, "the Security Department will start to suppress all Kataron bases in Europe. Take care."

He drifted amidst the many displays of encrypted information. This dim light, the flow of data, they were familiar, comforting. He'd known this since he was created, since he'd been awakened.

Back then...

Back then...?

There was that void again. The one he dare not touch. He knew, back then, he'd lost it all. He'd lost that link, that part of him that made him feel complete, secure.

He flinched away. He wouldn't wander there again.

Lockon Stratos never thought he'd have to pilot a Gundam again, but comrade's life depended on it. And he'd sworn that he wouldn't lose anyone again.

"Sorry, Haro, please bear with me."

The orange robot flapped its ears energetically. "No problem! No problem!"

"Alright. Cherudim Gundam, Lockon Stratos, nerai utsuze!"

I'll miss this.

"Hm, never thought I'd meet you here."

Regene Regetta drifted lazily through the chamber. As the other didn't respond, he reached through Veda, playfully poking here and there until the system's firewalls began pushing both of them out.

Suddenly, narrowed garnet eyes glared into his.

"Regene Regetta."

He smirked. Activating the propulsors on his flight suit, he put some distance between them before turning around and heading towards the entrance. "Come, I have an interesting mission for you, Tieria Erde."