Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or its characters and names. This is a work of fanfiction, not for profit.
A/N: I want to say THANK YOU for the support that this fic has received so far! I honestly did not expect to get such a good response. Thanks to everyone who faved, followed, and especially reviewed! You've definitely motivated me in writing this story, and I appreciate it.
All's Fair in Love, War and Journalism
2
Cagalli groaned as she rolled over and hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. She had barely gotten a wink of sleep last night before it was morning again.
She had spent her time late last night, or early this morning, after Athrun had dropped her off, on the draft for her article, and sent it off to Kisaka for review before hitting the bedsheets.
Her lack of sleep coupled with her late night adventures of scaling buildings and dodging Athrun's people, had left her exhausted. However when the alarm clock went off again, Cagalli sat up from bed. She wondered if she could skip going into the office today. After all there wasn't much for her to do in the office. She could polish off her article with her laptop on her couch, then hit the city to see if she could get any more leads.
Reaching for her cell phone by her bedside table, she was about to place a call through to her editor-in-chief, when she noticed that he had already called her and left her a voicemail.
"Come into the office when you get this," was all Kisaka had said and he did not sound happy.
Cagalli groaned and was almost tempted to flop back into bed and pull the blankets over her head. However she knew when she got a message like that from Kisaka, she couldn't dodge it. And it also usually meant that she was in trouble.
"Arghhhhh." Cagalli let out a muffled cry into her pillow before promptly getting up and getting dressed.
She arrived at The Orb building half an hour later and made her way up to the 20th floor. Counting the numbers off until she reached hers, Cagalli mentally prepared herself for whatever trouble she was in.
The elevator dinged, and she made her way out into the open plan office when someone spotted her and ran up to join her.
"Just a warning, the chief's not happy." A brunette said as she caught up to Cagalli with a sympathetic smile.
Cagalli frowned. She figured as much. "Thanks Miri."
Miriallia, the paper's photographer, patted her on the back and whispered good luck in her ear just before Cagalli arrived at their editor-in-chief's office.
Cagalli took a deep breath and did not bother knocking as she barged through the door.
"You finally managed to make it into the office." Kisaka commented, not at all surprised to be interrupted without warning, and even less surprised to find it was Cagalli.
"Why did you ask me to come in?"
Kisaka handed her a piece of paper across his office desk and motioned for her to take a seat.
She took the paper offered but did not bother sitting down.
"The Heliopolis Police Department has made an official complaint against you." Kisaka explained as he watched Cagalli's expression turn sour as she read through the complaint filed.
"Let me guess, Lieutenant Joule filed the complaint?"
"With Captain Zala's endorsement."
Damn Athrun! Cagalli inwardly cursed as she reached the bottom of the piece of paper and sighted Athrun's signature next to Yzak's.
"What did I tell you about having run-ins with the police?" Kisaka's voice was beginning to rise, showing the anger that was boiling underneath the surface.
"A reporter has to do what a reporter has to do to get the story." Cagalli countered.
Kisaka heaved a sigh and leaned back into his chair. "You're lucky it's only a complaint, and they're not pressing charges."
"That's because they know that any charges won't stick." Cagalli stated quite confidently. "I was only doing my job. If they wanted to keep me out, they should have done their job better!"
"Don't go pushing your luck Cagalli." Kisaka warned gravely.
"Funny Zala said the same thing to me." She mused.
"Then maybe you should listen. Officially I do not condone your actions Cagalli." Kisaka said seriously, however Cagalli sensed a but coming.
"Unofficially?" She inquired.
Kisaka sighed again but said just as seriously, "Unofficially, a reporter has to do what a reporter has to do as long as they don't get caught. Got it?"
She could feel a smile tugging at her lips as she replied. "Yes chief."
"And I mean it Cagalli. Be careful."
"You sound like I'm not being careful." Cagalli protested playfully as she made a motion to leave Kisaka's office.
"That's because I know you're not. And Cagalli?" Kisaka called out just before she left.
"Yes chief?"
"No story is worth risking your well-being over. Remember that will you?" He stressed, sternness laced with concern filled his voice.
"I'll try my best." Cagalli chirped as she closed the door behind her.
Kisaka let out a huge breath of air and slumped in his chair. "Sometimes I think that's not good enough." He muttered quietly to himself.
Athrun sat back in his chair and eyed the clock in his office. He supposed that Cagalli had probably gotten into work already and read the complaint that Yzak had put in about her, which he had signed and agreed to.
He wondered how much more pissed off she would be at him.
"Thinking about your girlfriend?" Dearka poked his head into his captain's office and commented upon seeing the faraway pensive look on his face.
Athrun immediately jolted out of his thoughts and scowled at the blond. "She is not my girlfriend, and you will do well to remember that Sergeant Elsman."
Dearka raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I didn't even mention her name." He lifted his arms up in defence.
The look on his captain's face was priceless as Athrun realised his blunder.
"But let me take a guess. Her name is Ca-"
"Elsman!" Athrun quickly interrupted. "Did you come to my office for a reason?" He demanded, irritation clear on his face. Athrun funnily reminded Dearka of Yzak in that moment.
"Yes actually, I came here to give you my findings." Dearka held up the folder in his hands. He closed the door behind him as he stepped through and handed it to Athrun.
Athrun flipped open the folder and found his suspicions confirmed.
"How many cases are there?"
"26 similar shootings have been reported in the last two years in Orb. 18 of which were in the capital alone. The last shooting reported in Onogoro was ironically 5 months ago." Dearka remarked.
Only a month before the first case in Heliopolis, Athrun noted. Which could mean whoever was behind the shootings had recently relocated to Heliopolis.
"What about outside of Orb?" Athrun asked. He watched as his sergeant frowned and knew he wasn't going to like the answer.
"67 overseas, mainly in the Atlantic Federation, the States, and Africa."
"Do a comparison on which gangs are active in these countries."
"Already have." Dearka answered and indicated Athrun to look at the last page in his report.
Athrun's eyes skimmed through the analytical comparison Dearka had prepared and his line of sight immediately caught onto one particular name.
"Blue Cosmos."
Beside him Dearka nodded his head. A grave silence filled the room as Athrun considered the implications of this being true. Blue Cosmos was an underground criminal organisation which had stemmed from the Atlantic Federation. It's since quite heavily infiltrated Northern Africa, and parts of the South American States. But there was no indication of the underground syndicate ever infiltrating into Orb.
Until now.
Although there was no concrete evidence to back it, Athrun knew of rumors floating underground for years that the leader of Blue Cosmos had escaped the Atlantic Federation when most of its members were flushed out by the military. He was said to be in hiding in an unsuspecting territory. Orb had been thrown into the list of nations rumored to be where Djibril was hiding.
"Get me everything you can find about Lord Djibril and how Blue Cosmos trades underground." Athrun commanded.
"Roger that. But it'll take some time." Dearka warned. "Since Blue Cosmos is not officially recognised as existing in Orb, I will have to send a request through Interpol for information other nations may have on them."
Athrun nodded his understanding. "Do what you can do."
"Excuse me miss! You're not supposed to go in there!" His secretary, Meyrin's voice suddenly sounded through the closed door of his office and a second later, the door came crashing open.
Athrun's eyes enlarged in shock as a blonde haired, golden eyed, pissed as hell Cagalli Yula waltzed right into his office, on the 8th floor, in a highly secured building of the Heliopolis Police Department.
Cagalli slammed down a piece of paper she was holding onto his desk, and glared at him through her golden bangs.
"Try again, Zala." She challenged, locking her amber eyes with his. Her expression was a mix of infuriation, defiance and pride. Then as quickly as she had entred, Cagalli turned back around and stormed out.
Athrun looked down at the piece of paper she had left there. It was the complaint letter Yzak had faxed through to The Orb. He sighed, crumbled up the letter and tossed it in the bin.
"How did she get in here?" Dearka mouthed next to him, completely dumbfounded at what just happened.
"I am sooooo sorry!" Meyrin cried on the other side of the room, clearly distraught. "I don't know what happened, she just…"
"It's okay Meyrin, there was nothing you could have done." Athrun spoke up evenly, calming his secretary. "And Dearka, I have long learnt, to question how Cagalli Yula does any of the things she manages to do is a cause for migraines. Speaking of which, Meyrin, would you kindly fetch me an aspirin and glass of water?"
His secretary nodded and left the room. Athrun then eyed Dearka who was still standing next to him. Sensing his captain's eyes, Dearka excused himself as well.
Slumping back into his chair, Athrun massaged his temples. He had managed to close the folder he was reading just in time before Cagalli barged in. Luckily the feisty reporter was not able to steal any glances into the investigation. If she found out that Blue Cosmos was involved with this case, god knows what kind of trouble she'll get into. Or what kind of danger she'll put herself in to get to the truth. He'll be forced to handcuff her to her room, just to keep her safe.
A sharp pain rang through his head at the thought of her being reckless.
Must she always push him?
Cagalli pushed the door to the café open and a bell chimed in response. A young man greeted her from behind the counter.
"How may I help you?" He asked her, wiping his wet hands on his apron.
"A cappuccino thanks."
The young man gestured to her to take a seat. "One cappuccino coming up. And just give me a shout if you need anything else." He informed with a friendly smile then turned to prepare her coffee.
Cagalli settled herself in and took out her notes from her bag, spreading it over the table of the booth she occupied in a quaint little coffee shop away from the buzz of the hub. She hadn't been to this particular café in the past, usually too busy to scope out new places. But ever since she had spied Yuna Seiran entering her favourite coffee joint last time, she had never been back there.
She hadn't really planned on making her way down to the police headquarters and confronting Athrun. She had simply wanted Athrun to know that she was not pleased with the complaint his department put through, and she wasn't quite over the humiliation he had inflicted on her by handcuffing her the night before either. Kisaka hadn't given her too much grief over the letter, however she's certain she'll be receiving a call from Human Resources soon concerning her behaviour, another call from Legal about the ramifications of her actions, and finally Occupational Health and Safety will be trying to force her into attending another one of their personal safety sessions, as if that will stop her from climbing buildings and running down dark alleyways. She's sure that they will use the fact that this wasn't the first complaint against her, against her.
And to make matters worse, she had walked into Yuna when she exited Kisaka's office. Yuna made a stupid remark about how she must be doing certain 'favours' for the police captain for him to let her off every time. And instead of punching Yuna Roma Seiran in the face like she wanted to, she had marched down to police headquarters instead.
Cagalli groaned. Yuna Roma Seiran always made matters worse. When they had first started working together, Yuna had tried to hit on her. She took no time to shut him down and ever since he's held some sort of vendetta against her, viciously spreading rumours about her in the office, while still making advances on her. The nerve of that guy.
As an investigative reporter she had quite a bit of liberty concerning her office hours. Most of her job demanded she worked away from the office, searching or following leads for stories. Submissions were done through email now, she didn't even need to be present to hand in an article. Which meant Cagalli hightailed it out of there frequently. Most of the times because her job required her outside, other times because she didn't want to see Seiran's face, lest she lose her temper and punch him in it. Human Resources would definitely be on her back then. Especially considering the only reason Yuna even had a job with a prestige paper like Around The Orb was because his father was on the board of directors, and Cagalli was forced to put up with his presence. Not even Kisaka had the power to fire that numbskull.
Cagalli brushed the irritating thoughts out of her mind and focused back on her work. She lifted open her laptop and opened the folder with the research she had collected on the case.
Clotho Buer.
He was the son of two plant biologists who had gone missing working in the South American jungles in the States. Had a history with drug addiction. He likely sold off the assets he inherited from his parents to fund his addiction, which would explain why he was living in a low-socio economic neighborhood.
Although it had seemed that he tried to curb his addiction, admitting himself into a rehab clinic 3 months ago. The nurse she had rung up had told her Clotho was completely free from the addiction by the time he left the clinic.
If this was gang-related as the police believed, it was likely to do with drugs. Perhaps he owed the gang money, or he was a seller himself. They wouldn't be too happy with him if he tried to get out of being a street vendor after ridding himself of his addiction.
Cagalli frowned. It would be such a pity if a man had died because he tried to turn his life around.
"Here you go miss." The barista said as he placed a freshly brewed cappuccino at her table.
Cagalli looked up to thank him and noticed the striking purple eyes he had for the first time. "Have we met before?" She questioned out of the blue.
"No I don't think so." The young man replied, a little stupefied by her question.
Cagalli shook her head and smiled at him to disregard her comment, not quite sure what prompted her question in the first place. She was sure that if she's seen those eyes before she would remember them.
"Although I do know who you are." The barista admitted shyly while rubbing the back of his head, messing up his already quite messy brown mop of hair.
"You do?"
"You're Cagalli Yula, the star reporter for Around The Orb." The man uttered smiling sheepishly at her. "You're kind of famous."
At his words, Cagalli groaned. "If you're referring to the incident where the photo of me dangling from the 14th floor window was splashed on the front page of Around The Orb, Heliopolis Express, Cosmic Times, The Daily Circle," Cagalli counted as she listed off The Orb and its competitors, "and god forbid that tabloid Helios' Scoop which photoshopped off my legs and replaced them with the under-view of someone else's panties through a skirt-"
"You weren't wearing a skirt." The barista added for her benefit.
"-then I'd rather crawl into a hole and die than to be remembered for that as my contribution to society."
The young man chuckled after Cagalli finished ranting her frustrations, clearly amused at Cagalli and the embarrassment that she still felt till this day.
"Actually when I said you were famous, I was referring to all the articles you've written." He clarified. He offered a genuine smile at Cagalli, kindness and gentleness radiating from his expression. "I read The Orb every morning and I find your articles are always enlightening and insightful. I guess you're the only reporter who I actually know the name of, and look for in the byline when I read the news."
"Oh." Cagalli turned red with a blush at the compliment she just received. Then a smile beamed across her face lighting up her eyes like the sun. "Thank you, Kira." She read his name from his nametag.
"If you don't mind me asking, what story are you working on this time?"
"A homicide." Cagalli replied. "It occurred early in the morning and I wasn't able to make the print edition. But my report is up on Around The Orb's website if you want to take a look."
"Do the police have any suspects?" The barista inquired curiously.
Cagalli tilted her head, if they did they wouldn't be telling her. "Not that I know of. But I'm working on finding out the details."
"Well don't work too hard Miss Yula. I for one do not want to see you hanging off another building." With that he left to attend to another customer.
Cagalli sipped her coffee, savouring the taste, as she continued reading through the information she had gathered hoping to piece something together. After reading for a while, she realised that the only way forward with her investigation was to narrow down which criminal group was responsible for Mr Buer's death. Orb's criminal underground wasn't as influential as crime syndicates overseas. The peace in Orb had mainly discouraged the growth of any large underground organisations, as crime tended to feed off chaos and Orb was relatively stable. The downside to that was without a major influential power in the underground scene, many smaller powers had cropped up. There were too many small scale gangs in operation in Orb, and Heliopolis alone had its fare share of minor gang activity.
Luckily Cagalli knew just the right person, or persons who could help her. She ruffled through her bag for her wallet, leaving a generous tip on the table.
"Did you get a lead?" The barista asked as he came over to her just as she was gathering her things.
"Not sure, but I will find out." She replied with a self-assured smile.
"Good luck Miss Yula."
"Cagalli is just fine." Cagalli called over her shoulders as she exited the shop.
Kira stared after her and watched her disappear onto the street. He looked down and glared at the piece of paper he held in his hands. One he had slipped away from Cagalli's table unnoticed as she was busy with gathering everything else she had spread across it. His eyes hardened as he glanced through her messy handwriting, written hurriedly in shorthand.
Visitor. Young man. Brown hair, messy, slim, average height–170? 24?
Kira crumpled the piece of paper in his hand.
Why did she have to be looking into this case?
"Zala." Yzak knocked on his door.
Athrun lifted his head from the files he was reading.
"We found this in the victim's apartment." Yzak wasted no time in making his point as he handed something in a clear ziplock bag to Athrun.
Athrun examined it carefully. He recognised the logo on the card inside. "The Alliance Bar." He noted. "VIP entry?"
Yzak nodded. "I've had Hahnenfuss run a test on it already. It's confirmed that it belonged to Clotho Buer. And the last time the card was scanned was 2 weeks ago."
"Interesting." Athrun mulled. "This proves that the shooting was definitely related to the underground. However this won't confirm if it's Blue Cosmos or even the existence of Blue Cosmos."
"What do you suggest?" Yzak asked sensing his captain was planning something.
"What do you think are the chances of us gaining any kind of information if you or I show up there, flashing our badges to question the manager and workers?"
Yzak snorted. Was this a trick question? "Absolutely zero."
Athrun smirked. "Then I guess we won't show them our badges. Ask Shiho if she could alter Buer's member card to admit a different person. We're going on an undercover operation tonight."
Cagalli got out of the taxi and started walking, headed towards a bar at the end of the street. It was deserted at this time of the day, but she knew from experience that it was very lively at night.
As she pushed the front door open, she heard a voice call out from the back, "We're not open in the day!"
"Then you should keep the door locked!" She replied back with jest in her voice.
A head peeked through from a door behind the counter as Cagalli made herself comfortable on the stool.
"You again." The man sprouting shortly cropped green hair remarked upon seeing Cagalli.
"Your favourite customer."
"Least favourite customer." He corrected her. "Since you never pay."
"Hey! I resent that!" Cagalli defended. "I would pay, except you never let me."
At this Sting offered her a smile. "Stellar!" He called towards the back. "Your favourite customer is here!" He then turned his attention back to Cagalli. "So what do we owe the honour of this visit Miss Yula?"
"Information."
"It's the only reason you ever visit us." Auel's voice came around from behind Sting, as he and Stellar emerged from the back as well.
"Cagalli!" Stellar exclaimed ecstatically and rushed towards the other blonde's side.
Cagalli engulfed her in a warm and affectionate hug before the younger blonde girl settled herself on the stool next to hers.
"I would visit more often, it's just been really busy lately." Cagalli replied, feeling slightly guilty that what Auel said was true.
"We get it. You're too busy saving the world." Sting commented.
"One word at a time." Auel teased.
She rolled her eyes at them. Neither boys seemed very amiable with her profession. But she chose it for a reason and she was planning to stick to it, even if it meant she had to change the world one word at a time.
"What do you want to know?" Sting placed both his hands on the bar counter leaning on their weight.
"There was a gang-related shooting early this morning downtown. The victim seemed to have been executed by a professional killer. I was hoping you might be able to help me narrow down the list of which gang might be responsible." Cagalli explained.
Sting and Auel eyed each other wearily at Cagalli's request.
"We've been out of the scene for quite a while now Cagalli." Sting said. "I can probably give you a list of all the active gangs in Heliopolis, but it'll be hard to narrow it down for you."
"There must be something you know." Cagalli pushed on. "The victim was executed with a bullet to the chest and a bullet to the head. Does that sound familiar?"
Auel's eyes enlarged and then immediately schooled his expression as he realised his slip.
"There is something you know." Cagalli quickly caught on and narrowed her eyes. She leaned closer, examining Auel on the other side of the counter from her.
"It's a rumour. You'll be chasing a ghost." Auel tried to dissuade.
"I love a good chase." Cagalli answered in response.
She caught Sting and Auel glancing uncertainly at each other again before Sting dropped his head and finally relented.
"Ever since when we were still operating underground there were whispers. Very faint, barely audible, or credible." Sting warned. "Back then a lot of small time gang leaders were dropping dead left and right. Bullet to the heart and head. There was definitely a power struggle going on with no one really knowing who the major player was. I don't think the police ever caught onto the initial killings as they were covered up. But well, we heard that an international syndicate had entred the scene in Orb at the time, except no one really knew who they were, where they operated, how they operated or even if they operated at all. And five years later, the supposed underground powerhouse is still more or less just a rumour." Sting revealed.
When he finished what he had to say, Cagalli was in deep thought.
"If it were true, the underground would know by now, and not let it fester as unsubstantiated rumours in the dark." Auel added.
"If it were truly just a rumour, it would have died out five years ago." Cagalli reasoned, seriousness and determination tainted her words. "Since you can't tell me any more, where would I go to obtain more information?"
"You're chasing ghosts! Ghosts!" Auel repeated despite knowing full well there was no persuading Cagalli Yula to turn back now.
Sting sighed alongside Auel then pointed to Stellar. "You'll have to ask her."
Cagalli blinked a little surprised, then turned to the girl beside her. "Stellar?" She queried.
Stellar smiled up at her. "Stellar knows where Cagalli can go. Stellar used to work there."
A/N: This is where I admit that I don't have a very good grasp on Sting or Auel's characters from the show, so apologies if they appear OOC in this fic. Please do point out to me if you feel they (or any characters) are OOC that it bothers you. With that said, I hope you'll allow me some flexibilities with the characters in this fic. Always open to reviews. Thank you.
