Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character in Gundam 00, but I do own my OC(s) and this fanfic's plot.

The Missing Piece of me

Mission 1

==|| Runaway ||==

Setsuna entered the main operating room quietly, where the other members of Ptolemaios had gathered. The tactician of the ship was also there, her brown eyes fixed on him. The black-haired teenager only moved to his spot without a word being spoken. She frowned and put her hands on her hip. Allelujah stared at Setsuna as he took his own place. Tieria basically glared at the youngest Meister, before looking away. The brown-haired Meister shook his head and sighed, scratching his head lightly.

"Sumeragi-san, shall we begin?" Lockon asked with a small smile, hoping to ease the tension.

The dark-brown-haired woman nodded, looking to one of her female crews. "Yes, we shall. Christina, if you please."

The light-brown haired woman smiled, nodding, and typed something, causing a picture to appear in the screen. The picture had a location and information about their next mission. It was an enormous tower built in an isolated island in the middle of the sea. The screen showed the structure inside the building: entrance, paths inside, and exit door. Feldt typed something and a long list of names appeared on the screen, scrolling down by itself. The Meisters watched silently as the list went on and on.

"This is your mission." She began. "Wang Liu Mei has provided information about this secret facility. The manager calls it as a 'facility' for kids, but in truth the kids are used as human subjects. Most of the kids are orphans or kidnapped, and after the experiment almost all died."

Lockon opened his mouth, looked aghast. "Do you mean that all these children on the list are the victims?"

Sumeragi nodded sadly in response, looking at the display. The oldest Meister clenched his fists in disgust and rage, not believing such people existed in the world. Allelujah furrowed his eyebrow forlornly; there was another people doing abominable research on human, and the kids were just like him. The others only kept silent, but deep down they were also sickened by such people. The tactician went on with her words, saying that they were to take one particular teenager. The Meisters were a bit confused, but they listened carefully. On her command, the light-brown haired young woman pressed a button that caused the list to stop scrolling.

A name and picture of a girl appeared on the screen, along with her particular beside her photo. She had light-blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. Her skin was pale due to the 'imprisonment'. Her hair was kept in her shoulder-length, or at least that was what the photo showed. The photo seemed to be taken when she was first taken to the facility and it had been years since she remained in that place. There was nothing special in her information. She was fourteen years old by then and had been kept in the facility since she was nine years old. Besides her particular, there was a long list of experiments and dates, most likely records of when she was taken to be a subject.

"Annalina Sandberg," Sumeragi's words broke the silence. "She's your main mission."

"Why is she our main objective?" The purple-haired Gundam pilot questioned emotionlessly.

Sumeragi turned to face the four Meisters. "She is an orphan, her parents died five years ago and she has been taken as an experiment since then. The owner of the facility noticed her as 'special' since she had survived many experiments. He planted a nano-machine that will transform her body, making her a human-weapon."

The brown-eyed raven-haired Meister tightened his grip discreetly. Another person who used kids as his weapons, how many people like that existed in the world? He glanced back at the photo. Her fringes were uneven and covered most of her eyes, looking impassive. If someone looked closely, they would notice the drying streaks of tears on her cheeks.

Sumeragi commanded the Meisters: Lockon and Allelujah to distract and fight the enemy's units, Tieria to defend the others, and Setsuna the task to save the girl. The Meisters agreed and proceeded to their respective Gundams in a quick pace. The other members readied themselves for the launches of the units, sitting in their own position. Sumeragi retreated herself and exited the controlling place, leaning against the wall outside the room. Her mind was filled with the information she was yet to tell her team.

"The irony is, the one who started this 'Enhancer Project'," she took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "…was her father."

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"Get up, Number 27!" Someone grabbed her arm and lifted her up to her feet.

Anna felt herself being dragged, her head spinning. The effect of the last experiment had not gone away and she was to be taken another test. She coughed slightly and moved her feet, although barely. In front of her, many other kids had lined up. Most of them were younger by her, since she was the longest child who lived there. Most of her other friends had passed away because of the extensive experiments. She did not understand why she could survive.

Her feet wobbled as the man let her go and she slumped against the wall tiredly. What else would they want from the children? The younger kids looked horrified, some confused – the newcomers – and she felt a pity for them. They would suffer the same fate like her. A group of men approached and examined them closely. She knew what they wanted: a suitable kid for a new subject. Finally, they took one kid with them and brought him to another room, earning a frightened murmur from the rest.

"Shut up!" One of the scientists ordered harshly.

A silence ensued in the room.

The blonde girl shook her head, but regretted her action as she got a stabbing pain in her head. Cursing the nano-machine put inside of her, she slowly took a deep shaky breath to calm herself. To her experience, she knew the man would soon do their duty on taking attendance of the kids. It was called 'Morning Assembly' by the manager of the place, checking the still-alive children and commanding them for their next tasks. Anna moved forward to join in the first line. Her number was the smallest of all – being the most senior subject – and she was always checked first.

"Are you okay?" The person next to her asked in a hushed tone.

She looked up to her friend, forcing a smile to her face. "I'm fine."

The brown-haired guy only nodded his head silently. He was younger than her by a year, but still taller, and had been kept for three years. An orphan as his parents passed away because of chronic diseases. He suffered from amnesia and did not remember his own name; she usually called him "Forte" since he was number 40. His gray and green eyes stared attentively at Anna. However, the girl was not paying attention to him, nor did she pay attention to other things around her.

"Number 27, are you listening to me?" The bulky man shouted at her, irritated at her unresponsiveness when he called her.

She winced, surprised, and answered with a small murmur, "Yes."

The man huffed in annoyance as he wrote something on his panel. "You're going to go under a scan today. We would like to see the development of your body."

She shuddered at the word 'development' – What else had they done to her? Nonetheless, she nodded and complied as she stumbled towards the scanning room, not realizing the worry look Forte kept casting at her.

"I can see the building, Sumeragi-san," Lockon reported as he pushed the side of his helmet to let the front cover down, while the other three did the same upon noticing the edifice, ready for the mission.

"Good, it's time then." The voice of the tactician replied from the communication device. "Mission commences!"

The four Meisters answered with a short 'roger' and split into three different directions almost immediately. Kyrios and Dynames moved to the East, where the base of the enemies was. Virtue followed behind Exia as the blue-white-and-red Gundam advanced towards the main building. There was a commotion when the people noticed their presence, but it had been expected by them before. Exia landed on the ground, sword drawn, and Virtue slowly followed suit, landing behind it. While Setsuna fighting the enemies' suits, the black-white Gundam charged his weapon and aimed it at the building, making a gigantic hole on it. Setsuna took this chance to move towards the opening and got out from his Gundam. He glanced slightly, watching Tieria as the purple-haired Meister defended his Gundam.

Taking out his gun, he held it and ran down the path, following the route he had memorized before. Carefully yet swiftly, he approached the room where his objective would have been kept. The steel door, with only a small window to glimpse at the kid, blocked his way. After examining his surroundings, the black-haired Meister was sure that there was no warden around. Halting at the door, he shot the lock and barged into the room, still as cautious.

As he entered, he was met with a girl with a messy flaxen hair. She was lying on her side on the bed and breathing unevenly, clutching the part of her white plain shirt where her heart was. Eyes screwed shut with tears escaping from them and body shook, she looked so fragile and pale. He opened the front cover of his helmet and slowly made his way towards her and touched her on the shoulder, causing her eyes to snap open. His brown eyes met her ocean-blue one.

"Who are you?" She whispered fearfully, proceeding to sit up. "You are neither one of those scientists…nor their subordinates."

"Setsuna F. Seiei," He answered her question and stood his ground. "Are you Annalina Sandberg?"

She frowned when he pronounced her name, especially her full name. It had been a long time since someone called her like that; she had been called 'number 27' for a long time. "Yes."

He extended his arm at her answer, and continued with his words. "Follow me. I'm here to save you."

Anna gaped at him with wide eyes. "What? What do you mean?"

"You have to leave now, or I'll have to force you," he stated impassively.

The blonde coughed raucously before replying again. "But I can't leave. My friend is here, I can't leave him. He'll be angry at me...and feel dejected." Her voice lowered at the end of her sentences.

Setsuna gritted his teeth in annoyance before grabbed her arm roughly, forcing her to stand up. She was too weak to even stand up properly, and the sudden jerk caused her to slump into his arms. Her hands were gripping his suit tightly, feeling afraid she might fall to the floor. The boy supported her to her feet by putting an arm across her shoulders. Without a further due, he dashed out of the room with her limping besides him. The blonde did not realized, that behind her, Forte was staring; somehow he had managed to escape during the commotion and was worried about her, so he went to check on her. However, he found her running away with a new stranger. His eyes were wide, filled with fury, dejection, and disbelief, as he watched the two figures disappeared from his sight.

"They're here!" someone shouted.

Cursing under his breath, Setsuna dragged Anna to hide behind a pillar as the bullet was shot. They were nearing Exia, but it was too difficult to reach it with those security guards' raining bullets. His hand was on her smaller one while the other held the gun to fire back and defense. The time was now less than five minutes, and the girl was wobbling and tripping on her own foot all the way. It was difficult to go pass through the men with her condition.

Her skin was almost reaching the colour of white snow and she breathed laboriously. Her other hand wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheeks from her eyes as she hiccupped. He noticed her shaking figure as she stared at him with glassy and fearful eyes. She squeaked as another bullet went pass them. The brown-haired Meister tightened his grip before getting out of their hiding and shot back, at the same time taking a chance to get into his unit. Fortunately for them, they managed to get in just in time before the men started to fire again.

He swiftly closed the opened-cockpit of Exia and sat down on his seat, activating the mobile suit. At the same time, he started the mobile suit and closed his cover. Anna forced herself to stand up besides the operator's chair, holding to the seat firmly as if it was her lifeline. As he ascended the unit, the brown-eyed Meister contacted the other Meisters. His mission was completed. He received the fastest reply from the operator of Dynames, who looked perfectly fine.

"Setsuna, are you okay? Did you get the girl?" Lockon's voice and face appeared on the screen.

He nodded in response as Tieria and Allelujah's pictures came on the same screen, below and besides Lockon's one. Anna stared at them in half-curiosity and half-fear. The three pilots noticed her presence on the cockpit; she shyly tried to hide behind the chair, but was unsuccessful. Being the most friendly, the light-brown haired Meister greeted her and smiled warmly. She hesitantly gave a small smile back. Allelujah mimicked his friend's previous action, while Tieria just sighed and broke the contact unexpectedly. The four units returned swiftly to their main ship, Ptolemaios, leaving the chaotic facility.

Silently, after the contact ended, Anna buried her face into her arms. The sudden runaway made her nauseous; and she was tired. The chaos was too much for her mind, and thinking of Forte saddened her even more. He had to feel lonely, maybe disappointed too. Her friend did not know her runaway, but he would be still angered if he found out she was away from the facility, being so selfish only to save her own neck. Knowing him as being obstinate, their friendship bond would unable to be fixed anymore. The thought of being alone once again scared her; she had experienced it during her parents' death. Remembering the terror was too much for her and she ended up sobbing.

The black-haired Meister noticed her weeping, but he did nothing. He was not good in comforting someone, moreover a wrecked girl. Although not obviously shown, she had to be angry at him – that was for sure – he forced her to go with him and leaving someone important for her. If she was mad at him, how could he console her? It was not that important for him, the mission was. Completing the mission was on his top priority and he could care less about the girl or her feeling.

But then, why was he feeling troubled?

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A/N: Please review again, people. Thank you for reading ^_^