"There is nothing wrong with us being each other's dates," argues an amused Relena as she sits on the opposite side of the limousine as her close friend, Dorothy Catalonia, on their way to an ESUN Peace Gala hosted by Relena Dorlian herself in the Sanc Kingdom. Dorothy just rolls her eyes then gets a mischievous look on her lightly made up face, "You know, you're right. There's nothing better than a good scandal, especially featuring the 'Dove of Peace' and the ex-warmonger. It's even more intriguing than you having a thing for the homicidal ex-gundam pilot." Dorothy looks thoughtful as she glances across the limousine for Relena's input, and receives a glare that would make even Heero Yuy flinch. "Okay fine. I just thought we could at least show up separately, then meet up as usual." Relena raises an eyebrow and smiles, "After that whole 'girl power' speech the other night you shouldn't have a problem being my date." The platinum blonde sitting across the limo cringes, " I am not your date Relena. I'm your platonic escort." Relena huffs in fake exasperation, "Look Dorothy, you know I gave my 'bodyguard' the night off, and the only way he'd leave me be was if I went with an official that he even remotely trusted…and in this case, that's you. So now you won't be lonely for even a second," Relena ends with a laugh. Dorothy nearly growls, and then looks away, "I may not be lonely, but I do have needs…and they don't include you. You're not gonna ruin any potential sexual satisfaction for me." Relena just laughs at her friend's crudeness, "I doubt that Dorothy. If anything we'd get more attention, at least that's what Duo says…" Dorothy's icy blue eyes flash in anger, "I knew it-" Before she could rant any further, the door opens revealing hundreds of reporters and cameras flashing. Relena gives Dorothy a sly smile, "You were saying? Inquiring minds want to know…" Her annoyed friend slides out of the limousine and whispers, "I'll get you, and your little friends too." Relena laughs once more and slides out of the car after, noticing with a barely concealed smile that Dorothy was keeping a great distance between them. Relena chuckles to herself as she walks into the lavishly decorated ballroom where the ESUN Peace Gala is located. 'Hopefully this night will at least be halfway enjoyable.'
Quatre Winner excuses himself from yet another diplomat giving him unwanted 'extra' attention. The lust was practically shooting in his direction from all sides. Over the years, the empathy has honed his abilities more and can now feel more emotions, including lust. He can pinpoint to whom the emotion is directed towards, and if he concentrates hard enough, he can read a single person's mind, a gift that Quatre rarely uses or abuses.
"Quatre!"
The ex-Sandrock pilot, and now Senator, turns to see Trowa Barton and his sister Catherine Bloom heading his direction. They haven't changed much in the past ten years. Trowa's face is more mature, as with all the pilots, and his body is more filled out in his tuxedo. His older sister Catherine looks the same, only with slightly longer hair. Her eyes are still as blue and lively as in the war, and accentuate the lavender gown she's wearing. With a smile she hugs Quatre, "It's been too long." Trowa hugs his best friend and shakes his head, "Cathy it's only been three months since we saw him last. Although that is longer than it usually takes for you to get back to us Quatre," he finishes, giving Quatre a curious, but knowing look. The now Senator gives Trowa and Catherine an apologetic smile, "I sincerely apologize. I've been tied up with this weapons manufacturer that's bent on owning the whole industry. So we've been trying to head them off and find out their intentions. The last thing we need is another power mad organization trying to take over the world." Trowa's eyes harden, "Yeah I heard. Simmons Weaponry." Catherine clears her throat to get the guys' attention, "All that matters is we're here now. Let's enjoy ourselves."
Relena and Dorothy enter the grand ballroom with cameras flashing behind them. Relena stops to politely greet fellow diplomats, wearing a sleeveless, knee-length soft pink sparkly v-neck gown, with a darker pink train connected to the back, lightly touching the ground. Hair curled and pinned up with wisps of hair hanging down on either side of her face, the Vice Foreign Minister truly looks like a dove of peace. Dorothy, always the rebel, bypasses the fake greetings and makes her way over to Quatre, Trowa, and Catherine, wearing a floor length elegant black gown with slits coming up both sides to stop a little higher than mid-thigh. With diamonds littered across the bust and around the hole in the stomach of the dress, showing off her new diamond naval ring, the wealthy businesswoman looks like the vixen she is, with her hair in a high ponytail of curls. Catherine gasps, then shakes her head with a smile when she sees the looks on the two ex-gundam pilots' faces, "You look beautiful," she says while giving Dorothy a hug, "like a sexy devil in black, but still beautiful." Dorothy puts a hand on her hip and gives a coy pose, "Exactly what I was going for." Trowa finally clears his throat and gives Dorothy a smile and nod of acknowledgement as he kisses her hand. He then discreetly nudges Quatre out of his stupor, who grabs Dorothy's hand, gives her a courteous bow, and presses a soft kiss to her knuckle. "You look ravishing tonight Miss Catalonia," Quatre compliments in a gentle tone. Catherine covers her mouth to hold in her giggle, and Trowa tries to keep his face emotionless but is failing. Dorothy notices this and gives an evil, yet sexy, grin as she leans closer to Quatre, "I wouldn't mind being ravished Mr. Winner…" Quatre pulls back quickly, with a deep red blush covering his face, as Catherine lets out a startled squeak and Trowa's eyes widen. Dorothy laughs as she walks away, "Calm down, I'm just toying with his innocence." She then disappears into the crowd.
"Geez Quatre, you look like a tomato."
They turn to see Duo, with his wife Hilde, and Heero with his girlfriend Sylvia wearing a black cocktail dress. Quatre kisses Sylvia's hand in greeting, then hugs Hilde, complimenting her baby blue strapless gown. "You look beautiful, Mrs. Maxwell." Hilde smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you Quatre. See Duo? He's a gentleman, you can learn something from him," she jokes as she pokes her husband in the chest. Duo flashes his trademark grin and kisses his wife on the forehead, "You wouldn't have married me if I weren't the handsome and charming Duo Maxwell!" Hilde rolls her eyes after giving Catherine and Trowa hugs, "Handsome, maybe. Charming? Eh." Duo feigns being insulted as Dorothy returns with a tall glass of champagne, dragging a slightly annoyed Relena. "Woah mama!" Hilde walks up and hugs the two women, "You two look great!" Relena smiles, "So do you Hilde, and Catherine you look beautiful also." Hilde manually closes Duo's mouth, "Stop drooling and hug the girls!" While Duo is greeting the girls, Quatre and Trowa notice that Heero is watching Relena's every move. Quatre, on the other side of Heero, lightly nudges him. "Relena. Dorothy." The two girls look at Heero and Sylvia, and respond, "Heero." Relena puts on her politician's smile and greets Sylvia, "Miss Noventa, you're looking lovely tonight." Sylvia puts on a fake smile of her own, "Why thank you, Miss Dorlian, so do you."
An awkward silence settles among the group before Quatre clears his throat, "Gentlemen, let's get drinks for the beautiful ladies." After the guys leave, Sylvia's smile turns into a sinister grin, and she directs her attention to Dorothy and Relena, "So, I notice you two don't have escorts tonight, unless you're a couple now. If so, then I overestimated you Miss Catalonia. I would think that a glory hound such as yourself would have chosen a stronger soul mate…" "You bi-" Catherine grabs Hilde and covers her mouth before she can finish, and potentially the girl. Before Dorothy could get to Sylvia, Relena steps in between them and matches the shorter blonde's glare, "If anything Sylvia, we overestimated you. To think that you would show some class at a formal event celebrating peace must have been asking for too much. I'm sure your father would have been proud." Sylvia's eyes blaze in anger but before she could respond, the guys return with drinks, oblivious to the previous exchange. Quatre, however, senses it all. "Uh, girls?" Sally asks as she and her partner Wufei walk up to them, with Catherine still holding onto Hilde. Relena turns to greet them, "Sally. Wufei. It's nice to see you," she then turns to the rest of the group, "If you all would excuse me." After she turns and starts to walk away, Hilde pulls free from Catherine, grabs her, then grabs an unsuspecting Sally, "Yeah us too," leaving Dorothy to glare at Sylvia. "Dorothy!"
The blonde grins and walks up to Sylvia, standing two inches taller then her at 5'7". She drinks her wine in one swallow, never taking her eyes off of the shorter blonde, and then hands her empty glass to Quatre, who uneasily takes it without question. Dorothy walks past the girl, secretly pushing her forward. Sylvia nearly sprains her ankle, before Heero catches her easily. "Don't fall Sylvia," Dorothy purrs as she looks down at the woman's black stilettos and fakes concern, "Maybe you should wear heels you can actually walk in." With that last statement, she slinks away, leaving some confused and uncomfortable men in her wake. Sylvia pulls Heero's arm, "Let's dance Heero." Once they leave Duo let's out a sigh of relief, "Meow!" Trowa just shakes his head, as Wufei looks on confused, "I guess I came at the wrong time." Quatre rubs his temples to help ease the whirling emotions that he just witnessed, "In a way, yes. I felt Dorothy and Sylvia on the verge of killing each other, with Hilde ready to help." Wufei and Trowa raise an eyebrow in interest, and Duo just snorts and chuckles, "What a night to be an empath, huh Quatre?"
The girls are sitting in the deluxe sitting area of the ladies' room. Catherine and Relena just finished brushing Sally up on what just happened, as Dorothy and Hilde pace around the room trying to calm themselves down. "I could kill her! Practically flaunting Heero in Relena's face like that. I bet she was posing for the cameras outside, which is why they were late…" Hilde rants. Dorothy downs yet another drink and sits on the arm of the chair Relena is currently sitting in, "Are you okay Relena?" The Vice Foreign Minister smoothes down the front of her skirt with a small smile on her face, "I'm fine Dorothy. I appreciate your concern." Sally shakes her head, "To think that reporters are calling her the next dove of peace…" Hilde snorts and rolls her eyes, "All she does is kiss ass…. among other things." Relena lets out a surprised sound as Dorothy and Hilde laugh hysterically at the joke. Catherine's eyes widen, and Sally tries hard to keep her chuckle to herself. Relena sits back in her chair and closes her eyes with a smile, "Now girls, we're the ones with class remember?" Hilde and Dorothy finally stop laughing and silently agree. Hilde sits down on a couch next to Catherine and Sally, "Okay, since we're done with that…now we can talk about Dorothy's bellybutton piercing and that dress…" Dorothy smirks and rolls her eyes as Catherine and Sally nod in agreement.
Duo elbows Quatre, "Dorothy looks hot tonight huh?" Quatre blushes and gives a small nod. Wufei shakes his head, "Now that's a woman with no honor. I would never allow my wife to go out dressed like that." Duo smirks, "So we know what Sally won't be wearing…" The Asian man turns crimson as he looks up at his comrades, whom he thinks of as brothers. At 5'10" he is the shortest of the gundam pilots, with Quatre next at 5'11", Heero and Duo at 6'0", and lastly Trowa at 6'1". "Sally and I are partners. We didn't even come here together. We met up," Wufei defends himself. Trowa sips his drink, "You're not gonna get her that way." Wufei snorts in response "Look who's giving me advice. The guy that came with his sister." Duo spits out his wine laughing, and Quatre nearly chokes on his drink, as Heero and Sylvia return with two other women.
"What's so funny?" Heero inquires. Trowa gives Wufei a look, "Nothing. Are you going to introduce us to these pretty ladies?" Sylvia smiles, "Yes I will. This is Jerica Simmons." Sylvia gestures to a woman of 5'8", brown eyes, and black hair with white streaks, halfway down her back, wearing what looked to be a black lace corset and a tight black skirt that stopped mid-thigh, with black heeled sandals with straps going up her calves, showing a tattoo of a fierce tiger with blood dripping from its mouth on her left calf. "And this is Maven Simmons." Sylvia introduces a woman one inch shorter than the first woman, with wire glasses hiding her lighter brown eyes, and shoulder length red hair with a bang, wearing a simple strapless black dress that stops just above her knees, and a matching jacket with simple black pumps. Jerica offers her hand to the ex-gundam pilots as Maven shyly nods in their direction. "They're my cousins," Sylvia smiles. Wufei raises an eyebrow, "Aren't you two the heiresses to the weapons manufacturing empire that provides advance weaponry to the Preventers?" All eyes turn to the girls and Jerica smiles and answers, " Simmons Weaponry. Yes sir," then downs her drink and gives her glass to Maven and leaves for another. Maven notices Quatre and Trowa exchanging looks and gives the group a small smile, "Please excuse my sister, she's just…my sister," she ends with a shrug. Just then the building shakes as a loud explosion sounds somewhere in the building. Screams echo from all around when the lights go out, with small sparks coming from the chandeliers sitting haphazardly above the panic stricken guests. Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Wufei naturally go on alert. "Miss Maven, are you alright?" Quatre asks. "Yes, thank you, but where are Sylvia and Jerica?" "Let's go see what the hell happened," Heero orders as the others follow.
"Relena! Hilde!" Dorothy coughs, "Sally! Catherine! Are you alright!?" The blonde asks in the smoke filled room. The explosion hit the ladies' bathroom almost directly, just missing the girls sitting in the next room. Dorothy was thrown behind the couch and protected, but she knows the other girls weren't so lucky. The platinum blonde woman pushes from under the scorched couch and immediately sees Relena, lying in a puddle of blood under her head. "Relena." Dorothy pulls her close friend onto her lap, then hears something moving right next to her. "Dorothy? Are you ok?" Hilde crawls out from the debris, her dress ripped up to show cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs. "I'm doing much better than you two. Relena might have a serious concussion. We need to get help now!"
A flash of light from a helicopter shines through the hole on the wall. A masked man leans out with a gun and shoots tear gas into the room. The gas burns Hilde's eyes and she screams. Dorothy's tongue and throat burns as she inhales it. The last thing they see is Catherine and Sally being dug out, and men coming for them before their world turns to black.
The ex-gundam pilots and now top Preventer agents, stand in Lady Une's office in Preventer HQ, tuxedos dirty and torn from the night's events and from hours of searching. "I can't believe Hilde's gone. They're all just gone, without a trace…what type of bullshit security was on duty anyway!?" Duo jumps up from his seat in the corner in rage. Trowa puts a calming hand on his shoulder, "It's quite obvious that the enemy had people working on the inside. It's also obvious that the girls could very well still be alive, or else they would have been killed on site." The rest of the guys stand when Une bursts into the office with files in her hand. "I woke up every forensic scientist we had and had them working nonstop on the blood and debris found where the girls were kidnapped." Une's eyes soften before she delivers the results, "Would you all like to sit?" As she expected, all heads shake in the negative, and hard eyes wait for the news. With a sigh, Lady Une continues, "The blood found were confirmed to belong to Relena Peacecraft, Hilde Schbeiker, and Sally Po. There were puddles of Relena's blood. There were also traces of burned skin, shown to belong to Catherine Bloom. Hair samples collected showed that Dorothy Catalonia was there also. So wherever they are, they are together. A new form of tear gas was found in the air, and traces were found on the floor. It not only painfully paralyzes its victims, but it also tests to knock them out for weeks, and can leave them with short or long term memory loss…" Une stops to look at the pilots' for the first time since she started the report, and what she saw made her feel an odd mixture of pity and fear for the lives of the new terrorists. Heero's eyes were narrowed into slits, and his hands were balled into fists so tight that his veins were showing through his knuckles. Quatre and Duo were on the verge of tears, and even the ever-emotionless and level-headed Trowa and Wufei looked ready to kill.
Wufei is the first to speak, "We need to interrogate all guards on duty. It's impossible for NO ONE to see ANYTHING." Une nods in agreement, "We have most of them in containment now. However, some have…disappeared." "WHAT DO YOU MEAN DISAPPEAR!?" Don't we have files on every Preventer?" Duo exclaims. Heero speaks before Une could answer, "All files have been erased. Every single guard on duty tonight no longer exists within the database." Une nods, "Exactly. So we're starting from scratch. We don't know who or what we're looking for." Trowa turns to leave, with the others following, "We'll find out soon."
A blood-curdling scream jolts Relena awake. She tries to sit up but finds that she is being restrained on a gurney by leather straps. She hears a scream again, and this time it feels like electricity shoots through her body, making the Vice Foreign Minister let out a scream of her own. After ten minutes, the pain in her body stops. Relena's bangs stick to her forehead, slick with sweat, as she struggles to catch her breath. No sooner than she takes her first breath does excruciating pain shoot through her head. She blacks out hearing the mysterious screaming.