Author's Note: It's not often that I use Hilde as a character in a story. To be honest, when I rewatched the show a few years ago, I saw her as a bland character. There really wasn't much, to my eyes, that could be worked with. Nevertheless, after writing my first story for the fandom back in 2007, this is perhaps the first time I've really focused on doing anything with her, the small role in The Maxwell Prodigy notwithstanding. That was AU and this, to a degree, isn't. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Chapter 13

Hilde was easygoing by nature, able to take whatever life threw at her and make something out of it. She could also be stubborn and when she believed in something, convincing her otherwise was nigh on impossible. She knew what she wanted, what she believed in, but even she could change given the right circumstances.

Once she had been a junior officer who actively recruited for OZ. Dedicated had been a word to describe her and she took pleasure in convincing others close to her age to join with her to support OZ's cause. Then she met a boy in black wearing sunglasses and everything from there was thrown out the window.

She had no regret letting him go, destroying any chance that OZ would keep her around.

And when that boy in black showed up sometime later, looking for a place to stay, how could she say no?

The rest was history.

Up to a point, though, because while she accepted that things changed, sometimes change wasn't quite a good change. Two years after that attempted revolution during the Christmas season, she was disgruntled with her new government. She was still young, why should she already be jaded towards them, others had asked her. Why couldn't she give these guys a chance to make something good for once?

She remained silent, choosing not to tell anyone how the boy who had changed the course of her life had been drafted and given no choice by a government agency to risk his life on a daily basis to ensure it wasn't toppled. That the boy had become so important to her that whenever he was unhappy, she was too. Being human, she had to find sources of happiness so that she didn't fall into chronic depression but it always sank her heart to see just how unhappy that boy had become.

She could still remember those smiles, ones so broad and full of mischief, reminding her of little boys laying out a trick. Now, though, those smiles had been replaced by fake ones that tried to reassure her that yes, he was okay, don't worry about him.

That was something she just couldn't do.

So she tried to find a way to bring those smiles from the old days back, the real smiles that let her know that this boy was as happy on the inside as well as the outside. She studied the law, searched for any loopholes that could help her liberate him. Two years' worth of searching and she had found nothing. The only thing she did get out of it was that she really knew what rights she had and what their government could and could not do.

And she was still no closer to helping Duo…

To say she was surprised to get a call from Quatre would be an understatement but once she figured out why he was here, that was when she figured it was time to shut up. She hadn't spoken with any of the other Gundam pilots with the exceptions of "hi" and "how are you?" If anything, Duo monopolized their time and she would drift back into the background.

She didn't have a problem with that. She figured that if any of those guys wanted to get to know her, they'd come to her. Hadn't happened but she didn't see it as a great loss. Duo's presence by itself more than made up for it.

However, she also knew just how frustrating Duo could be. Even after the wars, he had always had this wanderlust. He couldn't stay in a place for too long and even she knew there were some aspects of fighting that he missed. She herself indulged in guns; she liked holding guns and the power that a loaded one provided. Was she into it as Duo was? No but she understood to some degree and that was what counted.

She had to stop thinking about this, though, and get back to work. Even if it was a slow day. Might as well chat online, distract herself. She knew she hadn't heard the last of Quatre yet and odds were the Preventers were going to keep an eye on her in case Duo came calling. She had no idea or just what exactly was going on other than what Quatre had told her but she had a feeling there was more to it.

A covert mission and Duo going missing as a result. Duo didn't just disappear for no reason. He probably found out too much about something and was trying to save his own tail. She wouldn't be surprised if the guys in charge were keeping that tidbit away from the other pilots. It would be what politicians would do.

If she had no sense, she would be blogging about this right now but she did have sense so that's what she wasn't going to do. Instead, she would do what she always did. Bitch and moan in the chatrooms and see if she could find any sympathy. With how business was today, she'd figured she could get an hour or two in before anybody came in.

About an hour later, she was still on the computer, looking up every now and then to see if anyone had come in and was disappointed every time. Oh well, she was kinda enjoying herself right now. She had only left one chatroom where she had been having the most interesting conversation on whether alien life existed beyond the Colonies and was now chatting with someone who called their self DragQueenS2. Now that one was lending a sympathetic ear.

In fact, the two of them had gone off to have a private chat and here Hilde was spilling out all her frustrations with this mystery person. She had to admit, this DragQueenS2 was a very patient and attentive listening. It was like they understood exactly where she was coming from.

…she needed to check something.

You're not one of those conspiracy nuts, are you? she typed and sent.

Not really. I'd rather be a person who knows what's going on than guess at it.

Oddly reassuring but oh well.

Say, do you live in one of the Colonies? popped up on her screen and that was a red alert if she ever saw one. Why was this person asking where she lived?

Why do you ask?

She chewed on her lip waiting for her answer. Depending on how she was answered, it would determine what she would do from there. Either she would back out of the conversation entirely and avoid this person as best as she could or…well, she hadn't thought that far yet. Maybe that was why Duo was always telling her to think before she acted. She tended to get into more trouble when she was impulsive.

A bit ironic since most people had the belief that Duo was the one who was impulsive. That guy always thought out what he was going to do. What made him different was that he didn't make specific plans, just general so that he could adapt if shit hit the fan.

I'm visiting the Colonies for my honeymoon. Right now I'm taking a rest and catching up on some news and stuff. As it turns out, something came up at work and my husband has to do something with them today so I'm all alone. I was thinking of getting some lunch here pretty soon and was wondering if we couldn't take this chat of ours into the real world for a bit?

Sounded innocent enough but Hilde had heard about stuff like these. These guys would win your trust online and ask to meet you in person where they would kidnap and sell you into some kind of sex slavery. Excuse her for having self-preservation in mind, she was going to back out of this. Before she could give some excuse why she had to leave or rudely just exit, another message popped up suddenly and Hilde found herself reading it.

I just realized what it sounded like. I remember hearing about this human trade where they try to convince you to meet them after chatting online and I just figured out what I'm sounding like and I'm sorry about that.

Yeah, that really sounded like this person was sorry and…what the hell was up with all the underlined words? Actually, it was more like underlined letters but it was certain ones as well.

Hold on a sec…

Taking a notepad, she quickly scrawled out the underlined letters, coming up with readbetweenthelines. Staring at it for a second, she thought she recognized words in that line of letters. Read between the lines? Why…? Hold up.

She looked at the previous message and saw the underlined letters there. Huh, she must have not seen them the first time. It was just more obvious in the second message. Again, she wrote down these new letters and came up with meetmedmtwo. This one was a bit trickier. She saw "meet" and "two" but what was "medm"?

Unless…

It was a bit of a stretch but…wow.

Meet me d m two. D m. Those were initials, not a word.

Holy shit, Duo was contacting her! No wonder this person was so easy to talk with! But really, DragQueenS2? He could have picked another name. It wasn't like she was being monitored…oh wait, the Preventers. They were probably reading this conversation as it happened.

Which Colony are you on? Is it XJ90451? she typed in rapidly.

Are you a mindreading? That's where I am!

A coincidence much? Wait, she was talking with Duo. Of course he'd be on the Colony already. He was still playing a role.

Which hotel are you staying in?

A couple minutes passed and then—I think it's called the Carlton Tower.

There's a café near there called Poodle's. Want to meet up there in half an hour?

Hilde held her breath, hoping that she had picked a good place.

I know where that is. Wow, I'm going to meet someone I've met online in person! I'm so excited!

Yeah, yeah, sound like those creepy slave traders why don't you? Only you Duo. How she had put up with you…well, kinda spoke a lot about her that she wanted him back, right? Probably not the best question for her to ask.

Looking at the time, she saw that it was way past her lunchtime. Closing time was only a couple hours away so she had no excuse to do something like this. Hell, she was the manager, the boss! She could do what she wanted even if it was detrimental to the business! Besides, closing up early for one day wasn't going to hurt anything. It wasn't like she was bustling with business!

"She's heading out, sir," the Preventer agent reported, Quatre nodded as his eyes remained on the screen. Various vantage points had been scoped out before and cameras hung up to capture those views and this was before he had even called the young woman.

"Where could she be going before closing time?" he asked out loud. He knew the business hours of the scrapyard and how few employees there were. Hilde leaving like this was irresponsible of any businessperson trying to make it through life.

So yeah, it was obvious that she was probably meeting someone that she shouldn't be meeting.

"She's on the move, Trump," he phoned in to Heero, the acting of taking out his phone and speed dialing the other agent automatic.

"Follow her," Heero ordered. "See where she's going and who she's meeting if that is the case. Don't lose her."

"Roger," Quatre said, hanging up. "Don't lose the target," he ordered, keep her in sight at all times. "If anyone loses her, they will answer to me and their excuse had better be good."

Poodle's was one of those Mom n' Pop restaurants that had managed to survive through the poverty that wrecked the L2 Cluster and managed not to close down in seventy-five consecutive years. Consecutive was the key word; the place could be traced back to the early days of this particular Colony but had been closed down periodically due to health violations.

Yeah, the food was horrible but the fact that it was a landmark in this place was what kept people coming. The coffee was good and the tea meh.

Other than its longevity and commonality with a cockroach, the place was like other establishments here. Last Hilde recalled, the place hadn't been robbed in months so either she was in the clear or they were overdue.

It didn't help her nerves that she had been sitting at a booth with a freshly brewed cup of Joe for the past ten minutes or so. The coffee had lost quite a bit of heat but was still hot enough if only because of the insulation the coffee mug gave. She tapped a short, brown straw, the same one she had used to stir milk in her warm beverage, irritably as she looked at her watch and huffed.

The idiot was late. Why the hell was he late when she had given him a good half hour to get here? Jesus, she swore he did this to her just to get on her nerves.

"Welp, I wouldn't annoy ya if I didn't love ya," she quoted mockingly as she rolled her eyes. "Right, you must fucking worship me you ass."

Boisterous laughter erupted from the other side of the café, a group of old men reliving their old days by telling one another weird or hilarious stories that happened in their youth. Hilde briefly wondered if women that age did the same but disregarded it as soon as she did. What was she thinking, in the Cluster, of course they did!

Someone passed by her booth, their shadow falling over her for a second but she ignored it as she took a sip from her cooling drink. The shadow was soon back but it was followed up by a person asking, "deathfollower0451?"

Hilde paused and looked up, eyebrows raising at the sight of an impressively tall blond whose head was tilted downwards. It looked like he was peering into a gorge, his head was tilted that far.

"Looking for someone?" she asked instead.

"You did not answer my question," the blond replied, his voice flat. Hilde frowned at how little affect there was but decided that it didn't mean anything. That and the splotches of black in his hair. Either it was a really bad dye job or he was really neglecting his dye treatments.

"I don't know you," she shrugged. "Unless you know anyone that calls themselves DragQueenS2 then you're in the wrong place."

Instead of saying anything to that, the black-speckled blond took a seat across from her. Okay, what the hell?

"Um, what are you doing?" she asked irritably.

"I go by the moniker that you mentioned," the blond said.

"So…you're DragQueenS2?" Hilde asked slowly, beginning to curse herself. Either Duo was doing this to really piss her off or she had just made a blunder and had set herself up to be kidnapped and sold into slavery.

"For now, yes," the blond said. "And you are…you're Hilde?"

Why the heck had he stopped midway and rephrased his wording? This guy was a creep, wasn't he? Probably stayed at home, if he had one, and wacked off to online porn. What, he wanted the real thing now or something?

"What do you recommend?" the blond asked mechanically, as if he had rehearsed that to a mirror.

Hmm, should she give him a hard time and tell him to order something edible or should she warn him off and let him get something caffeinated? Hmm, tough question.

However, before she could answer, the blond was speaking again. Hilde could only blinking blandly back as the blond asked, "Do you know where the restrooms are? My friend went to it but hasn't come out. Do you think you could check for me?"

Oh, she knew where this was going now. This guy wasn't even trying, probably just a rookie at this. Oh he had a friend in the restroom, one who was most likely holding a piece of cloth that was drowned in chloroform. Rank amateur this guy was.

"I bet," she stated, eyes half lidded as she didn't try to hide her aggravation. What an idiot she was. She had been so sure that Duo had been the one sending her those messages.

"You cannot…can't miss my friend, he has a long braid," the blond said.

Hilde paused. "How long?" she asked, suspicious.

The blond remained silent, his face screwed up in a way that it suggested to Hilde that he was trying to remember something. "…uh…not long to be illegal and short enough to die for. I think."

"The restroom you said, right?" Hilde almost demanded, her heart pounding in her chest. There was only one person she knew that used such an expression, or at least close to it. Duo used to say it all the time when they shared a living space, especially when she had asked to know how much longer he was going to let it grow.

"Correct," the blond said.

"Get a coffee," she told him as she stood up. After that, she tried not to rush to the restrooms because she really didn't want to give Duo anymore material to tease her with. No, she would be casual, like she was only going to freshen up.

It was only as she reached the actual restroom that she realized that it was gender segregated. Poodle's had really wanted to emulate the cafés of the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second centuries and she was finding herself confronted with the symbol of female and male, each one on a door. Which one was Duo hiding in?

The answer was obvious; it would be the women's. Hilde had seen Duo's hair down enough times to know that if he wanted to, the guy could make himself look like the other sex. Naturally, Duo was vehemently against dressing up as a girl because, and she was quoting, he was not into that kind of shit.

That, and Duo was unorthodox. He liked to surprise you, pleasantly and unpleasantly she might add, and was always thinking of ways to circumvent rules.

Was she surprised when she entered the women's restroom that it was empty? A little. Deciding to make sure, she checked out the stalls to see if anyone was hiding in them. She had to remember that Duo wasn't going to wait in plain sight, especially if it was in a place that anyone could come in at any time.

The first couple of stalls proved to be disappointing and just as she was going for the handicapped stall, the door suddenly opened and she found herself being dragged in. A hand clamped over her mouth and she had a flash a fear. Perhaps she had been mistaken that—

"Sorry 'bout my cover man but I can't afford to be seen right now," a very familiar voice whispered into her ear, hot air tickling flesh.

"Ass," she said as she pulled away from the one and only Duo Maxwell, landing a light punch into his arm. "What'd you con out of that guy to make him do that anyway? Sounds like that physics guy with the computer voice you like listening to."

"I didn't do anything," Duo held his hands up, "he came out of the package that way. Hope you don't mind him; he's kinda my partner right now."

"Right," Hilde drawled as she crossed her arms. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on and why Quatre came by to talk even though we haven't seen each other in years?"

"They sent Quatre, huh?" Duo muttered. Shaking his head, he replied, "Real long story, Hil. Too much to tell in too little time."

"How about you try me," Hilde challenged.

"Now's not the time," Duo stated. "I'll tell you what I can but right now, I need information. Specifically, I need to know what's been going on on this Colony in the past three years."

Hilde frowned. "Don't you mean two?" Her frown deepened when she noticed the blond splotches in his long hair. Looks like she knew who was responsible for the bad dye jobs.

"I need to be refreshed on what was happening before I left and what happened after," Duo stated, his head cocked as he listened for any other sounds. "Little time to waste, they'll expect you to come out soon."

"Who? What's going on Duo?" Hilde demanded.

"Preventers tailed you here; they're watching your every move. Probably bugged your place too," Duo said quickly. "They think you'll lead them to me on an off chance."

"Christ, what did you do this time?" Hilde asked, frowning.

"Now's not the time. Local events please," Duo replied.

Hilde sighed. Like old times, wasn't it?

"Who is that guy?" Quatre asked, frowning as he watched the café through binoculars. Hilde had come here of all places and taken a seat close to the front window. He had to remind himself that she was not as trained as he and the others were and wasn't going to be sitting down in a corner or less open place.

But she had waited for quite some time and this mystery man had appeared. A couple minutes later, she was heading towards the back while the guy remained seated and ordered something when a waitress came by.

Who was this guy and why did Quatre have a feeling that he should know who it was?

"We're trying to run a check but nothing's come up," a fellow agent reported.

"I didn't think he'd have a criminal record," Quatre said dryly. "Try driver's licenses and other certificates of that nature. Let's try and figure out who this guy is. Fast."

Little did Quatre know that he wasn't the only person spying on the shop.

"There he is!"

"What do we do?"

"What else? The doc gave us those freaks and told us to use them. That's what we're going to do."

"Fuckin' crazy…"

"Care to tell me what's going on now?" Hilde asked, finally giving Duo the information that he had required. "Don't try and stiff me on this one, Duo."

Giving a quick guess to how much time had passed since Hilde entered the restroom, he said, "Can't tell you a lot now but I'll tell you this much. There was this raid a while back and it found some weapons were being sent to a supposedly abandoned Alliance base. We went to check it out and found a lot of odd stuff there. I got separated from the others but not before taking some of the data we recovered in case any of us got captured."

"If it's the data they want, why don't you just give it to them?" Hilde asked.

"Because it involves my partner in there," he told her, jerking his head towards the general direction of "Solo." "There's also this science project that's not legal at all and involves human experimentation and the next level of soldiers. The guys behind it want to make Mobile Suits obsolete and replace it with an army of human clones that all have the personality of Heero Yuy."

"And you haven't told the Preventers any of this why?" Hilde demanded. "You're a fugitive now! Wanted, again! And if they capture you, they're going to send you to prison Duo! Prison! And this time no one's going to bust you out!"

"So I have to turn myself in? Same results, Hil, and I can't let them get their hands on my partner," Duo rebuffed. "Besides, it's not only the Preventers who are on our tail. The guys behind all this are chasing us too and they want him back."

"Why the hell are you doing all this for that guy?" Hilde exclaimed. "Why's he so important that you have to keep him out of the Preventers' hands, the same people who could protect him from the bad guys?"

"Outta time," Duo said sharply. "You've been in here long enough. Go back out, chat with him for a bit, then leave. Don't raise your tail's suspicions."

"You didn't answer my question!" Hilde protested.

"There's no more time! Get back out there!" Duo snapped at her. "I'll tell you more when there's time, alright. Now go!"

"Christ, you can be so difficult!" Hilde swore but obeyed him nonetheless. Duo remained in the stall, wincing slightly at how loud the door slammed shut. After that, the silence was almost deafening and oppressive.

He hadn't meant to get Hilde wrapped up in all this and before everything was said and done, she'd be in deeper than before. Combing his fingers through his hair, he sighed.

Things weren't going to get much better any time soon. He had a gut feeling that told him that. But for now, he was going to have to sneak back out of this place. It would suck if he was cornered in the women's bathroom by who knows how many Preventer agents.

If there were going to be headlines, he could see them now. And no, he was not going to put them into thought just for your amusement.

Peeking out of the stall, he waited a second, focusing on the noise from beyond the bathroom door, listening for any approaching footsteps. Nothing yet so he took his chance to head towards the small window that this particular restroom had. There wasn't one in the men's, unfortunately, and this was why he was glad he had scouted this place out before Hilde had arrived. That also included her Preventers tail.

Standing on his toes, he reached up to the open window and pushed on it with his fingertips, pushing the window open slightly. Lowering himself, he bent his knees then made a leap. He grabbed the windowsill, his feet dangling from the floor as he pushed the window open further. Once there was enough room, he began snaking an arm through the opening, pulling the rest of his body up.

There was a lot of effort and a lot of squirming but he squeezed through, his feet just leaving as the bathroom door opened. He held his breath as the female patron headed into a stall and when he heard the ruffling of clothes, he quietly shut the window behind him.

By now, Hilde should be finishing up with "Solo" and soon enough he would retrieve the blond and head back to their little lair.

Making sure that his braid was tucked under his jacket, he strolled out of the alleyway and onto the main street, whistling a light tune. If he moved and acted like he belonged here, no one would look twice at him.

As he passed Poodle's front, he could see that Hilde was talking amicably with "Solo," probably trying to see if she could tease anything more out of him. He could tell by now that "Solo" was really uncomfortable with this as the blond was shifting in his seat every few seconds. He was so unused to such intense interrogation but the fact that he was socially awkward was what was keeping him from spilling his guts.

Eyes flickering away and to his surroundings, he could already pick up a couple of the Preventer agents who were watching Hilde as unobtrusively as they could. They were probably trying to find out about who the hell "Solo" was and at least there Duo knew they wouldn't find anything. It would be pure luck if they managed to find anything on one of the many clones that had been sent out and even then the trail would go cold. All the clones were dead and "Solo" here was the final combination of them all.

That reminded him that he really needed to read those pages he had printed out back on Earth. He still hadn't gotten around to reading them. Jeez, he was really letting himself go. Was he scared to find out what else was going on with this whole thing? That maybe there was one more thing that would shatter his world one more time?

He had to get over that because knowing what was on those papers might mean the difference between life and death. Shying away from them just because he was afraid of what he might find out was not going to help anyone.

He needed to regrow his balls or something. He was starting to sound like someone else, someone that was not the gung-ho, let's blow some shit up kind of guy that every once in a while came up with a battle plan. Things used to be much simpler.

And he was falling back into that "if only things were different" trap. Get over it Duo and pay attention to the here and now. Wondering about hypothetical might-have-beens was going to get you nowhere.

He continued walking passed the café, trying to think of a way to signal his blond companion in there that it was time to bail, ignoring the sound of a diesel engine as a large van passed by. He didn't want to be too obvious because Hilde's tail might become their tail. They would have to lose the tail then and if that happened, then Preventers would begin focusing more on them, trying to pick up their trail.

They were already on their trail but it was a trail that would get them nowhere. This trail would lead them closer than Duo felt comfortable. So how was he—

Why the hell was that van backing up? That fucking beeping sound was annoying the hell out of him. He needed to think here, not get distracted by this urban shit. The van's engine continued to rumble as it came to a stop but Duo figured he ought to put some space between him and it. He needed to think damn it and while he could think under pressure, it wasn't something that he liked to do. He liked to react impulsively under pressure, not puzzle under it.

He was starting to get some freaky voodoo vibes from that van, though. The driver had gotten out and was walking quickly to the back, opening the rear doors.

From his vantage, Duo could see what was in it and what he glimpsed caused his eyes to widen and his hand to reach for his gun.