A.N.: I said I would use the POV of secondary characters when necessary

Damaged Goods

I knew keeping tabs on those five boys was a good idea.

My superiors didn't agree with me at first. They thought the former Gundam pilots would adjust to civilian life famously. Boys that young who fought and lived through war were surely – in my mind – damaged goods. All they know is war. They lived and breathed it. They were trained for it from a younger age than most anyone else they encountered on the battlefield. Individuals who've been that immersed in one, violent way of life cannot come out balanced and ready for an era of peace, even if it's what they fought for.

For a long time I was under the assumption that Chang Wufei, Trowa Barton, and Quatre Raberba Winner had found their calling and a comfortable life they could live out, but they all proved me wrong one by one. As for Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell, I never had much faith. I pictured Heero breaking down in his late twenties, and I envisioned Duo never amounting to anything and striving to live up to his former glory.

Wufei had been doing well as a Preventer Lieutenant. He had a bit of a temper that landed him in hot water from time to time, but he was certainly the best of the best. I gave him more passes than I should have, it's my job as Commander to keep my people in line, and in hindsight maybe I should have reprimanded and punished him more often. After the incident with his therapist I had no other choice but to put him on suspended leave, and that's when he began to spiral out of control. I was informed of him partaking in underground fights and I had the local police organize a take down while he wasn't there, hoping that that would snap Wufei out of his funk. After that I was optimistic that he'd be a major asset in finding Heero and his computer science buddy and co-conspirator, Noah. And when he finally found that AWOL son of a bitch, he let him go! The only option I had after that was to keep him confined safely under my thumb and permanent watch.

Low and behold the one Gundam pilot that was barely a blip on my radar snuck past a lazy fat guard – who is now out of a job – and busted Wufei's ass right out of jail. When I watched the security footage I almost blew a gasket. They didn't escape in a blaze of glory. They didn't climb through air ducts or scale down the side of the building. They didn't even incapacitate every person they encountered. No. They just walked out of the building and onto the street. That Trowa Barton is good at floating around unnoticed. It's a skill, a gift, and one I underestimated and paid the price for. If I had kept stronger tabs on him, Wufei might not have gotten away so easily. Trowa had stayed put for so long that I surmised he wouldn't be leaving the Circus anytime soon. Once they'd left the L1 headquarters, both were virtually impossible to find for a while until they hijacked a craft. Unfortunately, Wufei's knowledge of our ever-changing programs benefited their second disappearance. The last place I thought they'd turn up was the Peacecraft Estate, but a phone call from Agent Wind disclosing that information was very much welcomed. It was a happy coincidence that that call came less than twenty-four hours after we'd apprehended Mr. Winner and Mr. Maxwell who were also on their way to Ms. Peacecraft.

After Wufei let Heero slip by, it wasn't long that he turned up in Brussels seeking Relena's help. It was a collective decision not to bring him in right away, seeing as how Heero had become addicted to heroin and it was clear that he wasn't going to be leaving the haven of her home. It seemed like a better idea to wait and watch, see how far his strength had deteriorated and strike when we were ready to. Besides, if he had tried to leave, Milliardo would have stopped him dead in his tracks. Wufei and Trowa showing up cut Heero's time with Relena short by four days. But like I said, it worked out for the best, silver linings and all.

As for Duo, the agency had fairly lean watch over him, similar to that on Trowa. At first we were concerned with him living in the L2 cluster because of its high crime rate, but he never did anything suspicious. For all intents and purposes, it appeared he was trying to live a normal boring life that any eighteen-year-old would be enjoying. Working, going out to bars, living with his girlfriend was what his life had become. We weren't worried about him reaching out to the others after a while; it appeared he wanted to forget that part of his life. But Duo did cause a bit of trouble for himself by getting into a drunken car accident. I sent Noin to check up on him. After that incident, Duo's situation only got worse. He's been wracking up a body count starting a few weeks ago, beginning with a dirt L2PD officer. We were going to apprehend him, but he and his friend Mihael Kheel disappeared the night before the take-down was supposed to happen. That braided boy wonder could have flown under the radar for a long time if he hadn't found Quatre and teamed up with him.

Now Quatre, that false businessman and pacifist with a background of violence was never going to live up to his father's expectations that much I knew. The sole Winner male had defied that peaceful approach by joining in on the war in the first place. If anything, I thought he might try to redeem himself by giving to various charity organizations, which he did at first. Quatre Raberba Winner was a huge advocate for boosting the welfare of L2 citizens. As far as Space Colony's go, L2 is the third world nation of the stars, so poor, wrought with upheaval, and educationally far behind the rest of the colonies, it was no wonder he pursued to increase their lively hood. Too bad for them, Quatre got sucked up in his own distractions and failed to become more than his father. I'm sure he thought he made a clean break when he ran away, but someone of his status could never out run us. The only way that would happen is if he got himself abducted like Relena.

For treating these specific, highly intelligent, absurdly resilient boys, we've – meaning I and a few other's who know them well – have devised a program that will bring them back together and hopefully benefit them in the future. We were wrong to want to separate them. Wrong to be happy that they had done so on their own. These misfits need each other. No one understands them better than their wartime comrades. They need each other to function in today's peaceful environment. They know nothing else, and together they can grow like a tree spreading its roots, much stronger as a whole then individually.

So with that notion, we have formulated a program to reinforce their bonds and unite them again. It's actually a tool desperate parents use for troubled teens with a slight, extreme twist. A wilderness retreat or more like wilderness abandonment. They'll have all the necessary items to survive, but they're limited so they will have to stick together to make it out. Depending on their knowledge of constellations they might be able to figure out where they are in the world. There's a safe house out there, a three-week trek through the mountains from the drop point we'll be leaving them at.

I have the utmost faith that they will make it through this trial and come out better when it's over.