Author Note: Sorry for my relatively extended absence, fans and readers. I don't quite know what to say, other than I guess I needed a break, and it really took me a long time. Can't promise I will update as quickly as I used to, but I will try. Thanks for your patience. I imagine some of the events in this chapter aren't going to be a surprise to some, but I expect a few questions to be asked in the end.

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Kira and Lacus stood and stared at Noah incredulously for a long few seconds, not quite able to believe their ears. "All downhill from here? What do you mean? What are you saying?" Lacus asked with a deep frown, a very bad feeling starting to well up inside her, like an unwelcome cold breeze slipping past her skin. "Curing humanity of hate? Creating a new Eden from Earth? You're not making any more sense now than you did before." She protested. Though that wasn't quite true... she was starting to get a mild handle on what Noah was telling them. It was just so terrifying in its scope and... and wrongness... that she did not want to believe it! Even the Blue Stuff wasn't on this scale. This was the whole world he was talking about. Humanity as a whole! Her mental shell cracked some as she fought to keep herself calm, and Noah smiled beautifically at them both, like a shark that has sighted a crippled dolphin.

"There's no sense in denying it. You may not want to understand, but you do understand me, Lacus." Noah said quietly, his grin slowly fading away. "You understand, and you are shocked, and horrified, and angry. Because what I am doing is a fundamental shift in the course of humanity. And that is fundamentally frightening. And that brings me to why I need you, Lacus, to be my Eve. People will not listen to me. Not even though I am the expert, the very hand beyond this change of path. They will allow their fear and shock and pure, unadulterated stubborn stupidity to block my words from their ears, no matter how well intentioned they are. People will not listen to me. But they will listen to you. If you tell the world that it is going to be all right, that things will work out as long as they listen to what I have to say, they will believe you. Or at least the greatest majority of them will."

"You want her to be your figurehead." Kira said grimly, his face set in an angry half snarl. "You want to use her good image, her rapport with the people of the world, the trust they have for her, for your own benefit!"

"For their own benefit. Not mine, cousin Kira. There is very little benefit in this entire strategy for me. Moreso to my benefit would have been staying with the status quo... as one of the few Ultimate Coordinators, I would have had an insurmountable advantage over pretty much everyone else in the world. I could have been King of the world. The Secretary-General of the USN. The President of the Solar System even, had I just left well enough alone. Do you know what I'm going to be now? Probably one of the most despised and hated human beings ever to live. And I'm going to be just another guy on the street, in terms of capabilities. Perhaps more experienced, certainly more practised than most, but in terms of sheer ability... I won't be anything special. My own benefit? I do not benefit from this, except in the manner of I will no longer be almost alone. Humanity is the ones who benefit here, not me." Noah retorted vehemently.

"But they can not and will not see that unless someone they trust tells them so." Noah sighed in exasperation. "And there are currently only two people I can think of in all the Solar System that enough people trust to make a difference. One of them is Gilbert Durandel. The other is Lacus Clyne. Obviously, Gil won't be cooperating with me, and even if he did, people would, rightly, assume I was manipulating or forcing him, and they would then ignore him as well. That leaves you, Lacus. You are the Eve of the Ultimate Coordinators. Its probably going to be a dirty, painful and thankless job. But you are used to that, and it is for the good of all. I really don't see how you can say no, given how your ethics run."

"People really should learn not to tell me that they know me better than I know myself, or try to predict my actions based off my philosophies and morals. My code of ethics is a strong guiding force for my actions." Lacus said firmly, pausing a beat. "But that is all that it is. A guiding force. Not an absolute law, not a binding code of conduct. A guide. I have had it proven to me several times, often painfully, that my ethics can mix me up and make my situation worse than it normally would be. I am not some semi-divine being. I'm just another girl. I am wrong as often as I am right, and usually when I am wrong more people than just myself suffer because of it. However, my successes are also generally quite good, and this has led to many people having quite a higher opinion of me than I feel I necessarily deserve. Abusing that trust, that faith in me, is not something my ethics, as you so smugly pointed out, will allow me to do either." Lacus stared into Noah's disconcerting eyes for a moment to make sure the point went across. "And that, as far as I'm concerned, is that. No, I won't be your Eve."

"So you're just going to abandon hundreds of millions, maybe even billions, of people to painful deaths, when speaking up on my side, disseminating information that I have that is pertinent to the rebirth of humanity, could prevent it, no matter how distasteful you find it?" Noah asked softly. "And people say I'm cruel and insane."

"What are you talking about now?" Kira leapt to Lacus's defense, that unfamiliar feeling of rivalry welling up inside him again. Was this really his own feelings? It didn't seem like something that would happen to him. But if they weren't his feelings, then what was it? Why was he feeling so confrontational? "Hundreds of millions or billions dead? I thought you were all about bringing a golden age for Humanity. Where did the mass deaths come from?"

"Like any birthing process, this one is going to be somewhat bloody and painful." Noah said with an offhand shrug. "Green EDEN changes the genetic structure of living organisms into a more perfect form, based strongly off my own DNA. You could liken it to a tune up on a car, but more like a complete overhaul, upgrading to an entirely better class of vehicle altogether. Some things don't take so well to being broken apart and put back together again... though all the parts are there, they just don't quite work as intended. Or else, during the process, outside factors, like rust or corrosion, creep in, and the entire project breaks down from the inside. Because Green EDEN functions on living organisms, it needed to have a way of ensuring the biological defenses of those organisms would not impede its work. So it shuts them down for the duration of the process. I suppose you could liken it to a short term case of AIDS, though there's a stronger negative connotation to that than I prefer."

"You are shutting down people's immune systems? But won't that..." Kira started to protest.

"Yes. Yes it will. And it's very regrettable. I'd say we are looking at around fifty percent casualty rates from secondary infections. I'm sure you're well acquainted with your own immune system and its peculiar strengths, Kira. Once the process is complete, our new brothers and sisters should shake off all but the worst of viruses and bacterial infections like a common cold. Its merely a matter of surviving to that point." Noah interrupted with another shrug.

"How can you just say that!?" Lacus demanded furiously. "Fifty percent? Half of all humans could die? Even children? That is what you consider bringing about a golden age!?"

"Yes. People die. It's sad. But they die anyway. By my calculations, considering the projected fertility of Ultimate Coordinators, the population difference should be made up in a manner of a half century or so. Actually, given the extended nature of our lifespans, if we don't get rid of a significant portion of the population now, we will run out of room to live on Earth before the next century. However, population crowding is a problem I am confident we will be able to solve quite easily... probably by moving into more space colonies and the other planets. So if we can minimize casualties in the beginning phase, I would do so. I know how to do it, even. But people won't listen to me. And so more will die. But if someone they would listen to were to tell them, why, the casualty rates could be as low as twenty five percent, perhaps even less! I don't suppose you know anyone who might be willing to help me, now do you?" Noah replied with a slight smirk.

"This is beyond monstrous! You're just going to force people to become Ultimate Coordinators, killing roughly half of them in the process, regardless of age or willingness!? And you expect me to help you do it, just to minimize casualties!?" Lacus shouted, her entire face turning red in her fury. "How about this!? How about we stop you in your tracks and prevent you from doing this in the first place!? I think that's a much better option!"

"You can't." Noah said simply.

"Just because you beat us up in space doesn't mean you've won. We will stop you." Kira said, his voice dire. "The USN is still far bigger and more powerful than the Brotherhood can hope to be, especially now that the Revenant is destroyed!"

"That's not what I mean." Noah shook his head. "I say you can't stop me, because you simply cannot stop me. Why? Because the process has already begun! There IS... NO... TURNING... BACK! Even if you were to kill me now, and destroy the Great Endeavor this very instant, which you can't anyway, you will NOT have stopped me! Earth WILL become New Eden, that was decided the very moment the Great Endeavor reached the surface! As we speak Green EDEN is being distributed across the Eastern part of North America. Before dawn, it will be in the Gulf stream, and within a few weeks it will cover Europe, Africa and most of Western Asia. By the end of three months from this instant, right now, the entire Earth, from pole to pole, will be covered by Green EDEN. And there is nothing you can do to stop it. All you can do is delay the process, and that means even more people might die."

"I refuse to believe that. I will not give up hope." Lacus said resolutely. "What one person has made, other people will be able to unmake. We will reverse engineer your Green EDEN and find a way to neutralize it. You are forgetting, I think, one of the basic tenents of being a human... and that means fighting against all odds when your existence, and the existence of those you care about, is threatened. Humanity has its problems, its fracticious natures, but when we are threatened as a whole, there is nothing we cannot accomplish."

"Agreed." Noah replied with a smile. "The question is merely in the timeframe. I have no doubt that what you say is true. I merely doubt that it will occur before three months have passed. I would be very surprised if it occured before three years had passed, given the sad state of nanological research anywhere but within the Brotherhood. And by the time a so called cure is found, it will have been a moot point for a very long time. By that time, no one will want there to be a cure. For that matter, there is already a cure, you could say. What sort of genius would I be if I didn't have a way to destroy my own creations? Or at least a way to destroy Green EDEN. I don't think I'll be telling you what it is though. And it's a somewhat... unbalanced cure. More a preventative vaccine than anything else. Its not something you can apply after the fact. I have not won, perhaps, but you have lost. I hate to be cliche, but, resistance is futile."

"Resisting madmen and evil people is never futile. Fighting against those who would do harm to others, for their own profit or their own misguided ideals, is not wrong. Even if we can only buy ourselves days, even only hours... we will fight for them. Because that is what humans do." Kira retorted firmly. "You say give up hope. I say, there is always hope. Maybe I'm just as misguided as you. Maybe I am, as some people say, delusional, or self deceptive. And if I am, then I don't see anything wrong with it, because I will not accept just giving up in the face of adversity, no matter how the odds are stacked against me. If that is insanity, then I am the definition of insane and proud of it!"

"That goes for me as well." Lacus said, equally firmly. "Regardless of the reasons you have convinced yourself with, that you are doing this for the good of humanity and not your own benefit, I simply cannot accept those reasons or your plan as a whole. What you are doing is wrong. It is evil. You are taking free will from people and many of them are going to die because of it, and there is nothing, as you say, they can do about it. You are treating people like they are ants on a farm, or experimental test subjects. For someone who complains about always feeling the emotions of other people pouring into his head, you do seem to me to lack a great deal of empathy for others! You may have convinced yourself, Noah Borander, but you will never convince me!"

"Never is a long time, Lacus Clyne." Noah replied, his voice turning chilly. "I honestly thought you cared more about the rest of humanity, but it is becoming apparent to me that you are just as mulish, cold hearted and small minded as the rest of them. Maybe THAT is why they trust you so much. In any case, I am going to offer this one last time. Come with me. Become the Eve of the Ultimate Coordinators. Help me guide this new race that is going to come into existence. Imprint upon them your morals and ethics! The very things that make you so stubbornly resist me are what I want you to give to everyone! Its your spirit and your soul that I want impressed upon the collective spirit and soul of humanity! Not mine, not anyone else's... yours, Lacus. Yours. I will freely admit I am often an immoral or amoral person. It would be wrong for me to be the guiding light of the new race. That is not true of you, Lacus. You DESERVE to lead our new race!"

"And where does Kira fit into this all? I notice you tend to neglect him in your ranting." Lacus asked, her voice equally chilly. "I should think you would want him to be a leader as well, since his morals at the very least match up with mine, and he is the first Ultimate Coordinator after all. He may not have the public following I do, but there are plenty of people that will listen to what Kira Yamato has to say as well."

"Cousin Kira is a suboptimal choice. He has proven to be... unstable. Unpredictable. He is the prototype of the prototypes. A dinosaur even though still a child, in terms of our lifespans. He doesn't understand anything about what and who he is. He lives in a fantasy world most of the time, and people around him pay for his dreaminess. He allows his emotions, not his intellect, to rule him and guide his decisions. He simply does not have what it takes to be the sort of truly great leader our people deserve. He is flawed and he would not guide our race down the proper, though often painful, path it needs to walk." Noah responded with a sneer. "How many people have died because you weren't willing to kill, Kira? Don't answer that... the answer is too depressing."

"I am flawed." Kira admitted. "I'm probably wrong more often than I'm right. I do make a lot of bad decisions, and plenty of people around me, both those I care deeply about and those less familiar, get hurt or killed because of it. But I cannot see the future, and I act as my conscience, my unstable emotions, in your terms, dictate I should given the situation. There are some choices I've made that I would unmake, if I could. But the greater majority, I would never change, no matter the consequences. I don't desire to be some great leader. I'm okay, I guess, with serving as an example to others, but only through my actions in living my everyday life. I don't want statues, I don't want a political office. I want to be me. And that includes the flaws. Being perfect is not what I want. I just want to try."

"Don't want to be perfect, merely want to try to be perfect!?" Noah snarled disdainfully. "Rubbish. If you can be perfect, you should be. Anything else is just a waste. We are Ultimate Coordinators... our strength is our potential! Not utilizing our potential would be wrong! Flaws exist to be eliminated and overcome, not accepted!"

"I wouldn't have Kira be any other way than he is." Lacus said resolutely. "Flaws and all. And I have plenty of my own flaws. And you, Noah, have so many flaws that even you could not possibly overcome them all, even if you lived to be a thousand, even assuming you could recognize them, which I seriously doubt you can. I have said it a dozen times already, but I'll say it again, and again, as many times as it needs to be said for you to understand. I refuse your offer. I refuse your demand. I will not be any part of your twisted plan. I will not tell anyone anything other than that you are a genocidal madman bent on destroying the world, because that is what I see before me. I could never accept being your mouthpiece. Not least because I would never, ever, be able to look my child in the eyes when they are born, less than a year from now."

"Yeah, that's righ... WHAT!?" Kira exclaimed, staring at Lacus, his mouth agape and eyes boggling. For his part Noah just had a disgusted expression of surprise on his face, as he too stared at Lacus, stunned by the sudden revelation. "You're PREGNANT!?" Kira continued to exclaim, loud enough for the whole island to hear him, if there had been anyone else around. "B-b-but... but when!? How!? What...!?"

"Well, the how I shouldn't really need to explain to you, Kira." Lacus said with a small chuckle at his shocked and dazed expression. "As for when, I'm not sure exactly. I only got confirmation recently, but I've suspected for a while. Maybe a month or so ago, give or take a week. I guess I don't have ICD after all. Whether that is because I'm an Ultimate Corodinator, or just lucky, I don't really care."

"This should only make you want to help me even more!" Noah insisted. "Or do you want your child to grow up a pariah? Considered a freak, or a scientific curisosity? Do you want your child to be the only one of their race? Even a Neo Human cannot beget more if they are the only one. Unless you have another child, and decide to force them to breed. As of right now, there are only three confirmed Ultimate Coordinators in the world. Me, you and Kira. We are, at the moment, the only ones who can produce Neo Humans. That should change shortly, but then again, you have professed a desire to not only stop me, but actually reverse my golden age! Why don't you think of your child... how will you look them in the eyes when they ask you why no one else is like them!?"

"Well, not that its any of YOUR business how we rear our children, but I do expect to be asked that sort of question, you may be surprised to know. I've certainly been asked it a lot by various children at the Malchio Orphanage." Lacus answered fiercely. "Because all children are unique in some way. Even otherwise identical twins are entirely different people on the inside, where it counts, in the heart and soul. Its coming to accept people because or though they are different that we become better people, and a better society as a whole. Wanting everyone to be like you is a fantasy of someone who has never learned to accept people for who they are. If everyone was like me, the world would be quite a dreary place, I'm pretty sure. I certainly wouldn't want to live there. I get sick of myself at times already, and I know Kira does too, sometimes, even though he won't admit it, and if people like us can get sick of each other, making everyone like us would be a big mistake."

"P-p-pre-pregnant!?" Kira stammered, still wide eyed and dazed. "B-but... but..."

"Kira." Lacus rolled her eyes at him. "We've been trying to have children for more than a year now. I would have thought you'd be prepared for this to happen, giving how hard we were trying."

"Bu-but you didn't say anything! I didn't even know you were checking up on it!" Kira protested.

"Don't be dense, Kira. Of course I was checking up on it. Every week at the least. I just didn't want to bother you with all the constant negative results. You do tend to blame yourself for things you really can't control, you know. Did you honestly think I paid those weekly visits to Cagalli just to talk with her? Your sister is a wonderful conversationalist, and she's certainly my best female friend. But every week? Forty minutes either way by boat, when a phone call would be just as good?"

"This is the sort of person you want me to consider as a leader of our race? I believe you are making my point for me." Noah commented snidely. Inwardly though, he was reeling. Lacus was pregnant!? With Kira's child!? That was not a variable he'd been counting on. Obviously he'd known they were sexually active, and that Lacus had been inquiring into the state of her genes, concerning ICD, not that she actually had anything to worry about on that scale, but a pregnancy!? He felt like his stomach was doing flip flops and nausea rose in his throat. This threw everything into disarry! Even if Kira were to be... disposed of... now there would be a tangible link to him nonetheless! She would never forget the father of her first child! On the other hand though... Noah started to see some distinct advantages to the situation. This was almost certainly the first Neo Human who would be born. Properly cared for and educated, he or she could be of unparalled usefulness in more fully deciphering the destiny of Humanity! This was a golden opportunity indeed. But finessing the details was going to get... messy.

"Kira is less observant about some things than he perhaps should be. But that is a flaw I can forgive him for, as many times as need be." Lacus said with a small grin. "I don't expect you to understand, but there's something very attractive about a man who is an idiot sometimes. As for being a leader, at least Kira has the humility to admit when he is wrong or out of his depth, and he asks for help. He does not merely assume he is right or the best man for the job, even though he is more talented, or skilled, than other people in many ways. A key part of being a leader worthy of respect is knowing when you aren't the right person for the job, whatever it may be, despite your abilities or qualifications. That is something Sai could not understand, and neither, apparently, can you. Sometimes, waiting and seeing, letting a situation evolve without guidance, is what a leader needs to do."

"Enough of this inane debate." Noah waved his hands irritably, though inwardly he was starting to smile again. Perhaps there was a silver lining to these stormclouds he'd encountered. It was merely a matter of attaining it. "I have offered and reoffered and even demanded your help, and you have spat in my face, figuratively if not literally. I have explained why it is not only a good way, but the ONLY way for mass scale deaths to be at least mitigated, and you still refuse. At the very last, you have held up your unborn child like a shield, citing him or her as an unmatchable reason for not helping me, despite the illogic of the very idea. What you perhaps do not understand is that this is NOT an option. I care about humanity too much to accept your petty refusal. Lacus Clyne, you WILL be Eve, one way or another, even if I have to kidnap you or threaten those you love most to ensure your cooperation. This is bigger than you and me, bigger by far. Doing this is not what I want. But I must do it nonetheless. For the good of Humanity."

"There you go again, trying to take free will away from people, for the purposes of your self defined greater good." Lacus sighed in frustration. "You are right, this debate is inane. Neither side will be convinced by the other's arguement. There is nothing further to be productive gained here. I've conducted enough futile negotiations to recognize another one when I'm in it. You say give up hope, that there is no path but your path, no truth but your truth. I say there is always hope, paths can be created merely by working hard, and the truth is what we, as a whole, make of it. Since there is nothing more to say, we will be leaving. The next time we see you, it will be on a battlefield. This saddens me, but I can get over it."

"No one is going anywhere, except as I decide." Noah retorted harshly. "You have no allies in the area, not for kilometers. Your Gundam is halfway across the island, and neither of you is carrying a weapon. I've already admitted to be amoral or immoral, so I don't think it should surprise you to learn that I am fully armed and capable of stopping you both with force if need be."

"We assumed as much." Kira said, his voice light but his eyes intent. He was still reeling inside from Lacus's announcement, and he was unable to stop himself from staring at her stomach every few seconds, though there was no visible sign of her pregnancy yet. But all the same, his senses were now on the very highest state of alert, or even higher than that! his entire body was zinging with energy. He had a child! He had a CHILD! He was going to be a FATHER! And Noah was threatening the mother of his child! And himself, but that didn't matter nearly so much. "We've dealt with your kind of people often enough to assume attempts at dishonorable conduct."

"That we're still here, and "unarmed" as you say, should tell you how worried we are about that." Lacus added with a confident smirk, her hand held tightly in Kira's. "We came prepared for trickery. You should know, that if you attempt the use of force on us, that there is a major difference between pacifism and passivity."

"And you should know, Lacus, that there is a major difference between "prepared" and "ready"!" Noah snapped in return, his hands snapping down to his sides, activating the spring loaded mechanisms that dropped his sidearms into his hands, even as a whispered subvocal command unleashed Phlegethion from her standby prowl. At the same time he lashed out with the full strength of his Newtype abilities, watching a glowing white Seed, brilliant like new snow, veined with gold, drop through the vastness of his mind, only to shatter and detonate with the very fury of creation, filling the universe with tangible light. Given how strong Lacus had proven to be recently, he didn't expect to be able to overpower her so easily, but Kira was another matter entirely. His mind was well shielded, but he was not anywhere near ready for an onslaught like what Noah launched upon him. All of his voluntary muscle control disappeared in a heartbeat and his body went stiff, microseconds before Phlegethion's decloaking and pouncing mass slammed into his chest and knocked him tumbling to the ground, half yanking Lacus to her knees before his hand was torn from hers. And from there it was only a matter of a second or two to line up a shot. Just a second or two. Just...

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Lacus cursed herself for being caught off guard, despite her confident words of only moments before. Noah had moved far faster than either she or Kira had been expecting. She'd thought they were still in the stage of threating words and bluffs, when they'd actually been at the cusp of direct physical and mental action! Not only that, but neither of them had been expecting a direct physical attack out of nowhere! She'd felt that there was another mind in the area, but it was tough getting a fix on it while she was keeping her attention on Noah, making sure he didn't attempt any coercions upon her or Kira. There was something about the mind in question too, some... incomplete. Damaged even, which made it especially hard to pin down. It wasn't until the mechanical dragonfrom materialized out of seeming thin air as its cloaking system disengaged while it pounced upon Kira, that Lacus finally realized what it was. This was the same sort of monstrosity that her Haro had been turned into! A real, live human intellect, that of a young girl, about fourteen or fifteen, had been stripped from her physical body and used as a control circuit for a robot!

Lacus instinctively recoiled in horror from the poor dragon/girl, losing her grip on Kira's hand in the process. She'd felt Noah strike out at Kira, and though much of the force of the blow had been stopped by Kira's own mental defenses, which was a good thing since the unmitigated attack would have almost certainly stopped his heart and lungs like what had happened to Ysak, enough had leaked by to bind his limbs tighter than any ropes or handcuffs could, basically paralyzing him and rendering him helpless to defend against the dragon/girl. She watched her own Seed, a lavender-periwinkle color, descend like a snowflake or gypsum crystal gently through a cave of still air, only to detonate with a ringing crash that went beyond noise, beyond vibration, to redefine everything she thought she knew. Her connection to Kira was dampened because of his state of surprise and distraction, not to mention the lack of direct physical contact, but she was more than strong enough on her own to toss a coercive attack of her own at Noah, slipping past his own somewhat meagre defenses to lock HIM down for a second or two, in the act of drawing a bead on Kira with his pistols.

Kira broke free of Noah's mental compulsion with a snarl, aided by Lacus's attack diverting Noah's concentration, and his limbs became his own to command once more, and just in time too. The black dragonform extended claws and teeth sharper than razors from its paws and jaw and began attempting to maul him with great gusto and fervor. The dragonform weighed less than him, but had the advantage of its claws and the fact that it was basically standing on his chest, or straddling it anyway. He winced and groaned as it slammed its tail into his lower body a few times, each blow like a strike from a hockey stick, even as he grabbed its forelegs and desperately held the claws away from his vitals. He could feel welling cuts on his sides from where the back paws were scrabbling at him, but the dragonform couldn't manage to contort its body enough to line up a claw for a disemboweling strike. It hissed at him, just like an enormous serpent, and its red eyes seemed to glow with anger.

Noah snapped free of Lacus's attack with a grunt and grimace of his own, displeased that his attempt to blitz Kira out of the picture had failed. Now Kira was all tangled up with Phlegethion, and noah couldn't be sure of a clear shot with either pistol, even at this range. If he struck Phlegethion with the dart, it would all be wasted, and if he shot her with the plasma pistol, then he might not get a second shot, as Kira would be up and moving almost instantly. No, better to let his guardian Dragon deal with cousin Kira, while Noah made sure to secure the true prize, hopefully without too much damage to her or the life within her. He lowered his pistols to his sides and turned his baleful gaze full upon Lacus, who met it with a grim stare of her own, their eyes identically washed out to metallic hues as they lashed out at each other with abandon, grimacing and squinting as they absorbed or deflected bursts of mental energy designed to inflict various delerious effects. Noah tred to shut down her brain, in effect sending her into a deep coma like sleep, like what he'd done to Katie, while Lacus kept hammering at his control of his physical body. She wasn't as strong as she had been in space, and her inexperience with her powers was beginning to tell.

Phlegethion darted its jaws down towards Kira's neck, and only barely missed as he convulsively heaved the dragonform up and away from him, leaving its metallic teeth clashing less than an inch from the flesh of his throat. The tail continued to hammer at his legs and lower torso, causing Kira to grunt and groan as he absorbed the battering stoically, unable to divert a moment's concentration lest the dragonform tear open his neck or rake open his bowels. He could feel a foreign substance entering his body from the shallow grazes the hind legs had inflicted, obviously some form of drug or poison coated the claws and fangs of his opponent, but where most Naturals or Coordinators would be curled up spasming with convulsions from the toxins, Kira merely felt a little nauseous and a few slight muscle cramps, as his high powered immune system ruthlessly combated the poison. The dragonform bit at him again, and Kira was forced to jerk his head and neck to the side as much as possible, though he failed to entirely avoid the attack, and the poison coated razer fangs bit deeply into the muscle of his right shoulder, grating into the bone with crisp little noises. He couldn't help himself, he screamed in agony.

Hearing Kira's distress struck Lacus like a lightning bolt channeled through every fiber of her mind and body. Her truncated hair swirled in a breeze that did not exist, and her eyes, already dire, became positively deathly, even to the point where Noah felt a quiver of true fear ripple through him. He felt small, and vulnerable, like a child who had just been caught being very naughty indeed. However, it wasn't him that Lacus lashed out at, no, she turned her full attention upon Phlegethion, who was about to capitalize on Kira's wound by gnawing entirely through his shoulder, and then letting blood loss weaken her opponent to the point where she could deliver the coup de grace by incinerating his entire upper torso with her flame breath. The dragon/girl was actually smiling, mentally, happy that she had been able to fufill her master's desire. That smile faded when she became suddenly aware of Lacus's undivided attention. Fear was not an emotion Noah had really included during his transfer of Phlegethion's guiding intelligence, except for a fear of not making him happy. Nonetheless, Phlegethion definitely experience a very strong upwelling of trepidation, like she would feel if she ever willingly broke one of Noah's rules, and she instinctively cowered, like a puppy fearing a rolled up newspaper. Her jaws released Kira's shoulder, and if she could have, she would have whimpered.

A part of Lacus actually felt somewhat guilty at the distress she was causing the poor dragon/girl, who obviously hadn't chosen to become a mostly machine/part human monstrosity, or at least had been manipulated into choosing it, but she ruthlessly quashed that guilt. Regardless of the past history of this girl, she was at the moment threatening Kira's life, and that could not be borne! Her child would not grow up fatherless, not if Lacus had any say in the matter at all! The dragon/girl had almost no mental defenses at all, and locking down her control of her surrogate body was the work of a mere thought, as Lacus sent the girl's incomplete consciousness spiralling away into a very deep sleep, deeper even than a dreamless coma, practically to the point of death. If Phlegethion had been in a human body, Lacus's attack would have killed her, as her brain would have been unable to regulate her heart and lungs in the state it was in. As things were, the dragon/girl was well out of the fight, at least for the moment. The black dragon's body stiffened and then relaxed, collapsing down inert on top of Kira, who wasted no time in rolling it off his body and scooting away, left hand pressed to his ravaged shoulder.

However, Lacus's attack did have the downside of diverting her attention away from Noah, and he did not waste his opportunity to blindside her as hard as he could, locking out her control of her body and sending her to her knees, jerking and twitching as she fought to stay conscious. He pressed harder, enraged by what she had done to Phlegethion, and stopped her heart and lungs in midbreath and beat. She could resist all she wanted with her mind, without oxygen flow to her brain, she would succumb in a few minutes! Some damage might occur, but he was confident he could repair her to a usable extent. All he really needed, when it all came down to the nitty gritty, was a figurehead who was undeniably Lacus Clyne. He would prefer her whole, but if she had to be damaged, then so be it! He was so focused on putting her down once and for all that he discounted Kira for a moment or two, and that was all it took. A solid knee to his stomach and a roundhouse right punch to his jaw sent Noah sprawling, seeing stars and feeling like he had broken his jaw, spitting blood and even a tooth chip! Taking his attention back to Kira in order to freeze him up again meant losing control of Lacus, who half collapsed, gasping for breath while she held her chest, but not down and out!

Lacus fumbled her way to her feet and staggered over to where Kira was lying on his face like a log, his own bodily control stolen from him once more, to the point where his own chest was not rising or falling, and his heart was stilled. She reached down into his mind and channeled her own anger and determination into him, shattering Noah's invisible bonds like they were made from glass crystal and returning control of Kira's body to him, even as she all but tripped over him and fell across him, both of her hands pressed hard to his torn up shoulder, which was bleeding relatively profusely. They slowly helped each other to their feet, even as Noah was recovering from Kira's full out punch to the face a few feet away, a few seconds of peace as each side gathered themselves for the next assault. Noah was in better physical shape than Kira and Lacus, despite his aching jaw, but now they were together, connecting physically and mentally in a union that was stronger than the sum of its parts.

Lacus's next strike sent the recovering Noah down to his knees, his ears ringing with sound that had come from nowhere and would not retreat no matter how he shook his head. The follow up attack turned the ringing into a pulsating vibration that felt like his skull was shaking apart from the inside! Her strength had just suddenly tripled, and he was starting to get a handle on why! He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow, someway, the presence of Kira, the direct physical connection between her hands and his shoulder, was endowing Lacus with an extra reserve of power like nothing Noah could even hope to muster! It was all he could do to remain conscious at the moment, and that was largely due to her inexperience... her blows were tremendously powerful, but largely undirected, wasting a significant portion of their force. He shifted to a near total defense, making his mind slippery like ice, and the vast majority of her strength simply slid off him to no effect, like a hand trying to pick up a greased marble. What was left was still enough to keep his ears ringing, but he bore that with gritted teeth as he clambered back to his feet and faced them down.

"Stop fighting." Lacus half ordered, half mumbled, her body aching and her mind weary as she continued to hammer at Noah's frustratingly hard to hit mind with all her might. "You can't beat both of us together. You will wear out before I do. I don't want to hurt you any more than is absolutely necessary! But if you make me, I will do to you what I did to your poor dragon."

"I have no doubt you eventually will. However, much like finding a counter for Green EDEN, it is not of matter of can you, but do you have the time to do it!?" Noah retorted through gritted teeth. "Your mental strength is simply astounding, and whatever Kira is doing to aid you is beyond my understanding. Apparently there is far more to Latents than I knew! This is a matter that will bear much further investigation at a later time! But while the mental battle is tilted in your favor, I think you will find I have the fortitude to bear up under your laughably ill aimed attacks for more than long enough to decide things in a physical manner!" Noah's gritted teeth slowly resolved into a pained smile. "What will happen first, do you think? Will you overwhelm me? Or will blood loss claim Kira? That shoulder wound is rather nasty. Phlegethion did quite a number on him. He will bleed out if you don't get him medical help soon, Ultimate Coordinator or not! I believe that the moment he falls will be the moment you fall as well, Lacus. You know you are no match for me alone!"

"I will be fine. This is just a flesh wound. I've hurt myself worse than this many times before." Kira said, somewhat unsteadily, his injured hand clamped to his injured shoulder, pressing down on Lacus's hands, slightly stemming the blood flow, but his shoulder was torn up worse than mere hand pressure could contain, and both he and Lacus knew it. His right side was a tangle of wet red lines from shoulder to knee, and the ground beneath him was damp and red. "Frost has hurt me worse than this several times. Hell, even your flunky Randolf did more than this during our little talk, and I walked that off!"

"Yes, but I doubt I'll be providing you with Curaga laced bandages this time, Kira. Funny you should bring up good old Randolf and your interview though. It reminds me that there is another option, and no need to wait. I'm sure you don't remember it, as you were only semi-conscious at best at the time, but during the process of reviving you from his attentions, we took a certain sample from you, for future purposes. Purposes like this one." Noah said darkly, raising up his left hand and pointing the dart pistol at Kira. His hand wasn't exactly steady, but at less than ten feet, there was no way he could miss. "If the blood loss doesn't get you, this certainly will. Goodbye, Kira."

"NO!" Lacus shouted, shoving Kira away from her and the line of fire as hard as she could, so hard she even stumbled after him as he fell sideways, even as he twisted himself away from the muzzle of the gun, trying to at least minimize the impact of whatever weapon Noah was aiming at him. There was no bang of a bullet, just a hiss of pressurized air, a loud "PFFT", and a green tufted hypodermic dart appeared as if out of thin air, its needle tip piercing the side of Lacus's neck. Kira only needed an instant to glance at the vicious looking green liquid filling the hypo to know he didn't at all want it in Lacus's neck, and he snatched the dart away less than a quarter second after it struck, hurling the glass cylinder away with all his might, shattering it against an outcrop of rock a few dozen feet away, spilling what looked like several ounces of the green fluid out onto the dirt. A single bead of blood welled from the place where the dart had struck, but that was it. Lacus twitched in shock as she stumbled to one knee, Kira next to her, and they exchanged frightened glances. There was a long second of stillness and then... nothing happened.

Shortly after that instant, they both flinched away from the sound of air crackling and splitting, as Noah fired a triplet of bright green plasma bolts from his right hand pistol and turned the rock and area around where the shattered hypo had fallen into molten slag, a twisted expression of rage and fear stamped on his normally impassive face. All that work, wasted! And not only wasted, but he'd shot Lacus! Of course, any of the toxin that entered her system wouldn't affect her... but her child was another story altogether! After all, half of it's genes were coming from Kira! Noah realized that he might very well have just murdered the first Neo Human, while still in the womb! He gulped, quite audibly, and then gulped again when both Lacus and Kira rotated their heads in unison to stare at him with abnormal intensity.

"What was in that dart?" Kira asked, slowly and clearly, as if speaking to a very slow person.

"D-don't worry about it." Noah half stammered, keeping them more or less covered with his beam pistol, his hand starting to shake quite visibly. "It was... was just a sedative."

"You were telling me goodbye just a moment ago." Kira refuted, almost politely. "WHAT... WAS... IN... THAT... DART!?"

"I feel fine." Lacus said softly, touching her neck with one bloodied hand. "Well, I don't feel any worse than I did before anyway." She stared at Noah, who was looking positively sickly, and found her stomach doing flip flops for reasons she could not quite name. It didn't feel like poison making her sick, not that she'd know how that felt... but she didn't hurt anywhere, not in any new ways certainly. It was just... he looked like something had just gone terribly, terribly wrong, and when someone who thought nothing of killing half the world's population to bring about a so called golden age, thought something was terribly wrong, that WAS cause for concern in her eyes.

"I said, don't worry about it. You got it out before it could inject." Noah wasn't sure if he was reassuring them or himself. "Believe me, she would be showing major effects if it had injected. She would not be conscious." Noah rattled off the lie, hoping it didn't sound as false to their ears as it did to his.

"I thought it was just a sedative. Now you're saying major effects? Tell me what was in the dart, Noah. Believe me, you do not want me to have to force the information out of you." Kira said coldly. "Not now, not when Lacus is pregnant. You have no idea how unhappy I will be if you have endangered our child. I could very easily forget my vow not to kill. Tell us what was in the dart, and tell us truthfully. Right now."

Noah knew he couldn't tell them the truth, because he believed Kira when he said he might forget his vow not to kill. Even though Noah was less than sure himself on what the injected toxin would do to Kira and Lacus's baby, he did know that telling them the dart contained a toxin genetically tailored to kill Kira would not go well for him. Neither of them were stupid, they would make the same connections about their child's genes as Noah had, and just as fast. He was armed with his beam pistol, yes. But they still had the mental advantage, and he knew as well as they that strong emotions could power up Newtype abilities. And he really, really didn't want to see them both fly into "my baby has just been murdered" rages. Not while he was at all close to them. "It was poison." Noah admitted at last. "A strong poison, strong enough to overwhelm even your immune system, Kira. A Coordinator, even an unascended Ultimate Coordinator, would already be dead if they had been injected with it. Seeing as Lacus is not dead, I say again, you got the dart out before it could inject. Or before it could inject a lethal dose anyway... I would strongly recommend getting her to a doctor quickly. A few doses of standard antitoxins should be more than enough to ward off any ill effects down the road."

"I said I feel fine." Lacus insisted, feeling Kira turn all cold and worried inside. "Your shoulder worries me more than that little pinprick."

"Regardless, we can't take any risks. Not now. Not when you're pregnant!" Kira replied firmly, if wearily.

"I should have kept that to myself..." Lacus mumbled, knowing full well she never could have. They both looked up to see Noah warily backing away from them, beam pistol still more or less pointed at them, or their general area. "Where do you think you're going? Do you think I'm just going to accept you shooting me, or trying to shoot Kira full of poison!? Not even mentioning how you tried to kill us with your mental abilities earlier. I don't like hurting people, or fighting... but you tried to murder me, and the man I love most in this world. If you surrender RIGHT NOW, I won't do anything more to you than make sure you get a fair trial. But do not push my generosity an iota further, Noah Borander! If you take one more step, I will drop you in your tracks, and whether or not you survive the experience won't bother me at all!"

"The longer you dither here, threatening me, the greater chance you have of suffering a delayed effect from the poison. Believe me, I designed it myself specifically to kill an ascended Ultimate Coordinator. You do not want to mess around with even a tiny portion in your system. Think of your child... its no longer just your own life in your hands. Each minute could be the difference between life and death for the both of you." Noah replied over his shoulder. "Maybe you could stop me in my tracks, maybe you can't. All I know, is that if you try, I will make sure I resist long enough to ensure neither of you will leave the island either... Kira because of his shoulder, and you because of that toxin. A mutual kill scenario suits neither side here."

"He has a point. I hate it, but he does." Kira said, his eyes fighting for focus as he felt all his strength draining from him, out of his shoulder. I'm on my last bit of energy here, my love. I need to stop this bleeding, or else you're going to be lugging my heavy body all the way over to the Seraph, and I probably won't be in any condition to fly either. And we need to get you looked at by a doctor as soon as possible. I didn't see much of that poison, and you don't seem to have been affected, but it could just be a matter of time. I can't take that risk! Not now! Not ever, but especially not now!

We can't just let him go though! What he's doing... what he's done... its...

Its nothing we can affect right now. Even if we captured, or killed even, him right now, its as he said. It would only slow his plans down a little. Come to think of it, we NEED to take him alive, somehow. He knows a way to counter this Green EDEN, even if it is imperfect! We need that knowledge if we're to have any hope of reversing this insanity! And right now, there is no way we can take him alive! A mutual kill serves him far better than it does us!

"If you are quite done, I will be going." Noah told them, recognizing the signs of a mental conference, even if he couldn't do one himself. He stowed his beam pistol and the empty dart gun back in his sleeves, and strode, somewhat unsteadily and not at all quickly, over to where Phlegethion was lying in an inert heap. It was something of a struggle gathering his fallen guardian up in his arms, since he hadn't really designed them to be easy to carry, but he managed. It wasn't like he could just leave her there for them to reverse engineer, even interrogate! Besides, he owed her his life, and really had quite a bit of affection for her as one of his primary Guardians. Besides even that, he was sure he, or Meyrin, was going to need as much protection as possible at some point in the future, and guardians like Phlegethion did not just pop out of thin air! Well, not in the production manner anyway. "This isn't how I wanted this to turn out, you know."

"All things considered, I don't see how it could have turned out any other way." Lacus retorted acidly. "This is not over, Noah. You have not won yet. You will not win either. You say there is no hope, but that more than anything Kira and I have ever done, is a self delusion!"

"We shall have to see." Noah answered calmly, or perhaps resignedly. "Keep your faith. I will trust to the irrefutable logic of my science. We shall see which wins in a few months." Noah began ascending the stairs to his shuttle, before looking back one more time once he was at the doorway. "At least you understand now, if not in the way I wanted. I don't feel quite so lonely anymore." And with those words the stairs receeded behind him and the door hissed shut, followed shortly thereafter by a storm of grit as the VTOL engines lifted the shuttle into the sky, where it shimmered and disappeared behind its Mirage Colloid and then roared off to the north and east, quickly passing the sound barrier. Left behind were too confused but definitely resolute people, who now did understand. They understood that it was now, even it hadn't been before, a fight for their very existence. And that was the kind of fight they could both actually appreciate.

------------------------------------------------

"You look like shit." Dearka commented with a falsely jovial expression on his face, as he wheeled the gurney bed that Kira was lying on out of his recuperation room, moving it down the halls to where Lacus's room was. The doctors insisted that they both needed time to recuperate alone, but Dearka knew damned well that unless Kira and Lacus could be within sight and preferably touching range of each other, especially at a time like this, they would be positively miserable, mental communication notwithstanding! And it was tough to get better quickly when you were feeling miserable. And they really, kinda sorta badly needed them both to get better as quickly as possible, given the current world situation. "I think we've said this before, but going down to meet him by yourselves... thats a real, um, YOU decision. And you know what I mean by a "YOU" decision, right?"

"Very, very stupid in retrospect." Kira supplied tiredly. "But what other choice did we have? We had to know what he was up to."

"I'd almost prefer not to, right now." Dearka replied queasily. "Bad enough what Blue Cosmos or the Isolationist's wanted to do, mucking about with the genetics of the entire human race is just totally beyond the pale! Bad enough when he was just a religious nutjob... knowing he is actually bringing about the apocalypse, or basically so, is not happy making." Dearka rolled the gurney for a few steps in silence. "So how's your hand anyway?"

"Hurts less than my shoulder." Kira replied at once, with a pained grin.

"Given that your shoulder was ripped wide open and bitten down to the bone, that's not telling me much. And are you actually serious when you say that painkillers don't affect you?" Dearka said, again trying for lightness.

"I wish they did. See, theres one disadvantage to being an Ultimate Coordinator." Kira didn't chuckle. It wasn't funny. His entire right side felt like it was on fire. Even Dearka couldn't really muster a smile. "Really, I can barely feel my left hand at all. Its almost worrisome."

"Well, the doc's say the damage isn't actually that bad. I mean, they groaned about how messy the surgery was, but after being told that the surgery had been performed in less than a minute using a combat knife, they were somewhat less critical. They even say they might be able to grow the fingertips back, eventually, though it is doubtful that you'll regain full functionality or sense of touch with them." Dearka nattered on, not wanting to let the silence build too much. Silence led to them each thinking about things they didn't want to think about. "About time you acquired yourself a little handicap, ya know. I mean, fighting in a Mobile Suit might actually be a challenge again, for a little while."

"I can't afford that and you know it. Not now." Kira said grimly. He was worried about how his injury was going to affect his piloting skills now. In the past he'd half jokingly prayed for some sort of injury that would keep him from ever having to pilot a Gundam again... now his performance was going to be merely impeded, and it was making him upset! Well, times change, he supposed, and now was a time when he was actually glad for his combative skills. He was going to need them. The world was going to need them. Kira shook his head and dragged his thoughts from the morose path they were going down. "What about the others? How is everyone else doing? I haven't been able to hear much, since I've been here at this hospital pretty much since we got back."

"Well, Ysak and Katie aren't doing too bad, I guess. They didn't suffer any major injuries despite one helluva scare from that Blue Stuff. They're off spending time with Alkire and Raine." Dearka paused a few moments. "Tell me straight... did he actually blow off his own leg with a shotgun?"

"He saved Lacus and me first, THEN blew off his leg with a shotgun. And he was joking about it." Kira shook his head in amazement. "I only wish I was that tough. And before you ask, yes, Raine did kill Lieutenant Neumann. It was... a mercy, I guess."

"That really sucks." Dearka commented, a tad unnessecarily. "And the Chief too. That really hit everyone hard. The Chief can't be fucking dead!" Dearka brushed at his own freshly moist eyes. Chief Murdoch had been like a bigger brother to him. Or a friendly uncle. Or some sort of relation, anyway. He'd been like that for all the Gundam pilots. And now he was gone. Forever.

"How is Cagalli?" Kira asked, a sense of dread building inside when Dearka did not immediately reply.

"Uhhhmmmm... she's about as good as could be expected." Dearka hedged at last.

"That bad?"

"Worse." Dearka saw no point in hiding the truth from Kira. It was a bad thing, all around. "I don't think I need to tell you how close she and Colonel Kisaka were. I mean, hell, he practically raised her. Had at least as much time around her as her father. Probably more. They went through a lot together. More than I know about certainly. And she didn't even get to say goodbye, ya know? She just wakes up, with a hole in her cheek, and wonders where the hell he is... and nobody wants to tell her. She knew, I think, the moment he wasn't there when she woke up, and when nobody would tell her where he was. Still... when Waltfeld told her... man, I don't ever want to have to hear that kind of news. You could just see the hole ripped right through her."

"And Athrun?"

"Oh, he's with her, of course. Still stuck in a wheelchair for the next few days, but I don't think he dares be anywhere else but with her. Kira, I don't know how to put this, but I have never seen Cagalli look this bad. I am really scared, my friend. Really scared. She is not well in the head right now. She won't talk to people! She just sorta stares off into the distance, and cries. A lot. She's broken inside, and it ain't something the doctors can fix. I mean, she seemed to be doing so well, after what the Brotherhood did to her... but now, I dunno. I think she may have just been putting on a good act before. The drug was bad enough... losing Kisaka and the Archangel like that... that's a hell of a one-two punch! Not even getting into the life and death fear she must have had when the Blue Stuff dripped on her cheek!" Dearka shivered all over, queasy again just at the thought. "I don't know what else to say. Get better fast, Kira. Cagalli really needs as much help as possible right now. Orb needs her, and she can't provide right now."

"And what about the overall situation?" Kira asked, as they turned a corner and headed down another long hallway.

"Well, its basically fucked, I wish I could say different, but I can't. We lost a large portion of the Armada. Call it eighty percent, though the exact number is still being decided. Close to fifty thousand confirmed dead, and it keeps getting bigger. The Eternal is gone. The Archangel is gone. The Phoenix King and Dawn Goddess are gone. The Seraph and Vorpal are going to be in refit for days. The Warmaster is doing okay, but by itself its not much help. Orb lost big to that Blue Stuff. We only have one or two Izumi class ships still working, and over two thirds of our Mobile Forces are down for the next while, if not gone for good. I hear that they're assembling a new Dawn Goddess and Phoenix King from spare parts, but it's going to be at least a week or so before we have anything like a functioning Gundam squadron, and maybe longer before we have pilots to crew it!" Dearka reported with a wince.

"The ALU is especially fucked. Their military is in a shambles right now, and thats the best that can be said for them. The FNE is doing better, though they are still smarting big time from all the losses. Same for ZAFT. And the USN is running around like a chicken with their heads cut off and their feet in a fire. The Secretary-General has declared a state of emergency, though thats kind of a no brainer. Durandel is still alive and kicking, though I'm not sure whether to be happy about that or not. He's trying to get some sort of plan together to deal with the Great Endeavor, but it's slow going. Everyone's kind of in a panic right now, and the Brotherhood isn't just sitting around waiting for us to recover. I'm not sure what's going on over in North America, but from the sound of it, things are absolutely going to hell. Something about green clouds and people dropping like flies in the streets. I don't know what to believe. Another mass panic is on the rise though. We do have a fix on the Great Endeavor, although its not exactly hard to find, being more than a kilometer in diameter and walking around on hundred meter tall legs."

"Things are overwhelming all over. Its just too much information at once, too many big things happening at the same time. We're on the ropes, and that's the best that can be said for us. Nobody knows what's going on, nobody knows what to do, and nobody seems to have much of a plan for getting things organized. The entire world, the entire USN, is basically in the situation we were just after the Isolation kicked our asses five years ago. I wish I had some good news for you, Kira, I really do. But we're in a tailspin right now, and I don't see either the ground or the sky." Dearka summed up.

"I have some good news." Kira said with a slow smile. Dearka looked down at him enquiringly.

"Lacus and I are going to have a baby."

"WHAT!?" Dearka stumbled and almost tripped, almost slamming the gurney into the wall before he recovered himself. He stared at Kira, his mouth agape and his limbs trembling. "I mean... what the... how the... when the...!?"

"Those are all questions I asked too. Apparently she's about a month along, though she only found out recently. I didn't find out until after we were talking with Noah. I kinda looked like you do now, except worse." Kira kept his voice light and calm, though inwardly he was still trembling like jelly in a mixture of shock, supreme joy, fear and pure disbelief. It just didn't seem real. He, Kira Yamato, was going to be a dad! He was actually going to have a child! His heart and stomach felt like they were switching places, and he couldn't tell if he liked the feeling or hated it!

For his part, Dearka didn't know what to think. On one hand, he was overjoyed for Kira and Lacus, knowing as he did how hard they'd been trying for a baby, and the sort of worries they'd had. At the same time though, he was instantly and viciously reminded that HE was never going to have a baby, no way, no how. Not with current medical science. And that really made things bittersweet for him, at best. Kira seemed to sense this, because he was chewing his lip in slight constrenation. Dearka noticed, and pasted a smile on his face once more. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm so glad for you two I can't properly express it. Man, I can't wait to tell everyone else... Katie and Ysak are going to shit bricks! We might even be able to get a reaction out of Cagalli!"

"He said he could cure ICD, you know." Kira said softly. Dearka stopped wheeling the gurney for a few moments.

"I don't want a cure from someone like that. Not if it means what you say it means." Dearka said at long last. "I keep hoping for a miracle... but I'm not accepting one from a devil. Maybe that makes me even stupider than you, but so be it. Fifty percent? Even five percent might be too much for me. There's a lot to life besides sex and children. Maybe I just want the best of both worlds, but I can't... I won't take that kinda chance with Miri's and mine future. Not if I have any choice at all. No... I got a lot of life ahead of me. I wanna be fixed now, but I can wait as long as need be. I know a cure will be found eventually. One that doesn't involve playing russian roulette with my life."

"I understand." Kira replied. "And being an Ultimate Coordinator isn't always as much fun as it seems either."

"That's another thing... could you imagine me, but psychic? The world would end. Ysak would throw himself off a bridge. I just can't commit a crime that serious. No way." Dearka chuckled at the image, though it really wasn't funny in retrospect. "All the same... that Green Stuff is spreading pretty rapidly. Even if only half the people survive, hell, even if only one in ten survive... that's a lot of psychics. And I'm betting they aren't going to be happy. Besides everything else... what are we going to do about that?"

"I'll tell you when I get any sort of good idea." Kira promised.

"Yeah, you do that, man. You tell everyone, please. Ah, and here is Lacus's room. Now, the doc's said she had a clean bill of health, nothing but a bit of exhaustion and adrenaline shock. Certainly no exotic poisons running through her system, far as their tests could tell. No foreign biological matter at all even. I think you really did get that dart out before it could inject, god bless your reflexes. I think I'm gonna leave you two to get some rest while I spread the good news. God knows we need some good news."

"Yeah." Kira agreed. "But always, keep hope alive. We will not lose. I promise you that."

"I believe you."