Chapter Thirty-Five
Change of Plans

For the first few minutes, the car ride to Relena's office had been quiet. Serena hadn't spoken a word nor had she even glanced towards Relena.

Only a few times had Relena caught Serena checking her mirrors. No doubt making sure no one was following them unless it was Heero. To simply put it, the car ride was reminding Relena a lot of how she and Heero usually were. Which was why Relena wanted to go with Serena in the first place. Relena was hoping the two of them would at least talk.

Sighing, Relena continued to look out the passenger side window.

"Everything okay?" Serena asked. Relena swung her head around.

"Yes, why?"

"You sighed," Serena said while glancing at her. "Something's bothering you." Relena wanted to laugh and sigh again all at the same time.

"Well yes… something is bothering me," Relena ventured slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Serena asked.

"It's just Heero. He's paranoid about everything."

"He has a right to be," Serena said flatly. Relena frowned at her. Why should she have expected anything different?

"I understand some of the reasons, but when it comes to you, he's just going overboard." Relena caught the smallest hint of Serena tightening her eyes.

"While I don't appreciate it, I would do the same if I was in his shoes," Serena said. "I wouldn't trust me either."

"You two are way too much alike," Relena laughed. "Heero's enough for me to handle but you on top of that, I'd never be let out of the house," Relena shook her head. Serena glanced over with a blank look on her face when they stopped at a red light.

"I'm not that bad," Serena said. Relena couldn't help herself as she laughed. "What's so funny?" Serena asked, turning her attention back to the road when the light turned green.

"I'm sorry, and you're right. You're not that bad. You'd probably let me go out alone."

"I don't know about that. Depending on how good your self-defense skills are," Serena said. Relena rolled her eyes in good nature.

"Well then we'll have to work on that," Relena chuckled when Serena sent her a questioning look. Relena waved a hand at her. "Don't worry, why don't we change the topic? I was wondering what you were doing next Friday night?"

"Nothing, I'll probably be working on reports. Why?" Serena asked.

"Sounds like a very exciting evening," Relena lifted a brow at Serena as she turned more in her seat to better face Serena.

"Someone has to do it," Serena shrugged. The sarcasm in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Relena.

"Then why don't you and Trowa come over for dinner. I'll invite Duo and Hilde as well. Hilde wants to meet you anyway."

"Dinner?"

"Mm-hm, we'll have a little get-together. I'm only working a half-day since mostly everyone is taking it off. The Charity Ball is the following evening," Relena said.

"I don't think Heero would appreciate that," Serena said, glancing at her briefly.

"Nonsense, he'll get over it. Plus the guys can have some guy time and we girls can sit around and drink some wine. It'll be nice especially before I need to 'work my magic,' as Duo calls it, the following night at the Ball."

"Speaking of that-"

"Don't," Relena said, cutting her off. She knew exactly what Serena was going to say. "I like you, Serena, but please, just for a moment don't go into that mode. I'm sure Heero will handle everything and worse case, you can speak with Une. I'm sure she'll take whatever advice you have for security into consideration," Relena said, giving Serena a look that meant she wasn't about to back down.

"Relena, do you understand the risk of still holding this event?"

"Yes and I trust Preventers will do their job. I'm not worried."

"You should be," Serena said.

"I do worry, Serena, but I can't stop everything when a threat is sent my way. It's my job to keep things moving forward. I need to stay strong when others have doubts."

"That's why the people rely on you. You're their strength in times of weakness. Edwards knows that and that's why you're too valuable of an asset to lose. But you can't rely on Heero and the others to protect you. You need to protect yourself," Serena said as she parked their vehicle in the ESUN parking garage.

"I know and I understand. You've reminded me a few times now."

"It's for your good," Serena said as she scanned the parking garage. "Heero won't be here for a little while."

"Huh?" Relena looked out the windshield.

"He wasn't following behind us. I don't think it'll be long but we'll have to wait," Serena said. Relena smiled when Serena turned her head back to face her.

"So, how about next Friday?"

Somewhere in Space...

"What do you mean you can't find her!?" A male bellowed. A deep scowl on his clean-shaven face as he leaned forward in his chair. His brown eyes bore into the screen.

"I'm sorry, but we've been unable to locate her."

"Then you aren't trying hard enough. Why weren't you able to locate her using the transponder?"

"It was shut off."

"Gavin, I handed her over to you for safekeeping and now you're telling me you can't even find her!? Maybe you should've kept a better eye on her! I want her found and brought back to me!" The male seethed.

"I understand sir, but it's not just her that has gone missing. We are unable to locate the Doctor as well. They both left over a month ago. When the team went to check on the progress of her and the Gundam, they found them dead."

"It seems J has had a change of heart?" The man sat back in his chair. "If the transponder was turned off chances are it was done by J himself. Delta didn't have access to that."

"Sir, what should we do then?" Gavin asked.

"Keep looking for her."

"Where sir?"

"Have you tried Earth?"

"Earth?" Gavin echoed.

"Yes. There's a possibility that's where Delta has gone."

"Why do you believe that?"

"I believe the Charity Ball is still underway. She may be still completing her mission even without contact from us."

"How can you be so sure? The details about the mission were never presented to her," Gavin said.

"You never gave her the orders!? Delta was supposed to attend and gain access to Darlian! It was going to be our first strike against the ESUN! Her guard detail needed to be eliminated that night, thus Delta would be able to take Darlian with her when all the chaos broke out!"

"I understand that, but Gates should be the one whom you should be scolding, sir. He was the one who was supposed to bring Delta to Earth along with his son."

"And it was your job to brief her on the mission! I will speak with Gates personally after this. You, Gavin, want to be one of the leaders so badly, you need to do the job you were given. You had one task and it was to make sure Delta was ready for when we made our move. All details of the mission were to be given to her! This is inexcusable and you better correct your mistake before you find yourself on the receiving end of a firing squad."

"Sir," Gavin said. "I won't fail you, Edwards. I will retrieve Delta and we continue on with our plans."

"You better. I want her back," Edwards seethed before disconnecting the line.

Gavin sat back in his chair staring at the blank screen to his left. This wasn't how he wanted things to go.

"You heard all that right?"

"Yes, Edwards has every right to be angry. We've lost the one thing we need to complete our takeover of ESUN," Gates said as his face came into full view on the screen.

"We could do it without her. But the only problem is if Delta is her normal self, she could potentially stop us. We need to find her no matter what."

"I agree. Michael and I are still attending the Charity Ball. We'll keep an eye out for her. There's still a chance she could be there."

"I doubt it. The place will be crawling with Preventer agents and chances are Heero Yuy will be there with Darlian. Delta wouldn't risk being caught," Gavin said, waving a hand at Gates. "But what we could do is send some people to Brussels. If Delta is on Earth she might be sticking close to our target."

"It wouldn't hurt. At this point, we have to proceed with caution. Making a scene at the Ball will only put ourselves out there before we need to be known. I'd rather push our original date back. Try and retrieve Delta first before we move in without her," Gates said, lacing his fingers together.

"I'll do that. Just keep your end of the deal. Contact me if you find anything or if either you or Michael see her. Do not approach her. If Delta did run away she might do something foolish."

"No need to worry, Gavin, I will. Keep me posted as well," Gates smiled before he disconnected the call.

Gavin sat back once again. They needed a new plan and with Edwards breathing down their backs, they needed to move fast. If he was to overthrow Edwards, Gavin knew he needed Delta to complete the task.

"Nick?" Gavin asked.

"Sir!"

"I want you to put together a team and go to Earth. It's imperative you find Delta and bring her back, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" A young soldier with blond hair and light green eyes saluted.

A/N

Happy Monday! Today will be a two-chapter upload day!

I know this chapter was short, and while I'd love to leave you all hanging, I can't do that.

I just want to point out a couple of things. Relena and Serena once again discuss Relena's safety and it seems to be a big topic they talk about often. Why is Serena pushing it so much? Why does she care enough to make sure Relena knows certain things? Does Serena have little faith in Heero? Or is it for another reason?

This leads us into the last scene of this chapter. We have lots of people going on in this one. All of these people are important. First, we learn Edwards is not dead and not hiding? Or is he still hiding? Gavin is possibly one of the leaders and Gates is what? Then we have Michael, Gate's "son" and Nick who's just a soldier. But all seem to be playing some role in ROE. Either way, they all need Serena in some form or fashion. Or rather Delta. But who is Delta? Clearly, they're worried if she's herself or not. I guess we'll find out eventually what they're talking about.

Now on to the next chapter, but keep all of that in mind moving forward.
-MM