GUNDAM WING: New Beginnings

GUNDAM WING: New Beginnings

~CHAPTER TWO~

At Preventer Headquarters, a small group of young men and women had assembled for a private meeting. Lady Une, head of the Preventer Agency, gave a brief look across the conference table where everyone had gathered around. Preventer Special Agents Sally Po and Lucrezia Noin had seated themselves next to her. Their faces were grim and serious, and Lady Une knew that it meant there was bad news in what they had to report from their latest assignment. Along with the Preventer Agents sat the five former Gundam pilots. Friendly Quatre Raberba Winner, former pilot of the Gundam Sandrock, gave a feeble smile in greeting but his usual bright eyes were replaced with somberness and concern. Chang Wufei, the obstinate former pilot of Gundam Shenlong and Gundam Altron, seemed more uptight and grave than usual. Lady Une assumed that Wufei, who had become a Preventer Agent for the last few years, had heard most of what she already knew from his partner Sally. Beside Wufei sat Duo Maxwell, the jovial former pilot of Gundam Deathscythe and Gundam Deathscythe Hell. The tension in the room had seemed to affect even the usually loud and amiable young man, for even Duo was quiet and solemn. The only two who seemed untouched by the growing tension were the former pilot Trowa Barton of Gundam Heavyarms and former pilot Heero Yuy of Wing Gundam and Wing Zero. The pair sat silently in their seats with impassive faces. Lady Une noticed that only Milliardo Peacecraft, former pilot of the Tallgeese and a current member of the Preventer's Agency, was missing. Lady Une frowned at his absence… strange, he didn't notify us he was going to be away, something must have come up… She sighed and decided to start the meeting.

"As you all may already know, there has been trouble stirring in the far boundaries of colonized space. We have already suspected that this problem is linked to several of the small disturbances on both Earth and the colonies. Today, we have confirmation that the presence of this problem is more of a threat than what we had first believed it to be. Sally, Noin, if you would please brief us more about what you've recently learned about this new threat."

Sally began, "During the last few days, it's come upon our attention that there has been illegal mass production of mobile suits for a time period still unclear to us. Our sources believe that they have been producing and stockpiling mobile suits and weapons for approximately four years…. With the rough calculations we have drawn up and considering the presumed time period they have had to build up their armed forces, it is estimated that they presently have an army of mobile suits as large as the ones during the old Oz and the former Romefeller Foundation. According to this information, we are willing to believe that their intentions are hostile and that they are a serious threat to Earth and the colonies. Nevertheless, we do not know for certain just how powerful they are."

Noin continued, "This new threat is very sly and knows exactly what it's doing. Everything they have done has been planned to precision with the utmost accuracy. In fact, it was only with a lot of luck and great sacrifice that we have managed to come up with what information we have today…." Her voice drifted off as she sadly recalled all the courageous men and women that had sacrificed their lives to get the information they had. She wasn't going to let their sacrifices go to waste! Noin went on with more determination, "We were able to locate and intercept a number of their stations as well as pinpoint approximately the location of one of their larger bases to sectors Y-107346 near the old abandoned ghost colony settlements. However, their agenda or even the name of this organization is still unknown."

The room fell into a deep silence as everyone solemnly took in what was revealed to them.

"Janus."

The monotone voice came from Heero.

"The name of the organization is Janus."

All eyes turned toward the Perfect Solider, but before anyone had the chance to question him further an urgent knock came from the door.

Frowning, Lady Une called out, "Come in."

A nervous secretary entered the room, holding a piece of paper. She walked immediately to Lady Une.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted, but I have a message from Milliardo Peacecraft. I was told it was an emergency and to hand this to you immediately…" the secretary handed the paper to Lady Une.

Lady Une unfolded the note and quickly read over the contents. Her frown deepened and for a moment she paled. Folding it again, she dismissed the secretary.

Lady Une looked exhausted and worn out as she turned toward her comrades. They were all watching her expectantly.

"The Administrative Building at Brussels was bombed where a conference of world delegates had just concluded. Miss Relena was still in the building."

~o~o~o~o~

Heero Yuy's face remained calm and expressionless as he walked down the busy halls. No one would have ever guessed that he was waging an emotional battle within. No one would have ever guessed that under his cool exterior there was a raging anger. The only sign of any feeling he might have had were his tightly clenched fists by his side. Silently, he was blaming himself for Relena's accident … he had promised to protect her and he had failed … it was his mission and he wouldn't allow himself to fail twice. If something happened to Relena, who knew what may happen to the fragile peace of the present… Yes, he had to protect Relena to keep the peace… Yet, something deep inside told him it was more than that….

He turned into a dark corridor and disappeared into the shadows.

~o~o~o~o~

As three young men neared a private hospital room, they found doctors and nurses rushing inside. Worried, they hurriedly raced along with the staff into Relena's room. Upon entering, they found…

"Miss Relena! Please, you mustn't! You've just endured a terrible accident and we don't know the extent of your injuries…. You need to stay in bed so that we may further examine and observe any possible head trauma or other unnoticed injuries! Please, Miss Relena!" a nervous doctor begged, as he hovered around the young woman getting out of her bed.

"I'm perfectly alright Doctor Morson, and you know it. You and I know that the only reason why I'm being restricted to my bed is because of my brother… well, you don't have to worry about Milliardo because I'll explain everything to him. Now, please kindly leave me alone… I have to check up on a friend of mine who was also in the accident…" Relena admonished. The poor doctor looked on helplessly with uncertainty as Relena got up and began to start for the door.

"Relena! What do you think you are doing?!"

At the tone of the voice Relena froze and looked up to find a man standing in the doorway, preventing her from exiting. Tall and handsome, the man had long streaming silver-blond hair. His pale blue eyes, however, held a reproachful look as he stood staring at his younger sister.

Unfazed by the stern look he gave her, Relena pleasantly replied, "Why hello Milliardo. I was just going to see how my friend is doing. I hope he isn't hurt because of me…" Her face grew a bit sadder at the thought of anyone getting hurt at her expense.

Still feeling unsettled, Relena suddenly asked, "Are you sure that no one else got hurt in the explosion?"

Milliardo sighed. His sweet little sister… always worried about everyone else and putting their welfare before hers… and that was why it was up to him to take care of her well being.

"Relena, we've already been over this. No, there was no one else but you and your friend inside the building at the time. And yes, Li-Shang is fine other than the exception of some cuts and bruises, and unlike what you should be doing, he's resting."

Relena, however, ignored her brother's last comment and decided that it would still be better if she went to see Li-Shang herself. So the two siblings stood there – one waiting for his sister to return to bed while the other waited for her brother to move aside and let her out of her room. Neither of them gave in and both were determined to get their way.

It was at this moment that Relena's three visitors decided to make their presence known…

"Hey Jousan! How are ya doing? Heard you were in quite the accident! Yet, by the looks of it, you seem A-okay to me," Duo called out cheerfully.

Relena gave him a bright smile and looked pointedly at her brother as if to say 'I told you so'. Milliardo, in turn, glared at the spirited braided man.

"Yes, Miss Relena… we heard the administrative building collapsed --- are you alright?" Quatre asked with friendly concern.

Trowa stood silently beside them, although the same question was shone in his eyes.

Relena's lovely smile radiated with happiness at the sight of the three young men. The four of them had grown to become quite close in the last few years and had developed a strong-fast friendship in result. Temporarily forgetting her dispute with Milliardo, Relena went to greet her friends.

"Duo, Trowa, Quatre! I'm so glad to see all of you! And there's no need to be worried ― as you can see I'm perfectly fine," the young woman assured them.

A disbelieving grunt came from Milliardo's direction.

"Oh, hey, wait 'till I tell you what happened to me and Hilde last week…" Dou quickly began. He had seen how Relena was about to retort something in return at Millliardo, and so he hastily distracted Relena into a conversation in order to avoid another sibling feud. Quatre soon joined the two and they both led Relena back to her bed while conversing amongst themselves.

Trowa remained standing next to Milliardo.

"What happened?" the quiet man asked.

Milliardo inwardly sighed. He knew Trowa was referring to the accident.

"A S-49 model bomb was planted in the far end of the east wing. Normally, I would have said that it was a terrorist attempt on Relena's life… but the pieces just doesn't seem to fit. A S-49 has a range of half a mile in diameter. If they really wanted to make sure Relena got hurt, they would have placed the bomb in the center of the building. Instead it was placed in the farthest location possible from Relena's office in the west wing, where it would cause the least harm to her."

"Perhaps Relena wasn't the target."

"I'm not too sure… it is well known to everyone how Relena is always working late into the night, and often by herself in her office. Besides, only Relena and Li-Shang were in the building at the time." Milliardo's face darkened as a possibility came to him.

"Who is this Li-Shang?" Trowa asked, as he noticed Milliardo's expression

"We don't really know. Relena says he's an old childhood friend from when she was staying with the Darlians, and that he had shielded her during the explosion. Noin's making a background check on him right now."

The two men grew silent as they fell deep into their own thoughts.

Also in the room was Heero, who went unnoticed in the shadows. He had overheard Milliardo and Trowa's discussion and was also deep in thought.

Heero studied Relena. Other than a few visible bruises and cuts, she was practically untouched by the incident. Experience and instincts told him that Relena had been the target… Perhaps not an assassination attempt, but what? Why would anyone want to set off a bomb with obvious intent on targeting Relena and yet not want to seriously hurt her? And who was this Li-Shang? … He intended to find out.

Taking one last glance back, he regarded the woman he had sworn to protect. Relena was sitting on her bed, laughing over one of Duo's stupid stories. She was still beautiful and gentle with her warm blue eyes and cascade of golden hair – only her beauty had taken on the new appeal of a fully matured woman. In place of the girl he had come to know was an enchanting young woman with an alluring female form… with ripened curves in all the right places… Heero stopped in horror at where his thoughts had led him. This is a mission, and only a mission! he told himself fiercely. He wrenched his gaze away from Relena and left as silently as he had appeared. His heart beating a bit faster than usual as the image of Relena remained in his mind.

***

Relena sensed someone watching her, and a feeling of safety and familiarity washed over her… Heero?

She looked around and her gaze fell toward a dark corner. She blinked as she thought she saw a shadow disappear…

"Relena?"

Relena was brought back to attention of the presence of Duo and Quatre.

"Relena, are you alright? You sort of just drifted off there for a moment … I didn't think my story was that boring…" Duo commented, as he feigned a hurtful expression.

Quatre gave a great yawn and smiled innocently.

"Hey!" Duo cried.

The three broke into laughter.

As they settled down and Duo continued with his story, Relena smiled happily.

Heero… you were here, weren't you?

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KEY:

~o~o~o~o~ [this means a different setting]

*** [this means a slight change in the perspective or viewpoint of the story]

Author: ChibiLing

Disclaimer: No such luck… GW isn't mine. =b

Note: Here's the second chapter… hope you enjoyed it! Read and Review to let me know what you think…