The lady quickly walked to her office, she checked to make sure no one would be interrupting her

Deception

The lady quickly walked to her office, she checked to make sure no one would be interrupting her. Not at this most dangerous time, then again there was always something dangerous about being an Underground member and an Oz officer at the same time.

She quickly punched in some numbers, "Hello? Key?"

"What is it Liz?"

"We have a problem," Liz's eyes dart to her door.

"What's the problem?"

Liz sat down in her chair; "We have a traitor in the Underground."

"Shit… How long before they catch on?"

"Soon, you must go back."

Key sighed, "I can't, I still have to finish my mission first."

"The finish it, and then go to the nearest base!" Liz snaps back.

"It's not that simple, I have to lead the other pilots to the Underground. That is not easy, I should just go up to them and tell them right out, but I can't even do that… We should have gotten to the point straight from the beginning then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You know that wasn't possible Key, there were to many unknowns. Just going out in the open was a risk we couldn't take, but I wish we did," Liz chewed her lower lip.

"And now? What's stopping me from just telling them now?"

"You might have people watching you and you wouldn't even know it, we have to keep this act going as long as possible."

Key pauses for a minute, "I have an idea… this will make this more complex than it already is, but it might work…"

Karen packed up her things, it was better to leave now, but first she had to make a little drop off. To one person, whom she didn't want to meet, but he was the only person that she could give this to. Her mission would be complete soon, or at least she hoped. She smiled as she found Heero outside the school, just leaning against the tree, doing nothing. Walking up to him, she noted that he was glaring at her. No doubt that Wufei had told him about her mission, or at least part of it anyways. Before Heero could say anything, she gave him her locket.

"Here," Karen puts the locket in his hand.

Heero stares at it, "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because a friend wants you to have it," Karen said simply.

"How do I know you didn't put a tracer in this?"

"You don't, but you're more than welcome to check to see if I did," Karen answered back, "I have to go now, bye Heero."

Heero doesn't say anything, but stares at the locket.

She turns, "And say goodbye to Wufei for me."

When Karen was out of sight, Heero studied the locket. He had seen her wear it before; she always had this locket on. Turning the locket over, he noticed there was something written in it, it said: "Here lies the key to our hopes, dreams and future."

He opened the locket to find a small, what looked like a computer chip inside. This just made Heero more confused than ever. Later that day, Quatre walked into the room when he saw Heero. Sitting on his bed, there was a locket in one hand, and a computer chip in the other. Looking over Heero's shoulder, Quatre commented, "Looks like Nova Star's technology."

Heero looked up, "Nova Star's?"

"Uh huh, it was part of a proto type they made, it was suppose to be able to carry large amounts of information, and could be used with another device. We have the proto type, but we never could take it out on market since the company was taken over. I have it, if you want to see it Heero," Quatre offered.

Heero nodded, "That would be helpful."

Somewhere else, Ryan was finishing up his work. He just received a call, and he hoped that everything was going all right, and he hoped that Karen knew what she was doing. At that point there was a knock on the door. Ryan wasn't surprised, he knew it could only mean one thing.

"Come in!"

Stepping in was a boy with light unruly brown hair and brown eyes. He was smirking, even though he was handcuffed and there were two Oz soldiers on either side.

"We have found Key sir!" one soldier said.

Ryan eyed the boy, "You are Key?"

"Who wants to know?" the boy replied.

"Sit him down here, and then leave us," Ryan commanded.

The forced the boy into a sit, with a smirk on the Oz soldiers' faces they left him alone with their commander.

Ryan sat back, "So Kasey, looks like you got caught."

"Only for now Ryan, only for now…" Kasey shook his head.

Back at the school, once again the pilots were sitting around the table. Heero was showing them the device that Quatre had given him.

Duo just shrugged, "So it was made by Nova Star, so what?"

Heero held up one computer chip, "This was given to me, listen."

He put the computer chip into the device, and a voice rang out from it,

"Hi guys, if you got this. That means Karen found you, yea… I know about Karen, if that's what you were wondering. Look nothing is what it seems, so far everything as been one big complex lie. Karen, me, her cousin and everyone in the Underground have been working to keep one step ahead of Oz. Unfortunately I can't tell you everything about this lie, you'll have to figure that one by yourself. Hopefully we'll be able to put wraps on this before Oz catches on. Oh, and one more thing, you guys will need a map of all of the Underground bases. Karen is being sent to China, so if you're there. Go see her for the map, and she will lead you to the nearest Underground base. So long, and until next time. Key out."

Quatre's jaw dropped, "Karen is an Underground member?"

Heero nods, "She's one of the many working within Oz. From the written information that Key gave me, she was sent here to find us. From Oz it was to arrest us or spy, from the Underground it was to make sure we were alright, and later to give us this information."

"What did he mean, there is a complex lie?" Trowa asked.

"From what I can tell, the Underground has been tricking Oz, making them think one thing, while something else is happening. Because Oz had yet to get out of their hair, they created this complex lie, in which would help us, if nothing goes wrong. It is very risky, one false move could mean the end of the Underground."

Wufei shook his head, "Then why take such a big risk? It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe, maybe not, but perhaps they think, it's the only way to go about doing this," Quatre pointed out.

Duo looked at Heero, "So, what do we do now?"

"Wait."

Karen hit her head softly on the wall of her room. She was back home, and soon she would be heading for China. This had to work, if not everything they had worked so hard for would be gone. Still, she kind of hoped that Wufei would be going to China to get the map.

"Stop feeling sorry for your self," she scolded, "Besides, there is still some work to be done."

Putting on her uniform, and putting her hair into a bun, Karen got ready for another act. Ryan had asked her to come to a briefing, on her way there she met up with Alex. Alexandra was Karen's best friend and was a former computer programmer and engineer when Nova Star was not part of Oz.

"So, what do you think is going to happen now?" Alex asked.

Karen shrugged, "Anything could happen now, if anything goes wrong, we could be in for the ride of our lives."

Alex humph, "This is going too far, if we don't end this soon we're going to get caught. Whose bright idea was this anyways?"

"Don't forget, you agreed to this," Karen pointed out.

"Yes, well, I didn't think we would be getting this deep into things. By the way how's Kasey?"

"I don't believe him, but he says he's okay," Karen answered.

During this time, Wufei was getting ready for another mission. This time he was going with Duo and Trowa. Though he wondered about what he said to Karen. After all, he did thought she was playing with him, that she was a spy. Now, he finds out that she didn't tell him everything. Why? Was she worried that he wouldn't believe her? Or maybe she thought it would endanger her mission to tell him everything. Wufei noted that the next time he meets Key, he would ask about Karen.

Alex and Karen entered the room, with a few minutes to spare. Karen noted that even though there were many were many high Oz officials, there were many more in the form of workers, scientists, engineers, weapons designers and computer programmers were Underground members. It was amazing that Oz never did catch on, and that they have lasted for so long.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Judge!" Ryan showed everyone a picture of a large mostly white Gundam.

During this time, folders were being handed out. Karen received a disk in her folder, and quietly slipped it into her pocket.

"Now this has been specially programmed by our best computer programmer, Alexandra Vendra. Most of all its weapons are the best. It holds a thermal rapier, flamethrower, missiles hiding in the wings, among other things."

Karen eyed Alex.

"We have yet to chose the pilot of this Gundam, but I assure you that it will be the best!"

Karen was still sitting on her chair, when everyone but Alex left.

"Alex?"

"I know, I figured it was the best. The plan is to hijack the Gundam. Since we are going to hijack it why not make it an improvement of the old Phoenix?"

"So, what's my mission?"

"To hijack it of course, now there's my own special program inside. They don't know this, but no one can enter the cockpit until I put in the special code. Now this is a one shot thing. Once the program has served its purpose, it will be erased from the computer."

Karen chewed on the tip of her pen, "So what's the program?"

"The program can work in two ways. First when you hijack it, I will enter the code so the Gundam can be used, but…"

"But?"

"If the code is not enter two days after it arrives at it's new location, then the Gundam will self-destruct."

Karen stared at her, "What in the hell gave you the idea to do that?"

"Don't know, but either we have it, or no one has it," Alex got up.

"When will the Gundam be moved to its new location?" Karen asks.

Alex held up five fingers, "In five days Karen, better hurry."

During this time, Duo, Wufei and Trowa were searching the base for some information. It was rumored that Oz was creating it's own Gundam. They just needed to know more about it. Unfortunately, things weren't going so well, not well at all. They were running down the long hallway, it soon became clear that they would have to forget about the information, and just get out of there, before they get caught.

Duo skidded down one hallway, "Man, I wish we had some help."

"Well, now would be a good time," Trowa murmured.

"Injustice!" Wufei spat.

Alex and Karen were walking to her room; they were talking about getting ready for the worse.

"We need to do something about Kasey. He's going to get killed if he stays there too long," Karen opened the door.

Alex walks in after her, "I agree, but we must leave it for now. We'll get them out. You will see. Everything will be alright."

Karen grabbed her bag, "I know, I know, but ever get the feeling something is going to go wrong?"

"Yes, always, each time you go on a mission. Anyways, are you heading for China now?"

"Have to the pilots might head there," Karen answered, before asking, "Has the traitor been found?"

"Yes, they have silenced him, now we just have to worry about this. Oz is having less trust in the former members of the Nova Star. Less trust is not a good thing."

Karen growled, "Just peachy, troubles on top of our troubles."

"This is the reason why we started this, to not raise any doubts about us, but we must show ourselves soon," Alex stated.

Karen shook her head, "Not before we finish and reveal the biggest lie within Oz yet."

"Till then… Good luck Karen," Alex hugs her.

"You too."

Three of the Gundam pilots were being lead down a long hallway. It had been a long trip, after being capture, they were sent to this base. Wufei just kept looking ahead, till they reached the cells.

One of the guards snickered, "Looks like you'll be keeping your friend company."

"What?" Duo frowned.

Trowa thought silently, "Had Quatre or Heero gotten themselves caught?"

"Your friend Key was brought in two days ago," the guard explained.

Being pushed in, the pilots notice the boy sitting on the far end of the cell. He stared at them, and then frowned. When the door closed behind them, Kasey shook his head, "Looks like I'm not the only one."

"No you're not," Trowa stated.

Duo frowned, "What happened man?"

"Traitor within the Underground, and to make matters worse I thought you were going to meet Karen," Kasey said, "and by the way, call me Kasey."

"Okay then Kasey," Duo chirped, "Heero and Quatre are going to meet Karen."

"Good, she'll need to help," Kasey murmured.

Wufei frowned, "Help?"

"You'll see, so by the way Wufei, right? Are you still angry with Karen? For lying to you?" Kasey asked.

Wufei sighed, "No, I'm not. As a fellow soldier I understand why she lied."

"What about as a friend Wufei," Kasey pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Wufei snapped.

Kasey laughed, "Look, Karen was treading on thin ice when she met you. She made a choice, Wufei, between the mission and you. She chose you, it was only luck that she was needed to be back here to go to China. Otherwise you would have considered it as a failed mission."

Wufei stared at Kasey, at him, and at the thought of what Karen had done, "I don't…"

"Think about it Wufei, I have to admit. You must have done something right to get Karen's heart. Normally she's pretty… I wouldn't say anti-social, but she's not big on dances or dates. The last guy to make a move on her got decked, and was out for a week," Kasey said.

Wufei just starting thinking to himself, and about the mistakes he made.

A day later Karen was waiting in the market place for the pilots. What she had expected were five boys, instead she found only Heero and Quatre. She walked up to them; Heero noticed her confused looked, "They were caught on their last mission. So we will have to go back soon."

"We have a problem," Karen said.

Quatre frowned, "What is it?"

"Could we talk somewhere less crowded?"

Heero nods, and leads Karen to their hideout. She takes a sit, and looks at them, "Oz a few months back, and 'requested' that Nova Star create a Gundam."

"And?"

She hands them the folder, "We've created the Gundam, but not without back up."

Quatre flips through the pages, "What do you mean?"

"Four days from now the Gundam will be moved to a different location. The route is shown in the folder. The mission is to hijack the Gundam."

"Hijack it? Why not destroy it?" Quatre asked.

"Well, they figured it would be a big waste. No one knows this but a few, but that is the new model of the Phoenix, the Gundam that the Underground has been using."

Heero eyed Karen, "What's the plan?"

"We have anywhere from 4 to 6 days to hijack it. Alex, the designer will enter the code as soon as we send the signal, allowing us to enter the cockpit and get out. If the code is not enter by the sixth day, then the Gundam will self-destruct."

"Mission accepted."

Sometime later, Karen, Heero and Quatre were walking into the Oz base.

Quatre turned to Karen, "Don't you think this is cutting a bit close?"

"No, we'll have two things done at once. The plane is supposed to leave tonight. First we'll break the others out, and then we hijack the plane," Karen said, "Which reminds me Heero, do you still have my locket?"

"Yes."

"I need it for something," Karen explained.

In the cell Kasey was eyeing the door every few minutes that is until, someone came to the cell. Duo sat up, but didn't really thing mean anything. Kasey on the other hand smiled, "Hey, Alex, what's the good word?"

Someone tossed a locket between the bars, which Wufei recognized to be Karen's. Without a word the person left, and Kasey quickly opened up the locket. Inside was a small piece of paper. He smiled, as he read the paper and then muttering, "There's always a change of plans."

"What's going on?" Trowa ask.

Kasey looks at him, "Heero and Quatre are here, and along with Karen they're going to break us out tonight. Right afterwards we have to hijack the plane that is also leaving tonight to get out hands on a Gundam called the Judge, but it's really the improved version of the Phoenix."

"Cool, your Gundam?" Duo asks.

Kasey shook his head, "Nope, not mine," then he smiled, "Then again this is why Key said this was the most complex lie ever created by us."

Trowa glared at Kasey, "What do you mean 'Key said'?"

"Nothing is what it seems with us Trowa," Kasey said.

Duo couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I'm not Key…"

Author's Notes: Yay! I did it again! Okay please read and review. Please, pretty please with a cherry on top!