This pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

Title: Two Become One 5/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: 2xS and one more – see if you can find it!

*******

WARNING: Angst and Language

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board. I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either – thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Set your spirit free, it's the only way to be
Silly games that you were playing, empty
Words we both were saying,
Let's work it out boy, let's work it out boy,

~~~ Sally's Apartment, L2 ~~~

Sally wound her braid tightly against her skull. Nimble fingers

jammed in several pins anchoring the mass to her skull so tightly

it nearly brought tears to her eyes. Gel combed back the remaining

stragglers of hair, making sure not a single blonde strand remained.

Grabbing the can of spray color, Sally held her breath and sprayed

down her hair, covering the shining blonde with the matte blackness.

It would have been easier to simply wear a hat, but the risk of losing

said item was more than she cared to take at this time.

Making sure that any remnants of blonde were completely

obliterated, she checked her pockets for the needed items once

more. Her black pants and turtleneck gave her lithe form a smooth

sexy look. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror and turned

back to admire the form. Her musings concentrated on whether or

not Duo might like seeing her as a black haired femme fatale

instead?

She shook away the thoughts of the sexy man and turned to the

task at hand. Everything seemed to be in order for her late night

breaking and entering gig. Taking a deep fortifying breath, she

prepared to exit the apartment and head out to find the information

to close this case that she desperately needed.

Turning off the light in her bedroom, she headed for the door of the

small apartment. There she grabbed the keys to her car and a coat

that concealed the dark clothing and unusual hair color from those

who saw her every day. She had decided to take her car and park

near the scene as she had a way to go and it seemed a bit safer.

Besides, it made leaving that much easier. With luck, leaving would

definitely be the easiest part and she might even get a little sleep

tonight. She donned the coat and pulled up the hood, shading her

face and hiding the fright in her eyes from view.

With a deep breath, she opened the door and shut it behind her,

heading out into the unknown where the predators hunt without

rest.

~~~ Preventer HQ, Shuttle Bay ~~~

"Look you little Pipsqueak," growled Duo, his hands clenching

the edge of the counter instead of the collar of the pale soldier like

he really wanted to, "I don't know or care where your orders came

from, you get me a God damn shuttle and I want it right now."

"But Commander Une has to approve all requisitions," said the

trembling solider. He desperately tried to remember all the correct

procedures of what you were to do in such a situation. But he

didn't think 'angry God of Death guy ready to snap you in two'

had been covered in the manual.

"If you don't give me the fucking shuttle, I am sure that you won't

need to worry about what Commander Une wants every again,"

snarled Duo. "Now give me access or I'll hijack the stupid thing

and you can explain to Commander Une about how you impeded

the rescue mission of an officer."

Eventually the poor hapless young recruit, decided that the current

presence of a pissed off Shinigami out-weighed the possible

chewing out by his superior the next time he reported for duty. He

handed over the needed access codes, once he had a somewhat

sketchy flight plan from the violent eyed avenging angel of death.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to avoid the haranguing

he was sure to receive from his superior in the morning….

~~~ Somewhere on L2 ~~~

So far so good was the only thought that crossed Sally's mind as

she eased further into the building. It had been easy enough to

enter, as her own pass allowed her access to a fair amount of

areas. The tough part was just beginning.

Through her routine work, she had narrowed down the areas

where vital documents must be stored. She knew there had to be

traceable evidence, because of what she was required to enter on

the computer after each 'operation'. Somewhere was the bit of

data that tied those organs to their final destination.

If only she'd been as talented as Heero in the hacking business,

she could have done this from the safety of her own home! Of

course those things never seemed to go her way anyway. Maybe

you just needed to be a Gundam pilot for computers to respond

to you that way!

Stopping in front of the restricted access door that Sally had

dubbed 'most likely to conceal incriminating evidence', she

withdrew a small micro-computer and slid its key card into the

access port next to the door. With a bit of scrambling, the

computer decoded the passkey into something the door recognized.

Looking around, Sally assured herself that she was alone, and

quietly crept into the room, pocketing the micro-computer along

the way. The door slid shut behind her on its silent track and

she let loose a slow breathe as it closed completely.

The entire room was built to house a pair of computers. Both

their monitors were on, giving the room a eerie dim green-grey

glow that computers do. There were a couple of file cabinets and

other storage paraphernalia on her right, but other than the desks

the computers sat on and a single chair, the room was devoid of

furniture. The room was also very cool. Sally supposed that it

was for the benefit of the computers but she didn't think about it

other than a brief instance.

If she had, perhaps the solid green light on the room's thermostat

turning to a blinking yellow one would have concerned her. But

then as a woman focused on a mission, it's probably not likely.

Without concern, Sally snagged the room's only chair and wheeled

over in front of the first computer. She let the micro-computer

help her log in, stealing an id and a password from the computer's

own memory banks. Slipping in under the security, she began to

search for the information she needed.

"So what can you give me," she murmured under her breath, eyes

fixed on the screen.

And the yellow light on the thermostat began to blink even faster.

And then it shifted to red.

~~~ Heading into Orbit about Preventer HQ ~~~

Duo cursed again and pounded on the consol of the ship he had

'commandeered'.

"Can't this piece of shit go any faster?" he cried out loud, before

pushing ahead and coaxing maximum engine power out of the

vessel. "Damn it all! Why do I always get stuck with the piece of

junk?!"

Duo finessed a little more from the machine and skillfully pointed

in the direction that he needed to travel. Hoping for the best, he

wove his way through space to save Sally. He wasn't quite sure

what kind of muscle he was up against with this race, but he certainly

decided that some heavy duty back-up might not hurt.

"Time to call in a favor," he muttered, calling up the communications

link and punch in a series of digits.

An electronic recorded voice came on the line and Duo

responded with the password which brought him face to face,

via vid screen with he man he was looking for.

"Nice to see you again Heero."

~~~ Mainframe room, Somewhere on L2 ~~~

Sally worked as fast as her fingers could fly across the keyboard.

She coaxed and shouted harsh commands at the terminal screen,

searching through endless files and documents looking for the

information she needed to nail these jerks where it hurt. As fast

as she was having to read, everything seemed like gibberish so

far. The names and numbers meant absolutely nothing to her at

this moment.

"Where is it?" she muttered under her breath, her whole being

focused on what was scrolling across the screen.

~~~ Elsewhere on L2 ~~~

Ty rolled his chair carelessly across the floor to the beeping

monitor on the other side of the room. He idly noted that the

sensors were detecting a major heat increase in the mainframe

room. With bored curiosity, he rolled back to his main terminal

and tapped into the surveillance equipment for that room.

"Well, well well," he smirked to himself. "What have we got

here?"

His fingers skimmed across the keyboard, allowing him to view

what the former blonde bombshell was seeing on the screen.

"Searching for something are we Ms. Schwartz?" he questioned

the image from the security camera. "Let's just make sure that

you find something, shall we?"

Smoothly, Ty flipped back his long red hair and grabbed the

headset from beside his terminal. With a quick motion and a tap

of a key, he was connected with the person he was looking for.

"Hey boss man," he crooned into the phone at the snarling voice

on the other end of the line. "I've caught a nice mouse for you.

Perhaps you'd better take it from the trap before she runs away."

~~~ En route to L2 ~~~

"Look Heero," continued Duo as he reset the course of the shuttle

once more, aiming for a part of L2 that would be a little more

likely to house the characters that Sally was looking for, "I need

some back up here. I'm heading in there blind and I'd like

someone covering my ass that I trust."

Heero sighed. "What makes you think that I would be so willing to

do something like that?"

Duo began to tick the reasons off on his fingers. "Because you're

my best bud, I loaned you pieces for your Gundam during the war…"

"Only because I took them with force," corrected Heero with a small

smirk. "You never would have parted with them willingly."

"How do you know that unless you asked, which you didn't,"

snorted Duo in return, finding one final point to win his case

against the brown haired man across the vid screen from him.

"Besides, if you don't help with this, I'll tell Relena what you

were really doing the night before your wedding."

On the vid screen, Heero sighed and rubbed a long limbered hand

through his ragged brown hair. "You win Duo," he said with some

reluctance. "If anything happens to me, you get to deal with

Relena."

"Done," agreed Duo readily, not about to admit to anything close

to defeat with this case. "I'm going to need those infamous

hacking abilities for this one."

Across the screen, Duo watched as Heero pulled out a battered

pad of paper and a pen and began to take notes as the pair

planned their strategy and where to meet.

Feeling pleased that Heero would be able to aid him, Duo

concentrated on strategy and urging the shuttle toward Sally

faster. There was no chance for a wrong move this time, for he

had to save her.

~~~ Chang Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~

Une pounded on Wufei's door, knocking loudly several times

before ringing the doorbell. She gave no thought to the noise

waking the people in the neighboring apartments. She simply

needed Wufei and she needed him right now.

Blearily, Wufei came to realize that the pounding sound that he

heard wasn't in his dreams, but at his front door. Stumbling only

slightly, he rose swiftly and climbed from the bed, pushing his

hair away from his face in a sleepy gesture. He shook his head

to clear away the remnants of sleepy cobwebs that clung and made

his way through the small apartment space to the door.

Checking through the small antique peephole that was provided,

he immediately spied Une and flew through the opening of the

locks. If it was urgent enough to bring Une to his doorstep at

this time of night, he'd better make sure he got to her quickly.

Pulling open the door, he quickly grasped some of the situation.

Une's face was sober and the lines of worry seemed even deeper

etched this evening. But it was her eyes that caught and held his

gaze. They burned with a red hot anger that he had never seen

from her before. The fires behind that gaze no longer simmered

but blazed with their full fury as Wufei urged her to come inside.

He escorted her over to the couch to try and convince her to

sit and speak to him, but the energy within her would have

nothing to do with sitting still. He watched the brunette pace

in front of him as he admired her lithe form. Her slenderness

had aged gracefully, giving way to more of the round feminine

curves her form had held the promise for. Her long legs were

deliciously displayed by the knee length skirt that she was

wearing and he admired the smoothness of that bared skin. Her

tailored jacket was open and her blouse unbuttoned to bare the

creamy expanse of her neck. Wufei smiled secretly to himself.

He loved it when she was passionate about something. She had

a slight wild side then and he loved every moment of it, no

matter the reason that had brought it on. He sensed from her

agitated movements and the tight grasp she had on the paper in

her hand that this time it was something a little more serious

that had brought our her wild side.

Une paused before beginning her tirade. She knew that she

needed to calm down before she absolutely blew a fuse over

this latest development. She stopped her pacing and turned to

face Wufei. The Chinese man was sitting on the edge of the

sofa watching her carefully. His deep brown eyes held the

edges of sleep and his sleek hair tumbled along his cheeks.

Smooth golden skin was bared above silky black pajama

bottoms that begged for Une to touch them.

Reigning in her desire, Une remembered why she had come to

Wufei with this problem rather than anyone else. For as long

as he had been a member of the Preventer organization, Wufei

had been a kind of confidante. She couldn't even remember

how it all started, but she relied on him now more than anyone

else. He understood her need to uphold Treize's beliefs and

urged her to keep those memories. His sense of justice and

honesty, brought them together to forge those dreams into

reality. She knew he would be just as angry at the thought of

some selfish bastard threatening those hopes and dreams.

"We found the bastard Wufei," she said with more calmness

than she felt inside. The heady mixture of the need to cream

this guy into the ground combined with the intensity of her

sudden feelings for Wufei.

Wufei immediately was far more alert, snapping black eyes

became fueled with the same fire hers had. A hand ran threw

his silky hair and brushed it back off his cheeks. His other

hand reached out and dragged Une down onto the couch

beside him. "Who found him?"

"Duo," sighed Une, handing over the papers she had been

tightly clenching. "He figured it out, but only after he let slip

where Sally was."

"Shit," cursed Wufei as he read through the papers. Duo's

findings had been thorough. The bastard had been quite busy

with the time he had worked within the Preventer organization.

The only thing truly missing was a motive, but Wufei could

have cared less about something like that when the entire

Preventer Organization was on the line.

"I don't know why he did all this," whispered Une, leaning

against Wufei as if somehow looking for support that she

desperately needed right now. "I just know I want him dead.

I want him stripped of his rank and privileges and dead. I

don't care how or why."

Wufei laid a hand on Une's shoulder then, wrapping the arm

around her and drawing her close to him. "We'll get him Une.

He won't get away with this shit any more."

"And poor Sally," whispered Une, concern for her friend sparkling

within her eyes, flickering through the fire in them.

"Damn," cursed Wufei again, his own anger at the man who

threatened his friend causing him to crush the papers in his hand

as Une had before him. "What do we do about getting her out of

there?"

Une shook her head, negating the need to do anything. "Duo's

on his way."

Wufei sighed with some relief, a brief smile flitting across his

features. "That's the way it should be. You and I can take care

of this guy," commented Wufei carefully. They shared a

conspirator's smile then, both knowing that the other wanted Duo

and Sally to come together.

Wufei tapped the papers against his chin, dismissing the romantic

entangles of his friends. "I think we'll need some help though,"

he added, thinking quickly.

"Who?" asked Une with curiosity.

"Well," smiled Wufei, "I think the circus is in town, isn't it?"

Une laughed then, leaning against the Chinese man, relief that

he was in charge flowing through her as he gathered her into

his arms.

And together they laid a trap to catch a rat as a ghost stood behind

them and smiled with pleasure.

~~~ Somewhere on L2 ~~~

Without even an ounce of concern that someone might know of

her presence, Sally continued her search deep within the files.

Her scans and brief foray so far had revealed very little that would

aid her case.

"Damn it! Where is it?" she growled under her voice, glowering

at the computer terminal.

"Can I help you find something Ms. Schwartz?" drawled the calm

voice of the director from behind her.

Slowly Sally turned around on the chair and faced the director.

Dressed in a dull matte black silk bathrobe and pajamas, he should

have looked feminine and weak. But his imposing manner, made

his outfit recede into the background. The only thing she could

see was the definite sneer on his face and how menacing those

guards looked in the room's dim greenish light.

"Not that I know of sir," commented Sally with some resignation,

surrendering the portable computer to the men who came over to

collect her.

"Perhaps not, but we shall see in the morning," he said, gesturing

to the men to lead her away. "Maybe the light of day will jog your

memory."

"Where would you like her sir?" asked the commander of his

squad of guards.

"Take her to one of the holding cells," he commanded, meeting the

blue eyes of Sally's gaze. "Regardless of what she was looking for,

'Ms. Schwartz' will have patients tomorrow."

Sally narrowed her gaze and regarded him coolly as his hand

reached out and stroked a rough finger across delicate skin.

"You see, Ms. Schwartz, I can't afford to lose your skills for a day

so you'll either operate as scheduled tomorrow or you'll find yourself

on the table in place of those donors," he said coldly. His eyes were

dark pools of menace and his smirk grew far enough to send shivers

down Sally's back.

Sally drew away her gaze and forced her feet to move as the

guards dragged her out of the room after handing her micro-

computer over to the boss. The large dark clad man then handed

the device over to the red haired man who had been in the shadows

behind him.

"See what it has Ty and use it to nail her," he commanded and

strode from the room.

With a sadistic grin, Ty fondled the device and then slipped from

the room to return to his own lair.

The guards then led her through a maze of corridors and down an

elevator to nearly the basement of the complex. Without ceremony,

they deposited her in a cell and electronically locked the door.

Sally slid down against the wall when she was sure the way out

was completely sealed and leaned her head back and stared at the

ceiling. Her soft sighed echoed in the empty space as she knew

she was in deeper shit than she ever imaged.

Funny thing then that her only thought was why Duo wasn't here

to get her out of this one.

~~~ Nearing L2 ~~~

"Hold on Sally," whispered Duo, maneuvering the shuttle into to

enter orbit of the L2 colony. "I'm coming."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks for reading and all C&C is appreciated!

^_^

Rhina