Gundam Wing: The Space between…Chapter 3: The Game Begins

Heero (VO): Previously on The Space Between:

Heero (VO): From the Journal of Heero Yuy. Well, today everyone found out who my 'phantom aide' is. It was rather… interesting.  However, I think that they took it pretty well…

Heero: Try to keep your mind out of the gutter, Lt. Commander Bloom is a fine officer and I can personally vouch for her.

Trowa: How's that?

Heero: I trained her personally.

Catching movement out of the corners of their eyes both Heero and Cathy dive out of the way of an angry Trowa. Heero seeing his confusion motions for him to look to his right. He does and receives the shock of his life: standing there is his sister with a Glock 35  (.40 cal) leveled at him with her finger on the trigger.

Heero: (wry grin) Did I forget to mention that she is also the head of my personal security detail?

Cathy (still laughing): What was the question again?

Heero: It was more of a statement than a question, but I'll say it again. You knew. Didn't you?

Heero: If Trowa only knew…

Cathy: That's it! That's what I came in to ask you.

Heero (softly): What do we tell him? We can't even explain it. We're more than just friends. And I wouldn't use the word lovers.  To be honest I don't know what we have, but I do know this: being with you is as close to normal as I've ever been.

Cathy: You coming to bed soon?

Heero: Yeah, I'll be there in a few, just let me finish this.

Heero (to himself): This had better be good. (Into phone) Yuy… What!? [Sits up]…When…that little… No, I'll handle them. You deal with the ones out there… Right…You did good, Yuy out.

Heero: (to Cathy) We need to pay Senator Matthew Hayes a visit. (bt) Now.

{Fade to Black}

{Title sequence, teasers for upcoming episodes (not in order) along with opening credits}

{BGM The Space Between by Dave Matthews Band}ßplays through

Panning view of the interior of the Operations Center with Catherine Bloom, in Summer Whites, sitting in the command chair.

Heero, at home, sitting on his couch typing on his laptop as Cathy comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his shoulders.

Heero, Cathy and the gang, clad in black, in a firefight, all with matching feral grins

Duo storming out of Heero's office, after he leaves Heero turns to a shadowed corner and raises an eyebrow in a silent question at the figure that steps out.

The President of the ESUN speaking at a press conference with Heero, Lady Une and Relena sitting next to each other in the background, all with varying degrees of boredom on their faces

 

Wide shot of all the primary Preventers gathered around Lady Une's office desk: Lady Une seated in the center, Heero perched on her side of the desk to her right with Cathy at his left elbow; Grey and Wufei, standing at parade rest, to her right.   Duo standing to Une's left. Trowa and Quatre are both seated in the chairs in front of her desk but are turned to face the camera.

Face shot of Heero that zooms in on one of his eyes and then transitions to a star field.

Were the title of the fic is superimposed into the shot.

Heero: (VO) The Game Begins

{BGM: Drive by Incubus}

{Cut to:}

Location: En Route to Sen. Hayes' residence

Time:  03:45 Zulu; 04:45 Local

Date:  Thursday, April 19 A.C. 200

[Ext. shot of one of Heero's cars, a BMW 333I, as it weaves effortlessly through the early morning traffic. Cut to Int. shot. Heero at the wheel and Cathy in the front passenger seat. Cathy, who is by now used to his 'actions-first-answers-later' style, sits and waits for him to explain the situation to her and as if on queue]

Heero: That was one of my (bt) contacts informing me that the minister is once again trying to gain control of the Security Council (SecCon).

Cathy: Why now?

Heero: You remember Sen. Kelly Griggs?

Cathy (smiling): The one that makes homemade cookies for her security detail? Yeah, why?

Heero: Well, according to my contact she will be found dead in a few hours of, and I quote, "natural causes."

Cathy: How'd she really die?

Heero: Cranial-facial lead infusion.

Cathy (gives Heero a yeah-right look, but sees he's serious): For real?

Heero (nods): And that means there will be an opening on the SecCon for 'her' the put another one of  'her' cronies in.

Cathy:  Isn't she afraid that we'll investigate?

Heero: She's gotten better at covering all tracks that lead to her. Don't get me wrong we'll investigate, but this time we have the advantage.

Cathy: How's that?

Heero: If you remember during the Mars Riots, Relena was a member of SecCon.

Cathy: Yeah, so?

Heero: Remember those nasty leaks?

Cathy: Remember! I have a few lovely scars because of them.

Heero: Ever wonder where they were coming from? (Lets the accusation remain unsaid)

Cathy: You're not serious! (bt) Are you?

[Heero's only response is to quickly glance at her and raise an eyebrow.]

Cathy: Damn. What were you saying about us having an advantage?

Heero: Actually, this time around we have two. The first is the most obvious and most important: Relena is no longer on SecCon. The second is that we have jurisdiction over Sen. Griggs death.

[Seeing that he has lost her Heero explains]

Heero: If we investigate we can make it look like whatever we want. Assassination, robbery-gone-bad, or terrorist activity. If we say she was killed by terrorists that gives us more leverage to go after them and it makes us look good when we take down the group we say is responsible.

Cathy: Okay, I get the having jurisdiction part but what does the first have to do with (trails off getting it) Oh, I see: since she isn't on SecCon, she doesn't know about the upcoming raids. Nice. I wish I could see the look on her face when she finds out that she played into our hands, unwittingly or not.

Heero: Right, now all we have to do now is keep her from getting a foothold in the SecCon. Hence this early morning trip to see Sen. Hayes

Cathy: But why him?

Heero: He's one of ours.

Cathy: What? He's a Preventer?

Heero: Yup.

Cathy (grinning): Do you know how many laws and regulations that goes against?

Heero (matter-of-factly): About four or five laws and six regs.

Cathy: Just checking. Anyway. Why now?

Heero: He has more political insight into the matter and he might know a little more about Sen. Griggs' death.

[The rest of the ride to Sen. Hayes' house was spent in silence]

{BGM fades}

Location: Sen. Hayes' residence

Time:  04:00 Zulu; 05:00 Local

Date:  Thursday, April 19 A.C. 200

[A man in his mid-to-late forties, average build and height, and sandy brown hair is seen nervously pacing back and forth in a well-appointed study. Oddly enough he is fully dressed even at this early hour.  Glancing at his watch he walks over to a hutch with glass doors to retrieve two scotch glasses. When he opens the doors he sees the refection of an empty overstuffed chair after, however, when he closes the door the chair is occupied by one Heero Yuy with Cathy standing in the shadows behind him.]

Sen. Hayes: GAAHH! Damnit Yuy!

Heero: You should have seen that one coming.

Sen. Hayes: Whatever, who's the muscle? [Pouring the drinks]

Cathy: Lieutenant Commander Catherine Bloom and I've been called a lot of things, but never muscle.

Sen. Hayes: Muscle is muscle no matter how pretty a package you wrap it in. [glances at Cathy asking a silent question, she shakes her head declining the drink] Scotch: the breakfast of champions

Heero: Back to subject, Intell dump.

Sen. Hayes: Right, [hands Heero a drink and the lowers him self in to a the chair opposite him] about three weeks ago I began to hear about a certain individual inquiring as to what would happen if a member of SecCon were to pass on. You know, order of succession, eligibility, term limits and so forth. Anyway, two weeks ago these inquiries began to get less and less general and more specific, more into the who and the what. So I began to make discreet inquiries of my own and I found that Sen. Louis Martin was the one asking the questions.

Heero: The jerk from the finance committee? Relena's lap dog?

Sen. Hayes: [reaching for a folder that lay on the table next to his chair] he's more than her lap dog [tossing the folder to Heero] Before you look at that file I must warn you it will make your stomach turn.

Heero: [opens the file and nearly chokes on his drink from laughing] WHAT THE HELL? [Flips through the rest of the file] To quote Raul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: "How many strange mornings and weird nights had this shit been going on?"

Sen. Hayes: As far as I can tell, about five weeks.

Heero: Her control over him?

Sen. Hayes: Complete.

Cathy: Great, yet another mindless sycophant.

Sen. Hayes: There's more, I think he's the one that contacted our mutual friend to do the deed, but…

Heero: He didn't know that they were working for us now.  Perfect. How did they want her killed?

Sen. Hayes: Poison, one that causes a heart attack and is quite untraceable. Our friend declined the job but passed it along to someone else and then contacted myself and then you.

Cathy: I thought that you said she was shot in the face?

Heero: That's what we're gonna tell the press.

Sen. Hayes: That's also what our friend made it look like after the assassin left.

Cathy: Why?

Sen. Hayes: Because that's the only way that we can keep the Minster from putting someone form her camp in the position. You see if a member of SecCon dies of natural causes, the whole senate has to vote on the replacement, and that's a long drawn out process. Plenty of time for her to worm her way in and influence people.

Heero: However, if a member is murdered, then only members of the council vote for the replacement within fifteen days. Helps lower the chance of outside influence.

Sen. Hayes: Therein lies our problem.

Heero: how so?

Sen. Hayes: Remember earlier when I was talking about order of succession and eligibility?  Well the long and the short of it is that Sen. Martin is the only one that has the time in office to be considered for the position. The only way we could put someone in other than Martin is if he were dead.

Heero: Aw crap. She has got us in a corner but good don't she? We can't let it go cause she'll have an operative on SecCon. If we act then she'll know that we have someone on the inside.

Cathy: A dangerous game she's playing.

Heero: A game she's gotten good at.

Sen. Hayes: Heero, you realize that we have no alternative?

Heero: Yeah Matt, I know. Not that I like the bastard, he's a grade-A asshole, it's just that I don't want to give her any advantage, but I agree there is no other way.

Cathy: So, we're gonna assassinate Sen. Martin?

Heero: Yeah.

Cathy (coldly): I'm going to enjoy this.

[At her last words her eyes became the flat lifeless eyes of a killer or perfect solider, you decide]

Sen. Hayes: What's up with her?

Heero: Oh she applied for a job with his office but she declined his extremely overt advances for, shall we say, favors. But all that aside do you have anyone to fill the position that the soon to be, and not so dearly, departed Sen. Martin will vacate?

Sen. Hayes: Yeah, Elaine Hill. She's a junior senator, but she shows promise and is untainted. Until Sen. Martin is out of the picture she will be overlooked.

Heero: [rising out of his seat] Excellent, do what you need to. We'll handle Griggs' murder investigation. Speaking of which, we need to find a radical group that was pissed with her.

Sen. Hayes: take your pick! The woman was a firebrand! She had a glare that rivaled yours. She took no shit whatsoever!

Heero: Well that makes it a bit easier. [Turns to walk away but stops his voice low] I never asked but why Kelly?

Sen. Hayes: You don't remember? [Heero shakes his head] Of coarse you wouldn't it was a closed session. She trashed one of the Minister's pet projects in front of the entire Senate.

Cathy (dryly): which one?

Sen. Hayes: I don't know really. I think it was during the time she had the health care hair up her ass. The Minster had just announced a bill and everyone except for me, Griggs and the SecCon members, began doing his or her best impersonation of a Hoover. Griggs just sat back and let the brown nosers do their thing. After they had calmed down she took the floor and began to verbally tear her dumb bill a new one. [By this time Matt is laughing] After she was done with the bill, which by the way never passed, Kelly turned her sights on the Minister herself and very politely told her to go fuck herself. She didn't say it out right, but it was in the subtext.

Heero: God, I wish I could have seen that.

Sen. Hayes: (still grinning) Yeah that was Kelly at her best. (Sobers) I'm gonna miss her. Heero, you know I've never asked anything of you, but can you do this one thing for me?

Heero: Sure, what is it?

Sen. Hayes: Make that sonofabitch suffer.

Heero: Mission Accepted.

{Fade to Black}

End The Game Begins

Heero VO: Next time on Gundam Wing: The Space Between...

[Heero and Cathy, still in the field uniform, pull into the underground parking garage beneath Preventer HQ at the same time as Duo]

Duo: [stepping out of a red Ford-150 crew cab]: Whoa, Heero buddy where did you get the money to buy that?

Heero: [climbing out of car] what do you think I was doing on my laptop for all those years, playing Quake?

[Cathy is already out of the car and on her way to the express elevators. Heero turns locks the doors and heads that way, but calls out to Duo over his shoulder]

Heero: If you like that you should see my condo!

[enters elevator just as the doors start to close leaving a dumbfounded Dou standing in the middle of the parking garage]

[Int. shot of the elevator.]

Cathy: so what's my assignment? 

Heero: First, I want you to go and talk to Quatre, tell him that we need him to investigate a Code Three. He'll know what that means, he's helped me with these type situations before. After that I want you to go and talk with Grey, tell him that I want Group Six spooled up and ready to go at a moments notice and prepped for recon duty.

[Elevator 'dings' she is at her floor exits the elevator, turn s to Heero]

Cathy: What will you be doing?

Heero: I'm going to the Medical tower and talk Sally into going along with this and then I'm gonna talk to Trowa. [Doors close]

Hope you like! Review if you do! And if you don't, do it any way!

SM5