A Blaze of Glory

by Ro-Chan2

The Gundam pilots have discovered a plan to built another Gundam. When Duo must take on a difficult mission, he chooses a partner to help him out.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters but Nari and Alec are my own. There's a part where Nari is singing a Japanese song somewhere in here and I don't think it's a real song, but if it is, I don't own it. ^^;



A Blaze of Glory

By Ro-Chan

Part I



The sun was setting as he stood on one of the steep sea cliffs. The wind brushed back his chestnut brown hair as he was otherwise consumed in thought. 'How is this fighting doing any good? Have I somehow made a mistake by killing heartlessly?' Heero Yuy consulted himself for the answers, but didn't find them. It had been two weeks since the incident at Barge. This war was starting to take hold of him, make him blind. He had been blinded when he didn't come the assistance of his best friend, Duo. Heero had been lucky to have found him. Maybe this war wasn't what it seemed, maybe shouldn't even be fought. Heero quickly shunted that idea aside. He was a soldier, a true killing machine trained by Dr. J. There was a job to be done and he couldn't forget that. His mission was to help the colonies to break away from the Earth Sphere Alliance and protect them while doing so. The Oz organization had been after the Gundams for some time and now, after Barge, they were pursuing them even harder.

Since the Gundams were virtually indestructible, the Mobile Suits in Oz's possession were no match. And as if Oz wasn't already backed into the corner, this girl, Relena Peacecraft, was making movements toward total pacifism and most of the Earth Sphere was following. Not only would this cause Oz to find ways to stop her, they would also find a way to trap the Gundam pilots as well. Heero had heard of Zechs Marquise and his dealings as an elite member of Oz. He'd almost gotten his hands on his Mobile Suit, which was too close for Heero's comfort. He was never going to let anyone get that close to his Gundam again. Ever.



The lights dimmed as the ringmaster stepped out into the middle of the floor. Trowa waited silently with his sister, Catherine, to enter the ring. There was a full house tonight, but he wasn't nervous, he was never nervous.

"And now, the amazing, knife-throwing Catherine Bloom and her assistant Trowa Barton!"

"Try to look a little scared this time, okay Trowa?" Catherine said with a smile as she made her way to the middle of the ring.

Trowa stepped up to the giant wheel and was strapped onto it. The routine was always the same: Cathy would throw some knives while the wheel was still and then the rest with it spinning. The first knife came close to his rib cage, the second right in between his fingers. Then the crew spun the wheel. Any normal person would have been afraid, but not Trowa. Fear was not an emotion experienced by him. Nor was happiness or grief. Only anger and hatred. A knife stuck in the wood close to his leg. And, after the wheel stopped, it could be seen that the last knife had landed dangerously close to Trowa's face. He stepped down and took a bow, as it was expected of him, and retreated to his trailer.

After he'd changed, there was nothing but silence, except the quiet clicking of his fingers striking a keyboard. Trowa had managed to hack into the main database at Oz headquarters. There was going to be shipment of Mobile Suits to one of their bunkers tonight. He planned on taking Heavyarms and destroying the shipment before it reached its destination. Trowa stood up and walked silently to the door. When he opened it, there stood Catherine, poised to knock. A giggle escaped her lips when she saw him standing there.

"I was coming to see if you were alright, Trowa. You looked a little more stern than usual." She laughed. Her amusement turned into concern as Trowa pushed past her and headed out into the darkness. "Where are you going, little brother?" she questioned. Trowa simply looked at her and continued on his way. Catherine ran in front of him and grabbed his shoulders to stop him. "Trowa, I don't know where you're going or why, but please reconsider. You could be killed."

Trowa looked at her with pity. Couldn't she see that his mission meant more than she, and even this planet, did? Of course not, she wasn't supposed to know. Even if she did, how could he explain it so she'd understand? "There are worse things." He said coldly. He left Catherine standing there shaking her head as he continued into the undergrowth to uncover his Gundam.

The air carriers with the new Mobile Suits were on their way. The radar showed six of them. Trowa estimated that there were at least three suits on each of those carriers. So, there had to be eighteen or more suits on this shipment. Not a huge loss, but enough to cripple this establishment for a while. Heavyarms was hidden in the heavily forested valley exactly below the route of which the carriers were taking. He would wait until the perfect moment and then launch an all out surprise attack on the shipment. 'Ten seconds and counting,' Trowa thought to himself, 'nine, eight, seven, six, five…' his concentration was broken by the sound of an explosion. He gazed at the screen in front of him to see another Gundam attacking the shipment. It was none other than Deathscythe.

"Looks like you had the same idea I did, buddy." Said a voice crackling over the radio. Duo. He took the fastest and least planned mode of battle. "Well, what are you waitin' for?" he asked. " Do you want me to send you a written invite?"

Slightly insulted, Trowa burst out of the forest and joined the battle. He aimed the huge gun on the right arm of Heavyarms at one of the air carriers. The bullets ripped through the weak metal, sending the fireball of twisted wreckage crashing into the ground. Trowa looked on as Deathscythe took its huge weapon and sliced another of the carriers in two. It wasn't long before the shipment had been destroyed. "Not bad, if I do say so myself." Said Duo with a grin.

"Do you always jump into battles like that or do you plan some, too?" asked Trowa in a sinister tone.

"Nope, no planning here." Duo told him, proudly. "I always go head first into battle."

"That's going to get you killed someday."

"Pssh. I doubt it. I'm the Great Destroyer, I do the destroying. I don't get killed myself." Duo said confidently. "That was easy and that's not like Oz. Something's up."

Now that he thought about it, it was easy. "It was almost too easy. There should have been escorts with this shipment and there weren't. Oz must be planning something." No sooner had Trowa voiced his opinion than a squad of about fifty or so Aries suits appeared from out of nowhere. "I knew it. All too easy."

"Gundam 02 and 03, cease fire and surrender." Said a pilot of one of the Aries suits. Trowa's mouth curved into a smirk. Fifty Aries suits were no match for two Gundams. At this time, Duo's maniacal laughter could be heard over the entire radio frequency. He gripped the controls of Deathscythe and dove right into the center of enemy party. With his laser scythe glowing in the darkness, he ripped at the suits, creating explosions that were brighter than the sun. Trowa decided he'd better join in too before there was no one left to fight. The battle could be seen for miles and, in fact, was being watched from some distance away.

Explosions lit up the night sky like the sun. Two objects darted like fireflies around the explosions. Quatre knew it had to be only one thing: Oz losing a fight to Gundams. A smile crossed his face and he decided to join the battle. When he thought again, the battle would be over by the time he reached it. Quatre decided to make radio contact from the garage instead. There stood Sandrock, a massive being of Gundanium alloy. Oz was trying to get their hands on all five of the Gundams to use for their own gain. Quatre climbed into the cockpit and turned on the radio. The sounds of Trowa, Duo, and the screaming enemy pilots reached him.

"Trowa! This is Quatre, how is the battle going?" he asked as if he didn't know.

"As well as can be expected. You should join us, Quatre."

"I would, but as soon as I would get there, the battle would be over."

"True. Maybe the next time, my friend." With that, Trowa switched off his radio. Now it was time to check with Duo.

"Hey Duo, how are you doing? In the battle, I mean."

"What can I say? The Great Destroyer never loses!" Duo shouted as he dove in to attack another Aries. Quatre could hear Trowa scolding Duo.

"You may be winning the battle, but your behavior is unacceptable." Trowa said.

"Sheesh, I never get any respect around here." Quatre laughed at the bickering that went on between these two. He knew they would be tired and, most likely; their Mobile Suits would need small repairs.

"When the battle's over, you know where to find me. You can rest and have your Gundams repaired at the same time."

"I don't know, Quatre. There is much to be done this night." Trowa pointed out.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about. We accept, Quatre." Duo answered for both of them. Quatre smiled as he acknowledged the accepted invitation before turning the radio off. He carefully climbed out of Sandrock and headed back to the main house.

"Simeon, Trowa and Duo will be here shortly and their Mobile suits will probably need repair. Can you do it?" Quatre asked politely.

"Yes, sir." Simeon said with a smile. Further on, he encountered another of his servants.

"My friends are coming and they will most likely need something to eat. Can you fix them something?" he inquired.

"Certainly, master Quatre." Things seemed to be going well now, but Quatre had a feeling that that would change all too soon. A light breeze swept through the house, as if confirming his assumption.

There were wolves howling at the silver moon, as if to warn it that it could not set. In a clearing nearby, however, was someone that even wolves wouldn't bother. Wufei sat meditating, trying to find yet another way in which Oz was weak. Weakness wasn't a thing that could be tolerated. It had to be wiped out. Wufei would make sure of that. 'Why is it that all of my opponents are weak? Is there no one who is strong enough to defeat Nataku?' He thought back to the night that he detonated a whole truckload of explosives at a training facility of Oz's. A woman, Lucrazia Noin, had pursued him, only to realize that she was at fault for doing so. Wufei had destroyed that facility without the help of Nataku and had only used it to escape the enemy. Weakness was to blame. None were as strong as he. If he was so strong, why did he feel empty after fighting the enemy? It was all in his imagination, if he had such a thing. He and the other pilots were fighting the weakness in this universe. 'If I feel empty, does that make me weak myself?' he thought to himself. Wufei quickly brushed this aside. He was not weak.

Duo and Trowa ate while Quatre sat and talked with them. He enjoyed talking with them. Duo suddenly had a gut feeling that something was going to happen very shortly. Just then, Heero came rushing through the doors. 'Ah, I hate it when I'm right.' Duo thought to himself. Heero opened his laptop and started entering the proper codes, which he needed to hack into the Oz database. When he found what he wanted, he began to speak.

"Oz has somehow managed to collect a huge amount of Gundanium alloy. They're planning to use it to create a Gundam of their own. We have to stop them before they get a chance to start construction." He explained.

"You're right, Heero." Quatre agreed. "But how do we do that? We need some sort of plan."

"Exactly. It's going to take all five of us to reach the storage facilities where it's stored at five different parts of the world." Heero said. "We're somehow going to have to get a hold of Wufei. We need his help."

"Leave that to me. I have a pretty good idea of where to find him." Said Trowa.

"Alright then, fearless leader, what is it that we have to do?" Duo inquired.

"We're all going to meet here and leave for the location we've each been assigned. Duo, you take the storage facility in the South Pacific."

"Great! I've always wanted to go to Bora Bora."

"Quatre, you'll go to Russia. Trowa, gets Australia and Wufei goes to South America."

"What about you, Heero? Where are you going?" asked Quatre.

"I'm going to Antarctica. Duo, there is a catch to your assignment."

"I knew it!" Duo declared sarcastically.

"The storage facility is in a bunker underground. You're going to need some help sneaking in and out."

"Great, and I thought this'd be a hit and run mission."

"You can choose anyone you want to accompany you on your mission." Heero said, as if he had the right to tell Duo who he could and couldn't select for this mission.

"I'll do that. So when is this big shindig?" Duo asked.

"A week and a day from now. Be ready."





They had all been called out for a special assignment. Rumor was it helping one of the Gundam pilots on a secret mission. The small group of guerilla forces had gathered outside the poor excuse for a base camp. Sally Po, their leader, had told them all that the mission personnel would be selecting the soldier himself. All were good choices, however, one was most unlikely. The soldier everyone called Rabbit stood in ranks. She was the youngest of all the soldiers at fifteen. All of a sudden, Sally called them to attention. A young man dressed in black with braided long, brown hair walked out in front of them. He stepped out in front of them, as if to speak.

"Alright, which one of you goes by the name of Nari Simpson?" he asked. Rabbit stepped forward.

"I do, sir." She said.

"Good, report to me as soon as you can." He replied. As he walked away, he heard some of the other soldiers call this girl Rabbit. She was kind of cute for a war-hardened soldier.

Rabbit stood in her bunkhouse shaking nervously. She hadn't been this nervous since the time Lt. Marquise called her to his office and promoted her to the position of captain. What could this pilot want her for? Since all the soldiers had been called to the training field, she'd only found out that the pilot's name was Duo Maxwell. Rabbit had heard of him. He piloted the Deathscythe and had recently escaped from the clutches of Oz. She figured that she'd better be getting to the main office or Mr. Maxwell might get angry with her so she rushed out the door.

In Sally Po's office, Duo waited anxiously for the girl he'd chosen to accompany him on his mission. In the mean time, he decided to ask Sally about her.

"What's this girl's track record look like?" he asked, suddenly curious. Sally began flipping through a filing cabinet and finally pulled one out. She quickly checked the folder and began to speak.

"Well, what do you want to know? She has more field experience than any of the other soldiers, completed the training three weeks ahead of schedule, and was once a captain in the Oz organization." She informed him.

"So, she was a zodiac, huh?" Duo asked with interest. "Has she shown any signs of turning back?" Before Sally could answer, Nari walked through the door.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she asked, timidly.

"You can drop the 'sir.' Its just Duo." He said with a grin. "Yeah, I wanted to see you. I chose you to come with me on a secret hit and run mission." Rabbit just stood there, speechless. This couldn't be happening.

"You chose me instead of one of the older, more experienced soldiers?" she asked in disbelief.

"According to your records, you are the most experienced soldier. How old are you anyway?" Duo asked, trying to make this girl a little more comfortable.

"Uh, fifteen, si-." She remembered not to put the sir on the end.

"What a coincidence, so am I." He told her. "Before I get into the details of the mission, I wanna know something." 'Oh no, here it comes. He's going to ask me about the time I was with Oz.'

"Go ahead." Rabbit consented hesitantly.

"Why do they call you Rabbit?"

"Oh that." she said with a smile. "They call me Rabbit for two reasons. The first is that I'm the fastest Mobile Suit pilot in this group. The second reason is the way I fix my hair." Rabbit said, pulling at a pigtail on the top of her head. Duo laughed at this. He was going to like working with her.

"Now it's time to get serious. The mission that we're going on is a hit and run. There is a storage facility where Oz is storing a large amount of Gundanium alloy. Our mission is to destroy the alloy and come back in one piece. The only problem is that the storage facility that we're attacking is underground. That means we'll have to actually go inside the bunker where the Gundanium is being held." Duo said, laying out the details. Rabbit took a minute or two to take it all in.

"Well? Do I have a partner or what?" he pressed.

"Of course! I consider it an honor to work with the Great Destroyer!" she could barely keep herself from shouting. Oops, she slipped.

"How did you know I called myself that?" Duo asked suspiciously. Rabbit turned red and looked away. Duo brushed it off as having picked it up from one of the Oz pilots. "Anyway, get your stuff together. We're getting outta here."

Rabbit smiled and rushed out of the room. Duo smiled at her nervous antics. He didn't know her well enough yet, but something told him that Rabbit was a lot like him. He turned suddenly to Sally.

"She's a good kid. Very shaky, but a good kid." Duo said.

"Who are you calling 'kid'?" Sally poked. Duo simply shrugged off the attempted insult. He decided that he'd walk out to the bunkhouse and see how the packing was going.

As Rabbit was throwing things into her small duffle bag, she still couldn't believe that Duo Maxwell, the Great Destroyer, had chosen her to go on a secret mission with him. It must be that second chance her friend, Kino, had been saying she'd get. Now it was her chance to make up for everything and everyone she had destroyed while she was with Oz. Her concentration was broken by a sharp knock at the door. She turned around quickly to find Duo standing there.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"You bet! One thing, when does this mission get underway?"

"A week from tonight. Why, you anxious to get started?"

"I sort of am." Rabbit replied. "Ready for my second chance." She whispered.

"What was that?" Duo inquired when he heard the whispered comment.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Rabbit said quickly.

They both walked silently to the jeep that Duo had driven down in. The silence remained during the long ride to the shuttle bay. Nari finally broke the silence.

"Where are we going?" she wondered aloud.

"We're headin' to my business on L2. Have a problem with that?" Duo asked her.

"No, no problem. I just might not receive a warm welcome when I get there." Rabbit informed him.

"Oh? Why's that?" he had suddenly become curious.

"Well, when I was with Oz, I was commanding the squadron of troops that destroyed over half of L2. Everyone I came across saw my face and I'm sure they remember me." Rabbit explained.

"Don't worry about it, Rabbit. If anybody tries any funny stuff, they'll have to deal with me."

"Thanks Duo, but I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself." She confirmed.

"Still…" Duo tried to continue.

"Shh." Rabbit laughed.

As the shuttle took off, she began to feel nervous. Space, to her, was like a distant memory. So, she couldn't help herself from quivering. What would those people back on the L2 colony do to her? Rabbit preferred not to think about that, the possibilities made her sick to her stomach. All of a sudden, Duo looked over at her while she wasn't paying attention. He put his and on her arm.

"Try to relax a little, okay? I told you I wouldn't let anything to you after we got to the colony, didn't I?" Rabbit nodded. "Duo's word is law! You've got nothing to worry about."

Somehow, that didn't make her feel any better. Rabbit didn't want to fall asleep for fear of the nightmares of the terrible things that the people might do to her, but slowly, after five hours of flight, she drifted off to sleep. Duo shook her gently when the shuttle landed. They exited and began their journey to the salvage yard where Duo worked. Strange, it had taken them this long to restore L2 after she'd had a hand in destroying it. Duo could see that Rabbit was starting to get one of those distant looks in her eyes, so he started talking.

"Hey Rabbit, where is it that you grew up?" he asked, making conversation.

"Well, I grew up on Earth, what used to be the United States I believe." She replied.

"Oh, so your American. I am, too. My parents must've been from there, but I never knew them." Duo said with a hint of sorrow in his voice.

Rabbit was trying to think of a way to reply to this when she ran into an old woman with a bag of groceries, knocking them everywhere.

"I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you." She said quickly.

"Thank you, young lady." Replied the old woman. "That's very…" She was about to say kind, but then she saw Rabbit's face. She gasped in horror and her expression turned to one of hate and contempt. "I know you! How dare you come back here after what you did?" She smacked Rabbit's hand from her things as she continued to pick them up. Then she suddenly started to scream. "The murderer has returned! You murdering Zodiac, go back to your Oz! Zodiac! Zodiac!"

The entire crowd looked to face Rabbit. People that knew who she was and even those who didn't expressed their dislike. "Murderer! Zodiac!" the crowd chanted. Rabbit stood and began walking. Duo looked at her with concern. Suddenly, someone out of the crowd spit in her face. She wiped her cheek quickly and didn't look at the mob of people that lined the street. Duo continued to look at her. One of the members of the mob suddenly yelled at Duo. "How can you walk around with that murderer, Duo? She's one of them!!"

"That's easy, I'm walking with her right now, aren't I?" he shouted back.

"I knew this was going to happen." Rabbit said, catching Duo's attention. "I fooled myself by thinking that these people would've forgotten me by now." Her voice started to break. Duo took her hand as he saw a single tear roll down her cheek. 'The people of L2 can be so heartless.' He thought to himself. 'Why now, though? Why this girl?'



A Blaze of Glory

Part II



In the week that they were given to prepare, Trowa decided to find out everything he could about this storage facility he was supposed to destroy. So far, he'd managed to hack in to the base's computer system without being noticed. There was all the information he needed, right at his fingertips.

"Zechs, my friend, you're not very bright for one who calls himself 'the Lightning Count'." He said to himself. "Now to see if this base is going to be heavily guarded."

As Trowa found what he was looking for, he discovered precisely what he wanted: the number of Mobile Suits that would be guarding the supply of Gundanium. 'That's not too bad. I can take out a squadron of fifty by myself.' Trowa decided. He also discovered the name of the base and that he'd have to plan things just right, or he'd be caught. The Nivera base was one of the five that was housing the alloy that the Gundam pilots needed to destroy. Trowa found out that they were all a chain, but none of the bases were going to do any manufacturing of the needed parts. Where would this Mobile Suit be constructed? The better question was who was to pilot it. Oz certainly didn't have anyone qualified to pilot a Gundam, did they? Right now those questions weren't important.

Trowa also discovered that Lt. Zechs Marquise would be at the Nivera base. Probably helping to guard the Gundanium. Trowa gave the closest thing he had to a smile. So, this mission wasn't going to be boring after all.

Heero had flown to Antarctica in 01 to survey the relative action at the Lydia base. There was very little, if any, action going on there. He decided to sneak into the hangars and find out for himself just how many Leos and Aries he would be facing. The cold wind bit at the skin on his face and the snow made it hard for him to see. Being the soldier that he was, he was able to find the main hangars easily. Heero snuck inside unnoticed. He snorted when he saw the minute number of suits this base actually had. Five Leos and three Aries. He decided to check the other two hangars and found the exact same numbers. That made twenty-four Mobile Suits altogether. This wouldn't be a difficult battle. He decided to return to the 01 and return to Quatre's. It was far too cold, even for an icy being like himself.

The Arabian Desert was beautiful at night. Even though it was hot and dry, something about it made Quatre feel at home. He had decided to take a convoy of his men and his Gundam to the Melosavich base in Russia. It would take him the entire week he'd been given to make it up there. He'd already talked to Heero about his plan and he had approved it. The rest of them were going to meet back at his estate and begin their attacks from there. They still had five days to decide how they were going to go about their missions. Duo had informed the rest of the pilots that he'd found his partner. She was a girl the exact same age as most of them. Quatre only hoped that she'd be able to help him.

He also hoped that Wufei would show up to complete his part of the mission. They didn't see much of Wufei, as he was on his own by choice most of the time. Trowa had assured him that he'd spoken with the young, Chinese pilot, who had agreed to meet them at the appointed time. The bitter cold of the desert night hadn't allowed Quatre to think about much more. The breeze played with the sand behind them, erasing their tracks. To him, that signified that there was no turning back now.

The screens on the interior of Nataku glowed to life. Short, rapid beeps signified that the Mobile Suit was activated and all systems were running properly. Wufei sat in the cockpit listening to the sounds of the finely tuned instrument of war. So, his mission was to destroy the Dacca base, located in South America. The Gundanium was going to be used to create another Gundam. He almost decided to forget his mission just so the Gundam could be constructed and he could finally fight an opponent that wasn't weak. Five days he had to wait. The only thing he could do was wait and concentrate all his energy into destroying the enemy. There was nothing else.

He couldn't decide whether or not to formulate a plan. Most of the time, Wufei stayed away from the other pilots. He thought he worked best alone. The other pilots were weaker than he was and couldn't kill without feeling. Master O had taught him that if you couldn't destroy your enemies, then you weren't strong enough. Hours of meditation and training had turned Wufei into the heartless killing machine that he was. But it was the same Master O that had taught him only to kill when it was meaningful to do so. The mission that he was about to begin in the following five days was definitely meaningful.

Rabbit was just picking up the last of the items on her grocery list. She picked up the flour she needed and the milk and she headed for the front of the store. The cashier gave her a dirty look as he rang up the cost of her purchase. Rabbit quickly grabbed her bags and rushed out the door. As she walked down the street, four men jumped out of the alley in front of her. She stopped quickly to try to avoid them, but they surrounded her.

"What's the matter, Zodiac? You afraid of us?" the first man said with a sneer. Rabbit's heart jumped into her throat.

"Leave me alone, I've done nothing to you." She said.

"Done nothing? How can you say that? You destroyed half of L2! How can you say you've done nothing?" accused the second man.

"That was a long time ago. L2 has been rebuilt and everything is back to normal." Said Rabbit, trying to reason with them.

"I'm giving you a fair warning. Next time we won't let you off so easily." Said the leader.

"You can't do that. The laws apply to you as well as everyone else." She said a touch more defensive than she intended.

"Like I said, this time I'm gonna let you off easy. If you weren't a woman, I'd beat the shit outta you."

The leader of the other three brought his arm back and punched her squarely in the jaw. Rabbit dropped her bag of groceries and the contents scattered all over the ground. A steady line of blood ran down her chin from the corner of her mouth. Rabbit stood her ground, trying to show the men she wasn't going to try to get away from them. Crestfallen, they walked away. She stooped down and began picking up the scattered groceries. Her jaw throbbed with the pain. The only thing that hurt worse was her pride.

Duo had been moving the huge scraps of metal that were present in the salvage yard when Rabbit left for the market. Since then, he'd come in and was sitting at the table with a glass of water. The soft click of the door closing signified that Rabbit was home. She walked silently into the kitchen and began putting the groceries away. That wasn't normal for her.

"So how was the market? Did anyone give you any trouble?" he asked. She didn't reply. "Rabbit, did something happen at the market?" When she didn't reply a second time, Duo grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. A look of surprise crossed his face when he saw the thin, steady trickle of blood that made it's way down her chin. His look of surprise turned to anger. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.

"No one, Duo. I deserved it." Rabbit replied.

"NARI! Who did this to you?" Duo shouted.

"It was just a group of men. They were waiting for my when I left the market." She answered in a frightened voice.

"How many of them were there?"

"There were four. The leader said that if I didn't leave, they'd do worse to me next time."

Duo paced around the kitchen, fuming at the fact that he hadn't been there to stop them. Then he looked at Rabbit. She was shaking over the counter. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. When she turned to face him, he saw that she was crying. Duo didn't say a word. Instead, he drew her to him and hugged her tightly. He rubbed her back to try and stop her gasping sobs. They stood like that for a long time. When Rabbit finally pulled away, her first comment was "Well, I'd better get dinner started." Duo was completely confused. He'd never understand women.

"So you're over it just like that?" he asked, totally baffled.

"What do you mean, Duo? Is this about what happened at the market earlier? Forget about it."

"How can I forget about it, Nari? You could've gotten killed or worse!" Duo lectured.

"How could anything have been worse than being killed?" Rabbit asked.

"You know what I mean and if you don't, I'm not going to get into it. You should've called me."

"How could I have called you when it happened in a split second?" she said, starting to get defensive.

"Next time you go out, I'm going with you. You're not going anywhere by yourself from now on, hear me?" Duo told her.

"Duo! You can't do that! You can't just order me around." she said.

"I'm not ordering you around. I'm telling you that I'm accompanying you everywhere from now on." He made it clear. Silence filled the room with the exception of the clattering of pots and pans as Rabbit started dinner. This wasn't going to be easy for him, but Duo had lost the argument. He still had three days before they began their mission. It was hard to wait but the night of the attack would be soon enough.

Finally the night of the multiple attacks had come. All of the pilots were present with the exception of Quatre. Rabbit was present at this last minute briefing. The mere fact that she was female caused the other pilots to leave her out. Heero was making sure that everyone knew what to do.

"Duo, you and Nari are going to have to enter the bunker through an above ground air vent. Here's a blueprint of the inside of the bunker. I suggest that you two find the shortest way to get to the storage facility and get out of there as quickly as possible." He told them.

"Thank you, Heero, but I'm sure that Rabbit and I can handle it." Duo said, slightly irritated. Rabbit loved the way Duo interacted with Heero. They acted like brothers, which they seemed to practically be. Her roaming thoughts were disturbed by Trowa's voice.

"There isn't that much of an opposition standing in the way. Either Oz doesn't know we're coming or they're preparing for us." He pointed out.

"The enemy is weak. They would never be able to stop us even if they did know we were coming." Wufei snorted. Rabbit could tell he didn't work with the others very often.

"Then if everybody's done discussing this stuff, let's get started!" Duo stated.

"That's a good idea." Said Heero. "Good luck to you all." With that, everyone left except for Duo and Rabbit.

"I think we should look at this blueprint Heero gave us." Rabbit said, unrolling the blueprints. After looking at it for a few minutes, she found a red pen in Quatre's study and marked a red line along the shortest route that they could take. Duo leaned over the blueprints to inspect the route.

"This is the shortest route we can take without being seen." She explained.

"That's very good. Did you finish at the top of your class or what?" commented Duo.

"No, actually." Rabbit smiled. "I was just about to be promoted to lieutenant before I resigned."

Duo whistled. "That's a pretty big honor. Why didn't you accept it?"

"Because after I had attacked L2, I couldn't do it anymore. Destroy innocent people, I mean."

"If you couldn't attack without reason, then why did you join the guerrillas?" Duo dug deeper.

"I wanted to make up for everything I'd done wrong, the bad choices I'd made. When I joined Oz, I thought I was doing the right thing. It turns out that I was wrong about everything." She explained.

Duo grabbed the high collar of Rabbit's black jumpsuit. He walked, while gripping her collar, to the door. On the way down the hall, she grabbed the collar of his identical jumpsuit. Duo realized that he still had a hold of her collar. He instantly let go with a guilty laugh. Rabbit looked at him in an unusual way. Duo knew that she saw right through him and knew he was nervous. He'd never been nervous about any of his missions before. Why was this one any different? 'It's because Rabbit's coming with me. Not only am I responsible for myself, but for her too.' He decided.

As they entered the garage, another problem arose. How was Rabbit going to get there? Duo would be flying to the base in Deathscythe, but he didn't know what Rabbit was going to fly in. There was only one place for her to ride: in the cockpit of his Gundam with him. It would be a tight fit but he'd manage. 'Ah, the things I have to go through for my missions.' He thought as he signaled Rabbit to get into the cockpit with him.

Duo brought Deathscythe down gently in a clearing near the base. Duo crept along the ground and signaled for Rabbit to follow. He didn't know how, but Rabbit had managed to conceal a pair of wire cutters in her jumpsuit. Right now, he didn't care. There was the air vent, right where Heero said it would be. Rabbit cut the locks and pulled off the grate.

"Have you done this before?" Duo asked with a smirk.

"Do you have to ask?" she replied, returning his smirk.

"Ladies first." He offered.

"Why thank you." She expressed her gratitude by dropping through the shaft. Duo followed her into the dark hole.

There weren't many guards along the beginning of their route. The long corridors were fairly empty and were relatively dark. Hiding wasn't hard in those conditions. Duo led the way with his gun always in front of him. Rabbit brought up the rear and her gun watched the sides and behind them both. Duo jumped to a vacant doorway and motioned to Rabbit with his gun. Two guards on the patrol route had barely looked over them. They quickly snuck past the guards and ran down the hall to another corridor that branched off in two different directions.

"There are two directions, so let's split up." Duo suggested. "Rabbit, you take right and I'll take left."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Rabbit asked.

"It's the fastest way. We'll both get to the hangar, just on different sides. Trust me, I won't let anything happen to you. Just go." Rabbit gave Duo a last unsure glance before turning down the corridor.

Rabbit quietly swept down the hall. She jumped into a doorway when she thought she heard someone coming. Suddenly, there was a cold, steel object pressed against the back of her head.

"Turn around and drop your weapon." A voice ordered her. As Rabbit slowly turned around, she was surrounded by a group of soldiers. Out from the middle of them came a face that she could never forget. Especially those eyes.

Duo had just started up the hall when he heard a faint noise. He turned in the opposite direction to listen. He could vaguely make out multiple figures at the other end of the corridor. Amongst those figures, he saw Rabbit. He could barely hear the pitiful cry for help, but he heard it. It was Rabbit. "Let go of me!" The reasoning section of Duo's brain shut down and he forgot about his mission entirely and instantly.

"Rabbit!" he shouted.

Before he had time to turn around, Duo was surrounded by soldiers. The squad that was holding Duo met up with the one that was holding Rabbit. "Duo!" she cried.

A young man stepped out from amidst the soldiers. His ice blue eyes stared at Rabbit with a hateful, amused focus. He ran his index finger up her cheek as she tried to pull away from him.

"Rabbit? That's a cute name, Nari. You must've gotten it after your wild killing spree." Said this haughty young man. Rabbit glared at him.

"You're still the same Alec, still talking too much." Was her reply. This Alec stepped closer to her. His face twisted with anger. In one swift motion, he brought his palm across her face. She yelped from the sharp smack. Duo's insides began to boil. He was supposed to be protecting Rabbit, not standing by and watching. Alec began to speak again.

"I'm sorry I had to be so rough, Nari, but you still make me furious. Just say whatever comes into your head. I like that in a woman." He commented. Rabbit continued to glare at him. "Let's make a deal, shall we? You and I spend one night together and I let your boyfriend off easy, without forcing him to tell me why you two where here. If you don't, you both get interrogated the hard way." Rabbit looked at Duo with fear and confusion in her eyes. That meant that she was going to give herself for him. Duo shook his head.

"You can take that deal and shove it up your ass, Alec." She spat. Alec looked slightly disappointed.

"Oh well. I was just trying to be fair, but we can have it your way. Guards, take this gentleman to room 101. Nari, you get to come with me." Alec said with a dastardly look on his face. He grabbed Rabbit's wrist and dragged her down the hall. She yanked her arm in every direction as she tried to free herself from Alec's grip. A hard jerk stopped her yanking.

"Duo!" she screamed helplessly. He tried as hard as he could to pull free from the grip of the soldiers. Duo managed to catch a glance of her as Alec dragged her into an unknown door. Her fingers caught the door's edge as she fought to break free.

"Nari!" he shouted back.

"Duo!" Nari screamed one last time before she disappeared through the door. A sinking feeling reached Duo as he entered a mysterious room himself. Interrogation. This wouldn't be the first time he'd have to go through it.



A Blaze of Glory

Part III



She was surrounded by blackness. The floor was hard beneath her bruised and battered body. A throbbing pain attacked Nari's head as she came back to life. She sat up as she waited for her vision to clear. Nari decided to check herself for damage. Her cheeks stung from the million times that she had been slapped. The sick feeling in her stomach indicated that she'd either been punched or kicked there. She also realized that her head was bleeding. Then she noticed that Duo was missing. Nari began beating on the walls beside her to see if he was in one of the other cells. She only noticed that there were holes in the gloves that were part of her jumpsuit when her fists started to bleed from hitting the walls. Where was Duo? They had taken them in at the same time. Where could he be?

A single soldier half-dragged Duo into the cellblock. His mouth and nose were bleeding. He looked like he was drunk out of his mind. The soldier threw him into the cell roughly. Duo landed on the floor hard. Nari was at his side instantly. She rolled him over and placed his head on her lap, gently slapping him. He moaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Duo blinked his eyes. It took him a minute to remember where he was and what had happened. He looked up at Nari to see her eyes start to glaze over. He reached up and put his fingers on her lips. Duo felt the tears roll down her cheeks and touch his hand. He was about to speak, when he heard the door open.

"I hate to break up this tender moment, but I just wanted to tell you that since neither you told me anything, you'll both have to go through this again." It was Alec. "Oh, Duo. Which brings me to my next point, you're an obstacle in my way and you'll have to be removed."

Duo sat up. He was in no mood to be threatened. "What do you mean?" he asked straight out.

"I mean, you're standing in the way of me forcing Nari to give in to me. That means that I'm going to have to get rid of you." Alec replied. Nari stood up and moved over to the bars.

"Even if I'd never met Duo, I'd never give in to you. I'd rather die." She said in a sinister tone.

"Oh, Nari, my dear. You shouldn't have said that. I can make that so." Alec grabbed her collar and forced her lips onto his. With his free hand, he caressed her cheek. Duo couldn't take anymore. He wrenched Alec's hand from Nari's collar and pushed him through the bars.

"So, you get all hyped up when I mess with your girlfriend, huh?" Alec aged on. He reached through bars and laid an upper cut to Duo's stomach. Duo held his stomach and sank to his knees. Alec smiled a sick smile as he walked out the door. Nari was on her knees beside him in a spit second. Duo's head rested on her lap. He looked up at her with confusion and concern. Nari sat there, brushing the hair out of his eyes continuously.

"I said that I was ready for my second chance." She said suddenly.

"What?" Duo was totally confused.

"That day we got on the shuttle and you asked me if I was ready to go. I said sort of and then mumble something. I said that I was ready for my second chance." Nari explained. Duo looked at her. He still didn't understand. "This mission was going to be my second chance, my time to make up for all the things that I did wrong. I screwed it up instead."

"Nari. No you didn't. Those Oz creeps knew we were coming. Somehow they knew. It wasn't your fault." Duo tried to convince her.

"Not my fault? Not my fault? If I hadn't been here, you'd have probably been done already and gone. I became the target and Alec somehow found out that I was here."

"My next question. Who is this Alec guy and why is he so obsessed with getting you in his bed?" Duo pondered.

"That's easy." She said. "He was in love with me during the time I was with Oz and I didn't return the feeling. Now he thinks he can use you to get me into his bed."

"That still doesn't answer my first question. Who is he?"

"His name is Alec Summers. He was the best pilot Oz had, the last time I checked. He's a very demanding person and if he doesn't have me then no one will. He's determined that I'll be his or I'll be dead. And, of course, he'll give me the choice."

"What's worth it? Sleeping with him or dying?" Duo was getting into ethical matters.

"Dying, Duo. I don't love him and I never have. The first thing that you should know, Duo, is that if I'm going to sleep with someone, I have to love them." Nari tried to explain her reasons to him. "It's hard for me to explain. My nanny used to tell me that if you were in love, you'd know. It's like a sensation that only you and that other person can feel."

Duo lay there, listening thoughtfully. "What else did your nanny teach you?" he asked.

"Well, she taught me a song that she used to sing to me every night before I fell asleep. I still remember every word."

"Will you sing it to me?" Duo asked. By the tone of his voice, he was exhausted.

"O do no nai ma hiru. Kase ma tota a ka du ii." Nari sang. She sung the first verse and stopped. Duo looked up at her. She had such a beautiful voice.

"Why did you stop?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Duo, do you want me to keep singing?"

"Yes, I do. That's a beautiful song to go with your beautiful voice. It's the one thing that has been able defeat the Great Destroyer." Duo admitted. Nari nodded and began sing again.

"Su ko shi ne ma ta so u ii ha na mii ma da nue ta nai ne manii ko no roii neru." She stopped singing and smiled. Duo had fallen asleep. Whenever he was around, she always felt better. Now, as he was sleeping, he was innocent. No matter what he had destroyed, he was still innocent because he cared about the people he was fighting for. How long before they going to escape?

Heero was the first to return. He'd totally anialated the base and the alloy. Now he waited for the others to return. It wasn't long before Quatre returned. Trowa entered with sort of smile and nodded his head to signify that he'd destroyed the base. Wufei was the last to return. When Duo didn't come in, Heero began to think that he'd been captured. He decided to wait a couple of hours before they would formulate a plan. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei discussed how their missions went. Heero was already coming up with a plan.

"Is there anything the matter, Heero?" Quatre asked. Heero shook his head. He wasn't going to let on that he knew something that they didn't.

The sun was rising and still no sign of Duo or the girl. They had to have been captured. He had to break the news to the others.

"Okay you guys. I wanted to wait a while before I said something, but now my suspicion has been confirmed." They all looked at him with confusion. "I'm pretty sure that Duo and the girl have been captured. I gave them some time to return, but they never did. I think it's time we came up with a plan."

Trowa was the first to speak. "This was Duo's mission. He should be the one to get himself out."

"He could if he didn't have that woman with him." Wufei said. "I think a rescue is in order."

"Poor Duo. I wonder what they've been doing to him." Quatre wondered.

"Then what are we going to do?" Heero asked. "I've begun to formulate a plan. We're going to attack all at once. Trowa and I will go inside the bunker and free Duo and Nari. Quatre and Wufei will hold off the Mobile Suits while we get out. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Alright. We'll wait until night fall." Heero only hoped that Oz hadn't had time to do their worst to Duo.

` Duo brought himself to open his eyes. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Nari singing. When he looked around the cell for her, there she was, sleeping against the wall. Duo went over to the barred window and gazed at the outside world. The sun was setting one their second day in captivity. Their second round of interrogation had been worse than the first. When Nari came back, she was gasping for air and screamed whenever he touched her. They had used electric shocks on him. Something different must have been used on her. Then again, Alec himself was in charge of her interrogation. When they got out of this place, he was going to teach him a lesson that he'd never forget. Suddenly, searchlights began flashing and alarms sounded all over the base. It could only be one thing: the others had come to their rescue.

A few minutes later, there was a small explosion and smoke in the doorway. Heero and Trowa appeared through the smoke with the stolen keys. Heero unlocked the door and freed the prisoners. Duo was the first out of the cell.

"Man, I thought you guys would never get here!" he said.

"We would've been here sooner, but we were waiting to see if you came back on your own or not." Heero replied. Trowa glanced around the corner.

"We're going to have to cut our reunion short. Here come the guards."

Heero and Trowa stepped out of the door first and began firing their pistols. Duo pushed Nari into a doorway so that they wouldn't become targets. Heero and Trowa followed them up the corridor. Duo suddenly turned away from the group of fugitives. Nari grabbed his wrist.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

"To finish my mission. I didn't get to do that you know." Was his reply.

"I'm coming with you." She told him.

"No. Go with Heero and Trowa. They'll get you outta here. It's my job to make sure this mission is completed and you're safe at the same time. Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to me. I'll make sure of it." Duo turned and bolted in the opposite direction. Nari was about to follow him when Heero grabbed her arm.

"Let him go. He's got to do this on his own." She nodded in response and followed them out.

It didn't take Duo long to find the storage facility where the Gundanium was being kept. But to his surprise, it was no longer there. A confused look crossed his face. Where could it have gone in a day? The sickening sound of gunfire reached his ears too late for him to react. Duo screamed in pain and clutched his right arm. He looked to the other end of the hangar to find Alec standing there. A sneer on his lips was there to greet him. Duo was sure that he knew what Alec was there for.

"I know what you want, you bastard. I'm gonna tell you right now that you're never gonna get it. Nari doesn't love you and she's never gonna give in to you no matter what you do to me." Duo told him defiantly.

"That was a lovely speech, Mr. Maxwell. Are you as good at dying as you are at making idol threats?" Alec said, beginning to get annoyed.

"I'm the Great Destroyer, pal. I don't die." Duo told him flat out.

"The Great Destroyer, huh? Another of those cute pet names? I'll have to come up with my own for Nari as I have my way with her." Alec said. Now he was just trying to spite Duo.

Duo's rope snapped at this comment. He dove at Alec and wrestled him to the ground. Both his fists were pumping like pistons on his jaw. Duo only stopped when he saw soldiers running toward them. He jumped up and ran behind some crates. He had to think fast or he'd be captured again. Duo was beginning to think that punching Alec wasn't such a good idea. He gripped his right arm, trying to suppress the pain. A light bulb went off inside his head. He took the grate off of the ventilation shaft as quietly as he could and laid it on the floor. Duo climbed into the small shaft and began looking for the way they had come in. A dim light finally showed itself at the end of the shaft. Freedom at last.

Nari stood in Deathscythe's huge shadow. Duo had been gone for almost an hour. What if Alec had found him? What if he'd been captured? Quatre's hand caused her to jump.

"Sorry if I startled you, Nari. I just wanted to tell you not to worry. Duo knows what he's doing and he'll get out of this. You just have to put your faith in him." He said.

"That was a beautiful piece, Quatre. I'm glad somebody respects me around here." Said a voice from the underbrush. Nari recognized the sarcasm right away.

Nari ran to meet Duo. She flung herself at him and hugged him tightly. She'd been so afraid that he wouldn't be coming back.

"Duo, I was so worried. I was afraid that Alec had found you." She accidentally squeezed his injured arm. Duo winced in pain and let out a small grunt. Nari looked at his expression and them his arm. Her realization of what she'd done just hit her. She looked at the bloody rip in his jump suit. Her fingers tried to pry open the rip a little further so she could get a better look at it. Nari was now aware that the gaze of the others was directed at her. She stepped back and stared at the ground, blushed. "I think I'd better look at that wound, Duo, before it gets infected."

Duo looked at her with uncertainty. He could almost hear embarrassment in Nari's voice. The others were doing something to her, physiologically. They were intimidating her. That was it. Duo put a hand on her shoulder and led her to vacant area.

"Listen, Nari, don't let those other guys intimidate you. I know they may seem like killers, but they're really good guys if you get to know them." He said.

"I'm sure they are. I'm just used to keeping to myself, that's all. I've always been the only girl in a squadron or anything." Nari replied.

"I can't begin to understand what that's like, but you always have me, you know." Duo said with a smile. Then, for no reason, he gave her a hug. Nari then realized something about herself. She cared for Duo as more than a friend but decided not tell him. He wouldn't be able to understand and if he didn't, their friendship wouldn't be the same. She finally pulled away from him and start poking at his wound. Duo yelped.

"Stay still so I see how bad off you really are." Nari hissed. Duo stopped his whimpering and let her go about her work.

Nari pulled back the cut, bloody material. She could see the wound clearly and saw the bullet. Luckily, it hadn't gone in too deep. Searching the small area around them, Nari realized that she didn't have the necessary tools with her. She shifted her gaze back to Duo.

"I don't have the proper equipment to fix your arm, Duo." Nari tried to explain. "We'll have to wait until we get back to Quatre's place to patch you up."

Duo looked at her and nodded to show that he understood. "That's okay. I can wait a little longer." He said, gritting his teeth.

Nari helped Duo to his feet and they rejoined the other four pilots. Heero seemed to stare at her in a manner that almost seemed accusing. She kept her eyes off of all the others as she continued on her path with Duo. It was going to be hard to gain the respect of the other pilots.

A Blaze of Glory

Part IV



Alec Summers stood in the middle of the warehouse fuming. How could that poor excuse for a Gundam pilot have escaped him? The simplest of ways was how he escaped: through the air vent. Alec stood there, furious at his troops for not finding him in time to prevent his escape. This made him hate this Duo Maxwell. What made him hate Mr. Maxwell even more was the way Nari leapt to help him at any given chance. There had to be something else besides a partnership there. He was going to figure it out and soon. His train of thought was broken by one of his soldiers.

"Sir, all five Gundams are attack our facility!" he huffed. A red light and sounding of an alarm followed the soldier's remark.

"Deploy all Mobile Dolls and evacuate the premises!" Alec shouted. He dashed out the door and to the landing field. He was going to get out of here alive.

As the cargo plane took off, Alec saw a small figure in the Deathscythe's palm. He recognized it as Nari Simpson right away. He would have his revenge on both she and Duo Maxwell. It was only a matter of waiting.

"Ow!" Duo yelped. He jerked his arm away from Nari.

"Now stay still! I have to get this thing out of your arm or it'll get infected!" she said, trying not to shout.

Nari brought the tweezers back to the place of entry. She felt the scraping of the tweezers against the bullet. Positioning the tweezers differently, Nari gripped the bullet and pulled. Duo screamed in pain. She decided the quick way would be less painful for him. Nari pulled the bullet the rest of the way out quickly. Duo barely suppressed another scream, flinched instead. She poured Peroxide into the hole in his arm and waited for the foam to subside. The wound was then treated with ointment and wrapped in bandages. Duo moved his arm around, testing it out.

"You didn't do half bad, Nari. Did you take classes or something in your spare time?" he chided. Nari blushed.

"No, I didn't. I did my first medical work today." She told him. Duo smiled.

"Well, thanks just the same." He replied. After that, he just stared at her. He had just begun to notice how beautiful she was. Nari turned and noticed him staring. She returned the stare.

Both of their concentration was broken when Quatre poked his head in the door. He grinned when he saw Duo jerk suddenly at the sound of the door. Duo looked at him and laughed guiltily. Quatre came the rest of the way through the door. He came and examined Duo's arm.

"How do you feel, Duo?" Quatre asked.

"I'm still a little sore but I think I can manage." He replied with confidence. Quatre looked over to Nari and spoke.

"Thank you for helping Duo. He's not to careful, you know." He pointed out.

Nari laughed. "I see. I guess he's going to have to be more careful." Duo looked her with hurt eyes but had only been playing.

"You know, you should be more careful, too, Ms. Simpson." Duo said. "You were the one who got captured first."

'Oh no.' Quatre thought. 'There's going to a battle here, without Gundams.'

"Oh, yeah? Well, I wasn't the one who stood in the middle of the hall and myself to get captured." She said hotly.

"I was trying to determine whether or not that was you, you ingrate!" Duo barked.

"Well, even if you were just 'trying to determine whether or not that was me', you shouldn't have shouted where everyone could hear you!" Nari countered. Quatre rolled his eyes and decided that he'd better stop the fighting before it actually got physical.

"Alright you two. That's enough. It was neither of your faults. It just happened that way and you can't go back and change it. So, what's the point of arguing about it?" he said.

"I didn't start the fight, Quatre. Duo did." Nari pointed out. Duo's expression became one disbelief and aggravation.

"Woman! Don't you blame this all on me! You didn't have to say anything in response!" he pointed out.

Quatre waved his hand in between them so they wouldn't start again. "Why don't you two just separate for a while until you both cool off."

"That's sounds like a great idea, Quatre. I'll see you later, after that poor excuse for a man apologizes." Nari said as she stormed out onto the balcony. Duo shook his head.

"If you think that I'm going to apologize to you, you've got another thing coming!" he shouted after her. His attention returned to Quatre. "I discovered something that Heero and the others are gonna want to know." Duo walked over to the door and opened it enough to poke his head out of. "Heero! You and the others come in here. I found out something that you might be interested in."

Heero was the first into the study, followed by Trowa and Wufei. Duo and the others sat down at the long table. Heero peered down the table at Duo, searching for a clue as to what he had to tell them all. Duo rose and began to speak.

"When I went back to the storage facility after you guys came to my rescue, it was gone." He stated.

"What was gone?" asked Trowa in a serious tone.

"The Gundanium. It was gone and in one day at that. I have a feeling that the Gundanium that was in the other four storage facilities was gone before you went on your missions."

A thoughtful silence filled the room. Heero began running possible reasons for this through his mind. No logical explanation came to him. After a few more moments of thought, it hit him. The only way the alloy would've been gone before their attacks was if it had never been at any of the storage facilities!

"The information that seeped out to us was planted. It was used so we'd be out of the way while the alloy was being moved someplace else." He said to the others.

"But what purpose could that have?" asked Wufei. "Unless Oz has already begun construction on their Gundam."

"Precisely." Said Trowa grimly. "We were kept busy while they had time to move the Gundanium to a safer location and start construction undisturbed."

"Do you think that if we broke into the main database, we could find out where the Mobile Suit is being held at?" Quatre asked.

"It's possible, but I don't know if we can trust the information that we find there. Either Trowa or myself might be able to sneak our way into one of Oz's bases and check it out from their computers." Heero said.

"And they won't have false information in their own computers." Duo said, realizing what Heero was saying.

"So, Trowa. Who's it going to be? Me or you?" Heero asked.

"Why don't we both go?" he wondered. "It would be safer to have two people go."

"It's settled then. Trowa and I will go to one of the bases in two days. That should give Oz enough time to lower their defenses again."

"Then what are we going to do after we find out where this thing is being built?" Quatre asked.

"We destroy it." Duo said. "What else would we do with it? Its power couldn't be trusted to anyone but one of us and that would mean that one person would have two Gundams. The power might go to their head and could get 'em killed."

Nari had heard Duo and the others talking about the construction of another Gundam. She knew who the pilot would be. That was Alec. The only person in the Oz organization with sharp enough reflexes to pilot something like that. Somewhere deep down, she knew that construction on the Mobile Suit had been completed. It was only a matter of time before it was used to attack them.

Nari remembered listening to communication frequencies during space battles while she was with Oz. She had loved listening to the Gundam pilots communicate back and forth with each other. That's when she had first heard of the 'Great Destroyer'. Nari had always wanted to be out in the mobile suits battling instead of back at the control ship. Her recollections were disturbed by a shuffling from below. She decided that she'd better go check it out.

Nari climbed over the railing and dropped to the ground. After scanning the shadows, she found nothing. Nari jerked her head toward the sudden rustling in the hedge leaves. There she found Alec Summers struggling to get over the hedge. He fell to the ground as he did so. Alec picked himself up and brushed himself off. He turned to face Nari. He looked at her with what seemed like an almost godly expression and began to speak.

"You know it's useless for your friends to go through with their plan." He said. "You really should inform them of this."

"You don't even know what they're doing. Why would you care?" Nari said defensively.

"Our plan worked, Nari. While the five Gundam pilots attacked the five empty storage facilities, Oz technicians had enough time to finish construction on not one but two Gundams. You see, the Gundanium was never at any of those places." Alec boasted.

"Empty? So the information you let escape from you was false?" she asked.

"In a word, yes. Let your friends carry out their stupid plan. They can find out for themselves that they're too late."

Nari stood there, staring at Alec, speechless. He couldn't be telling the truth. He must've been hoping that she'd go tell the others and they wouldn't go to the only remaining base and seeking the information themselves.

"I don't believe you. You'd say anything to keep us from ruining your plans." Nari hissed.

"Believe what you want. I'm just telling you the truth." Alec said innocently.

Alec walked to the hedge and attempted to climb it. Nari stared hard as he left. He jumped the top and was gone. She turned and headed back to Quatre's estate. She had better get back inside before her absence was noticed.

Heero and Trowa snuck silently into the base. Even though they had waited three days for things to calm down, the premises were still heavily guarded inside and out. The two had managed to reach the computer room with relative ease. Heero subdued the guards as Trowa sat down and began searching for the information they sought. The room was silent except for the clicking of Trowa's fingers on the keyboard and the breathing of both of them.

The room was completely dark except for the eerie glow cast by the computer's screen. The blue light shone that covered a small area that made Heero, Trowa, and the unconscious guards visible. The soft clicking suddenly stopped and Trowa slammed his fist down hard on the consol. This action caught Heero's attention. He turned and looked at the screen.

"What did you find?"

"Oz's technicians have finished the Gundams." Trowa informed him.

"There's more than one of them?" Heero asked.

"Two. There are two of them."

"Two Gundams confirmed. We're going to have our work cut out for us."

"We've found out all we need to know. We should probably get out of here before we're discovered." Trowa said.

Trowa stood up from the consol and followed Heero to the door. They managed to leave the base and not alert any patrols on the way out. Their Gundams were hidden in a heavily forested area by the base. Trowa leapt into the cockpit of Heavyarms and Heero did the same as jumped into 01. The two blasted out of the clearing and headed back to their base of operations.

Heero knocked impatiently at the door of Quatre's estate. Trowa waited beside him almost impatient. Before Heero had another chance to pound on the door, Quatre opened it quickly. He ushered them inside and headed back to the study. Quatre looked at both of them, eager to find out what happened.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"We discovered that there are not one but two Gundams that have been constructed. We're going to need all of us to destroy it. Is Wufei still here? We're going to need him." Trowa said.

Wufei turned around in the big armchair he was sitting in at the mention of his name. "At last, an opponent worth my efforts." He said to no one in particular.

"This could be dangerous, being two Gundams instead of one." Duo said as he entered the room. Heero looked at him.

"You'd better relieve Nari of her duties as your partner. This upcoming battle could be fatal for anyone who isn't a Gundam pilot." Heero said.

"What do you mean? She finished at the top of her group and she has contained herself during her stay on L2, even though everyone there hated her." Duo countered.

"I don't think she could hold her own out there on the battlefield. She doesn't have the training and the advanced skills that we do. That's making her an easy target." Heero explained.

Duo and Heero argued the point for hours. None of the others dared to interrupt them.

Nari stood outside the study, listening to Duo and Heero argue whether she should or shouldn't stay with them. 'So, Heero thinks I'm a burden.' She thought. 'Well, in that case, I won't be here much longer. That way I can stop Alec before they know what's going on.' Nari walked briskly down the hall to the room Quatre had allowed her to use. She found her small, worn duffle bag and threw her black jumpsuit and what few other belongings she had with her in it. She decided to write Duo an explanation for her sudden disappearance. Nari quickly scribbled on a piece of paper and rushed out the door. Managing to sneak past the study unnoticed, Nari fled through the main doors and into the garage. Being the late hour that it was, there was no one in the garage to prevent her from taking a jeep. The way she figured it, her note wouldn't be discovered until morning. She only hoped that that would be enough time for her to get far enough away so she could find Alec.

The bait had been laid. All he had to do was wait. Alec sat in a café not far from the grand estate of Quatre Rabarba Winner. He had just been reading the reports made to him by the guards at the Outro Base. The computer files on Operation Shooting Star had been accessed. The guards that were posted there to guard the accessibility of those files had been found unconscious. So, Nari hadn't told the pilots the information she'd received from him. A shadow was suddenly cast over the report that he was reading. Alec looked up to find Nari standing there. He smiled.

"I see that you didn't tell your Gundam piloting friends about the information you acquired from me."

"Of course not. I didn't believe you." She hissed.

"So why did you come looking for me?" Alec inquired.

"It was obvious that Heero didn't think I could hold my own in a battle against two Gundams, so I left to find them on my own." Nari explained.

"Well, I'm glad you found me. You know what Nari? I have a confession to make. One of those Gundams is for you. It is an exact replica of Mr. Maxwell's own Deathscythe. I thought you'd enjoy that." He told her with a sneer.

"What makes you think that I'll accept it?"

"Because if you don't, I can create a pilot for it and use it against your precious Duo."

Nari stood before him in silence. She had to decide what to do. "Take me to it." She said.

A look of triumph overcame Alec. "I knew you'd see it my way." He stood up and led Nari to her hi-jacked jeep.

It was eleven o'clock and Nari wasn't up yet. Duo hadn't seen her since the night before. He was already dressed in his familiar black outfit and preacher's collar and hadn't changed since last night. None of the others had seen Nari this morning but Heero seemed relieved that she was gone. Duo decided to check her room. To be polite, he knocked first and then entered. Nothing seemed different when he walked in. When he entered the bedroom, the bed was made. It hadn't been slept in. Duo looked around for some explanation for this. A piece of paper caught his eye. He walked over to the writing desk, picked it up and started to read:

Duo,

I overheard your argument with Heero. Maybe he's right. I also

Have a confession to make. I discovered Alec prowling around outside

Earlier and when I confronted him, he told me that two Gundams had been

Constructed. I didn't believe him then, but when I overheard what Heero and

Trowa found out, I realized that I could've save you some time in finding the

location of the Gundams. I also know, let's just say I have a hunch, that Alec

Will be piloting one of them. Somehow, I'm a part of his awful plan and I'm

Going to find out what part it is that I play. Hopefully you'll find the Gundams

in time to destroy them. I just wanted you to know that I'm already looking for

Them. Good luck and be careful.

Nari

Duo couldn't believe it. Nari had jumped ship on them. It was Heero's fault. She'd overheard him saying that she couldn't take care of herself and he didn't what to deal with her. He was furious. Furious at Heero and furious at Nari for leaving. What did she hope to accomplish?

Duo ran down the hall the kitchen, where everyone had gathered for a late breakfast. They all started at him as he burst through the door. His enraged eyes settled on Heero. Heero looked at him innocently.

"You!" Duo said, pointing at him. "Nari overheard us arguing as to whether or not she should stay. Well guess what, you ass hole. She's gone. She left this for us." Duo exclaimed as he shoved the piece of paper in Heero's face. He accepted it with hesitation. Heero looked at it and then looked at Duo. He began to read the note and then spoke.

"It looks like I didn't have to tell her after all." Heero said. "Nari helped us out, Duo. She told us who the pilot of one of the Gundams is going to be. All we have to do is to seek him out and destroy him."

Duo looked at him with disbelief. He could believe that Heero had said what he just did. Rage overtook him. If Trowa hadn't stepped in between them, Duo would've tried to take a swing at him.

"Duo, Heero's right. That girl would've only caused problems from here on out for us."

Duo bit his tongue and decided that it was best for him to leave. As he stormed down the hall, he realized that Nari was probably going to sit this one out. It would be impossible to find her before the battle began.



A Blaze of Glory

Part V



The garage for the two Gundams was huge. Nari stood, staring up at the replica of Deathscythe. A pang of sorrow hit her, causing her to think of Duo. There wasn't time to feel sorry for herself now. She needed to carry out her plan. Nari's deep concentration was broken when Alec placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Well, Nari, what do you think?" he asked, gazing up at the two monstrous machines. Nari just stood there without speaking. "The one that I'm piloting is called the Orion. Your Gundam is called the Deathscythe Spawn." Nari turned her head to stare at him.

"Why did you name it after Duo's Gundam?" she asked accusingly.

"Well, I thought it necessary, it being an almost exact replica of the Deathscythe." Alec explained.

"What do you mean, an almost exact replica?"

"I've had a few more gadgets added to make the machine more deadly." A sinister sneer crossed his face. Nari seemed to sink back into a sort of shell. She was only going to get one chance to escape with the Gundam and make it back to Quatre's home and Duo. Again, her concentration was broken by Alec's hand. This time, he guided her away from the machines and out of the garage to her room, where he locked her.

Nari searched her purple jacket for a hairpin. When she found it, began picking the lock. A faint click indicated that the door was no longer locked. Nari snuck back down the hall to the garage. She managed to reach the catwalk that led to Deathscythe Hell unnoticed. She opened the entrance to the cockpit and climbed in. Nari took a minute to strap herself in and study the controls. By pushing a button, the Gundam came to life. Pushing another button caused the screens and sensors to come to life. Nari lifted the huge laser scythe and swung at the ceiling. She then flew through the hole she had created in the roof. The alarms were distant but could still be heard. Now to find Duo and the others.

The sensors on Sandrock had picked up the vast amounts of Mobile Suits that were assimilating over Earth. They were also picking up one of the two Gundams. Quatre was alarmed by what he saw.

"Heero, an army of Mobile Suits is building over Earth. They appear to be waiting to attack." He said.

"This Alec Summers is testing one of the new Gundams. While he's doing this, he's going to try to worsen the situation of this war." Heero replied. Quatre exchanged worried glances with Trowa.

Trowa's worry soon vanished as if it were never there. He nodded his head, as if he heard Heero's unvoiced command, and exited the room. They all knew where he was going. Wufei left his position at the window. A deep scowl came over his face. With no warning, he laughed a cynical, almost evil, laugh.

"This fool is coming to challenge my strength and that of Nataku. I will show him that his rash decision will cost him greatly." Wufei hissed before bolting out the door after Trowa. Duo looked at Quatre and then at Heero.

"Where ever Alec is, Nari should be close by. I don't know what you two are doing standing around here for, but I'm gonna follow Trowa's and Wufei's example." With that, Duo rushed from the room.

"He's right, Heero. What are we doing standing around here when there's a battle to be fought?" Quatre questioned. "Let's go!" Heero nodded his approval and they ran to the garage.

They reached the garage just as the others were blasting into the atmosphere. Heero buckled the straps of his safety harness around him and hit all the necessary controls needed to take off. He exploded into the sky with Quatre not too far behind.

Nari reached Quatre's just as the sun was setting. She exited Deathscythe Spawn and began searching for one of the mechanics. When she found one, she also noticed that all five Gundams were no longer there.

"Excuse me, sir. Is Duo Maxwell here?"

"No, he's not. All of Master Quatre's friends went up into space."

"Thank you, sir."

Nari ran back to her Gundam. Before she could take off, a voice came over the radio. It was Alec.

"Sorry to say this, Nari, but your pilot friends are here battling me. So if you'd like to join us, you're welcome to." Alec said, cynically. Nari glared at the radio. So that's where they were.

"Are you challenging me, Alec? Because I never was one to pass up a good challenge." She grunted as the force of acceleration pressed her back into the seat.

"You're coming? I'm glad to hear it. I'll see you when you arrive." A small click indicated that Alec had turned off his radio. Nari began searching the radio frequencies, looking for Duo's.

"Duo, this is Nari. Come in, Duo." When there was no reply she began to worry. A loud crackle washed that worry away.

"This is Duo. I read you loud and clear. Where have you been?"

"I was taken to the Gundams too late. I managed to steal one, but Alec has the other." Nari informed him.

"I kinda noticed." Duo said with flat sarcasm. "Are you using its radio?"

"I'm also flying to meet up with you." She replied. "Alec has challenged me and is fighting you as he waits."

"What?! You can't fight him, especially since you don't know the first thing about piloting a Gundam!" Duo blurted.

"Do you have no faith in me whatsoever, Mr. Maxwell?" Nari asked. "I am the Rabbit after all."

This information didn't comfort him at all. He cared too much for Nari for something to happen to her. Duo didn't even want to think about what might happen. He shook his head as if trying to ward off any possibilities. Just then, another Gundam, one that was almost identical to Deathscythe, exploded into the cold void known as space. That had to be Nari. As he tried to reach her on the radio, he noticed that she wasn't replying. All he could do was watch helplessly.

Deathscythe Spawn flew in toward the Gemini. Alec was on guard as Nari approached. "So, you did decide to come. You never were one to back down to a challenge."

"Shut up and get started." Nari spat.

"Oh, bitter in the face of battle, I see." Alec chided.

Nari met his remark with a quick slash from her laser scythe. Her attack was quick, but not quick enough. Alec blocked in one lightning fast motion and used his enormous laser gun to repel Deathscythe Spawn long enough for him to get a good distance away. Gemini shot several more times, trying to hit the Deathscythe Hell. Luckily, the Spawn was fast enough to evade those shots. The huge laser scythe met the Gemini's gun, wrenching it from its grip. Alec tried desperately to reach the gun before the other massive killing machine could attack, but to no avail.

The Deathscythe Spawn took the huge, green laser blade and brought it across the Gemini's chest area. It did little damage to the Gundam itself, but the pilot was jolted violently. Alec wasn't going to let Nari get that close again. He slammed his Gundam into hers, causing both pilots to scream from the force of the impact. The radio frequencies around them were filled with the sounds of the battle. No one dared to interfere with the colossal Gundams that were dueling right in front of them. Sparks from the scraping metal flew in all directions. Black scorch marks were beginning to show on both Gundams from the intense battle that was being fought. Neither of the pilots showed any sign of giving up. It looked as if the battle was going to be fought until the death of one or both of them.

Duo watched helplessly as his good friend was battling to what looked like the death. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Trowa had already stopped him from interfering once.

"This is her battle." He had said. "Let her fight it."

That was the only time he'd heard Trowa say something about Nari that was actually polite, in a way. Since then, Duo had been going out of his mind. The flying sparks and the grating sound of metal hadn't helped him stay calm and the screams, insults and retorts coming from the radio were only making things worse. What was he going to do? If something wasn't done quickly, they would tear each other to shreds. Duo turned on his thrusters and attempted to intervene. Again, Trowa stopped him. This time he didn't say anything. He brought Heavyarms up behind Deathscythe and held it firmly.

"I told you once, my friend, you can't interfere." Trowa said harshly. Duo did all he could to break Deathscythe away from Heavyarms's grip, but with little success. He was forced to watch the continuous battle. While Duo whipped around to look at the view screen when he heard the sick sound of metal ripping apart. A robotic arm floated lifelessly in the void of space with only the wires that were still sparking with electricity to prove that it had once been alive. Luckily, the arm belonged to the Gemini. Duo heaved a sigh of relief.

Nari, however, didn't feel anything. The Gemini had moved out of the way suddenly when she was going to give its chest another slash. Alec had been lucky, for if she'd have hit the chest the Gemini would have exploded. Deathscythe Spawn dove in for another attempt to destroy the Gemini. Instead of attacking it head on, the Spawn swept behind the other and gripped it from the back. The laser scythe sat poised at the neck, ready to cut off the head at any sudden move.

"You've lost, Alec. Can't you just accept that?" Nari asked him.

"I'd rather die than lose to you." He retorted.

"I really don't want to kill you, but if that's what it comes down to, then so be it." She said with grim truth in her voice. She suddenly had an idea. Nari moved the scythe down to the abdominal area of the Gundam and slashed quickly and deeply. The Gemini floated limply. She'd cut all lines connected to the power source. The Deathscythe Spawn turned slowly, as if exhausted, and started toward the Deathscythe.

A smiled crossed Duo's face as the winning Gundam approached him. His smile turned to a frown as the Gemini had obviously activated its back up power supply and was coming up behind Nari.

"Nari! Behind you! Alec's Gundam is back online!" He screamed his warning into the radio a second too late. The Gemini latched onto the back of the Deathscythe Spawn. Alec's voice came over the radio.

"If I'm going lose then you're going down with me, Nari!" he shouted in a crazed, hysterical voice. His hand found the last switch it would ever find. His thumb hit a small red button

A titanic explosion caused everyone in the vicinity of it to look away from their view screens to shield their eyes. Duo's eyes locked onto the screen. No, it couldn't end like this. Not for Nari, anyway. Ignoring the hot tears that ran down his face, Duo fumbled with the radio controls.

"Nari." There was no answer. "Nari. Please, Nari, if you can hear me, answer."

The silence on the frequency told him everything. Duo hung his head and let the tears run down his cheeks. He would never see her again. There was something he had wanted to tell her, but he had waited too late. Now he'd never get the chance to. Duo's mourning was interrupted by Heero's harsh voice.

"She did what she had to, Duo. No one can change that." He said in a cold tone. Duo glared at the radio. Just as he was about to scream, there was the sound of movement in the haze created by the explosion. A figure that looked like the Deathscythe Spawn moved through the floating wreckage. Duo was too shocked to speak. He was about to ask Nari if she was hurt when the Gundam began plummeting toward Earth.

"Duo! My power circuits have shut down! They've taken too much damage! I can't pull up!" Nari shouted in panic. Deathscythe turned and dove after her.

"Don't worry about a thing, Nari. I'm coming to get you." He said, equally panicked.

Both Gundams hurtled toward the Earth's surface. The Deathscythe raced beside its clone, trying to slow their descent. The Deathscythe locked onto the badly damaged Spawn and Duo fired all thrusters. The two Gundams together was too much weight for the thrusters to work effectively. As a last resort, Duo fired the breaking rockets. The rockets did the trick. The Deathscythe landed gently on the ground and held up the dying Spawn. Duo was crawling out of the cockpit as the two Gundams touched down. He made his was over to the Spawn's cockpit door. He managed to wrench it open after a few minutes.

Nari sat, still strapped in, unconscious. Her nose was bleeding from the rapid descent. Duo swept her hair from her face with his hand. He crouched there for a few minutes, watching her. It looked as if she were sleeping peacefully. Duo unstrapped her from the seat and gently lifted her out of the cockpit. So, she was skilled enough to pilot a Gundam. It didn't surprise him. He'd come to find out that she was capable of anything. Duo made his was down Deathscythe to the ground. There, he joined by the other pilots shortly. Good thing for them Quatre's house wasn't far from where they had landed.

The sun shone through the bedroom window. Three days had passed since the death match of the two Gundams. Nari stirred, as if coming back from the dead. She reluctantly opened her eyes, finding her vision very foggy. When it had cleared, she threw back the covers, attempting to stand. Her knees wobbled beneath her. Nari finally managed to get to the door of her room. After exiting the spacious quarters, she recognized the long halls of Quatre's mansion. She heard music coming from one of the rooms down one of the halls. Following the music, Nari was led to the living room. She stood at the cracked door and listened. Trowa was playing the flute. Turning her head slightly, she saw Quatre sitting in a chair playing the violin. The duet was beautiful and would have stood there all day listening to it if Duo hadn't come up behind her.

"So, you're up I see." The sound of his voice made her jump.

"Yes, I managed to walk down here after falling out of bed." Nari laughed.

Duo looked at her with a strange intensity that she'd never seen before. He took her hand and started walking.

"Where are we going?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

"You'll know when we get there." Duo replied.

This mysterious place ended up being Quatre's front porch. Duo stood there fidgeting. Nari stared at him in confused amazement.

"Nari, I, uh…" he began. She continued to stare at him. "Nari, I wanted to tell you that uh, that I uh…"

Nari smiled at him. Inside she was shaking with fear. She thought she knew what he was going to say, but wasn't sure. Duo tried once more.

"Nari, I wanted to tell you that I have feelings for you." He said, blushing. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but things just sorta happened."

Nari stood there, stunned. She knew that's what he wanted to say all along but just wasn't prepared to hear it. "You know that's kinda funny." She commented. "Because I have feelings for you too, Duo. I've had them ever since that first day on L2."

Duo stood there, not knowing what to think. He was confused. More so than he had ever been. He took a few steps closer to Nari. She met him halfway. He closed his eyes.

Quatre suddenly stopped playing his violin. He moved quickly to the window. A broad smiled crossed his lips.

"Trowa, come here." He said, motioning him to the window.

Trowa ceased his flute playing and went to join him. He shook his head in amusement. Heero and Wufei went to investigate what was so interesting out there that the flute and violin duet had ended so abruptly. There stood Duo and Nari, arms locked around each other, as well as their lips. Wufei snorted at this display of emotion. Heero turned away from the window. He felt happy for Duo but jealous of him at the same time. He shook away such feelings; they would only prevent him from carrying out his mission. Without a word, he slipped out of the house. 01 blasted into the midmorning sky. Heero was alone again. Such was the life of a soldier.