Author: Fallen Angel

Email: fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. Don't sue.

Chapter 5

[16 Arcadia Lane, Sydney]

"What are we doing here?" asked Relena, looking up at the house before them. It was small and roughly-built, in a neighbourhood where the houses all seemed to bunch in on one another in a haphazard sort of way.

"You'll find out soon enough." Heero raised one hand and knocked thrice. Soon, a woman's voice came from behind the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Heero Yuy."

There came a soft gasp and the door was flung open. A tall, blonde woman stood there, disbelief written over her face. "Heero?"

The sun was setting, so Heero stood forward until his face was illuminated by the light from inside the house. "It's me, Sally."

"Oh, Heero," she ran forward and gave him a hug. "We thought you were dead. When Wufei returned last week - they had a good tailwind - he was distraught. Blamed himself. He'll be so pleased to see you…" at this she caught sight of Relena, who was trying to sort out in her mind who this woman was and how she was so close to Heero.

"Is that…?" asked Sally in surprise.

"Yes. Sally Chang, this is Relena Dorlain."

Relena shook hands with the other woman and returned her warm smile. Chang, she thought, this must be Captain Wufei's wife.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dorlain," said Sally sincerely. "We thought you had left us, too. But it's not safe to talk here. Come inside, come inside."

They followed Sally into a small sitting room with a large fireplace. By the fireplace sat Captain Chang and in two smaller seats sat a blonde man with large blue eyes and a taller man with brown hair that almost fell over his face, neither of whom Relena recognised. They all seemed to know Heero well though, jumping up and showing the same enthusiasm Sally Chang had at seeing him alive. Even the stoic Captain Chang was smiling when he saw Heero.

"I should have known you would have made it, Heero," said the blonde man. "If anyone could have survived being lost at sea it's you." He saw Relena and smiled. "And you've brought company. I assume this is Miss Dorlain?"

"It is," he replied. "Relena, I'd like you to meet Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton, both friends of mine. And you've already met Captain Chang Wufei."

Relena was greeted warmly by both men. Though she couldn't, for the life of her, imagine what they were all doing here. Her confusion caught Captain Chang's attention.

"I see your companion is a little bewildered by us, Yuy," he said. "Perhaps we ought to explain everything."

"Alright," said Heero, taking a seat beside Relena and gratefully accepting the tea Sally offered them. "Perhaps you should start with what happened after we were thrown overboard."

"Well, understandably, I was distressed. As was your father, Miss Dorlain," said Wufei. "He suggested we look for you but there was no sign of you for miles around. We had to presume you were dead. I'm sorry now we didn't look longer…"

"Don't worry yourself," said Heero. "You wouldn't have found us: we washed up on an island somewhere. But that's a story for another day. Go on."

"With a strong tailwind, we managed to arrive here a week ahead of time. Mr Dorlain went almost directly to Governor Trieze and I commend him for putting aside his guilt quickly. Especially since, by then, things were already nearly out of control. Mr Dorlain went for his meeting with the Governor, but I saw neither the Governor, nor Mr Dorlain, after that. Two days later, it was reported the Governor had gone into hiding. I cannot imagine what has happened to your father, Miss Dorlain, and I apologise."

Relena breathed deeply, trying to hold in her anger and worry. All that time, looking forward to being able to tell her father she was okay and now to hear that he was missing himself.

"Don't worry, Miss Dorlain," Quatre reassured her, "we'll find your father. And put a stop to this rioting."

"You? But how?"

Trowa shot a look at Heero. "You didn't tell her?"

"I didn't know how," answered Heero, though he knew it was a lame answer. He turned to Relena. "Relena, you asked once what I did for a living and I told you I was a businessman. But that was a lie."

"I know that," she said softly.

"The truth is, the crown has suspected that there was corruption in the colonies for some time. They couldn't be sure, though, without sending in people to investigate. People like myself, and Captain Chang, and Quatre and Trowa. We are all very different men, but all with the same mission. To keep justice in the colonies."

"So you're a spy of sorts," Relena said. "Why were you so hesitant to tell me this? Did you think I couldn't keep your secret, or that I wouldn't understand?"

"Your father has an important role to play in all this," replied Heero. "His success or failure in negotiating with the Governor would determine the future of the colonies. As you can tell, he did not succeed. And it has fallen to us to complete what he came here to do. I couldn't tell you because you were too close to him and your personal feelings may have influenced your actions."

"I see," said Relena, taking it all in. She should have felt mad that Heero had kept such a thing from her and earlier on she probably would have been. But over the time they'd spent together she'd learnt to understand this man and how he thought and she could see why he'd done what he did. "So what will you do now?"

"We were just discussing that when you came in," said Trowa. "The riots are getting out of control, but there isn't much we can do about that. The people will not be calmed until Governor Trieze has been found or until he has lifted the order for the law keepers to shoot all traitors."

"Which is nearly everyone," said Quatre grimly. "But we can't stop the people: we need to get to the root of the problem. We need to find Governor Trieze and if need be…" he cast a glance at the women present then shrugged. It was too late for coddling them. "…if needs be, we will kill him."

"Has Ghost contacted you?" asked Trowa. Ghost, Sally explained to Relena in a whisper, was the men's contact on the inside.

"A message will come tonight," answered Quatre. "Dorothy will bring it."

Relena caught the slight blush that raised on Quatre's cheeks and knew that this woman, Dorothy, must mean something to him. Then it hit her.

"Mr Winner, may I ask, have I heard your name before? I'm sure my father has mentioned you."

"He possibly has," answered Quatre, smiling slightly. "I own the newspaper, the London Weekly, and I was opening a printing press here when the trouble started. You'll soon find that people from all walks of life have been enlisted to help keep justice in the colonies."

"Like Ghost?" Relena asked, her curiosity aroused.

"Well, to be honest, I've never met him. I've heard he uses such a name since he is believed to be a dead man."

"The best kind of spy," said Wufei. "You can't track the history of someone who isn't even meant to exist."

Or, Relena thought sadly, casting a glance at Heero. the history of someone who has none at all.

13th December, 1805

Dearest Log,

I've never been so fearful in my life. Not for my sake, but for the lives of the two most important men in my life: father and Heero. I pray that father is safe and I cannot afford to lose hope that he is still alive. I know now he never gave up on me: Captain Chang told me so. I think he has developed a small sense of respect for me since Heero told everyone our story - leaving parts out of course. Those memories belong to him and I alone. Sally told me not to worry about the Captain though, she had been married to him for two years now and assured me he wasn't as cold as he seemed. He only seemed especially grim now due to the upcoming dangers…

Which brings me to why I am fearful for Heero. While I was helping Sally prepare dinner earlier, I could hear the men talking in the sitting room. They were discussing how many firearms and bullets they have and their best plan of attack. They spoke about how they expected Governor Trieze to be guarded by his own personal soldiers but said it was only important that one of them make it through. This thought especially chilled me to the bone: they are willing to die for this cause.

I had thought that the worst thing would be having to leave Heero and I prepared myself for this. But now, in these dangerous times, and learning what Heero truly does, I must prepare myself for a new worry - that he may die.

It was only when I cut myself slightly as I was slicing bread - my eavesdropping had distracted me - that Sally admitted that she knew what I was feeling.

"Every time Wufei leaves for England I fear for him," she confessed to me as she bandaged my finger. "But it makes out time together all that sweeter. And I know that even if one of us died, our hearts live on together. You're in love with him, with Heero Yuy, aren't you?"

When she saw my shocked face, she quickly apologised for her bluntness. But I assured her it was refreshing to be able to talk with someone so personally and not be afraid of being judged.

"No one here will judge you, Relena," Sally assured me. "I know what it is to love and to be afraid of what others will think. But don't for a moment fear that none of us have not experienced such a love, one that defies rules and regulations." At that moment, the dinner was nearly ready and Sally went to call the men in to eat. But before she left, she turned to me with a smile. "If you end up spending the night here, I hope you won't mind if I place you in the same room as Heero."

I know she saw me blush, because she seemed to be holding back laughter. But I didn't mind her matchmaking. It was truly as she'd said. The less time you thought you had, the more your time together became all that more sweeter.

Dinner had been over for a few hours when their late night visitor arrived.

Wufei and Sally had already went to bed for the night, after making sure that their guests were well prepared for. Trowa and Heero were sitting by the window in the sitting room, cleaning their firearms in companionable silence. Not wanting much to do with the weapons, Quatre and Relena had settled on the couch, making conversation. Relena was eager to learn about Sydney and life in Australia and Quatre was happy to tell her.

"It's a lot hotter than in England," he said and Relena noted his light-coloured trousers and shirt. "But you get used to that, especially in the winter, when it doesn't snow and the days are still quite long. The people here are different too, a lot more relaxed. Well, they usually are. I suppose it's because there's so many free settlers here from poorer backgrounds: they don't care much for ceremony and the like. There's more important things to worry about in the colonies, like surviving through droughts and floods. I guess that's why everyone is so upset about Governor Trieze abusing his power - they have enough to worry about and they've worked hard to earn a living here."

"Are there always this many people here?" asked Relena. "The city seems quite crowded."

"Well, not usually. Many people, though, have made the effort to come in from the country to ensure that whatever happens, they have a say in it."

Relena nodded. "So what side are you fighting for, Mr Winner? The side of the colonists?"

Quatre paused to think about this. "At first we came on His Majesty's orders. But now that I think about it, I guess we show more sympathy for the colonists, because all they want is justice. So I suppose, yes. We are on the side of the colonists, because they are the ones being oppressed."

At that, Relena opened her mouth to say something but she was interrupted by knock on the door. Trowa stood up straightaway, holding a firearm.

"You won't need that," said Quatre. "I'm sure that's Dorothy."

"In case it isn't," the other man said, before leaving to answer the door. Everyone in the sitting room was tense, waiting for the sound of a gunshot. There was none. Instead, Trowa came back in silence, a bundle in his arms.

It was only when Relena stood up to look more closely that she saw the bundle was a woman. A woman with long blonde hair and pale skin.

"Dorothy!" cried Quatre, moving past Relena to take the woman from Trowa's arms and lay her on the couch. In the light from a lamp, Relena could now see that the woman's face was covered in bruises and her lip was cut and bleeding. Though it was hard to tell, since the woman's lipstick was red like the colour of blood. That was when Relena saw that not only was the woman's lips heavily made up, but the rest of her face was too. Her dress was flashy as well, cut indecently low in the bodice and full in the hips. Relena realised what she was with a gasp. She was a whore.

If she was, Quatre didn't seem to care. He was kneeling beside her, stroking her hair back from her face and holding her hand comfortingly.

"Quatre?" the woman mumbled, opening her eyes. They were light blue, lighter even than Relena's.

"I'm here, Dorothy," he said, his tone affectionate. Sally's words came back to Relena. Don't for a moment fear that none of us have not experienced such a love, one that defies rules and regulations. Instantly she felt guilty. Already she had judged this woman without knowing what her true purpose was. Knowing what these men were, Dorothy had probably just risked her life doing something to help them.

"What happened, Dorothy?" asked Quatre.

"Attacked," she mumbled between her cut lips. "Guards…thought I was acting suspicious…beat me…but I told them nothing…" here she rolled up her skirt and pulled a small piece of paper from her garter. She passed it to Quatre, smiling as she did.

"…from Ghost…a map to Trieze's place in the country…he suspects the Governor is hiding there…"

Quatre returned her smile. "You did well, Dorothy." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead then moved aside as Sally appeared, a damp cloth and bandages in her hand.

"She'll be fine, Quatre," Sally reassured the blonde man before he and the others left the room so Sally could work in privacy.

Relena went with the four men - Wufei was awake now - to the kitchen to examine Ghost's map.