Heero wondered why the rebels would ask to meet at a fairly public street corner in during the day. Perhaps they wanted to discourage any fighting. Duo and Heero had agreed to a plan. Heero would stand in the alleyway, listening and ready to help. Duo would be the one to go in and ask them what they wanted.
Heero watched Duo, who was leaning against a signpost. The crowd walked around him, not paying much attention to the strangely-dressed character. Heero knew he didn't have the best fashion sense in the world, but he at least knew how to blend into his surroundings. Duo didn't.
"Duo Maxwell?" A man had approached Duo. Heero leaned further against the wall and put a hand to his gun. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it. There seemed to be a group of 3 men in total. That girl wasn't around.
"That's me," Duo smiled.
"We would like to extend an offer to you." The man glanced around. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to the meeting. Scenes like this must not be very uncommon on the colony.
"An offer?"
Heero thought. Were they planning on offering Duo a place in the rebellion? That might be good.
"Call it an exchange. We'll release Miss Hilde if you agree to join in a little 'club' that's been started here."
Do it, Duo. We could use this to our advantage, Heero thought, almost wishing he were psychic.
"By 'club', you mean the new rebellion right?" Duo had his arms crossed in front of his chest and a "like hell" expression on his face.
"I see you've heard about it. Very well, then, that is what I mean."
Heero knew instantly what Duo was going to say.
"Yeah right! Why would I want to join something like that? I'm happy with the peace we have now. I'm not looking to start another war."
Damn, Duo. Heero should have seen this coming and told Duo to accept if they offered it. He should've known that Duo wouldn't have agreed.
"I see. What should we do with the woman, Miss Hilde, then?" The man turned to his companions.
Duo's smile disappeared. He seemed to have forgotten about that small detail. "Where is she?"
"She could be safe at her home if you just agreed to join us."
Duo looked down at his shoes. Heero was tempted to just walk out and accept on behalf of Duo, but he stayed where he was. It wouldn't be wise to give away his position at this point of the game.
"Are you planning on using that?"
Heero turned around as he heard the soft voice behind him. Zechs was standing in the alleyway with him. Heero cursed himself for not noticing him. His instincts had gotten soft.
He realized that his hand was still on his gun. He kept it there and put a finger to his lips, motioning to the street. He didn't want Zechs blowing his cover.
Zechs just nodded and walked to stand beside him at an angle where he wouldn't be seen.
"What are we looking at?" Zechs asked.
Heero turned back to the street and saw the crowd walking past. He saw the signpost with nobody leaning against it. He didn't see the three men that had approached Duo. They'd left. Presumably with Duo. Did that mean that Duo had finally accepted or had something else happened?
Heero looked at Zechs. "You just compromised an important mission."
"Perhaps if you had told me about this mission, I wouldn't have compromised it.
"I'm not fighting you, Zechs. But I'm not working with you, either. Stay out of my way." Heero pushed past him to walk to the other side of the alley. He would go back to Duo's apartment and form a plan from there.
"I would love to stay out of your way, but I told you: I'm just following orders." Zechs was following him.
"That's not like you."
"Things have changed in the past year. I'm repaying a favor."
"I don't care." Heero wasn't about to team up with Zechs, of all people. Besides, Zechs wanted him to go back to Earth, which was the last place Heero intended on going.
Heero walked back to Duo's apartment. He glanced behind him, but he didn't see Zechs. He must have given up. Duo had given Heero a key to the room, just in case they got split up.
Heero opened the door and walked in. He saw that girl laying on the sofa. So Duo must have gone with the rebellion, and they were true to their word in giving Hilde back. Heero quickly checked to make sure she was alive. She was, but it seemed that they had knocked her out. Heero left her on the couch. He had some work to do.
****
Duo hoped that Heero was following them because he had no idea where these guys were taking him. He really had no choice but to join them. He had to make sure Hilde was safe.
They walked in silence until they reached a small and dirty shop in the not-so-nice part of the colony. The men led him in there. It appeared to be a used bookstore. Duo glanced at some of the titles. There was a biography of the Gundam pilots out. He wondered what they said about him. Then he thought again. Why was it in a USED bookstore?
Duo's attention turned back to the situation as the men led him into the backroom and down some stairs. Finally they stopped in the poorly-lit basement. They turned to Duo.
"So, you gonna kill me and hide the body down here?" Duo asked, crossing his arms. If they thought that, they had another thing coming.
"We told you. We're asking you to join us. We don't want to kill you." One of the men sat down in a chair. Duo remained standing.
"Why do you want me joining you so badly?"
"This is a rebellion for the people of L2. You have no idea the scope that this has reached already. Duo, you are part of L2. If we had you supporting us, people would be more willing to listen to us." The man didn't seem threatening. He seemed desperate.
"Why should I support you? I'm perfectly happy with my life the way it is."
"You're one of the few on L2 who think that way. You know what it's like here. I don't need to tell you. You grew up here. And you also know that we're getting no help from the government to fix things."
"So you're gonna rebel and kill more people?"
"It's the only way."
One of the other men walked up to Duo. "We don't like using force. But these times are different. We won't fight with mobile suits. We can't afford it. This fight will be fought differently. But we need your help. Aren't the people of L2 important to you?"
"The people of all the colonies and of Earth are important to me. That's why I won't fight."
The men looked at each other. "That's unfortunate."
Duo looked from one man to the next. They had something up their sleeves.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to give you no choice. Duo, we have a bomb set up in your apartment building. The control for the bomb is with a different cell on this colony. They're waiting for the okay from us that you've joined. If they don't get it, they will destroy the building."
Duo stood in shock for a few seconds. "But...I thought that you wanted to save L2..."
"We do. But sometimes you have to make some sacrifices to get what you want."
Duo looked down. Hilde was probably there now. Heero might be, too. He was trapped. What choice did he have?
"Duo, we need an answer."
"Yeah," Duo said softly. "Yeah. I'll join."
The men nodded, and one went into a small room off to the side.
"Not like I had much of a choice," Duo muttered to himself.
****
Trowa and Dorothy had rented a hotel room for a couple nights. The clerk had somehow gotten it into his head that they were newlyweds on their honeymoon, and they had been given one of those honeymoon suites. Trowa had wanted to complain, but Dorothy seemed okay with it.
"We can't do anything to raise suspicions," Dorothy had said.
The room was as horribly sappy as anybody could imagine. Trowa was overwhelmed by the pinkness, and heart-shapes seemed to dominate the room. Heart-shaped windows, heart-shaped mirrors, large, heart-shaped bed. Trowa made a mental note to himself that if he ever got married, he would not honeymoon in a room like this.
"Oh my, what a perfectly horrible room!" Dorothy exclaimed while closing the curtains.
They finally agreed on something.
"Well, we'll just have to make do." Dorothy sat on the bright pink couch and opened her laptop. "Now, this rebellion shouldn't be too hard to find. After all, they are fairly widespread, if my sources are correct."
Trowa sat down across from her. "Who are your sources?"
Dorothy looked up and ran a finger along her eyebrow, "My sources would rather I not give out their identity. Why? Don't trust me?"
"I'm trying to figure out what your stake in all this is."
"Why, for the continued peace of the world! I will fight and win so that the idea of total pacifism may live on!"
"That's quite a change."
"People change, Trowa Barton. You just have to accept that and move on."
Trowa was about to reply when he heard a small noise outside the door. He could tell from her expression that Dorothy had heard it, too. Trowa got up slowly. He was still limping. He got to the door and quietly turned the handle, yanking the door open.
A person fell to the ground. Trowa grabbed him by the back of the shirt and dragged him all the way into the room, closing the door behind him.
"Who are you?" Trowa asked.
The man turned around on the ground to stare up at Trowa. "I...my name is Murker. I, well, was sent to..." The man seemed scared out of his wits.
"Oh, he was sent to find us and report back to the rebellion as to what we were doing!" Dorothy stood up, clapping her hands together. "Well, Mr. Murker. I assume that means you know where we can find this rebellion. I'm very curious about it."
Trowa helped the man stand up. He didn't seem to be an immediate threat.
"I do. But...I can't TELL you anything. I'm..."
Trowa wondered why they sent such a weak person to spy on them.
"We don't want to fight you! We want to learn about you! We won't bring any weapons. Okay? Now where do we go?" Dorothy seemed very excited about this.
"But, I can't..." The man stuttered.
Dorothy reached behind her and pulled a sword out. So that's where she hid it. She must have a sheath for it along her back. She held it out to the man, not quite threatening.
"See? I won't even bring my sword."
Murker seemed about to faint. "Okay. I'll tell you!"
Dorothy smiled, "Good."
****
This is all my fault. Quatre leaned his head into his hands. As soon as he had heard the shot, he had run back into Relena's office, but it was too late. Miss Relena had been shot in the head, and Kav had disappeared.
Relena was alive, and the doctors had been able to repair a lot of the damage. However, she was in a coma. She'd probably be in a coma for a very long time.
I failed. I failed the Preventers and Miss Relena. I never should have left the room.
"Quatre."
Quatre looked up. Lady Une had entered the room.
"Quatre, we're going to send you to meet with Heero."
Quatre shook his head. "I'd rather stay here, actually. Kav's still loose. Who knows who he'll go after next? I have a responsibility to stay here and make sure that he doesn't hurt anybody else."
Lady Une remained silent. Quatre sighed.
"He might go after you next, Miss Une. This rebellion obviously is not just isolated to the L2 area. It's spread. I think it's best if I stay here, where I'm needed."
Lady Une nodded her head. "Very well. Actually, I'm going to L4 later today."
"Why?" Was something happening in his colony?
"There's some business that needs attending to. I will be back in a few days. You can stay here, if you like."
Quatre had been trying to call his business all day, but no one had been answering. Quatre had assumed that they were busy, but maybe something was wrong. He had a responsibility to his estate, as well. "Is something wrong on L4?" He asked.
"We're not sure," Lady Une sighed. "There have been rumours. We've started taking these rumours more seriously given recent events."
Quatre nodded. "I'll go with you. I need to check on things. Besides, that way I can protect you." Although Quatre knew that Lady Une really didn't need protection, it would make him feel better.
"As you like. Have your stuff ready. We leave in a couple hours."
****
Wufei walked softly, careful to stay on the outskirts of the plaza. He glanced across the street to see Sally leaning confidently against the wall of the building. Already a crowd had started to form for the rally that was being held tonight.
The rebellion didn't even seem to be trying to stay hidden anymore. Wufei and Sally had easily found all the information they needed to get to this thing. Wufei hoped it wouldn't get out of hand. He didn't want to use force. Sally and he were there simply for observation and information-gathering purposes.
"People of L2!" A man had climbed up on a fountain and was addressing the crowd. Wufei crossed his arms and prepared himself for some propaganda. "We are being oppressed!" A murmur ran through the crowd. Good way to grab their attention.
Wufei looked over the man's shoulder. There seemed to be some more people behind him, probably also with the rebellion. Wufei thought he recognized one of them, but he was too far away to tell for sure.
"Did you know that on L1, 99% of the population owns two TVs? At least one car? 72% live on property that is worth upwards of $700,000! Can you say the same?"
Wufei wondered if those statistics were real, exaggerated, or made-up entirely. Regardless, they sounded good, and Wufei was certain that a lot of the people would buy it.
"So why don't we have luxuries? Why don't we have the money that all of the other colonies have? I'll tell you why! Because we're L2! We're constantly overlooked in the government. Nobody will listen to our pleas for help. All we ask is for the benefits that the other colonies have."
If you actually went out and worked instead of complaining, you'd have them. Wufei tried not to roll his eyes. He had no sympathy for people who complained about their situation instead of changing things for themselves.
"I was out on a walk the other day. And do you know what I saw? An old woman out on the street. I asked her what she was doing away from her home. She could hardly walk, and obviously needed medical care. She told me that her house had been repossessed because she didn't have any money. They sent her out on the streets! On the streets!"
The crowd was silent and wide-eyed. Wufei was wondering when the guy would get around to pointless anecdotes that tugged at the heart strings of the people. If you expect me to believe that, you should have brought her with you today.
"I thought we lived in a peaceful world. But this peace is obviously not worth it if an elderly woman is kicked out of her own home without a second thought."
"Wufei."
Wufei turned his head slightly when he heard Sally's voice. They were supposed to stay separated, but she had walked over and was standing next to him.
"Wufei, it's Duo."
Wufei didn't know what she was talking about at first. Then he squinted his eyes and looked past the speaker. Of course! That person who seemed familiar. Wufei could just make it out. It was Duo. But what was he doing in with the rebellion? Had he betrayed them?
"But we are not alone, people of L2! We can band together to protest the treatment of the citizens of L2! And to set an example, we have a resident of our own colony to support us. The former Gundam pilot, Duo Maxwell, has agreed to joining our cause!"
The crowd whispered in disbelief until Duo was pretty much literally pushed forward into view. Then a cheer erupted.
No, he hadn't betrayed them. Wufei could tell by the look on his face that Duo wasn't a willing participant. They must have him trapped somehow.
"Let's go, Wufei. I have a feeling that it's going to get pretty rowdy soon."
Wufei nodded and turned to leave.