Title - Demon Star: War and Death

Author - Pamela Eaton

Email Address - peaton@mail.orion.org

Summary - Working with Relena well after the war, Dorothy is helping track
down and destroy any remaining weaponry that is still around from
Romafellers days in power, though she has her own aggenda for helping out
that is unknown to Relena. This brings her to a certain "junk yard" that a
Gundam pilot works at... the rest... well, read and find out.

Spoilers - Um... The series and Endless Waltz, as well as a little of Duo's
past most likely.

Disclaimer - You know 'em, I don't own 'em. Wish I had come up with the
Gundam concept. And I certainly wouldn't mind having cute little pilots in
my possession. *_* This is 'a non-profit thing'. I'm doing it for fun.

Distribution - You want it, take it, just give me credit and email me so I
know where it is.

Warnings -

Duo/Hilde fanatics may wish to avoid this fic. I like that pairing myself,
so don't think just because I wrote this that I'm making a personal stab at
all of you. I try to be extremely gentle in it.

Also, if you hate Dorothy, you may want to avoid this, though my version of
Dorothy may interest some, so don't write it off unless you're dead set on
it.

Shounen-ai hints of a 4+3 angle. (That can be completely removed from
the story and no one would notice.)

I'm just putting these warnings to avoid flames. I'm a first time GW fanfic
writer, and my flame shield isn't lined with Gundamium yet.

Classifications - Adventure, Action, Romance, Dark Angst (barely). Some sexual
content, though it will be implied or faded.

Rating - PG-13 - Mainly for violence and swearing.

Focus Couple - 2xDorothy (scary, ne?)


Authors Intent -

Just a real quick note on my intent by writing this. It wasn't to knock
current favorite couples, or to piss people off. I'm writing this for
myself. This is one couple I've wanted to see for a while, but the only
times I could find this couple together... well they weren't bad, but they
were never focused on seriously (as in not including humor, or
character-bashing fics) so far as I know. There are hundreds of 1xR,
2xHilde, and 1x2 and 3x4 and other fics out there, so I wanted to do
something unique. So this is the result.

Takes place two years after Endless Waltz, though note that I haven't seen
any of it except the end. Expect spoilers though for those who haven't seen
any.

Also, I like to switch POVs, but mainly it will stick to Dorothy and Duo,
though I may have Hilde, Quatre, or Trowa have a go every so often.

This story is mainly Action/Adventure and plot, and the Romance part will
have a slow time forming. I may follow this up with some short pieces
following the same basic story line.

Last Note - The title. The last part is pretty obvious. Dorothy loves War,
Duo thinks of himself as Death. The Demon Star bit comes from the nickname
of a star (Algol) in the Constellation Perseus, which is also representave
of the head of Medusa (which Perseus is supposed to be holding). It is an
eclipsing binary (which means it is actually two stars revolving around
each other). The brightest star is three times the diameter of our sun, the
dimmer is even larger. As they revolve, the dim star eclipses the bright
star once every three days.

Now! Onto the fic!

=========================================================

My name is Dorothy Catalonia. The year is After Colony 205. It's been ten
years since the war for the colonies. Ten years since Treize-sama and my
grandfather joined my parents in the afterlife. Ten years since I faced the
Gundam pilots in battle. And ten years since I first heard the name and saw
the face of the only person I've ever completely trusted.

I had loved men before him. Treize-sama, who was like an older brother to
me, someone I idolized as a child. I would have done anything for him back
then. I still would give anything to see him alive again. Except maybe two
things. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I also loved Milliardo-sama, though not in the same way. You could probably
say he was my first crush.

Needless to say, he wasn't my first love, and in no way was it love at
first-sight. Or second or third for that matter. Though he changed me a
lot, and I changed him. Though the way we effected each other was unique
between us. My life would be empty without him. I would like to think he
feels the same.

*****

A.C 198

The artificial light and refined oxygen made Dorothy Catalonia wish that
she were back on Earth. She never did care much for the Colonies, or the
Space Stations. Give her solid earth, trees, rocks, wind, streams and
actual air any day. But her chosen profession insisted that she take trips
of this nature. With Relena-sama leading a majority of the Earth, it wasn't
too difficult for Dorothy to see that power would remain in her favor for
the time being. The actions of Treize-sama's daughter, Mariemeia, had only
increased things. At the authority of the Vice-Foreign Minister Relena
Peacecraft, Dorothy was the current head of Demilitarization of the former
Romafeller Foundation and all of it's holdings. Her connections with the
organization made her the perfect choice.

And this job is what forced her to shuttle up to the Colonies. Romefeller
stored it's weapons all over, and her grandfather did not disclose or leave
all the information on them, even when he was forced to step down from his
position. And since the War had killed many of the high officials, there
were still many weapon caches hidden all over. Every so often a component
of a special project would turn up, or someone would find a storage
facility full of mobile dolls. This trip was to investigate one such
incident.

The place she was looking for, was incidentally, a scrap heep. A junk yard.
A dark haired girl stood near one such pile, sorting through the rubble as
if something important would actually appear. Clearing her throat, Dorothy
made herself known, "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to work here, would
you?"

Spikes of hair fell in front of her face, one thick lock covering one of
two large blue eyes before she brushed it aside and responded, "Yeah, can I
help you?"

"Were you the one who contacted Minister Peacecraft?" she went straight to
what mattered.

"Relena? Oh! You're here to take care of that. So you must be..." She
struggled as if in search of a name.

"Dorothy Catalonia. Can you tell me what caused me to take a shuttle all
the way up here?"

"Come on, he's in here. I'm Hilde, by the way!"

Hilde? Ah yes. Must be the spy who helped get the information on Libra to
the Gundams. The face had been shown to her briefly, and now that she
thought about it, she did look familiar. So this was one of the Gundam
pilot's friends? Did this mean that it was a Gundam pilot who contacted
Relena-sama?

"Are you coming?"

Dorothy was pulled out of her thoughts and noticed that Hilde was already
half way to the small building that was to the side of the scrap yard.
Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and giving a light shake
of her head, she moved after her without giving a verbal response.

Banging on the door, Hilde yelled, "Look alive, boys! We have company!"

Boys? Dorothy didn't get the chance to think on that as the door opened and
she followed Hilde inside. And inside her light blue eyes settled on not
one, but three Gundam pilots.

Two she recognized from personal experience, one she just knew from
pictures and records. The one who held the most of her attention was, of
course, Quatre Raberba Winner. Three years of growth hadn't changed him
very much. He might have been an inch taller, but he still looked like the
same little blonde boy that she accused so often of being weak.

The other boy she recognized instantly was Trowa Barton, the pilot who had
arrived on Libra to help Quatre after she had run him through the stomach.
Mustard brown hair was longest in the front, sloping down to cover one eye
completely. She noticed him second because of the fact that Quatre was
standing right next to him.

The other boy present was the pilot of 02, Duo Maxwell. She'd seen a few
pictures of him, and heard his name, as well as going over research on what
his Gundam had been capable of and his recorded battle tactics. He was
learning against the far wall, long braid over one shoulder.

When she had stepped inside, whatever conversation had already stopped with
Hilde's pounding. And it didn't take long to realize that Quatre's eyes
were locked on her, just as much as hers were on his. She hadn't seen him
this close since the incident on Libra, and she had made sure he was
nowhere she was visiting before she left. He was supposed to be on another
colony. Dorothy was going to maim whoever got her miss information.

While she was still not prepared to face him, she wasn't about to let him
know that. Folding her hands in the small of her back, Dorothy raised her
chin a little and spoke, "Quatre Winner. I did not expect to find the head
of Winner Enterprises in a junk yard. But then again, it is oddly fitting."
Her tone was humored, but she had been meaning to stab at him.

"Dorothy..." he finally managed in a soft voice.

Before he could add more than her name, Dorothy turned away from him and
looked at Hilde, "Who contacted Relena-sama about the Virgo dolls?"

"Oi! That would be me." Maxwell jumped up from the wall and waved at her
with a wide smile, "Duo Maxwell at your service!"

"Dorothy Catalonia," she responded, approaching the young man with the
braid to avoid looking at Quatre anymore.

"Dorothy..." Duo glanced between her and the blonde Arab for a few moments,
then something seemed to click and he shared a brief look with Trowa, who
had stood there silently since she entered. "Ah... Follow me! I'll show you
what was brought to us." He threw a wink towards Hilde, then moved through
another door, in the back of the room.

Dorothy was the only one who followed him through the door, which she was
quite glad with. She didn't want to face the boy she had nearly killed
right then, nor the man (who was hardly as silent at the time) who had come
to his rescue.

"So.. you're the one who as behind the Virgos during the attack on Libra?"
Duo broke her train of thought quite effectively.

"Yes." is all she gave in answer.

"They were pretty tough!"

"Thank you. And you, Zero-Two, were quite impressive yourself." She wasn't
complimenting him. Just speaking the truth. He was a Gundam pilot, and all
of them were impressive in battle. Even Quatre.

Leading her through another set of doors, Duo brought her into a room filled
mostly with one lone object. She recognized it immediately. It was most of
a Virgo shield generator, including a large chuck of the doll's back
region. "Who found this?"

"Some space scavenger sold it to us. He hinted that there was more where it
came from when I expressed interest in it. He left a frequency to notify
him on if I wanted more." the boy was grinning like an idiot. Or perhaps,
more accurately, like a smart ass.

Dorothy couldn't help but chuckle softly, because he looked positively
silly. Her laughing seemed to brighten him up even more, as if it was some
personal accomplishment, making her laugh. "Then we should contact him in a
little while. Relena-sama will supply the credits to get the dolls back, so
they can be destroyed." Though, as long as she handled the actual
transaction, she could make sure Relena and Duo both got misinformed on the
actual amount. She needed a few extra Virgo parts.

"Shit, ya better get yourself a place to stay a few days. Scavengers tend
to take their time replying!"

Looking around at the various items scattered throughout the room, Dorothy
reached up and ran fingers over her dark forked eyebrows, "You would be the
one to know that, Duo-kun." With a spin, she turned around and added
loudly, "I'll be back tomorrow. Contact your fellow 'junk collector' by
then."

"This is a repair shop, cockroach-brow!"

The insult made her stop short in her trek through the building and out of
this place. Most people didn't verbally bash her eyebrows anymore, not to
her face at least. The shock that someone would is the reason she was drawn
up short. They had done that before, when she was a child. Everything from
forkbrow to eyebrow-feelers. But by the time she was around ten, no one
dared anymore. Because they were all afraid of her. None of the Gundam
pilots were though. Nor was Relena-sama. Right then, she wished that the
braided boy was afraid of her. But he wasn't. So instead of turning and
stabbing at him verbally, she just walked away. She would get him later.
Luckily, upon returning to the first room, she found that Quatre and Trowa
were no longer present.

====================================================================