Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. HA! Now you can't
sure me!
*******************************************
Peace never lasts
Chapter 1: And so it begins.
***** Later that day
While Heero went to work at the office and junior was in school, Relena stayed home as she had for the past few days as time off before her baby came. Heero wanted to make sure she had plenty of relaxation while she was pregnant, as not to harm the baby. But Relena did think this was slightly ridiculous. When she got back to work she'd have almost 3 months of work to catch up to.
Relena had decided to wait until the baby was born to find out if it was a boy or as girl. She wanted it to be a big surprise. Heero wanted to have a little girl so bad but Relena was leaning towards wanting a boy. She walked through the house holding her drawing notebook. She was planning to go outside and make SOMETHING of another dull day at home. She was used to working all the time as a Vice Foreign Minister but took off for a few months while she was pregnant. Her brother, Millyardo and his wife Noin promised her they would take care of her job during her absence.
As she walked on towards the front porch she saw one of Juniors Gundam toys lying on the ground. Picking it up she smiled, noticing it was Wing Zero. She placed it on the shelf in the family room, knowing that junior always liked somewhere to put his toys in EVERY room. Ever since Heero married her they no longer needed maids and butlers because they worked out their own routine. Besides, Heero felt too uncomfortable ordering people around to do things for him. However they did have a maid come and clean the house every month. They weren't perfect you know!
She finally made it onto the porch and sat down on a lounge chair. She in- took a calming breath and sighed. Life was great without the wars. So peaceful.so calm.and so wonderful. She wouldn't have it any other way. She picked up her drawing notebook and had just placed her pencil on the paper when she heard the videophone ringing in the house.
Sighing, she placed the book down and slowly stood up. She walked back into the house to answer it.
She sat down at the chair in front of the screen and pressed the receive button. Duo Maxwell's face popped up. She gasped. "Duo!" He smiled at her a tiered smile and greeted her back.
"Hey" He said, ever so simply.
Completely ignoring his reason for calling she fired questions at him. "Duo! It's been so long! How are you? Are you on Earth? Are you coming to visit? How's the business? How's Hilde?"
At that last question he interrupted. "Whoa! Slow down Princess. I'm fine. Yes I'm on earth, yes I'm coming to visit and yes the business is ok. I was hoping Heero was there. I need to speak to him."
Disappointed, she smiled anyway, but shook her head no. "No. He's at work right now. He should be back really soon however. Can I help in some way?"
"Um.Well." He looked reluctant to answer, unsure if he could tell her. "Can we meet?" He asked.
"Of course!" Relena answered quickly, happy to help. She hadn't seen Duo in almost a year. Last time she heard she had been up somewhere in Colony cluster L2 with his co-worker and girlfriend, Hilde.
"Ok.where?" He asked quietly. He was really hoping for Heero but this was Relena, one of his best friends.
"Um.How about here?" She suggested.
"Ok. Now sound ok?"
"Sure"
"Ok then, I'll see you in a few. Bye."
"Bye!" She waved at him before terminating the call. Duo was coming! She stood up and looked herself over. She looked dreadful. Her hair in a messy bun, her robe still on, slippers on her feet. She had to get ready! Walking as fast as she could, she made her way up the stairs.
**** 20 minutes later.
Ding Dong
"Come on in!" Relena yelled from the top of the stairs, trying to make herself look decent.
Duo, seeing the door was unlocked, walked into the house and looked around. "Hey Relena!" He yelled up the stairs.
"Duo!" Relena yelled coming into view. She went down the stairs as fast as her body would let her, and gave Duo a big hug. Duo didn't even notice her stomach at first. "It's great to see you again Duo. Heero and I were wondering why you hadn't came to visit in such a long time."
"I'm sorry, Rel'. I've just had a lot going on lately. He smiled tenderly. But Relena noticed how it didn't reach his eyes like it used to. She also noticed the way he had bags under his eyes. She saw his expression change though and he looked down at Relena's stomach. "Holy gees!" He yelled, backing away to get a better look. "Relena.you're looking so.big!"
She chuckled and playfully slapped him. "I'm 8 months in! Can you believe it?"
"Wow! I can't believe it! Is it a girl or a boy?" He asked as Relena took his hand and placed it on her stomach. He felt a kick. "Wow!"
She laughed. " Well I don't know yet. I decided to let it be a surprise. I kind of want another boy. but Heero wants a girl. I don't really care either way. I love this baby.
"That's great, Princess. I'm sure Heero is proud. By the way, how have you two love bugs been?
She smiled happily. "Very well, thank you. You should have seen the look on Heero's face when I told him I was pregnant again.He passed out for 2 days." They both laughed. Relena couldn't stop noticing the big bags under his eyes. "Duo." Her expression, becoming worried. "Why did you come? Why now? .Something is wrong."
Duo sighed. 'She always could read my mind like a book.oh well.' He nodded his head, confirming her statement.
"Well." She said, leading them both into the living room. "I want to know all about it." She pushed him into the loveseat and took a seat on the opposite side on the couch. " You can tell me anything Duo. You know that"
He was unsure of how to start at first. There was so much. "It's Hilde." He began.
"What happened?" Relena asked Duo before he could finish his first sentence. He glared at her and she quickly backed out on the question.
Duo rubbed the back of his neck, thoughtfully. "Well I guess it all started off when I went to go see Quatra about some advice, when he came in town a few months ago." He seemed to be thinking for a minute. "I went to him for advice about Hilde and my.relationship. I mean I know she's my girlfriend and partner in work and all. And I know she lives with me. Butlately we both feel we've wanted a little more. That's what I needed advice about. Knowing Quatra, he told me to tell her how I feel and well propose to be married. But that night when I went home, I found she wasn't there." He took a deep breath.
Relena had been listening, carefully to his every word, careful not to interrupt. It didn't take an idiot to know that Duo was having a hard time telling her all this. She waited patiently for him to continue.
"I didn't think anything of it until that the next day when she still hadn't returned. So I went into her room for some clues of where she went. Maybe a note or something, but no, I didn't find anything there. A few days later, I got really worried so I used my laptop to hack into the shuttle flights for the past week. But before I even had a chance to start I opened up my mail and found this note there." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, with shaky hands. The paper white paper was folded neatly and when she took it and opened it up she noticed the paper had been handled a lot. It said:
Dear Mr. Maxwell,
It has come to our attention by special sources that during the year war and eve's war, you had piloted one of the Gundanium mobile suits known as Gundams. We've become quite interested in this fact and have decided among our council that it would be best if we took possession of the 5 Gundams. Until you hand the Gundams over to us we have taken your co-worker and friend, Hilde Sheibecker, into custody. Don't think we will not do anything to collect the Gundams from all 5 of their pilots. Ms. Sheibecker will remain in good health as long as you take immediate action. Contact us at Black_Hawk1228720 at gee.nak. (This is a non-traceable address so do not bother trying to hack information through it.)
Good Day! Sincerely, Neal Cobalt Neal Cobalt Head chairman of
The Black Hawks
Duo watched Relena's face turn pale and angry, then look up at him. "Oh Duo!" She reached across to hug him. He took it, great-fully. "Why didn't you contact us sooner?" She said, letting him go and looking him the face.
"I went out to find her. I thought maybe I could catch them before they got to far from the colony. But I was wrong." He lowered his gaze and his voice cracked. "They got so far, so fast." He pointed to the letter Relena was holding. "It was only about a week ago did I read over the letter even more carefully. Relena they're going to look for all the Gundam Pilots, including Heero. You and your son are what matter to Heero the most. You have GOT to get somewhere safe. Who knows.you could be next." He looked into her eyes, worryingly and serious.
Relena's eyes widened. That's right. They might try to take her or her son. "But.but who would want to start a war. Doesn't everyone WANT peace?"
"Who knows, Rel'. I mean. Some people just can't be happy with what they have. They don't know how lucky they are. I lost Hilde to those creeps and I don't want to loose someone else. I will find Hilde. Meanwhile, you should get yourself somewhere safe and secure."
"But.but.Heero is different. He covers up his tracks very well. I mean, you were seen on TV, when they captured you. But Heero has never been seen to the public eye." She said, trying to reassure herself.
"But they said they had special resources, Rel'. I did pretty well clearing up the mess with me on TV, and erasing my name from sources. If they can find me.who knows? Do you really want to take the chance that they won't find you?"
Relena shook her head 'no,' before leaning back against the couch. She didn't want to believe it. Another war couldn't break out. If anyone got their hands on a Gundam, let alone 5 than the world and colonies would go into chaos. It was true that the 5 pilots had decided to decided to keep the Gundams around just in case. It was bad enough that they needed them during the eve war, and they had repaired their suits and sent it to remain under special care by Quatra. It was probably for the best anyway. "Duo." She started. "Who.who would do suck a thing."
Duos' eyes narrowed, slowly. He thought of the list of people responsible, he had made that very morning on his shuttle ride to earth. "Well actually, I made a list of who I think could be our man.or woman." He took out another piece of paper he had in his pocket and handed it to Relena.
It was another computer papers and it had pictures on it that he had received from his laptop. Relena opened it up and laid it flat on the table. She looked at the first picture. It was a woman with pale blue eyes and long blond hair. She couldn't be mistaken for any one else.
"Dorothy Catalonia." Duo stated, pointing to her picture. "She loves war and I'm sure she would do anything to start another one."
Relena gasped. "But Duo! I'm sure that Dorothy wouldn't do such a thing. She's made a place in this world during peace."
"I just don't know, Relena. Her past did some pretty cruel stuff to her. Maybe she wants revenge." Duo suggested, raking a hand through his bands.
"I thought she was staying with Quatra Winner up on his colony. I asked her the last time I saw her. She's made a life there. She's even helping Quatra with his business."
"I heard about that, and looked it up, but all my information told me was that Dorothy has been missing for a couple weeks, a few days before Hilde went missing. I even talked about it with Quatra. He thinks she ran away. He was pretty bummed out. Stopped eating, stopped working, stopped sleeping. He cared about her a lot I guess." Duo said sadly.
Something clicked. "Well then Duo isn't it obvious!" She exclaimed. "If Dorothy meant a lot to Quatra and this organization knew then maybe she was abducted as well!"
"That's right!" Duo said jumping up. "Oh great! That's two down!" But Quatra never told me if he received a letter."
"You told me he stopped working. Maybe he stopped checking his email to!" Relena said.
"Yah! Ok, We'll talk to him on the phone later. Let me finish up this list." Duo said, sitting back down and pointing to the next picture. It showed a young, girl that only looked like she was in her early 20's. She had red hair that was long and rich. Standing behind her was a woman who looked quite older, maybe in her early 30's. They were both smiling, pleasantly. "Mariemeia Khushrenada and Lady Une...it's been almost 10 years since the war ended. Mariemeia is a lot older, probably about 21 by now. As you may know a few months ago she became representative of Colony cluster L1. Just last month she started a new project. Rumor has it that that project is discovering new technology and more advanced weapons on Mars. However they told the ESUN that they are only colonizing on Mars for research purposes."
Relena stared at Duo in awe. "Well.where does that leave Lady Une?"
Duo answered her question to the obvious. "Well, its known around the world and colonies that Lady Une got real close to Mariemeia, even adopted her. It's also rumored that Une hasn't been seen for some time now.Probably on Mars, helping to build those new weapons."
A thought came to Relena's mind. "Hey, I thought that Lady Une was still in the Preventer's office in space?"
"I thought of that too. I asked Wufei Chang yesterday and he said that she had left her position almost 3 years ago when Mariemeia graduated high school. Sally Po took her place with Wufei as her co-worker."
Relena in-took a shaky breath. "It seems possible, I suppose." She cast her gaze to the floor. "I just wish it wasn't true." After a few seconds she asked. "Is that it?"
"One more." Duo said, pointing to the last picture. "Mason Kohl." He said, coldly.
Relena leaned forward to get a better look at the man. He seemed harmless. He had light brown hair with light, amusing blue eyes. He had very handsome features. He looked no older then she was. His smile was charming and attentive. Relena blinked. She could swear he looked familiar. Those eyes. Only one person had those eyes. "Oh my goodness!" She gasped out leaning back quickly. "That man is Heero's boss!"
Duo, knowing Heero worked at the one Preventor's office, widened his eyes. He looked at the picture himself. "What! You mean to tell me this guy works for the Preventors here on Earth?"
Relena paled and answered. "Yes! I thought he was a nice guy too. Very good with computers, I must say. He and Heero had become good friends since he took the job there. He's one of Heero's very good friends and.and.oh my!"
"Relena, you don't think this guy knows Heero is a Gundam Pilot do you? Did Heero tell him?"
But Relena didn't hear the question. Her hand was on her chest in a dumfounded and nervous gesture. She was far too surprised to say anything. Finally she spoke. "Duo why do you think it was this man?"
Duo looked at her, expectantly but shook his own question out of his head. "Well, it's just as you said; this guy's a genius with computers. He's known throughout the colonies as a Grade-A hacker. Probably just as good as good as Heero at hacking information. He's also a well-trained spy. Few people know his name. They even have a nickname for him. 'The dark hunter.' The only people who see his face and name him are his bosses and fellow hackers like myself. I guess Heero didn't recognize him."
"But do you think this man would do something so horrible? I mean he's such a nice guy! I've met him before. He and Heero have become good.well.friends. Heero tells him a lot of things and." She trailed off. Duo's jaw dropped, slightly.
"Heero must have told Kohl about his past.and about us.He must be keeping Heero around to receive more information about the others."
Relena's face darkened. "That low life son of a.."
"At least we know who he is now and can stop Heero from telling him any more information. And we can get some information about who his boss is and where Hilde and Dorothy are."
Relena took a deep breath to calm her-self. "Lets call Quatra and the others. We've got to tell them what's going on." Relena got up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the room where their Videophone was sitting on a desk. She took a seat in front of it and Duo came up and stood behind her she dialed up Quatra.
It ringed a few moments and Relena and Duo stayed silent until Quatra's face popped up on screen. "H-Hello?" He said tiredly, not even looking up face the screen.
"Quatra? Hi! It's Relena and Duo." Relena smiled sadly. He had the same look on his face that Duo had, tiered eyes with bags, pale skin and droopy face. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His face did brighten a little when he heard Relena's voice.
"Relena! Duo! I'm so glad you called." He said anxiously, sitting up and trying his best to smile and failing miserably. He turned his eyes to the man standing behind Relena. "Duo listen. Do you know that letter you got in your mail?"
"Yah." Duo said, becoming curious.
Quatra's eyes became angry in a second. "Well those creeps sent me one to, the nerve! They have Dorothy!" This confirmed Relena and Duo's suspicion. "They must have heard about our.engagement."
"You're engaged?!" Duo and Relena yelled in unison.
Quatra smiled slightly and nodded. "I asked her about a month ago. We decided not to tell anybody yet."
Duo and Relena looked at each other and then back at Quatra. Relena asked, "Quatra did you tell anybody at all?"
"Well, I did kind of tell Heero. I was on the phone with him a couple days after I asked her and I might have slipped." Seeing the look of dread on his listener's faces he added, "But I'm sure Heero would never tell. I mean.its Heero!"
Duo groaned. "I can't believe you told HEERO!"
"He seemed very exited to hear it too. It was almost out of character. Heero's really changed a lot these passed years, huh?"
"For the better? I'm not sure." Duo said, rubbing his hand against his forehead.
"I made him promise not to tell. He was the only one that knew. He must have told someone from that organization."
"Damn you, Kohl!" Relena yelled, slamming her fist into her hand.
Quatra looked at Relena strangely. "Who's this Kohl?"
Relena sighed. "Quatra, there's something we have to tell you." Relena said, trying to be calm. She knew little about what was going on.but whatever was going on, it just got a whole lot more dangerous.
*******************************************
Peace never lasts
Chapter 1: And so it begins.
***** Later that day
While Heero went to work at the office and junior was in school, Relena stayed home as she had for the past few days as time off before her baby came. Heero wanted to make sure she had plenty of relaxation while she was pregnant, as not to harm the baby. But Relena did think this was slightly ridiculous. When she got back to work she'd have almost 3 months of work to catch up to.
Relena had decided to wait until the baby was born to find out if it was a boy or as girl. She wanted it to be a big surprise. Heero wanted to have a little girl so bad but Relena was leaning towards wanting a boy. She walked through the house holding her drawing notebook. She was planning to go outside and make SOMETHING of another dull day at home. She was used to working all the time as a Vice Foreign Minister but took off for a few months while she was pregnant. Her brother, Millyardo and his wife Noin promised her they would take care of her job during her absence.
As she walked on towards the front porch she saw one of Juniors Gundam toys lying on the ground. Picking it up she smiled, noticing it was Wing Zero. She placed it on the shelf in the family room, knowing that junior always liked somewhere to put his toys in EVERY room. Ever since Heero married her they no longer needed maids and butlers because they worked out their own routine. Besides, Heero felt too uncomfortable ordering people around to do things for him. However they did have a maid come and clean the house every month. They weren't perfect you know!
She finally made it onto the porch and sat down on a lounge chair. She in- took a calming breath and sighed. Life was great without the wars. So peaceful.so calm.and so wonderful. She wouldn't have it any other way. She picked up her drawing notebook and had just placed her pencil on the paper when she heard the videophone ringing in the house.
Sighing, she placed the book down and slowly stood up. She walked back into the house to answer it.
She sat down at the chair in front of the screen and pressed the receive button. Duo Maxwell's face popped up. She gasped. "Duo!" He smiled at her a tiered smile and greeted her back.
"Hey" He said, ever so simply.
Completely ignoring his reason for calling she fired questions at him. "Duo! It's been so long! How are you? Are you on Earth? Are you coming to visit? How's the business? How's Hilde?"
At that last question he interrupted. "Whoa! Slow down Princess. I'm fine. Yes I'm on earth, yes I'm coming to visit and yes the business is ok. I was hoping Heero was there. I need to speak to him."
Disappointed, she smiled anyway, but shook her head no. "No. He's at work right now. He should be back really soon however. Can I help in some way?"
"Um.Well." He looked reluctant to answer, unsure if he could tell her. "Can we meet?" He asked.
"Of course!" Relena answered quickly, happy to help. She hadn't seen Duo in almost a year. Last time she heard she had been up somewhere in Colony cluster L2 with his co-worker and girlfriend, Hilde.
"Ok.where?" He asked quietly. He was really hoping for Heero but this was Relena, one of his best friends.
"Um.How about here?" She suggested.
"Ok. Now sound ok?"
"Sure"
"Ok then, I'll see you in a few. Bye."
"Bye!" She waved at him before terminating the call. Duo was coming! She stood up and looked herself over. She looked dreadful. Her hair in a messy bun, her robe still on, slippers on her feet. She had to get ready! Walking as fast as she could, she made her way up the stairs.
**** 20 minutes later.
Ding Dong
"Come on in!" Relena yelled from the top of the stairs, trying to make herself look decent.
Duo, seeing the door was unlocked, walked into the house and looked around. "Hey Relena!" He yelled up the stairs.
"Duo!" Relena yelled coming into view. She went down the stairs as fast as her body would let her, and gave Duo a big hug. Duo didn't even notice her stomach at first. "It's great to see you again Duo. Heero and I were wondering why you hadn't came to visit in such a long time."
"I'm sorry, Rel'. I've just had a lot going on lately. He smiled tenderly. But Relena noticed how it didn't reach his eyes like it used to. She also noticed the way he had bags under his eyes. She saw his expression change though and he looked down at Relena's stomach. "Holy gees!" He yelled, backing away to get a better look. "Relena.you're looking so.big!"
She chuckled and playfully slapped him. "I'm 8 months in! Can you believe it?"
"Wow! I can't believe it! Is it a girl or a boy?" He asked as Relena took his hand and placed it on her stomach. He felt a kick. "Wow!"
She laughed. " Well I don't know yet. I decided to let it be a surprise. I kind of want another boy. but Heero wants a girl. I don't really care either way. I love this baby.
"That's great, Princess. I'm sure Heero is proud. By the way, how have you two love bugs been?
She smiled happily. "Very well, thank you. You should have seen the look on Heero's face when I told him I was pregnant again.He passed out for 2 days." They both laughed. Relena couldn't stop noticing the big bags under his eyes. "Duo." Her expression, becoming worried. "Why did you come? Why now? .Something is wrong."
Duo sighed. 'She always could read my mind like a book.oh well.' He nodded his head, confirming her statement.
"Well." She said, leading them both into the living room. "I want to know all about it." She pushed him into the loveseat and took a seat on the opposite side on the couch. " You can tell me anything Duo. You know that"
He was unsure of how to start at first. There was so much. "It's Hilde." He began.
"What happened?" Relena asked Duo before he could finish his first sentence. He glared at her and she quickly backed out on the question.
Duo rubbed the back of his neck, thoughtfully. "Well I guess it all started off when I went to go see Quatra about some advice, when he came in town a few months ago." He seemed to be thinking for a minute. "I went to him for advice about Hilde and my.relationship. I mean I know she's my girlfriend and partner in work and all. And I know she lives with me. Butlately we both feel we've wanted a little more. That's what I needed advice about. Knowing Quatra, he told me to tell her how I feel and well propose to be married. But that night when I went home, I found she wasn't there." He took a deep breath.
Relena had been listening, carefully to his every word, careful not to interrupt. It didn't take an idiot to know that Duo was having a hard time telling her all this. She waited patiently for him to continue.
"I didn't think anything of it until that the next day when she still hadn't returned. So I went into her room for some clues of where she went. Maybe a note or something, but no, I didn't find anything there. A few days later, I got really worried so I used my laptop to hack into the shuttle flights for the past week. But before I even had a chance to start I opened up my mail and found this note there." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, with shaky hands. The paper white paper was folded neatly and when she took it and opened it up she noticed the paper had been handled a lot. It said:
Dear Mr. Maxwell,
It has come to our attention by special sources that during the year war and eve's war, you had piloted one of the Gundanium mobile suits known as Gundams. We've become quite interested in this fact and have decided among our council that it would be best if we took possession of the 5 Gundams. Until you hand the Gundams over to us we have taken your co-worker and friend, Hilde Sheibecker, into custody. Don't think we will not do anything to collect the Gundams from all 5 of their pilots. Ms. Sheibecker will remain in good health as long as you take immediate action. Contact us at Black_Hawk1228720 at gee.nak. (This is a non-traceable address so do not bother trying to hack information through it.)
Good Day! Sincerely, Neal Cobalt Neal Cobalt Head chairman of
The Black Hawks
Duo watched Relena's face turn pale and angry, then look up at him. "Oh Duo!" She reached across to hug him. He took it, great-fully. "Why didn't you contact us sooner?" She said, letting him go and looking him the face.
"I went out to find her. I thought maybe I could catch them before they got to far from the colony. But I was wrong." He lowered his gaze and his voice cracked. "They got so far, so fast." He pointed to the letter Relena was holding. "It was only about a week ago did I read over the letter even more carefully. Relena they're going to look for all the Gundam Pilots, including Heero. You and your son are what matter to Heero the most. You have GOT to get somewhere safe. Who knows.you could be next." He looked into her eyes, worryingly and serious.
Relena's eyes widened. That's right. They might try to take her or her son. "But.but who would want to start a war. Doesn't everyone WANT peace?"
"Who knows, Rel'. I mean. Some people just can't be happy with what they have. They don't know how lucky they are. I lost Hilde to those creeps and I don't want to loose someone else. I will find Hilde. Meanwhile, you should get yourself somewhere safe and secure."
"But.but.Heero is different. He covers up his tracks very well. I mean, you were seen on TV, when they captured you. But Heero has never been seen to the public eye." She said, trying to reassure herself.
"But they said they had special resources, Rel'. I did pretty well clearing up the mess with me on TV, and erasing my name from sources. If they can find me.who knows? Do you really want to take the chance that they won't find you?"
Relena shook her head 'no,' before leaning back against the couch. She didn't want to believe it. Another war couldn't break out. If anyone got their hands on a Gundam, let alone 5 than the world and colonies would go into chaos. It was true that the 5 pilots had decided to decided to keep the Gundams around just in case. It was bad enough that they needed them during the eve war, and they had repaired their suits and sent it to remain under special care by Quatra. It was probably for the best anyway. "Duo." She started. "Who.who would do suck a thing."
Duos' eyes narrowed, slowly. He thought of the list of people responsible, he had made that very morning on his shuttle ride to earth. "Well actually, I made a list of who I think could be our man.or woman." He took out another piece of paper he had in his pocket and handed it to Relena.
It was another computer papers and it had pictures on it that he had received from his laptop. Relena opened it up and laid it flat on the table. She looked at the first picture. It was a woman with pale blue eyes and long blond hair. She couldn't be mistaken for any one else.
"Dorothy Catalonia." Duo stated, pointing to her picture. "She loves war and I'm sure she would do anything to start another one."
Relena gasped. "But Duo! I'm sure that Dorothy wouldn't do such a thing. She's made a place in this world during peace."
"I just don't know, Relena. Her past did some pretty cruel stuff to her. Maybe she wants revenge." Duo suggested, raking a hand through his bands.
"I thought she was staying with Quatra Winner up on his colony. I asked her the last time I saw her. She's made a life there. She's even helping Quatra with his business."
"I heard about that, and looked it up, but all my information told me was that Dorothy has been missing for a couple weeks, a few days before Hilde went missing. I even talked about it with Quatra. He thinks she ran away. He was pretty bummed out. Stopped eating, stopped working, stopped sleeping. He cared about her a lot I guess." Duo said sadly.
Something clicked. "Well then Duo isn't it obvious!" She exclaimed. "If Dorothy meant a lot to Quatra and this organization knew then maybe she was abducted as well!"
"That's right!" Duo said jumping up. "Oh great! That's two down!" But Quatra never told me if he received a letter."
"You told me he stopped working. Maybe he stopped checking his email to!" Relena said.
"Yah! Ok, We'll talk to him on the phone later. Let me finish up this list." Duo said, sitting back down and pointing to the next picture. It showed a young, girl that only looked like she was in her early 20's. She had red hair that was long and rich. Standing behind her was a woman who looked quite older, maybe in her early 30's. They were both smiling, pleasantly. "Mariemeia Khushrenada and Lady Une...it's been almost 10 years since the war ended. Mariemeia is a lot older, probably about 21 by now. As you may know a few months ago she became representative of Colony cluster L1. Just last month she started a new project. Rumor has it that that project is discovering new technology and more advanced weapons on Mars. However they told the ESUN that they are only colonizing on Mars for research purposes."
Relena stared at Duo in awe. "Well.where does that leave Lady Une?"
Duo answered her question to the obvious. "Well, its known around the world and colonies that Lady Une got real close to Mariemeia, even adopted her. It's also rumored that Une hasn't been seen for some time now.Probably on Mars, helping to build those new weapons."
A thought came to Relena's mind. "Hey, I thought that Lady Une was still in the Preventer's office in space?"
"I thought of that too. I asked Wufei Chang yesterday and he said that she had left her position almost 3 years ago when Mariemeia graduated high school. Sally Po took her place with Wufei as her co-worker."
Relena in-took a shaky breath. "It seems possible, I suppose." She cast her gaze to the floor. "I just wish it wasn't true." After a few seconds she asked. "Is that it?"
"One more." Duo said, pointing to the last picture. "Mason Kohl." He said, coldly.
Relena leaned forward to get a better look at the man. He seemed harmless. He had light brown hair with light, amusing blue eyes. He had very handsome features. He looked no older then she was. His smile was charming and attentive. Relena blinked. She could swear he looked familiar. Those eyes. Only one person had those eyes. "Oh my goodness!" She gasped out leaning back quickly. "That man is Heero's boss!"
Duo, knowing Heero worked at the one Preventor's office, widened his eyes. He looked at the picture himself. "What! You mean to tell me this guy works for the Preventors here on Earth?"
Relena paled and answered. "Yes! I thought he was a nice guy too. Very good with computers, I must say. He and Heero had become good friends since he took the job there. He's one of Heero's very good friends and.and.oh my!"
"Relena, you don't think this guy knows Heero is a Gundam Pilot do you? Did Heero tell him?"
But Relena didn't hear the question. Her hand was on her chest in a dumfounded and nervous gesture. She was far too surprised to say anything. Finally she spoke. "Duo why do you think it was this man?"
Duo looked at her, expectantly but shook his own question out of his head. "Well, it's just as you said; this guy's a genius with computers. He's known throughout the colonies as a Grade-A hacker. Probably just as good as good as Heero at hacking information. He's also a well-trained spy. Few people know his name. They even have a nickname for him. 'The dark hunter.' The only people who see his face and name him are his bosses and fellow hackers like myself. I guess Heero didn't recognize him."
"But do you think this man would do something so horrible? I mean he's such a nice guy! I've met him before. He and Heero have become good.well.friends. Heero tells him a lot of things and." She trailed off. Duo's jaw dropped, slightly.
"Heero must have told Kohl about his past.and about us.He must be keeping Heero around to receive more information about the others."
Relena's face darkened. "That low life son of a.."
"At least we know who he is now and can stop Heero from telling him any more information. And we can get some information about who his boss is and where Hilde and Dorothy are."
Relena took a deep breath to calm her-self. "Lets call Quatra and the others. We've got to tell them what's going on." Relena got up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the room where their Videophone was sitting on a desk. She took a seat in front of it and Duo came up and stood behind her she dialed up Quatra.
It ringed a few moments and Relena and Duo stayed silent until Quatra's face popped up on screen. "H-Hello?" He said tiredly, not even looking up face the screen.
"Quatra? Hi! It's Relena and Duo." Relena smiled sadly. He had the same look on his face that Duo had, tiered eyes with bags, pale skin and droopy face. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His face did brighten a little when he heard Relena's voice.
"Relena! Duo! I'm so glad you called." He said anxiously, sitting up and trying his best to smile and failing miserably. He turned his eyes to the man standing behind Relena. "Duo listen. Do you know that letter you got in your mail?"
"Yah." Duo said, becoming curious.
Quatra's eyes became angry in a second. "Well those creeps sent me one to, the nerve! They have Dorothy!" This confirmed Relena and Duo's suspicion. "They must have heard about our.engagement."
"You're engaged?!" Duo and Relena yelled in unison.
Quatra smiled slightly and nodded. "I asked her about a month ago. We decided not to tell anybody yet."
Duo and Relena looked at each other and then back at Quatra. Relena asked, "Quatra did you tell anybody at all?"
"Well, I did kind of tell Heero. I was on the phone with him a couple days after I asked her and I might have slipped." Seeing the look of dread on his listener's faces he added, "But I'm sure Heero would never tell. I mean.its Heero!"
Duo groaned. "I can't believe you told HEERO!"
"He seemed very exited to hear it too. It was almost out of character. Heero's really changed a lot these passed years, huh?"
"For the better? I'm not sure." Duo said, rubbing his hand against his forehead.
"I made him promise not to tell. He was the only one that knew. He must have told someone from that organization."
"Damn you, Kohl!" Relena yelled, slamming her fist into her hand.
Quatra looked at Relena strangely. "Who's this Kohl?"
Relena sighed. "Quatra, there's something we have to tell you." Relena said, trying to be calm. She knew little about what was going on.but whatever was going on, it just got a whole lot more dangerous.