"I have no choice but to make -"

"- The people you love suffer. You shouldn't have been a spy, Midii. You just turned sixteen. Why don't you celebrate?"

Quatre is one person you cannot argue with. When he comes up with an idea, he finishes it, and often with style. Always with style, Midii thought to herself as she looked deep into the darkness of her closet.

When she arrived, she was battered and broken. Now she lived with Quatre, her legal guardian since her parent's death (even though when he was still young, it was his parents took care of her). He fed her, clothed her, nursed her back to health and gave her much-needed love. Most of all, he watched over Trowa for her during the wars. That was the greatest thing he did for her, and one day she knew she'd have to repay him for his loyalty and generosity.

Tonight was Midii's sixteenth birthday celebration. Many people were invited, mostly people she knew not of, and they were starting to arrive. They were dressed in their best dresses and suits, lingering around the doorway, waiting patiently for Quatre to open the door at exactly eight pm.

Midii stared down at the beautiful green gown laid out on her bed. Deep emerald greens and delicate black stitching filled her gaze, and reminded her of a certain banged boy with the same shade eyes...

The teen stepped into the dress, pulling up the bodice and zipping up the back. She wondered how Quatre had gotten this dress on such short notice, and how it fit her so perfectly. Smoothing out the folds of her skirt, another thought came to her - how she would fit in if Quatre wasn't there to usher her around.

She moved to the small dresser mirror, being careful to apply just enough make-up and lipstick. Looking beautiful may not have been her primary objective, but after making a quick sweep on her eyelid with a deep green eye shadow and applied dark red lipstick, she couldn't help but look beautiful.

Very beautiful.

~~***~~

Quatre met Midii at the top of his large staircase. He embraced her in a lengthy hug and gave her a quick and polite kiss on the cheek.

"You are very beautiful this evening."

"And you are handsome as ever," she told him quietly.

His eyes met hers. "You wait here. I have something for you."

Quatre went back to the living quarters of the house. Midii leaned against one of the stone pillars at the top of the staircase, watching all the people dancing to beautiful waltzes.

A low voice spoke from behind the blonde girl, reminding her of a memory that seemed more like a dream than reality.

"Hey there, Belle. Where's your Beast?"

"Who are you?" Midii asked quietly. "Where are you hiding?"

"Don't you remember? I'm your guardian angel." Duo stepped out of the shadows and walked around the blonde teen.

"I remember you," she answered carefully, making sure no one would hear their conversation. "You...you saved me from the dungeon," she said slowly, her memory of the event replaying through her mind.

"Yeah. I've been keepin' an eye on you-" He stopped suddenly and stared at the floor. To Midii's horror, Quatre walked right through him, not acknowledging Duo's presence.

When he saw the horror spread across her face, the slack-jawed look, Quatre took one of her hands in his and looked around. "Midii, what's wrong? What is it?" Looking into her eyes, he said, "Tell me."

All the loose threads suddenly connected in her mind now. Duo Maxwell was dead; he was a spirit that helped those in need. He helped her when she needed him most. And now he held the sacred title of 'Guardian Angel'.

It was no wonder why Heero Yuy, the no B.S. pilot of Wing Zero was in a daze all the time. Duo, his well-kept-secret lover, was gone, and all he had left was Quatre to help him emotionally. Quatre must have kept him sane...

She wasn't informed by Hugo that he was-

Hugo?

No answer.

Hugo! Answer me!

Still no answer.

It came to here then, as she looked deep into the blonde man's deep aqua eyes. Hugo had not been with her since her arrival in the mansion, and it was only now that she realized she hadn't needed it since her mission. Heero must have taken it to use for his own reasons. But she wouldn't ask any questions. Not yet.

Stepping away from Quatre, she peered over the edge of the balcony. Her gaze stopped, staring directly at a man wearing a white dress shirt and black dress pants. His black hair was swept back in a severe ponytail, and he was leaning, pretending to be disinterested, against the wall with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. Their eyes met and held.

Anger rose in Midii. Quatre must have noticed this, because he pulled her arms to her sides and held her against the staircase. His mouth whispered against her ear.

"Who is it?" This was the voice of a true spy, one who had done this kind of work before. It sounded nothing like the protective, big-brother type Quatre she thought she knew. This was the man who had once piloted Sandrock, the man who had killed thousands upon thousands of people.

"Chang, Wufei." She felt Quatre stiffen.

"He is a fellow pilot. What is wrong about him?"

Her eyes narrowed at the man below her, and her hatred for him grew.

"He is the one that imprisoned me."

~~***~~

Wufei looked up at the staircase, where a blonde girl stood, leaning over the edge. There was no doubt, he knew when their eyes locked, that she was the one he was sent to kill.

Taking a long drag off his cigarette, he put it out in his small flask of champagne. Friend of Quatre's or not, he had to do what had to be done. This girl - only sixteen! - was a spy to OZ and he couldn't, under any circumstances, let her get away.

He disposed of his drink on one of the waiter's trays and headed towards the stairs.

He didn't notice the emerald eyes behind him that knew his plan.

~~***~~

Midii's eyes grew large as Wufei marched up the marble staircase, taking two and three steps at a time. In an unusual act to protect herself, she hid behind Quatre, forgetting that she had the equivalent training and abilities as the man coming after her. But her instincts kicked in, and the only man she thought of was Quatre, who had spent his life protecting her and hiding her behind the shadows.

Quatre's discouraged frown stopped Wufei from going past him.

"I'm here for the girl," he said, pointing above the point of Quatre's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you have her. There are some things that I will not allow in my house, as you should know, Chang Wufei. So you will wait until later…"

Midii's eyes did not hide her shock at the hanging statement. Quatre would feed her to those wolves? What was he doing? She wasn't a sacrifice!

"…Until we can find a way to settle this matter." The Arabian's nod was quick, clean, and decisive. Wufei was not going to be able to kill Midii, no matter how much his authority told him to. And if he did put up a fight, well, after him there was always Heero who would protect this girl.

Wufei's eyes gleamed in the darkness. "There is no doubt that I will arrive at a later date, be sure of that." But his body language told differently. As he shuffled from foot to foot, Quatre noted as not normal behavior for Wufei at any time, he knew he was bugged. Someone was listening in, and he had to let Quatre know one way or the other. One thing was for certain: he wasn't going to take Midii, no matter how much he had wanted to.

Trowa was saying the same thing to himself as he watched, coming up the stairs slowly as Wufei walked down, leaving the premises. His eyes landed on the two and he noticed their behaviors; Midii's frightened yet angry eyes, and Quatre's soothing words, with soft hugs he made her feel more at ease.

'So that's how you love a woman…'