AN: yay user user 3 14 2001-10-24T18:12:00Z 2001-10-24T18:26:00Z 4 1864 10626 rucs 88 21 13049 9.2720

AN: yay! Finally finished this chapter… it's nice and long… to make up for the delay… so we're gonna have more fun w/wuffie (muahahaha)..  Not much Heero or Relena interaction or character development…but some plot development (finally) so enjoy.. I hope…thanx!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters…or the songs… or anything at all… please feed the poor college student… w/reviews of course!

So Close... And Yet So Far Part Seven: Evasive Action The mobile suits stood like a row of stone cold graves…

"Maxwell!"

"What?! Geez, if you're gonna scream, can you not stand right next to me?" Duo replied, sticking a finger in his ear.

"We are not writing a novel here.  There's no need for any fancy prose."

"You think it's fancy?  Aww, Wuffie, I'm so flattered."  He said with mock bashfulness.

"Maxwell," Wufei warned.

"I think we need a break.  Hey, the press conference is starting in half an hour.  Why don't we check it out?"

"We have to finish this report first.  And if you would stop getting so distracted, we could have been finished by now."

"Oh c'mon Wu, this report will still be here when we come back.  Can't we just take a little teensy-weensy break?"  He whined, giving Wufei big puppy-dog eyes.

"You're such an idiot, Maxwell," Wufei replied, rolling his eyes.  He walked towards the door.

"I know, isn't it great?" Duo grinned. "Hey, where're you goin'?"

"Where do you think, baka? The press conference." Wufei replied, stopping halfway through the door to shoot an exasperated glare at Duo.

"Wait for me!" Duo scampered to the door. "You weren't really going to leave without me, were you?"

"Max—oof!" he grunted, as he collided with something warm and soft. "Sally!"

"Why is it that we can never meet without our bodies colliding?" Sally said with an amused look on her face.

"Animal magnetism?" Duo chirped in from behind Wufei.  Sally chuckled while Wufei gave Duo another warning 'Maxwell'.

"So what are you guys doing?" Sally inquired.

"We're gonna go watch Quatre get eaten alive by all those reporters."

"Oh, the press conference? I was just on my there too."

"So you finally finished that report for Lady Une?" came Wufei's surprised question. Sally's amused smile was quickly replaced by a look that reminded Duo of a six-year-old caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Um…almost?" She offered weakly.  Duo laughed aloud.

"See? Even Sally knows when to take a break!"

"Let's just go," muttered Wufei.

"Can we get a ride with you, Duo?" Sally asked.

"Sure," Duo replied, a bit surprised, "but don't either of you have your own car?"

"Well, it's still raining, so Wufei can't take his motorcycle. And my car got all wet from the inside yesterday because of the rain so it smells really bad now. I'd rather not drive it if I don't have to." She explained. 

"Hey, no problemo, I've got more than enough room. That's what SUV's are for," he grinned. "For good times, and bad times…" he sang, "that's what SUV's are for!" Wufei smacked his own forehead in exasperation.

"Can we just get going?"  They hopped into Duo's black (A.N.: as if it could be any other color) SUV, Sally in the front and Wufei in the back. "I'd rather not watch Maxwell drive," he explained to Sally when she offered to switch places.  She just shook her head with a wry smile and snapped on her seatbelt.  Finally, as they pulled out of the parking garage, Duo had a sudden realization.

"Wasn't raining this morning?"

"Yeah," Sally replied quizzically.

"So, how did Wufei get to work this morning?"

Sally and Wufei's eyes met in sudden apprehension as they realized they were caught.

***************************

"We're never gonna get a seat," a petite blonde complained to her tall companion.

"Of course we are.  Just trust me," the man replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"Can't you even pretend to hurry?"

"Hey, I'm walking as fast as I can. Oh! Sorry." The man was interrupted as someone bumped into him. "See? Look what you made me do. Just calm down."

"This is the one chance I get to see Quatre Winner. Indulge me."

"I'll never understand your infatuation with this guy.  He's a pacifist!  I mean I can understand a crush on a vidstar, but this guy's a politician."  She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.  It was the guy they had bumped into.

"Excuse me, you dropped this back there."  He presented a wallet to the man, who accepted it with surprise. Smack! The girl whacked her companion in the arm.

"You idiot! Some good your VSC press pass would do if you lost your wallet.  Thank goodness for good Samaritans, even if he did have weird hair." The blonde prattled on as she and her companion hurried to the press conference.

Trowa fingered the access key card in his pocket with amusement.  Too easy.

***********************************

"Yes, I understand.  Thank you, Lady Une. I will." The vid-phone flickered off and Quatre slumped in his seat.  His elbows on his knees, he cradled his head in his hands.  I can do this.  I have to do this. For the good of the people. To maintain peace. No, I have to do this for Relena.  A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.  He opened the door and was startled by the sight of Relena standing there with gentle smile on her face. "Wha--?"

"Quatre! Are you all right?" Dorothy?  He shook his head to clear his eyes.  The stress was really getting to him.  How could he think Dorothy was Relena?  When he looked again he realized how much Dorothy's expression actually resembled Relena's.  She was a different person now.  The cool, calculating glare and sly smirk were no longer etched into her face.  Instead, her pale blue eyes were filled with worry as her mouth curved softly in a slight frown. It was the same way Relena looked every time she watched peace teeter on the razor's edge of war.  "Are you ready to go?" Dorothy inquired, her concern still evident in the tone of her voice.

"Yes, Dorothy. Thank you." He walked over to her and offered his arm to her. "Shall we?"  She looked a little startled at first, but then accepted the proffered arm.

To say the press was surprised to see the two of them walk into the conference room together would be an understatement.  Cameras flashed furiously, accompanied by a barrage of questions.  It seemed, however, that everyone was asking the same thing. "Mr. Winner! Are you having an affair with Dorothy Catalonia?" Quatre could feel Dorothy tense beside him and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.  They made eye contact upon reaching the podium and Dorothy backed away towards the wall. Quatre pulled out his note cards, set them atop the lectern, and cleared his throat loudly to signal the beginning of his speech.  All sounds ceased, and Quatre had the eerie feeling of being in a vacuum.  The journalists were rapt with attention; pencils ready to take down every word he was about to say.

"Citizens of the Earth Sphere, ladies and gentleman of the press, I stand before you now as a representative of one who has given us everything we cherish in our lives today.  Relena Peacecraft gave us hope and happiness.  She gave us peace." He paused. "However, it is for that very reason that she is not here today.  Yesterday, a concentrated group of terrorists bombed the ESUN Delegation Conference in an effort to assassinate the Vice-Foreign Minister and, in turn, destroy peace.  All we can do is hope and pray that they have not succeeded in their first objective.  We have some reason to believe that the Minister is still alive underneath the rubble, perhaps in an air pocket.  The workers who you see across the street are trying their hardest to rescue our beloved Princess.  However, as of early this morning, the work has been halted.  Our experts have told us that it is too risky to continue digging in this rain as we may trigger a mudslide.  As long as there is some hope that Ms. Peacecraft is alive, we cannot compromise her safety." He took a deep breath before continuing, Relena please lend me your strength. "Now, although we have that hope, we must be realistic.  We cannot expect her to suddenly rise out of the ruins and bring peace back to us.  Now is the time that we must act upon the Minister's words.  We are the only ones who can prevent these terrorists from accomplishing their goal.  We are the only ones who can save peace now.  They have shaken us to our very core by hurting the one we all love.  But we cannot let them frighten us into another war.  We will fight for our peace.  Not with arms or mobile suits, but with our will, with our determination.  We cannot let everything we have suffered for collapse because of our weaknesses.  We must build on this tragedy to make a better future for all our generations to come. Now is the time to come together, to make our Princess of Peace proud. We will do this for Relena." He bowed his head, trying to control the lump rising in his throat.  He swallowed hard and continued, "Thank you, I will take questions now."

*********************************

An elegant hand brushed the vid-screen and traced the image of Quatre Winner with soft fingertips.  A lone tear traveled down Relena's pale cheek.

"Thank you, Quatre."

****************************************

Heero crawled through the air vents, cursing his growth spurt.  This type of infiltration seemed so much easier a few years ago.  He could hear a myriad of voices outside and tried to distinguish his location by picturing the blueprints of the building, which he had downloaded only moments ago.  He needed to find the Registrar.

Trowa, on the other hand, was wandering around the multi-story Headquarters of the VSC (Veteran Soldiers' Coalition), looking for a vid-screen to watch Quatre's speech on.  Strangely enough, he couldn't find one.  This was a highly publicized press conference.  Wasn't anybody interested? His questions were somewhat answered when he came upon the giant auditorium.  The room was packed.  It seemed as though the entire population of the building had stuffed itself in to the rows of seats.  At the podium on the stage, a well-dressed, heavy-set man was giving a speech.  Trowa walked into the room, intrigued, and leaned against the rear wall to listen.

"In the face of this great tragedy, we must come together and defend our way of life.  It is you, the brave soldiers who have fought a war for peace once before, who will be asked to do it once again.  My only question is, do you have the strength to do it?  Do you have the conviction?"

Trowa furrowed his brow. "Who is he?" he asked no one.  'No one' replied.

"Senator Tausend." Heero shifted uncomfortably in his cramped position. That's why he looks so familiar, Trowa thought to himself. The news this morning.  "Outside, half an hour," Heero's hushed monotone voice interrupted his train of thought.

Trowa replied with a 'hn', and stepped away from the vent.  Heero continued his trek.  He finally reached the Registrar's office and pried open the flimsy grate. Surveying the area quickly, he climbed out of his hiding place.  When he finally had his feet on the ground, he brushed off the cobwebs and dust bunnies that were clinging to him, with disgust. He seriously contemplated another way out before making his way to the main computer.  He was somewhat surprised at the emptiness of the office, but realized that the occupants were mostly likely down the hall at the auditorium.  He downloaded the hard disk and walked back to the air duct, hesitatingly.  Suddenly, he picked the grate up off the floor and gently put it back into place.  Then he walked over to the window and climbed out.  It was only two flights up, 10-15 meters.  He jumped gracefully off the ledge and landed with the agility of a cat.

"Show off," Trowa's voice came from behind him.

"You would have done the same thing."  The corner of Trowa's mouth curved slightly, in what only Heero could detect as a sheepish smile.

"Apparently, Senator Tausend comes to give speeches here every month.  He also accepts quite a bit of campaign donations from the VSC."

"Not all that suspicious, considering Relena helped form the organization and gave the opening speech on the founding day." Trowa raised an eyebrow.

"So what are your ideas?"

"We need more evidence."

"Which you've already obtained I gather."

"Hn."  The two taciturn pilots made their way back to Preventer Headquarters without another word spoken between them.

Preview for Part 8: Red-Handed:

Heero climbed up the stairs hurriedly.  He couldn't fight the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  Something was not quite right. He could sense it, and his instincts were never wrong. His hand clutched the doorknob with foreboding dread, and he pushed the door open.

"Relena?"

The room was empty.

AN: Muahahahaha!! I am evil! I admit it… :-Þ