By: Shadow Chaser
Author's Notes:
This is based off of my After War Quadrilogy and takes place roughly seven years before the events of "Price of Peace". You don't have to have read any of the After War stuff before reading this – it can be a stand-alone fic. Neo is 8 years old, Dumas is 2 and Jade hasn't been born yet. This is mostly Quatre-centric with a few of the Gundam pilots thrown in. The other G-pilots' kids aren't really going to play major roles in this fic; in fact they might just only have a passing mention or so.
Re-reading Blind Target and my own little muses' wicked senses of humor inspired this fic. It might not necessarily follow my After War stuff, but its part of After War because of the various characters mentioned. Gundam Wing and all associated characters do not belong to me; they belong to VizComics, Bandai, Hajime Yatate, and anyone else I forgot to mention.
Story:
Part 1
Started: 12/30/03. Completed: 12/31/03.
July 16, AC 217 – 12:32 p.m.The explosion tore through the entire building complex, burning anything that stood in its path. Searing, red-hot flames clawed at the building, consuming it, choking those still barely alive inside with its black fumes.
The pitiful screams of the injured and dying were lost to the roar of the flames as those who were still alive desperately tried to crawl their way out, their way to freedom, their way to save their own decrepit, burnt bodies. The building that had been housing the annual colony representative meeting on the main L4 colony had gone up in flames.
Fire trucks raced to the scene, but even as they began to extinguish the fire, all who had witnessed the event knew that there was a remote chance of anyone who hadn't gotten out to have survived the building's initial bombing and eventual collapsing.
A huge crowd had gathered behind police barricade, some in the crowd crying, others just numb with shock. Even the police officers, military police, and fire fighters were astonished at the scene before them, but they tried to hold their astonishment in by going about their professional business and attended to the wounded that had managed to get out, giving them over to paramedics who placed some of the more severely injured ones in ambulances and driving them away to area hospitals.
News crews were all over the scene, trying to get access and barraging everyone with questions. It wasn't a matter of political diplomacy for them anymore, even they were affected as their own fellow crewmembers and team members were caught in that explosion. It was out of respect that they tried to get as many interviews as possible and to help the public piece together what had happened and what had gone wrong.
Their main focus was why and how did a bomb of that magnitude get inside the building that was supposed to be heavily guarded and had exclusive access. Was it betrayal by someone on the inside? But how could it, if that scenario was so?
Their other focus was the survivors that had gotten out. So far it was only various security guards closest to the entrance and on the lower levels and just maybe one or two colony representatives identified so far.
Many feared that the rest were dead…and among the dead, L4's own representative and leader, Quatre Raberba Winner.
* * *
1 week ago…July 9, AC 217
"As the head of the Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation, I still do not understand why won't you let funds from your company be allotted to others? Why hold everything, Mr. Winner?" Senator Daemon Hallsfield asked, tapping his fingers together as he adopted a worn, tired look on his face.
Quatre stood at the head of the podium in the spacious room the committee had booked in Geneva, headquarters of the United Earth Sphere. He shook his head at Hallsfield's words, knowing the man was positively lying through his teeth, though the others on the committee were probably oblivious to it. It was the same old battle he had been fighting for the last two decades.
The same battle he had been fighting since he took control of his father's company following the end of the war in AC 195. Everyone wanted a share of the company and though he would be willing to share the wealth and profit, as he had no need for the money, he knew that those who leapt at the chance were conniving bastards.
Those that wanted a piece of the Winner Corporation wanted to raise the tariffs on mineral shipments, making it a precious commodity to the colonies who needed the minerals to repair and to create some small mobile suits to aid in their internal police forces. It wasn't also the tariffs that concerned Quatre. It was the fact that they were all power-hungry and Winner Corporation was the sole company in the business of extracting raw material because no one wanted to compete with them – after all, he had set reasonable prices and even gave away some mineral shipments for free, much to the anger of the Committee though.
Oh there had been attempts to usurp Winner control on mining operations, but none of the buyers wanted the higher prices or even lowered ones because they knew of the quality that Quatre pride his company to give to customers. His buyers knew that they were getting a reasonable price and amount, even a bit of extra thrown in if they asked him and supplied him with a reasonable reason for the extra.
This was just another day in the political arena for him, fielding Hallsfield's attempts to take control of his own company. It was tiring and sad really, Quatre reflected, Hallsfield's attempts in the last two decades must account for something – but then again, he knew that the good Senator would probably never give up until he was ousted from his office (which probably wasn't going to be until the sun exploded because of his position in the L1 Cluster), and he admired the Senator for his perseverance – it reminded him of himself in an odd way.
"You don't understand, Senator," Quatre started, placing his hands on the sides of the podium, "the people of the Colonies want reasonable prices. What you're proposing and what this committee is proposing is an eventual increase. Yes, it starts out small and the people will probably not notice, but over the projected period of time, the finances to purchase minerals will be a strain on them."
As the head of the Winner Corporation, he was required to attend a few of the committee's meetings as this was where his shipments were being checked and reported, a cheques and balances type of thing. He briefly wondered if Duo faced the same thing, his comrade the leader of the scavenger group Sweepers. Pushing the thought of Duo out of his mind, Quatre forced himself to focus – he hadn't seen any of the other pilots for at least two years, save for Christmas cards, there would be time to maybe call a few later, after this meeting was over.
"But we've projected that the colonies will profit in the near future, so to them, these minimal," Hallsfield stressed the word 'minimal', "increases in the prices would probably mean nothing at all."
"But you don't know that," Quatre pointed out, "you've only based your calculations on certain colonies, like L1. What about those of L3? They've been the poorest colony cluster and yet none of the other committees have tried to help them. Shouldn't we be the first?" He added an unmentioned, 'shouldn't we have helped them long ago?'
"Are you implying something about L1?" Hallsfield narrowed his eyes. All ready in his mid-forties, he was still ruggedly handsome and youngish looking. Quatre knew Hallsfield's background – he had originally signed up to join OZ and Romefeller in the confusing war fought in AC 195, but then transferred to the political division and began to advocate for his colony cluster on how they should just be focusing on themselves and not be bothered with war. However, Hallsfield did not condone White Fang's actions…
"I am not implying anything at all," Quatre replied smoothly, trying to ease the tension that had grown in the room. He knew the stakes of this political cat and mouse game. After all, this committee did have the power to restrict him, but only by a majority vote – and while Hallsfield was the head of this committee, there were a few allies on Quatre's side, enough so that whenever Hallsfield mentioned anything about having Quatre sell a part of his company to him, there would be some vocal opposition.
"All I am saying is that I do not agree with this proposal of yours. If however, there is a new resolution to your proposal, I would be interested in looking at it. Now if you will excuse me, I must be getting back to L4," he bowed his head slightly in apology and stepped down from the podium.
Once the door closed behind him to the committee room, Quatre heaved a sigh of relief. Hallsfield's attacks to insert himself into Winner Corp. were getting sneakier. He knew that he would have to watch the Senator carefully, but at least he had the aid and ear of President Kushrenada and Foreign Minister Peacecraft-Yuy.
A smile briefly touched his lips as he thought about Mariemaia and Relena. The two were a force to be reckoned with in the Senate hall. Their ideals of peace had been made into reality and now they were fighting with words, not weapons, to keep it. Quatre was so glad…
But the odd thing was that he rarely saw Heero, if at all. He figured Heero would be by his wife's side, but he knew that it wasn't to be expected. He still saw pain in Relena's eyes, even three years since the death of her eldest son. They all had been shocked…but it seemed both Heero and Relena took it the hardest and it looked like Anihiko Yuy's death drove them apart for a while. Well, each has to grieve in their own way…he thought mostly to himself as he made his way into the hanger bay, nodding a brief greeting to one of his bodyguards.
When it wasn't Rashid or any of the Maganacs keeping an eye on him, he had his own bodyguard – something frivolous in his opinion, but he knew that everyone else would object if he didn't have bodyguards to protect him. It was true in a way…he had too many attempts on his life since inheriting his father's company…it was just that he now had to be confined to the public eye and rarely got a chance at his private one.
At least his wife understood…and he hoped his children too. His oldest, Cerelia, didn't really understand, but he hoped that she would when she matured. He hadn't want his children to grow up distant to their father, much like he was to his, but it was inevitable…
Perhaps he would take a few weeks off and spend some time with his children and wife. It would be a good thing…
"Are you ready to depart, sir?" the pilot called from the front and Quatre strapped himself into one of the many seats in his private jet.
"Yes. I want to go home," he replied. Home was where his wife, daughter, and baby son was.
* * *
Daemon Hallsfield curled a fist up in anger and frustration. Damn Quatre Winner! Damn him and his whole family! Damn everything that he stood for! Damn his kindness and generosity! There was profit to be made in mining and shipping materials to the Colonies and Earth and what does that fool do? Go and give stuff for free!
Of course it was Winner's philanthropic nature to do so, but that could only get you so far, Hallsfield reasoned to himself, but that damn fool didn't know when to see profit and when not to. He was just to full of himself and his high and mighty ideals of everlasting peace.
Peace…ha! Winner was a fool if he could think to uphold Peacecraft's ideals of pacifism and peace. It was widely known that Winner was the Gundam pilot of the L4 cluster, but it was also kept hush-hush, something that wasn't discussed. Even if someone mentioned it in the Senate, they would all just regard Winner's contributions to end the war with his Gundam as brave and heroic.
There was no way for Hallsfield to manipulate that piece of information to his advantage, but that sure as hell didn't tell him to give up on trying. He just needed some scenario…something…
He wanted Winner Corporation to be in his grasp, for him to manipulate. That was how the political arena worked. Those who were rich deserved to be in power and those who were weak fools who gave away money deserved to be crushed. It was the same everywhere. The upper-middle class always complained about taxes, but did they complain about the benefits they got from having so much money? No.
Those who gave away money were just setting themselves up for doom – for a penniless venture when they died. No, if he could have Winner Corp. under his thumb, it would elevate him to power, perhaps maybe even contend with Mariemaia in the next election or maybe the election after that – he would have to see.
But for now, his problem was Winner.
If he could somehow deflect or maybe even get rid of the annoyance…
An idea began to form quickly in his head…yes…it would be perfect. With Winner out of the way there was no one that would be able to oppose his decision to take over Winner Corp. Even with Winner's sisters residing, they were only guardians and Winner did not name an heir to his corporation yet…so…it would be natural for the Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation to take it over – to be its new guardian.
It was perfect.
It was explosive.
It was a sure way to take out Quatre Winner without any strings attached to him and for him to waltz right in.
* * *
July 10, AC 217…
Quatre awoke to the smell of freshly brewed tea, his favorite, Earl Grey, and opened his eyes to see the artificial sunlight of his colony beaming through the curtains of the room he shared with his wife. There was no warm body next to him and he knew that Ione had woken up before him and probably made the tea. He sighed before sitting up and stretching. He had gotten back late last night and found Ione waiting for him, looking a bit tired after a long day's work.
When she married him, she had taken it upon herself as both a Maganac and his wife to keep the day-to-day running of the company when he was away on trips and so forth. She had a keen mind and a know-how of dealing with the minor political trivia that always arose – she was also his press secretary and was very effective at her job even though he didn't want her involved that much. He didn't want her to have the stress he always had, but she was just as stubborn as he was and wouldn't take no for an answer.
That was what he loved about her…she was his bright sunshine and his love and it helped that the two of them had a mental connection to each other, a bond of sorts. He would know how she felt and she would too if he let her. He had learned long ago to shield his own emotions and feels and to learn how to block painful emotions when something drastic happened. He had experienced too much emotional pain from the wars long ago to not build a defense to it.
Getting up, he wrapped a grey robe around him and slipped on his slippers before walking out of their bedroom. It was his day-off today and he wanted to enjoy it. Let Iria and the rest of his sisters run the company for today…he just wanted to spend time with his children and wife.
"Good morning," Ione said without turning around, cooking what looked like scrambled eggs.
"Good morning," he replied, going over to her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before stepping towards the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He inhaled the fresh scent of the real brewed tealeaves that made up the specific blend and sipped it. He didn't really like bagged teas nor like putting anything in them…it seemed to pollute the pureness of the tea. The thought reminded him of Wufei who also drank tea without any additives or anything…
"Did Neo go off to school already?" he asked, and noted the frown on Ione's face at their daughter's nickname that he had given her.
"She's not Neo, Quatre, she's Cerelia…I know you regard her as the first of the Winners not born in a test-tube, but…" Ione shook her head and sighed, "I give up…you're too stubborn for your own good."
Quatre smiled at her before kneeling down next to their 2-year-old son, Dumas, who was gripping his spoon and attempting to whack it down into his mushy breakfast that was greenish. He suspected that it had to be one of those protein things that Ione was into about feeding little children and kind of felt sorry…he heard that those things tasted terrible and apparently, Dumas was thinking the same thing.
"Yuck," Dumas said, waving his spoon around.
"Now, now," Quatre held onto his son's flailing hand, steadying it, "you have to eat it, okay?"
"No," Dumas was already very intelligent for a baby his age, Quatre knew that, but still even with fairly advanced vocabulary for a baby, he still limited his words to one-word sentences and was vehement about them.
"See…Daddy will eat one then you eat one, okay?" he took the spoon from Dumas's hand and scooped a little of the green mush before eating it.
Immediately he regretted it as he tried to keep his face passive and tried to smile through the awful grimace he knew that his face was trying to make, contrary to what his mind was trying to make it do. It tasted horrible! He swallowed a bit painfully and felt his eyes water a bit at his attempt to keep a straight face. "See…" he choked out, "it's good…okay?"
"No," Dumas shook his head, "no good. Da face…"
Quatre couldn't take it any longer, he stuck the spoon into the mush and ran for the bathroom where he spit out the contents he couldn't swallow. Gagging slightly he grabbed a cup and filled it with water. He drained its contents and sloshed it around for a few seconds before spitting it back into the sink. Ugh…how in the world…he wiped his mouth and winced slightly at the remnant bitter taste of the protein baby food Ione had put out…
Gargling a few more times, he finally step back out into the kitchen-dining room of their house, very large house, a part of him amended, and frowned as he saw his wife snickering into the back of her hand while his son was lifting various globs of the green stuff and sniffing at it.
"Ha ha," Quatre let the smile that had been tugging at the corners of his mouth come into full bloom, "very funny Ione."
"Apparently, it's edible to babies, but not to you," Ione pointed to their son who had taken a bite of the green stuff and seemed to be enjoying it.
Quatre only rolled his eyes in exasperation.
* * *
July 11, AC 217…
"Has the shipment been confirmed?"
"Yes. Here's the payment."
"Do you know how big of a dent this will be?"
"Of course. That's why I ordered it."
"So, what's it for?"
"Getting rid of a very pesky rat."
"I hope to God that you know what you're doing."
"Don't worry, I'm trained. I know what I'll be doing. I'll be doing someone a great favor by getting rid of their pesky rat."
* * *
Major Sally Po resisted the urge to spin her seat around like a little kid on the Preventer shuttle she was piloting. She hated solo missions…they would always bore her to death at times. But it was the life she chose since she rejected promotion after promotion…she didn't want a desk job, hell no, she wanted to fly from one colony to another, enforcing the peace.
She wished Wufei was here…he at least could keep her company. Over the years since they worked together on various Preventer missions, she had come to enjoy his company and became good friends with him. They had shared stories of their past lives and even though there was nothing romantic between them, she considered him a confidant and a dear, close friend. He had a way of making her see different perspectives and she had even found out the scholarly side of him.
She knew that he was capable of following Relena's ideal peace, but even so, she did not expect him to be as knowledgeable as Quatre or Relena in the ideals of peace. He just didn't seem the type; after all, he was always talking about war and justice…
She had taken this solo mission because Wufei was busy helping Trowa out in the Space Force station. The mission consisted of her investigating into the rumors of perhaps a planned terrorist attack somewhere in the colonies within the next few days. Most of the time they were just rumors stirred up by someone who wanted to see Preventer jump, but even so, they always took the rumors seriously because who knew what might happen. She did not want a repeat of the Black Wing Incident that claimed the life of Relena's eldest son three years ago.
Now she was headed back to the headquarters of Preventer, located in Nairobi Base in Africa. She had already gone over the results of what she could find and though there was the possibility of a terrorist attack, they still did not know where. Her sources pointed to probably L3, L4, or L1 where discussions were going to be taking place within the week that contained some of the most influential political leaders.
They could've sent out Preventer guards to keep and eye on the locations but that would also alert the people who were planning to attack that they were on to them. No…they had to find who was going to start the fire and pinpoint the position so the fire could be extinguished quickly without any hassle or fear of the fire starter running underground.
She hoped that they would be able to solve this mystery before someone got hurt.
* * *
July 15, AC 217…
Captain Trowa Barton stared at the readout he was given along with two other people in the small situation room; one of many, on the Space Force's recently constructed station. Preventers had analyzed the data collected over the last four days and came up with this solution – now it was for him, Heero, and Wufei to figure out the last pieces of the puzzle.
Someone really wanted to commit a terrorist attack, that was no doubt, but on who and where? That was the question. There were so many important delegates in each of the places mentioned in the readout. L1, L3, and L4. So many possibilities…that Trowa didn't rule out a simultaneous attack on all three places – but even that would be near impossible to pull off as resources were scarce.
So which Colony Cluster was it?
"We know that Hallsfield is in L1 along with Zechs and Takehashi and other delegates. Relena is in L3 discussing the rebuilding process along with Rhanquist, Jung, and Peterson. Quatre's at L4 with some of the delegates of Hallsfield's committee to discuss shipment. Supposedly Adrien and Onasi are also going to be there, but their camps haven't said anything," Wufei pointed to the colony clusters on a flat board that showed the various colony clusters at their LaGrange points relative to Earth.
"Relena could be the primary target," Trowa nodded and glanced at Heero who was staring at the board with narrowed eyes. "Heero?"
"It would seem that way," Heero agreed, "but, L3's been in the media spotlight since the end of Mariemaia's revolution. They're trying to build up their reputation and it would be feasible for someone to ruin L3's reputation, but I don't think Relena's the target."
"How?" Sally who was standing on the opposite end of the table asked, confused.
"Assassinating Relena at this time and point where she and Mariemaia have the ears of everyone is not the best course of action. It would throw everyone into chaos and I think whoever is planning this doesn't want chaos. If the person planning this wanted Relena out of the way, they would do it discreetly and without fuss. We know that explosives are the main weapons here. Plus Relena would have the most media coverage on her since she's advocating L3's rebuilding process and helping the citizens there," Trowa explained to Sally.
"Good point…" Sally quieted and stared, "so that leaves us L1 and L4."
"Both Quatre and Hallsfield have been the target of many assassinations over the past two decades," Wufei said blandly and Trowa frowned at him. He didn't like the fact that his dearest friend was the target so much…and it pained him to see that each time Quatre escaped each assassination attempt that there would be another coming after him. It wasn't that he didn't want to see him dead, hell no, it was that it dug into him that even with Preventer and Space Force there to protect everyone, there was always someone that managed to get close enough to Quatre to attempt to kill him.
"They would most likely target the Senator and Quatre for different reasons. Hallsfield controls the most powerful committee in the Senate and Quatre controls Winner Corporation. Each wield a lot of power," Heero said, crossing his arms across his Preventers uniform, mashing his Commander rank bar against the folds of his arm.
"So that leaves us back at square one…who? Hallsfield or Quatre?" Sally asked, her voice tinged with frustration.
Silence reigned in the small situation room, save for the occasional beep of a console before Heero spoke up.
"Quatre."
Trowa briefly closed his eyes in response to Heero's guess. He didn't know for what reason and knew that Heero would explain it in due time, but somehow he knew that it would be Quatre who would be targeted this time around. He didn't want it to happen…but since they knew about it, there was time to warn him and perhaps prevent disaster.
"What makes you say that?" Sally asked.
"You don't know Hallsfield that well, but he is very cunning. Its common knowledge that Hallsfield resents Winner Corporation's monopoly on mineral shipments, and so if Quatre were to be attacked and killed, it would throw Winner Corporation into his committee's hands since Quatre has not declared an heir. However, I do not believe that Hallsfield's the one planning this attack. He's a man with words like Relena, it has to be an outside source with the same goals – probably a remnant group," Heero explained, "plus, Quatre is a Gundam pilot and there are few that resent his position."
"So…it's settled?" Sally asked.
"Yes," Wufei replied. "We warn him."
Trowa pressed a few buttons on the side of the board and patched a call through to Quatre's personal communicator. He waited a few seconds before his answering message came up. When it allowed him to leave a message he said, "Quatre, it's Trowa. You've been targeted – watch yourself."
Pressing another button to end the transmission he looked up and nodded to Heero and Wufei. Heero tilted his head slightly before pressing a few buttons on his side and in a few seconds they heard Duo's cheerful voice.
"Hey. Long time no speak Heero. What's up?"
"Duo, we need you to go to L4 right now and find Quatre. He's been targeted some time this week. Wufei, Trowa, and I can't go as it will cause some stirs and alert those who targeted him that we're on to him," Heero said and out of the corner of the screen, Trowa saw the former pilot of Deathscythe's expression turn serious.
"Again? I thought you'd be catching the guys who do this by now," Duo wasn't complaining about them, but he did sound frustrated and a bit annoyed. Trowa knew that Duo wasn't annoyed at having to warn Quatre, no; Duo was annoyed at those who would try to kill one of their own. They all had their own shares of assassination attempts, but it was Quatre who was the most targeted of them all, and it was Quatre who always walked headfirst into danger, knowing that he might die.
Quatre their leader and the one that bonded them together to become the closest of friends, Quatre who was so innocent and so pure – if Heero was the 'space heart' as the Arabic man said he was, then he himself was the blood that brought life to the space heart and everyone else.
"We're going to just as soon as we clear up the red tape, but you have to seclude him away from the meeting until we give the okay. They're having a two-day meeting at L4 so we don't really know when the attacker might strike, but we know that it will be within the next couple of days," Sally interrupted whatever Heero was going to say.
"All right," Duo tipped his ever-present black cap at them, "then I'll see you in a few. Maxwell out."
The transmission ended and Trowa looked up at the others, catching each of their gazes. He knew what they were all thinking and what he was thinking, were they early enough to prevent disaster?
"I think those who are stupid enough to attack Quatre don't realize that you Gundam pilots don't go down easily, especially your leaders," Sally said into the silence of the situation room.
Trowa could only hope it was so. So far, it seemed that luck erred on their side, for the most part, but in the recent years, especially following the Black Wing Incident, luck hasn't been too favorable for them. He hoped Quatre's luck hadn't run out…
* * *
July 16, AC 217 – 8:01 a.m.
Quatre searched his desk one last time, shuffling through the papers he needed for today's various conferences. The first meeting was going to start in half and hour and he was running late. He usually didn't run late to important meetings, but somehow, this morning when he woke up, he had a sense of something that felt wrong.
He had received a brief message from Trowa yesterday that warned him of a possible assassination attempt on him, and while he took his dear friend's message to heart, he knew that he couldn't just skip today and tomorrow's meetings because of some possible attack on him. No, if he kept doing that, nothing would get done on L4 and in the Winner Corporation. He needed to show that he didn't fear these threats, however idle and not they were.
"Mr. Winner, your car is here," the knock of one of his bodyguards, said through his office's door and he nodded absently, picking up the last of the papers he needed.
"I'm coming," he replied, stuffing them into a brief case before grabbing his suit's jacket and hastily putting it on before he opened the door, "let's go."
His bodyguards nodded as one and the four of them walked with him at a quickened pace to the car waiting to take him to the conference building in another section of the colony where it was to be held.
* * *
July 16, AC 217 – 10:25 a.m.
Duo frantically pounded on the door to Quatre's residence, hoping that someone would answer him. He had just gotten to the colony about a half-hour ago since his shuttle had problems and delayed him. He would have been there in the late night had the maintenance been faster and the shuttle did not have problems, but now…he hoped that he wasn't too late to warn his buddy.
As soon as he had gotten the message from Heero he packed some spare clothes and whatever into a small knapsack and said hasty goodbyes to his wife Hilde and their twin children, Tarrant and Reyna. The kids weren't happy that daddy had to go away so suddenly and Reyna put up a big fuss about it, crying about how daddy had to go away so many times that maybe daddy didn't like them.
That delayed Duo for a few minutes as he tried to calm down his youngest and gave at least a hundred reassurances to Tarrant and Reyna, Reyna especially that daddy was going to come home soon.
He pounded the door a few more times before he heard someone hastily unlocking it. He had gotten through the security guards Quatre had only because they recognized him and didn't require him to have an I.D.
"Duo?!" was Ione's shocked greeting and Duo grinned briefly at her before he poked his head in and looked around. There was no sign of Quatre anywhere.
"Ione, where's Quatre? I need to talk to him, it's really urgent," he hoped the Arabic pilot hadn't gone anywhere.
"He's in meetings all day today and tomorrow, he won't get back until late," Ione's words sank his stomach and he resisted the urge to pound something, "is there something wrong?"
"Did he mention anything to you yesterday? Anything at all?" he asked, hoping at least that Quatre did tell something to his wife and she, as a Maganac, assigned hordes of bodyguards to him.
"No…but he was quiet…Duo, is there something wrong? Has something happened to Quatre?" her voice wasn't that of a frantic wife, but of a soldier, the Maganac aspect of her coming out to protect her 'Master Quatre' so to speak. That was one quality Duo admired about her and knew that to be the same from the rest of the G-pilots…
"No…but something might," he muttered underneath his breath before he stared at Ione, "listen, Quatre might be in danger. Supposedly someone is going to try to kill him in the next two days. I need you to tell me where he's gone so I can find him. Heero and the others want him underground until they can get Preventers in here quietly and find the one who want to kill him."
Instead of the typical widening of eyes coming from a frantic wife as Duo would have expected, Ione's narrowed to slits and her blue eyes glittered dangerously, "Quatre's at the Committee Hall at least 15 miles away from here. I should come with you." Her statement said that she wouldn't take no for an answer and no matter what Duo said, she would go and protect her husband.
"You can't," Duo replied, trying hard to stare down the Maganac, "your kids-"
"They will be fine. Dumas can stay with one of my friends-"
"Ione," Duo said in a firm tone, "things might get a bit hairy and if that is so, do you want your children to be both father and motherless if something goes wrong?" He hoped to Shinigami to spare Quatre from his wrath.
"They will learn that their parents have gone to Allah if we both should die and they will understand," Ione was set in her ways and Duo gritted his teeth in annoyance. If there was one thing wrong in this world was the fact that the Maganacs were too stubborn and too damn fanatical for their own good.
"No they won't," Duo said, "you saw what happened to Heero's kids…I don't think they understood when their brother died."
His words seemed to finally have their effect on Ione and she frowned. He continued, hoping to persuade her to stay safe and not go after Quatre. "I'll go after Quatre. Besides, if any, a Gundam pilot knows how to protect his own. Besides, I don't think Quatre would like it if you went after him – that's why he kept quiet." It was a lie, he knew that, but he didn't really know if it was the truth either.
Ione seemed to consider his words before she sighed softly, "All right Duo…you win this round. I'll stay and look after the children, but please, please give me a message to say that Quatre is safe. I don't want to worry after him if anything should go wrong."
"I will," Duo said before he dashed off to the motorcycle he kept in the small Sweepers base on L4. He glanced at his watch noticed that it was nearly 11 a.m. Considering traffic and everything, Duo hoped that he wasn't too late. So far he hadn't hear anything about an explosion, but he'll be damned if he got to the building only to find it in ruins and rubble.
* * *
July 16, AC 217 – 12:00 p.m.
Quatre was hungry, but not so much as the caterers had provided everyone with an adequate brunch so no one felt the need to break just yet. Besides, they were in the heat of the discussion, talking about the finances and assets that were for the coming year and future projections.
Up on the 6th floor of the 30-story building, they had an exclusive access to this floor and security guards were posted at each corner to prevent anyone who didn't have access to get in. Reporters were told to stay confined to the 6th floor lobby and he could only guess what they were going to be asking the eight other men and women in the room with him about.
Right now Olesia Terrence, one of the many representatives of the Mars Terraforming Project was finishing up her report about how the fledgling colony was faring and how their materials had been dwindled recently. Quatre had made a note to himself to speak with Olesia after the two-day meetings were concluded. It was Winner Corp. that partially funded and shipped materials for the Mars colony, right now still only a scientific research colony, and so he would have to find out why the people under him were slacking in their duties.
"I think we would all do for a break, am I correct?" Graham Mouri, the moderator of the meeting announced as Olesia sat back down in her seat.
Everyone vocalized their agreement and the half-Japanese man banged a small gavel on the table, "We will reconvene in 45 minutes."
Quatre pushed himself from the seat and briefly tightened his leg muscles to stretch them before he made his way over to talk to some of the other members in this meeting. There was so much to discuss…
* * *
July 16, AC 217 – 12:20 a.m.
Only 15 miles away…just only freaking 15 miles away! Duo resisted the urge to ride over everyone's car – he was in enough trouble already for speeding on a pedestrian sidewalk trying to get to the building Quatre was in. Traffic was horrendous to the downtown area and his little stunt on the sidewalk was rewarded with a police officer pulling him over and giving him a ticket.
Long ago, he would have just buzzed the police officer and sped off in a cloud of dust, but that was long ago. He was now more…'respectable' so to speak and though he still would have like to have blown off the police officer, he knew that it would spell more trouble for him and become fodder for the tabloids since he was a known face – "Duo Maxwell, disobeying the law." Yeah, that would be a great headline for his fellow Sweepers comrades to read about.
He glanced briefly at his watch. So far Heero nor the others gave him word on when the bomb was supposed to go off, but a sixth sense told him that it was probably soon, if not earlier. Traffic was the best time to set off an explosion. It would garner so much media attention and would decimate the public's resolve. Long ago, when he was still the pilot of the Deathscythe trying to fight OZ and using terrorist techniques, it was something he would have done…
The 30-story building was a dwarf compared the others in the downtown area and Duo could barely see the top of it peaking out from under others. He was close… Suddenly he saw an opening in the traffic and gunned the throttle to his motorcycle. The bike roared forward and he leaned this way and that much to the agitation of other traffickers.
"You asshole!" he heard a taxi driver shout, but only gave him the birdie as a reply before he continued on his mini-warpath.
He skidded to a stop in front of the building a few minutes later and looked up just in time to see the first three floors explode in a ball of fire, shrapnel. "QUATRE!" Duo screamed.
* * *
July 16, AC 217 – 12:29 a.m.
Quatre was in the midst of going down the stairs when he thought he heard someone call his name. It sounded like a warning and something didn't sit right with him…something was wrong…but what?
He considered just calling off the meeting right then and there and heeding Trowa's warning…but…then the others might wonder and might think that Winner Corporation doesn't want anything to do with them…
Suddenly, a sense of dread filled him and Quatre knew that it was too late.
The floors below him exploded in their violent array of color.
* * *
[The explosion tore through the entire building complex, burning anything that stood in its path. Searing, red-hot flames clawed at the building, consuming it, choking those still barely alive inside with its black fumes.]
"Today, July 16, was a terrible day for the citizens of the L4 Colony Cluster. An act of terrorism claimed the lives of many and there are those who are still missing. Among them is Mars Terraforming Project representative Olesia Terrence and L4's own leader Quatre Raberba Winner."
[The pitiful screams of the injured and dying were lost to the roar of the flames as those who were still alive desperately tried to crawl their way out, their way to freedom, their way to save their own decrepit, burnt bodies. The building that had been housing the annual colony representative meeting on the main L4 colony had gone up in flames.]
"Rescue crews are still digging as we speak and hope to find survivors in this gruesome act of terrorism. The Senate has convened in Geneva to discuss the current situation and both the Mars Colony and Winner Corporation refuse to comment."
"Shut it off," Sally growled at no one in particular but someone complied with her order and the vid-screen was turned off. She turned to look at the impassive faces of the three former Gundam pilots. Heero always wore his stoic look while Wufei was frowning in deep thought. Trowa however, looked very white and very quiet…very unusual for him even though he was the quietest of all the Gundam pilots.
She could only guess at what thoughts were running through the former Heavyarms' pilot's head.
There had been no word since they sent Duo out to retrieve Quatre and now this happened. Their own Preventer agents had also been caught in the blast and now…12 hours later, still nothing.
And that worried them a lot.
* * *
End of Part 1. Part 2 coming soon!