TITLE:  Returning (7/?)

AUTHOR: Tari Gwaemir

PAIRINGS: 1+6; implied 6+13/13+6, 5+13, 3+4/4+3, 2+1

ARCHIVE:  Email me at tarigwaemir@hotmail.com first, but I always say yes.

DISCLAIMER:  Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me, but is owned by Bandai, Sotsu, Sunrise and other big companies, whose names I do not remember.  I make no money from this piece of fanfiction, nor do I intend to.

SUMMARY:  A Gundam Wing tribute to the narrative style of The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

COMMENTS:  And the plot thickens…

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: The Conspiracy

The answering machine gave a loud, squawking beep and a burst of static, before a fuzzy image of Trowa's solemn face appeared on the small screen. "Heero? This is Trowa. Wufei wanted me to relay this message to you: what the hell do you think you're doing? His words, not mine. But he's not the only one who's concerned. You better come up with a good explanation for this, because Wufei's about to kill you, and I, for one, won't stop him."

The screen winked out, followed by another beep as Quatre's worried face appeared on the screen, "Heero? I know you're there; I've linked a computer to the camera in your phone. Please pick up," he said politely and waited for a response. "Heero? I can see you lying on that board you call a mattress, staring up at the ceiling, pointedly ignoring your vidphone!"

Heero made no response, but he turned away from Quatre, so that only his back was visible. Quatre rolled his eyes, huffed in mock indignation, and started babbling away in an annoyingly chipper voice, "So, Heero, how have you been since we last spoke? Are you still in good health? Haven't been locking yourself up in your room and letting your muscles atrophy, have you? Heero? You do know I'm going to bother you until you start talking to me."

Heero reached out to his desk and picked up a small paperweight. Without looking, he tossed it backward, and it landed, with perfect aim, on the disconnect button of the machine. Quatre was abruptly cut off, but soon the machine came back to life again with another squawk, and the voice had returned, on a colder note. "Heero, you have just become a potential threat to the stability of the World Nation, and if you don't explain yourself to one of us right now, Relena Peacecraft herself will quietly sign the document for your arrest tomorrow."

"What do you want to know?"

Quatre smiled thinly. "That's better."

"Well?"

"We've been hearing the name of Odin Lowe in connection with a conspiracy to sabotage the New Colony Project."

Heero said tiredly, "Not me."

"Do you know anything about the conspiracy?"

"It's not about the New Colony Project. That's just a ruse to distract you from their real plans."

"Who's behind this? And how are you involved?"

Heero was silent.

"Heero!"

"The professionals have begun a war."

"What?"

"There is a sort of blood feud between the L1 and L2 underworlds."

"Then Wufei was right. The professionals have been organizing themselves. But what does this have to do with--"

"The L1 underworld is currently the more serious threat, because they've allied themselves with a intercolonial political faction whose main objective is to stall the Mars Project. The faction believes that the colonies cannot continue their economic monopoly of space-based resources if the Mars Project is successful. Our old friend Hideki is one of the leaders, in fact."

"Ah. I see. So why are they pretending to target the New Colony Project?"

"Isn't it obvious? Who has been campaigning for the past few months against the New Colony Project?"

"I see. The main rival party, which currently dominates the L1 legislature, would be under suspicion for ties to the conspiracy, thus giving Hideki's party control of the colonial government. Come to think of it, I may be implicated as well. So then, why is Odin involved?"

"Leaders of the L2 professionals--who have little liking for L1, by the way--believed that the L1 underworld was endangering all the professionals with its plans. The underworlds have an unspoken agreement to avoid political quarrels, and L2 professionals have decided to enforce it. L1 bosses then ordered Odin Lowe, their finest assassin, to quietly eliminate the troublesome L2 leaders, but he refused to get involved. As a result, quite a bloody war has broken out between the two."

"And you have become a traitor to your own side."

"I suppose that's how they think of me."

Quatre asked in a low voice, "Is your life in danger right now, Heero?"

"The underworld on this particular satellite colony has never had close ties with the larger network of the L1 cluster. You may consider my building in revolt against the rest of the L1 professionals."

"They didn't succeed in killing you."

"No, my back was too well protected. But I think that's why they've leaked rumors of my connection to the conspiracy, in order to use the leos to get to me."

"Heero, evacuate L1 right now."

"I'm not a soldier anymore, Quatre. I don't obey orders."

"You are a professional, and I hired you."

"The contract was fulfilled, and you are no longer my employer."

Quatre sighed in exasperation. "You foolish, stubborn, suicidal--"

"Is Heero on the phone?" A voice called out from beyond the view of the vidscreen.

"Yes, and he's being--"

"Foolish, stubborn and suicidal. Well, that's no surprise." Trowa's face appeared on the screen, and with a sardonic smile, he said, "Hello, Odin."

"Hello, Triton," Heero retorted.

"Being difficult, I see. Well, have you managed to explain yourself? Or shall I tell Wufei to go ahead and grant you the death of a thousand cuts?"

Before Heero could reply, Quatre interrupted, "Apparently, there really is a conspiracy, but Heero isn't involved. Or rather, he is, but the conspiracy is trying to kill him too."

Trowa raised an eloquent eyebrow.

"Anyway, he could be killed any moment now, which is probably why he's been holed up in that room of his for the past few weeks."

"So that's why you didn't contact any of us."

Heero murmured, "The calls would have been intercepted. The only reason why I'm talking now is because I'm trusting that Quatre's linked to this phone through a secure connection."

"Doubly encrypted by top-secret Winner technology," Quatre said proudly, and grinned. "I'm going to relay all this information to Preventer headquarters. We're getting you out of there, Heero."

"I'm not leaving," Heero protested, but Quatre had already left the screen.

However, the vidphones were not disconnected yet, and Trowa was staring at Heero, with an inscrutable expression on his face. "You should never have gone to L1 in the first place. You are not Odin Lowe."

"Then who am I? Pilot 01?" Heero laughed humorlessly.

"You are Heero Yuy, boy with broken heart."

Heero froze, his hand half-raised to his cheek. "Shut up, Trowa."

"Shut up yourself. You've just made me lose all respect for you."

"I'm not staying here to get myself killed, Trowa. The people in this building have risked their lives to protect me. Just as I once risked my life to protect Relena Peacecraft. Knowing that, how could I leave them?"

"Liar."

Quietly, fiercely, he whispered, "How do you expect me to stare at someone like Inu or Niko in the eye and just walk away? How do you expect me to abandon people who are fighting for me because they admire me, believe in me?"

"Liar."

"I said to them that professionals could not be bought with money. I told them to remember bushido. I can't leave."

"Liar."

"You were sick and tired of war. You never thought of the mercenaries as family. And out of the five of us, you were the only one to find a real home. The rest of us remained orphans. Do you understand? This is all I have for a home!"

Trowa watched Heero with a maddeningly skeptical smile. He finally said, "Did you know that Zechs Marquise, after being nearly killed by an unknown assailant, is returning to Earth, at the demand of his sister, for special medical treatment?"

Heero paled.

"And did you know that Lucrezia Noin, his fiancee, was killed in the same attack, while trying to protect him?"

He opened his mouth, but could not find the voice to speak.

"I'll leave you to reconsider your decision," Trowa said quietly and switched off the connection.

------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES:  In case you're confused, the World Nation is funding three major projects for the exploration and further colonization of space.  The New Colony Project builds, well, a new colony, at a sixth LaGrange point that has been recently calculated by scientists.  The Mars Project is essentially the terraforming expedition that Zechs and Noin left for at the end of Endless Waltz.  And the Moon Project is attempting to convert the old military base into civilian homes.  Hideki and his faction has won the contract for the New Colony Project.  Quatre, and his political allies, have won the contracts for the Moon and Mars Projects.  Hideki Intercolonial and Winner Enterprises are major financial rivals, although Quatre currently has more of a monopoly.