Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but original characters and plot.

Evilness of Man

"She saved you because she liked your eye color?" Relena said as she stared at her long time friend in disbelief. Taking another sip of her juice Relena couldn't help but giggle at the look on Quatre's face. It was priceless and Relena wished she'd been there to see what had gone on in that elevator or even better had the chance to talk with this thief.

"I'm serious. That's what she said, Relena." Quatre said as he watched the repair crew begin working on the elevator. It was the morning after the elevator incident and he still couldn't get her parting words out of his head which was beginning to annoy him. She'd saved him because of his eyes? And what was with the comments about Lady Une and the scientists? What is going on here and why can't I get her out of my mind, Quatre wondered to himself in frustration.

"Hey Quatre, anyone home?" Duo said as he came over to whack him on the back as he appeared out of nowhere. "Heard you got stuck in the elevator with one of the thieves, you okay, Man?"

"I'm fine and they weren't together." Quatre said as he pushed the button for the working elevator with a bit more force then was strictly necessary. "The thieves I mean. They were working separately."

"How do you know that?" Duo asked as the door slide open and the three quickly got in and had it closed before anyone else could get in to squish them in the tiny box.

"I'll explain during the meeting. I can't be sure but I'd lay money I'm right on this one unless they set it all up but I can't see that being the case." Quatre said distantly, his eyes showing him to be deep in thought. Why was he so curious about the girl? She'd been like a puppy who'd been kicked one to many times and had decided that it was better to bite then let anyone else get close enough to kick. "That's it." Quatre said in a bare whisper. "That's why I feel like this." I simple feel protective because she seems so alone and hard, Quatre finished in thought.

"Feel like what?" Duo asked as the doors slide open, a curious look on his face as he watched his long time friend. There was something different about Quatre but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Nothing." Quatre said as he walked out thinking that it had to be his protective instincts kicking in. That was the only reason why he couldn't get her out of his head. After all what else could it be?

"How are you, Quatre?" Noin asked as she walked over to meet them followed closely by a new cadet who'd been assigned to work under her. "I heard about what happened last night, close call huh?"

"I'm fine, you guys don't need to worry." Quatre said reassuringly, putting on a wide smile for them. "I don't believe we've met cadet, I'm Quatre Winner." Quatre said holding his hand out to the new cadet hoping to distract everyone from last night's meeting. Smiling charmingly the cadet returned the handshake but then moved back to Noin's side as though it were a given that that was where he belonged. Raising an eyebrow Quatre followed his friends into the meeting room and sat down in his chair.

"Now that everyone's here, Quatre would you mind explaining what happened last night?" Lady Une asked from the head of the table. "Anything at all that might be helpful?"

"Yes ma'am." Quatre said as he stood up, putting his thoughts in order. "Wufei and I had been out on the town doing some work and I realized I'd forgotten a couple of files I needed to look over for today so Wufei and I came here to pick them up. When we reached the fourth floor we got out and were on the way to my office when the alarms went off signaling an intruder. Wufei saw someone running out of the corner of his eye and went running after him while I took the opposite direction to cut the intruder off. The assailant apparently got away from Wufei and had taken to firing his gun at another thief who I believe had also infiltrated Preventers earlier. The other thief was female and when we almost collided she pulled me out of the line of fire and prevented me from being hit by the other intruder. She then pushed me into the elevator and the male thief shot up the control panel to prevent us from getting out. The female thief didn't try to harm me and I helped her get out the hatch so that she could go for help since there was no other way and she seemed to becoming more agitated and trigger happy as the minutes passed by. I know I probably shouldn't have but she did lead the security guards to the elevator and never once attempted to cause anyone other then the other thief harm." Quatre finished which was the basic truth with a few things left off. Sure she'd threatened to hurt him but she'd never actually tried anything serious.

"Do we know what they were after, how they got in?" Lady Une said as she turned to look at Heero who didn't appreciate his security systems being broken into and was looking more then a little peeved off by this little turn of events.

"From the cameras it looks like the male intruder was the one who tripped the alarms, the girl was in much earlier and she didn't set off anything. Obviously they came in separately and moved to different locations with different levels of competency. The male headed straight for Lady Une's office while the girl visited all the higher ranking officers offices and dislocated the cameras of every office before she entered it as well as the security. The girl was a professional; the male was an amateur. I think Quatre's right, they weren't working together and it was simply fortunate the male chose that night or we would have never known that she was there."

"What did they take?" Relena asked as she folded her arms over her chest, not liking the thought of Preventers being broken into so easily though she took a slight pleasure in the fact that a woman had succeeded where the man had failed so badly..

"We recovered everything the male took as well as the man himself. He'd stolen mostly basic information on the soldiers here and some supply lists, apparently he was going to sell the information." Milliardo said with a sigh. "From what we've seen and believe so far the girl didn't take anything. She accessed files on the computers but placed some heavy-duty viruses to cover her tracks. I doubt we'll be able to discover what she read or even what she was interested in looking into." Milliardo said as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. He hadn't slept well after the call came about the break in and so far everything he'd heard so far indicated that they had another annoyance to deal with now. And a skilled one at that.

"Did she give you any hint as to why she broke in, Quatre?" Wufei asked as he noticed how preoccupied Quatre seemed to be with something. "Mention anything about what she'd come for?"

"Not really, she seemed to be leaving when we met up. I have no idea but..." Quatre said with a hesitant look, not sure if it was really relevant even though his gut said it was. "She hates you, Lady Une. With a passion."

"Hates me?" Lady Une said in surprise though that wasn't that unusual to hear. She wasn't all that popular with many groups who had opposed Treize as well as those who thought her change from evil to good was simply an act to get away with what she'd done during the war. "Why do you think she hates me?"

"Because she mentioned you and there was a lot of anger and hatred in her voice. Does the name Si Hanta mean anything to you?" Quatre asked curiously, wondering if perhaps Lady Une really had had something to do with Night's appearance.

"Doesn't that mean death hunter?" Relena asked looking up at her husband for conformation since it was his first language. He'd been teaching her some Japanese and she was pretty sure she was right or at least close in her translation.

"Yes it does." Heero said then looked back over at Lady Une and was surprised to see her clutching onto the top of her chair as though it were a life line, looking more then a little pale and shocked. "Lady Une, are you alright?"

"She said that was her name?" Lady Une said her heart beating so fast she could barely breathe. It couldn't be. They'd all been killed after the project had been canceled and they'd become a threat to everyone. Hadn't they?

"She said that that was what the scientists had called them, that she also had a serial number for a name too that she'd been referred to." Quatre said not liking her reaction at all, it was a guilty reaction. "And she said you were responsible for her eyes."

"What did she mean responsible for her eyes? What scientists?" Noin said curiously as she looked from the two. Lady Une was looking sicker and sicker while Quatre was becoming quieter and if she wasn't mistaken harder somehow.

"Her hair was white despite her age wasn't it, Quatre? Her eyes were very sensitive to the light and they glowed in the dark. She likely wore shades or some kind of glasses to shield them and seemed at home in the darkness." Lady Une said quietly as she released her death grip on the chair though she could have used the support.

"That's right, you do know her?" Quatre said as he looked at her closely, his eyes flashing slightly as he watched her like a hawk. Could this be the foot that had kicked Night so much that she'd rather be alone then risk getting closer to anyone? He was beginning to think it was.

"She's not suppose to be alive but something inside me is telling me it's her, however unlikely that may be." Lade Une said softly her mind drifting off to a face, a face full of pain and blinding hatred. Both directed at her. "It's hard to believe and I was told they were all dead but they would have lied to save their necks. They were already in enough trouble as it was."

"How do you know her, why was she suppose to be killed and who the hell is she?" Heero asked as he said the question on everyone's mind. He had a feeling that they weren't going to like any of the answers.

"I helped create her. As for her name the only other name given to her besides death hunter was number 2347." Lady Une said as she slowly rubbed her hand over her face as though to wipe away the memories that were surfacing. Dark and painful memories. "She was suppose to be killed because we created monsters instead of soldiers."

"What do you mean you helped create her?" Milliardo asked as he stared at her with piercing eyes that said he had some idea of the answer. He'd heard of a science project Lady Une and Oz had been involved in that had resulted in the mutation of its volunteers. Could the girl have been one of the subjects used? But Quatre had described her as a young girl somewhere in her late teens, around their age. That would have made her a child during the time the experiments were being done. He doubted that she would have volunteered.

"You know of the Hunter Project, or at least heard of it right?" Lady Une said looking at Noin and Milliardo for conformation. She doubted that they knew the whole story but they'd probably heard the rumors. A lot of people had left Treize's side when they'd heard about the Kesiki colony incident, even the rumors, not nearly as horrific as the truth had scared people off.

"Wasn't that the name of the experiments done to the children of the Kesiki colony outpost? The project intended to research into improving the human body turning children into mindless soldiers for Oz to manipulate?" Heero said with eyes going wide as the meaning of it hit him like a ton of bricks. He'd thought that they were mostly just rumors. "Are you saying that the stories were true and that some of them actually survived? That the girl who broke in is one of them!"

"What do you mean happened to the children? I was told the Hunter Project was experimentation into improving the senses of a person. What does children have to do with that?" Noin said not wanting to know but having a feeling that she did know. Durke Demare had not been known as a particularly moral man. "They used children?"

"The methods the scientists came up with needed to be tested." Lady Une said simply as she turned her back to them as memories of what she'd done, allowed others to do nearly overwhelmed her. She'd been such a monster back then, so busy looking at the ends to justify the means. But they hadn't.

"You did these experiments on children!" Relena said in shock as she got to her feet, staring at Lady Une's back with horror and disgust. "You tested potentially harmful drugs on innocent children. How could you do that? How could you justify that?"

"Durke didn't want to risk harming his own soldiers so he...so he gave the orders for Oz to find others to test the drugs on. Children were the ideal candidates." Lady Une said with a sigh. "They were still young, healthy and manageable.."

"Don't you mean because they were expendable and weren't able to stop you from using them as lab animals." Quatre said with more anger then anyone had ever heard in his voice before. He thought of the traces of fear and the pain in her eyes and wanted at that moment more then anything to make the people who'd done it pay. To grab a gun and shoot Lady Une, to give her an idea how those children must have felt. The fact that his need to do so was so strong shook the normally calm and peaceful pilot. But his voice still shook with anger as he continued. "After all children can't fight back or stop an adult from forgetting their souls to torture other living beings."

"Quatre." Duo said in surprise as he and the rest stared at Quatre who looked like he wanted to ring Lady Une's neck. He'd never seen Quatre this angry before and the blonde pilot was almost frightening in his fury.

"I'm not condoning what I did and allowed to happen, Quatre. How could I given what I did? If I could go back and undo it I would but that's not possible no matter how much I might wish I could." Lady Une said looking Quatre straight in the eye. Letting him see how sorry she was for what had happened even though that was far from enough.

"You said she should be dead, what did you mean?" Wufei said breaking the tension at least for the moment. Yelling and making accusations wouldn't help them figure this out any quicker though he was as sickened as the rest of them by what Lady Une had been involved in.

"Out of the twenty four hundred and twenty-six children used in the experiments only four of them lived during the two weeks the testing went on. Durke decided to cancel the project because he needed the funding for other things and felt that the project wasn't worth the costs. He ordered that the four surviving children be executed and the lab destroyed. Treize was outraged when he found out about the experiment, I don't think he ever quite trusted Durke completely after that. Durke had told me he had Treize's permission but I should have checked it out first. " Lady Une said with a sigh as she thought of what a monster she'd been and how no matter what she did she'd never be able to atone for her deeds. Maybe she could excuse herself for causing the deaths of hundreds of soldiers but no one, least of all herself could justify the killing of those children.

"Durke, why doesn't that surprise me." Milliardo said with disgust as he thought of the old man and all the trouble and suffering he had caused while he was alive.

"So what would this girl want from our computers? Do you still have information on the test and stuff here? But that wouldn't make sense since your computer would be the only one that would have it." Duo asked as he attempted to turn the conversation to something less horrifying.

Sending Duo a slightly thankful look Lady Une shrugged. "What wouldn't she want and no, I don't have any files about the project here. I honestly can't think of what she'd want, but then who knows what goes through her mind either. In all honesty the only thing she'd probably want in this building is my head on a platter so why break in when I'm not here? Why not just come after me? I wouldn't stand a chance."

"So the experiments worked?" Relena said with a shudder, imagining what that poor girl and the others must have gone through. "You succeeded in turning those that survived into these super soldiers you wanted?"

"For the four that survived yes. They all could see in the dark and their senses and reflexes are unmatchable. They can also heal quickly and withstand a great amount of pain without a whimper. That's another reason why they were to be destroyed. They'd become increasingly aware of their abilities and had begun using them against the scientists and soldiers guarding them. I believe the girl alone killed and badly injured several of the scientists even before the order came for her to be killed." Lady Une said with a shake of her head. "They are the perfect soldiers or were designed to be."

"So why haven't they struck yet?" Noin said curiously as she tried to put herself in the girl's shoes which was difficult. "If I'd been in their shoes the first thing I would have done was come after you and everyone else involved to return the favor." Several people at the table nodded. If it had been them a lot of people would have died and not pleasantly at that.

"Hey wait a minute! Did you say that they're light sensitive and have white hair? And did you say that she looked fairly young like she was in her late teens at most?" Duo said as a thought occurred to him that was more then a bit chilling.

"The girl!" Wufei said as he caught on to what Duo was thinking, not liking the idea at all as it posed several unpleasant ideas and situations. "Does the old warehouse by Himitu in China have any significance to the project?"

"That's where the four children that survived were kept, why?" Lady Une said looking at them with a growing apprehension. 'The children were taken to four different labs, the one in China was the only one that managed to keep any of the children alive."

"That's where I met Yamachi's granddaughter's friend and she had white hair and she refused to remove her shades so that Sally could check her eyes." Duo said with a grave look on his face "Do you think it was her, Wu-man?"

"It could be. That would explain why she was there and perhaps why she was weary of us. If she knew we worked for Une plus she wouldn't give us a name just as she refused to give Quatre the one she was born with." Wufei said thoughtfully, letting the Wu-man comment pass for the time being.

"Yea and when Keyda came and got her she never once called her by her name either, as though she were protecting her." Duo said thoughtfully as he thought out loud, working it through in his head.

"Are you telling me that it's possible that Yamachi's got these super soldiers Durke created under his command? Could this day get any worse!" Milliardo said as he ignored the desire to be childish and bang his head on the table in anger. "With those super soldiers anyone who tried to get at Yamachi would be in for the fight of his life."

"God help us if it's her and she's working for Yamachi." Lady Une said quietly as she looked out the window where thousand of people were walking around, completely unaware of the danger she'd possibly helped unleash upon them, just when she thought she was done harming them.

Later

Heero sighed as he exited his black convertible after pulling into Quatre's driveway long after most people had been asleep for hours. Pushing his dark brown hair back with his hand Heero wished that he could just go to bed and forget everything that was going on. It had been a long week what with the break-in and the knowledge that they might have a super human out to get them was not comforting. Sliding his keys into his pocket Heero wondered when the world would be safe enough that he didn't still have to look behind him and fight for the right to have said peace. Tired beyond his years Heero headed out towards the door of the mansion where he and Relena were staying while renovations were begin done on their home.

"Mr. Heero Yuy."

Heero turned at the sound of his name with lightning speed, scanning the area around him until he finally spotted her leaning up against a tree in the front yard. In the darkness he couldn't see her clearly but everything was telling him that she was not here for a social visit. Reaching for his pocket knife he was stopped cold by her next words. "Try and you won't live long enough to scream a warning to your wife Yuy." The girl said in a perfectly reasonable voice which was more then enough to make his blood run cold.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Heero said moving to stand between her and the house where his wife and friends were sleeping. If she intended to get inside she'd have to get through him first and he wasn't going to make it easy.

"If I meant to kill you or anyone in the house you'd have been dead already. I'm not in the habit of giving my prey warning, it tends to get messy if you do and I'm far from an amateur at this." The woman said not moving or showing any signs of intending to as she calmly watched him for where she stood. "We're a lot a like in that way, Yuy. We rarely kill anymore but when we do, we do it with class and skill."

"Why are you here?" Heero said not taking his eyes off her still form. "Are you the one who broke into the offices on Monday?" Heero prayed the answer was no but he doubted he was going to be so lucky.

"Well I always thought you were one of the smarter ones, Mr. Yuy. As to why I'm here well that has nothing to do with your offices and everything to do with your wife." The girl said with a touch of amusement to her voice.

"Relena?" Heero said as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. They were after her? These inhuman creations were after Relena? But why, what had she done? "You'll have to kill me to get near her and I don't care what they did to you or how strong you are because no one messes with my famil. Understand?"

"I have no interest in killing her. She wouldn't be worth the effort and I'm here to keep her alive, not end it. Like I said before, if I wanted her to die I'd have killed her weeks ago and you would never have seen me coming or going." The girl shot back with a voice slightly laced with anger.

"What are you talking about?" Heero said moving slightly closer. He could just make out her form and that was it, he couldn't tell if she was armed though he doubted she wasn't. "What do you want? And what's this have to do with Relena, she had absolutely nothing to do with the Hunter Project. "

"I want your wife to stay alive, Yuy which wouldn't be the case if she'd been involved with the project. As long as she's alive then people like you and me don't need to go around killing hundreds of people. You're wife's in danger, Yuy because she prevents people from becoming like us and a lot of people aren't happy about that. There is a group whose been spending a lot of money trying to have your wife killed. So far we've been able to deter them but they're coming in larger groups and are better trained. That's why I'm here, to make you aware of the situation."

"Who are they?" Heero said not sure whether to trust her or not but if she was telling the truth? Heero wouldn't risk it, he couldn't risk not believing her.

"They're people who haven't forgotten Oz and wish for its return. I'd have preferred to keep you out of it but my boss is of the opinion that you could be of help. We have people watching your wife wherever she goes so you don't need to worry about that. We simple wish you to keep your eyes open and provide assistance when necessary. You're also not to mention this to anyone if you want our help. Understand?"

"Why can't I tell anyone?" Heero asked suspiciously as his blue eyes narrowed.

"Because we don't tolerate screw ups and your friends would only get in the way. We have enough to worry about keeping your wife alive without adding your friends into the equation to screw it up and get people killed." The girl said with a tone full of ice making it clear that she wouldn't tolerate anyone disobeying her rules.

"I understand." Heero nodded in her direction, deciding that for now he would take her word on this. "Are you after Lady Une?"

"If you mean do I want her dead then the answer is yes. If you're asking me if I intend to kill her anytime soon then no. When Lady Une dies it will not be by my hand unless I have to." The girl said with no emotion at all. "I don't intend to allow her to put me in Hell for any longer then she already has."

"If I were you she'd already be dead." Heero said softly as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness enough to see that she wasn't carrying or holding anything but looks of course could be deceiving. "Why haven't you killed her yet?"

"If you were me you'd never have lived long either." The girl said as she stood up from the tree and for the first time really looked in his direction. "She's alive only because she still serves a purpose. She'll slip up eventually and become he monster she is and we'll be there waiting. Tell her that." Heero watched as the girl walked away from the tree and off the grass to the road, staying well in the shadows, Heero watching her go without a word. He had to hand it to her, she had guts and she'd be a formidable enemy if he crossed her. Quatre said that he didn't think she had malicious intent but that remained to be seen.

"This is not our week, is it, Baby?" Heero said turning back to look at the mansion where his wife slept soundly. "Definitely not."