Chapter Twenty-Two
Beginning of the End
Jenkins was attempting to sleep, a hat over his face, feet propped up on a desk when his chair was almost kicked out from under him. He jumped up angrily, ready to throttle whoever had tried to unseat him.
It was one of the commanders, tall, dark, and stern. "What daja want? I was sleeping."
"No one sleeps. We need to get a move on. Your services are required below," the older man said stiffly.
"You ain't my boss!"
"Do you want to be paid or eliminated immediately?" the man asked.
Hmm...that didn't take a lot of thinking. "I'm goin', I'm goin'. You guys are crazy nutters. Don't you sleep or eat like normal humans?" he questioned irritably, rubbing his eyes with the back of a dirty navy sleeve.
"I thought they said you worked with Zechs Marquis."
It sounded rhetorical. "Good point," he muttered. "What's everyone so nervous for anyway?"
"We just got some news. Marquis is onto us."
Jenkins jumped. "What? That ain't good!"
The commander snorted as they walked to a monstrosity of metal and explosives. "No. It's not. Especially considering his...resources..."
Something beeped in Jenkins' pocket and he jumped again, but less visibly. His cell phone was on low battery. He held it out and showed the commander who nodded.
Off to the side in a corner away from running feet, Jenkins plugged it into an A/C adapter, to charge it up. He flipped it over and glanced around inconspicuously as he pulled a small disk from his pocket and plugged it into the battery opening and hit the power button. Then he rejoined the commander near the mobile suit.
MWMWMWMWM
Relena climbed off her plane and into the open arms of her mother and Celes.
"Relena! I've been so worried! Can you walk? Do you hurt?" her mother was fretting over her. But the strained pinched look in her face reminded Relena that she hadn't seen her mother since before she had been shot. Had it really been so long?
"I'm fine mother," she said as calmly as she could, trying to reassure her nervous mother.
"How was your flight?" Celes asked cheerfully as they made their way to the baggage claim. Immediately reporters began to swarm towards her like hornets.
"Ms Darlian—how are you feeling?"
"What do you think about the bill on..."
"Since you've been gone, has it been difficult to...."
Relena was grateful as her bodyguards stepped up and ushered her and her mother and Celes down the escalator. They were led outside to the limousine her mother had arrived in, the luggage gathered by a guard.
"So, anything new?" Celes asked, blowing a lock of hair from her face delicately. She always looked like a model somehow. Relena, feeling particularly frazzled and tired, wondered if she looked anything short of a troll.
"I saw Kiki."
"You did! Oh, I haven't heard from her since we left college! How is she?"
"Very angry with me," Relena sighed, rubbing her stiff leg.
"You know what would be so fun...if we all got together....you know?" She started jabbering away about all the fun things they could do.
But that just made Relena even more exhausted. "Celes, if you really want to, I'd love to do it, but I just don't have the time or energy to plan something right now. I've got..."
"Oh! Don't worry about a thing!" Celes interrupted her. "I'd be glad...oh, it'll be so fun to see everyone again!"
Relena sighed heavily as they stopped at a light and closed her eyes, willing the stress to ease away. Zechs was up to something, she knew it but had no clue as to what. There were whispers, rumors....it made her so uneasy. And with Tai living in the same town as the main Preventors' HQ, she couldn't stop worrying. She just hoped upon hope that Tai wouldn't get himself involved.
MWMWMWMWMWM
Zechs had received those blasted pictures several days ago and he couldn't get them out of his mind. Marcus had flown in and was helping him with his regular duties so that he didn't get too far behind. But Relena would become suspicious soon. Marcus had called her and reported a break in, so then she comes home, and he's gone on "business" that she didn't assign to him? Right...and he was Jack the Ripper...hmm...maybe that wasn't such a good analogy to make....
But soon it would be all over. There were launching in two hours. The shuttles were finally finished, and looked beautiful. He'd sent Duo home—he had a family to take care of. Zechs was not letting him go into space. And Quatre had gone back to his own work a day ago or so. Quatre was much more useful from where he was at the moment, watching the "rivals" and he was a fairly public figure. He had to be obviously innocent. But Trowa would be coming, as would Wufei.
He stood on the catwalk, watching the men run frantically to load up the shuttles. "Sir, we are almost finished loading," a lieutenant told him, looking down at a clipboard.
"Good. Everything in order?"
"Yes sir."
"Then get aboard." Then he called down, "Hurry it up! And suit up! We prepare for takeoff in thirty minutes!"
MWMWMWMWM
Relena was clearing off her desk and closing down her computer when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called as she limped over to her wall of filing cabinets.
"Aren't you supposed to have crutches?"
"Hi Marcus," she acknowledged the man behind her without looking back.
"Had a long day? You sound tired."
She put a few papers in the proper folders then turned to talk to the lanky man sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed, expression friendly and unreadable. "I am. I just finished catching up on PART of what I've missed. My brother is acting oddly. I'm trying to figure out what anyone would want to steal from my office. And I'm worried about a friend," she told him evasively. He watched her with interest as she limped around the room.
"You are one stubborn girl, you know that?"
"I believe I've been told that before, so yes, I know."
He nodded at her. "Well, I was just making sure you were actually going to go home tonight."
Relena brushed some hair out of her face as she loaded up her briefcase. "Yes and as a matter of fact, I'm actually going to have a social life tonight."
Marcus turned to look at her. "Oh?"
"Yes. I'm spending time with your girlfriend, so if you talk about going on a date I'll tattle on you," she teased. Somehow, since he'd started dating Celes, things had been easier between them. Maybe it was because he wasn't so testy any more, perhaps it was that she no longer feared he was going to try and hit on her. She had Celes to thank for his recent relaxing. The girl was so sweet and loving—she could make any man happy. The thing was, Celes had to find someone she wanted TO make happy.
"Well I'm glad," he told her sincerely as watched her start to limp out the door. "That you have a social life," he added.
"Are you coming? I've got to lock my office," she told him sternly.
He hopped off the desk and followed her out the room and took her bag from her.
"Thank you," she smiled at him. "And where have you been the past couple days? I expected to find you here with a full report of everything that's been going on. Yet, I get here, and what do I find? No Marcus."
He shrugged.
"So what do you think about all the recent legislature?" he asked conversationally as they walked down the hall. A little too conversationally. A body guard silently followed them. He'd been sitting outside of her office.
For a while Relena had been a little suspicious about Marcus. Not that she thought he was a spy or anything. He just seemed a little...dual purposed, but not so obviously and horribly treacherous. It felt like he was after the same thing as her in the long run—peace—but going about it in a different way. But then again, wasn't that spying? And now he completely avoided telling her where he'd been.
"What do you think I think? It bothers me, naturally." she said, a little shortly.
Marcus nodded. "Yah, but it seems a little odd to me, don't you think? Kind of planned, almost like someone's making it all happen. Beam weaponry, slowly but surely getting rid of central government...it just makes me wonder, that's all. It's like planned anarchy, if such a thing is possible. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?"
Relena forced her eyes to keep from narrowing. He was trying to find something out from her. Well, it wouldn't work. She wouldn't let it happen. "Planned? You think someone's trying for a, a, a...."
"Rebellion? Quit playing coy. You're a terrible liar. How you got to be a politician, I will never understand. You've noticed it, don't deny it," Marcus scolded lightly as he opened a door for her and led her to her car. The body guard was watching Marcus very carefully now.
"Well, what do you expect? You're trying to be all sneaky!"
"Sneaky? I work for you for heaven's sake! Why would I be sneaky?"
"Maybe if you were working for someone else too," she told him, her voice deadpan.
Marcus stopped walking and stared at her open mouthed. "What are you insinuating?" His voice was a low growl.
Relena sighed. She hated this. Marcus was her friend but something was funny about him. "Just that I've been wondering if maybe you have...a couple jobs."
"Like a spy?"
"I never said that!"
"But you sure are implying it! Relena, how can you possibly think I'd ever be a spy, and let you get hurt? Do think I was involved in that shooting too?" he snarled. He sure could get vicious fast. She hoped he was never like this around Celes, or maybe it would be better if he were so that Celes wouldn't get in over her head.
"NO! No Marcus! I don't think that at all! Please calm down!" she entreated, gesturing with her hands.
"Well, what else could you mean?" His face was red and rigid, jaw bones more pronounced than usual.
"I don't know! But don't you think that if I really thought you were a spy that I'd report it to someone?" she reasoned.
Marcus snorted. "I don't understand you," then he started walking again, but much faster than before. They reached her car and the moment her body guard and had her door unlocked. He threw her bag into the passenger seat. "Drive safely," he said shortly to the man in the dark suit standing on the driver's side.
"Marcus, please don't be mad!" she implored, tugging at his sleeve.
He stopped and forced his bunched shoulders to relax. "I just can't fathom how you can accuse me of such...of treason!"
"But I didn't. It's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" he asked, half turning to look at her. His hands were deep in his pockets, elbows hanging out of the line of his body.
"I don't know," she said hopelessly.
"Goodnight Relena," he said walked away, presumably toward his own vehicle.
There was nothing more she could do so she climbed in her car, brooding.
Marcus slowed his walk as she drove away and pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "Zechs?" he asked as Zechs' voice picked up.
"Yes?"
"Relena thinks I'm a spy of sorts."
"Oh?"
"Yah. She doesn't think that I'm really evil or anything but she definitely things that something's wrong."
"Okay. You just lay off for a while. I can't use you to suggest her spending time with a certain person then. We'll have to do it another way."
"You have someone else?" Marcus was confused. He couldn't think of anyone else that could do the job.
"I have other connections, yes. Just don't worry about it for now."
"Right."
"And you won't be able to contact me for the next several hours, just so you know."
"I understand."
MWMWMWMWM
Relena limped to her bedroom. It was upstairs and her mom tried to move it downstairs, but Relena was too attached to her own bedroom. She nodded to a body guard at the door and he left.
She changed into baggy pants and a t-shirt and lay down, trying to forget everything. Celes and Kiki would be coming over soon...really soon and she needed to calm down.
After half an hour of lying around, she started to doze off. But just then she heard her bedroom door open and Celes's motherly voice.
"Oh, Relena! You look so tired! Are you okay!" she squealed as she rushed to her side.
"I'm fine," Relena protested groggily. Then she blinked, and nearly screamed. Hopping up and laughing and half crying, she ran to the other girls in her door way. "Maryanne, Amada, Ianthe!! Kiki! You're ALL here!"
The other girls hugged her back. "Celes told us that you and she were getting together so we thought we'd try and make the extra effort!"
Relena just grinned from ear to ear. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to your wedding Amada," she said suddenly.
"I understand. It's okay. You were kind of busy trying to save the world I'm sure..."
"I really am sorry about everything..." Relena was at a loss for words. She'd emailed them all but hadn't actually seen them since college.
But Maryanne, being her usual cheerful self, broke the silence. "So I'm famished. Anyone feel like calling for pizza?"
Ianthe groaned. "But that means we're going to have to argue about toppings.... AGAIN."
But Relena didn't mind. She'd missed this kind of goofing off.
"Well, I want Hawaiian, so there!"
"But I hate pineapple! Fruit doesn't belong on a pizza unless the crust is cookie! I want supreme!"
Kiki went over to the phone in Relena's room and dialed. "We want three larges," they heard her telling the pizza guys. "One half pineapple, half pepperoni. Another half supreme and half susuage, and the last one half cheese and half no cheese supreme." After Kiki hung up she looked up to find the girls all staring at her. "What?"
"Why didn't we ever think of that when we were living together?" Amada asked looking thoughtful.
"Let's break out some movies and stuff!" Maryanne cheered.
Three hours later, all the girls were exhausted from playing sardines, running around and finding silly things to dress up in, getting movies to watch all night, eating three pizzas, cookie dough, and carmel popcorn.
"Okay, I vote for truth or dare!" Maryanne announced for their next game.
"UG, we're in our mid twenties, not teenagers. How about a movie. I don't have the energy," Ianthe said from under a pile of pillows.
"What time is it?" Kiki asked suddenly.
"Only eleven..."
Relena sat up sharply. "What!" She bounded to the television and grabbed the remote. She fumbled with the buttons until she got the right one and the TV came on.
"What's got her?" Ianthe asked sluggishly.
"She always has to watch the news," Celes explained, sitting on the floor daintily and leaning against the couch.
"Man, I can't believe how immature we can be," Ianthe scolded them all. "Do you guys realize how old we are?"
"Yes, as you just reminded us." Then Maryanne giggled. "But it WAS fun."
Amada was grinning too.
"I should take pictures and give them to Mr. Amada," Kiki said mischievously.
"Oh, he wouldn't be surprised. We..." then she trailed off having realized what she was about to say.
Kiki cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really—you guys do stuff like this do you?"
Amada blushed furiously. "Not really."
"I bet it's strip poker for them," Maryanne pretended to whisper to Ianthe. Amada was blushing so hard she was starting to turn purple.
"And I bet....oh my...." Everyone turned to see what Ianthe was looking so shocked at. Relena was sitting on her knees, jaw hanging open, staring at the television. The girls all turned to see a girl in a floppy hat who looked suspiciously like Relena walking hand in hand with Tai Iwasato. Well, not walking exactly. It was a photograph on the screen. In the next picture the girl was kissing Tai, and it was no innocent little peck.
"....seems that Relena Darlian has finally found herself a boyfriend, but oops. Hope the wife doesn't find out! That's Huy Iwasato, former college basketball star currently...."
"Relena?" Kiki asked, horror written on her face.
Relena blinked and looked over at her friends. "That's not right! I'm not with Huy! You believe me, don't you?" She looked at their shocked faces.
"But what about those pictures?" Amada asked, gently.
"That's not Huy, that's Tai." Relena finally blinked again and stared back at the TV, but they had gone on to something else. "I've got to make this right!"
"Why would they say it was Huy?" Kiki wondered quietly.
"Probably because he was the first name they came across when they search for someone with that appearance. He would have had his name in newspapers and stuff fairly frequently. They wouldn't know he has a twin—he's just a civilian."
"But he's not wearing a ring!"
"You CAN remove a ring you know..." Ianthe explained in a patronizing voice.
They all stared as Relena dialed. "Hello? Hello? Crap! Milliardo's phone isn't working!" she cried desperately. "His phone always works!"
Then suddenly Maryanne started to grin. "You know what this means though, don't you? She and Tai are finally together!"
Kiki looked ill. Relena was not supposed to be calling Milliardo right now. Zechs would kill her.
"Maybe you could call Marcus?" Celes suggested.
Relena felt her stomach drop at the idea, but then again, he was technically supposed to help her with this kind of stuff. But after that little fight....
"Hi! Marcus honey? Did I wake you up?" Celes was talking into the phone that she'd snatched from Relena's hand.
Sitting up, horror stricken, she looked on as Celes spoke to Marcus.
"Relena has a little problem....there's something she's been kind of keeping a secret from everyone..."
LILIL
"What secret?" Marcus asked, a little irritably. What right did she have to ask anything of him after accusing him of being a spy, even though he pretty much was a spy, but that was beside the point! He clicked mute on the TV—Friday night and he was watching TV alone. Man, was he pathetic. But then again, it was kind of nice having a free evening all to himself.
"Relena and Tai have been seeing each other."
Fighting down his initial irrational anger and the inevitable news, Marcus answered. "What's so desperate about that? He an ex-convict or something?"
"No, but the media got wind of it except they thought that Tai was his twin, Huy."
Marcus paused a moment to think. "Isn't Huy married?"
"Yup!" she sounded entirely too cheerful about it. "So, what should she do about it?"
"Doesn't Relena have a voice?"
"Yah, but I think she's trying to dissolve into the carpet right now while Ianthe and Maryanne cackle manically about blackmail. Should I put her on the phone?"
"Sure." Marcus rubbed a temple. Just great....this was just perfect....but then again, maybe it was. This could be so distracting that Relena could forget her suspicions for just a little while...long enough to get the operation well underway.
"Marcus?" Relena asked timidly.
"Okay, we're going to hold a press conference tomorrow. This is way too late at night to set up anything. No one will be watching for it. But until then, don't worry about it. It'll be okay," Marcus told her, attempting to sound concerned and not elated.
"Really?"
Marcus silently marveled that for such a political tiger, she sure was acting like a naive little lamb.
"Really. I promise. I suppose it's too late at night to call Tai and tell him about this."
"Uh...I think he's at the hospital tonight."
"Okay. He's a big boy. Don't worry about him. Just relax and have fun, okay? Be at the Conference room by nine-thirty tomorrow. We'll get this taken care of."
"Right. And....thank you Marcus. I'm sorry about...earlier...."
"Don't worry about it," he told her as he hung up. He had some calls to make if he was going to pull this off so soon, but maybe it he held off a little and kept Relena sweating it would serve his purposes better.
MWMWMWMWM
It was eleven hundred hours local time. They were right on schedule. "Team fifteen, you ready?"
"Almost," Trowa reported back as he pulled himself through the air ducts through the center of the colony. He had fourteen men behind him. He paused and pulled out a map, flashlight in his mouth. Turning left, squirming through six more yards of duct, he should be directly underneath Nanashi's main warehouse.
"I'm here," he whispered into his mouth piece.
"Team thirty-five—you ready?"
"Yessir!" voices whispered clearly from presumably the other side of the compound.
"AV—ready?"
"Locked and loaded!"
"In five, go....five...four...three...two...GO!"
Trowa rammed the huge plate of metal above his head with his back and jumped out, the plate falling backward. He scanned the dark room they were in—custodial supplies. Then he waved behind him and fourteen uniformed men piled out after him. Except they weren't in Preventor's uniforms. They were identical to the gray suits the Nanashi men wore, except for the bright red bandanna on their heads. In sets of two and three, they left the room to mingle and melt into the background.
But Trowa departed from the others, sneaking down a back hallway.
A man went sprinting past Trowa yelling for someone. "They've got T-1! They've got T-1!!" he kept yelling as he ran.
There were some gunshots and everyone was pouring out of rooms. Trowa sidled into a closet, letting them all pass.
After a few minutes, the hallway was deserted. He could hear the shots ringing out in the huge main room. Several rooms down he found the commander's main office.
-MWM-
Jenkins strode across the compound to the warehouse door. Everyone was below. Every able bodied pilot was preparing to launch into space. But they were limited on pilots. Jenkins was surprised at how many Nanashi did have.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" a commander yelled, striding across to where Jenkins stood, now in the warehouse.
Jenkins pulled a gun from pocket hand held up his ID simultaneously. "You're under arrest. Surrender now."
The man laughed. "Spy, eh? You honestly think we're just going to turn ourselves in to one man?"
It was Jenkins' turn to laugh. "Do you think I'm so stupid as that?" Thirty men suddenly ran through the door, all in long brown trench coats, their Preventor's uniforms underneath.
"We have help—the other bases will come and then you will be shot out of here," the commander's voice shook slightly.
Jenson laughed again. "I repeat, do you think I'm as stupid as that?"
-WMW-
Trying the locked door of the office, Trowa pulled out his silencer-tipped gun and shot the lock. Pushing the door open he ran to the computer. He had to copy the hard drive before anything else happened. Pulling out his zip files, he opened the computer and set up for making backup copies. A timer popped up. He had ten minutes.
While that ran, he worked his way through the files. Every three minutes or so, the computer beeped for the next disk, having filled up the last.
After putting in the last one, he found an odd file in the back. "Charity" was the title. Pulling it out, Trowa's eyes widened as he flipped through the pages. He stashed it in his jacket and zipped up.
He almost didn't hear the footsteps down the hall. Quickly, he backed up in the most unobtrusive corner.
Seconds later the door burst open and several men Trowa had never seen before stomped in.
"What the..." was all they could say before Trowa was on them. Backhanding them to the floor, and clunking them soundly on the head, they fell. He dragged them over to the desk and handcuffed on man there, the other he handcuffed to the bare pipe in the private bathroom behind the file cabinets.
The computer beeped and his last disk popped out of the computer.
Pocketing it, he ran towards his comrades.
In the main garage, he found fifty Preventors working their way through Nanashi, handcuffing and leading them out to the transporter Trowa knew would be waiting within the chain-linked compound. But there were several huge empty places in the compound where mobile suits had obviously just been. And several men were laying on the floor, bleeding.
"Zechs, I think we've got some escapees," Trowa reported, dead-pan, to his commander.
MWMWMWMWM
Relena shot up from the living room floor when the phone rang. It was four in the morning and all the girls had sprawled out in the living room to sleep, blankets and pillows everywhere. Ianthe groaned at the sudden noise.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Ms Darlian, I hate to disturb you at this hour."
It was one of her public relations people.
"I already saw the news about Iwasato. Marcus is arranging a press conference for tomorrow," she stopped the young man before he could tell her something she already knew.
"No, it's not that. There is a battle going on in the colonies. Some rebels are threatening to blast away Earth."
"What!"
"What should we do?"
Relena sat dumbfounded for a moment. Then it clicked. Zechs knew. He'd always known.
"When can I get the department plane ready?"
"Ma'am?"
"I need to get to the Preventor's HQ. When can you get it ready for me?"
"I...I'll make some calls and let you know as soon as I can."
"Thanks you."
"Yes ma'am." And the line went dead.
Relena rubbed her temples and turned to see Kiki staring at her.
"What's happened?"
"Rebels want to blow up the Earth."
Kiki gulped. "You're going to headquaters?"
Relena nodded.
"I'll go with you. But what can you do from there? Why not stay here?" Kiki reasoned.
"I must go because Zechs obviously knew about this. I can't get him on his cell which means he was going through the atmosphere at the time. That's the only time it won't work. The only hope I have of contacting him is directly from HQ. That's where he was before and I'm sure that someone there knows what he's doing." Relena rubbed her temples again. She knew it...she knew it.... Then she stopped. "You've been working with Zechs," she whispered, dangerously.
Kiki looked startled but held firm. "Talks never could have stopped this. He had to do something."
"That's why you're here? Isn't it? You're here to keep me distracted?" Relena felt her heart drop out. Kiki hadn't forgiven her. She was here on orders not because she wanted to be. Bitter betrayal soaked into her heart.
"Yes, that is why Zechs sent me here," Kiki said quietly.
Relena felt like weeping. "Marcus knows too, doesn't he?"
"Yes," Kiki whispered.
"Can I trust no one?" Relena asked herself quietly, anger having given way to hurt and sadness. "It's all so futile."
MWMWMWM
Emily was chewing thoughtfully on her pencil easier, then flipped it around, accidentally poking herself in the eye. "Ow!"
Vince glanced up for only a second from his book. "Again? Why don't you leave your pencil on the table where you can't hurt yourself anymore," he suggested.
Emi was goggling at the TV, as he usually did whenever they met in the café to study. Siduri was glaring at her text book. She was muttering under her breath things like, "Stupid Dr. Roosevelt..." and, "moronic scalpel." No one really felt like asking what she was on about. She'd been in a horrible mood all week. First she hadn't done so well in clinicals, then she screamed bloody murder at Tai for something no one really wanted to know about, and finally they were guessing there was some major PMSing going on. Now was not the time to mess with Siduri.
Tai leaned back and cracked his back before turning back to his book. "Do any you guys remember, what are some possible complications of gangrene? I have to come up with three more."
"You mean besides getting a limb chopped off?" Siduri answered testily.
"That's not a side-affect. That's a treatment," Tai told her, keeping his sarcasm to a minimum.
"Hey, you're on TV Tai!" Emi called.
They all stopped and looked up. "....so it seems that Relena Darlian has finally found herself a boyfriend, but oops. Hope the wife doesn't find out! That's Huy Iwasato, former college basketball star currently attending graduate school on colony...."
"Hhm. I guess not," Emi said. He sounded disappointed.
"That's old news. They've been showing that since last night! Same report and everything," Emily chirped cheerfully. "Hey, that Huy guy has the same last name as you, Tai!"
"Yah, no crap. Isn't that your twin that I met the other day?" Siduri asked, glaring at Tai, but not in anger, for once, just confusion.
"Isn't that the park in the suburbs?" Vince asked suddenly. Four pairs of eyes snapped over to stare at Tai, who was sitting, dumbstruck in his seat. Of course, he had more unconscious control than to let his mouth hang open or anything like that so he looked perfectly normal to everyone around him, just a bit petrified.
"I've got to fix this." He jumped up and crammed books into his bag. By now most of the room was openly staring at him.
There was dead silence, and then Siduri screamed out loud what everyone else was thinking, and consequently informing all around what was going on in case they hadn't already figured it out. "YOU'RE SEEING RELENA DARLIAN! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ANY OF US!!!" She made a move to grab him, but he had run out before she could grab him.
"Take notes in class for me!" he yelled over his shoulder as he vaulted over the fence around the little café and out into the parking lot. His friends all stood staring in shock after him.
"And here I was starting to think the guy was a eunuch or something...." Vince murmured.
Siduri threw her books down and sprinted after Tai.
-MWM-
Tai flung himself into his car and rammed the key into the ignition. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. He figured he'd better call Huy and Kieko first.
Suddenly the passenger door flew open and Siduri sat down. "Where're you going?"
"Get out," Tai said, not looking over at her.
"No. I think I deserve to know what's going on," Siduri demanded.
"Actually you don't. Get out." Tai really didn't feel like messing around.
"I'm coming with you."
Tai glanced at her. Siduri's jaw was set tightly and she was gripping the hand of the door which she had just locked. "I'm not moving," she reiterated.
"Fine." He could probably ditcher her later. Backing out, he headed for home.
"So how long have you known Ms Darlian?" Siduri asked after a couple minutes as Tai squealed around the corner. She had her eyes closed and was obviously trying not to criticize his reckless driving and trying to keeping her lunch down.
"Since I was fifteen."
Siduri started. "Since you were fifteen? So that was her at the shuttle port?"
"Yes."
"But...she got shot and disappeared for a while, she wasn't back yet at that point. I remember because Emi got all excited when he found out that she was back and...in...town...." She gaped openly at Tai. She was quiet a moment, then she spoke up delicately as if trying not to offend Tai for the first time in her life. "She was living with you, wasn't she." It was not a question.
"Yes, but it wasn't like that. In case you've forgotten, my roommate is Preventor. Zechs wanted to hide her and he trusts me, and she needed medical attention, which I could give her."
"The girl was shot!" Siduri exclaimed, obviously distraught that Tai would attempt to treat such a patient.
"I didn't remove the bullets or anything. I just kept the wounds clean, the follow-up stuff and all."
Siduri nodded then. "Makes sense. So you know Zechs too?"
"Yah...." Tai said darkly.
Siduri sat quietly and awkwardly for the rest of the trip, looking at her hands. A few minutes later Tai was parked in front of his basement apartment and sprinting to the door, headless of the stairs.
As soon as he got in, he dialed his brother's home. Because Huy was on a colony, the reception was fuzzy as usual, but it was good enough.
"NO I AM NOT SEEING RELENA DARLIAN!" Huy screamed in greeting.
Siduir had seated herself on the couch and the shocked look had begun to fade. She almost laughed when she heard Huy's voices screaming through the phone. But Tai didn't look too perturbed.
"Huy, it's me, Tai."
"Thank heavens. I thought I'd go crazy if one more reporter called. Kieko's going batty too, not to mention she's not been feeling well, the pregnancy and all. So...WHAT IN GOD'S NAME POSSESSED YOU TO TELL PEOPLE YOU WERE HUY IWASATO! I KNOW YOU GET ANNOYED BY ME PRETENDING TO BE YOU, BUT DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS JUST A TAD EXCESSIVE!!!!"
"I didn't tell anyone that I was Huy. They just assumed I was you, which actually makes absolutely no sense as I live on Earth, where the pictures were taken, and you are on a colony."
"And I really have to get my stupid thesis going too! All I'm doing is answering the phone!"
Tai heard a woman's voice exclaim on the other end, then Huy quickly speaking to that voice, his mouth slightly away from the phone. "I mean, I need to finish it. Of course I've already started on it, darling."
"...DARLING..." was all Tai could make out.
"HUY!" he yelled to get his brother's attention.
"Oi! Sorry, anyway...." Huy answered.
"Well, I just wanted to call and make sure everything's okay with you guys. I better get off and figure out how to fix this thing. We were trying to keep it quiet and all." Tai ran a hand through his hair distractedly.
"Tai, do you know if the Preventors are doing anything in space about now?" Huy suddenly asked, his voice oddly calm.
"No. Why?" This couldn't be good.
"Some psychos are on the TV threatening to blow up the Earth."
"Crap," was all Tai said, then hung up. "Change of plans, just perfect," he muttered as he ran back out to his car, Siduri hot on his heels. He'd completely forgotten about her.
He pulled out and headed toward the Preventor headquarters, praying that Zechs was on top of things.
"What's up now? Going to call a press conference?" Siduri asked, her sarcasim beginning to return.
"No. That doesn't matter now."
Siduri looked startled. "What's happened?"
"Some radicals are threatening to blow up Earth. It's all over the stations in the colonies. Huy told me."
"So what's that got to do with you?"
Tai glanced over at her. "Hopefully nothing. Relena's gonna kill us all..." he muttered.
"Why would Relena kill you? And all who?"
Tai's jaw tightened. "You probably should get back to school. I'll drop you off," he said, changing course.
"No. What's going on?"
Tai looked down at his hands. "Let's just say I'm an honorary Preventor of sorts and that this attacked wasn't completely unexpected, at least to us. Relena was has heard the rumors too but she'll be furious she wasn't in the full loop. Not that she should be surprised with Zechs as her brother and all...." Tai trailed off, then stopped in front of the café where their friends were still seated, talking so animatedly that they didn't see him pull up. "Go back to class."
"No."
"Listen Siduri," Tai said with forced calm. "I can't tell you anything more and I won't tell you anything more. That would be treason on my part. This is way over your head. Go back to class and rest assured that there are several very, very intelligent people working to preserve your safety and peace. Go to class."
"No."
"You asked for it," Tai muttered before grabbing her in a choke hold and dragging her across his lap and out his car door. She fell with a thump on the road as Tai slammed his door shut again. He pulled away and headed back to HQ completely forgetting about her within three seconds.
When he sprinted up the stairs, it took all of two seconds for three guards to run up to him. "What do you want?" one demanded. "You don't work here."
"I need to see Zechs Marquis," he said quickly.
"You think you can just waltz up here and demand to see him and actually get in? Make an appointment like everyone else. That is, if he'll give you the time of day," one of the guards sneered.
Tai felt his patience waning. "What about Chang Wufei? Trowa Barton? Quatre Winner? Duo Maxwell?"
"Look, I haven't heard of any of those guys! Just back off and go home kid."
Tai refrained from kicking something...or someone...and sprinted back to his car.
He arrived at a familiar house—the one with a chain-linked fence around it. After banging on the door for five minutes, a harassed looking Hilde in a bathrobe arrived at the door, the most recent baby in arms. "Tai! What are you doing here?"
"I need to see Duo. Is he here?"
"Yah, come on in," Hilde said cheerfully, stepping aside to let him in. "He's glued to the TV. Something about your brother's on there..."
Tai groaned.
"Tai!" a little boy chirped happily and launched himself at Tai's legs.
In order to walk, Tai pried him off and swung the child up into his arms, kicking random toys out of the way to clear a walkway.
"Duo! I need to talk to you someplace private," he called when he saw his braided friend sitting in the middle of the living room floor, his two other children on either side of him.
Duo's head snapped up at Tai's voice, then he grinned. "Seems like Huy's a little bad boy," he winked, obviously knowing full well that the man on TV was not Huy.
"Please?" Tai said, dropping the little boy gently onto the floor.
Duo shrugged and got up. Walking down the hall, they heard yelling coming from the living room. "No killing each other while I'm gone for two minutes!" Duo called over his shoulder as he shut them in the garage. "What's up?"
"I was just talking to Huy, for obvious reasons. He said some people are on TV threatening to blow up Earth."
"What?" Duo paled.
"Please tell me Zechs is taking care of this. I went to the Preventor headquaters but they wouldn't let me in," Tai reported.
"Don't worry. Zechs was in space yesterday. What I don't get is how they plan on doing that...from all we've seen it's not operational yet...." Duo said, looking thoughtful.
"What's not operational yet?" Tai asked tersely.
Duo looked around nervously, mostly out of habit, as if someone was listening in. "They're building a big mamma of a cannon on Mars. We found out first of this week. That's why we went a little earlier than planned on. But it's worked out perfectly—Relena and most reporters are probably so tied up with this Relena/Huy thing that no one's noticed and the less people find out the better."
"Yah," Tai mused. "Relena's brother using beam weaponry to attack colonies, and no doubt stealing information, spying...the works...."
"Not that you or I know anything about this, we're just civilians, remember?" Duo said, a slight gleam in his eyes. "And technically, beam weaponry is legal, now anyway."
"Yah..."
"Wanna go to headquarters? I've got a spare uniform. I'm supposed to man a desk at fourteen hundred hours."
"Right. I can get notes from class later. I just hope those gaurds don't recognize me. I guess I'll just explain that I'd forgotten my ID badge." Tai was already opening the door where Duo humm and hawed.
"Hmmm...I don't have a spare badge. I'll get you in the back way I guess. Let's go."
"Let's go where, Duo Maxwell?" Hilde asked from the other side of the door.
Duo grimaced. "I need to get to work a little early," he said kissing her on the cheek. "Hopefully this will all be over soon."
Hilde turned white and watched as her husband walked to their room to change for work.
MWMWMWM
A/N Sorry this took so long to come out. School is crazy as usual. I hope you enjoyed this!
Toodles, Tygerlilee