Disclaimer Alright, I'm tired of these disclaimers. I'm not the owner of the Gundam Series. May we all rest in peace knowing that the Gundam Series is in the capable hands of the Bandai Corp. thinks about that Hmm... Seed wasn't great... on second thought, let's rally to the aid of the guy who originally created gundam then we can get great gundam shows back on the air. Yes! That's what we have to do! Who is with me! cricket Great... no one. Ok, on with the chapter.

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Chapter 14 – Shopping Ethics

A couple of weeks went by after Kaori and Misao had be commissioned to Lumin's Preventor Team. Alex was fully healed from his brush with Kaori, and began to enjoy the fact that Hilde had bossed them around more than him. The team had been reassigned to the Detroit area for further training. After they had arrived, there was constant training to prepare for something that Alex wasn't aware of, but had suspicions of.

But, the brown-haired Preventor was about to find out that the future isn't the only thing he should be worried about. The past is about to knock on his door.

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Alex slept in his cockpit with a washcloth over his head. He was stretched out in his seat, and seemed to enjoy the sleep he had gotten. There had been plenty to do since the Preventor team was transferred to Detroit, and this was a brief rest period for him. Snow wasn't about to lose a wink of sleep to anything or anyone.

The cockpit to Icedig was shut tightly, and, with the manual override disabled from the inside, no one from the outside would able to get in. Alex's efforts didn't amount to much since Lumin had taken Toki, Kaori, and Misao out to make some quick errands about town an hour ago.

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A black-haired Japanese businessman walked down a dark alleyway in the heart of downtown Detroit. The man had a briefcase in one hand, and walked with the persona of 'don't touch me' as he continued down the alley. The alley was eerily quiet, not even a single homeless person was around.

He stopped by a dumpster, and sat his briefcase on top of it. The man then pulled a cigarette along with a lighter. After the cigarette was lit, the black-haired man inhaled a bit, and then exhaled. The cloud loomed over the man, and the man looked at his briefcase. His eyes kept tabs on the shadows nearby, as he continued to smoke.

Another poof of smoke was let out and a hard to hear sound was emitted nearby.

"So, you've arrived."

No response.

"Don't worry, I just got here myself. Or maybe you knew that already."

No response.

The man let out a sigh. "I keep forgetting that you are hard core about your profession, and so am I. That is why I had you come here." Still no movement from the shadows. "Eizo is becoming impatient with your progress. He wants you to speed it up with the death of one of the pilots within the week."

The cigarette was halfway gone, and he tapped it on the dumpster to get rid of the ash on it.

"I don't blame him for his actions, but really you are taking too long to make a move. If you don't want to do this assignment, I could easily have another one of my people do the job instead..." A gun cock echoed throughout the alleyway. "You're very persuasive when you want to be. I won't have another take your place." The gun could be heard being returned to its original spot. "But be warned, you must do this or Eizo will have your head and not mine."

The man dropped his cigarette onto the ground and crushed what little fire was left in it. After he smeared it with his foot, he began to walk back out the way he came. He glanced back before he left the alley, and the briefcase was gone. I just hope you will follow through with this mission, Silent Wind.

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Toki sat in disbelief where he and Misao were as they sat by fitting rooms in a clothing store. He and Misao were now victims of Hilde and Kaori's buying excursion for a new dress. I can't believe, those two decided that this was the time for buying new clothing and didn't let us have a say in the matter. Toki's eyes glanced at Misao who sat a few chairs down from him, and the red-haired pilot stared away from the fitting room with a heavy heart.

"Misao, what's the matter?"

"I was just thinking how we are here, and Alex isn't."

"It isn't fair, I know. But, he is lucky to not have been found by Hilde before we went out. I still wonder where he was."

"No idea. He is just luckier than us..."

Both Hilde and Kaori stepped out from the fitting rooms. Hilde had on a gorgeous blue dress that came down to her knees with thin straps over her shoulders. Kaori had on an elegant red dress that came down to slightly above her knees and was strapless. They walked over to both guys and showed off their dresses.

Needless to say, the technician and the young pilot were speechless. Their jaws hung a bit low.

In the back of Toki's mind, Alex isn't luckier after all...

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Alex continued to sleep in his cockpit. The washcloth lay on the ground now, and his mouth was wide with a some drool that hung out his mouth. It was just an embarrassing scene, but no one was around.

A knock came from the cockpit door.

Alex slept still.

Another louder knock echoed in the cockpit.

Alex groggily stirred, and looked at the cockpit door. "Go away." He rested his head again.

More series of knocks came, and wouldn't stop.

This time Alex had to respond. He got out of his seat, and activated the cockpit door. Once the cockpit door opened, Alex looked at the person outside. "I'm trying to sleep... in... here..."

The person in front of him had the uniform of a high ranking Preventor aid. He had on a green-tan jacket with the Preventor logo over his heart, a blue pair of khakis pants, and had a green hat with the Preventor logo on the front. Alex was familiar with this design of uniform, because it was that of an aid to Colonel Une herself. The brown-haired pilot didn't recognize the man otherwise. The aid's eyes were covered by a shadow, and his hair was tucked in under his hat.

He promptly saluted the man, and the aid saluted him back.

"Colonel Une requests your presence."

"What does the Colonel want with me?"

"Something important, that is all I know."

Why am I not surprised? Alex went back into the cockpit of Icedig for a moment. "Just let me get my jacket."

The aid stood patiently as Alex retrieved his jacket from a storage unit in Icedig. After a minute so, the pilot came out with his Preventor jacket on.

"Where does she want to meet me at?"

"I'll drive you there. It's in the old factory district."

The two men began to walk away from Icedig along the catwalk.

"Talk about in the middle of nowhere..."

"I don't question her orders, I just follow them."

"I know how that feels."

The two men walked out of the hangar.

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The girls walked down the sidewalk and took their time as they looked in shop windows. Shortly behind them were the guys that carried several bags for each that was about to their heads, and could barely see anything in front of them.

Hilde and Kaori walked into their final store for the night, a local grocery store.

"Last stop guys." Hilde said as she held open the door for the guys.

"Thank God." Misao mumbled.

"I don't feel my arms anymore..." Toki muttered. "They better carry some of this on the way back... or there will be hell to pay...."

Both of them struggled to get into the door, and Hilde closed the door behind them.

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A vehicle pulled up to an abandoned factory that had old signs with 'GM' vaguely visible from years of neglect. The smoke stacks had crumbled long ago, and most of the building was tattered beyond repair. Rust everywhere. Windows shattered. The building itself almost appeared to be ready its own demise.

It was hardly believable that someone would want to meet here. Yet, Alex looked at the building through the window of the car as if he knew that the Colonel was strange and mostly right in her ways. The brown-haired pilot opened his door and stepped out while his head. "Are you sure this is the place? I mean... this building... is..." The Preventor looked over the roof toward the driver that had stepped out himself.

"Nearly about to fall apart. The Colonel is aware of that."

"Then why meet here?" The door was slammed shut on the driver's side.

"That's the Colonel's reasoning, not mine."

"I guess, you have a point." Alex shut his door and began to approach the factory. Doesn't mean I like it, though. I just don't understand why she couldn't meet me back at the base. But, that's the Colonel for ya. The pilot before too long, and looked back at the Preventor aid. "Where in the building?"

"Follow me."

The aid went ahead of Alex, and the nineteen year old Preventor followed.

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An hour after they had hit the grocery store, the team had arrived back at the base. They had put away all the stuff that had been bought, and Preventor Lumin in her pajamas sat down on her bed in her quarters. She relaxed there from the hours of shopping that she and Kaori had done. Her blue dress hung in the closet by her bed, and the looks of surprise on both Toki and Misao's face were still etched in her mind.

Now to get Alex's expression, and the set would be complete. She sighed at the thought of where Alex was. The Preventor had lied about not knowing where Alex was. I could have dragged him along, but I couldn't bare to drag him with us. He just looked too much at peace on the other side of that comm link. The Preventor fell back onto her bed and gazed up to the ceiling. Her eyes focused on the dull ceiling, and listened to the silence present in the room. "If only life was this quiet all the time..."

A knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Colonel Une's Aid stepped into the room. "Sorry, to come in at such a time." The Aid had a nervous look on his face from both Hilde's attire and something else on his mind.

Lumin sat up on her bed. "Does the Colonel want to speak to me?"

"No. She wants to speak to Snow."

She scratched the top of her head, "The last time I saw him, he was in his mobile suit's cockpit sleeping."

"I checked there. He wasn't there."

Hilde looked surprised. "He wasn't? How about his quarters?"

"Not there either. Did you give him some leave to go into Detroit?"

"No. Why?"

"I can't find him anywhere on this base."

"What?" Hilde's anger had flared up. Alex went awol while we were gone.... I'm gonna have his head!

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Alex walked through the pitch black factory as he continued to follow the Preventor Aid. He had been walking for about ten minutes, and still no sign of the Colonel also the figure in front of him was about to fade away. His patience was a bit thin, and the pilot was tempted to turn around and head back.

"Where is the Colonel? I'm tired of these secrets of hers." Suddenly the Aid stopped, and Alex almost ran into him. "So, is this where the colonel is at?"

"I'm sorry, but I believe you misheard me."

"Misheard you? You said, that Colonel Une wanted to talk to me."

"Half of that's true. I did say that, but I lied."

Shit. The realization of a trap clicked in Alex's mind.

Alex jumped back away from the man he had followed and tried to run back the way he came. This attempt proved to be futile. The man that had lured Alex into this factory was quicker than the pilot had thought, and a swift elbow to the head knocked Alex out.

The man stood over the pilot's body, and examined him. I'm sorry I had to drag you into this, but I have no choice now. The dark figure grabbed Alex by the right leg and dragged him away.

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Author's Notes:

That was an interesting chapter. Completely different from what I wanted originally. Long story short, I thought about what would cause later events and this was the only way of that happening. If anyone wants to know how this chap was suppose to go, just ask.

Also, Alex is such an idiot... in a funny way. heavy sigh Can't believe he walked into that one.