AN: Quick Maguanac guild: Rasid-captain leader guy. Abdul-sunglasses guy, Ahmed-shorter with mustache, Auda-tall, larger guy. Manul-my own made up character because I ran out of real ones. These will be the ones I name, and I hopefully won't confuse you.

"Manifestations"
by Isis
Chapter 11

"All the equipment is double checked, Master Quatre."

"Thank you, Auda."

Duo sat at the table, vaguely watching the crew wonder around, finding something to keep themselves busy with. He yawned, and stretched back in his chair as Quatre took a seat across from him.

"We estimated a fifty-seven hour trip, but I think we can cut that down to fifty-three."

"Oh yeah, that'll be a massive improvement," he sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

Quatre chuckled good-naturedly. "Sorry, I tried to warn you."

Duo shook it off, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Nah. Nice quiet little trip will be fun."

"Master Quatre, we're getting a choppy message from Captain Rasid."

"Huh?" Quatre stood up and propelled himself towards the door.

"We're almost out of communications range, but he's tried three times now."

The man looked a bit befuddled and Duo shrugged to himself, figuring if it was important he may as well follow. Floating along after the two, they entered the bridge, Quatre stopping himself in front of the communications consol. The screen showed nothing but static, but faintly there were words being picked up here and there.

"All we've been able to make out is that it's the Captain, and that he's saying something about Mars."

Quatre shook his head, listening. "Mars… ship… crew… accid-… careful…."

"Maybe there's been another accident?" Duo offered.

The men nodded as the faint message cut out completely. "Whatever it was, Rasid was boosting the signal to get it this far," he commented. "It must be important."

"Should we turn around until we can reach the signal range?"

Duo absently watched the blond consider it but then shake his head. "No, we will keep going. If we haven't figured it out by the time we reach the crew ships we'll see if we can divert a message through their communications equipment."

The men around them nodded, but Duo noted Quatre's worried expression.

Shrugging he slapped Quatre on the back. "Yeah, no use letting a good head start go to waste."

Ahmed leaned over the consol and twitched his mustache as he chuckled. "I bet Lady Dorothy finally showed up and they were calling for backup."

Duo laughed along with the rest of the crew, but he felt Quatre tense. He looked over to find the man wide-eyed. "Dorothy," he whispered.

His expression dropped and Ahmed visually shrunk in front of him. "You did call her before we left, didn't you?"

The poor guy closed his eyes and slumped. "I tried to, but I never got a hold of her, and…." Sighing, he hung his head. "She's going to hurt me."

Duo chuckled merrily at his expense and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Oh, don't worry. You can make it up to her when we get back," he winked.

Quatre looked over at him with a comically deflated expression. "I don't think you know her very well, Duo."

He shrugged. "I don't know her at all. That's your job."

"It's no use, Sir. They're too far out. I doubt they've been able to make out anything."

Rasid leaned over the console, worry creeping further in. "Very well. Reset the equipment."

The door to the room opened and Dorothy entered, her hair dancing after her. "Have you reached them yet?"

He straightened and shook his head no. "They are too far out of range."

"I see," she mused. "The Mars satellite wouldn't give me the frequency channels to call the supply ship either."

"Surely there is someone on the satellite that we could talk to," he offered.

She turned to gaze up at him, her expression calculating. "What good would that do?"

His jaw tightened involuntarily as her words rang true.

"What else do we have that can reach Mars?"

Regarding her again he attempted to be cautious with his answers. "We have a resource scout ship. It would have enough fuel to get there, but would need to be re-supplied to get back."

"All we need to do is get there," she reasoned, staring up at the monitors along the wall and watched two of them showing the news reports on the "accident."

"Yes," he agreed. Turning to the assembled group, he called over two men and Abdul. "Prepare the ship, we leave immediately."

"I will accompany you."

The rest of the room turned to look at her as Dorothy stood next to Rasid, her hands clasped behind her. Rasid looked down at the young woman with annoyance. "This will not be a job for you, Lady Dorothy."

She turned to look up at him, her eyes expressionless. "This is not a job; this is, very likely, a rescue party."

He turned fully to face her, his towering, hulking form looming over her. "The scout ship is very small. There is only room for four individuals, and it is not fitted for this long of a flight. It will not be comfortable."

She blinked at him, her expression going sour. "Do you believe I will take up too much room?" The obvious slap against his size was a direct attack on his attempt to intimidate her, but there were very few men in the room brave enough to chuckle at the comment.

"I am afraid that you will need to remain here," he stated pointedly.

"If you're so afraid of it, perhaps you should stay behind."

His expression darkened. "Master Quatre would never allow—"

"'Master Quatre' isn't here, Captain," she spat his Maguanac title at him, and his anger rose. "He's on his way to face someone you know nothing about, and he gets closer every moment you argue with me."

He backed down his anger and met her eyes darkly. "The men in this room have sworn an oath to him. You have no such reason for accompanying us."

She tilted her head to the side with a dangerous looking smirk. "Perhaps I don't. But I have the remains of my crew in more trouble than he is out there."

Slowly Rasid's respect for the woman grudgingly grew out of his anger.

"Make me swear anything you like, but I am going with you."

"I'm Special Agent Sally Po; it is my duty to head up this little mission," she officially introduced herself, one hand at her side as the two stood in front of the table in the abandoned mess hall. "My command will primarily pertain to the medical and collective needs of the stranded crew."

Heero looked over his three teammates, perfectly quiet around the table.

"Since Agent Yuy here volunteered your services, he has taken the position of second in command." She bumped him with her elbow and he eyed her cautiously.

"You will not be general staff on his assignment," he added instead. "Your objective is Relena only. Any commands from Agent Po or any higher officers are secondary to her safety."

The three nodded.

"There is a chance that I will be called away once we enter orbit," he confided. "I will leave you to your own decisions." Eyeing over the group carefully he made his choice. "It will not be as easy as you might expect to protect her."

All three of them gave him a confused stare and he silently closed his eyes.

"Relena has a habit of getting herself involved with the dangerous types," Sally adding, ribbing him with the inside joke. "She's also very good at going where she wants."

"Like to Mars," Ry muttered.

He looked up to eye the man, just in case he decided to have another outburst.

"Sanq, Romafeller, Libra, Mars… the girl's good," Sally rubbed her head.

Good. No; devoted, unwavering, stubborn…. "She will find any method necessary. The three of you have to be able to follow her lead."

"Follow her?"

He nodded. "She'll find where she needs to be."

All four of them blinked at him. "Guess there's no locking her in a room and throwing away the key then, huh?" Sally mumbled.

He shook his head. Relena wasn't going to be locked away anywhere. Not when she had this much emotional connection to the task at hand.

"So we should expect her to be exactly the opposite of what we're used to?" Ry snorted, disbelievingly.

Heero looked solidly at him. "You have no idea what she's capable of."

"'You have no idea what she's capable of.' What the heck does that mean?"

"Ry, would you calm down?" Alli sat in a chair in the tiny observation room next to the sleeping quarters. The room was darkened and the view of stars through the windows was usually a beautiful sight. But she hadn't expected to have to hear this when Ry asked her to meet him here. She'd left Relena alone in the guestroom across the hall, figuring if nothing else that Agent Po would be back shortly.

"Where does the guy get off?" Ry threw up a hand, his voice rising even further. "Like he has any clue 'what she's capable of' either!"

"Ry!" Alli had had it. There was no reasoning with him anymore and she was tired of listening to it. "Shut up, already."

He blinked at her, his green eyes surprised that she'd yelled at him.

"We will do as we are told and everyone will make it out of here again in perfect health. We have no way of knowing what to expect. He's just preparing us for the worst."

He balked at her. "What? You're going in for this line of crap too?" He turned away, "Un-freaking-believable."

"What do you want me to say?" she asked, forcing her voice to be calm. "I can't turn the ship around, Ry. We are charged with her safety. Us. That means we need to be ready."

"Ready? Ready! Alli, the only major threat that I see facing Relena on this ship is him. And when we get there, I figure I'll find it about the same."

"How can you say that?" Alli stared at him. "I may agree that he has a very bad flare for the dramatic, but he is not a threat to her."

"Why, the heck, is she here?" he asked, pointedly.

"Apparently, because she wants to be," she stated in the same tone.

He snorted. "It couldn't be that Mr. Combat was bored and decided this sounded fun. Po slipped up and said he volunteered."

Alli sighed. What was she going to do with him?

"He volunteered because he knew I'd come regardless."

They both turned to find Relena standing in the doorway. Alli jumped to her feet ready to apologize for leaving her in the room alone.

She held up a hand to ward off the comments. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was kind of hard not to," she smiled.

Alli looked up at Ry and swallowed. "Miss Relena…."

She shook her head, closing the door as she entered and slipped over to take Alli's vacated chair. "It's alright, I understand that you all are a little confused."

"Confused?" Ry repeated. "I'm not confused. I'm just angry."

Relena looked up at him, her eyes worried. "Please don't be."

"Relena," he started, coming over and taking knee in front of her. "Give me one honest answer in all of this."

She nodded.

"Do you actually trust this guy?"

Alli watched as she slowly smiled down at him, her eyes softening. "Completely."

Ry stopped, seeing the same expression she did. "Completely…. With your life?" he clarified.

Her smile turned into a chuckle and she shook her head. Leaning closer to him, she met his eyes. "I trust him with much more than my life, Ry."

Relena slowly turned from him to Alli, the same soft expression to her eyes. There was a lot more to that look than trust, she decided. "What aren't the two of you telling us?" Alli asked quietly, never blinking from the other's gaze.

Relena turned away, an almost sad note creeping into her expression. "There are things that I can't answer," she stated quietly. "What I can say is that Heero and I have more of a connection than you know."

"Why hide that?"

She smiled at Ry and leaned back in her chair. "It wouldn't be good for anyone to unbury the past."

Ry stood up and Alli walked over, taking his hand in hers. "Is there something we should know?" he asked quietly.

Relena blinked. "Not that I can say." She gave them both a reassuring smile. "Heero's used to being on his own. I hope you can work with him a bit better through all of this."

The mild reproach was enough to still both of them.

Standing she looked over the two. "We didn't mean to keep you in the dark. There are just some things that are better left where they are." Slowly she shook her head. "I shouldn't have told you this much, it's not my place. But I want you to understand that you can trust him to know what's best. For me, and everyone else," she added quietly. Turning, she started towards the door, leaving them to their own thoughts.

"Miss Relena…."

She stopped before opening the door and regarded Alli.

"We'll try to be better at this."

She smiled. "I never seem to make things easy."

"So, Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian. How wonderful of her."

"She will have her own security force with her; it will add to the number of Preventers coming."

"It doesn't matter." The man calmly ran a hand through his hair, perfecting the center part. "They will be glued to her side."

"You're right."

"Such an interesting girl. I will be fascinated to meet her." Tapping a pen against his desk he leaned back, placing the data pad down again. "What a wonderful opportunity to host her here on Mars." Standing up, he walked around the desk and stood in front of the woman who lounged on the other corner, absently filing her nails.

"Don't you think she'll cause problems?"

Looking down at her youthful countenance, he ran an eye over her shoulder length blond hair, currently tied back into a tight twist. She always was a beautiful girl—woman, he corrected. At nineteen, he of all people would not consider her a child.

"Not at all, Ferra," he soothed, placing a hand on the desk on either side of her and leaning down. "She will make one of her heart wrenching speeches and unify the workers to double production times."

The woman nodded, her spotted hazel eyes still on her nails. "That will be nice, Marcus," she agreed.

"Yes. So I want you to be especially hospitable to her," he smiled, leaning in towards her.

She jerked back, pointing the metal file at his throat. "I'm not finished."

"We will give you all privacy possible," Rasid commented as the four of them entered the ship and closed down the hatch. Dorothy had reduced her luggage to one bag and her wardrobe to a sensible pair of shoes, slacks, a white tank top and the fitted jacket that she had worn this morning. One must be ready for anything.

"Please, I am one of your soldiers as long as I am under your command," she bowed slightly. "I do not need any special treatment."

Scanning the ship she found that they were going to become very good chums during the flight, she may as well make a good start. The main section had four consoles: flight, navigation, communications, and scanning sensor banks. This was a scout ship; its use was in finding something hard for humans to see naturally.

The living section was…. Well, it was four bunks, two per wall, top and bottom. Curtains cut off the views and noise from the outside, as well as preserving just a bit of privacy. A small kitchenette was set in the back with a liquid dispenser and small refrigeration unit.

…She was going to hurt Quatre for this.

"Have you ever flown anything like this, Lady?" he asked, motioning to the control systems.

She stepped over, familiarizing herself with the board. "Not really. But it looks like I will catch on if need be."

Rasid nodded. "Abdul, start us out."

The man's perpetual smirk turned into a full smile as plopped down in the seat, his sunglasses hiding what she would assume to be excitement. "Yes, Sir!"

"We will work in two shifts, allowing time for each team to get some sleep. Abdul, assist Lady Dorothy, Manul and I will take the second shift." The burly man gazed down at her a moment. "We will have nothing to do for a while. If you would like to rest, it would help you adjust to shipboard time."

She favored the man with a smile for the grudging show of concern, but shook her head. "It would be best if I observed the controls to familiarize myself."

"You can sit next to me, Lady, I won't bite," Abdul offered, not really turning from the controls.

"I never worry about being bitten," she returned playfully, taking the offer and placing herself in the navigation seat next to him. She studied his movements with the monitors at the front of the cockpit area, comparing them to what she commonly knew of standard shuttles.

Rasid and the other soldier moved to the back, securing items and the luggage as the ship disengaged from the colony's holding arms. The first taste of 1/6 gravity turned her stomach slightly, but it easily wore off.

"You're awfully brave for wanting to go with us," Abdul commented low enough that the others didn't hear him.

She glanced over at the Maguanac soldier and decided she could come to like him yet. "I am no braver than you."

He shook his head as they moved toward the exit hatch, slowly creeping out into the ink of space. "From what you said to the Captain, you're a lot braver than I am," he let the glasses fall down his nose far enough to give her a wink over the top of them.

Dorothy chuckled at the display. "Well, I hold you men as upstanding. I may have been a bit more fearful if I were you too."

He chuckled as he finished his maneuvers and pushed the throttle up. Her stomach lurched again until their speed caught up with her. No turning back now.

"Excuse me, Lady Dorothy," Rasid stated. "We'll need to lay in the course."

She left her seat and instead took the place at the unused scanning controls. "What will our travel time be?"

Rasid worked at the consol a moment and then leaned back, staring up at the projected course. "Estimated at forty-seven hours. Master Quatre's ship had estimated fifty-seven. With a fifteen hour head start we will still arrive behind them."

"Wouldn't that get us close enough to send a ship to ship message?"

Rasid thought for a moment. "Probably not. Our closest approach will be when they are already docking with the Mars fleet. We could give them away if we do get a message through."

"And that's if Master Quatre doesn't save a few hours here or there," Abdul piped in.

Rasid sighed to himself in the front seat, crossing his arms over his chest. Dorothy sympathized with him. They had two days to sit here and do nothing but worry. "Regardless of whatever plans Marcus may have, he will need the parts and supplies they're bringing," she said.

The three men turned to look at her.

"He's already expecting the help," she explained. "It would make sense to show his good will by welcoming them."

"Then they'll be fine."

Her eyes narrowed. "Unless they find something that they aren't supposed to."

"Evidence of the 'accident.'"

"Exactly," she sighed.

"I don't get it," Abdul shrugged. "What could he possibly hope to gain by using this to take over the workers? Now he's reliant on help from Earth, and they have an entire ship of Preventers on the way."

"Marcus was never good at strategy. This was improvised." Dorothy sat at the station, slowly tapping her nails against the metal, one hand propping up her chin. "What were you afraid of?" she whispered, a glint of challenge in her eye as she watched the screens.

(flashback)

The blue light of the screen produced the only light in the room as the man leaned over the keyboard. Through the flickers of the screen, files were being copied and stored to a disk. The man's icy blue eyes didn't blink as he searched through the folders and subcategories, looking for exactly what he needed.

The access codes had been very hard to come by, and security was too tight, anyone could give him away. He had to be careful or they would find a way to get rid of him.

The screens flipped by as fast as they could. The financial reports sent back to Earth…. He needed the real ones, the ones that determined where the funding was actually going.

Sharp notes of voices were heard from the hallway and he narrowed his eyes, focusing on the last few folders to check. Finally he hit the right information. Quickly he burnt it onto the disk, eying the door as the sounds grew louder, words now carried over the vibration on the metal decking. The next shift would be going on in a matter of minutes.

The disk beeped its completion, and he nearly cursed the small sound that seemed to echo in his head. Popping it out he turned off the monitor and pushed himself off the floor, floating back to the wall in the dark room, quietly waiting to see where the voices would go. They passed by, just on the other side of the wall, and went on, turning down the next row.

Letting his breath out he made his way to the door, listening for any indication of life on the other side of the wall. Confident, he pushed the door open and stepped out, then took off down the hall the way the others had, placing the disk in the utility pocket of his work suit.

"Agent Yuy?"

Heero looked up, finally acknowledging Ry walking up beside the table. The mess hall was deserted during the off-shift, and it was usually a quiet place for him to concentrate on the information vaguely pulled out of the Mars reports… among other things. Eyeing the officer he decided that this might not be a pleasant conversation.

"Can I interrupt?" he asked.

Heero nodded and motioned for him to have a seat.

"I… wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior," he started, finding the tabletop interesting. "I had no right to question you like that. And I understand that you are looking after her welfare as well as the rest of us."

It sounded a bit rehearsed, but Heero found the man's expression sincere. Actually, he looked rather…. "What did she say?"

Ry finally took the seat offered and then snapped his head up to look at him.

Heero scooted the laptop to the side, leaning back in his chair. "It's getting easier to discern her influence."

The man slumped in his seat across from Heero. "Do you two psychically share brain cells? Honestly, because you can tell me."

Heero shook his head. That would be far too easy.

Ry sighed to himself, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. "She may have mentioned something to us. But the fact remains that I shouldn't have needed the talking to."

"Your discipline is lacking."

Ry brought his gaze back down to look at him, and then rubbed a hand behind his neck. "And you're annoyingly honest." He sighed, rolling his eyes, "I just don't like this."

Heero paused a moment. If he revealed too much, questions would come up. But if they were going to follow him into this, it may be best if they understood. "I don't like it either."

Ry eyed him, "So what's the real reason we're out here?"

"Mostly what I've already told you."

"Plus?" he prodded.

"Plus, she has family on Mars." He hoped he wasn't betraying her by saying that.

"Family?" Ry stared confused at him. "What family? All she has is…." He started, "Her brother? I thought he was dead."

"So does everyone else." Heero closed his eyes, wondering why he was always so tied to Zechs' fate.

Ry blew out a whistle and shook his head. "Boy, that sucks."

Heero gave his officer an amused expression, finding that statement overly simplified, but correct.

"How do you know all this stuff?" he asked quietly.

He eyed him a moment before turning to face the windows beside them. "We've known each other longer than we told you."

"I've sorta figured that out," he mumbled.

Heero didn't turn back to him. Their whole forsaken past came up in his mind, and he felt that same dread that always accompanied it.

"I wasn't right when I asked you how you could let her come, was I?" Heero turned his eyes back to regard Ry. "I called her a friend… but that doesn't really cover it, does it?"

He stopped, his expression obviously showing surprise at the question. Friend? How should he know? There was still vocabulary that just didn't find a rightful place in him yet. No, Relena didn't fit in with the group that he could be persuaded to call his friends. But what he would classify her as, he didn't know.

A smile formed on Ry's face as he looked away blankly. "I didn't figure that could be all one sided."

Heero blinked.

"That undying trust she seems to have in you…" Ry chuckled, and turned back to him. "I hope, for her sake, that it's well founded."

"When you really trust someone, you have to be okay with not understanding some things." - Real Live Preacher

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