"Manifestations"
By Isis
Chapter 16

"Their sensors have picked us up by now, there's no way that we would have snuck in un-detected."

"That's to be expected," Dorothy commented, fingering her hair into a loose braid. "We have come in good faith to help out our crew, nothing more."

Rasid nodded, his suit fitting him a lot better than hers did. "We will request to dock next to the Star Grazer and head out immediately to find Master Quatre."

"Be careful not to seem too rushed."

"Of course," he commented, giving her an odd look.

She met his eyes quietly. "I won't be going with you."

He balked, "What?"

She shook her head. "I can identify Marcus the same way he can identify me. I will jeopardize you."

"Lady Dorothy, you knew this all along!"

"Of course I did," she smirked. "I also know that you boys will be fine on your own."

"Where will you go?"

"Humph," she smiled at the slight concern etched in the older man's face. "I will hide. There are plenty of places out here in the fleet where no one will think to look for me, especially if they don't know I'm here."

"But—"

She held up a hand to quiet him. "Miss Relena will be arriving only a few hours behind us. I will sneak in with their group, and then I can try to help the Preventers track down something to implicate him with."

"But we can't leave you on your own," Abdul commented, laying a firm hand on her shoulder.

She chuckled and then narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not such an incapable little girl, am I?"

He retracted the hand and swallowed.

"Besides, we know that Mr. Yuy got our message. I will be perfectly fine. Once they start digging I won't have to worry."

With a little luck, Heero Yuy would take off after Marcus personally. They had received a single transmission back from the Mars command ship as they passed them. 'Message acknowledged' was all it read. But that had been enough.

Marcus Delmare had no way of knowing what he was about to be in for.

"Welp, few more hours and Heero's crew should be here. I'd say that's enough time to find something interesting," Duo chuckled to himself as he slipped into an alcove behind him. No one would notice one missing crewmember, and he was dying to do a little exploring.

He pushed himself off towards the airlock entrance, nonchalantly letting himself out the access hatch along with several other workers. But instead of heading back to the Star Grazer, he shadowed himself along the outside of the colony towards the Fuga.

What a tacky name for a ship, he decided. Oh well. No accounting for taste.

Hiding himself near the access bulkhead he waited for a clear time to enter. The fewer people that saw him, the fewer who would question why a gray-suited crewmember was on the command ship. Sneaking inside he quickly found the locker rooms and blessed all that was holy that he had chosen a quiet time.

The place was nearly deserted and he easily sloughed off the suspicious suit, his black pants and long sleeved shirt were good enough for this task. He made his way out into the ship proper, finding an access terminal, and quickly popping up a map of the ship. Cargo holds, storage rooms, quarters, the mess hall, and the executive offices… If he was looking for something suspicious, he wanted a place that nobody had a reason to go to.

Garbage collection. Well… He'd start a level above that.

Moving off he was careful to avoid any passage that would lead him close to the crew quarters. He may be unsuspicious, but these people had been out here long enough to get to know at least a good portion of their neighbors. He couldn't lie his way out of a situation, and he wasn't in the mood to hurt anybody.

Sneaking around the lower levels for forty-five minutes achieved nothing, but it did make him decide that he didn't want to bring Hilde out here after all. He decided he'd hit a few of the non-essential storage areas and then head off to the Timor. And if he still found nothing, he'd head back to Quatre and the Mags, and wait.

Along that line of thought he cautiously pressed open a door to a storage locker, but it didn't open. The door read 'lock' when he tried again, and he smiled down at it. Not a whole lot of storage areas that one can lock off from the outside.

"Well then," he mumbled, tossing a quick look at the silent, lifeless hallway. Pulling out a utility knife, he pried the cover plate off and carefully disconnected a wire from the inside patch. Pressing the button again, the door casually slit open and he gently positioned the faceplate to not draw attention to it. Entering he found the room slightly larger than he would have thought. But as the lights flicked on and the door closed behind him he let out a whistle.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"Hello Quatre."

He recognized the voice before he looked up to find her floating next to the equipment bank. "Hello Miss Ferra. We're almost ready for the last equipment."

"I can see that, you've done a wonderful service for us," she commented.

"The least we can do." He inched himself up beside her and surveyed the room.

"I actually came to tell you that your friends have arrived."

He felt the chill run down his back at the comment. She shouldn't have known they were friends. Turing he held his voice steady. "The satellite's supply ship?"

Her purple helmet swiveled. "No, a scout ship of yours. They said that you forgot a few things and have come after you to help out."

"Really?" That didn't make sense…

"Yes, if you and your crew would like to meet them, you certainly may. We can finish up the details here while we wait for the remainder of the items."

He nodded. "It sounds like I'd better go thank them for following us all the way out here," he chuckled. There had to be a good reason for someone to come after them, and he was beginning to suspect that Duo had been on the right path.

…Duo. He'd lost track of him a couple hours ago. His insistence on having a look around before the others arrived was still probably not a good idea, but he couldn't stop him. Hopefully Ferra didn't have an exact count on their little group.

"Yes, by all means," she offered.

The group talked idly as they made their way back to the Fuga, Ferra accompanying them along the way. Entering the ship the team took the chance to get out of their suits before they followed along. "We wanted to make them comfortable while they waited for you, being cooped up on a small ship can be so tiring. I figured it would be easier if I fetched you."

"That was very nice of you," he commented, a gnawing feeling of being led along eating at him.

She opened the door to an observation deck and Quatre and the others entered, finding Rasid, Abdul and Manul seated around the area.

"Master Quatre!" they greeted.

He smiled up at Rasid, nervously wondering how to ask what had brought them out here. "Hello. It seems like you wanted to help after all."

"I'll let you guys chat," Ferra added, excusing herself and exiting.

He relaxed a bit with her out of the room, but still that gnawing feeling continued. A couple quick motions and he flanked off half the soldiers to either side of the door. "What is it?" he near-silently mouthed.

"Trouble," the other returned much the same way.

He nodded. "I figured as much." The other blinked. "You shouldn't have come, this is going to seem suspicious."

With that, the doors opened again. The arranged soldiers didn't get the chance to tell if it was friend or foe before five men aimed their guns into the room ahead of them. "Yes, it was a bit suspicious." Ferra once again entered the room, her eyes closed and one hand at her hip. "But the message in your communications log is what worried me."

Quatre readied himself. Between him and the ten arranged Maguanacs, the six of them shouldn't be difficult, but there was absolutely nowhere out here they could run to. They couldn't take on the entire Mars fleet by themselves, and Heero and Relena were still a few hours away.

Relaxing, he held up both hands in surrender, the others following his example out of trust. For now, he'd hold his cards, they didn't need to know what the group was capable of… and in the mean time, he'd gather what he could from them.

Alli stood near the door of the conference room, waiting for the announcement of the docking to come over the ship speakers. Ry and Del lounged around the area, and Relena leaned against the table, again clad in the yellow sweater but with a pair of slacks, which were a bit more practical for a low gravity environment. They were also the most formal articles of clothing that she had. Alli decided she probably should have picked out a suit of some sort while they were on Earth for personal effects.

She hadn't thought of how often the politician had to look so professional.

The door opened and she instinctually snapped her attention to the visitor. The Captain entered holding an electronic data pad under one arm. Relena stepped away from the table to greet him. "I figured you would be busy with the ship by now, Captain," she smiled.

"I will be shortly," he stated. Crossing the room he handed her the pad, not letting go of it himself for a moment. "You wanted to be notified of new reports that we could get from Mars once we were close enough. These are the updates since our departure."

"Thank you. I would like to be knowledgeable when we arrive," she stated, finally getting the thing out of his hand.

"We also have the list of the injured and missing now."

Relena snapped her attention back up to the man in front of her, visually unprepared for that news. Quickly she recomposed herself and nodded. "Thank you."

The man bowed slightly and quickly exited.

All three of the team watched her stare at the pad in her hand. She made no move to turn it on as she looked down at the little thing.

Alli exchanged confused looks with the two men as Relena finally came to and turned around to face away from them. Setting the pad on the table she leaned over it and began examining the contents.

There were no remarks and no audible signals that she was finding anything to be concerned over… but there were also no signs that she comprehended the information she was scanning. Alli took a couple steps forward, bent on at least asking if everything was all right.

The door opened behind her again and she turned to see Agent Yuy enter, his jacket held draped over one shoulder. He stopped just far enough in to let the door close behind him as he glanced around the silent room. Being closest, he caught her eye; silently asking for an explanation.

Alli shook her slightly, taking a glance over to Miss Relena, who had not turned away from the pad when he entered. "We have the new reports from Mars," she stated quietly.

His expression dropped just noticeably and he quickly tossed his jacket to the chair beside them, striding towards her. Alli stood where she was and simply shrugged when the others slowly grouped around her for an explanation.

Heero crossed the room and came up behind her, softly saying her name.

Relena finally acknowledged reality again as she turned from the table in front of her and looked back at him. The Vice Minister turned sideways and allowed him step up directly in front of her. Alli waited for an explanation, a comment, an 'are you all right,' anything!

But it didn't come.

Heero simply stood where he was, waiting for something from Relena, but she did nothing but close her eyes on him and swallow tightly. The agent apparently took the hint and found the pad still lying on the table. Quickly scanning it, he made a move to pick it up, but stopped short.

He slowly turned back to regard her. Relena hadn't moved except to ball a hand into a loose fist at her side. Alli slowly understood that the woman was fighting back…

From the side, Alli had to blink a couple of times to really believe what she saw of the expression on the agent's face. His eyes were soft, touchingly caring as he watched her, Relena's eyes still closed.

Gently he brought a hand up to her face, stuttering in its motion just once before he touched her check. Relena started, her fist unclenching, her eyes snapping open. She took a surprised breath as a single tear escaped. Alli unconsciously took a step forward, seeing the pained expression on her, but was stopped as Ry placed a hand on her shoulder.

Heero tenderly wiped the tear off of her check with his thumb, still not saying a word as the two locked eyes.

Slowly Relena closed her lips together again, swallowing. Her hand at her side flexed once and relaxed, her body seemingly going back to normal. It was a very long moment as the two stood there, saying nothing… and obviously not needing to.

Relena closed her eyes finally and he slipped his hand away from her, not moving from their positions. Heero licked his lips to say something, but the opening of the door again still him as he turned to see who entered. Relena took a breath, and then also looked back.

And Alli froze.

She didn't care who entered behind her; she was transfixed as she stared at the two. They stood together, both gazing over their shoulders directly beside her at the entrant. …Their expressions identical, their eyes perfectly matched in a genuine expression of hardened resolve.

"We will be docking with the colony in a few moments. The command crew will be coming directly aboard. If you prefer, you may wait on the command deck for them."

Relena nodded but didn't find her voice.

The ensign left the room just as quickly as he entered, leaving Relena to turn back to the table and pick up the pad, specifically turning it off. She gazed back up at Heero a moment and he whispered something low enough that even this close Alli couldn't make it out. The Minister's shoulders relaxed just a touch and she nodded quietly. With a firm decision she turned and strode towards the door, the pad in hand, and with a regal confidence.

Alli watched her exit and could do nothing but stand there. Slowly turning, she found Heero watching after her. As she left sight, he closed his eyes just a second before turning and following her. Picking up his jacket again he paused in the doorway and turned back to the three of them. "No matter what, don't leave her."

His voice was deathly quiet, and within a second he was gone.

Ry wrapped an arm around Alli's waist, forcing her out of her shock and she looked up at his expression. "Yuy said that her brother is alive and working here," he stated quietly. "Something tells me that his name was somewhere on that list."

She simply nodded her head, understanding slowly creeping in. She blinked and made herself move out. 'Don't leave her.' Sure. She could do that…

"The others have to'of arrived by now."

"I'm sure that's why we're still here."

"What are they going to do with us?"

Quatre kept his eyes closed, mulling over a very bad decision. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't be in this mess at all. He should have taken his chances with fighting from the beginning…

No, no second-guessing now. They still had too much at stake.

The door opened quietly and the whole room looked up.

"Hello again, Quatre."

"Miss Ferra," he looked up at her from the corner of the room, kneeling on the floor, his hands clasped behind him with tie-down locks attached to the wall. The adjustable loops made convenient handcuffs around the holding locker that he and the others were being held in.

The woman walked up in front of him and stared down, one hand on her hip and a smile on her lips. "How about you and I having a nice little chat?"

"I'd prefer it if you left my crew out of this. If you need a bargaining chip, use me," he stated quietly, skipping the pleasantries and meeting her eyes.

She giggled to herself lightly, and then knelt to one knee. "I don't need a bargaining chip Mr. Winner. I just need a little information on who else might know about this little game."

"You've done a wonderful job of rounding us all up already," he mumbled. So far he had been absolutely crushed to find out that Dorothy had not only gotten herself here, but was wondering around somewhere alone. His only hope lay with Duo, and that they didn't find out there were two missing.

"Well," she sighed, "one can't be too careful."

He narrowed his eyes at her as she began to lean beside him to unlock his restraints.

"By the way, try to run, and my associates here will kill one of your friends for every step you take." Leaning over she revealed the two men that had entered with her, both with guns trained at the first soldiers next to the door. Quatre's breath caught.

"And if I am not back with you in tow in twenty minutes, they open fire anyway."

The men standing there grunted their agreement.

"We'll do this your way," he stated quietly.

"No! Master Quatre!"

He shook his head quickly and threw a glance around the room at the others. Under no circumstances could he give away Dorothy and Duo. It didn't matter what happened to him, they were the only hope the rest of the corp. had.

Ferra unlocked his restraints and then rose to her feet. He glanced up at her a moment and then stood as well. With a wave of her hand she gave him a friendly smile, motioning him forward.

He calmly left the room and then found two other armed men ready to help 'escort' them wherever they were going. He couldn't take the risk… Not when there was hope left. He had to delay any action that would certainly get someone killed until they were completely out of options.

The room they led him to wasn't far away, a simple storage room, smaller than the one the others were held in. A couple of chairs and a table sat near the door. As he entered he was presented with Commander Delmare himself, standing in the middle of the room waiting for him.

"Mr. Winner. I wish I could say that I am meeting you on better terms."

"As do I, Commander."

"Ferra here tells me that you've been busy. I do hate to interrupt her work, it's had so many delays already, but I thought I should help… resolve this." He sighed, closing his eyes.

"Up against the wall, if you please," she stated from behind him.

His adrenaline kicked in, but he braced himself and moved forward. Delmare wisely moved out of range of his reach as he passed. He stood facing the blank metal wall until Ferra's harsh grip on his shoulder turned him around, the two gun-toting men on either side of her.

"I feel terrible about this," she stated, giving him a wicked smirk. "But you should not have arrived on false pretense."

"False pretense?" Conversation was good, it bought time.

"Arms up if you please." He complied, holding back the impulse to bolt, but there was no way to take out all four of them without causing enough noise to alert the others holding the corp. hostage down the hall.

He'd just have to take it.

She fastened a few more of the tie-down loops around his outstretched arms, two around each. Finishing she stepped directly in front of him, her face inches from his. "There now, comfy?"

"Now then, Mr. Winner." Delmare came up to her side. "I haven't much time. So, we can have a civilized chat, or this can turn ugly very quickly."

"What do you want?" he asked quietly.

"Who else is there in your crew?"

He turned back to Ferra's eyes. "The ones you're holding. To save room for your people we brought a very small crew."

"We know there were more," she turned slightly angry.

"Why would there be more?"

She sighed, backing away and waving the hired guns out of the room. "Guard the door if you would." In the back of the small space she hopped up to perch herself on the edge of the table.

"She really hates repeating things," Marcus stated from beside him still.

Quatre turned to look at the man. "And if I'm telling you the truth, you won't believe me anyway."

"Well," she interrupted. "Let's start with something else."

Marcus moved back and took a chair behind the table, lounging back.

"What did the second group find out that they came after you?"

Quatre bided his time. "Apparently your history as a Romafeller hasn't been forgotten quite yet. Your appearance gave you away."

"There are an awful lot of ex-Romafeller in the world still," he smiled. "Why single me out?"

"You're the one with something to gain."

He chuckled. "I like him, Ferra." The man never turned his attention from him. "He's got a spark."

"I know," she sighed. Standing again she paced forward, coming up and running an appraising eye over him. "Such a shame."

"What are you so afraid that we found?" he asked instead. On the off chance that he got out of this alive, maybe they would accidentally leak what he needed to know.

"Absolutely nothing. But we just don't like rumors," she cooed. Smart.

"Mr. Winner, we know that the scout ship sent an encrypted message. However, we found no trace of that message in your ship's logs. So," he gestured, "who did they send it to?"

"I cleared the log when we arrived. I guess they didn't think it was as necessary." Encrypted, good, at least it might take them a while to realize that it was to Heero and Miss Relena.

"That's funny. You didn't seem the least bit suspicious when you arrived here," she stated.

He eyed her. "I didn't realize that you enjoyed your new job title quite so well," he commented.

She narrowed her eyes at him in response.

"Mr. Winner, as one business man to another, I would recommend that you try to cooperate a little better."

"I only had suspicions when I arrived here," he lied. "This is the only thing that tells me that you are actually responsible for the disaster."

"Well, good to know," he mumbled.

"Let the others go, they have nothing to do with any of this."

"I'm sorry, you must not know the rules," he stated. "You are on Mars now. It's a long walk back to Earth."

"You're killing your own people. Why?" he asked, staring at the man behind the desk.

The other sighed and shook his head sadly. "I don't believe he has anything to tell us Ferra."

She nodded and walked back to the table. "I'm sure he does. He just doesn't know it yet."

Opening a small box on the tabletop, she turned her back to him, blocking his view of what was coming. Quatre closed his eyes, silently praying for enough strength. Dorothy, Duo, Heero, Relena… He opened them again, staring at her as she walked towards him.

He watched her give him one last look, expecting him to say something, but he returned nothing. Shrugging, she sighed and shook her head. "How old are you, Mr. Winner?" He blinked at her. "Well, let's hope the warnings aren't true."

With that he saw her brandish a syringe towards his arm, injecting it through his shirt. He gaped. Poison?

No, they wanted him to talk. A hallucinogen or hypnotic suggestion serum… He stared at her as she backed up a step. Looking in his eyes she calmly waited. Fast acting then, had to be something… How was he going to…

Ferra took a step in and gazed at him gently. "Don't worry, this will be over soon."

"No…" He stared into her hazel eyes, fighting a dizziness spreading through him. Mentally he cursed himself for underestimating these two. A physical beating would be too messy for them.

Her eyes softened a bit, and a hand reached out to brush his bangs back. The touch seemed far displaced, and his vision swam. Gradually he felt himself sink, and then vaguely realized that his knees had given out.

'I'm sorry… Run, please run far away from me…'

Quatre slowly blinked his eyes open, the dim, red light filtering through the room confused him for a moment until he turned around to find he was standing on an observation deck. In front of him hung the red planet Mars, close enough that its bulk could be observed through all three large windows around the walkway.

Vaguely he wondered how he had gotten here and where here was, but it didn't seem to matter. The view was beautiful, serene and peaceful as he observed the orangey-red surface. It was calm.

"Hello Quatre."

He turned to his side to find Dorothy slowly pacing towards him, her hands laced behind her as she walked, a light summer dress leaving her arms, shoulders and lower legs bare. But the image of her caught him off guard, a horrible feeling of dread washing over him.

"Dorothy? What are you doing here?" he asked as she sauntered up in front of him.

She blinked, giving him an odd expression. "What do you mean?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, not finding what he wanted. Why shouldn't she be here? Of course, she was supposed to be here. He was worried for nothing. "I don't know," he answered instead.

She smiled at him and then turned to face the view of the planet behind the windows. "Where are the others, Quatre?" she asked quietly.

The others? He glanced around, finding they were the only ones in the spacious room. The others… what others?

"Your crew," she clarified for him.

He blinked back at her and fought to remember something. "They were… locked up," he mumbled, images of the men around the square storage room coming back to him. "They were captured."

"All of them?" she asked, not worried in the least.

He stared at her again, all of this not seeming to make sense, and making perfect sense all at the same time. "Where are we?" he whispered instead.

She turned to face him again, her eyes expressionless. "It doesn't matter, does it?"

No. Why should it matter? It was nice here. Quiet and peaceful.

"Are all of the others locked up?" she asked again, prying him from his thoughts.

"All?" he questioned. The Maguanacs. Of course, they were all in the storage room. "Yes."

"Oh, I see," she said. That wasn't like her…

The thought made him look at her again; in the dim light it was hard to decipher color. Everything was an outline. "Dorothy?" he questioned.

She smiled at him. "Yes, Quatre?"

It was wrong… The thought brought up a pain in his heart, a mild ache that he had learned to listen to over the years. Something was really wrong… "Dorothy, what happened?" he asked, his breath coming too shallow for him.

"Nothing happened, Quatre," she soothed, stepping in closer to him. "But why did you come to Mars?"

"To help," he responded instinctually. The feeling of not getting enough oxygen coming back to him again.

"But what about your captured friends? Did they know something about the Commander?"

No… She knew something about the Commander. He looked at her strangely, confused. Why was she asking? Why did she keep asking?

"Answer me, Quatre. What did you know about the Commander?"

Was that anger? No… this wasn't like her. She should have…

She stepped in even closer, merely inches away, her violet eyes staring into his. "Quatre, there was a message. Do you know who it went to?" He fought harder to pull in enough air.

Message? The encrypted message. But they had… Still he stared into her eyes. They weren't right. It just didn't feel right.

Suddenly the colors swirled from the windows, the dim red washing through everything. Turning he stared out at the view. Instead of the planet, there was a large crew carrier alongside, the hull breached with a huge explosion coming from the front portion. The explosion ripped through space in a fireball towards them, but he couldn't move. He couldn't react. He just stood there.

"Who did they send the message to, Quatre?"

She didn't even notice! How could she not see the explosion? The chunks of twisted metal showering outwards.

"Answer me, Quatre!"

The fireball flared and then died as quickly as it began, the vacuum of space extinguishing it, but still the aftermath hailed towards the windows. The figures of bodies jettisoned into black space littered the scene; the force of the blast threw the remaining portion of the ship backwards, sinking slowly.

"NO!" he got out a strangled scream, finally getting enough air to make his voice work.

He forced his eyes away to look up at Dorothy. His knees had given out and he was somehow slouched in open air, his arms forced out to his sides. "Who else knows!" she demanded, her eyes angry.

The windows began to show smaller, secondary explosions as the ship continued to die. The air around them seemed to feel the effects and picked up into wind. A gust tossed her hair towards him, like lifeless fingers.

The length of it brushed against his left side and he would have doubled over if he could. His breath came out in a cry of pain as he clenched his eyes shut. His side was on fire, the remembered paid of her foil driving itself through him.

No, not again! This wasn't real!

But the pain increased, and he gasped for breath, trying to find a way to ease it, but he was trapped, he couldn't move.

A hand clenched his jaw and tossed his head back up, his eyes snapped open with a gasp and he met Dorothy's eyes, anger buried in them as he stared at her. "Tell me, Quatre!"

He couldn't speak, even if he understood her. He couldn't do anything but fight to breathe.

His vision ran and he blinked trying to clear it. When he refocused, her eyes had changed. Not the expression, her actual eyes.

Spotted hazel…

The pain in his side eased slowly as his eyes tunnel-visioned in on only her face, the rest going black. It wasn't her, it was dream, a…

A hallucination.

Drugs. That's what he'd been afraid of. When he saw her… he was afraid that he would tell them…

The realizations clicked over in his mind and he found he was facing Ferra again… Again? Yes… he'd seen this. Why was she…?

What had he told them?

What was he not supposed to tell them?

But why had it been…

Truth serum.

A safe environment. A friendly face. No reason to be afraid.

He couldn't say a word…

His vision closed up completely and the pain died out of his side. The insistent questions bled out to silence.

"…Quatre?" The voice was soft in the darkness behind his eyelids. That was the voice he knew. One of the rare times when she was being completely serious. A time when her kindness would shine.

Slowly he reopened his eyes, it was so dark even when he did that he knew he wouldn't last much longer. He vaguely found Ferra's face, now etched with surprise and still yelling at him, but he couldn't hear a word from her.

"Quatre?" she repeated.

He let his eyes close again. 'Yes, Dorothy?' he mentally answered.

"Quatre… don't die."

He wanted to smile at the reference. Yes, that was her.

The last thing he knew was that a hard object smashed itself against his right temple.

"Vice Foreign Minister. Thank you for waiting, it is my honor to meet you," he gushed.

"It is nice to meet you as well, Commander Delmare. I wish it could be for better circumstances," Relena offered.

"As do I, ma'am," he nodded. "But you and the supply ships have been our saving grace today, and we dearly thank you."

The guy was a born diplomat. Heero eyed him cautiously from the back of the meeting room, the others standing alongside him. Delmare was probably nearing fifty, his brown hair slightly graying at the temples. His movements were smooth, practiced. His air of superiority was probably what got him this job to start with.

"Please, do not thank me. I am only a passenger here. Anything that I can do to assist you with your crews or the other needs of settling your people will be my pleasure."

He smiled, genuinely. "It is truly touching that you have counted us so worthy of your presence."

She brushed the compliment off with a shy smile. "Not at all."

The doors to the meeting room opened and a young woman entered. She nodded towards the representatives of the crews around them and then made her way up to Delmare's side. "I apologize for being late, there were a few last minute corrections to make."

"Always busy," he stated, holding out a hand to her. "Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian; I would like to introduce you to our chief foreman, and my lovely wife, Ferra Delmare."

"A real friend is someone who you can sit in complete silence with and still walk away feeling like you just had the best conversation of your life." - Unknown

AN: Little explanation: We hear Sally talk about Truth Serum in like episode 3 or 4 when they have Heero on the table, but she doesn't want to use it on someone so young. So… that means I get to decide what it does and why it's not good on you. :) After I finished this I noted that this sounded a lot like Battlefield of Pacifists, for those that have read it, but I didn't mean it too. And I also don't believe it was truth serum in it, and I'm really not following with the mangas anyway. They get to do all the fun stuff first. :D