Author's note: Yeah, well…I thought it was about time that I update this story XD Took me long enough to get around to doing this I guess. My mind drifts easily… but I got it done1 Even if I had to stay up late and type into the night! Muahahah! -- Now I go to sleep :curls up in a nest of pillows:

I've been trying to get around to updating my older stories like these since I'm also working on making all these idea's typed out that I've had for a while. :sighs:

Okay, so…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and has read this story! . I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Reviews and comments are always loved!

As said before, enjoy the chapter!

Love, Red Tail

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A Perfect Collection

By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)

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To be Like a Bird

Relena couldn't stop the feelings of relief when she saw Heero's eyes flutter open, but the feeling died just as quickly when his lids fluttered close once more, this time not even struggling to fight off the sleep claiming him. She bit back the angry tears of frustration, of everything that had been piled up on her.

"What is it to live a normal life?" She looked down at Heero and wrapped her arms around him, tightly as if afraid to let go, and lifted him up for his torso to lay on her bent knees.

"So the two love birds have found peace?" Relena looked up with a glare, berating herself for allowing the man outside their glass cage to sneak up on her unsuspected.

The man grinned at her actions.

"You're a bastard!" She shouted, clutching Heero close to her. It was her job, she decided, to watch over her protector this time.

"I'm hurt," the man mocked pain as he clutched his chest, getting a glare from Relena once again, "You're using such foul language on little ol' me.

The question on my mind is how long the 'Perfect Soldier' will last in these conditions." He looked with his greedy eyes into the cage, eyeing Heero like a collector's toy.

"How can you be so cruel?" She swept her eyes over the other bodies in separate cages, all put together into categories of some odd sort. "You're enslaving fellow humans!"

He laughed at her as she tried to set her views and beliefs on him. "You truly are the Perfect Pacifist." Then, turning on his heels, he took his leave. He left Relena to ponder over his parting words, letting the feeling of dread and despair slowly consume her soul and body.

Silence didn't comfort her and she knew it was pointless to try and talk to the other people in the cages. She looked pleadingly up to the skies she knew were behind the ceiling, ignoring the flickering artificial light in the place. "Please," tears formed in her eyes as she let them trail a path down her cheeks, "Don't let humanity do anything rash." Like a good little girl, she remembered her prayer.

She closed her eyes, humming a small hymn she learned to try and calm herself, and let her presence be known to Heero if he was semi-conscious.

High up in the velvet stars, a shooting star faded from existence, nothing more than an empty spot in the vast sea of sparkles and diamonds.

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"Maxwell," Wufei seethed with concern and anger as he crouched down in the underbrush surrounding the area. "Are you sure that you're well enough for this?"

Violet eyes angrily flashed at the Chinese, "Of course!" His fists were clenched so tight that the muscles were taunt, skin almost white in the darkness veiling the sky. "I was the one that was shot at, not you!"

"Which is exactly while you should be staying at the base!"

A hand gently touched Wufei's shoulder and the former pilot whipped around to see calm aqua-green eyes assuring him that Duo's presence was fine, and allowed by Une herself.

"Shinigami is back in action!" Duo's eyes gleamed with something that bordered on the lines of insanity, sending shivers down the spines of anyone that wasn't a former pilot of the feared Gundams.

"Is it time to move out yet, Trowa?" Quatre turned his head to assess his silent uni-banged friend who looked up, calculating piercing green eyes holding a lethal point in them as he bowed his head slightly. The Arabian smiled, the slight gesture showing it was almost time.

"We should go in alone." Wufei pushed, trying to make the other 'not as skilled' Preventer's stay behind as back up. "It could be another liability if these," he jabbed his thumb at the outraged group of Preventers, "come with us."

"Wufei…" Quatre put his hands on hips as best as he could without standing up or kneeling to do so. A stern look in his eyes told the irate Chinese the Arabian would handle it.

Wufei snorted, "Fine, Winner."

Duo looked up after fingering the safety of his sub machine gun locked under his arms, grenades on some straps crisscrossed across his chest. 'Oh,' he thought wickedly, 'I'm going to get back big for making me spend time in that damned hospital.'

Now, it wasn't that he minded Sally's presence…it was just the braided woman was stern and threatened him with hospital food if he dared to move from the bed, which he did.

Not only did she feed him the god-awful food, but she also strapped him down to the table, grumbling over if he or Heero was worse.

"We're going to need you out here as back up." The Preventer group looked like they were going to protest with the blonde's words, thinking that Wufei had convinced the former pilot of Sandrock, but they stopped when he raised his hand to silence them. "The less people that we send in are better. Last time, the enemy managed to use our numbers against our advantage."

"Une wants the person alive." Trowa informed, setting a stare on Duo who pouted at his words, earning a smirk from Wufei, forgetting of the situation with the American's familiar antics.

"She takes away all the fun!" He knew he'd have to get back at his superior later on for ruining his revenge.

Ignoring the pouting teen, Quatre turned his attention back to the protesting troops, "Plus," he added with saddened eyes, "Miss Relena and Heero are our friends." Silence was his answer before, slowly, heads nodded in confirmation. His smile was bright enough to make the sky shine on the moonless night, perfect for an ambush.

Some clicking of keys on the laptop Trowa was working as communications with headquarters were here before there was silence once again. "Now's the right time."

"Understood, 03." Making sure his hair wasn't going to come undone from his tight pony tail, Wufei did a quick weapons check as he leveled his own MP3 and checked the clips, looking down at his trusty katana.

"Ready 02?" 04 questioned, body and mind easily flowing back into the familiar ways of stealth and missions from the war. That was what almost scared Quatre, not the fact that he might have to kill if serious harm came to their friends.

"Ready as ever, 04." 02 responded, before turning eyes of Shinigami back to the troops who were awed by the performance, "Make sure that a medical team is here on stand-by."

"03?" 04 tossed him a grenade to hide in his pocket as the silent teen checked his concealed knifes and put a gun in his waistband, clips full and loaded.

"Ready." He turned to look back to the "base", which was an old, abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for a hide away at least. It was chance that they found the clue to start with in the beginning.

Quatre took a pair of binoculars, looking into them before putting them on the ground, "02 head first and 05 next."

"Understood." A dark shadow made it's way out of the bush, a aura of death and silence falling over the group of back up and the two remaining pilots.

"We'll follow, 03." 03 nodded in consent to 04's words, silently moving out of the bushes with practiced ease, and making no sound other than the faintest whisper of leaves moving. He smirked—you couldn't tell the difference if the wind was blowing.

"Move out." 04 whispered, coming out of the bush also to fall behind 03, acting as his shadow, with his weapon ready to defend his partner.

The four boy's were truly walking weaponry's that would make Yuy proud.

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Relena woke to the sounds of footsteps, something that made her frown as her sensitive ears picked the slightest sound, something that she had picked up during her stay here.

She looked up, ignoring the pain from her neck as the muscle tightened, blood running down in rivulets from her temple.

"Oh my god." She knew it wasn't him—he didn't care about their state, since he was the one to put them in their condition in the first place.

She was startled out of her thoughts to see a sight she had been dreaming of since Heero and her hand been here. Tears lined her vision as she tightened her hold on Heero, a thankful smile on her bruised lips as she sobbed in relief. "Duo…"

"Lena…" The braided pilot whispered in fear, seeing the state of his friends making him enraged enough to want to slaughter the bastard ten times over. "How are you?" He questioned, instantly having his pick-pocket locks in hand as he worked on the lock furiously.

"Not good." Came her whisper back, making Duo realize it wasn't indeed good if Relena was admitting it. "Heero hasn't regained consciousness for probably two days."

"We're getting you out of here." He looked up, eyes showing her he would go through with his promise. "I never lie." Relena smiled lightly as she wiped some blood off of her, looking at it as she wondered exactly how she looked.

'Worse than a survivor from a island probably.' Her mind could come up with some of the weirdest thoughts at times. People getting lost on islands were rare since so many planes flew around the world, people constantly on the move.

"Where are the other's?" And, as if on cue, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei showed up through the hallway as the blonde looked with worry at some of the cages filled with people.

"I'll send for the back-up to come and get these guys out." Quatre lifted his radio, tuning the frequency and flipped switched to go talk over the secure line with the one the left in charge.

"And?" Wufei questioned as he looked down with anger at the man that captured their comrade, and that peace-woman with the ideals.

"They're on their way." The loud sound of a door being open was heard through the deadly silent halls. Quatre sighed and put his hand on his forehead to nurse it.

"Not very subtle, are they?" Wufei narrowed his eyes, nodding at Quatre's words.

"It was they that got Yuy caught, and eventually Maxwell shot." As if remembering why they were there, they looked around for a certain braided American.

Relena smiled in relief, wanting to call out to them but knowing her raspy voice wouldn't be anything but a bother to their ears. Plus, she knew Wufei never cared for her, or her ideals.

"Duo!" Quatre ran forward, smiling brightly as he walked over with Trowa and Wufei. Relena noticed that the Chinese had in tow a beaten up unconscious man he dragged along the floor roughly. She wished that she were the one to knock those blows.

"The bastard was looking at someone's blood and we knock—" Quatre stopped in mid-sentence, eyes widening as he looked in the cage to see the bloodied and banged up state of a relieved Relena and an unconscious Heero. He bit his lip in worry, concern leaking from his eyes.

Guilt was in all of the pilots' chests as they put the blame on themselves like they always did with the world's problems and the troublesome state of peace.

Quatre's words spoke for many of them, even if they refused to say it aloud, "If only we came sooner…"

The lock unlocked on their door. Duo swung the door open, holding his hand to pull the tattered pacifist free while Wufei and Trowa grabbed Heero gently. Taking Duo's hand in her own cut ones, Relena took a staggered step down from the glass cage and Relena felt the fresh air, even though it smelled satanic, hit her in a welcoming manner.

Somehow, she knew what a bird felt like when set free from a cage.

…owari?