"So Usa is alright?" Makoto asked.
"I said that when I came in," Minako told her.
"Just double checking," Makoto said with a smile.
"Dude, stop doubting the hand rhythm," Minako said.
"I know, I really should. We made it, what, at the beginning of the wars?" Makoto asked.
"Yup, those were the days," Minako said with a smile.
"Do you remember when we saw Metcalf in the halls when we stormed the Oz base?" Makoto asked with a smile.
"He nearly peed his pants when he realized who we all were," Minako crowed. She thought back to that moment. They had split into two groups, Haruka, Mamoru, Minako, Makoto, and Usagi had been one. The five had been walking out of the building, trying not to be seen by the three gundum pilots that were in the building, and had come across their old teacher. He had frowned and asked them what they were doing and Makoto had asked why he didn't remember them, then he had gone stark white and muttered three of their names. Usagi had growled, pulled her gun, pointed it a little below his waist, and pulled the trigger. Her aim was spectacular. Mamoru had refused to look at the man after that, so Haruka shot him in the head. The five had left.
"That was pretty mean what Usa did to him," Makoto said with a grim smile.
"He was only in pain for a minute or so," Minako said with a shrug.
"Mamoru looked like he wanted to throw up after that," Makoto said with a laugh.
"It's a guy thing," Minako nodded. They walked to their rooms to get ready. Makoto dusted emerald green shimmer powder into her hair and then shook her head to get rid of excess. She pulled an emerald green dress that had spaghetti straps and a small keyhole. The dress was tight on her torso and loosened at about the waist. There was one slit on the right side that went to just above the knee, and she wore strappy sandals. She put on a necklace with a singe pedant on the front of an emerald carved to look like an ivy leaf. She walked downstairs and smiled. The other girls were already done.
Rei had her hair up in a tight bun and had on a necklace like Makoto's, only it was a ruby and it was shaped like a flame. Her dress was red and of a chinese style. The sleeves were capped, and there was a slit that went halfway up both legs. She wore strappy sandals as well. She had painted her nails blood red.
Ami was wearing a simple, low cut blue dress. It had spaghetti straps and an 'A' line skirt. Ami had put silver glitter around her tattoo. She wore simple blue heels. Her necklace was a sapphire that was carved like a snowflake. Her hair and been carefully pinned so that it looked extremely nice, and she had blue finger nails.
Minako wore a yellow halter dress. There was an extremely low back, a deep key hole neck, and no slits. The silky material clung to her until it reached her hips, and then it flowed loosely to the floor. Her hair was up in a pile of curls on top of her head with a few hanging down around her face and trailing down her back. Her necklace was of carved amber in the shape of a heart. Her nails were yellow and she had extremely high heels.
Usagi was wearing a simple pink dress. It had a slit that reached the back of her knees in the back of her dress. It was a sequined material and had a low back and a high neck. It fit like a second skin until it reached her hips, and then it flowed in a straight wave to her ankles. Her necklace was a rose quartz that had been carved into a quarter moon. She was wearing simple low heels. her hair was up in intricate braids and twists, some looped and hanging slightly down her back.
Hotaru was wearing a dark purple dress that had a slightly darker ribbon under her breasts and clung to her until it reached her waist, and then flowed to her feet. In the bottom of the skirt, were triangle shaped insets of sheer purple material that showed tantalizing views of her legs while she walked. She had strappy sandals with a high heels. The straps were extremely thin and her pendant was a dark amethyst that had been shaped like a simple diamond. Her hair was down as usual.
Setsuna was wearing a simple black sun dress that reached her ankles and fit snugly at the top. Her shoes were simple heels and her pendant was made of black onyx and looked like a key. Her hair was up in its usual half bun.
Michiru wore a simple cowl necked dress with spaghetti straps and a loose skirt. The top was snug, but not extremely tight. Her aquamarine pendant was of a music note. Her hair was down. Haruka stood with her arm around the others waist and she was wearing a tan colored suit and a dark blue tie that had a clip in the middle that was a gold piece shaped like a car.
"Now that we're all here, we shall wait for our guests," Setsuna said with a smile. The girls moved off to different area's and sat. Later that night when the boys showed up, they started to have a bit more fun.
"I hear that you guys have an entire room filled with pictures of the gundums and their pilots, but you don't let a lot of people see them," A voice said from behind Ami. She turned to face Trowa.
"Can you believe rumors?" She asked. He was wearing a dark gray suit and a green tie that was partially undone.
"Is it a rumor?" he countered.
"A curious question," She said with a shrug. She walked away from him. In another part of the room, Duo was trapped between four girls and couldn't seem to get away from them. Music had been put on, and everyone was trying to dance with him. He was wearing all black, both suit, shirt, and tie.
"Sorry girls, I was told that this dance was mine," Minako said, coming to his rescue. She took his hand and led him to the dance area.
"You look quite ravishing," He said with a smile.
"I try," She said with a smile.
"I could almost drag you into a bedroom because of that dress," He said, looking her up and down.
"Only almost?" She asked, giving him a hurt look.
"I have a bit more self control than that," He said with a smile.
"That's quite all right, you look just as yummy in that outfit of yours," She said with a cheeky grin.
"Babe, I could get to like you," He said.
"That's only because we think the same way," She said with a smile.
"Good point," The song ended and a tango started, "May I?"
"Can you handle it?" She asked with a wicked smile.
"Let's say we scandalize the room," He agreed.
On the other side of the dance floor, Haruka and Michiru were thinking the same thing. The two partners started their little dance war. In a different room, Usagi was sitting and looking out of a window. She never danced with people at parties.
"So sad a face for such a happy occasion," A quiet voice commented. she turned and gave a small smile.
"Hello Quatre, I was just thinking," She told him.
"May I sit with you?" He asked.
"Of course," She said. he came in and sat down.
"May I ask you a question?" He asked.
"Alright," She said with a shrug.
"Why Talon and Fang?" He asked.
"Have you ever heard the term, 'fighting tooth and nail'?" She asked.
"Yes," he said with a nod.
"That's what we were willing to do. Fight tooth and nail against anything that came against us so that we could help with what we believed was right. Tooth and Nail didn't sound good, but Talon and Fang did," She told him.
"And the planets and symbols?" He asked.
"The planets just made sense, ten of us, nine planets and a sun. I was supposed to be the sun, but Mamoru was my world, and I seemed to rotate around him, so I choose moon when he chose Earth," She said with a shrug.
"The symbols?" He asked.
"We chose things that we thought fit ourselves or each other. I used to have a griffin painted on my door as a child, so that was mine. The rest of them just chose. The only thing was that they had to have either talons or fangs," she told him.
"So what do you think I would be?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know," She answered. The two talked in companionable silence after that. In yet another room, Makoto was sitting on a couch listening to a couple of men talk about cars. She threw in her own input every now and then, but for the most part she was silent. She opened a drawer in one of the tables and pulled out a nail file and started cleaning oil from her nails. It was 1 a.m. and people had gradually been trickling out. She gave a yawn to see if the three would take a hint. They looked over at her and started to apologize. She told them it was fine, and that she was absolutely awake, but she was leading them to the front door anyway. She got their coats and ushered them out.
"There are five coats left, does that mean we still have to get rid of a few?" She asked, stretching.
"No, they belong to the pilots," Hotaru said.
"I haven't seen them except for a few times all night," Makoto commented.
"Minako and Duo were having a dance off against Michiru and Haruka, Quatre and Usagi were talking for most of the time, Heero was hiding from a bunch of females that were pretending to be coy and innocent, Trowa was mingling and trying to ask people questions, and Wufei was glaring at people to keep them away, not that it really helped him," Hotaru listed off.
"Where were you?" Makoto asked.
"Security watch," Hotaru said with a shrug.
"Bitch," Makoto said in amusement.
"Why is that?" Hotaru asked with a raised brow.
"I was left to deal with men that only think they know things about cars, and you go and bar yourself in some room so you wont have to deal with anyone," Makoto accused.
"That just means your upset that I thought of it before you," Hotaru said with a grin. She started toward the ball room. There was still music, but it was definite swing. The girls walked in to see Michiru with Haruka and Minako with Duo, both pairs dancing like pros. Usagi, Rei, and Quatre were cheering on the four while Heero, Setsuna, Wufei, and Trowa just watched.
"Now that we are all in the same room, I think that we can talk," Setsuna announced loudly.
"What is there to talk about?" Hotaru asked with a shrug.
"Who you really are, for one," Quatre said seriously.
"That's a simple enough answer," Usagi said with a shrug. She nodded to Ami.
"I am Ami Mizuno of L2, aka Mercury of the Snow Owl symbol," The blue haired girl said with a nod.
"I'm Minako Aino of L2, aka Venus of the platypus symbol," She winked at Duo.
"I'm Usagi Tsukino of L2, aka Moon of the Griffin symbol," Usagi smiled.
"I'm Rei Hino of L2, aka Mars of the Phoenix symbol," Rei told them, folding her arms.
"Makoto Kino from L2, aka Jupiter of the Dragon symbol," Makoto said with a yawn.
"Hotaru Tomoe from L2, aka Saturn of the Black Panther symbol," She looked at them all with her large purple eyes and cocked her head to the side.
"Haruka Tenno from L2, aka Uranus of the Cheetah symbol," Haruka grinned at them and popped a cherry into her mouth.
"I am Michiru Kaiou of L2, aka Neptune of the Viper symbol," She told them with one of her sweet smiles.
"And of course I am Setsuna Meiou of L2, aka Pluto of the bat," She raised her eye brows at them.
"So now do we get to ask questions?" Duo asked with a grin.
"Fire away," Usagi said with a shrug and a flip of her wrist.
"Why'd you steal those things?" Wufei asked.
"We already answered that question once," Rei said.
"Because they were funding a group that wanted to start another war?" Duo asked.
"That's what we said . . . Sort of," Minako agreed.
"Why'd you help us?" Quatre asked.
"Revenge," Usagi told him, "And after that, we just sort of decided that we agreed with what you were fighting for and kept helping,"
"And it was fun," Hotaru said with a smile.
"Fun?" Duo asked.
"Danger, action, speed, what more can a girl ask for?" Hotaru said with a grin.
"You are definitely my kind of woman," Duo said with a grin.
"The pure adrenaline rush, only one thing can equal it," Haruka said with a grin.
"Racing," They all chorused.
"That would be the one," Haruka said with a nod.
"Who did your trail blazing?" Heero asked.
"Curiosity from the perfect soldier? How cute," Minako said, her head cocked to the side.
"That would be me," Ami said with a grin.
"How did you get around the doctors' fire-walls?" Heero asked.
"It wasn't all that hard," She said with a shrug.
"That wasn't a real answer," he said with glare.
"We said you could ask questions, we didn't say that we would answer them," Makoto told him.
"Is there really a room full of pictures of us?" Trowa asked.
"I heard about that room to, but apparently people aren't allowed to go in and study the pictures though," Quatre said, looking over at the girls.
"Come on, we'll take you," Minako stood up and grabbed Duo's hand. She lifted her skirt up with her other hand and ran down the hall. The others walked at a slightly slower pace. When they reached the room, they saw Duo standing in the doorway with his mouth open.
"See why we don't let anyone else see it?" Minako asked him with a smile.
"Baka, move out of our way so we can see," Wufei commanded. Duo stepped inside and everyone else followed. The room was full of pictures. On tables and on walls. None of the pictures were those that had been released from press. In fact, half of them had the girls and some guy they didn't know in them.
"When did you take this one?" Duo asked, pointing to a picture in which Ami was on Death Scythe and detaching something from the wing.
"That was a while back, a few months before the last war ended," Ami said with a shrug.
"What was that?" Duo asked.
"A tracker put on by some guy we killed," Usagi said with a shrug. Quatre stood in front of a picture of Usagi and A guy with black hair. She was sitting on his lap and smiling at him, he was grinning at her and Wing 0 was flying off in the background.
"Earth?" He asked. She looked at it sadly and nodded.
"Mamoru Chiba of L2," She said. She turned and walked to a different area.
"How did a bunch of Onna's manage to get all of these?" Wufei asked, clearly shocked. He was looking at a wall full of pictures of all the pilots on missions and things of that sort. One of the pictures was of Trowa and Wufei at each others throats in a room full of Marymeia's soldiers. Another was of Trowa, Duo, and Heero in a control room, Trowa in Marymeia's uniform. (Damia - "Endless Waltz, Oh Yeah,")
"Watch it Baka," Rei growled.
"Be quiet Onna," he said with a glare.
"Evidently you tied the tail to tight today, this is my home, not yours," She told him angrily.
"You're just jealous," Usagi told him with a shrug.
"Why would I be jealous of you?" He asked with a sneer.
"We're better than you," She said with a shrug.
"Where did you get this?" Trowa asked. He was looking at a picture of himself at a very young age. He was pushing the back of a tire swing that had a small girl wearing a green dress with white flowers. His face was turned to the camera with a surprised smile.
"Your sister," Makoto told him. She smiled slightly and looked at the picture.
"You know Catherine?" Duo asked.
"Not from his older sister, from his younger sister," Michiru told him. She was looking at a picture of her and Haruka making some of the bugs. There were ten pictures above the door, one of everyone's tattoos.
"Dude, that's cool," Duo said about Mamoru's tattoo.
"Yeah, I picked it out," Usagi said with a grin.
"Why?" Heero asked.
"I liked that one best," Usagi said with a shrug.
"Not the tattoo, the room," He said, still looking around.
"We wanted something to remember the fun times," Minako said with a shrug.
"To have the satisfaction of knowing that we bested the infamous gundum pilots," Rei said with a smile.
"Even if we're the only people that really know it, we fought for what we believed in," Michiru told them.
"It's a sort of memorial for all those that were lost," Usagi said.
"And those that changed beyond recognition," Hotaru said with a nod.
"It's in honor of all those people who realized what true friendship was," Makoto said with a smile.
"It's to show us that we weren't always what we are today," Setsuna said.
"It's to prove to ourselves that we are the best we can be," Haruka said, looking down at Michiru.
"We each see the room as something different. I prefer to look at it as a reminder of why we mean so much to each other," Ami told them.
"At least you know why," Quatre started, "Even if it's for multiple reasons,"
"We don't really come in here that often," Usagi said in a distracted way. She was looking at a picture of herself and Mamoru. In this one, Usagi was standing in front of Mamoru and he was showing her how to fix a car. She had that look of intense concentration and fascinated delight that looked exactly like the one that an infant has when looking at a bright red ball for the first time.
"I think you should let everyone see what is in the room," Duo announced.
"No," Usagi said with a frown.
"Why not?" Duo asked.
"To many questions would be asked. We don't feel like answering them all," Setsuna said calmly.
"Not to mention that we'd end up having about as much privacy as a you five did the first week after the wars," Makoto said, making a face.
"That was so not cool," Duo said with a groan as he remembered.
"Then you wouldn't be wishing it on us, would you?" Ami asked with a smile.
"You're already famous though," Quatre said in slight confusion.
"Not the same thing at all," Rei said quickly.
"No, right now we're celebrity Hero's, not war hero's. We like it that way," Haruka added.
"We're under orders to bring you in to lady Une," Heero told them.
"All of us?" Michiru asked.
"Of course," Duo said with a smile.
"That's not happening," Rei said with a smile.
"Why not," Wufei asked.
"People will know who we are," Usagi answered.
"The preventors will," Quatre corrected.
"Anyone with half a brain can crack preventor codes to get to the files," Ami said in an annoyed tone.
"How would you know?" Duo asked.
"I've done it multiple times," She she said with a shrug.
"No offense Ami but you're now someone with half a brain," Rei told her.
"I know that, but it was extremely simple for me, which means it wont be to hard for others," she said with a shrug.
"Ami, you are a computer genius, shut up," Hotaru commanded.
"We are not giving you a choice, you are coming with us to the preventor base in the Sanq Kingdom," Heero announced in his monotonous voice.
"You can't honestly believe that we'll go, can you?" Michiru asked with a raised brow.
"If you flee, we will have to put out a warrant and chase you, then everyone will know anyway," Heero answered.
"I'll be right back," Ami said. She walked out the door, and the girls all smiled. Ami had a slight half smile that they all knew. It meant that she was up to something un-Ami-ish.
"I don't think you know us well enough to think that you can actually force us all to do something that we don't want to do," Haruka announced.
"Why don't you want to go?" Duo asked.
"Besides the obvious reasons that we have stated multiple times you mean?" Hotaru asked sarcastically.
"Exactly," Duo said with a smile, choosing to ignore the sarcasm.
"We have a schedule to keep. If we go off gallivanting around the solar system, people are going to notice and all the work that we have done to keep ourselves out of that particular lime light will have been in vane," Minako told him with a serious look.
"We can always do the whole black mail thing as well," Rei remarked casually.
"What do you mean, onna," Wufei barked.
"Listen you little Ji bai, we have names and I am not in the mood to listen to you insult us,"
(Damia - "because wufei is chinese, I have decided to use chinese insults, if anyone wants to know what they mean, I will post it,")
"How dare you, you Mai bee," He shouted back.
"Tsao ni zuzong shiba dai," Rei told him with a sneer.
"Chou san ba," He shot back
"Ni ma de bi," she told him angrily.
(Damia - "Because Rei is Japanese, I am switching to that,"
"Minikui baita," he told her with a growl. She made to leap at him, but Haruka and Makoto held her back.
"Ketsunoana," She yelled back. This time Trowa had to grab Wufei's arms.
"Mocca-mocca su su,"
"Yarichin,"
"Kisu boku no shiri,"
"Jigoku o iku," Rei screamed as Ami came back in. She looked between the two and shook her head.
"I leave you alone for five minutes," She said with a sigh.
"What did you do?" Setsuna asked.
"I hacked into the mainframe and started to write over whatever document Une was working on. She wasn't very happy. She should be calling any moment," Ami answered as the phone rang. She smiled and walked over to a wall. She pressed a button and the screen appeared with Une's annoyed face on it.
"Who the hell did that?" She demanded.
"That would be Ami and a good day to you as well," Usagi answered. Une glared at her.
"It would have been much easier to have dialed my office," Une bit out.
"No it wouldn't have. You wouldn't have answered because you would have been to busy and even if you had you would have thought highly of yourself because we are the ones to have called you. By hacking in I let you know who is in slight control," Ami explained.
"Excuse me?" Demanded Une.
"I'm sorry, but you will have to vent later, we're trying to have an important conversation over the whereabouts of Talon and Fang, inc. We thought you wanted in on it," Minako reached over and disconnected the line.
"Dude, I thought you wanted her on your side," Duo commented.
"Not if she's going to be a bitch," Makoto commented. The two arguing orientals were given their freedom once again and were content to sit and glare at each other. The phone rang again. Minako clicked it on.
"How dare you," Une started.
"I'm sorry, did you think that you could cow us into submission because you're a big bad war hero?" Michiru asked calmly.
"No, I expect you to have a little respect for superior officers in factions that happen to be in effect for your own protection," Une informed them all.
"We do a have a little respect for you. It just happens to be a lot less than the respect we have for each other and ourselves," Haruka informed her with a shrug.
"Do you have no manners whatsoever? I do not have time for this," Une said, clearly enraged.
"We do things as quickly and efficiently as possible. If that means we might have to step on your toes, we will step on your toes," Rei informed her
"This isn't solving anything ladies," Quatre broke in, hoping to stop arguments.
"Kol ayre wle," Rei told him. (Damia - "Arabic,")
"Rei, be nice. He has a valid point," Hotaru told the fiery girl as she watched Quatre's face go pink.
"What is this about Talon and Fang?" Une asked tiredly.
"They say they have more important things to do than go to HQ," Duo told his superior.
"What?" Une asked blankly.
"I said," Duo started to repeat himself.
"I heard what you said. Why didn't you arrest them?" She asked.
"With all due respect, do you honestly think that those boys would be able to arrest nine people?" Minako asked with a grin.
"They aren't that good. The boys are the best," Une told the girl with a dirty look.
"Then how come you couldn't block Ami from your computer?" Makoto asked her.
"We weren't expecting it," Une growled.
"It's not like we're out of shape or anything. It's pure chance that they found out who we were in the first place," Ami commented lightly.
"You guys?" Une looked surprised.
"That would be correct," Michiru said with a nod.
"You're all so young," Une said dumbly, obviously not expecting the answer that she had gotten.
"The boys were the same age," Hotaru answered with a shrug.
"You look like you're twelve," Une pointed at Hotaru, in an annoyed tone.
"While in actuality I'm 18. Jealous that I age better than you?" Hotaru retorted quickly. Rei, Haruka, and Makoto smiled widely at that. "You have broken countless laws," Une started.
"All because the preventors couldn't do what was needed," Setsuna replied.
"You are still felons," Une said with a dark look.
"Felons who also happen to be war hero's," Usagi pointed out.
"Listen little girls, I don't care what you think you are, the truth of the matter is that you are all criminals. Including little miss hardly-of-age," Une told them stonily.
"I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I just can't seem to get my head that far up my ass," Makoto commented.
"Listen Une dearest, we scratched your back all throughout the wars. It's time the favor was re-payed. The only thing we've been doing is preventing another war from breaking out. Again, for some reason you guys weren't doing anything about it, so we had to take action," Setsuna answered.