I wish I owned stuff. But I don't.

Mild Shoujo-ai.

Segment 18:

The Mad Russian's Adventure

Summary:

After everyone has left, Setsuna and Usagi discuss the former Queen's activities from the past several years. Quatre tries to convince Dorothy to take a more active role in Operation Daybreak, but she refuses. In an attempt to provoke his anger, she insults Rei and succeeds in evoking a threat from her partner. Later, Rei asks Quatre about his marriage to Dorothy, and he reluctantly tells the story. Heero, Duo, and Mariemaia are attacked at a restaurant and take a sample of the suspicious-looking Leute blood. Lucrezia and Ami discuss their investigation plans, and the conversations changes gears when Ami talks about the romance she'd had with Lucrezia's grandfather.

The moon was shining exceptionally bright through the windows of the hotel. Cape Town was rather quiet, at least compared to some of the extremely loud cities like Tokyo, L.A., or New York. But Rini awoke nonetheless when the white hands of the moonlight touched her bare shoulder. Yawning, she sat up and realized that Hotaru was not in bed. Frowning, she threw a short rose-colored silk robe over her pink shorts and camisole, and over to the huge windows at the far end of the room.

Hotaru stood silhouetted against the bright moon in her short lilac chemise with a thin black wrap draped over her shoulders. Her pale face was turned out to the city, towards the ocean. She didn't move when Rini put an arm around her.

"Hey…you all right?" the pink haired woman asked.

"I couldn't sleep," Hotaru answered.

Rini smiled slightly. "So I noticed. Anything wrong?"

"Nothing in particular. Just worried."

"About?"

"Everything."

They sighed. Mariemaia had called earlier that evening and told them about the attack. After discussing it with the reluctant Wufei, the two remaining members of Red Delta decided it would be best to try and find out where those particular Leute that had attacked from, and hopefully locate a nearby stronghold, thus allowing Mariemaia and her team to head to Preventors Headquarters where they could compare some sort of blood sample with others that had been gathered.

"Maia will be all right, Hotaru. She's strong. Stronger than we were at that age. And Duo will look after her," the pink haired woman said.

Hotaru cracked a small grin. "But who will look after Duo?"

"Why do you think Setsuna sent Heero along for?"

They giggled slightly, but the uneasiness was not to be dispersed. Hotaru turned her face back out to the night. "It's not just Maia that I'm worried about. There are other things. Setsuna's son, in particular."

"Jabreel? What about him?"

"Rini," Hotaru looked at her and reached for her hand. "Setsuna told us to look after him if anything happened to her. Why would she tell us that, unless she knew…"

Rini put a finger to Hotaru's lips. "Don't you dare, Hotaru. Don't you dare say that. Don't even think it. Nothing can happen to Puu, you understand? She's not like us. She can't…she can't…"

"No one lives forever, Rini."

Red eyes flashed in the dark as the former princess spun away. "It won't end like that, Hotaru. I won't let it. Neither will my mother. She came back for a reason, Hotaru. She's going to save us." Rini paused. "She always saves us."

"Yes. She does," Hotaru agreed.

Rini sat down on the bed. "I missed her so much, Hotaru. I missed both of my parents. But now Father's dead, and…I feel angry."

The darker girl sat down next to her and put an arm around her. "At your mother or your father?"

"Both, I guess. Not so much at my father. But then again…he didn't have to join the rebellion. I mean, it was stupid to, in theory. Aren't we the same as OZ and the Alliance, Hotaru? We're out for control. So why did he decide to fight against it?"

Hotaru chose her words carefully. "Endymion was very, very intelligent, Rini. I think he saw then what the rest of us see now. There's no point in our fighting for control. Even if we thought Crystal Tokyo was an era of peace, someone must have been suffering somewhere. How else could the Leute have stirred up a rebellion?

"I think your father was done fighting to bring something dead back to life. He fought in the Eve Wars so that the people of this world could be free. So that we could be free, at least from human dictatorship."

Rini looked at her. "Did you see him after he died?"

She nodded. "Only for a few minutes. He didn't speak much. Few ever do. But he said he was glad to be free of the world and all of its problems, and that he would be waiting for you and your mother."

The other girl smiled slightly. "I want to see him again."

"There are still a lot of things we have to do first, Rini."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Save the world and all that jazz," she smirked. "You think we would have figured out how to stop these sorts of things from happening by now, after what, a few millenniums in existence?"

They laughed again softly, before Rini's gaze hardened again. "What I don't understand is why my mother ran of on her own and never bothered to contact anyone. Over a thousand years, and she didn't say one word to me, Hotaru. And today, we had our tearful reunion and all, but she didn't ask to see me or anything."

"Did you want her to?" Hotaru asked.

She bit her lip. "I don't think so."

"You shouldn't feel guilty. Everyone's grown apart, changed in their own ways. Your mother still loves you, but she hasn't really been a mother for a long time. If you think about it, she had to stop being a mother in order to be a good one. If she hadn't, you might have died by now."

White arms snaked around Rini's bare midriff as Hotaru's head rested on her shoulder. "I couldn't bear that, Rini. The day you leave this world is the day I vanish forever."

"Hotaru…" Rini whispered, tilting her head up. Without another word, she brushed a black hair from the girl's face and kissed her lips gently. Breaking away moments later, she whispered in Hotaru's ear. "Is that why you couldn't sleep?"

She nodded. "No one lives forever," she repeated.

"No." Rini agreed, then took Hotaru's wrap and dropped it on the floor before pushing her onto her back. She kissed her again, then looked into her indigo eyes. "But we're both alive tonight, Hotaru. And right now, I am completely in love with you."

The dark haired girl smiled slightly and touched Rini's face. "I love you too. And I will until there's nothing left in the universe."

"That's a pretty long time," she answered.

"Not long enough."

When Sally entered Venli's hotel room the next morning, he was talking hurriedly on his cell phone and at first didn't notice her. She waved and leaned against the counter, brushing a brown braid over her shoulder. The writer held up a hand to her, and cracked a small smile.

"Yes sir…I understand. If we could set up a meeting…yes…yes…well, I'll have to see when the earliest we can return is. I believe the Vice President will be willing to discuss this with us as well…yes sir…all right. Thank you very much," he snapped the phone shut and slid it in the pocket of his trenchcoat.

"Well? Who were you talking to?" Sally asked, standing up.

Venli smiled again. "Ivan Nikolaivna, Russia's representative to the World Council. He worked with my brother-in-law, and we've met on several occasions for interviews and such. He wants to meet with us in Saint Petersburg as soon as possible and hear our story."

"Alex that's great!" she cried, standing up. "You know how those World Council people are…if we can get them to believe this, than we might just have a chance to convincing the rest of the world before we're all blown to kingdom come."

He nodded. "I also think it would be a good idea to try and meet with him tomorrow at the latest. If we can convince him, he can stand with us when the Vice President makes her statement in Brussels."

The Preventor paused. "She wanted to make it as soon as possible. We made arrangements for a shuttle today."

Venli's face fell. "Can't you convince her to put it off until we have more support? Ivan said he was sure he could get some other countries to listen, but we'd have to act fast. There are some things at my apartment in Volgograd I'd like to have when we speak with them. Pictures of Aethrin, letters from my sister, research from my investigation…"

"Well, we can tr—"

The phone on the nightstand suddenly rang. The two looked at each other, then Sally walked over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Sally? It's Relena."

"Relena? We were just talking about you. Listen—"

"No time. Sally, I received a threatening phone call this morning. I think it was a Leute. Whoever it was talked the same way they do, in that monotone, you know?"

"Wait a minute, slow down. What time was this?" Sally looked at her watch. It was 10:30 AM.

"Well, I got a call at about 6:15, but I'm not sure if that was a Leute or not. No one spoke, and there wasn't any breathing or anything. They just hung up after about a minute. Then at 8:00, right after I got out of the shower, I got another call. The person said "We've found you, Relena Peacecraft. And now you're all alone." I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to run. I'm at the airport right now. I've got a flight to Brussels arriving in ten minutes. I just want you to know so you and Mr. Venli can meet me there."

"What? Relena, no! Don't go anywhere by yourself! Are you crazy?" Sally cried.

When Relena answered, her voice was shaky. "They want to kill me, Sally. I can't stay. I'm sorry. Please contact me as soon as you arrive in Brussels."

With that, the Earth Sphere Vice President hung up.

Sally slammed the phone down. "God damn it! What the hell is she thinking?"

Venli put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She looked back. "The Leute have her spooked. She's running to Brussels. And I'd bet everything I own it's a trap."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

His green eyes hardened behind his glasses. "We can't follow her then."

"We can't just let her die! She practically runs the whole world, Alex!" Sally answered.

"The Leute are not going to kill her, Sally. They didn't kill Roderick Bailey. Not right away, anyways. And what good would it do for us just to follow her? If the Leute are planning something, do you really think you and I alone can stop them?" Venli asked.

She sighed. He was right. "What do you think we should do then?"

"Warn the others. Go to Volgograd, then onto Saint Petersburg. If necessary, we can always catch a plane from there. And we have to be extra careful ourselves," the Russian smiled slightly. "Unfortunately, we are only human. Legendary powers are a bit out of our league."

Comforted by his lightheartedness, Sally grinned back. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"It's appreciated."

Relena tried to sleep as her plane neared the Brussels Capitol Transport Center, but to no avail. The phone calls from that morning had her terrified, and the fact that (whatever others may say) Relena Dorlian Peacecraft did not scare easily scared her even more.

She hadn't told Sally everything before she left. Oh sure, she told her about the two phone calls, but she didn't tell her everything that was said in the second one. The image kept replaying itself in her head, like a movie.

She had stepped out of the bathroom in her penthouse suite dressed in a clean white robe embroidered with the hotel's logo. She was planning on meeting with Sally and Alexander Venli after she dressed so they could plan out their next move.

The phone rang.

"Hello? Relena Dorlian speaking," Relena answered in her confident voice.

"Hello Relena."

She didn't recognize the voice, but she recognized the tone. It was flat and dead. The voice of a computer spoken through a child's mouth.

"Who is this?"

"You know who this is."

She inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"This is a warning to you. We've found you Relena Peacecraft, and now you're all alone. But we're just the first. Soon they'll all know."

"Know what?"

"You're putting yourself in a dangerous position, Relena. Your baby as well."

Relena's blue-gray eyes snapped open. "What?"

"You're very brave. A fool, but a brave fool. What will your bravery do to your child, Relena, if you find yourself in the torturer's chair? What's more, what will your bravery do to your child if it lives? I wonder…"

"Stop it. Stop it right now!"

The voice laughed, and it sent shivers down her spine. "I'll make a deal with you Relena. Stay where you are, and no one will ever have to know about your little mistake. You'll both be dead by noon."

The line went dead then, and Relena had dropped the phone and screamed. Dressing quickly, she called her bodyguards and arranged for a private flight to Brussels. She made it to the airport without any trouble, and so far there didn't seem to be any difficulty with the plane. She could even see the airport now, where another escort would be waiting.

Relena took a deep breath. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.

But subconsciously, her hands traced down over her still-fairly-flat stomach. She had found out she was one month pregnant at the beginning of the month. In fact, she found out on the exact day Lita Kino went missing. And there was only one person who could be the father…

"Heero…" she murmured softly. He had appeared in her room on New Year's Eve. She didn't know how he got in, and she didn't care. He was there. And even though he hardly spoke to her, he made love to her until the early hours of the new year. By the time the sun rose, he was gone. And they had never spoken of it since.

It didn't seem like it would stay that way for long. The child…her child…their child, would not remain a secret one spring arrived and she started to show. How would Heero react? As much as she loved him, Relena was certain that he was not the fathering type. But he would still protect them both, and do all he could for them. Still…she wondered. For all the puzzles Heero was, his child could only be even more enigmatic.

That was why she had put off involving herself as long as she could. She didn't want to risk hurting herself or her child in the time of Earth's greatest need. It was selfish, she knew, but damn it, didn't she have a right to be selfish? She had been lied to for the first fifteen years of her life, and had spent the next ten sacrificing everything for the world. And what did she get in return? A bunch of fingers pointed at her for taking away Earth's only defenses from an enemy that sounded too science fiction to be real.

"Ms. Vice President? We're landing now," her stewardess said, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Oh, thank you," she answered, fastening her seat belt. She closed her eyes again as she felt the plane touch down and tried to reassure herself.

Everything will be fine. It will all be all right.

The plane slowed, and finally stopped. Relena looked out the window and watched the corridor extend out to the plane's door, then stood up and gathered her briefcase. Her two bodyguards stood on either side of her as they walked out.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the waiting area was that it was cold. The second thing she noticed was that it was completely empty. Not just the waiting area; the entire concourse was deserted. And silent. The hairs on the back of her neck began to rise.

"What's going on here?" she whispered.

One of her bodyguard's opened his mouth to answer, but instead of words there was a bang and a spurt of blood rushed out and spattered across her face and white blouse. She screamed as he fell over dead. The other guard immediately jumped in front of her and pulled a gun of his own, but before he could fire there was another shot that went straight through his head and out the back. Luckily, he was at least a foot taller than the politician and the spray of blood shot clean over her head.

Ducking out behind him, Relena came face to face with a tall young woman with black hair and dead black eyes. A Leute stood on either side of her. She gasped as the woman's arms shot out and gripped her in a vice-like hold. For a few moments, she struggled, then cringed as she felt something crack in her shoulders. Relaxing slightly, Relena allowed the woman to turn her to face a familiar red haired Leute.

"Hello Miss Relena. Did you have a good flight?" Aethrin asked.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

Aethrin's mouth curled up in a cynical smile. "You cause too many problems, Relena. But you're valuable both to the Earth's government and Setsuna's people. For now, you'll make a good hostage. And later…"

"Later what?" Relena whispered.

The Leute reached up and touched her cheek with its soft hand. "You know, Relena." Suddenly, he drew his hand away and slapped her across the cheek.

"Take her."

It was still cold in Volgograd. As far as Sally was concerned, it was always cold in Volgograd. She wondered how Venli could live there. Or if he still would. After all, as she looked around his still-trashed apartment, it didn't look very livable. The windows were broken, there were papers scattered everywhere, furniture was smashed; the only redeeming factor was that someone (probably another one of Setsuna's "people") had gotten rid of the corpse that had been their would-be assassin after they found Heero.

But it was almost as if Venli was used to living in conditions like this. He was searching through the debris methodically, finding several papers and photos he needed buried amidst the refuse. There was even a computer disk that had remained whole and unscratched underneath the overturned couch. All of this he gathered and put in the briefcase Sally had gotten for him before they left South Africa.

"Are you finding everything you need?" she asked, sweeping away a pile of glass from the window.

He laughed bitterly. "Everything I need? I should think not. Half of the things I need the little bastards stole. I'm just taking what I can use."

Sally's expression remained solemn as she knelt down next to him. "Did they take anything from your sister?"

"Almost everything. I can't find her letters, I only found a couple of photos of her, and barely any of this," he held up the briefcase, "mentions "Aaron"."

"I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Anya was the only family I had left, and it's not likely she would have given any of this to her husband's family. And it's not just that they've stolen things that are vital proof to our story, but…they're all I had left of her. They didn't just kill Anya, they erased her."

Sally put an arm around him. "I know. They tried to do the same thing to Lita. But that's why we have to fight back against them, right? Don't you want to make them pay, Alex?"

He nodded and narrowed his eyes. "Very much. Very, very much. Excuse me," he stood up. "I'm going to go look in the bedroom."

"All right. I'll keep looking for things out here."

"Very well."

Sally looked out the window. It was getting dark, and the breeze was picking up. A flurry of papers suddenly picked up, and she leapt to her feet to try and grab them all. She managed to catch most of them and was putting them beneath a piece of glass when someone held out another small pile.

"You forgot these."

She looked up to see a Leute sitting on the edge of the window. Dropping the papers, she pulled a gun, but before she could fire the Leute knocked it out of her hand.

"That won't do you any good. And I'm not here to kill you. Not yet, anyways," it said, then drew out a gun of its own. "But I'm not going to take any risks if you get aggressive with me, okay?"

Sally tilted her head slightly. There was something strange about this Leute. It still had the black eyes, and the short hair (brown, this one). But the way it spoke was different. Rather than the uniform monotone of the other Leute she had encountered, this one spoke normally, in an almost friendly fashion. It was taller, and surprisingly, dressed like a girl, in a teal turtleneck sweater, knee-length denim jumper, white tights, and little black boots. And it was smiling, not in the typical dead grin of most Leute, but a scheming little smirk.

"What do you want?"

"There's trouble in Brussels. I don't really think you should be poking around here," the Leute said. "You and your friend really ought to go help the Vice President before Aethrin does something unpleasant to her."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you telling me this? Are you with the Kentauros Institute?"

The Leute laughed. "Me? Kentauros? Don't be silly. I, for one, don't have a death wish." It hopped down off the window and strode casually towards her. "Nope. I'm with Eljira on this one. My name's Iy."

"All right, Iy, why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Miss Po, we share a common enemy. We want Aethrin dead. Isn't that right, Mr. Venli?"

The Leute's only answer was a second gunshot. And although Iy had obviously been aware of Venli's presence, it hadn't know about the .45 he was carrying and used to send the Leute's own gun flying backwards out the window.
Iy's smile disappeared. "Ungrateful. It's not becoming."

"Get the hell out of here," Venli whispered dangerously, taking a step forward.

The Leute pulled an envelope out of the front of its jumper. "After that stunt, you hardly deserve this, but here," Iy threw it at him. "and you get the hell out, and get to the Capitol Transport Center. Or it'll be your fault Relena Dorlian ended up like Roderick Bailey."

"What?"

It smirked again, then turned and jumped out the window. Sally and Venli ran to the edge, but the Leute was gone.

"What the hell…?" he looked at her.

She shrugged. "I have no idea. But it said Relena was in trouble."

"We knew that."

"We have to help her."

"I know." Without another word, Venli opened up the envelope Iy had thrown at him. Opening it, he gasped. Photos of a pretty woman with maroon hair and green eyes holding Aethrin fell out. As did several handwritten letters and even what looked like photocopies of adoption papers.

"Wow…" Sally murmured. "I guess Santa is a Leute."

"Maybe…but I doubt it would have given us these if it didn't want us to hurry up with saving Relena. Which makes me wonder what it really wants."

"Well, it doesn't like Aethrin any more than you do."
"And I wonder why?"

"Who cares? The point is, if we've got what we came for, we really do need to "get the hell out of here." But first I've got one question."

"What?"

Sally pointed at his .45. "Where'd that come from?"

The spectacled man colored slightly. "During the war ten years ago, I was a war correspondent. I learned rather quickly that if you plan to go to war, even just to observe, you'd better have something to keep you safe."

She nodded. "That's very true, Alex. Very true."

When one first laid eyes upon Russian World Council Representative Ivan Nikolaivna, the first thing one might think of would be a brick wall. Standing almost seven feet tall and close to three hundred pounds, he was one of the hugest men Sally had ever seen. However, he had a friendly face and a firm disposition, and she got the feeling the he would only hurt a fly if it really pissed him off.

"Alexander…so good to see you again," the representative greeted him as the pair walked into his large office. He shook Venli's hand firmly, then turned to Sally. "And your lovely friend?"

"Sally Po. I'm with the Preventors Department of Investigation," she explained, gripping his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Nikolaivna."

"I only wish it were under better circumstances," the man frowned, then turned to Venli. "While I'm anxious to see your information, I'm afraid a crisis has come up. I was notified in the last hour that Brussels has been blockaded and is under lockdown."

"What?" the writer blinked. "Why?"

"The official statement from Belgium's representative to the World Council is that several of those…well, spacecrafts, I suppose you could call them…that attacked the that shuttle last week landed not outside the city. Everyone's seen the footage of the Roderick Bailey assassination, and if we know anything, we at least know that whatever these Leute are, they are dangerous. No one is allowed on the streets, planes and cars aren't being allowed in, and the police are patrolling the streets."

"Have there been any actual attacks?" Sally asked.

Nikolaivna shook his head. "No. That's why I'm worried. Because besides that, electricity has been cut throughout most of the city, as have most communication lines. The people there are stuck inside a little black box. We're seeing everything they aren't. What's worse is that several important political figures gathered there when the heard the Vice President wanted to make a statement within the next few days."

Venli paled and looked at Sally. "The trap…"

She clenched her fists. "Vice President Dorlian left for the CTC from South Africa early yesterday morning. Is there any way of knowing if she landed?"

"All we know is that the last commercial flight landed at the CTC at 1:00 PM yesterday. The blockade went into full effect around 3:00 PM. I heard that a spy plane flying over about an hour later saw a small plane on the runway, but there's no record on the radar."

"There wouldn't be; those jets provided to cabinet members are masked so they won't be seen by passing planes," Sally explained.

"Then, assuming there was no human error, there is a good chance Vice President Dorlian did land," he answered.

"Ivan, who else was supposed to be in Brussels?" Venli asked.

"Besides Relena Dorlian? The Secretary of State, several colonial senators and representatives, various people from the press, the Speaker of the House, and the President. However, we do know that the President is not in Brussels at this time."

"Where is she?"

"That hasn't been disclosed."

Sally sat down hard. "Damn it…it's gotta be the Leute. It's probably like they had it with Bailey."

"You mean controlling those in power? I don't doubt it," Nikolaivna replied. "The only question is, what is to be done?"

"That depends on how much time we have," Venli said. "What is your guess, Sally?"

"They haven't made any statements or ultimatums, have they?" she asked Nikolaivna. He shook his head.

She sighed. "Then we should assume that everyone in Brussels could be dead within the next five minutes."

"We need to act quickly, in other words," Venli said.

"It wouldn't be such a problem if we hadn't disbanded the military. However, where there is a fight, there are always those willing to fight," Nikolaivna walked over to his desk and pulled out a large stack of paper, then dropped it on top. Sally picked up the top sheet. It was a list of names, phone numbers, and addresses.

"What are these?" she asked.

The large man smiled. "Former members of the Russian military. Now, I must admit that about 60 of those people are either dead, missing, missing vital body parts, in the middle of Siberia, or have no intention of fighting. But…" he picked up the top two thirds of the stack. The remainder was still quite staggering, however. "As you can see, that still leaves us with a good strong force."

"How soon can you have something gathered?" Sally asked.

"Give me two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Venli cried. "Ivan, didn't you hear her? She said five minutes!"

Nikolaivna held up his hand. "I realize that. However, it was Relena Dorlian that wanted to make a statement, yes?"

"Yes…"

"In other words, she is a part of something the rest of us don't know about. Except for you, perhaps, yes Alex?"

He hesitated. "Yes…but it's a bit of a long story…"

The other man held up one large hand. "I needn't hear it now. What I propose is this: after the Armistice, several historical pieces of machinery were saved and placed in the Hermitage near the Winter Palace. Among the collection is a pair of attack choppers. I suggest you take at least one, go to Brussels with a team of a dozen or less, and rescue the Vice President. From there…"

He paused, as if he were a bit uncomfortable with the idea. But he didn't need to speak it. Sally frowned.

"You want us to use Relena as a hostage for the Leute, right? A bargaining chip?"

"They did not give us an ultimatum, so after you save her you should give them one. Tell them to keep the people of Brussels safe for twenty days, and that you will hand her over then. With any luck, I will have an army for you with a week to spare."

"And if not?"

"Might I suggest Yakustk? It's somewhere between here, hell, and the Pacific Ocean. No one would ever find you there," Nikolaivna replied.

There was an awkward silence, followed by a burst of uneasy laughter. Afterwards, his face became serious and he put one beefy arm around each of them. "It was no joke, friends. Now be gone. Time is a precious commodity we have none of."

Sally nodded. "Yes. Thank you so much for all your help, Mr. Nikolaivna."

He smiled. "Don't let Alex be killed. He's a talented sharpshooter under pressure, but a slow runner."

Venli muttered a curse in his native tongue at the large man, and they both laughed. Sally rolled her eyes.

"Men."

"Are you frightened, Relena?" the woman asked.

She looked up at her captor's dead eyes with a stern expression on her face. "No," she answered, but nevertheless she found herself squirming against the bonds that tied her to the chair. Outside the control tower, it was growing dark, but the lights of the city still hadn't come on.

The woman smiled slightly. "A pity. Sometimes fear can help survival tactics kick in."

Relena thrust her chin out proudly. "I'm not afraid to die. I never have been."

"Now you see, that is a wonderful attitude. I wish all of your kind were brave enough to look death in the eye like you. It would make it much easier for us to exterminate you," Aethrin commented, walking in. The Leute nodded to its human servant, who bowed back and kept her gun pointed at the vice president.

Not to be perturbed, she looked Aethrin in the eye. "Do we really disgust you so that you need to kill us all? Is there no way we can just make peace and share this world?"

The Leute narrowed its eyes. "This isn't just about the crimes you committed against us, human. It is time for your race to come to an end because if it does not, this entire world will be destroyed."

"Destroyed?"

"Yes! Look at yourselves! You rape and abuse your Earth for centuries, and then when it can give you no more, you abandon her and turn to space. In all of your egotism you believe it is your right to build there and spread your virus as far as possible. And when you fight amongst yourselves, you wage wars and create weapons that could bring it all down on your heads!" Aethrin spat back. "If you want to know the truth, it's a marvel you've lasted this long."

Relena wasn't sure what to say. Because the Leute was right in every point it made. But these past ten years…the efforts she had put forth…they had to count for something, didn't they? She thought of all of the national parks and refuges that had been set up. And the Armistice, although it was a problem now, had kept new wars from breaking out between the people of Earth. And as for the colonies…well, as far as she was concerned, humans did have the right to build in space. Everyone did.

"You're not God," she whispered.

Aethrin glared at her. "We have evolved past the concept of "god," Relena Dorlian."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You can pray all you like," the Leute hissed. It strode forward and in one swift pull, broke the roped that tied her down. Seizing her shoulder, it threw her to her knees. "In fact, pray right now. And you'll see. There is no god to save you now."

She was about to raise her head when she felt the barrel of a gun press into the back of her neck.

"There's no one to save you now," Aethrin hissed, then pulled the trigger.

The blast was deafening.

Relena rolled to the side as she felt shattering glass shower over her back. She was dimly aware of Aethrin's guard screaming, and then the pounding of feet. Someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet.

"Are you all right, Relena?" a familiar voice answered.

"Sally!" Relena cried, looking at her friend. "How did you get here?"

"Thank Alex's friend," the Preventor motioned towards the shattered windows. A rope ladder hung down, and a bespectacled man with maroon hair with a gun hung off. Relena recognized him as Sally's friend, the Russian journalist and the brother of the woman who killed Lita Kino.

"Please Miss Vice President! We have to hurry!" he called. A second later, the door the control room broke down and revealed a group of Leute fighting armed men and women in black uniforms.

"Come on!" Sally cried. She gripped Relena's hand tightly and shot at one of the Leute trying to fight its way into the room. Taking a deep, quick breath, they dashed across the room and grabbed onto the ladder.

The vice president followed Venli up into the body of the chopper, but Sally hung back. She could see Aethrin crouching beneath one of the computer stations, glaring up at her murderously. Narrowing her eyes, she aimed her gun and fired.

But the Leute's catlike reflexes were still sharp, and it quickly jumped out and slipped through the doorway.

"Sally!" Venli yelled.

She looked up at him and nodded. "Everyone! Pull back now!" she yelled, and climbed the ladder. Once she was safely on, the door slammed behind her.

"Are you all right?" Sally looked at Relena. She had a bruise on one cheek and appeared a little bewildered, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

"I'm fine. What about you two?" she answered.

Venli smiled slightly. "Well, it's the first time I've ever hung out of a helicopter, I'll say that much."

"Are the rest of the people who came…?"

"There's another chopper on the roof near one of the concourses. Now that they know you're safe, they'll follow us out," Sally explained

"But what about the rest of the city?"

"We've got an army on the way. They'll be here in two weeks." Venli said.

Relena's eyes widened. "An army? From where?"

Sally smiled grimly. "From a place where people who aren't going to give up without a fight."

"Is that where we're going?"

"Yes. We'll pull back to St. Petersburg and let Setsuna know what happened. Hopefully, Ivan's helping us get a stronghold there," the writer answered.

The vice president was quiet for a moment, then looked at her saviors. "This is truly a war then, isn't it?"

Sally nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Then if war is upon us…" Relena's fists clenched and she turned to look out the window at the darkness of Brussels.

"We will do everything we can to win it."