Tactical Espionage

by FantasticJackie

In AC 198, a new threat arises. The art of espionage must be perfected in order for our heroes to succeed against their new enemy. A fic concentrating on all the beloved characters of GW and what happens after Endless Waltz.

3. Chapter 2: Fanning the Flames

Tactical Espionage

By: Jackie

Chapter 2: Fanning the Flames

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I also did not come up with the original title of this story; it belongs to the creators of Metal Gear Solid/Konami.

Jackie's Note: Well, thanks to Hurricane Rita, we didn't go to Mexico. T.T Actually, it was going to be a pretty rough trip; I'm actually more relieved than anything. ;)

Well, I said that I had another story in the works, and I have posted it, - check it out if you would be so kind - and I also said that this chapter just needed some tweaking. Yeah, well, I got kind of carried away... I added a good 7 pages in my "tweaking" stage... lol And rewrote about half of it... I decided it needed to go farther than it had; I also wanted this chapter to be the same approximate length as the one before it and the ones to come. Of course, this one turned out being longer...Chapter 3 (which, I called this chapter "chapter 3" in my last JN... Sorry!) has "a lot" (actually, it will probably be a somewhat boring chapter devoid of any real action... sorry) that happens in it, and Chapter 4 even more. I also started on ANOTHER story. It's a humerous cross-over. The prologue and 1st chapter will be posted in my next update. ;) So anyway, that's why I'm late again... Sorry! I'm bound by the endurance of my hand(s). I'll write for 7 hours straight and still want to jot down more, but physically can't... T.T

To the Reviewers: I decided I'd just make this bolded in my layout. :) Again, thanks to all for your comments! ODST girl and L.A.Une, thanks for the encouragement! ;) And I forgot to mention to you, Une, that Treize will make his next brief appearance in Chapter 4. ;)

Kamineko, I wasn't thinking about changing the title! ;) It took me FOREVER to "come up with it." (Actually, I just took it from MGS... Not too proud of that, but I give credit where it's due.) This TE will be more of the spying and ifiltration and, as you'll later find out, refers to more than just the espianoge involved with their new enemy. I was just saying that the prologue didn't have anything to do with TE; its purpose was to simply bring Treize back. ;) I happen to be a big Trowa and Relena fan! (Not together! eww!) Actually, I wish Trowa had a bigger part in the series; I love his character. ;)

IMPORTANT: I've been having problems with my "save changes" button in the documents folder. I've even been having problems just loading the docs. One time, I opened this doc, and the only thing left was a third of the JN above. Needless to say, I was the least bit PO'ed. My point is that if it seems like something's missing, tell me in an e-mail. I'll fix it immediately. ;) Thanks!

February 26, AC 198

Preventers HQ, War Room

1312 hours

All eyes were on the young acrobat as his own face bore in to that of the new girl. All at once, here eyes flashed, and she blinked in shock.

Midii studied the Preventer before her; could this really be possible? Well, it certainly was possible, just not plausible. Then again, with both of them being such excellent combat operatives as they were, in a post-war society, what other organization suited them better than Preventer? Was it really him? "No Name…" she whispered.

He'd grown a lot since she'd last seen him – not that she didn't expect it. He easily cleared 6'3". He was broad-shouldered, chiseled, and muscular. He still wore his hair in the unibang style; it covered one of his piercing green eyes just as she remembered. His face was hardened into what seemed to be a mixture of surprise, anger, and possibly hatred, and she knew she deserved every bit of it. She remembered him as the kind gentle boy she'd met eight years ago – the boy who had spared her life. Still, she couldn't help but fear him.

The focus of attention was again Midii. Her expression out rightly showed shock and fear. A glance to Trowa and one could understand her fear. If looks could kill, Midii would have been dead the moment he'd laid eyes on her.

Something snapped in Quatre as he studied the two Preventers before him. He tilted his head slightly to the side in understanding, "You're Midii Une."

Seven pairs of eyes now rested on the young Arab; Trowa's gaze did not leave Midii.

A few seconds ticked by before Trowa tore his eyes from Midii to face Director Une. He didn't know how to react, and suddenly, the room was extremely hot and over-crowded. He needed to get out. Take a walk. Return to his office. Anything to get away from her.

"Please excuse me," he stated. He shoved his way past Midii and through the door to which she still held the knob.

The room was silent a little longer until Heero stood up. "I have to go," he said pushing his chair underneath the table. Director Une nodded in consent, and he turned to Midii who was still standing in the doorway. As he passed her, he mumbled, "Nice meeting you," and was gone.

The Director cleared her throat and called to Midii, "Please come in and shut the door behind you."

She did as she was told, and took a seat at the table two seats away from Quatre.

Not a big fan of silence, Duo voiced the question that was on everyone's minds, "Okay. So what exactly just happened?" He looked first to Midii and then to Quatre. "One of you two knows, if not both of you."

Quatre leaned back in his chair and placed his hands in the air in surrender, "You're right; I do know, but it's not my place to tell you. Trowa told me in confidence, and I'm not going to break that trust he placed in me."

"Trowa?" Midii asked quietly. Her head was bowed; she seemed to be studying the table intensely, "Is that his name now?"

Quatre turned to the new girl and nodded, "Yes. His name is Trowa Barton now."

Midii made a small sound that could pass as a laugh, "You're joking."

"No. It's a long story."

She looked wistful, "Well, so is mine…"

"Would either of you consider throwing us a bone here?" Duo interrupted irritatedly.

"From what I can tell," Director Une began, "You two have met before. Whatever happened between you didn't go well."

"Great deduction, Sherlock," Duo drawled sarcastically. He was met with a glare from his superior and gave her a sheepish grin.

"You could say that," Midii answered.

"Were you enemies?" Wufei asked. He had never seen Trowa express any emotion, but the mere sight of this girl had caused him to become openly angry and even leave the room. What power did this girl have over the ever-stoic Trowa?

She was silent for a few moments. When they'd met, they'd been friends. They'd been more than friends. She hadn't thought of him as a brother, but still, she loved him as no ten-year-old should have been able to love. She had never thought of him as her enemy; that was why she saved him. But then, her purpose had been clear from the beginning: she infiltrated the camp, befriended the crew, and gave away their location thereby offering up their lives to the Alliance for the lives of her family. That didn't exactly classify her as his ally, did it?

"His answer," she finally spoke up, "Would be yes."

"What's your answer?" Wufei pressed.

"Yes and no," she raised her head to meet Wufei's gaze.

Duo frowned, "Uh, how –"

"You infiltrated his unit," Sally cut him off. It was more a statement than a question.

A sad smile appeared on her face as she lowered her head to look at the table once again, "Yes… It was my first mission, and thanks to me, he was the only survivor."

Was she taking credit for his survival or the deaths of his unit? No one could tell.

----------------------

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Front Awning

1:28 pm

The black limousine, (Heero had insisted saying that pink stood out too much. Plus, Relena had grown up – pink was rather embarrassing…), was waiting for Relena when she and Lance exited the front doors of the Foreign Ministry Building.

Lance was alert, looking every which-way to spot potential threats and dangers to his charge. There were no threats atop any buildings, in the trees, on the other side of the limo, swarming from behind… The awning was secure.

He turned to Relena and nodding, he outstretched his hand to the limo indicating that she could climb inside the vehicle safely.

Relena frowned; normally, Heero would open the door to the limo and inspect the interior for other possible threats. Where was he, anyway?

She was going to voice her concerns about the limo to Lance when she noted that he was in his own world as he scanned the rooftops and trees for possible snipers. She mentally shrugged; Heero was a bit over-protective, anyway. Besides, the chances that a bomb or hijacker resided in the limo were well out of the realm of possibility. She stepped past Lance and reached for the handle. Just as she was about to pull, a hand placed itself over hers preventing her from opening the door. The tingling sensation she felt on her skin where they were touching told her to whom the hand belonged before she turned to face him. They were only inches apart.

Their eyes met, and she could see the cold fury lurking behind the gentleness reserved for her only in his cobalt eyes. His anger was not directed at her, and she chanced a glance at Lance who, oblivious to Heero's arrival, was still looking for snipers.

"Step away from the car, Relena," he told her gently as he released his grip on her fingers.

She obliged and stepped back. She tapped Lance on the shoulder as Heero opened the door and inspected the interior of the limo. Lance turned to Relena and was going to ask her what was wrong, but she merely pointed to Heero who had just finished inspecting the car; the Gundam Pilot's signature death glare was aimed fully at the unsuspecting Preventer who had just realized his mistake.

"I…" he stammered. "Sir!" he settled for a crisp salute at his loss for words.

Heero's glare did not waver as he continued to stare down the helpless guard. His attention shifted to Relena, his features softening dramatically. He nodded towards the car, "It's safe. Go on; I'll join you in a moment."

Lance gulped audibly, and Relena couldn't help but pity the young man. Heero was back to glaring at him when Relena placed her hand on the furious Preventer's arm. His attention was abruptly on her. "Please, Heero," she said staring directly into his blue orbs, "Don't be too angry."

He frowned slightly; didn't she understand that all it took was one mistake and she could be dead? He again nodded in the direction of the limo, and she climbed in. He glared at Lance, "I will see you in my office later on today. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," he responded timidly.

"Go," Heero commanded him before following Relena and shutting the door behind him.

The limo sped off leaving behind one very worried young man. He'd managed to get on Heero Yuy's, the former pilot of the Wing Zero Gundam, Preventer Zero's bad side. This was definitely not good.

----------------------

Preventer HQ

War Room

1334 hours

"– Thus escaping with the data completely undetected," Midii finished. Director Une had requested that the newest Preventer give her strategy for attaining the data in the exercise they'd just recently finished.

"Well, yeah, that would'a worked, too…" Duo mused then unnecessarily raised his hand as if asking permission to continue speaking, "Uh, considering that I'm the only one from Recon Team, how come I'm getting the lecture?"

"It's not just you; everyone needs to hear this," Director Une informed him. "If the information we received yesterday from our imbedded operative pans out, we need to be at our best. Not only that, but we are going to need all the help we can get."

"Well, minus Heero and Trowa, I'd say that you're looking at the best of the best," Duo replied smugly.

She nodded in agreement, "Yes, and the two missing from that list have already been contacted."

"Two…?" Duo began.

"Really?" Sally asked excitedly, "Are they already on their way?"

"I don't know; you can call them and find out."

----------------------

Preventer Shuttle D48X (Code Name Distance)

Low Orbit Around Mars

Sector 32, Satellite 4 inbound

February 26, AC 198

0942 hours (Mars Colonial Time)

Lucrezia Noin sat at the control panel of the Distance. After this satellite, they'd only have three left. Once the routine systems checks and repairs were made to all seven satellites, they would be on their way to Earth.

"Zechs," she called his attention on the com. He was in the back room geared up to greet the vacuum of space.

He replied immediately, "Go ahead."

"We'll reach the fourth satellite in thirty seconds."

"Acknowledged."

The satellite they were approaching was a communication satellite. It was long and shaped like a "t." The satellites always had monthly check-ups, but this month, there was actually something wrong. Communication on Mars had always been second rate due to the atmosphere and particles therein, but recently, no one could manage to get a signal. Rather annoyed with how things had worked out on Mars, Noin had convinced the Terraforming Technical Director that she and Zechs could take care of it. It wasn't a lie; their mechanics skills were, like everything else, top notch. The raven haired woman couldn't claim that ulterior motives had nothing to do with her request, though.

"Adjusting velocity," she informed him on the com. "We'll be in synchronized orbit with satellite four in… three, two, one. Synchronized orbit achieved. It's all you, Zechs."

"I'm heading out," he told her. "Stay steady for me, Noin."

A light smile played at the corner of her mouth at his double meaning, "Of course, Zechs."

"This should only take twenty minutes at the most. Zechs out."

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Zechs Merquise, as of the last two months, had been extremely flirtatious with her – well, for himself, anyway. Not that they'd seen much of each other in the last two months or even six months, for that matter.

They'd arrived on Mars a little over a year ago. (One year and sixty days, to be precise), and things had gone from good to bad to worse. It wasn't the work; no, no, she enjoyed the hard labor of building a new colony and sculpting the Martian landscape for humans. It wasn't that at all. It was the schedule.

When the two had arrived, they'd been slightly caught off guard at what had already been accomplished, and how many people were already there. Compared to now, however, Terraformer was small back then.

The two had started things off doing the same job at the same time in the same dome and living in the same dome. Then they were doing different jobs at the same time in the same dome. Then it was different jobs, different times in the same dome. Then it was different jobs, different times, different domes, but still living in the same dome. Finally, about six months ago, (five months and twenty-three days), Noin had been required to move from Red City, (the third dome to be completed and home to her and Zechs for eight months), to H Dome.

Due to this severe schedule, she and Zechs had rarely seen each other in the past few months. Before her move, they'd been able to see each other at least once a week, but now they were lucky to run into each other once a month. A few times, she'd returned home from work to find a note from him generally asking how she was, but over all, their communication had been severely cut off. Considering the minor detail that she'd followed him to Mars specifically to avoid this lack of communication, Noin was just a bit PO'ed.

At the last progress meeting, the issue of the satellites had been brought to the fore, and Noin immediately volunteered herself and Zechs. It took some persuasion to allow them to go, let alone without any "extra hands," but here they were. It was originally going to be just one day, but now they'd been called back to Earth by their duty to the Preventers and the world in general. She couldn't help but be excited; returning to Earth meant seeing all her old friends and at least three days on a shuttle alone with Zechs.

Not that three days alone together meant anything would happen. In fact, knowing their luck, more than likely, nothing would happen. Aside from meeting at a military academy, joining an organization where fraternization was not allowed, being separated time and time again, facing each other on the battlefield, and so on, they seemed to have the worst luck when it came to trying to make their friendship a more meaningful relationship. Something always happened to prevent it (like their schedule…). For instance, take today's example.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Preventer Shuttle D48X Distance

February 26, AC 198

0416 hours (Mars Colonial Time)

They had just achieved low orbit around Mars from their recent launch and were ten minutes away from the first satellite. Noin was going to take care of the first two, and then she and Zechs would alternate pairs until he received the last one.

Noin stood up from the co-pilot seat as she stretched. "I guess I'll go get suited up," she said with a yawn.

Zechs simply nodded as he held back a yawn of his own. He was quite thrilled with the prospect of being on a shuttle alone with Noin once again, but he wasn't too happy about the time.

Noin headed towards the back of the shuttle and rolled her neck around. She then reached up and started to kneed the muscles between her neck and shoulders. The work she'd done the day before had been rather taxing on her back and arms, but what made it a bit of a problem was that blasted cot she slept on. On Mars, it was actually a decent bed for one of the Terraforming workers, but to Noin, it was like sleeping on cement. Plus the simple stress of Mars, let alone barely ever seeing Zechs… She was by no means as sensitive as the Princess and the Pea, but support and comfort were two things that Noin apparently needed.

Suddenly, Zechs was behind her massaging her neck and back. Her arms fell to her sides, and she leaned into him.

"Mmm… That feels great, Zechs. Thanks…" Her eyes were shut as he worked out all the knots from her neck and shoulders, "I didn't sleep well last night…"

"Hm," he said; Noin felt his deep voice resonate in his chest as she continued to lean against him. "I didn't sleep well last night, either," he said softly into her ear. "I was too excited about coming up here with you…" his lips grazed her ear as he spoke, and she shivered.

Noin stiffened when he planted a kiss on her neck right below her jaw line. He gently nudged her, and she tilted her head back exposing her neck at his request. His hands, having forgotten their purpose in massaging her shoulders, lightly rested on her waist. She relaxed into his embrace as he planted more light, feather kisses on her neck, jaw line, and ear.

"Zechs…" she breathed into his ear.

Out of the blue, they heard the clicking sound of a stack of papers being shuffled together followed by a voice, "Tell him I'll call him back at a more convenient time. I have to brief the participants of today's drill in fifteen minutes; I don't have time right now."

Zechs and Noin sprang apart and turned to face the viewing screen; all they saw was the back of a stack of papers in someone's hands.

"Wind and Fire," the papers disappeared and in their place was Director Une. "Oh, there you are." She frowned, "Why didn't you answer?"

Well, at least she hadn't seen them – a small consolation prize.

"We were prepping for our current mission; we must not have heard it," Zechs answered casually.

"This must be important if you overrode the system," Noin pointed out. Only Zechs understood that what she truly meant was "This had better be important." He allowed a small smirk to play at the corner of his mouth.

Une nodded, "It is. Even though this is a secure line, I don't trust it, so I'm going to be brief. I'm activating you two and calling you to Earth immediately. We have a situation on our hands."

Wind and Fire frowned at each other and then turned back to the Director.

"What's going on?" Zechs asked.

"A lot. I'll brief you when you arrive. I've already spoken with the director of the Terraforming Project; you two are clear to leave after you finish those satellites. I had to use the Preventers' satellite to get through, though." She turned to Noin with a slight frown on her face, "Why did you volunteer for this job, anyway? It's not something you normally do…"

She shrugged, "Just itching for some change, I guess." Did it matter if that change was seeing Zechs for once? She didn't think so.

As ambiguous as Fire's answer was, Gold seemed to understand perfectly. "I see," she said with a slight smirk appearing on her features. So that was why they didn't answer and the reason for Noin's more-chilly-than-usual demeanor towards her…Usually, Noin was happy to see her; at this particular moment, she didn't look pleased at all. She suddenly felt the urge to apologize, but squelched it. This matter was urgent; romantic excursions would have to come second.

Une turned her attention to both Preventers in front of her once again, "How long are the satellites going to take?"

"The shortest estimate puts it around six hours," Zechs stated. "I anticipate somewhere between eight and ten, though."

Gold sighed, "Do you think you could possibly finish in six? It's two and a half days to Earth as it is."

Noin nodded, "I think we can manage that so long as we don't run into any unexpected problems."

"Excellent. I'll see you in three days, then. Gold out." Her image winked off screen.

"You think it's the assassination attempts?" Noin asked turning to Zechs.

He nodded, "Let's get to work. We need to leave as soon as possible."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Noin allowed a grin to settle itself on her features as she remembered their little encounter earlier that morning. They'd been too busy with the satellites to even think about it, though. Satellite number three had put them behind schedule, and they were doing everything they could think of save cutting corners to save time. The good news was that communication on Mars was up and running again. That meant that the rest of the satellites were probably fine, and that they'd over estimated the time it would take to repair them.

She started running simulations to see if she could shave a few hours off the time it would take to get to Earth. Zechs had already eliminated three hours of the journey, but Noin was convinced that she could do more. She was right; she cut a grand total of thirteen minutes off the flight path. She frowned and put in some new calculations.

----------------------

Black Limo

En Route to ESUN Meeting

1:36 pm

The silence in the limo was deafening. Relena and Heero sat facing each other on opposite corners. He was looking around for any sign of danger, as usual. She, on the other hand, was watching him. More like waiting for him to notice her, actually. She had no doubt that he was well aware of her gaze.

A few more moments passed, and Relena, as stubborn as she was, was becoming painfully aware of how little she had prepared for this meeting. She really needed to finish her presentations – preferably before they arrived. She was about to abandon her pursuit of trying to get Heero to talk to her and reach for her laptop inside her briefcase when he spoke.

"Relena?"

"Yes, Heero?" she said almost too suddenly.

Heero's gaze traveled from the window to his charge, "You do understand the consequences of one mistake regarding your safety, don't you?" He said this more as a statement, though he was slightly inquisitive. What could she have possibly meant when she said not to be too angry? If she understood the stakes, how could she fault his anger? It didn't make sense.

So that was what was bothering him… He was still angry about Lance. "Yes, Heero, I do. But sometimes…" she stopped. She didn't want to offend him or make him think she was ungrateful for his protection and friendship.

"Sometimes what?" he asked emotionlessly.

She met his gaze for a moment, then turned to look out the window. "I don't want you to think that I'm ungrateful or second guessing you. On the contrary, you have no idea how much I appreciate you. You're more help than you will ever know," she said softly, then realized that it was too much information, and she was veering off into another matter entirely between them. She rested her eyes on him again, "You're my confidant and friend, Heero, and I know you're the best at what you do, but sometimes… Sometimes, aren't you a bit over zealous?"

"Over zealous?" he repeated in his monotone voice.

"Like going overboard," she elaborated, "In your protection and precaution of me."

He snorted, "They're terrorists and assassins, Relena. They don't play by 'the rules.' You can't be over-zealous. – Especially when it comes to you."

"What are the chances that between security and the front gate, someone will get into this car or plant a bomb in it, Heero?"

"I don't think you want to know the actual number."

She blinked.

"The point is that there's still a chance, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take."

She sighed and glanced back out the window. He was right. She received about a thousand death threats a week. Ninety-nine percent of them were false, of course, but there was always that one percent. As Heero often reminded her through a quote, her enemies only had to be right once; they had to be right 100 of the time. It was only one mistake, but…

"What are you going to do to him?"

Heero shrugged, "Reprimand him. Submit a report to Director Une. Never allow him to work guard detail again."

She turned sharply at the last one.

"He didn't even know I was there, Relena. It's not like I tried to hide my arrival, either."

She sighed heavily, "This peace is such a façade…"

He nodded, "Right now, yes."

She met his eyes, "Was it ever more than a façade, Heero?"

He stayed silent at her question. He had no doubt that the world had tasted true peace for a short time. However, the leaders of this peace experienced no such thing. How could they? With every decision they made, at least a billion people found fault in it. Some of those people were unstable and decided to take matters into their own hands by becoming terrorists and assassins. He didn't know how to tell Relena that she would never know true peace like the rest of the world.

Even so, she deserved a solace, a sanctuary. It was unfair that she did all the work but received no reward for it. There had to be something that could make her happy and take her mind off her work and the world. Some place… Someone…

He mentally stiffened at that thought. He knew that he was that someone for Relena. – Or so she thought. His eyes strayed to her; she was lost in her own thoughts just as much as he was.

He did indeed reciprocate her feelings, but she could never know. It would never work out between them, and it was highly inappropriate. He was a soldier, the Perfect Soldier, and she a former pacifist and princess of the Cinq Kingdom. She was a Peacecraft, even if she didn't go by that name. His mind latched onto Zechs for a moment; he'd sold out his birthright and the ideals of his family and kingdom, but he was still a good man. Heero knew that; he'd always known that Zechs was a good man even though they'd been enemies. He'd done the bloodshed himself, but he was still okay; Heero, as a soldier, asking for a relationship with the other Peacecraft surely couldn't be so bad? He silenced that thought. Even if that was true, he was the Perfect Soldier; he didn't know if he was really in love with this girl in the first place. For all he knew, she was simply a symbol of innocence that he felt he needed to protect in order to atone for his many sins. Not to mention their status: she was the Vice Foreign Minister, and he her head of security and bodyguard. A relationship would reek of scandal and cause Relena more trouble than it was worth. It wasn't too hard for him to imagine her political enemies calling for her resignation if something like that should happen.

"Heero," she said breaking his thoughts, "Why don't you ever let me thank you?"

He met her eyes and noticed that she was genuinely troubled about this, "I don't need thanks. It's my –"

"Job," she said with him. "I know. But Heero, that doesn't make me any less appreciative." She turned away from him, "I can't stand that my job puts you in danger."

He frowned, "It puts you in danger, too."

"Heero…" she trailed off. It was obvious that she thought his observation beside the point.

He was silent for a moment as he collected his thoughts. "I'd protect you even if it wasn't my job, Relena." He didn't know if that would help matters or make them worse. How could she that she put him in danger when he chose to be there?

"Yes, I know. You volunteered for this job, and I know that it was you in the shadows before you officially became my head of security."

That startled him. She'd never told him that she knew he was there all along. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised; she knew him too well. He decided not to dwell on it and instead continued on his previous line of thought. He hesitated, "I would protect you even if you weren't the Vice Foreign Minister, Relena."

She looked him straight in the eyes after he said that. Did he realize what he'd just revealed to her? She wasn't just some political official to protect; her life had value to him. She didn't remember when or why she'd ever questioned that, but she was glad that he'd answered her wonder, anyway.

"I choose to be there, Relena. It's my choice. You don't put me in any danger."

She stared at him for a moment, then smiled, "Thank you, Heero." She waited for his classic response. Instead, he surprised her.

He nodded. "You're welcome," he said after a moment.

She gave a small laugh, and he allowed a smirk to permeate his features.

----------------------

Preventers HQ

1332 hours

Trowa walked slowly around the perimeter of the HQ building with his hands shoved into his pockets and his head bent low in thought and remembrance.

Why did this have to happen? How did it happen? The second question wasn't too hard to answer. What better place was there for retired soldiers? – Unless she was a spy. How did they know she wasn't part of some terrorist group? How was he supposed to trust her? That was easy to answer, as well: he wouldn't. Instead, he'd rely on his friends and Director Une. If she was a spy, wouldn't Une know?

'Not necessarily,' his mind told him.

Well, wait. Director Une was highly capable. Did he really have such faith in her?

'No,' he decided. He didn't.

'So why not trust her? If Une is convinced she's okay, why not?'

He frowned. What a good question.

'She may be wrong,' he thought, but he knew he didn't believe that. It was something besides his faith in his boss that made him doubt the possibility of Midii being a spy. For the life of him, he couldn't understand it.

He hated her, didn't he? He wasn't sure. He certainly had a reason to: she'd taken everything from him.

'But didn't it work out for the better?' his mind pondered as if of its own free will. 'If I hadn't been forced to leave them, what would have happened with Operation Meteor? Would I still have ended up as the pilot of Heavyarms and the new Trowa Barton who put a stop to Operation M? … I don't know…"

Then another thought, 'What if it was fate?'

'Shut up,' he told the voice. He wasn't going to forgive her crimes on account of "fate." She'd chosen to go through with it.

'But if it really was fate, someone else would have done it, right? Or maybe something worse would have happened…?'

'Shut up! Shut up!' This was ridiculous. He'd spent the better part of ten years hating this girl, and now that she was here, he was creating excuses for her? What the h--- was wrong with him?

The image of a young blonde girl fiddling with her necklace flashed through his mind, and he cursed aloud. He remembered her mentioning her brothers and father… What if she'd had no choice?

'All's fair in love and war.'

Was that true? He didn't know, and he didn't want to think about it, but his mind wouldn't stop.

He'd trusted her. He'd become her friend. No, more than her friend. He was only somewhere around the age of ten at the time, so he wasn't in love with her, but it was more than just a regular friendship. He didn't think of her as his sister, but somehow, they were between friends and lovers. He'd cared for her deeply for reasons he didn't understand, and she'd ripped his heart out and broken it into a million pieces when she'd betrayed him. He'd become even more cold and stoic after that, yet he never forgot her or… 'Stop it.'

He thought back to seeing her in the doorway only a few minutes beforehand. She'd matured well over the years. If he was honest with himself, he'd say she was beautiful. If she wasn't Midii Une, he would have been attracted to her.

…

Who was he kidding? Certainly not himself. So he was attracted to her – her appearance, anyway. And her eyes; he couldn't forget her eyes. But it didn't matter what she looked like. What mattered was who she was, and he would not allow himself to entertain even the slightest possibility of caring about her again.

'How are you going to do that?'

'Don't say it,' he ordered.

'I don't need to. We're one in the same, and you already know.'

S---. So this was from where all the confusion stemmed. How was it possible? It didn't make sense. He'd never forgiven her, yet he still cared about her. It made absolutely no sense. He was certainly still angry with her about it, and still felt pain from the wound she'd given him that day. He held not one ounce of trust in her save that she probably wasn't a spy this time. Yet through all that, somehow, she still held a place in his tightly guarded heart.

Oh, he didn't care about her as much as before, but seeing her again had awoken something in him. Something was going to happen between them; he'd seen it in her eyes, as well. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he was afraid to find out.

----------------------

Reily Association Building

Earth – Paris, France

February 26, AC 198

1:23 pm

Preventer Snow peaked around her desk and listened to the hallway and office around her intently for any sounds. The coast seemed clear, so she hurriedly pulled up the banking transactions of the Reily Association. She had to e-mail this to her man in Preventer. – No. Not her "man;" her contact. There. That sounded better.

Inputting some commands, she disguised her e-mail as a simple memo and then encoded it. With a click of the mouse, it was on its way to its first destination where it would bounce and bound its way across the internet covering its trail until it finally found its way to Preventer Desert. He and the others would check out the information.

She x-ed out of the window and erased all evidence. Then she pulled up what she was supposed to be working on for her "boss:" an invite for the Reily Association's ball celebrating their fifth anniversary. She rolled her eyes as she glanced over the list of invitees. What made this man think he was so important that he could invite and actually expect government officials to attend his little ball? Especially when he was so dead-set against that government.

It was no secret as to what the Reily Foundation believed in; they stood for isolationism. They were capitalists to the absolute core both monetarily and socially. They were individualists. They believed that life gravitated around competitions for survival. They thought that the ESUN , while intending to be a loose confederation, was muchtoo controlling with the establishment of a world-wide monetary unit and other such laws. They absolutely hated the proposed idea of sharing wealth to pay other countries' debts seeing it as a socialist practice. - Not that they were wrong with that assesment. -They believed that the countries needed to stay separate and alone creating their own trade with the colonies and neighbors as well as their own laws. They thought the world lacked passion; after all, the ESUN made the issue of patriotism moot, in their opinion.

This was their outer shell: what everyone saw. Preventer Snow had stumbled upon something bigger, though. Mr. Reily was a supremacist; he believed that the people on Earth were supreme to the "drifters." In AC, to be called a drifter, which simply meant a citizen of a colony, was equal to calling a black person the n-word, a woman the b-word, or a soldier a Nazi. It had found its way into the ABC's of naughty words.

Reily and his Associations believed that the colonists were indebted to Earth for putting them there, for all the years of war, for the first operation meteor, for the second attempt of operation meteor, and for the White Fang. In essence, Reily and his followers believed the colonists should be slaves to the people of Earth to pay off this debt. Of course, this debt could never be paid off.

The rather disturbing part of this was his association's role in politics today. Mr. Reily was actually a powerful bureaucrat in the scheme of things. Many of his ideas found their way into the ESUN's list of bills, and while none of them ever passed, the fact remained that they'd made it past committee.

The even more disturbing information Preventer Snow had run across was that of Utopian Society. Utopian Society was a terrorist group that the Preventers couldn't quite find anything about or even pinpoint their ideals. A few people suspected to be part of US were also members of the Reily Association. While no transactions between the organizations had been recorded, the presence of so many suspected terrorists within one organization had led the Preventers to the RA. That was Snow's mission. She had infiltrated RA and was now Mr. Reily's secretary. So far, she'd found out more about US, including their targets, through the RA than the Preventers had been able to drudge up anywhere else. This little fact made the RA even more suspicious, and now a full scale investigation of the RA was taking place.

"Ah, Ms. Catalonia."

Preventer Snow looked up and came face to face with Harrison Wolfe, the vice president of the RA and Mr. Reily's best friend. He was 26 with dark brown hair that was never quite neat, always finding a way out of his desired hair style. He had turquoise eyes and a smile that could light up a room. His beard was well manicured, but still gave him a slightly gruff appearance. Over all, however, he looked quite harmless.

"Yes, Mr. Wolfe?" Snow answered.

"Has my good friend already set off on his business trip?"

"I believe so, yes, Mr. Wolfe."

"I see… Please call me Harry, Dorothy."

Dorothy held back a frown. She couldn't stand these games he played with her. It was apparent that he was attracted to her. "Yes, sir. If you'll excuse me, I must finish my work."

He looked disappointed when she'd called him sir – a look Dorothy took pleasure in. "Of course, Dorothy," he smiled and bowed. Then he left her to her work.

She held back a sneer; how much longer was she stuck on this assignment?

----------------------

Preventers HQ

War Room

1338 hours

"That concludes this meting. You all have your assignments, so go attend to them." Director Une turned to Quatre, "And please inform me the moment you receive your next message from Snow."

Quatre glanced at the watch on his wrist, "I should already have one if everything's going okay."

She nodded. "I didn't have a chance to give you a tour," she said turning to Midii, "But I'm sure Mr. Maxwell won't mind escorting you to the office you'll be sharing with Preventer Hawk. She's our resident sleuth, and keeps an eye on just about everything from her computer screen. If you ever have any questions regarding background information, field layout or anything else, ask her; she'll more than likely know."

"Hey! That's Hilde!" Duo said jumping up. He then put a thoughtful hand under his chin, "She didn't mention anything about getting a partner… Oh well. Come on," he said happily to Midii as she stood up. "I'll give you the whirlwind tour Maxwell style!"

Midii smiled somewhat as Duo led the way pointing out this office and that office as they headed for the elevator. The others were behind Midii and Duo talking quietly amongst themselves or watching and listening to Duo's tour.

"Now this," Duo said standing in front of the elevator, "Is the elevator."

"Uh, Duo, I'm sure she can recognize an elevator when she sees one," Sally said pointedly.

"Don't interrupt the tour guide!" he said defensively.

"Duo, I don't mind you enjoying yourself from time to time, but please remember to get back to work quickly," Director Une said as they entered the elevator.

"Yes ma'am!" he mock saluted. He reached over and pressed two buttons: levels seventy and seventy-five. He turned to Midii gravely, "Now there's something important you must remember about the elevator: Never, and I mean never press level 75."

"What!" Sally cried out, "Duo, why are you trying to confuse the poor girl?"

Director Une, on the other hand, held back a chuckle keeping her face as serious and stoic as possible.

Midii raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Duo stuck his tongue out at Sally playfully, then stepped closer to Midii with a serious look on his face. "Because that's where her office is," he pointed to Director Une.

Quatre let a small chuckle escape him as Duo continued.

"Believe me; you never want to be in that office," he looked timidly at his boss only a yard away from him, "She gets scary…"

Director Une couldn't hold it in any longer. She threw the pen in her hand at the braided youth, hitting him right between his eyes.

"Ouch!" Duo said rubbing the bridge of his nose as the elevator broke out into laughter. "See?" he turned to Midii laughing, as well. "Aww, not you too!"

"Serves you right, Duo," Une said her eyes alight with laughter. "May I have my pen back?"

He picked up the salvo and warily handed it over to her. "I think I'll sue…" he said off handedly.

She smiled slightly and looked past him to Midii, "He's right, though. Do try to avoid that level. There is not a single time of the day that it's not busy. When dignitaries visit, that's the level they go to. Many meetings and other formalities take place there as well, along with the regular hustle and bustle of Preventer business. If you need to speak with me, make sure it's urgent."

"Yes ma'am," Midii said as the elevator pinged their arrival to the 70th floor.

They stepped out onto the dark green tile floor as the elevator shut behind them taking Director Une to the 75th floor. The Preventer seal was imbedded/drawn into the tile right in the center of the, what you could call, lobby. There were three vertical hallways from Midii's perspective: one along the building's right exterior, one down the middle of the floor, and another one along the building's left exterior. There were theoretically two horizontal hallways: the one they were standing in now and one on the other side of the floor.

"Okay, so what you see in front of you is the best hallway," Duo said indicating the middle hallway that was parallel with the elevator. "Walk down that way, and you see that room in the middle? That's the break room. Coffee, snacks, and my personal favorite, candy and sodas! – Hey! How about I escort everyone to their offices so Midii can learn your names easier? Is that all right?" he asked Midii.

"That would be great," Midii said appreciatively.

"Just hurry it up, Maxwell. I have work to do," Wufei growled.

"Oy, Wu-man! Your office is first!"

They took a right and came to the first corner office. A corner office was an office reserved for partners. The medium sized offices, which they hadn't approached yet, were for esteemed Preventers without partners. There were two on this floor, and they used to belong to Wind and Fire. They now belonged to Hawk and Snow, though Preventer Snow was a non-existent Preventer for her own safety.

The two doors that led into the corner office were black. They had little navy blue lapels on them; inscribed in gold writing was Preventer Dragon, Wufei Chang and Preventer Water, Sally Po. Next to the doors were windows that reached from the ground to the ceiling; they were covered with blinds that were currently drawn closed.

Sally unlocked the door with her name on it, and turned to Midii, shaking her hand. "I'm Sally or Water in the field. Aside from my duties as a Preventer, I'm also a doctor, so don't be surprised if you see me ragging on someone about their health – even you," she gave a wink. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Midii said as Sally left and headed into the office.

Wufei glanced at Midii appraisingly. Because of the effect she'd had on Trowa, he respected her a little more than he normally would have, but he didn't intend on being any more courteous than usual.

"I'm Wufei or Dragon," he said with his arms crossed. "Just be sure to stay out of my way." With that, he followed Sally in to the office.

Midii blinked.

"Don't worry about him," Duo said, "He's always like that. – Hey, wait…" He poked his head into their office, "Hey, Sally, who are you calling?"

"Zechs and Noin," she answered.

"They're coming back!"

"That's what Anne said. – Now go finish your tour. I'll tell you later if they're on their way."

"Sweet! – All right. Moving on with the tour…" Duo said as he turned and paused at a door adjacent to Wufei's and Sally's office. "This is the stair well should you ever need to use it. There's another one directly opposite this one on the other side," he said pointing. "We're seventy floors up; I suggest never using it unless you HAVE to," he said with a wink.

He led them down the right vertical hallway Midii had noticed before. They passed some regular sized offices; some of them were occupied and others were vacant. "Now to your left," Duo said when they reached the center of the hallway and a medium-sized office with the lights turned out, "Is the office of Preventer Snow. She's out on a mission right now, and actually, she doesn't exist on any Preventer database. That's for her own protection; be careful when mentioning her name." On the door, the lapel read, Preventer Snow, Dorothy Catalonia.

They came to the next corner office; the lights were also out in this one. The lapels read Preventer Wind, Zechs Merquise and Preventer Fire, Lucrezia Noin.

"These two aren't here right now, but Sally said they're on their way. They up and disappeared a few days after that incident with Dekim Barton. We found out later that they essentially eloped to Mars," Duo explained. "They've been on standby as reserve Preventers all this time."

"Duo! They didn't elope!" Quatre chided.

"Come on, Quatre. I'll place a bet with you right here right now that when they get back, Zechs is all over Noin."

Quatre paled, "That's wrong, Duo."

"So you'll take the bet?" Duo asked hopefully.

"I was referring to the bet."

"Oh. So you agree with me, then."

"No. I don't know! Duo, it's none of my business!"

"Suit yourself! I bet Trowa and Heero won't mind placing some bets…" Duo turned to Midii and pointed to Quatre over his shoulder, "He's the modest one. He doesn't have an impolite bone in his body."

Quatre blushed, "Duo…"

"I swear, he blushes more than any girl I've ever met," Duo said as he led them down the next hallway to their left. It was a mirror image of the other side of the floor where they'd entered from the elevator. There was an elevator on this side as well as the Preventer seal.

"Duo! That was harsh…" Quatre said softly.

"Harsh, but true," he replied as they arrived at the next corner office.

"I thought Zechs Merquise was dead?" Midii asked finally able to get a word in edgewise.

"Nope. He managed to survive that blast in 195. Actually, I have no clue as to how he did – do you, Quatre?"

"No, sorry, I don't."

Duo shrugged, "Noin knew that he had, too. We all thought she was in denial. I feel bad for trying to help her "accept" his death. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was him in the Tallgeese III in that battle in Brussels. I wonder if he sent her a message or visited her, and that's how she knew…?"

"I doubt it. You know her instincts…"

"Yeah…"

Midii blinked, "So you are the Gundam Pilots, then."

Quatre and Duo turned to her slightly surprised.

"You didn't know?" Duo asked.

"Sort of. I was just waiting for confirmation."

"Oh. Well, this is Trowa's and my office," Quatre said as he fished the key out of his pocket. The doors read Preventer Ice, Trowa Barton and Preventer Desert, Quatre Winner.

"How are you here if you're supposed to be running Winner Corp?" Midii asked.

Quatre smiled as he unlocked the door, "I'm a 'seasonal' employee. Aside from Heero, Dorothy, Sally, and Wufei, we all are. This is your only job?"

"I don't have any skills for any other jobs," she replied.

"That's great. It makes me feel better about leaving this and attending my civilian job. The more high-ranked full-time Preventers, the better," he said. He turned to her, "We all used feel like instruments of war here. I'm sure in time, you'll learn to cope better, and you'll find out that you're more valuable than just a weapon."

Midii blinked at his words. How did he -?

"I'll talk to Trowa, though you might want to stay away from him right now. You really hurt him, Midii. I don't think he's ever forgiven you."

Midii sighed, "I never gave him a reason to forgive me. I never truly apologized, and I don't know how I would. I don't even know that I've forgiven myself…"

"Perhaps you two needed to meet again in order to get past it, then," Quatre suggested. He smiled and extended his hand to shake Midii's, "I'm glad to have met you, and I look forward to working with you."

"Thank you, Quatre."

He turned to enter his office, but he paused, "What's your code name?"

Midii smiled, "I'm Storm."

"Nice," Duo said appreciatively.

"I like it," Quatre said happily, and he disappeared into his office.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me. Now I kind of feel like you and Hilde – she's your partner – are getting kind of gypped," Duo said as they turned to their right and headed down the last hallway. "You and Hilde are going to be sharing the other mid-size office on this floor which is usually reserved for high-ranking Preventers without partners. But there are no more corner offices, so…"

"I don't mind. – I hope Hilde doesn't. That's her name, right?"

"Yup, and she's my girl!"

"As in dating?" Midii asked pointedly.

"Ahh… Yeah, you could say that. We don't really date; we don't have time for it. But we do live together on L2. We have a scrapping service that we run when we're not here."

"Soo… Fraternization is allowed here?"

Duo laughed, "Oh, yes. Unofficially, of course. That has to do more with Director Une than anything."

Midii raised a curious brow, "Oh?"

Duo glanced to her and for once, decided to keep his mouth shut on an issue, "I think I'd better save that explanation for later. – Here's your office. Oh, hey! They already have your lapel on here!" The door read Preventer Hawk, Hilde Schbeicker and Preventer Storm, Midii Une.

Duo knocked on the door which was slightly ajar, "Hey babe! I brought your new partner! – And apparently, you already have a desk," he said to Midii. "This is better than a 5 star hotel… I think I'll just come here instead of looking for a hotel from now on…"

Hilde looked up from her laptop. Her desk contained three computers: a laptop and two PCs. They were always continuously running. "Hey, Duo," she saw Midii and stood up. "I'm Hilde Schbeicker, or Preventer Hawk. I hope you don't mind sharing an office with me," she grinned with her hand outstretched.

"Midii Une, Preventer Storm," she said shaking Hilde's hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Well, while you two ladies get acquainted and all that jazz, I'm gonna go do my work."

"You're gonna work, Duo?" Hilde asked suspiciously.

"Well, I have to have something done when Heero gets back. Actually, I have some leads that I'm rather eager to follow."

"The ones I gave you?"

"Yup!" he kissed Hilde's cheek and waved to Midii. "See ya' later, Midii. Heero's and my office is the one on this corner," he said pointing. "Heero's the guy who left in the middle of the meeting. He's not too friendly, but he is my best friend. He's the bodyguard of Vice Foreign Minister Dorlain, casually known around here as Relena. I'm sure you'll be meeting her some time soon. His code name is Preventer Zero. I'm Duo Maxwell, if you hadn't put it together by now, and I'm Preventer Shadow. On the field, call me The Shadow," he said with a wink. "Later, girls!" and he left.

----------------------

Preventer Shuttle D48X Distance

Low Orbit Around Mars

Sector 32, Synchronized Orbit with Satellite 4

0953 hours (Mars Colonial Time)

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Noin lifted her eyes from the simulations and grinned. "Incoming Transmission: Preventer Water," the screen read. She reached up and patched her friend through.

"Well, hello there. Long time no see, Sal," Noin greeted her friend.

"Hey, it's not my fault," she said defensively, "That stupid dust ball of yours kept rejecting my calls. – How have you been, Noin?"

"All right, considering the circumstances," she replied. She'd already informed Sally of hers and Zechs' hectic schedules. "How about you? Any progress in taming the Dragon?"

Sally laughed, "As much progress as can be expected." In a low voice, she said, "He actually told me good morning yesterday."

Noin raised a playful eyebrow at this information, "Did he really?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid we took two steps back today…"

"What happened?" Sally's stories always put a grin on Noin's face – especially if they involved Wufei. Perhaps Noin had some lingering resentment over his attack on LVA and even over the fact that Treize, her instructor, mentor, commander, and even somewhat of a friend, had died at his hands. Whatever the reason, she loved to hear stories of torture to the boy. – Or, at least what he classified as torture, anyway. She didn't wish ill on him. She even thought of him as an estranged friend; she simply took pleasure in his little misfortunes.

"We had another drill today. Une thinks it'll come in handy with our new playmates," she said vaguely. This was a secure line, but there really wasn't something such as a secure communication line. "The Dragon and I got into a little discussion over the come line in the middle of the drill. Anne had to break us up."

Noin laughed, "You're joking!"

Sally shook her head.

She laughed again, "What'd she say?"

"Something along the lines of," she changed her voice to imitate Une, "I'm very disappointed in you. You better not behave this way on real missions! And I don't want to say another word to you two!" She chuckled a bit, "Actually, I deserved it. I was the one who started it. The Dragon's still angry with me over it…"

"Are you still, uh…" Noin raised her eyebrow suggestively as she didn't finish her sentence.

Sally raised a brow of her own, "Well, I don't know," she said sarcastically. "What about you two?"

Noin smiled, "Well, as you put it, he's still fanning the flames. – And he's doing a good job of it, too…"

"Oh? I take it he hasn't told you anything yet?" Sally asked all too happy to get off the subject of her and Wufei.

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "No," she said with a frown. Then she grinned, "But he has been flirting a lot."

Sally raised both brows, "The esteemed Zechs Merquise, otherwise known as the Lightning Baron, flirting? Now this is a development… Do tell…." she said with a mischievous grin.

Noin laughed. She was blessed to have Sally as a friend. When she had up and left her partner for a life on Mars with Zechs, she feared Sally would be angry with her. As it turned out, Sally became her biggest cheerleader when it came to her relationship with Zechs. Sally fully understood that Noin needed to be with him. She held no hard feelings for the desertion whatsoever. Because of that, Noin felt comfortable filling the woman in on what did and didn't happen between her and Zechs.

"There's too much to tell, Sal. – Including the, ahh… kisses he gave me this morning," she grinned at Sally's gleeful expression. Who would have thought Lucrezia Noin would have a girlfriend with whom she'd giggle and tell secrets to about her love life? If she wasn't careful, the two of them would run off and check out some teenage chick flick when they arrived on Earth.

"I expect a full briefing when you get here, Preventer Fire," Sally said with a grin. "Which reminds me of why I called in the first place; are you two –"

Noin held up her index finger to Sally signaling for her to wait a moment as she received a communication transmission from Zechs.

"Noin?" his voice crackled over the com line.

"What's wrong, Zechs?"

"Nothing," he said. Then he added, "I just wanted to hear your voice…" It was true; he just put it in an artsy way. Usually, Noin would check on him whenever he left the shuttle. Considering that she hadn't contacted him since he left, he wanted to make sure that everything was okay.

Noin grinned and turned to Sally mouthing, "See?"

Sally winked and silently asked if Noin wanted her to call back later.

Noin shook her head and signaled for her to wait, and then turned back to the com line, "That's a colorful way to say you were worried, Zechs."

He chuckled lightly.

"Sorry, Zechs. I've been running some simulations. I just shaved another," she turned to her calculations, "Two hours off our trip. – How's it coming?"

There was a pause before he answered, "This one seems to be okay. I'm going to clean out the memory from these lost transmissions and add the upgrade. It shouldn't take much longer."

"All right, I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Zechs out."

Noin turned to Sally, arms crossed over her chest with a smile on her face.

"What happened to bring about this change?" Sally asked.

Noin shrugged, "I don't know. The last six months, we've barely seen each other. During the last two months, he's become rather… expressive," she settled on.

"I'd say so… He's like that all the time now?"

"No. Just when he thinks it's safe."

Sally chuckled, "I take it I wouldn't have been classified as being 'safe.'"

"Yeah," Noin agreed. "What were you saying before?"

"Well, I can already tell you're not on your way yet. Are you almost ready to leave?"

Noin nodded, "Probably in an hour or so. It turned out only the first three were broken. We don't anticipate any malfunctions in the last three."

"That's great. I'll inform Une."

"Hey, Sal, do you think you could give me any info on why we're being called back? What's going on?"

"Well, I can't tell you much. I –"

"Hey, Sally!" a voice off screen called. It was Wufei, "I need a hand real quick."

"You're asking for help?" Sally asked unbelievingly. She then turned to Noin, "I'll be right back. It must be important if he's actually asking for assistance." She winked at her friend, then placed her friend on hold, the screen turning back to a sea of stars on Noin's end.

----------------------

ESUN Temp HQ

2:47 pm

Relena and Heero had arrived safely at the temporary ESUN HQ three quarters of an hour ago. Relena had been able to get all of her information and presentations in order in the half an hour she'd had before the meeting started. The meeting had been called to order around fifteen minutes ago. It was a strange time to have a meeting, but they were trying to throw off their assassins.

It was Relena's turn to update the council on the colonies next after the Foreign Minister finished his update. Really, her position as the Vice Foreign Minister was more of a liaison, but she was also heavily involved in negotiations should they ever be needed.

The Foreign Minister finished his comments on how the Colonies were fairing over all, and the Chairman took the floor.

"Very good. So all fairs well in space. – Or does it? I believe you have more information for us, don't you, Ms. Vice Foreign Minister?"

Relena nodded, "I do, Mr. Chairman. And the Preventers' Head Coordinating Directors of the Colonies have also asked me to brief the assembled body present today on their progress."

There was a murmur through the audience. Around 500 people were in the auditorium. Along with the officials of the ESUN, there were also the individual country leaders and delegations, some of the bureaucracy, (who were not allowed to say anything), and a seemingly impenetrable security guard detail.

"Well, let's hear about our civilian friends in space first while we're still on the topic. Then we'll eagerly listen to what the Preventers have to say," the Chairman said.

Relena nodded, "The Colonies first asked me to express their anger and outrage as well as their deepest sympathies over the recent assassination attempts on this governing body. They wish to convey their determined will to stand by the ESUN and help in whatever ways they can."

A murmur of approval washed through the diplomats.

Relena then began her short report, "The Colonies are happy with our current trade situation, however, they are requesting more items that can only be made on Earth. They said they would happily trade items that can only be made in space for these other items." She held up a piece of paper with a list, "This list contains what they would like to see more of and all that they're willing to trade. Their one stipulation is no Gundanium."

There was an uproar from a portion of the audience. Half audible accusations of holding onto the metal to make their own mobile suits again were thrown about as the Chairman struggled to regain control of the body.

"Quiet! Quiet! This is not an issue for debate. There are already regulations on the production of Gundanium. They cannot make more, and to ask for more is to take from their well deserved and needed supply. Please continue, Ms. Dorlain."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The rebuilding of the L5 Colony Cluster is progressing slowly. Much of the debris is still floating around and causing quite a few problems. The reconstruction is currently behind schedule. They are asking for more hands to do the work.

"Quite the opposite is true for Terraforming on Mars, however," she frowned slightly, "They were having communication problems, but I'm sure they're working on those." She reached down and picked up a remote. A white screen was already in place behind her, and she asked that someone dim the lights as she flipped on the projector.

"Aside from that," she said as the fuzzy image slowly materialized on the white screen from her laptop, "They are far beyond schedule. This is due mostly to the overwhelming response of people and families that decided to help in the Terraforming Project."

The picture on the screen was finally in focus; the image was quite astounding. The red planet had a huge patch of green on it the size of Australia and India put together. Small cities and buildings could be made out among the sea of grass. The grass and cities were covered by massive domes, the environmental units in which the people worked and lived. A few domes filled with water – areas of geography that would one day be open lakes, streams, or rivers. Unlike Earth, however, the planet still had no large bodies of water.

"I spoke with the Terraforming Director, Dr. Jule, last week before the communication went out. He said that by next year, he plans to have businesses up and running on Mars. He has already invited some investors to explore the progress and choose lots. That is two years ahead of schedule.

"The cleaning of the air and stabilization of temperature, pressure, and atmosphere is proceeding right on schedule. In five years, just as our original estimates said, there will no longer be a need for the domes on Mars. This is a process that cannot be sped up."

Relena asked that the lights be turned back on as she shut off the projector. "That is my report on the Colonies. This is the corroborated report that I received from the Coordinating Directors of the Preventers in the Colonies." She picked up a piece of paper and began to read, "No progress has been made in the search for the assassins and terrorists who have been attacking the ESUN as of late. There has been no spike in trafficking of any kind including precious metals such as Gundanium, and no suspicious activity has been detected or observed. As there have been no threats made to Colonial leaders and no trail that we have been able to follow, we believe that the threat is based somewhere on Earth. We also believe that the threat is only directed at the ESUN and not the Colonies. We find this information greatly distressing and wish to convey our absolute confidence that this threat is not a result of lingering resentment from the Eve Wars or anything prior. We, the people of the Colonies, wish to live in peace with our brothers and sisters on Earth. We will continue our efforts in investigating these acts of terrorism. Our best agents are already working on Earth with Director Une to put a stop to these attacks." Relena placed the paper down, having finished reading it, thereby opening the floor to debate and comments.

"Their best agents… Well, they seem pretty worthless to me! The Prime Minister of Great Brittan is not here for a reason! – His bodyguard died yesterday saving his life!" the German leader spat angrily with a thick accent.

"What is it that these people want?" the French leader asked.

"Don't tell me you're already thinking about appeasement, Bontecou. The battle hasn't even begun yet," the US representative mocked Frenchman. Since sometime in the late AD era, there had been a strain between the two countries' governments…

"The battle's not supposed to begin!" Bontecou shot back.

"That is what the Preventers are for, no? To prevent the battles," the Canadian representative asked.

"In preventing a war, there often has to be a battle of some kind," the US representative replied calmly. "That's why they're a militaristic organization for the most part."

"You are a country of bloodthirsty cowboys!" Bontecou seethed.

"Thank you. We appreciate such a compliment from a lily-white coward such as yourself," the US representative remarked dryly. "It seems to me that the only option we have is to place our faith in the Preventers. Let's give them what they need in order to succeed."

"Aye," the Irishman said, "We don't even know what they want, so negotiations can't even begin."

"We don't even know who they are," the Russian said with a heavy accent.

"They're terrorists," Relena cut in, "We can't negotiate with them, anyway."

A thoughtful look passed over the Irishman, "Aye, Miss Dorlain. That is true."

"Are we talking about war?" the German interrupted.

"If it comes to that –" the American began.

"No," the Chairman stated firmly. "We are simply discussing the Preventers' role. If it comes to war, then the Preventers will have failed, and we will be subject to their will."

"A rose by any other name is still a rose," the American said quietly. "The Preventers are our only defense, Mr. Chairman. This is a war; we are by no means in a time of peace."

"They are there to prevent the war!" the Canadian said hotly.

"Are you implying that they've failed that objective?" the German hissed.

The American addressed him with a glance and a small smile, "The folly of disarmament… Yes. They were not able to prevent this, and they have failed that objective. The battle will begin soon."

There was a cry of outrage as the American continued, "I suggest that everyone call up their reserves; we might need them. The US has 60,000 strong ready to go and another 50,000 on reserve."

"What do you know, Walker? There have only been assassination attempts…" the Chairman asked suspiciously.

"Yes… That is quite a large military for a time of peace…" the Russian stated.

"We have fifty states, sir. 1,200 regular military and 1,000 guardsmen per state. We did not agree to all the provisions in the Treaty of Eve's End as it violated our Constitution, sir. That is common knowledge that has been subject to a great deal of outrage and criticism," Walker sated this calmly, but it was apparent that he was offended by the accusation.

"What I know, Mr. Chairman, I cannot say," he continued, "We, the United States Government, have been working with the Preventers and are allowing them to take the lead in the investigation. What we have found, however, points to a very large conflict in the future. I suggest that this body prepare for it."

"I can confirm that," the Australian replied speaking for the first time, "If the Preventers are unable to catch these people soon, we're going to have a big problem. Most of our countries have completely disarmed. We have the Preventers, the US, Brittan, China, and my country that did not fully disarm with the consent of this body. Excluding the Preventers, our troop total is somewhere around the 250,000 mark. We have put ourselves in an extremely sticky situation."

"The Preventers are an elite few. Do they even reach 10,000?" the Vice Chairman asked thoughtfully.

"I believe they total around 15,000, sir," Relena replied.

The Chairman sighed, "Were we wrong to disarm?" he asked quietly, almost to himself.

"Yes," Walker replied in a low voice. "Your actions, while rooted in good will, were not realistic. We pay the Preventers to police the world, but that's over 8 billion people. – Over 8 billion people for 15,000 to keep an eye on. It's not realistically feasible. As government officials, we all know the folly of attempting to please everyone or thinking that we can. There are over 8 billion mind sets; we can't possibly hope to please them all."

There was silence in the great room for a few moments.

"I make a motion," the German spoke up, "To temporarily suspend the first clause of the Treaty of Eve's End to allow our countries the opportunity to re-arm until the threat is past."

"I second the motion," stated the Irishman.

"I third it," the Russian interjected.

The Chairman nodded, "I will suspend the rules and take this to an immediate vote. All in favor of suspending the first clause of the Treaty of Eve's End?"

There was a chorus of "Aye" that rang through the room as the leaders raised their hands.

"In order for this motion to pass, we need 148 votes," the Chairman stated. "We have… 132. The motion fails."

"I make a motion," Bontecou stated, "To form a committee whose purpose will be to write out the specifics of a suspension of the first clause of the Treaty of Eve's end to be formed today and finished within 48 hours."

"Your backbone is coming in nicely," Walker remarked quietly so that only the Frenchman could hear him.

"I second that," the German said.

"And I third," the Irishman spoke up.

"I, again, suspend the rules and bring this motion to an immediate vote. All in favor of a committee?"

Another chorus of "Aye" rang through the room louder than before.

"There are 273 votes; the motion passes. Vice Chairman Roland will be the head of this committee. If you wish to be part of it, see him."

----------------------

Preventer Shuttle D48X Distance

Low Orbit Around Mars

Sector 32, Synchronized Orbit with Satellite 4

1003 hours (Mars Colonial Time)

Sitting at the left side panel, Noin was looking through the media coverage of the past now four assassination attempts. She was searching for any clue that would hint at the connection between them all. What information did Preventer have that disproved the copycat theory? And what terrorist organization could be so skilled as to attack four different times in four heavily guarded areas and almost succeed?

She started with the basics: who had been targeted?

Well, that essentially was the entire ESUN's senior officials including Ms. Relena. Anne had also been targeted. Then there were the country leaders: the US President and the British Prime Minister. Plots had been discovered in Australia, as well various other plots in the US and Brittan. Whether these plots were connected was still under investigation.

The link between all the targets was the ESUN, but there had to be something else. Why those three countries and no others? Of course, the answer was the fact that they were armed unlike the rest of the world; they held the greatest threat. That explained why Anne was targeted, as well. It was, then, safe to assume that China would be the next goal.

But why target the ESUN in the first place? What was this all about? Was this some personal vendetta or something bigger? Was this possibly a bid for world domination? If it didn't involve so many lives, Noin would have laughed. World domination was so old, and it always failed. Then again, Earth was susceptible to such a coup-de-ta. The Earth was without almost any defense.

Abandoning the question of the purpose for the time being, Noin turned to the descriptions of the attempted assassins. Not one of them had been caught, and their descriptions were all sketchy. No one had seen their faces as they took special care to cover them. They used different weapons, too. All of them were high quality, custom made sniper rifles. That showed one thing: these people knew what they were doing. Of course, their near-success rate spoke for itself.

So engrossed in her thoughts, Noin didn't even notice Zechs enter the room until his hands were pressed on the back of her chair and he was looking over her shoulder to see what she was studying.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he tapped a few buttons on the screen and skimmed over the information.

"Zechs…" she said his name calmly, but it let him know that she hadn't sense his arrival. He said nothing, only continued reading. "I'm trying to connect the dots. It's only a few assassination attempts; why would she call us back for that? Surely they could handle such a problem without our help."

"Come up with anything?"

"Well, the targets seem to be the ESUN in general as well as Preventer, the US, Great Brittan, and Australia."

"The last armed militaries…" he said as he continued to read through the information, "Theoretically, China should be next."

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Anything else?" he pressed.

"No. I was just looking over the descriptions of the assassins. – I take it you're finished outside."

He nodded as she stood and floated into the pilot seat. She set their next trajectory to satellite 5. They would arrive in about ten minutes.

"Let me show you this real quick before I change," she said pulling up a screen on the control pad in front of her.

He was once again leaning down and looking over her shoulder. On the screen was their new improved route to Earth. The new route would take an approximate 52 hours and 47 minutes.

Zechs traced the new flight path with his eyes until he came to a cloud; it was a debris field and Noin had them traveling straight through it. "Uh, Noin," he said pointing at the position of the debris field on the screen.

"You had us traveling around that," she explained. "Not only does it take up time, but also more fuel. I scanned the debris field; most of the pieces are small fragments of rocks, bits of destroyed mobile suits, and space trash. The largest pieces are around the size of small tires. With you at the helm, we should be able to glide right through that."

He turned to face her, her eyes still down cast at the screen in front of her. "You really have a lot of faith in me, don't you?" he asked her quietly.

She was surprised at his question. She met his gaze, their faces only inches apart. "Yes, Zechs, I do," she said softly.

"Ahem," there was a voice from the viewing screen. "Sorry to interrupt."

Noin quickly faced forward to see Sally back on the screen where she had been a few minutes ago. Zechs, on the other hand, kept his relative position and simply turned his head to see the woman on screen.

"Sally…" he said slowly in an annoyed greeting. Two times in one day; what were the odds? Actually, if he really thought about it, the odds were pretty steeply mounted against him and Noin…

"Hey, Zechs! What have you been up to?" Sally said cheerily. She was currently avoiding the look on Noin's face which belayed embarrassment and annoyance with a tinge of anger. Of course, the look on Zechs' face wasn't much better, but that was the way his face always looked unless you were Noin or Relena.

"Nothing of great importance…" he drawled. His newest job assignment (not the one he was currently on) was rather dull. The domes around Red City no longer needed much physical labor, thus he had been assigned to paperwork duty. Unless he moved to a dome on the outer edges, he would be stuck with paperwork. He was currently in the market.

"So what can you tell me, Sal?" Noin interjected quickly. They were fast approaching satellite 5, and she needed to get geared up.

She shook her head, "I'm not telling you anything. I'll send it to you in an encrypted message. It's just two words; research them for yourself. That's the best I can do. – I've got to go, though. Wufei needed help with some new information Preventer Hawk just sent our way. It's a mountain of data… When you get here, you've got a lot to catch up on. See ya' soon," she said with a wave.

"Thanks, Sally," Noin replied, and her image winked off screen.

"What was it she was supposed to tell you?" Zechs asked.

"More information on why we're being called back. You know I don't like just sitting in the dark."

"I thought you loved space…" he remarked sarcastically.

"Ha ha," she said dryly.

Incoming transmission. – Sender encrypted. – Message encrypted.

Noin typed in some commands and opened the document. Like Sally said, there were only two words:

Utopian Society – End Transmission.

----------------------

ESUN Temporary HQ

2:58pm

"Moving on with our business," the Chairman announced, "We have some bills to vote on today. Let's start with Bill ES3411. I think we already know the outcome of this bill, but is there anyone who wishes to speak on it before we vote?"

No one made a sound or move to debate the bill. Many long hours of debate had already been spent outside the chamber, but the news today was distressing. The bill, ES3411, was a resolution stating that the Preventers, being the only body to possess them, had to disarm and destroy all the mobile suits they possessed. Such a resolution had been passed concerning suits constructed of Gundanium overwhelmingly. However, with today's news, the tides had turned for this bill…

"No one? Very well, then. Let's vote."

When the tally was counted, the votes stood at Yea-102 and Nay-194. The bill failed, and thus, the Preventers were allowed to keep their MS emergency stockpile.

"Moving right along, Bill ES3296. Any debate or comments?"

Bill ES3296 was a resolution to give the Preventers another 3.2 billion dollars to help cover their budget and increase their productivity through buying new technology and upgrades. The additional 3.2 billion would be added to the Preventers' annual allotment through the next six years.

With no debate or comments, the bill passed with a vote of Yea-191 and Nay-105.

"All right, let's change gears, ladies and gentlemen. Bill ES5819. I'll allow five minutes of open debate over this bill. The sponsor has three minutes to read the bill aloud again and explain it briefly."

This bill had to do with shuttle transportation between the Colonies, Earth, the Moon, and Mars. It added stricter restrictions on private crafts and required more technology before allowing them clearance to travel into space. It also made way for a government funded transportation system between Earth and Mars: all expense-paid trips for people and families that wanted to travel to Mars and work on the Terraforming Project. The debate stirred up passions about the government's role in private matters such as personal shuttles and whether the government had a place in "bribing" people to work on Mars.

The debate was raging heatedly when Relena noticed the security guards getting antsy. Many of them were holding their earpieces closer to their ears. Then, they all grabbed the weapons that were ether hanging on their backs (M-16s) or resting in their holsters, and aimed them towards the top booths where no one was sitting as they scanned the area for a suspect or multiple suspects.

The debate was silenced as the representatives sat apprehensively in their seats waiting for a signal of what to do.

"The chamber is quiet," reported one of the security detail in his radio. "I repeat, we have no visual on the suspects."

"They've already lined up the shots!" a voice yelled – it was Heero. "Get down!" he commanded the row of senior ESUN officials as he ran for Relena.

He drew his pistol and three shots rang out from above as Relena and the rest of the ESUN officials hit the ground. Heero grabbed the Vice Chairman who was two seats away from Relena and had not reached the floor in time. A fourth shot rang out, and Heero being there, saved the VC from a head shot. Instead, the VC had a wound to his left shoulder. He gasped in pain as the bullet tore through his body ripping muscles, splintering bones, and splattering his face and Heero with blood. He fell to the ground at Heero's feet with a cry.

There were screams as Heero took aim and fired at one of the would-be assassins. He shothim through his hand into his shoulder as the other security guards escorted the delegates out and fired at the other two.

Heero checked on Relena to make sure she was okay. She hadn't been shot, and he instructed her to stay down as a security guard's bullet ripped through another of the assassins. The third assassin wisely decided to run for it having lost his two comrades.

Heero lifted Relena from the ground and instructed two of the guards to assist the VC's bodyguards in carrying him out.

"We have to move quickly, Relena," Heero said grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him. "This is an ambush."

"What? How?"

"I'll explain later." He reached into his pocket and pulled out another com unit. "HQ, this is Preventer Zero. I have shots fired at the ESUN meeting located at the –"

A bullet caught the communicator in Heero's hand splintering it. He threw Relena and himself into a niche in the wall just as the area they'd been running in was sprayed with bullets.

"Heero, your hand!"

A few pieces of the com were imbedded into his hand; the blood was dripping on to the ground.

"I'm fine, Relena. Stay close," he instructed as he peeked past the niche that was protecting them and fired.

Relena took his bloodied hand and pulled the larger pieces out as Heero continued to shoot at their enemies. She then loosely wrapped his hand in a handkerchief; it didn't quite cover everything, but it would have to do.

Heero ducked back in and grabbed Relena's hand with his newly bandaged one. "Thanks. Let's go. – And I suggest closing your eyes."

He one-handedly loaded another clip into his pistol as they walked over the bodies of the men Heero had either killed or severely injured, their feet sliding on the blood that covered the tiled floor.

"This is Heero Yuy," he said into the security guard comlink. "Where are the delegates housed?"

"We got them all out, sir! We're pinned down, but the delegates are all safe."

"Negative. I still have one with me."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here; how do I do that?"

"Take the south exit. It's all quiet on the south."

"Acknowledged."

"What's going on?" Relena asked.

"The south exit is clear; that's where we're headed. We need to hurry. That line probably wasn't secure."

They ran through a maze of halls, occasionally bumping into some terrorists of whom Heero quickly disposed.

When they reached the south exit, they found another twenty security guards. They stood outside on guard scanning the surrounding area for threats.

"You have the Vice Foreign Minister? Oh, that's great!" one of the security officers sighed in relief. He picked up his com, "We've got her at the south exit! The Vice Foreign Minister is safe!"

"You idiot!" Heero grabbed the com unit from the security officer. "That line is probably –"

A shot rang out and the man's head in front of Heero and Relena imploded as a bullet tore through his skull. Blood spattered their faces and clothes as Relena screamed, and the man fell to his knees, dead.

Heero shoved Relena down into the bushes behind a cement pillar as the security guards fanned out. Heero stood behind the pillar over Relena as he watched the bushes rustle; there was a lot more than just one of them.

"I need to get out of here!" Heero hissed indicating Relena.

"Sir!" another of the security guards said as the pillars were pelted with bullets, "You can't get out! The whole place is surrounded!"

----------------------

JN: So, there it is! Sorry it took so long... And should I appologize for leaving you on a slight cliffhanger? Mmm... I don't think so. ;)

Political Overtones: So, if you haven't figured it out, policics and the media are going to play a role in this story. One of the many things I loved about GW was the sincere attempt at realistically portraying the society of the AC world. Yes, I put the whole US vs French thing in there. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Freedom Fries rock, but there was actually a reason that I had it like that. I decided that since this is technically the "future," that I'd rely on the present to see how the countries would react to each other. Walker was actually created after the liberal image of John Bolton. I thought to make him say stuff that the left would find outrageous (like the lily-white coward comment) and the conservatives would find funny as well as politically accurate. Ironically, his name is the middle name of President Bush - unintentional, I swear! ;)

As far as isolationism, I'm glad I was able to fit that in there. I thought I was going to be stuck with socialism due to the simple fact that by default, isolationism didn't quite work with my plotline. However, I found a solution! I figure it's only fair that I, being a conservative, have an extreme conservative ideal be the enemy in this story.And for those who don't like the US, if you'll notice, Utopian Society kind of works out for you with its initials. That was also accidental and this particularcomment is a joke. ;)

Next time in Tactical Espianoge... How will Heero and Relena escape? With the injuries of so many assassins, one of them is sure to be caught; what will we learn from the enemy? Zechs and Noin arrive on Earth, but not before a small detour. We get a first glance at how our villians opperate, and Une will finally brief Zechs and Noin, as well as you, on what exactly is going on here. Plus, we get a few little side shots. Stay tuned! It's all in the next installment of Tactical Espianoge!