OMG 4 reviews in under 24 hours! I'm so happy! OMG! THANK YOU SO MUCH! And now I get to update even faster! And ps see my profile at the top, someone pointed out a mistake I made in the story so I noted that down there.

My special thank yous (I dedicate this chappie to all four of you!):
cynical.life: My first reviewer for the new chapter!Always on the ball, aren't you? NOT, it's only cuz I told you, heh heh. Thanks though!
ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice: Well, I can't tell you, but if you read you'll find out! .
asucaginluv: Thanks so much for saying that, you don't know how good it makes me feel!
.X.x.Anime Sisterz.x.X.: I hope I'm updating soon enough for you! Yeah, I have the rule, because without reviews I honestly wouldn't continue writing. Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed and whatever drug Azrael uses, cuz I honestly don't have a clue anyways. And I don't own the storyline either; just Rin and what happens because of her presence. Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – A STRONG INCENTIVE

Rin took a small sip of the drugged water Azrael had given her. After using it for two days, she'd gotten used to the taste, which she hated, but she knew there was no other choice. The good thing was, though, that as long as she pledged to help Azrael, he let her do what she wanted with the Harmony, and made sure that no one else touched it. But still…she longed to be back with the Archangel and the Kusanagi. They were probably worried about her. And she didn't know how she'd be able to bring herself to fight them.

She'd also gotten to know the three EA mobile suit pilots. Not that she cared, and they didn't care about her either. She mostly kept her distance from them since they only annoyed her. Shani always listened to his music and kept to himself, Orga read paperback novels, and Clotho was always playing his video game, at which he'd never lost. He and Orga argued a lot, too. It drove Rin nuts to be around those guys.

At the moment, the Dominion was moving out into space, searching for the Archangel and the Kusanagi. Rin hoped that they wouldn't find the ships. First of all, she had no desire to fight against Athrun, and secondly, she didn't want to see those ships destroyed. Not after everything they'd done to try and keep Orb.

But all of her luck had left her. Azrael summoned her to his dark office with a question for her – the question she'd been praying he wouldn't ask.

"So, Rin, you were aware of the Archangel and the Kusanagi's destination, am I right?" he asked her with a sly grin.

"No, sir," she muttered, looking him straight in the eye, praying that he wouldn't realize that she was lying.

But, being the cunning man he was, he knew right away. "You're lying," he said in an almost singsong voice.

"No sir, I was never told," Rin protested, knowing full well that she hadn't fooled him in the least.

"Do you want to be punished again, girl?"

Those words. The words Rin would be hearing any time she even thought of disobeying him. The words that bound her to his will.

"I knew their destination," she said softly, with her head down. "They were headed for the L4 colonies for shelter and supplies when the time comes."

"L4, huh?" said Azrael. "Good. I'm glad I can count on your cooperation." He gave a chuckle. "You coordinators act so tough, but when given the right incentive, it's all too easy to keep you on a leash."

These words boiled up inside of her and caused her to explode. "Is that how you consider us coordinators?" she demanded, slamming her hands down on to his desk as she stood up. "Because if the coordinators are working for you, you don't have to be afraid of them, is that it? Because I'm stronger than you and you know it! You wouldn't stand a chance if I tried to kill you! And I could do it right now!" She pulled her knife out of her pocket and pointed it at Azrael.

He didn't even flinch. Instead, he laughed. And laughed, and laughed.

"What's so funny?" snapped Rin, edging closer, the knife ahead of her.

"Kill me if you must," Azrael said once he had calmed down. "But you'd be signing your own death warrant. If you kill me, you will not be permitted to use the drug. And you will never find another like it. So if you kill me now, you'll be drenched in torment and suffering for the rest of your life!"

Rin dropped the knife in shock, and it clanged at her feet. The look on Azrael's face…he meant what he was saying. This was no bluff. She really would be tortured for the rest of her life. And at such a young age…she'd never been scared of a Natural before. But now all that changed. She was only fourteen. To live a life addicted to drugs was something she'd never considered. It was never meant to happen to her. But it did. All because of the Natural standing in front of her.

She fell to the floor in tears, almost landing on the knife. Through her sobs, she heard Azrael say, "For that little bit of defiance, you've gotten yourself an hour of punishment. I'm disappointed in you. You should have just listened, like a good, obedient dog would. Let this serve as a reminder for future actions."

An hour later, Shani walked into their room to get new batteries for his Walkman and found Rin clutching at her bed sheets, gasping in pain.

"So, he's punishing you now?"

"Shut…up…" moaned Rin, breathing hard, trying to block out everything around her.

"Ah, you'll live. And as long as you kick butt when we go to battle, he'll let you be."

He left the room, leaving Rin alone and helpless.

Azrael had lied when he told her it would be only an hour of punishment. She stayed like that for three long hours before a doctor finally brought her a glass of water. She practically dove for the glass when she saw it, and the first sip was something close to heaven. The doctor also brought news that the Archangel had been found, along with the Kusanagi and a mystery ZAFT ship, and said that Rin had been ordered to go out and fight.

Rin knew that she had to fight. As Shani had said, as long as she performed well, she would be spared of punishment. And even if it meant fighting Athrun, she was ready to do anything to avoid another three hours of terrible pain.

Inside her mobile suit's cockpit, Azrael was in contact with her. "If I see any hesitation, you will be in big trouble. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," she said half-heartedly, but she knew it had to be done.

"Okay, your course is clear," her CIC told her.

"Rin Amarfi, Harmony launching!" she said, and took off.

The first thing she saw after she had launched was none other than the Justice. And the way it stopped moving suddenly told her that Athrun recognized her.

"Rin!" he yelled into the communicator. "Rin, is that you?"

"It's me, Athrun," she mumbled, not looking at the screen. She could tell by his voice that he was both relieved and confused.

"Rin, what happened to you? Did they capture you? You have to come back with us now!"

"No."

"What?"

"No, Athrun. I'm your enemy now."

"But, Rin – what's going on?"

She tried to refrain from any emotion, but it came out anyways. "The last thing I want to do is fight you, Athrun! But I have to! I have no other choice!"

"Rin," Athrun protested, "you'll be safe with us, I promise! They won't hurt you! I won't let them hurt you!"

Rin was moved to tears by his words. "You don't understand," she sobbed. "You can't do anything for me now! If I don't stay with them – if I don't try to fight you – just please, don't talk to me anymore! I'm your enemy now, and that's that!" With that, she shut of her communication system and fired a beam at his cockpit. Athrun dodged, just like she knew he would. If she could just keep this up…Azrael would see that she was aiming there, and would have no problem with that. She knew Athrun would dodge or block every shot in advance, but Azrael would just think it's because Athrun's a better pilot than her. That way she would avoid both punishment and hurting Athrun.

Suddenly someone's beam destroyed her missiles in mid-air. Rin turned to see Kira on the scene as well, along with Dearka and Mu backing up the three ships. One of them was unfamiliar to her. It was pink in color and very nice-looking. She vaguely wondered who was captain of it, but had no time to think about it because Kira was onto her immediately.

"Rin, good, you're safe," he said through the communicator, moving towards her. "We've all been worried – hey!"

Rin fired a beam at him, and he raised his shield at the last minute to block it.

"Rin! Rin, what are you doing?" Kira asked, bewildered.

Rin's whole body was shaking now. She couldn't bear it. "We're enemies now," she told Kira. "We've always been enemies. I admit I never fully wanted to kill you, but now, I have to." This time, the remorse she felt was almost unbearable. She stopped mid-strike, unable to continue.

That was when Athrun attached himself to the Harmony, and began to drag her back to the pink ship. She tried with all her might to break free, but she couldn't.

"Let go of me, please!" she yelled at Athrun. "I'm not coming with you!"

"You're just distressed!" Athrun argued back. "I know that you think we won't be able to protect you from them but we will! You're just scared right now, I understand – stop breaking free!" He tightened his grip.

"You have no idea!" she shrieked at him. "You don't know what they've done to me – you don't understand at all!"

Then Orga and Clotho fired massive beams at Athrun, causing him to lose his grip on Rin. "Hey, you, you're staying with us!" Clotho yelled.

"I know that!" she retorted, and that was when Azrael contacted her.

He was yelling in frustration now. "If you don't start fighting properly, you'll get it big time!"

Her heart gave a jolt at those words, and she wiped her tears away and began to fight. She fought as hard as she could. It was her, Shani, Clotho, and Orga all against Athrun and Kira. She forgot all about trying to take it easy on him. Azrael knew she'd been faking before. She had to try with all her might to destroy Athrun and Kira.

Suddenly the Dominion took a terrible hit, and ZAFT ships were detected in the area. Rin and the others were ordered to retreat for the time being by the captain, Natarle Badgeroule, and she did so with a mixture of relief and dread: relief because she was leaving the battlefield, dread because she knew punishment was on its way.

She met Azrael on the bridge. He said to her, "I admit I was very disappointed in you. I thought you'd prove to be much better than that. Shall I give you a second chance?"

Rin looked at him with wide eyes. "Please," she whispered.

He nodded. "All right then, I'll give you one chance. But if you show any sign of shirking from your next battle, you'll get it much worse. For today, however, you're good."

Rin gave a curt nod and left the room. As soon as she was in the hallway, she burst into tears. Tears of relief that she was spared punishment, tears of anger for Azrael, and tears of grief, because she knew she'd have to fight Athrun and Kira again.