A Daughter's Will

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Gundam Wing. Was it really that big of a surprise?

A/N: All righty, here we are at chapter 5! Took me a while, because I like to take my time with these things... And there was a bit of writer's block... . ;; At any rate, during this time I've noticed a LARGE amount of people suddenly reading "An Orphan's Life". Which means, I assume, that everybody saw this one first, hadn't read the first story, and decided to go to that one first. So, thanks to you guys who've brought that fic from about 300 hits to well over 1,000 hits. It's a really big deal for me.

However, this dear fic of mine has also been getting hits as well. My problem here is that, even though a lot of you are reading this, there are still only 9 reviews. It's really bittersweet to know a lot of you are reading this, but only 9 people have reviewed. Please, readers, drop a review. Let me know that you're into this fic (or not) and are waiting for updates. Motivate me:D

With that said, on with the story...And I'll see you next chap!.

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Jennifer and Jonathan had long since left the Sank Kingdom Plaza behind them and were now enjoying a nice rest on a bench under some trees, after having walked some distance around the city.

The two had spent the last couple of hours talking and getting to know each other. The conversation started with silly nonsense about random things they saw on their walk and was now getting towards Jonathan's family tree.

Jennifer was really starting to like this handsome, blue-green-eyed man. He was smart, funny, and it didn't hurt that he was well built. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have bumped into him at the Plaza.

Right now he was explaining his immediate family to her, as she had just asked him about his niece.

"My niece is the first of three kids to my older sister Samantha. Samantha's 25 years old, married, and living on the ritzy, rich side of here. I have another sister, Lisa, who is two years younger than me, married with a baby due next month, and also lives in the ritzy, rich side of here." He looked ot her and smiled, the many jokes his sisters had of his bachelorhood flashing through his mind.

Jennifer smiled back, liking the way he told his stories. "And, because you haven't told me, how old are you?"

He laughed and ran his hand through his dark auburn hair. "I'm 22." He grabbed ahold of her hand and continued his story. "So, whenever we have family get togethers, I am verbally assaulted with 'why aren't you married?' and 'my children need an aunt that doesn't look like me'. " He paused to laugh at the last part. "And then I suddenly gain 50 pounds of miniature people weight. 'Uncle Jonny, horsey ride!' " His smile widened at the thought of his niece and nephews. "Kind of exhilarating, really."

Jennifer laughed at the cuteness of it all. "So, what about your parents?"

Jonathan's smile faded at the question. "They were killed when I was younger," he said quietly, looking down. "I... it was a random terrorist attack. You know, the usual innocent civilian casualties. It was something that couldn't be prevented." He looked to Jennifer and gave a slight smile, hoping to lighten things up. "It's all fine, though. My aunt and uncle got us and took care of us. They were really great about the whole thing. I love them just as much as my parents."

Jennifer took this in silently, fairly sympathetic. It was strange to find someone who had shared a similar past as hers. She wondered, though, what it would've felt like if she had at least had her brothers and sister alive too. Jonathan was so lucky.

He continued to look at her, and then playfully pushed her. "But enough about me. What about you? What of your family?" It was an obvious attempt to change the somber mood.

Jennifer smiled a bit and shrugged. "Well, I was adopted too." She really didn't want to bring the mood down, so she gave as vague an answer as possible.

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Really? How weird."

Jennifer nodded. "I was just thinking that, myself." She smiled some more at him.

He smiled back warmly and reached for her hand. "Well, if you don't mind my asking... what happened to your parents? Or did you never know them?"

Jennifer took a deep breath and looked down slowly. She hadn't spoken to anyone about this, except that time when she reunited with Trowa. A few excerpts every now and then to Theo, but not the whole story. He only knew that both of their mothers were killed within the same night and where she had been this whole time. She didn't get into the details with him, though. It was something nobody ever asked her about and something she herself never volunteered.

When she realized that the conversation was going in this direction, she didn't intend to tell Jonathan. It just seemed weird. And it was still painful, no matter how much she denied it.

She took another deep breath and looked up into his eyes. He seemed so interested and caring. And she really did like him. It would be nice to unload her burden just for a little bit.

"Well... They were killed... Not like your parents, though." She waited for him to ask for more. She was willing to tell only as much as he wanted to know. She didn't want to create pity for herself.

He, of course, didn't want to leave it at that. "What happened to them?" he asked softly.

Jennifer looked back to the ground and stared at her hands folded in her lap. "I'm not sure who did it. Or why... All I know is... one night I go to bed with my baby sister Sara sleeping nearby in her crib... And my brothers in their tent nerby, and my parents in theirs... And then, the next morning I wake up to find my father packing up a few things and grabbing Sara, telling me we need to go."

Jonathan stared at her in confusion. "Go where?"

Jennifer looked up and stared across the walkway at the trees on the other side. "I don't know. We never made it." She remembered her father telling her about heaven, but being that she was little, she hadn't quite understood what he meant then. Now that she was older, she did. But she didn't want to think more into why he knew they were all going to die.

"We were running in the snow to get away from these ... men that I've never see." She hadn't wanted to say "men" since, they were actually monsters for doing what they did. But she couldn't think of any other word.

"I guess my mom and dad had a plan to meet somewhere, because when we got to a certain point in the woods, my dad stopped and she showed up in our car with my brothers." She looked at him now, staring right into his eyes. "But... there were people chasing them in some black cars. They were ramming my family's car and managed to knock them off the road.. and crash..." She paused to compose herself, so as to prevent the tears she felt coming from flowing out.

Jonathan, sensing how hard this was for her, squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You can stop now, if you want."

Jennifer shook her head and smiled tearfully at him. "No... No, that's okay... I don't mind. It... It feels good to finally tell someone all of this."

He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Are you sure?"

Jennifer nodded and squeezed his hand as reassurance. "Yeah... It's just that... They all died that morning. My brothers, my sister, my mom, my dad... But I lived... Because I couldn't keep up with my dad and tripped and fell..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If I had kept up with him... I... I..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

Jonathan nodded, and pulled her close to him, hugging her. "It's usually best not think about what could have happened. You're here right now. And that's what matters."

Jennifer looked up to him, knowing he was right, but knowing that she couldn't stop feeling that way. "Yeah?"

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. "Yep..."

Jennifer blushed at the kiss and looked down, a bit embarrassed. After a long, slightly awkward silence, she glanced back up at him, smiling a bit. "So, now what?"

Jonathan smiled back and stood up. "Well..." He reached a hand down to her to lift her up. "Would you like to meet my parents?"

Jennifer allwoed herself to be pulled up and smiled ever more at Jonathan. As weird as the question was, she didn't mind it. Cemetaries were usually nice and quiet. That and some more alone time with him wouldn't hurt. "Sure," she said happily.

The two then linked arms again and began to walk away.

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"So, what's going on then?" Caterina asked, turning around to better grab various things on the kitchen counter she needed to make her lunch. She inwardly groaned from the pain caused by her laying her head across her shoulder to keep her cell phone from sliding out. She really needed to find her hands free headphones to prevent all of this trouble.

"What do you mean?" Theo's voice asked back, coming through her sparkly teal phone.

Caterina rolled her eyes, hating that she had to dumb her sentences down. "I mean, what 's going to happen now? Is Elysia staying in the hospital or is she going home or to a secret hidden base? What happened this morning with Shane?"

"Oh, that..." Theo paused. "Apparently Shane didn't get any useful information from Elysia because she was drugged with some Preventer's super secret ...stuff... And as for where she's going from this point, I don't feel comfortable discussing that over the phone. You don't know who might be listening. Or who may have bugged your ridiculous cell phone."

"Hey!" Caterina shouted. "My phone is not ridiculous! You just don't know style."
"My choice of style doesn't require everything I own to sparkle. "

"Pfft. Says the guy who wore the same red glitter boxers for four days straight." Caterina smirked a bit as Theo, predictably, went on the defensive side.

"Hey! I told you! I was only 5 and the laundromat had banned the circus, because Misha had to go and put her throwing knives in the dryer and set half the place on fire! I had no choice!" He paused, before adding, " And those were part of my costume anyways. I had to wear them."

Caterina let out a laugh as she grabbed some utensils out of a nearby drawer. "That's not what I heard."

"What do you mean?... Was Jennifer telling you stories again?" Theo's voice sounded as though he were trying to hide something.

Caterina shrugged as she changed the subject, by repeating," So, when are you guys going home?"

Theo let out a growl of annoyance. "I just told you, Cat. I don't know, and even if i did, I can't really speak of that over the pone. This place isn't quite secure. "

Caterina smirked as Theo's answer sounded a bit like he was just lying to irritate her on purpose. She placed some vegetables on a cutting board to make a salad, and pulled out a knife from another nearby drawer. "Okay, fine. Don't tell me. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I've been really worried, you know." She paused, thinking about the long night she'd had at the Preventer's hospital. She and her father waited for quite a long time, before some random guard ushered them out of the hospital, because they were "in the way" and that "someone would tell them what they wanted shortly". If people she knew, grew up, and loved hadn't worked for the Preventer's, she'd sue them for their rudeness.

Theo let out a sigh and paused, before saying quietly," I know. We all are."

Caterina grabbed a tomato and began to slice it. "So, are you going straight home or what? Doesn't Heero have work tonight?"

"Yeah. I did too, but I called in. I'm debating going home tonight."

"Well, yeah." She moved the tomatoes aside and grabbed the lettuce. "Elysia's going to need you tonight, right?"

"Yeah... Hey, Cat?"

Caterina adjusted her cell phone and went to chop the lettuce. "Yeah?"

"Are you aware that we've been talking for more than five minutes without insulting each other?"

Caterina paused thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Eh, so we've grown up. Whatever." She picked up the lettuce and put it in a bowl and then reached for a cucumber. " So, uh... Everything's all right with Elysia, then? She has no permanent damage or anything?"

"Nothing as far as Jade and the other doctors can see. Not a good enough observation, in my opinion, but she seems fine..." He trailed off, uncertainty in his voice.

"Ah, she'll be fine. It's Elysia, remember? She heals up quickly," Caterina said comfortingly, putting the now cut cucumbers in the bowl. She looked up when she heard a loud thump nearby.

She must've gasped, as Theo then asked," Is everything all right?"

Caterina said nothing as she listened closely to her surroundings. When she heard nothing, she shrugged it off and went back to making her salad. "Sorry. I thought I heard something."

Theo laughed lightly on the other end. "It's probably that serial killer you were talking about the other day."

Caterina snorted. "Ha. Yeah, right. He'd have to get through all the security crap I put on this property first. And then me." She frowned when she thought she heard a creak.

Theo laughed even more at that. "And then Jacob... Maybe it's him?"

"Nah, Jacob's at work." Caterina glanced around casually, gripping the kitchen knife tightly. "Unless he's been lying about that and is cheating on me or something."

"Aw, don't say that. That's just wrong. Ol' Jakey loves you."

Caterina froze when she heard footsteps right behind her. She definitely wasn't hearing things now.

She prepared to lift the knife and stab whoever it was, but the person quickly grabbed her and pulled her tightly close to their body.

She screamed into her cell phone, as she began to hear laughter and then felt Jacob's light, gentle kisses on her neck.

"Aw, don't tell me I scared you, Cat. That hurts me so."Jacob loosened his hold on her as she jerked away in fake anger.

"You asshole!" she cried out. "I almost killed you! Do you have any idea how mad I would've been if I killed you!"

Jacob shrugged and gave a little laugh. "Is it close to how you're acting now?"

Se let out another scream, this time from frustration, and punched him in the arm. "Jerk!"

"Cat?" Theo's voice drifted up from her cell phone that had fallen on the floor.

"Who's that?" Jacob asked her confusedly.

Caterina sighed and picked up her phone. "Sorry about that." She shot a glare at Jacob and mouthed "Theo" at him.

"Ah... So, Jacob is home."

"Yeah. He certainly is." She narrowed her eyes, secretly knowing that she really wasn't all that angry. "Well, I'll leave you two to tango."

"Okay. Tell Elysia I said hi. And I hope she feels better."

"Will do. Tell Jakey he's an ass."

"Defintely. Bye."

"Bye."

Caterina pushed the end button on her cell phone and then turned slowly to face Jacob.
"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were at work!"
Jacob had taken some of Caterina's freshly cut vegetables and was nibbling on them thoughtfully. He shrugged as he bit into a cucumber. "I had the day off... Well, sort of."

Caterina stared at him confusedly. "What?"

Jacob sighed and leaned against the counter. "My dad gave me the day off after I missed my mission and gave me a new assignment. It's my 'vacation time'."

Caterina frowned as she tried to process this. "What? ... Your vacation ti- You missed your mission this morning!" Her eyes widened as real anger began to overcome her.

Jacob saw this and tried to explain. "I know, Cat. I-"

She took a step towards him, the kitchen knife gleaming in her hand as she never actually put it down. "The reason you couldn't go to the party with me last night was because of this mission, and you didn't even go?"

Jacob moved his hands up and down in an attempt to calm her down. "I know, sweetie, and I'm really sorry. It's just... I went to visit Lisette at the hospital last night and I ended up losing track of time. I fell asleep and didn't wake up in time for the mission. In fact, my dad was my wake-up call."

Caterina closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten. She exhaled loudly as she tried to calm down. "So, why are you here now?"

Jacob motioned around lamely. "My dad was angry, but he admitted he was working the base too hard. He even said that I needed a break. Which is why, like I told you earlier, he gave me a new assignment slash vacation."

Caterina crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Well, I'm Elysia's new bodyguard."

Caterina made a face at that. "Bodyguard? What for? I thought last night was considered an accident."

Jacob shrugged again. "Well, my dad feels that it would be best if she had someone around her 24/7."

Caterina now leaned against the kitchen counter across from Jacob. " So that means you'll be doing what exactly?"

Jacob looked up as he thought it over. " Well... Escorting her from place to place, making sure she's safe, keeping an eye on the individuals around her... Pretty much ensuring that she'll live for a while."

"Oh." Caterina looked down slowly. "You said vacation, so I thought... something else."

"Oh!" Jacob rushed to hold Caterina. "Don't worry! We'll still get out time together! In fact," he reached out to her and pulled her closer to him," I already went over to the hospital, talked it out with Theo and my dad, and got the night off." He twirled her around and kissed her on the cheek. "So, we have the whole night to ourselves." He kissed her agian, this time on the lips. "What do you say? You in or out?"

Caterina stared at him as she thought this over. She then slowly smiled at him as she gave him a hug. "All right. Fine." She smirked a little. "So, does this mean you'll actually help me out with the wedding plans?"

Jacob smiled and bowed. "But, of course, my dear!"
They both laughed as he straightened up and grabbed her, dancing with her in the kitchen despite the lack of music.

It would be a good night after all.

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Dorothy looked up in annoyance as the intercom on her desk crackled on. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any more politicians or citizens out to change the world in their favor. She was also getting sick of her secretary. The man had no clue how to work her office.

He had once mistaken a paper shredder for a fax machine and wound up destroying an important document. She didn't fire him then, because it was his first week and she thought he'd catch on from that point. Which she now regretted, since he unfortunately grew on her. Why did she have to care about people so much?

After a few seconds of static, and only static, she let out a breath of irritation and reached over to touch the "on" button to her side of the intercom. "What, Andrew?" she asked exasperatedly.

She let go of the button and waited patiently. She frowned, when there was no response. She pushed the button again and said, a bit dipleased by his lack of speech,"Andrew? What do you want?"

She let go of the button and waited some more. When nothing happened, she let out a groan and laid her head down on her desk. She took a deep breath and then stood up to leave her office and have a nice long talk with Andrew about playing with the intercom. "How many times do I have to tell him that it's not a toy?"

A crashing sound outside her office caused her to stop in her tracks.She gazed at the door, a bit nervously, and listened intently on what was going on the other side.

It had grown eerily silent.

She backed up to her desk and reached under it, pulling out her prized rapier. As much as Quatre insisted she keep a gun for her protection rather than a sword, she ignored his pleas and kept it. She didn't feel the need to use agun when she was much more handy with a sword. Furthermore, the person on the other end would suffer more from a stabbing than a quick painless death from a bullet.

She grippped the hilt tightly as she waited expectantly for whoever was on the other end. There was a long, suspenceful silence, before her office door was kicked in and a tall, twenty-something man rushed in, glancing around.

She prepared herself for any attack, the blade slightly raised, as she asked rather calmly,"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in here?"

The man smirked at the sight of her, clearly amused by her choice of weapon, and crossed his arms over his chest, as he walked purposefully towards her, stopping three feet away.

"Who I am is not important... And I'm not here to kill you, if that's what you think... Unless you don't cooperate, that is." His smirk widened a bit at that as he motioned at a nearby coffee table and chairs, littered with a tea set and varoius snacks. "Why don't we both sit down and have a nice chat?"

Dorothy snorted, keeping her stance, as he eyes never left his. "Like hell, I will. I don't know you, nor will I sit and chat as if I did. How about you just tell me why you felt the need to rush into my office and trash everything? Or maybe, tell me why I shouldn't have you arrested on the spot?"

The man said nothing as he reached over and grabbed the chair he was motioning at and sat down, unfazed by her threat. "You can't have me arrested," he said with certainity.

Dorothy arched an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

The man moved his arm towards the table and grabbed one of the teacups that was on it and the teapot, pouring himself some tea. He took a cautious sip of it, before stirring in some sugar. After having another sip, he looked up to Dorothy, who was getting more irritated, and smiled a sinister grin. "I've killed all of your security personnel as well as any other person who is capable of saving your life. The women are tied up, as well as the other weaklings who call themselves men. Nobody can protect you at this moment, you know."

Dorothy's eyes narrowed at that, and she stepped closer towards him, quickly closing the gap between them, pointing her rapier at his chest. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?"

The man laughed at that and set down his cup of tea. "For one thing, you can't kill me. Not with that pathetic excuse for a weapon. For another-" He reached into his dark coat and pulled out a gun, aiming it at her."I can kill you before you even had a chance to kill me."

Dorothy merely stared him straight in the eye, not really afraid of this arrogant asshole. It was her turn to smirk, as she said,"Oh, yeah? Let's see about that!"

Before the man knew what was happening, she kicked the gun out of his hand and shoved him out of the chair, knocking him to the floor. She quickly pinned him to the ground, holding his hands back with her right hand, while holding the sword with her left, pushing the sharp point into his neck, not really holding back on how deeply she pushed it.

"I'm going to ask you one more time,"she said as the man struggled underneath her. "Who are you and what the fuck do you want?"

To her surprise the man began to laugh. She faltered a bit, wondering what on earth and the colonies was causing this guy not to care. She quickly regained her composure and dug the sword's blade deeper into his neck. "Oh, you think this is funny? How about I cut out your throat and then we'll see just how much you're laughing then?"

The man chuckled some more as he then managed to yank his hands out of Dorothy's grip and grabbed her arm, yanking her to the floor. She cried out as she lost her balance and struggled to keep her sword on any vital part of his body.

The man tried to get to his feet as Dorothy rolled on the floor. He kicked around a bit, hoping to keep her from getting on him again. She quickly grabbed his left leg and shoved her rapier into it, as she then got to to her feet and rushed over to where she had kicked his gun, ignoring the man's screams of pain. She picked it up and quickly went to stand over him, aiming it at his head. She cocked the gun and stared at him coldly. "Now, then. Are you going to tell me who you are?"

The man groaned some more as he tried to pull the sword out of his leg. "It doesn't matter if you know who I am, or if you kill me." he panted. He looked up at her defiantly as he added," There's more of me out there who will come in my place and take you down."

Dorothy shrugged at his insolence and looked at him unsympathetically. "Okay. I'll be sure to shoot them like I did you."

She was about to pull the trigger, when he looked down and muttered under his breath," And they'll be sure to kill that girl you're protecting."

Dorothy paused and stared at him confusedly. "Girl I'm protecting? What the hell are you talking about?"

He looked up at her again. "That orphan you helped not too long ago. If you show any mercy for her life, you'll kill her now. Because what we have planned for her will be far worse."

Dorothy stood silently, as she took this in. Why did he have to go and say that at the last second?

He means Elysia. How does he know about her? And about what Quatre did for her? He can't know about her!... Unless...

She straightened herself up and shook her head. "Ha, yeah right. Good one. I have no clue what you're talking about," she lied.

The man gave a slight smile. "Do you?"

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. "Nice try confusing me. You managed to stretch your life out a few more seconds. I'm still going to kill you."

The man rolled onto his side, seeming to ignore the pain in his leg and smiled even more. "Really? I don't think you will, now that you know I know about Peacecraft's daughter."

Dorothy bit her lip in frustration, not wanting to let on that she knew what he meant, but also not wanting to kill him, since he may hold valuable information on the New Year's Party, or even more.

He suddenly grew cocky, when he realized he had the upper hand. "How about you put that gun down and we'll have a discussion on what my group wants."

Dorothy rolled her eyes and kept her aim steady. "How about you shut the hell up, while I call the police to haul your ass out of here?" Nobody told Dorothy Catalonia-Winner what to do,

The man frowned and looked down, seeming to not like where this was heading.

Dorothy, meanwhile, debated in her mind on what to do. She couldn't very well leave him to run to her desk and call. He could have another weapon on him and take advantage of those few seconds. But she couldn't kill him either, since he knew something.

As the man attempted to get to his feet, she kicked him hard in the ribs, causing him to fall to the floor, screaming in agony. ""Where do you think you're going! Stay down!"

At that moment, she heard a fluttering noise by her door. She looked up quickly, aiming the gun, ready to shoot the next person she saw.

Her secretary Andrew was standing in the doorway holding some coffee cups in a foam tray, staring back in shock at her, completely confused on what was going on. "I- I- uh," he stuttered.

Dorothy sighed and lowered the gun. "Andrew, what the hell are you doing? Can't you see I'm busy?" She paused when she suddenly remembered what the man had said he'd done to the others in the building. She looked questioningly at Andrew. "And where were you? Did you leave the front desk unattended again?"

Andrew smiled meekly and held up the tray slowly. "I left to get you some coffee. I was getting tired, and I figured you might need a caffeine boost too." At this point, he then noticed the man on the floor with Dorothy's rapier in his leg. His eyes widened and he glanced back to Dorothy. "What's going on?"

Dorothy held back the urge to laugh, realizing how odd she must've looked. She walked over to the man who was still writhing on the floor in pain, and lifted her left foot, placing it hard on the man's back. "Oh, well, we just had a little disagreement. It seems that our friend here-", she nudged him a bit for emphasis," decided he wanted to talk to me right away. But then he decided that he'd rather test my combat skills instead. Apparently, he likes to feel the end of a sword touching his bones. Sadistic fellow, isn't he?" She smirked a bit, starting to enjoy this. It'd been a while since she got to kick someone's ass.

Andrew, though, just continued looking at her in bewilderment. "Oh... I see... Is there anything you like me to do?"

Dorothy smiled sweetly and nodded. "Oh, why yes. Do please call the police and let them know that some man tried to attack me. And that he murdered others in this building."

Andrew paled at what she said and nodded slowly. "Uh, yes, Miss Dorothy." He walked away to his desk nervously.

Dorothy sighed again, and looked down to the man, rubbing her heel into his back some more. "That's Andrew. He's a bit dense, but really good about keeping his cool under pressure... I hope you learned something today."

The man just glared silently at the floor, thoroughly pissed that he'd lost.

Dorothy just smiled more and looked back to the office door, waiting patiently for the police to come.

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Jennifer sat in front of the t.v. again in her house, for the second night in a row. A random show was on that she wasn't exactly watching. She grabbed a handful of chips out of the bowl that was sitting on her lap and munched on a few of them.

It was starting to become another long, depressing night.

After spending the whole day with Jonathan, she went home, hoping that Elysia called with an explanation on why she never showed up.

But there hadn't been any any messages on her voicemail. Not even from Caterina or any of the other pilots and their children. She was beginning to think she was being left out of something big and fun.

She sighed and picked up the t.v. remote, channel surfing through the nromal cable trash. Nothing really appealed to her and after a while, she threw the remote down in defeat, stopping on one of the newschannels.

Was the whole world against her?

She jumped when the phone suddenly began to ring, and nearly lunged ar it desperately, her boredom getting the best of her.

"Hello?" she nearly shouted excitedly in the ohone.

"Uh, is this Jen?" a high pitched voice asked uncertainly.

Jennifer frowned, not sure who was on the phone. "Yes... Who's this?"

"Oh, it's me, Beth... Er, Elizabeth Noventa. Cat's friend."

Jennifer searched her memory, trying to place this girl. Caterina had so many friends, it was hard to keep track of them.

Then she remembered the somewhat shy, petite red-head she'd met, first in high school during her freshman year, and then later reintroduced at one of Caterina's parties.

"Oh, yeah. Beth..." She frowned confusedly. "Why are you calling me?"

Beth laughed lightly an the other end. "I kow. It's a bit weird to call you out of the bulue.. But, um, I was wondering if you've heard from Caterina? I've been trying to get a hold of her all day and she hasn't answered."

Jennifer let out a small laugh. "I've been calling all day too, but she hasn't answred my calls either. I fgured she had a long night, slept in, and ignored all calls because she was hungover, and hates everything that has to do with the wedding right now."

"Oh." Beth sounded confused. There was an awkward silence, before she added lamely. "I had a question about the whole bridesmaid thing."

"Ah..." Jennifer trailed off, unsure of what to say or do. She really didn't want to hang up Beth as this was something to do. She'd been waiting for a phone call all night and she didn't want to ignore this, just because she didn't really know the other person.

And then it hit her.

She still didn't know how to help Jacob out with the whole dress thing. But maybe if she enlisted the help of one of Caterina's friends, then she'd be able to get the task done.

And it wouldn't matter if she just told Beth. She was in the wedding and wasn't a big talker anyways.

"Hey, Beth?" Jennifer asked carefully.

"Yes?" Beth replied, her soft voice nearly at a whisper.

"You wouldn't happen to have tomorrow night off, would you?"

Beth sounded surprised as she answered," Um, yeah. Actually, I have nothing to do... Why do you ask?"

Jennifer smiled, happy with where this was going. "Well, Jacob asked me to help him with a surprise he's doing for Caterina. But I'm having problems with it. So, I was wondering if you might be of some help."

"Well, what is it exactly?" Beth sounded more than interested.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Just meet me at the Sank Kingdom Plaza tomorrow, okay? In front of that dress shop by the bakery."

"Um," Beth paused, uncertainity ringing in her voice. Jennifer could just see the the wheels turning in Beth's head as she debated this. Finally, she gave an answer. "Sure, no problem."

"Good." Jennifer's smile widened. "I'll let Cat know you called, okay?"

"All right. Thanks... Bye."

"Bye!" Jennifer hung up the phone happily. Finding Caterina a dress wasn't going to be all that hard now.

She crossed her arms and leaned back into her couch, satisfied. Her eyes drifted over to the television screem where the news program was showing shots of what looked like the Preventer's party.

Jennifer frowned slightly and grabbed the remote to raise the colume. Maybe now she could hear how great it was.

"... And there's still no word on what caused the deaths of four guests at the party, and the near fatal deaths of two other guests. One, as you know, is still in a coma, while the other, the youngest victim, experienced head trauma and memory loss..." As the reporter droned on, shots of random people being loaded into ambulances were shown.

Jennifer's eyes widened as she and she gasped as she saw Elysia on a gurney, an oxygen mask on her face, as she was being rushed into an ambulance.

"No wonder... "She muttered to herself.

As a shot of Duo was placed n the screen, the news reporter announced him as a representative of the Preventer's, commenting on the situation.

Jennifer jumped up and grabbed her jacket, turning the t.v. off in the process.

Now, she'd have to drive over to Heero and Elysia's apartment to make sure she was all right.

She mentally slapped herself for not even thinking that something bad could have happened. She 'd have to make it up somehow.

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A/N: Okay, there's Chapter 5! Now, tell me what you think. :)