Chapter 8

Feldt smiled as her class concluded and she watched the students file out of the lecture hall. They prepared their umbrellas for yet another rainy day in Ireland. She closed her laptop and bent down to pick up her bag with a slight wince. Her hand shot to her abdomen which was slightly swollen. She let out a small sigh and rubbed her hand over her belly, willing the cramping to stop.

"Deep breaths," she muttered to herself and continued to pack her things slowly.

Six months had passed since she had last seen Lyle and hadn't heard a word from him. She felt completely forgotten and used. Here she stood, pregnant with his child and he had walked out on her without a word of contact since. She felt angry at him and betrayed, but was also excited about the new life growing inside her. She told herself everything happened for a reason. She tried to tell herself there was a reason that Lyle had left and not come back, let alone not having sent her a single word of communication. She also tried to tell herself this baby happened for a reason. She had no idea if she was having a boy or a girl and was at the end of her second trimester. She wanted it to be a surprise and didn't care as long as it was a healthy baby. She had started buying things here and there. Her house was small, but she had one tiny room she was going to convert into the baby's room. She took comfort in the fact that this baby had been made out of sheer love and the days that she and Lyle had spent together at that time had been some of her happiest.

Feldt stepped out into the rain and opened her umbrella. She inhaled deeply and smiled at the smell of the rain. The pink haired girl winced again from the cramping in her lower abdomen. She was due for a visit to the doctor later that week for her regular appointment. She sighed and wondered if she should get checked out before leaving the city and heading back home. She elected to be better safe than sorry and once she reached her car she started to drive to the nearest hospital. The rain splattered her windshield as she pulled into the large parking lot of the big Dublin hospital. She pulled into the maternity lot and slowly got out to enter the front doors. The building loomed over her and the rain poured down from the sky heavily. The doors slid open and she approached the front desk, telling them how far along she was and that she was having some lower abdominal pain. The nurses smiled at her kindly and took her back to a triage room and began placing monitors on her belly. She heaved a sigh of relief when she heard her baby's strong heartbeat.

"Everything sounds good, but we will get some labs to be safe," the nurse told her.

Feldt nodded in agreement and waited for them to return to collect her blood. She leaned her head back in the stiff hospital bed and listened to her baby's heartbeat with a soft smile on her face.

….

Allelujah stared at Lyle who had a stricken look on his face. The Irish meister trembled in front of him holding a paper with photographs. He let out a growl and squeezed the paper in his hands.

"That bastard! Who the hell is this?! It's been months and we are no closer to finding out who is doing this!" he spat with rage.

"Lockon, calm down, what is it?" Allelujah said, glancing over his shoulder at the people walking by with suspicious looks.

They were back on earth at a busy mall in the AEU and Lyle had been grabbing a cup of coffee at one of the stands in the food court. Allelujah had been waiting at one of the tables in the large room as crowds of people bustled by. As Lyle had walked back he was bumped into and spilled hot coffee down his arm. Allelujah had stood up and walked toward him with a few napkins. The pair had gone back to the table and paused when they saw a large envelope resting on the surface.

Allelujah grabbed the letter and photos from Lyle without hesitation. He glanced at the Irishman suspiciously as he appeared to be frozen. He was clearly distressed and was breathing more quickly than normal with a light sheen of sweat forming over his pale skin. Allelujah glanced down and his eyes scanned the letter which was instructing Lyle to shoot down one of his fellow meisters in an upcoming planned conflict to take place in the Middle East. The last line sent a threatening warning about two lives at stake rather than one. Allelujah then shifted his attention to the attached photos with a puzzled expression on his face. As soon as his eyes scanned them his eyebrows shot up in recognition.

"Jesus…" he trailed off and his mismatched eyes immediately went to Lyle.

"This can't be true," Lyle said roughly, his eyes locked on the photographs in Allelujah's hands and he snatched them back.

"I'll kill whoever this is with my bare hands and watch them suffer," Lyle ground out and squeezed his fists until his knuckles were white.

The noise of the food court around them hid their conversation, but Allelujah was very uncomfortable being out in the open when someone clearly knew where they were and were making death threats.

"I think we need to tell the others," Allelujah said slowly, "We've tried to figure out who this was on our own for months now and are no closer to an identity. This is over our heads."

"No!" Lyle sputtered, "They'll kill her!"

His blue eyes shot down to the photo of Feldt with her clearly pregnant belly getting out of her car in a parking lot. She had one hand placed over her abdomen and her pink hair stood out in the photograph vividly. She was perfect and his heart wrenched at the thought of harm coming to her.

"Two lives instead of one, is it yours?" Allelujah asked seriously, finally speaking about the elephant in the room.

"It could be…" Lyle trailed off, "I can't say for sure, maybe she hooked up with a nice guy after I left her high and dry."

"Knock it off Lockon," Allelujah shook his head and stood up, "Let's get out of here, I don't like being out in the open."

Lyle shoved the contents of the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket and followed the super soldier out of the busy building. He was filled with uncertainty, anger and fear. Should he tell the others? He needed to protect Feldt and he didn't want to risk her being targeted and losing her because of his own actions. He also wanted to know the answer to the obvious question… clearly Feldt was pregnant and who the hell was the father? Could that really be his baby inside her? He swallowed thickly and the pair walked outside toward their car as civilians chattered innocently around them on a beautiful sunny day.

….

Feldt walked into her kitchen and started to brew some hot tea. She glanced out the window in her kitchen that looked out at the horizon where the sun was setting over the ocean. She could only make out parts of it secondary to the rain clouds, but it was trying to shine through. Her tea pot whistled and she turned her attention back to brewing her tea. The doctor had cleared her to go home and told her she was dehydrated which was causing her cramping. Feldt had stayed very active since she found out she was pregnant and at times she knew she wasn't taking care of herself the way she should. She could imagine Christina harping on her and giving her tips that she had looked up on some of her blogs. She smiled sadly at the thought of her cherished friend she would never see again. She missed her so much. Her tea was finished and she poured a cup, adding a small amount of honey. Feldt ran her hands over her smooth round belly and she sat down in her comfy reading chair with a satisfied sigh. Her house was so relaxing and she could have heard a pin drop. After several moments her eyes fluttered open after dozing off and she sat up with a frown. She heard an odd creak and she went to stand up quickly, but felt lightheaded. She sat back down in her chair and let her body adjust to sitting up. She heard the creak again and the sound of an engine in the distance. Feldt got up and wandered to her front door where she looked through one of the windows adjacent and saw tail lights at the end of her drive that pulled out onto the rough road.

Feldt's lips parted as her heart began to thud in her chest. Who could that have been? Her thoughts immediately went to Lyle and then she was filled with immediate disappointment. There was no way it was him, he was gone without a trace and hadn't attempted to contact her once. He clearly had no interest in her and had moved on. Her heart had been broken once again. Her hands went to her belly and she felt a flutter of movement that brought a small smile to her face. He had left her with an irreplaceable gift and for that, she was partially grateful. The amount of emotions that filled her when she thought about him were so confusing and she tried to will him out of her mind once again.

Feldt went to her bathroom and started to run a bath that she added lavender bath salt to. She inhaled deeply at the fresh and relaxing scent and started getting ready for bed. She had some programming work to do for her job tomorrow and had to wake up early.

"We've got this, right?" she mumbled out to her unborn child through her toothbrush that was in her mouth.

…..

"Allelujah, I said no!" Lyle shouted.

Allelujah rolled his eyes after locking the door behind him to the control room of the Ptolemy. Lyle was banging on the door aggressively behind him and the super soldier turned quickly to Sumeragi who was drinking out of one of her water bottles with a puzzled look on her face.

"What's going on?" Tieria asked from the seat he was sitting in next to Mileina.

Allelujah wordlessly tossed the envelope Lyle had been given several days ago toward the purple haired meister.

Tieria eyed the super soldier skeptically and opened the envelope. His crimson eyes narrowed as he read the letter then shifted to the photographs.

"What is this?" Tieria asked with disgust and obvious anger.

"It's the reason why Lockon has been the way he has since he came back to us," Allelujah said.

Mileina leaned over looking at the photos in Tieria's lap and she squealed and clapped her hands together.

Her cheeks turned bright red, "I knew it! She was pregnant!" Mileina sang and Tieria cleared his throat awkwardly as she rubbed up against his shoulder.

Allelujah sighed and shook his head, "No, she wasn't then, but clearly is now."

Sumeragi had no idea what they were talking about and leaned over Tieria's shoulder and immediately spit out the water she was drinking. Marie also got up from her chair to see what everyone was looking at and she gasped in surprise with a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Feldt?!"

The door to the room opened and Lyle burst in with a flushed face followed by Setsuna with a stone cold expression.

"What's going on?" the Krugis man asked.

Lyle's eyes went to Tieria's hands where the photographs were. He sighed and shook his head in defeat.

"I guess the cat is out of the bag," Lyle muttered.

"Lockon, what's going on? What are these threats and photos?" Sumeragi asked seriously.

"It's not the first one he's received. That was over 6 months ago when he came back," Allelujah said, narrowing his eyes at the Irishman, "Tell them everything Lockon."

The sniper ran his gloved hand through his shaggy hair and huffed, "I clearly have no other choice."

….

"You're showing quite a lot now," the friendly lady at the local grocery told Feldt as she set her basket of groceries on the stand.

Feldt smiled pleasantly at her, "Yes."

"A boy or a girl?"

"I don't know, it's a surprise," Feldt spoke with a small smile as she started picking up her items that were paid for and placing them in bags.

"How exciting, I'm sure your husband is very happy," the woman said.

A sadness filled Feldt's eyes and she nodded without saying a word. She grabbed her items and quickly left, not wanting to continue the conversation any further. She rushed out of the store and in her haste bumped into someone. She dropped one of her bags and items spilled out onto the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped and slowly tried to kneel down to pick up her fallen groceries.

She made her way down to the ground as she kept her balance and reached for some of the fallen items. Her belly was starting to shift her center of gravity and she had to be careful about squatting down and getting back up. The person she had bumped knelt down next to her and she felt extremely embarrassed until he spoke.

"Stay down here with me and move slowly."

Feldt's heart practically stopped as she immediately recognized that voice.

"Setsuna?"

"Don't say my name, I'll make this quick," he said and pulled the hat he was wearing down to further cover his charcoal eyes.

Feldt nodded and kept her own eyes down at the stray apple she was picking up.

"Someone has been surveilling you for the past several months and has threatened your life. They have sent threats to Lockon and ordered him to stay away from you or you will be killed. That's why he hasn't returned. We're trying to figure out who is behind this, until then, watch your back."

Feldt was about to look up and ask several questions, but the space in front of her was empty and Setsuna was nowhere to be found. Her turquoise eyes darted back and forth around the sparsely crowded street without any sign of him. She stood up and shakily made her way home. Her house was quiet as usual, but for some reason it now felt eerie instead of relaxing like usual. She unpacked her groceries and paused once she emptied one of the bags. A thick folded envelope was in the bottom of the bag and she took it out with confusion written across her face. She tore it open and gasped as black and white copies of photos and letters fell out onto her kitchen counter. She went through them and read the letters, her blood running cold. Suddenly Lyle's actions made a little more sense.

….

"We need Feldt to help us find out who is following Feldt," Mileina cried in exasperation as she rested her forehead in her hands after hours on the computer.

Sumeragi frowned, "I do miss having her computer and programming skills here, but I'm sure you can figure something out. I know she taught you a lot."

"Sure she taught me," Mileina said, "But I still have so much to learn! Feldt was the best!"

"You're not too bad yourself, give yourself some credit," Tieria spoke and gave the girl a pat on top of her head with a gloved hand.

Mileina's cheeks turned bright red and her fingers stuttered across the keyboard she was typing on.

"How about you quit flirting with your girlfriend and let her keep working on who is threatening my girlfriend," Lyle said with a smug smirk.

Tieria coughed and looked quite embarrassed, "Shut up, don't you have maintenance or something to do?"

"I suppose I do."

Mileina continued to work with her cheeks flushed and Lyle made his way to the hangar with all of the Gundams. He smiled as Haro greeted him cheerfully at the doorway and led him to Cheridum with excited chirping. Lyle looked up at the green accented Gundam in front of him and sighed.

"You have to help me protect her."

….

"I can't believe Feldt is pregnant," Marie said with a wistful expression.

She was sitting in bed with the sheets pooled around her waist combing her fingers through her tangled hair. The room was dark, the only lights coming from the screensaver on the nearby computer and the bathroom. Her skin was sticky with dried sweat and her eyes went to Allelujah who came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist after showering. Small droplets of water fell from his dark hair and his heterochromic eyes stood out from the darkness in the room.

"Why can't you believe it?" he asked and sat down next to her.

She pressed a soft kiss to the side of his damp neck and he leaned into her.

"She's been through so much and I never thought Lyle would go find her. I thought she would find a civilian man and live happily ever after. I didn't expect to hear about her again after she left us. I wished for her happiness, but I wonder if she's truly happy or sad now," Marie said with worry in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Allelujah asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close.

"She was in love with Neil and then lost him in a tragic battle. She loved Setsuna for years and their relationship wasn't good for her. He didn't give her what she needed. The on and off again with Lyle has been toxic and now she's alone once again pregnant with his child. How happy do you think she really is?" Marie questioned.

Allelujah sighed, "I get it… but it's not Lockon's fault. He wants to be there for her."

"How did Setsuna feel about this?" Marie asked.

"He didn't say much," Allelujah shrugged, "He left shortly after we went through all of that stuff. I assume he went to see Marina like he always does."

Marie sighed and then changed subjects completely, "Do you ever want to have children?"

Allelujah's eyes widened and he jerked his head to look at Marie eye to eye. They stared at each other for several moments, a light blush tinting Allelujah's cheeks.

"I guess I haven't thought about that," he shrugged with hesitation in his voice, "We're so busy with missions and fighting."

"Maybe it's something we can think about," Marie said, resting her head on his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

Allelujah sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "Maybe it is, someday."

….

Feldt typed intently on her workstation in her house. Her programming assignments from work laid at the wayside and the girl sat with intense focused sea colored eyes on her computer screen. She had looked at the photographs and deciphered the locations that each were taken. She then found an area of a nearby store or location with a security camera and had hacked the systems to view the tapes. She had to go back weeks to reach when the photos had been taken and was frustrated to see the data was gone. She moved on photo by photo, one failure after the next. Her heart ached as she looked at the pictures of her and Lyle eating dinner happily together. The way that he looked at her sent shivers down her spine and she missed him so much in that moment. Her house was small, but at that point in time it felt giant, empty and alone.

Soon she reached the last photo with another failure. She was unable to find anything that would help her identify the person following her. Feldt leaned back in her chair and took a large gulp from the water bottle sitting next to her. She had been trying to be better about her hydration after her hospital visit a few weeks ago. She glanced down at her growing belly. She was well into her third trimester now and was starting to feel anxious about the baby's arrival. She got up and made her way to the room she had started and looked at the pastel green crib, mats on the floor and a variety of toys strewn about that she had collected. She decided on green as it was a rather gender neutral color and it also paid homage to Lyle in a way. She wanted badly for him to be there when the baby arrived, but knew that he was trying to protect her at all costs. She was disappointed in herself for actually believing that he had abandoned her.

Feldt stood up and slowly made her way to the living room. She was determined to find out who was watching her and had made these threats. She now felt like she was constantly being spied on and it unnerved her. She glanced out her front window to see that her drive was empty. She sighed and grabbed her car keys. She had a doctor's appointment and was going to be late.

….

"There's conflict in the Middle East and the Human Reform League is involved. We are to intervene," Sumeragi told the team with a frown.

Everyone glanced at Lyle who growled in response, "What the hell is everyone looking at?!"

"You were instructed to shoot one of us down," Tieria said with a scowl, "It's only natural for us to be a little suspicious."

"I'm not some traitor!" he snapped.

"Get yourself together," Setsuna cut him off with a cold expression, "Shoot at me if you want, it'll take more than that to bring me and Double 0 down."

"Damn you Setsuna!" Lyle snarled, instantly feeling competitive, "I'll shoot you out of the sky if I want, you aren't invincible!"

"Boys!" Sumeragi interrupted with angry eyes, "Grow up!"

Allelujah sighed and Tieria rolled his eyes in disgust. The Gundam meisters left to put on their pilot suits and prepare for the intervention. The Ptolemy changed its course and headed toward the site of the current fighting.

Lyle put on his green pilot suit and glanced down at Haro who chirped at him cheerfully. He patted the top of the little ball's head affectionately and it followed him as he moved toward the hangar where Cheridum was waiting. He found himself in his pilot seat and Haro bounced around excitedly. The cockpit door closed and Cheridum's system activated. He felt occasional vibrations from Ptolemy as it rocketed through the skies. He took a deep breath and thought about Feldt and how he would give anything to see her again. He couldn't imagine harm coming to her or her unborn child. He had no idea if it was his, but he was allowed to secretly hope.

Setsuna's face immediately appeared on his screen, "You'll shoot at me Lockon, remember that. We need to do what we can to keep Feldt safe."

"Alright," Lyle nodded and put his helmet on.

He glanced down as Setsuna's face was still present on his screen and had not yet disappeared. He looked hesitant and then spoke tightly.

"She's doing well."

Lyle blinked in confusion, "What?"

"I saw her."

"You what?!" the Irishman exclaimed and Haro chirped nervously.

"I gave her copies of what was sent to you. She deserved to know that you didn't abandon her," Setsuna said.

"You're unbelievable, she could be killed, she's not supposed to know!" Lyle exclaimed angrily.

"My ulterior motive was for her to also help with searching for the culprit. No one here has the technological skill she has," Setsuna added.

Lyle huffed in irritation, "Right…"

"Now calm yourself and let's make this convincing," Setsuna said and his communication link vanished.

Lyle let out a growl and huffed. Setsuna could be infuriating, but in this instance he was right.

…

Feldt sat in front of her television with rapt attention as the broadcast showed the bloody conflict in the Middle East. She knew that Celestial Being would intervene and one of the threatening messages had instructed Lyle to shoot down one of his fellow Gundam meisters or she would be killed. She had looked out her windows multiple times and saw no one around that would be watching her. She felt incredibly unsettled and a nervous knot welled in her stomach as minutes ticked by. After a few hours of watching the broadcast Feldt was startled into an upright sitting position from where she was laid back. The Gundams had appeared and threw themselves into the fray.

She could barely blink as she saw Setsuna, Tieria, Allelujah and of course Lyle's Gundams fly through the sky and engage in the battle. The battle seemed to go on endlessly and her breath caught in her throat when she saw Setsuna's Gundam get in close proximity to Cheridum. There was a sudden explosion and Double 0 came falling from the sky and hit the ground with a shudder.

"No!" Feldt screamed out and she shouted again as two enemy mobile suits landed hits on Cheridum which rocked side to side until it collided with a nearby building that caused fiery explosions.

She tried to stand quickly and held her abdomen as a sharp pain shot through her back into her front. It was relentless and she tried to sit down without relief. Feldt was breathing quickly and the pain subsided. She wiped the sudden sweat from her brow and her eyes went back to the screen which had switched to other parts of the battle. She was distraught and wanted to know if Lyle and Setsuna were alright. She gasped as another wave of crippling pain shot through her abdomen. Her eyes shot to the front door and the keys on one of the coffee tables.

"I need to go to the hospital," she stammered and stood up with a stumbling step.

…

"God damn it!" Lyle snarled as his machine hit the dirt after taking several direct hits.

"Get it together!" Tieria shouted over the intercom.

"Cheridum damaged, Cheridum damaged!" Haro exclaimed.

"I know!" Lyle snapped back and his eyes shot to Gundam Double 0 which was getting up slowly in front of him.

"Setsuna, are you alright?!" Lyle called out.

"I'm fine, focus on the fight," Setsuna replied in a gritty voice.

Lyle opened his mouth to make a sarcastic remark and paused when he realized his connection to Setsuna had been cut off. Back on the Ptolemy, Mileina frowned and looked over her shoulder at Sumeragi with a worried expression.

"Miss Sumeragi, someone has hacked into Cheridum's communication system," she told her.

"What? Who is it?" Sumeragi asked, "Try and trace it."

Mileina nodded and began working as quickly as she could on her work station. Marie frowned from her position at the ship's steering wheel and worriedly wondered what was going on. Lyle scowled in confusion in his mobile suite when a foreign voice came over the intercom.

"You haven't followed the instructions. I know you told the others and they've been helping you. I explicitly told you that two lives were on the line and you just killed them both."

All of the air left Lyle's lungs and he struggled to speak as the connection cut off.

"Feldt!" he screamed, but no one was listening.

…..

"Almost there," Feldt breathed with one hand on the steering wheel and one on her swollen belly.

Her small car raced down the road to the nearest city. Her small town that was near her house did not have a hospital, only a hometown clinic. She knew she needed to go to a hospital, especially since the baby was slightly early in the event she was in labor. It was raining as usual and her windshield wipers moved quickly as she struggled to see through the darkness as the droplets spattered her view. She frowned as a car that had been behind her for a majority of her journey had its bright headlights on. She silently cursed them as their lights shined into her rearview mirror and made it harder than it already was to see. She decided to pull off to let them pass as they continued to pressure her with their bright lights on. She started to slow down and she let out a yelp when her entire car lurched as the vehicle behind her made contact with her rear bumper.

"What the hell?" she gasped as the vehicle behind her hit her again and her small car shuddered at the impact.

Feldt's heart pounded in her chest and she started to grow panicked as another wave of pain hit her again. Tears began to well in her eyes and she didn't know what to do. At that moment she desperately wished Lyle was there or he would come and rescue her, but she was alone. She gasped as the pursuing car suddenly drove up beside her and slammed into her car. One second she was in her lane and the next she had been forced off the road into the rocks that sat between the road and the ocean. Feldt screamed and her seatbelt tried to restrain her at the intense impact as her car hit the rocks head on. Her upper body swung forward, her abdomen slamming into the steering wheel and her forehead hitting the top of the wheel. Feldt could feel an even more intense pain spreading throughout her abdomen and her ears were ringing as black circled her vision.

"Lyle," she moaned out and the curtain of black spread until she finally lost consciousness.

….

"Mr. Erde," Mileina squeaked as she called out to him over the communication link.

"You know you don't need to call me that," he said in a slightly irked voice as he continued to fight.

Mileina blushed and spoke, "Tieria, I have a location on the person who just hacked Cheridum's communication system."

"Send it to me," he ordered and then paused with a hesitant voice, "Thank you."

Mileina squeaked again with her blush brightening, "Yes!"

"Want to tell me what's changed between you two?" Sumeragi asked slyly from inside the Ptolemy.

"Nothing!" Mileina stammered from her workstation and tried to lean closer to her computer screen.

"It doesn't sound like 'nothing', he's seemed a lot more relaxed lately," the tactical forecaster remarked, "Maybe he finally got laid… good, he deserves it."

Mileina's entire body was practically blushing at that point as she frantically sent the location to Tieria's Seravee.

"Tieria, please evaluate and destroy that target," Sumeragi said shortly.

"Understood," he replied through the intercom.

Tieria looked down and immediately was able to find a machine that was separate from the battlefield. He urged Seravee toward it and noted that it appeared to have the Human Reform League logo on it.

"Who the hell are you?!" Tieria shouted as he went toward the unknown mobile suit.

Back on the battlefield, Lyle continued to take heavy fire, but all he could think about was Feldt and if she was alright. He was making sloppy mistakes and getting hit on multiple sides, wincing at the impact. He gripped the arm rests of his pilot chair as his machine was wracked with vibrations from impact. He gritted his teeth and wiped the sweat from his brow with his gloved hand. The meisters were in for a long and painful fight.