I will never know what happens next
Even when my heart beats out my chest
Through all of the chaos, I'll find a way out
I know home is where you make it
I will always fight for one more breath
Even in a cardiac arrest
Through all of the chaos, I'll find a way out
I know home is where you make it
-Chaos by I Prevail
It was the middle of the night when Duo emerged from his haze of hacking. He blinked and looked around, only to find that the room was empty. He wasn't sure how long he'd been at it, but it felt like a while. Duo rose and stretched his back, extending his arms above his head until he heard his spine crack. He dropped his arms and spun around, grabbing his Preventer jacket off the back of the chair.
He headed out of the command room and wound his way through the halls to the break room, which was empty. He crossed to the espresso machine and punched the buttons until a paper cup filled with thick, dark liquid. He drank it down in one gulp, shuddering at the bitter taste. He turned when he heard footsteps enter the room.
It was Commander Une.
"Duo?"
"Hey, boss," he said, lifting his empty paper cup to her. He turned and filled it with more espresso.
"I hate to sound uncouth, but have you come up with anything?" she asked, stepping into the room, rubbing at her eyes.
"Actually, yes," Duo said, swigging a second cup of espresso. "I have all the documentation printed out and ready for our next meeting."
"The meeting is first thing in the morning. Why don't you go to the barracks and get some sleep?" Une suggested. Duo shook his head.
"There's more I can do," Duo said. "Besides, after this, I'll be wired."
"You haven't slept in over a day," she said, a motherly voice coming out. Duo shrugged and turned away.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," he said. He tossed the paper cup into the trash can and turned back to face Une. She was still staring at him, a worried expression on her face.
"You know, Duo… ever since Hilde-" Duo waved a hand to stop Une from speaking.
"Like I said, boss, don't worry about me," he said. "I've got everything under control." Une pressed her lips together in a thin line, but said nothing else. Duo brushed past her. "I've got to get back to work. See you in the AM." Duo left the break room and Une behind.
When Relena awoke the next morning, it was with a tightness in her chest. Ever since the late-night call with Dorothy, Relena had been stressed. She never expected to be part of the ESUN government again in her life, but she had accepted the position. But why? Why would Dorothy need her so badly to call Relena up from civilian life? She must have some sort of plan. Dorothy rarely operated without a plan.
Heero rose beside Relena, sensing that she was awake. With his eyes still closed, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down beside him.
"I want to say 'good morning,' but it's not exactly good right now," Relena said. Heero grunted. He stroked her hair with one hand, his eyes opening a slit to look at her.
"Every morning with you is a good morning," he mumbled. Relena's chest tightened further, but for once in the last few days, it was a tightness of affection and love. She kissed him on the lips, smelling the sweat on his skin that usually popped up during the night. His eyes opened fully, and he gave her a squeeze.
"Everything will be alright," he said, pulling himself to wakefulness. Relena shrugged her shoulders.
"I hope so."
Together, they climbed from the uncomfortable mattress they'd slept on in a secluded room located in the mansion bunker. They stretched, their muscles aching. Relena quickly changed into a clean set of clothes- a pair of jeans and a blouse, while Heero did the same. He pulled his Preventer jacket over a black t-shirt and jeans.
They left the room and headed towards the central waiting area. The televisions had been on all night, the volume muted, replaying the same footage over and over again. Relena saw Marina asleep on one of the couches, surrounded by her friends, who were either on blow-up mattresses or just sleeping on the floor. Relena pressed her lips together in a line. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and no amount of reassuring herself that Marina would be safe, would make it go away.
The doors opened and several Preventer agents stepped inside. They flashed their badges to Relena and Heero. Heero nodded.
"Ready?" he asked Relena. She nodded, her eyes still on Marina. She saw the girl stir, but remained asleep.
They left together through the doors, surrounded by the Preventer agents. Relena noticed that Heero held his hand against his side, where he usually kept his gun holstered. He likely didn't trust the Preventer agents currently escorting them. Relena felt too exhausted to worry about that. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first time she'd been kidnapped…
Une watched her team file into the room in the underground bunker at the Preventer HQ. All of them looked exhausted, particularly Duo, who probably didn't take her advice to get some sleep. He was carrying an extra large cup of coffee in one hand and a donut in the other. He slumped down in a chair, his eyelids heavy.
Heero and Relena arrived shortly after Quatre, and Trowa and Zechs arrived together. Une wondered if they had been at the hospital with Noin all night. Surely at least Trowa would have gone home.
Wufei and Sally were the last to arrive, both looking sullen and tired, like the rest of them. Une settled into her chair.
"Thank you all for coming, and I hope at least a few of you got some sleep," she said, glancing around the room. There were a few mutters. "Let's just jump into this. Duo, care to start us off?"
"Sure thing," he said, rising from his chair. He walked to the front of the room and picked up the small remote from beside Une's stack of papers. He clicked a button on the remote and a photo of a large office building appeared.
"The attacks originated from Moscow, in the Russian territories, by a group called ODIN. As far as I could tell, they wanted me to find them. It was too easy to get into their system," Duo said, glancing around the table at the others. Une saw their eyebrows raise. "And one other thing," Duo added, clicking a button on the remote. A picture of what appeared to be a mobile suit appeared. "They have an army of these small mobile suits, like the ones that we saw attacking the ESUN building. I don't know yet if they are manned or remotely operated, but either way, this is a problem."
Duo handed back the remote and sat back down.
"How could they have done this under our noses?" Sally wondered aloud. "If they're made of gundanium, then we would have noticed shipments coming in…"
Une nodded. "We have to assume they've been using a different type of resource, something we're not monitoring. Or they've been recycling old mobile suits from the wars." Une glanced at Quatre.
"What was the name of that company that took care of all the scrap metal?"
"RenTech Industries," Quatre said. "They're a technology company that I've worked with for a long time."
Duo tapped a finger against his chin. "I'll have to do some more digging," Duo said.
"Not until you get some sleep," Une commanded. Duo smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Zechs, how is Noin?" she asked.
"She'll be okay. Just banged up," Zechs said, relief in his voice. Une nodded.
"How are the children?" she asked, turning to Relena and Heero.
"They're fine. Protected," Relena answered.
"And how is the investigation going?" Une asked, looking at Sally and Wufei.
"It's a mess out there," Sally said. "We've got teams assessing damage done to structures, and the clean up crews are working away, trying to locate any lost people in the rubble. We're looking at a manifest of those who swiped into the building that morning and are searching for every individual."
The room exhaled a collective breath. Une felt bad giving the worst task to Wufei and Sally, but she knew they could handle such a task. She checked her watch. It was nearly time for Dorothy's announcement of Operation White Rabbit. She felt a tension grow in her chest, her eyes straying towards Relena. This day was not going to go well.
-SE