Author's Notes:

More and more I realize that this is a tough story to write. I already have the summary of it in my head, but the little details that would bring it to it's conclusion are still a bit hazy. I'm trying to get at least one event to happen per chapter, so as not to be too boring, because really, political maneuvering is often full of boring and big-sounding words.

No worries, though. There will be a lot of action by the time this story ends. ^_^

Thanks to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited this fic. And please never get tired of reviewing! Your comments and suggestions would be very much appreciated. (Heaven knows I need all the help that I can get. 0_o)

Disclaimer:

Gundam Wing AC, Cheetos, and Starbucks do not belong to me.

Lunar Ember Presents

A Gundam Wing AC Fan Fiction

Death and Taxes

Chapter 2: Labyrinth

Duo slumped on a cafeteria chair with a cup of coffee in hand. It was his fourth cup, actually, what with him only getting an hour or so of shut-eye. Aside from the god-forsaken thumb drive that he had to deal with, the meeting that Une called immediately after the second shooting was stressful to say the least.

"Two shootings within a thirty-foot radius of the Foreign Minister in less than two days. Two days!" the Director exclaimed. "That it happened within the ESUN Complex is making us look like fools!"

Duo winced at the sound of her raised voice, but she had every right to be frustrated. The ESUN Complex was one of the most secure places in the world, and it had to be, as it housed not just the offices of top government officials, but also the Preventers head office. To have someone shot in its grounds put to question the agency's ability to protect its charges and to diffuse potential threats.

"The sniper was positioned outside our perimeter," Duo ventured. "According to the sweepers' reports, at least."

"It doesn't change the fact that something got past us."

"But it does beg the question of who the real target was," Trowa said, his voice sounding hollow through the transmission as he, Wufei, and Sally joined the conference in transit from Geneva. "Relena didn't seem to be his mission this time, because if she was, he would have only one chance to take the shot, and he wouldn't have missed."

It was true. Whoever did it did not come for the Foreign Minister, and by the time the sweepers searched the office building across the Complex and found the gunman's window, he had long been gone.

"Who is this – " Duo browsed the file of the man who was shot " – Rodrick Gunnar anyway? He's not even connected with L2 or ESUN officials."

"Do your job and find out, Maxwell. And the three of you," Une growled at the projector. "Get your asses here right away."

The Director was definitely in a bad mood. Duo scampered out her office, worried that she might suddenly go OZ Commander on all of them. But before he could even get in the elevator, he heard her call out from the end of the corridor:

"Maxwell! You had better have something for me from that thumb drive tomorrow."

And her door closed with a bang.

The bustle of the Preventers cafeteria was a relief after long, tedious hours of trying to break code after code on that infernal thumb drive. The system was annoyingly intricate, and every time he and his team peeled off one security layer, another always seemed to be just right under it.

"Why did I sign up for this job again?" He mused aloud, biting into a cookie he had bought earlier. "I should have just stayed in the Colonies with Hilde."

"It's a wonder that she hasn't kicked you out yet."

Duo raised his head to see Heero peering down on him. His eyes were mirthless, and he didn't know whether he was joking or not.

Not that he knows how to joke around. "Where's the little miss?"

"She wanted breakfast so I brought her here."

"Yeah, and Santos from HR is currently making the moves on her."

Heero slowly turned to where Relena stood in the cafeteria line. Leaning over her was a tall, dark-skinned pretty boy with a fresh grin on his face. The young Foreign Minister gave him an amused smile and tilted her head towards their direction. When the man saw Heero staring at him, his face fell, and he awkwardly left the queue.

"That death glare of yours works wonders."

"Not on her."

"Well, she's different. Hey, Lena!"

Relena came up to them with a plate of pancakes and a cup of cappuccino which she set on the table. She was about to pull out her chair when Heero did it for her before sitting down beside her.

Duo grinned. "You look cute together."

"And you look like you haven't bathed in days."

"Wow, Heero, you're in fine form today."

"What happened to you?" Relena asked, ignoring his previous comment. "Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

Duo sighed and let his head drop on the table. "We've been trying to crack that stupid security software."

"And?"

"We haven't so much as put a dent on it." He looked up and ran both his hands through his hair. "It's frustrating, and I want to go home and hit the sack!"

"Not just yet," Heero said, producing Relena's mobile phone from his breast pocket. "We need to know who recorded the voice mail she got and where it was recorded from."

Duo blinked, reached out for the device, and accessed her inbox.

"Miss Relena," the recording breathed. There was sound of traffic in the background. "I need – I need to speak with you. Somewhere pri-private. Where no one will know." There was a pause and more panting. "I heard them. Heard them. They took it and they don't care. They don't fucking care. That's why I need to see you. Later at the press conference. I need to – "

The line was suddenly cut. Duo bit the insides of his mouth. Whoever the caller was seemed to be running away from something or someone.

"Does Une know about this?"

"I'll tell her later. I only got to check my inbox this morning." Relena forked her pancakes. "I think that he could be the man who was waving at me yesterday."

"Rodrick Gunnar," Heero stated.

"Is he still alive?"

"Yes. The wound wasn't fatal. They operated on him yesterday."

"Good. I need to find out as much as I can about him, or Une's gonna devour me whole and puke me just to chew me out again." He looked desperately at Relena. "Why did you ever convince me to take this job?"

"Because you make a great Intelligence Head."

"Mr. Personality here would have been better at it than me."

"He wouldn't be. He's rarely around."

It was kind of awkward to watch Relena stare accusingly at Heero, especially since the latter remained unfazed. He could have been a gargoyle for all the emotion he showed as he stared back at her.

"Err, I'm just gonna be in my office," Duo said as he stood up, his cup of coffee in one hand and Relena's phone in another. "We'll trace the call for you. Feel free to drop by CID when you're done with your lovers' quarrel."

He quickly weaved through the breakfast crowd as Heero shot him a look that promised a world of pain.

The office of the Central Intelligence Division was a huge room housing the fastest systems for research and surveillance. The overhead lamps were often set to low, sharply contrasting the brightness of high definition monitors that were almost always on. There were rows upon rows of desks for the agency's team of young programmers, developers, and white-hat hackers, most of which were cluttered with documents, half-done motherboards, and loaded Nerf guns.

Duo walked in, downing the last of his coffee and throwing the cup in a nearby bin. Grabbing a bag of Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos from a make-shift snack corner, he sat on an empty swivel chair and rolled towards an agent with bags under his eyes.

"Hey, Kevin."

"Sir."

"Broken through anything yet?"

"I don't know, Sir, but look at this," he pointed at a line of code on his screen. "What does that say?"

Duo leaned closer and stuffed a handful of Cheetos into his mouth. "I think it says 'this is the twenty-third time I've fucked you in the ass today'."

"I thought so, too."

"Want some?"

The younger man sighed and got the snack bag from him. "Thanks."

Duo treated his team more like his friends than his subordinates. Members of the CID thought of themselves as a group of boys and girls who loved junk food, F1 races, and video games, but they were the sharpest minds on the Earth Sphere, and they have been known to trace the untraceable and crack the uncrackable.

Until that thumb drive, at least.

"Okay, let's take a break from this and do something else," Duo called out. "I need someone to identify the person who left this voice message on the Foreign Minister's inbox and where the dude called from. Plus I need another person tell me about this Rodrick Gunnar character."

Kevin raised his orange Cheetos fingers. "I'll do the tracing."

"Thanks, man. Yuri, wanna do the research?"

A Japanese girl shouted her assent from the other end of the room.

"Thanks, sweetheart!"

He loved his team. He had repeatedly thought that he couldn't get a weirder, more talented bunch than this. Working with them almost made the distance between him and Hilde bearable.

Hilde, he thought, conjuring her image in his mind. That woman has the nicest pair of legs in all of the Colonies.

He might have fallen asleep because the next thing he remembered was Kevin poking him with a stylus.

"Sir, I managed to get what you wanted."

Duo rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Well?"

"The caller's voice matched that of Rodrick Gunnar's."

So Lena had been right. "And?"

"He was calling from Marion Avenue."

Marion? Isn't that in the classy side of town? "Run me down buildings and other establishments in that area."

Kevin pulled up a virtual map and narrowed his search to a quarter of a mile from where Gunnar made his call. "There's Newport Trust Bank, a BlueDot Comm service center, a couple of Starbucks outlets, The Cove – "

"The Cove?" A light bulb suddenly turned on in his head. "The Cove is that posh restaurant where big people like to hang out, right?"

"Yes, Sir."

Duo folded his arms over his chest. "And who is almost always seen there?"

"Representative Kraz." Kevin's eyes grew wide. "Well I'll be damned."

"Sir?" Yuri called out as she jogged towards him with a tablet on one hand. "You're right. Gunnar isn't part of any L2 or ESUN government office. He's Kraz' former neighbor and a software developer. Moreover, he was named president of an L2 farming organization called 'Green Leaf' a few years ago."

"And what does 'Green Leaf' do?"

"That's what's weird, Sir." Yuri said, pulling up a file before handing the device to him. "It's supposed to do research on yield improvement. Part of the Foreign Minister's agrarian budget was delegated to it, but it doesn't exist in the Farmers' Union's roster of accredited organizations."

"So you're saying that the money was given to a non-existent group and now it's gone?"

"It would seem so, Sir."

Duo clucked his tongue in annoyance. This was big, probably bigger than what he had initially thought. With the peace they've built over the years remaining as fragile as it was after the Mariemaia incident, the last thing they needed was the Earth Sphere distrusting the Colonies once again.

"Une and Lena are gonna have a fit when they learn of this. People, make sure that the information doesn't leak out. If anybody in the media discovers this, we may just have another war in our hands."

Relena felt slightly awkward with how her desk was currently positioned. She was used to having her back to the windows as she knew that the glass was bullet-proof and well-tinted, but Heero had everything rearranged.

"Snipers have better weapons now," he had told her. "You shouldn't be sitting with windows behind you."

Now she sat before a solid concrete wall. The spot was close to the air conditioning vent, so she perpetually had to wear her blazer while she worked.

Or at least try to work, she wryly thought.

Things were happening too fast. She had yet to recover from the physical and emotional trauma of her botched assassination, and now she had to deal with another sniper attack. She stared at the papers of the now lost budget she had once approved, but she couldn't bring herself to focus.

I must be tired.

"You must be tired."

He said it aloud the same time she said it in her head. She didn't even hear him come in. Heero gazed at her for a moment before walking towards the floor-to-ceiling panes.

"You said that it was dangerous to stand or sit by the windows."

"For you. Not for me."

It didn't surprise her that he seemed to be studying the buildings across the Complex and all the possible ways that a gunman could position himself in them.

She smiled. His thoroughness and tenacity was both sweet and comforting. Whatever it was that brought him back, and she was glad that he came to her when he did.

"Thank you," she heard herself say.

"For what?"

"For saving my life yet again. And for accepting Lady Une's offer of becoming my Head of Security."

"Une didn't offer me the job."

Relena paused, blinked, and furrowed her brows. "Then how did you get it?"

"I demanded it."

"What are you talking about?"

He walked towards her in a leisurely pace, his eyes sharply trained on her like a predator's. She met his gaze with a steady one of her own despite the fact that she pulse had begun to quicken.

"I demanded it," he repeated as he reached the opposite side of her desk. "When I heard of what happened to you and Ahlstrom, I immediately came here. I told Une that if she wouldn't give me the position, I would break the legs of every candidate she had. She's a very sensible woman, although she didn't appreciate me threatening her subordinates." He placed both his hands on the wooden surface and leaned towards her. "The old man was good and I appreciate his sacrifice, but that assassination attempt was too close for comfort. Only I can effectively protect you. So you'll have to bear with me for a while, Relena. I do hope we won't have any problems regarding that."

A shiver ran up her spine. He was close enough for her to smell his after-shave. She didn't trust her voice to remain steady at his nearness, and so she shook her head while he held her gaze.

"Good."

The air was suddenly thick with tension, and she fought against the rising tides in her chest. No, you're not going to undo me this time, Zero-One.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Relena slightly tilted her chin upward, challenging him. His lips twitched to smirk, and somehow, his eyes seemed darker than they really were.

Then the phone rang.

She held back her surprise. Still staring at him, she reached out and put the call on loudspeaker.

"Yes, Chris?"

"Ma'am, Director Une has called to tell you that Gunnar is awake."

"Thank you. I'll be out in a bit."

Well that was a mood-breaker. Finally relenting, Relena sighed and closed her eyes. What am I doing? There was so much to take care of, and having a staring contest with her Head of Security should not occupy her time.

Heero's expression softened as she looked back at him, and before she could say anything, he reached up and gently pushed back her bangs, lightly touching the bandage on her forehead.

"Does it hurt?"

"Ah... A little," she murmured, amazed by his sudden tenderness. "But it's manageable."

His expression turned thoughtful, and he brushed stray strands from her face almost absent-mindedly. Oddly, the tension she sensed earlier dissipated, and his actions felt both innocent and natural. Nervousness fell like a cloak off her shoulders and she welcomed his underrated affections with a slight tilt of her head.

"I'll protect you," he whispered, almost more of an affirmation to himself than for her to hear.

"You've said that before."

"And I have never broken my word."

"I never said that you did."

She gave him a smile which he returned with a small one of his own before pushing himself back up.

"We need to go. Une's waiting."

She nodded and stood from her seat. Now that Heero was here, she knew that there would be more moments such as this; moments that would always end with them in a standstill. She was done mourning about it a long time ago, but sometimes, a little bit of her past frustrations and hopes still surface. Maybe one day, she thought, we'll have all the time in the world to figure us out.

However, today wouldn't be that day.

Rodrick Gunnar reminded Relana of a scarecrow – a man with a sharp face and a scrawny body. His hair was also the color of dried hay, and it was even more disheveled than Heero's mop of burnt auburn. She observed him as she stood behind the one-way mirror installed on one side of an interrogation-turned-recovery room, wondering how to go about questioning him.

"Gunnar corroborated Duo's research. He's the one who called you," Une said as he walked up to her.

"I thought as much."

"He wouldn't talk to anybody else but you, so I'll need to send you in."

"I'm coming with her," Heero said.

"No, you're not." Une raised an eyebrow. "Especially with that on."

Without his jacket, the shoulder holster he wore over his white dress shirt was all too blatant.

"What, do you want me to take it off?"

"On or off you look intimidating all the same. Relena's going in on her own. We need to get his trust to find out what he knows. Besides," the Director waved her hand dismissively. "He's injured. I don't think he'll be able to try anything stupid."

The man grunted in disapproval, but said nothing else.

Relena entered the room timidly, almost soundlessly, that it took a moment of her standing by Gunnar's bedside before he took notice of her.

"Ms. Relena!" The man exclaimed, trying to push himself up. "I've been wanting to talk – "

"No need to sit up. It's okay," she said, flashing him a gentle smile that she knew would calm him down. "You're safe. You're in the headquarters of the Preventers. No one can harm you here."

His eyes flitted to the one-way mirror. "They can see us, can't they?"

"They can. They can hear us, too. But these are people I trust with my life," she placed his hand on his. "So you should, too."

A light blush colored the man's cheeks; the same tinge as that tinted the bandages covering a gunshot would above his heart. She felt sorry for him, this poor witness who got caught in the crossfire, and so she tried her best to be pleasant in spite of her wariness.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

"The money," he whispered hoarsely. "They took it all."

"Who?"

"Kraz," he swallowed a lump in his throat, his eyes moving about madly as he suddenly fell into the Sanq Kingdom's mother tongue. "I don't know where it came from, but I know that used my name to get to it. He even forged my signature, that skraldag."

She ignored the profanity and replied in the same language. "This is about the fake organization called 'Green Leaf'."

"Yes. When I found him out, he said that if I would keep quiet, he would share his profits with me."

"What did he do with the money?"

"I don't really know, but he's funding some sort of research. It isn't about farming though."

"What's it about then?"

The man paused, looking back at the reflective panel.

"Are you sure that it's okay for them to hear us?"

"Of course."

"Kraz is building something. I think it's a program." He started gesturing. "I don't know what it does. They wanted me to join them officially after I found out that they used my name for Green Leaf. Kraz told me that my skills would be of great help. I told him whatever it was, it couldn't be legal if he needed to steal government funding. He said that everybody does something illegal once in a while. I ran away before they could even explain what the software was. I didn't want to get involved in something like that."

Relena gave him another smile. "Those are heavy accusations, Sir."

"They're true! Believe me, Banphrionsa!"

Relena searched his eyes. She still could not decide whether he was telling the truth or not, but she knew that he was too important to let go for the time being. Une would no doubt agree with her to keep him in HQ until the case was over.

She sat down at the edge of his bed. She needed him to believe in her.

"Don't worry," she said, leaning over and gently cupping his cheek. "We'll get to the bottom of this. For now, you'll stay here and heal. I'll come to you again soon. Would you like that?"

Gunnar nodded, blushing furiously.

"Good. Now, rest."

Une was grinning from ear to ear when she came back to their side of the one-way mirror.

"You really do know how to work that charm of yours, Foreign Minister. He's putty in your hands," she said. "Although someone here seems to find the physical contact improper. Am I right, Agent Yuy?"

Heero had his arms folded over his chest. "It is up to the Foreign Minister to decide whether something is improper or not. What matters is that we have Gunnar's statement."

He's tense, she thought. "You don't seem to believe him."

"Do you?"

"I don't know, but I'll give him a chance."

"We'll keep him here for now and milk him for all he knows soon enough," Une said as she headed out. "I'll be briefing Barton, you kids finish up in there."

Relena sighed as the door closed, while Heero proceeded to put on the coat he had earlier hung on a nearby chair. "Gunnar probably thinks he can get your sympathies because you're both from the same country."

"That could be true."

"Then you must play it safe, Banphrionsa," he said. "You have a habit of trusting people too quickly."

The word for "princess" rolled smoothly off his tongue and it made her smile. "You should speak in Sanquessa more often," she said in the same language. "You have such impeccable accent, minn Buolungar."

She headed towards the door with a grin, noting the amusement in his eyes as she called him 'her Prince'. But before she could even reach the knob, Duo burst in and headed straight for Gunnar's adjacent room.

"Duo – "

"Give me a sec, Princess. You," he said, leaning over the injured man's bed. "You're a programmer, right?"

The man stared at him in fright. "I-I was – "

"You were also a hacker, weren't you?"

Gunnar turned pale as he voicelessly opened and closed his mouth.

"Duo," Relena called out as she marched into the room. "Stop it! You're scaring him."

He ignored her. "Don't worry, man, I ain't gonna hurt you. You were a hacker, weren't you, Rodrick?"

The man looked at her, asking for her permission to speak. Relenting, she sighed and nodded.

"Y-yes," he answered. "I used to be – "

"Then you could help us."

"Maxwell." It was Heero who spoke up this time, his tone a warning.

"He could help us!" Duo exclaimed, turning to look at the both of them. "Whoever put together that thumb drive system forgot to take out the handle of the dude whom he forked the program from – Silver1107. My team poked around a few hundred message boards and guess what we found?"

"What?"

The CID head opened his arms in mock flourish. "Silver1107 is actually Rodrick Gunnar."

To be continued.

End Notes:

"Banphrionsa" (pronounced as bon-phreen-sah with the stress at the first syllable) is actually "Princess" in Gaelic (Irish), while Buolungar is derived from an old Nordic word meaning "Prince". "Skraldag" is some sort of insult I just put together. I thought that the native tongue of the Sanq Kingdom would sound Old World-ish, so I based/borrowed some of the words from cultures that trigger that kind of feeling. I do hope it came out okay. -_-;