Author's Notes:

Yay, I'm finally posting again! Apologies for the delay; real life got in the way. To make up for it and because I think that this part is better posted with the next part, I'm giving you two chapters.

Again, thank you to all the reviewers and followers. Enjoy!

Disclaimer:

Gundam Wing isn't mine.

Lunar Ember Presents

A Gundam Wing Fan Fiction

Death and Taxes

Chapter 4: Rising Tides

Trowa sat on his desk in the receiving area of Kraz's office, moving his mouse over the items on the representative's calendar. At the moment, the big man was in his room on the phone with Dorothy Catalonia, discussing plans for a construction project in the colony's university district.

He opened the files that were related to Dorothy's ventures. When he saw her in Kraz' office a couple of days ago, he wasn't surprised – after all, the aristocrat was known to stick her nose into affairs of state. The incident, however, put Quatre slightly off-balance. He didn't believe that Kraz noticed anything wrong as the Sandrock ex-pilot played his role of a young billionaire flawlessly, but Trowa was good at reading people, and he had noticed his agitation.

"I do know that she's involved in several colony developments, but seeing her there just when Trowa comes in makes me think that it's more than a coincidence," Quatre had said during their conference call with Une. "She knows that something's up."

His theory wasn't far-fetched: Dorothy was the wild card in everybody's deck. And when Quatre told them that they ought to keep an eye on her, Une reminded all to be on their toes: Quatre's hunches were almost always accurate.

As he read through the files regarding the university project, Trowa wore the Bluetooth earpiece Kraz had given him. It was originally to help him answer calls quicker, but a few adjustments turned it into a wireless receiver which could browse several channels. He tapped on a small button, flipping through frequencies, and landed on the one he was looking for.

"I've already invited several architects for the museum," Dorothy was saying. "You can just choose among them."

Kraz gave her a hearty laugh. "You're always gracious, Ms. Catalonia. And always so ahead of me."

"I aim to please."

"I am actually pleasantly surprised that you're very easy to work with. You have quite a reputation."

There was feigned shock in the young aristocrat's voice. "Marcus! Don't tell me you enjoy listening to gossip about me?"

"I just like being well-informed. Of course I've already had your background checked."

"If I were any other woman, I would almost be hurt. Good for you that I'm not. What did you find out?"

"That you're – "

"Oh don't tell me. I don't like hearing about myself." Trowa knew that the opposite was true. "However, I do want to hear about your little secretary. His face reminds me of someone I know."

"Really? Who, if I may ask?"

"An old friend." He could almost see the sly grin on her face. "A former pilot."

Trowa's eyes twitched involuntarily. He wasn't sure about Kraz, but Dorothy knew he was listening in. He had always known that the woman was dangerous, and it didn't seem that she was about to disappoint him now.

"Tarquin seems to be a nice boy," Kraz answered, the tongue-in-cheek reference totally lost on him. "I had some of my friends within the Winner Foundation look into his files, and everything checks out."

It was good that the Preventers had uploaded his fake personal information into databases of organizations that Tarquin Hall would have been associated with. Trowa made a mental note to tell Quatre about the questionable loyalties of some of his employees.

"Well," Dorothy relented. "He does seem to be a smart boy, but remember, Marcus – you wouldn't want him to be too smart."

"Not to worry, my lady," Kraz' voice suddenly went ominously soft. "I am the smartest man in the room."

Trowa got off the frequency. He knew that Dorothy would continue to tease him about her knowledge of him, but it didn't seem that she would blow his cover anytime soon. Kraz, however, was another story: he needed to find out his secrets before he found out about his.

Duo was happy. His idea of having Gunnar play with the thumb drive was nothing short of brilliant. The former hacker, nervous little scaredy-cat that he was, had advanced their work in leaps and bounds, which meant that he'd have something to submit to Une soon and he'd finally have a good night's sleep in his own apartment. He was so happy that he even called Heero into CID to check out what's been going on – with a promise that he'd get Relena something to eat.

"Pizza."

He turned in his chair. "Yes, Heero. I'm quite sure that's what's inside the box you're holding."

"You bought the Foreign Minister pizza."

"With everything on it. Except anchovies. She hates anchovies." He watched Heero's face darken. "Come on, man. Give the little missy a break. I'm sure she's sick of the stinky aristocratic stuff they serve during all of her engagements."

"This is the last time I'm letting you buy her lunch. What did you want to show me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Duo grinned. "Sit."

He kicked a swivel chair towards Heero, which the latter blatantly ignored.

"Ooooooor just keep standing."

"Maxwell."

"All right, all right, jeez. Here. Check this out." He rolled towards Gunnar who was stooped over one of their workstations. The computer he had let him use gave the man access to the contents of the thumb drive, but kept him from connecting to the Preventers' network.

"Gunnar here has managed to help us peel off several layers of the security program, and guess what? From the looks of things, we'll have this cracked in a day or two. Hey Gunnar!"

"S-Sir?"

"You familiar with the Foreign Minister's Head of Security?"

The man tentatively looked over his shoulder. "I – I am."

"Would you mind showing him what you got?"

Gunnar shook his head and stood aside as Heero walked towards the station. Even with an absurdly big pizza box in his hands, he still looked very intimidating studying the rows and rows of code that blinked at him from the monitor. His silent scrutiny then fell on the set up of his desk, as if what was on it was more important than anything that Duo had to show him.

"I see that you're left-handed."

The statement seemed to confuse Gunnar, who all of a sudden couldn't find his voice. Duo opened his mouth to ask about what it had to do with anything when Heero tore his gaze away and headed towards the door.

"What the – hey, wait a minute!"

The panel hissed open and Kevin, who was about to walk in, almost bumped into the taller man. Duo jogged towards them, flashing an automatic grin as he passed his seemingly worried subordinate.

"Heero!" Duo called as he followed him out his office. "What was that about?"

"You're right. You'll have the system cracked before the week ends."

"And isn't' that great? Come on, man, I know you have the facial expression of a wooden plank, but could you at least show the tiniest bit of excitement?"

What he showed him was anything but. Heero stopped in his tracks and faced him, his eyes cold and certain.

"I don't trust Rodrick Gunnar."

"Who does?"

The man continued walking.

"Wait!" Duo fell into his stride and gestured wildly. "Me having him work with us doesn't mean I trust him."

"You say you don't, but you convinced Une to give him enough leeway to use one of your stations - "

"I secured the connections. There's no way he'll be able to access our network."

"Also, Gunnar's left-handed. You may want to ask Wufei to look into that."

"Damn it, Yuy. What does his mouse-clicking hand have to do with anything?"

Heero gave him a sidelong glance. "Maybe everything."

Somebody had to give Relena an award – there was no way that anybody else could tolerate the battiness of Pilot Zero-One.

Duo cussed under his breath and fell in frustrated silence as they walked through the tunnel that connected the Preventer HQ to the Department of Foreign Ministry. The truth was that Heero often opposed the brashness of his actions, and for almost all the instances that he did, Duo proved his friend's cautiousness as nothing but paranoia. However, there were times when he'd suddenly feel uncertain about what at first seemed to be a good idea, and unfortunately bad things usually happened after that.

This was one of those times.

When they finally reached Relena's wing, he thought of asking her to talk some sense into her Security Head, but upon seeing her, he felt totally embarrassed for even considering it. Although the young diplomat still looked flawless in a pencil cut office dress, the bright blue of the fabric made her look pale and frail. Stress and sleeplessness were evident in the dark circles under her eyes, and she knelt almost wearily on the floor with Chris, segregating files into several folders with one hand and holding a wireless phone with another.

"Yes, Mr. President. There's no need to worry. I'll be at the budget review later." She paused and met their gazes, ushering them to come in with a quick nod. "No, sir. Not yet. We can't just – Will you kindly let me finish?"

The sudden sharpness in her tone made him and her secretary wince. Only Heero was unperturbed. He walked in, moved several folders from her small coffee table, and placed the pizza box down.

"We can't just summon Kraz. We don't have enough on him to have him subpoenaed. Let the Preventers finish their job, and –" Her eyes flashed in anger. "With all due respect, Sir, the Preventers saved my life more than once. If I remember correctly, they saved yours too, and that was after they managed to diffuse a potential uprising in South America. No, I will not vote to have their budget cut." She paused and slightly calmed down. "Thank you, Mr. President. We'll speak later. Have a good day."

Duo mentally noted that he should never get on Relena's bad side. He gave her a small wave as she sighed and tossed the phone on the couch.

"Hey, you two. I hope you're having a better day than – " She stalled and quickly turned. "Heavens, what smells so good?"

"Pizza," the two men simultaneously answered.

"With everything on it?"

Duo nodded and glanced smugly at Heero. "Except anchovies."

Relena rushed to the box and opened it. With less than the usual dignity he saw her with, she took a mouthful of a big, greasy slice.

"Oh wow," she said between gulps. "I haven't had pizza in such a long time. Thank you."

"See, Heero? That's how to please a lady."

"Shut up."

Relena managed to down three huge slices, while Chris finished one and took the rest to share with the staff. Once her secretary left with all their folders in tow, she sat contentedly on her chair, daintily licking tomato sauce from her index finger before flashing Heero a bright smile.

"Hi."

"Hn."

Duo shook his head. The two definitely exchanged curious sweet nothings. "You wanted updates, Princess?"

"Oh yes, of course," she nodded, visibly making an effort to focus. "Please tell me you've managed to decode the thumb drive."

"Almost, but not quite. Gunnar's been great help."

"Heero says not to trust him too much."

Duo blinked in disbelief before giving a despairing cry and running both his hands over his face. Everybody was against him today.

"I don't trust him! How many times do I have to say that? Why are you turning into Heero?"

In spite of her obvious fatigue, Relena gave a heart-felt laugh. "Just please keep me posted and do be careful around him. He may seem docile, but he may have an edge to him that we haven't seen yet," she sighed. "As for me, I'll have to be in a meeting with several old political fogies in a bit, and then my Chief-of-Staff and I will need to – "

The intercom cut her off and Chris' voice filtered in. "Ma'am? The President is on the line again." Her barely hidden annoyance told Duo that they've already had way too much of the ESUN official for the day.

"Tell him that the Foreign Minister went out for a moment," Heero answered before his overworked charge could reply. "He can talk with her during the meeting."

Chris more than happily agreed with the order.

"Mr. Yuy," Relena demanded. "What did you do that for?"

"You'll see him later, Banphrionsa," Heero said, and Duo almost fell over in shock at the sudden kindness in voice. "Give yourself a few minutes to rest before we leave."

Torn between surprise and gratitude, the young woman settled on a calm, knowing smile. "Ja, skat."

It was then that realization hit Duo like a brick on the head: he was witnessing the inner workings of the vague relationship between the deposed princess and her former assassin, something that most people never got to see. From his vantage point on the couch, he saw no proverbial sparks – only Relena leaning back into her chair and Heero arranging several sheets into a neat pile on her desk – but somehow the simplicity of their actions reflected a familiarity that was warm, constant, and unwavering no matter how long they have been previously separated. He regrettably thought that unlike him and Hilde, these moments were the only ones the two could afford. Some would call them star-crossed lovers, some would even deny that they had anything going on between them, but oddly and even sadly, they were perfect for each other. Duo suddenly felt pangs of sympathy towards the two.

It was the war that brought them together, but now peace is keeping them apart.

He almost smirked at the sappy poetry of his thoughts as he wryly glanced at the documents strewn beside him. He had often taken for granted that Relena was strong enough to be not only a Foreign Minister, but also a symbol of peace. Although he knew that politics was a difficult game, he had never once spared a peep to see how exactly the gears of bureaucracy turned. The files told him just how much work the young woman churned out on a daily basis. Budget proposals, humanitarian projects, inter-colony relations strategies – browsing through everything was enough to make his nose bleed, and the signature on all of them were of the slight blond who now snored lightly in her seat.

He chewed the insides of his mouth as he collected the sheets and handed them to Heero. He knew that the other man had let him witness what he did, and he knew that it was to prove a point.

"Make sure Gunnar does his job, and only his job," Heero whispered low. "Don't give Relena anything else to worry about."

Duo solemnly nodded and wordlessly made his exit.

Mrs. Lilian Kraz was tall and stocky, but her face reminded him of a fine porcelain doll, well-structured and beautiful. Her thick lashes outlined startling brown eyes, making her look as if she was wearing make-up when she wasn't. The only things that marred her pleasantness was the sadness that pulled her glossy lips down and the worry that seemed to emanate from her entire being.

"Thank you," she said as he placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. "You seem a great deal nicer than the previous girl. What's your name again?"

"Tarquin," Trowa answered. "Tarquin Hall."

"A pleasure to meet you, Tarquin." Her smile was soft and honest.

He had taken her into the inner office of the L2 Representative, who as usual was out. He had been vague about his whereabouts – even their shared calendar reflected only the word "MEETING" on it – but although Tarquin may not have nosed around, Trowa was a very a curious man and he had easily pinpointed where he was and who he was with.

Marcus Kraz was in a hotel on the other side of town together with a certain Adebowale Mesando, who he did a background check on. The latter seemed to be of African descent, but interestingly, the surname was of a very old Caucasian family hailing from the 1940's. Gender was also a question: "Adebowale" was a name both male and female Yorubans use. The vagueness of the name raised alarms in Trowa's head, and he knew that somehow, this person was linked to the shadowy things that Kraz was involved in.

Alternately, the woman sitting in front of him seemed to have no clue as to the kind of trouble her husband was stirring.

"Tarquin, I hope you won't mind me being blunt with you," she began as her fingers nervously played with a laced kerchief, "but is Marcus seeing another woman?"

Trowa was slightly taken aback by the question, and he let it show on Tarquin's face.

"Why makes you say that, Ma'am?"

Whatever it was that she saw in his eyes made her emotional dam give way, and all at once she started crying. "He's always out when I visit him like this. He rarely comes home. The kids almost never see him. The last time we had dinner together was almost three months ago. He missed his son's birthday and our wedding anniversary. When he answers my calls it's always as if he's mad about me disturbing him, and he rarely even looks at me. It's as if..." She choked, her hands balling into fists. "It's as if he doesn't know us anymore."

He fetched her a box of tissue which she gladly accepted. Daintily wiping her tears, she looked at him and blushed.

"I'm sorry, young man. I'm never like this. It's just that – "

"Please don't worry about it, Ma'am," he said with a smile. "He won't know about this."

Lilian nodded in gratitude. He was about to push her more about Kraz' behavior when the intercom beeped.

"Tarquin? Is Lilian there?"

"Yes, Ms. O'Byrne. One moment."

A redhead in her late thirties immediately rushed through the door as soon as he had opened it and engulfed the older woman in a tight hug. It seemed that Ana O'Bryne, Kraz' Chief-of-Staff, also had misgivings about the representative's behavior the past few weeks. As the two chatted, he took the opportunity excuse himself, bringing with him several files that he needed for his errand.

Once outside the door, Trowa immediately put on his modified earpiece and clicked on the button for the channel he was looking for. He had tapped Kraz' entire office better than he had hoped as the women's voices filtered clearly in.

"...shouldn't have subjected that poor boy to my marital woes," Lilian was saying. "He looked so surprised when I asked him if Marcus was seeing someone else."

He heard Ana sigh. "Tarquin is a nice boy, but I don't think he knows anything about this." There was a pregnant pause before younger woman continued in low tones. "Look, I'm not sure if Marcus is being unfaithful, but he does seem to be meeting with a certain woman named Adebowale Mesando way too often."

Trowa smiled. A woman.

"Who?"

"Adebowale Mesando. He calls her Adel. I've heard him on the phone with her several times."

"How do you know that they're up to something?"

"Women's intuition, my dear. I just hope that I'm wrong."

Ana continued to relate several incidences which she found odd, such random words scribbled into sticky notes, calls to unregistered numbers, and people dropping by at the most unusual hours.

"Once I found a page of this old Greek book with 'For Adel – it's almost done' written on the edge. When I showed it to him, he got it from me and he seemed so furious."

This triggered another wave of tears from Lillian. Sensing that what he heard was enough, Trowa turned the earpiece off and took the elevator to the lobby.

It seemed that Kraz wasn't too careful about his actions: he was dropping clues like nobody's business. What got him curious was that note for Adel. Although Lillian took the statement "it's almost done" as something that pertained to their marriage, Trowa knew that it meant something else. Kraz kept an extensive library in his office, and although it probably wouldn't be easy to search each Greek book for a missing page, he knew he had to do it soon.

Trowa exited the House of Representatives and got into the service car he had earlier called for. He needed to see Zechs, who had been assigned to work under Undersecretary Ogata. Aside from the fact that there were several documents that Kraz had asked him to deliver, he also wanted to give him his list of suspicious non-government organizations that the public official seemed to be giving his budget to.

When the car rolled into the Department of Agriculture, there were several police units and an ambulance parked haphazardly at the entrance. Trowa took his documents and got off, weaving through the crowd that was starting to thicken.

As he managed to push forward, he saw a man in a stretcher being rolled into the ambulance. Zechs followed close behind. Moving past security personnel, Trowa approached the older man.

"What happened?"

The silver-haired pilot was not even surprised by his presence. Absently running a hand through his hair, he said, "Undersecretary Ogata just had a heart attack."

To be continued...

End notes:

"Ja, skat" roughly translates to "Yes, dear" in Danish. :3 "Skat" is a common term of endearment, but interestingly, it also means "tax", hehe. As a reviewer told me before that the Sanq Kingdom is supposedly somewhere near Denmark, I decided that Relena's mother tongue would be mostly Danish, but with a little Irish and old Nordic here and there. We'll see as we go along.

On to the next chapter!