The Patsy

Napoleon Hill: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

Joan Didion: Character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life – is the source from which self-respect springs.

Dorothy Catalonia surveyed her meager nine-by-nine foot cage of a holding cell with an ironic smile on her face. She allowed the authorities to believe that the cell they kept her in really contained her when she could easily pick the lock on the door with minimal effort. If she told them that and then proved it they would never feel safe again, and it would not help her any.

She was only one piece of the puzzle and she had not even been involved with Dekim Barton. Dorothy had saved Relena's life and all she had gotten in return was to be locked away in a cell and put on trial. Still, she did not particularly mind being imprisoned. There were new and amusing things to keep herself occupied with and one of those things was scheduled to take place in ten minutes. She was truly looking forward to her little meeting, although it appeared that it would be taking place a bit sooner than the appointed time judging by the footsteps and voices coming towards her cell. It would be just like her visitor to arrive a little early but never too early, a gift that had been given to them by the very same man. A man Dorothy respected more than many others.

"Now don't try anything funny," The door to her cell opened. "Or it will be the hole for you, money and rank make no difference here."

'If they didn't I wouldn't have my own jail,' Dorothy thought derisively as she rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. 'There's no 'hole' in this place, everyone knows that.'

"Why don't you send in Commander Une?" Dorothy asked, ignoring the unimaginative threat from the guard. "I believe she's here to see me."

Dorothy knew the rules of maintaining an appearance. Even if one had no true power it was best to act like you still had some because then you might even get others to believe you. To an extent this worked for her, even in prison. Dorothy could be very persuasive.

"Hello Dorothy," The voice of Treize Khushrenada's second-in-command washed over her. "How have you been?"

"Quite well," Dorothy smiled suddenly and turned to face Une. "I eagerly await my hearing and trial, it's coming up you know."

"I know," Une's voice did not carry far.

"Tell me something Commander Une," Dorothy put emphasis on her title. "In your personal opinion am I a patsy?"

"My opinion isn't important," Une said.

"It is to me," Dorothy cocked her head to the side. "I wish to know what you think Une, unless of course you're afraid Lady." The last word was said with sarcasm and barely audible.

"Well then," Une ignored her old nickname. "I think that you are being used as a Patsy. Satisfied?"

"Not nearly enough," Dorothy said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "All these people claim to embrace Relena's pacifism and yet they're out for blood. It's rather amusing don't you think? I'll be sure to give them a show they won't ever forget."

"Is this just some game to you?" Une asked with disapproval.

"In the basic sense I suppose," Dorothy smiled elegantly. "But it's also my penance. What do you want Une? It can't be a mere visit, not from you. You want something from me."

"I want you to join the Preventers," Une hid nothing.

"No," Dorothy was firm.

Une raised an eyebrow in silent question. Obviously Dorothy was willing to serve her penance in a cell. They had all changed.

"Organizations can be easily dissolved," Dorothy continued. "I'll join a small group of people or a single person but I refuse to join a cause other than my own. People always come and go, things fall apart and loyalty depends on how much money you can pay out. It's pure folly to add me into that mix, like adding flame to a powder keg."

"You can have a fresh start," Une pointed out.

"Why can't I join you, Lady?" She persisted. "I don't want money and the trial should happen considering all the things I've done. Why not give me something worth joining forces with?"

"Because," Une trailed off.

"I know you don't want to make the same mistakes Treize made," She swept her long hair over her shoulders. "You're afraid of making those mistakes but you aren't Treize. It won't be the same Une."

Une kept all emotion off her face but her eyes told a different story. Dorothy had struck a nerve with her comments and she knew it. But she did not feel the same sense of accomplishment as she once would have. Dorothy Catalonia had changed. The popular consensus claimed she was still a threat and at one point she would have been proud of that too but she could not bring herself to really care. She did not want the recognition or the spotlight any longer but they continued to chain her to it, her punishment for her crimes. She wanted to be the puppet master pulling stings unseen but she was the enemy on trail. She would not shrink from who she was or what she had been, no one could make her fall back from who she was.

"It won't be the same," She softly repeated.

"Perhaps not," Une acceded. "But mistakes will be made, ones I can't control. I'll ask you again, join the Preventers."

"No," Dorothy was nothing if not stubborn. "Before you go I have some advice for you."

"I'm listening," Une said.

"This peace is weak," Dorothy began. "The only things holding it together are strong people like you and Miss Relena and the Winner heir. If any of you falter so will the peace. If you show weakness the peace may very well shatter. Welcome to the glass fish bowl Lady, every move you make, every breath you take, they will watch. The odds are overwhelmingly against you that you will make a mistake and they're watching and waiting for that to happen and when it does they'll strike. There will be another war, perhaps not a year from now, but in the next decade count on it."

"You sound like Treize," Une said.

"He wasn't wrong," Dorothy told her. "If everyone doesn't know the horror of war they will be doomed to start and fight one. That doesn't mean you need to start a war of your own to show them, it just means there will be more wars. Be ready for one Lady. Start stockpiling secret weapons because when the time comes the Preventers may be the world's only hope. There may not be Gundam Pilots this next time to save the world.

"I'm tired Lady, tired of dealing with stupid people who see only good or bad and never any shades of gray. Many of the politicians are like that you know. Even now they're pushing all reminders of Dekim out of sight, out of mind. You can only trust Relena and Quatre with your insecurities and problems now. You don't have many people to watch your back."

"You don't either," Une looked at her.

"I don't need them," Dorothy sighed. "There's a difference. Watch your back and Miss Relena's."

"David Calhoun is her head of security now," Une notified Dorothy.

"He's good," Dorothy nodded in approval. "I don't think there's anything left to say then."

"No," Une stood, the signal that the meeting was over. "I don't suppose there is. Be well Dorothy."

Une turned and rapped with her knuckles on the door. It opened and she left without a backward glance or final goodbye, Dorothy expected nothing less. Dorothy waited until the door was firmly shut before collapsing to the floor in a heap. She was relieved Miss Relena was all right, that things were not falling apart as she feared.

At last Dorothy stood and flung herself onto her cot. She was tired like she said. She was tired of not knowing how everyone was and what was going on. She stood up on her cot and looked out the barred window. It looked so calm but she was not fooled by the tranquility she saw. It was the eye of the storm. Relena and Une were both deceived, Dorothy could not be certain Une would heed her warning. Quatre though, he seemed more in tune with the way things really were.

She dropped away from the window. There was nothing out there for her. Dorothy paced her cell wanting to break out and help save the peace. But there was no turmoil on the surface, it was buried down below and no one would listen to her until the cracks began to show. When that happened she hoped that Quatre or one of the Pilots would listen to her. Dorothy would help save the peace this time but her name would not be plastered in newspapers, her contribution would not be spoken of.

Dorothy Catalonia as the world's savior was something that most of the world would or could not consider. Well, she would just have to prove them all wrong.