Title: Crossfire

Author: Jusrecht

See Warnings and Disclaimer in chapter one.

A/N: Thanks to a suggestion from Petya, I will no longer use pilots's names for my OCs. I hope I don't confuse anyone with these many new names. Also thanks to cloudedge for her many helps and everyone else who has reviewed. I hope you all will enjoy chapter three!

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Chapter Three: Lacus - Falling Apart

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The meeting was at recess.

Lacus remained at her seat, watching the whirl of men and women dressed in dark, formal uniform leaving the council room. Some had their head bowed in distress, others hardly bothered to cover their mounting frustration, and the rest seemed to be truly at loss in front of the catastrophe which had befallen them so suddenly. Some were murmuring as they passed by, worried and uncertain, while others kept their silence, jaw set in quiet resolution either kindled by confidence or mere desperation.

Put simply, the Supreme Council was in chaos. It was not surprising, she thought sadly, after the murder of three council members and the unexplained accident which had happened to their chairman.

Lacus was realistic, but she always had faith in her most trusted friends. Athrun had survived many bloodsheds, had lived through two of the most gruelling wars in the history of mankind with his life always on the line. Certainly it would take more than just an accident to finally end him.

To end him. The words shot through her body like a cold, silver bullet. In life, there were unpredictable things and death had been the most unpredictable of all since days of old and – without a doubt – until times to come. Not even a superior technology or Coordinator's excellent faculties could render it controllable in the slightest. Death reigned above them all.

Still, to think that she would never see Athrun anymore was just a little too… strange. Too foreign. There had been occasions when she had dreaded such thing as much and every time he had always returned, not unscathed but safe nonetheless. To expect differently now was decidedly difficult.

"Lacus-sama?"

The deep, concerned voice broke her train of thoughts and she looked up, finding a pair of hazel eyes gazing down politely at her. "Councilman Hayes," she replied, a little smile readily displayed. "Is there anything I can help?"

"I was just wondering," he started, careful but not hesitant. "I was just wondering if there has been any more news yet from ORB. Seeing as you know the Head of Representatives personally."

"No," she shook her head gravely. "ORB hasn't said anything more to my knowledge. The last you undoubtedly have known of, when they claimed responsibility for the accident."

The handsome face frowned, disapproval slowly overshadowing cordiality. "That...doesn't help much, does it?"

"Probably not," Lacus admitted, her voice neutral. She didn't want to put the blame on ORB, but no matter from what angle they looked, the fact remained that the accident had happened just after the chairman had departed from ORB, in a shuttle prepared by them no less. Probably to keep trusting was just a little too far-fetched for some when there was no proof to state the otherwise, and it was well-known that Algrend Hayes fell among them who believed and respected Athrun to the highest degree. Not with as much reverence as Delaware or several others did, but to suddenly lose a leader one trusted would obviously affect one's disposition at certain levels.

Hayes wasn't the only one, she reflected uneasily. The meeting she had been present at just moments ago had been filled with an endless succession of questions, suspicions and speculations, and yet no clear decision had been made. Most of them only wanted to know why their chairman was not among them right now and they had busied themselves with debating and finger-pointing until former Chairwoman Canaver decided to sternly remind them that it was best to decide what course of action to take soon before more troubles rose and caught them unprepared.

"And the search party under Commander Rosand hasn't yielded any veritable result until now," Hayes stated blankly.

"We have to be patient," Lacus said, sounding calm despite her own restlessness. When all the councilman managed to do was to look even more troubled, she searched for his gaze and held it steadily. "Do you believe that the worst has befallen our chairman?"

"I sure hope not," he answered quickly, his eyes darkening. "PLANT may fall apart."

And brought the peace down with it.

Lacus laced her fingers with one another, trying to keep them steady despite the shiver the ominous thought had just brought her, and said placidly, "If that is so, then it is our duty to keep it from happening until he returns."

"Of course," Hayes replied, firmness finally returning to his voice. "Forgive me for being too rash, Lacus-sama. Please excuse me."

The councilman departed with a small bow and Lacus let out a soft sigh, relieved that the conversation had ended. However, from the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Eileen Canaver looking at her with a pair of shrewd eyes. The older woman looked away inconspicuously and returned to her quiet discussion with Councilman Delaware. Pretending not to notice, Lacus carefully did the same, but then her gaze fell to the empty seat at the head of the circular table.

It was strange to see it unoccupied, the constant presence of its owner no longer there, and for a long moment she stared at the empty space, not knowing what to feel. Yesterday she had returned abruptly to PLANT from her visit to Tokyo, the news one of her assistants had frantically conveyed to her ringing in her ears. But it wasn't a mistake. Cagalli, white-faced, had confirmed as much when she had called her. A rescue team, at Canaver's request, had been sent to the vicinity of the location where the accident had happened, and an investigation team to ORB. Both reported periodically to the council, but so far, there had been no encouraging news yet.

Lacus had prepared herself for the situation which might greet her when she arrived, but it turned out that PLANT was in a worse condition than she had expected. Almost like a lost pack without its leader, and the meeting today had proven as much.

The fact hadn't fully hit her until halfway of the meeting, when the pressure had been too much and she had, unconsciously, let her gaze stray toward the empty seat. How often had she glanced at him and he at her during many meetings and conferences they had been trapped in together, and both of them would share either an exasperated smile or a look of quiet resolution. And now, he just wasn't there.

At that moment, she felt as if she had lost her source of power. She was alone.

Lacus closed her eyes. Kira. She wondered how he was doing. This would be a blow for him, especially with ORB to blame for the incident.

Her council robe felt heavy, a blanket of responsibility and commitment grazing her skin when she finally left her contemplation and decided to join her colleagues for lunch. To have a break was a sensible idea since it was very clear that the council would not be able to produce anything other than more quarrels and disagreements in the state they were in. More than anything, they needed to cool down and clear their heads.

A few seconds later, she changed her mind and headed to her office, requesting her assistant to bring her lunch. Once there, she reached for the portable phone on her desk and hit the third speed dial. Two rings later, a tired face appeared on the small screen, answering with an equally tired voice. She noticed the formal uniform, the interior of ORB Head Representative's office and the fact that it must be no more than six in the morning at ORB, but chose not to mention it, knowing that to handle more questions probably would only add unnecessary burden to the representative.

"Cagalli-san."

The golden eyes gained certain sharpness at the appellation she used. "Cagalli please, Lacus-sama."

She smiled slightly. "Cagalli."

"That's better," the Head Representative flashed her a faint grin, but it soon vanished under the weight of somberness her next words carried. "How's the meeting going?"

"Difficult," Lacus replied, trying not to sound too grim for both of their sakes. "No one seemed to know what to do now with Athrun gone. I've never realized how much the Supreme Council depends on him until now." She paused, before adding in a more anxious voice, "We may have to dispatch another squad to join the search. I will propose the idea to the council after the break."

"It has already been two days," Cagalli said quietly, but Lacus could hear what she restrained herself from saying as clear as if she had uttered it herself.

As seconds went by, the probability of finding Athrun alive grew smaller and smaller.

She bit her lips and asked, "How is Kira?"

The look in Cagalli's face alone was enough to answer her question, not to mention the stiffness of her voice. "More than bad. He didn't say anything much and he went through his job like usual, like nothing happened, but he always jumped at the sound of people running and phones ringing and sometimes, when he thought no one was looking, he looked to the sky and–"

Lacus remained silent when Cagalli looked away for a moment, the breaths she took in short and shaky. "He doesn't believe that Athrun..."

"None of us does," she replied carefully, knowing that some things just should not be said. Not while everything, every hope and chance, still hung by a thread.

"He is still out there," the voice from the other line sounded resolute – or desperately so.

"Of course," Lacus said quickly, unhesitating. "Athrun is strong."

"But I'm afraid."

"That he–"

"No," Cagalli cut in sharply, like she didn't want to hear that one word being uttered. "I mean, maybe that too, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm afraid of Kira."

Lacus raised her eyebrows, growing even more uneasy herself. "Kira?"

"He bottles it up inside, Lacus," the Lioness of ORB sounded lost, miserable. "He takes this far too calmly and I… I don't know, but I don't think it's normal. I'm scared."

Once more Lacus bit her lips, trying to quell the emotions raging inside her heart at the news. Kira. Her brave and strong Kira, so dependable, so coolheaded, so unemotional. When was it the last time she had seen him cry? He had never again, since the beginning of the second war, cried in front of her and she had never thought about it until now. He had been a crybaby a long time ago, had sobbed his heart out because everything had gone wrong and Athrun, oh Athrun had tried to kill him, but someday he just stopped crying and she didn't even question why.

Lacus had never felt so angry to herself like she did now.

But she knew why and Cagalli must have too. Responsibilities. A resolution to be strong. They knew exactly what it felt like.

Cagalli ran a hand through her hair, a distracted attempt to calm herself, and spoke loudly as if to herself, "I know I should do something, anything, but I don't know what."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Lacus suggested, not noticing that her voice had become less than stable.

"Lots of times," the other answered grimly, her eyes looking dim and dull for once. "But he always managed to get away before I could get to the point. I think he knew what I wanted to talk about."

"Maybe he just doesn't want to talk about it," she tried to reason.

"I know, but he…we cannot stay like this," Cagalli said blankly. "He's going to destroy himself. And Athrun–"

The representative stopped short and suddenly the ominous picture that had been lurking behind Lacus's eyes became clear. Athrun's accident, Kira destroying himself from the inside, Cagalli torn between her responsibility as a politician, a sister and a friend, and herself alone at PLANT. She saw it now, a complete, full picture she had been refusing to see.

They were falling apart.

It was so obvious that it was surprising that she had only noticed it now. Of course. Athrun was a symbol of power, the chairman of PLANT, and with his disappearance, there would be imbalance. The fact that the four of them were close friends also mattered and she almost could distinguish it now, the plan, the tangle of cobwebs. Athrun's absence would immensely affect them, personally and politically, and there would be more mistakes, more conflicts, more tricks, and somewhere, someone was watching, pulling strings.

It was only a speculation, a sensible voice told her. There was no definite proof, but the idea was already planted and now the uneasiness could not be removed. She shuddered as if the temperature in her office had dropped all of a sudden. Supposing it was true, there was bound to be follow-throughs and probably more incidents with her and her friends as the targets.

"Lacus?"

She looked up in surprise and remembered that she was still in a conversation with the Head Representative of ORB. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking," she said quickly, not willing to share her grim thoughts just yet.

Cagalli looked at her closely and suddenly she sounded very calm, as if noticing her inner turmoil. "You said it was a break? Have you eaten yet?"

"One of my assistants should be here shortly with my lunch," Lacus answered automatically, relieved by the change of subject. She glanced at the clock on her desk and added, "I still have forty minutes before the meeting starts again."

"Did they think it's ORB?" Cagalli's voice was low, almost dead calm, and no one needed to tell Lacus who the representative was referring to.

"For now, we have agreed that whatever caused the accident, it wasn't planned by ORB," she replied in her most neutral tone. "However, issues like the lack of security and such still remain. I'm afraid it cannot be easily resolved."

"I know," a wince passed across her friend's face and her voice became hard again. "Shinn was the one in charge and he hasn't stopped blaming himself for it since."

Lacus sighed, picturing the younger man, his bravery – and recklessness, a common companion of the former – and his powerful sense of justice. Like Athrun and Kira, there was little doubt that there would be self-blaming following. "It was a regrettable mistake," she said quietly, dark thoughts once more breeding in her mind. "No one expected it and it's true that he should be more careful, but to learn from this should be enough. He doesn't have to blame himself unnecessarily."

Cagalli looked at her in disbelief and the hitched laughter that left her lips a moment later was almost hysterical. "But Lacus, this is about Athrun," she said, voice close to a whisper. "Shinn respects him to a degree you can't even imagine."

Falling apart.

Lacus closed her eyes, trying to keep the words away from her mind, trying to escape from the cheerless sound of Cagalli's laughter. There was only so much she could handle and if any of this continued…

"I'm sorry."

Slowly she opened her eyes and found her friend staring at her uncomfortably, her muted golden eyes apologizing. Lacus couldn't help but to smile faintly in return. None of them was weak, she knew it, but now and again there were ups and downs and some things just couldn't stay suppressed forever. She studied the other woman silently, wondering. Did she know? Did she suspect a bigger plan at motion behind all these?

"Anyway we have to remain calm," she spoke up at last, ending the awkward silence. "Finding Athrun should be our main concern for now."

"Yes," the voice was composed and the stoic face befitting an astute politician was once more at place.

"And Cagalli," she spoke softly, cautiously as if wary of her own words – or the thought behind it. Cagalli looked at her with a perceptive gaze of her own and she said, "Be very careful."

Her friend's lips thinned and Lacus realized that she did know.

End Chapter Three

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Notes: All hail to girl power. I have to admit that the two heroines of SEED are the coolest female characters ever and I hope I do them justice in this fic. I'm particularly anxious about Lacus because sometimes she just looks so…godly. She is undoubtedly the hardest character to write, but I've done what I can.

Comments and reviews will be much appreciated.