Chapter 9

As Hilde arrived at her room, she flattened her hair nervously and hoped the others wouldn't notice her tense state. Her eyes glazed slightly as she remembered the feel of his lips on hers, and she briefly wondered if the quality of the kissing was any indication of good he was in bed. A grin lit her face briefly, which was quickly stifled as she slipped inside the room that he girls shared. Relena looked up as she entered.

"Where have you been?" She asked, puzzlement staining her delicate features. Hilde looked away, trying to hide the blush that spread across her face like wild fire.

"I woke up early and decided to go for a walk in the grounds to cool my head." Fat lot of good that did me. She thought, then noticed that the others were almost half dressed. "What's going on?"

"Commander Une sent us an early morning message." Cathy grimaced. Hilde winced. The commander's early messages usually consisted of a very loud siren in their ears at a ridiculous time in the morning. It usually meant get to my office NOW. Sighing, she got dressed with the others, wondering what the Commander wanted this early after a mission.

"Is there anything you want to tell me ladies?" The Commanders voice was deceptively soft and edged with steel. "Anything about the mission last night?" The girls spared quick glances at each other as the Commander stared fixedly out of her window. Dorothy stepped forward and opened her mouth. "Do not lie to me Dorothy. I am not in the mood for your silver tongue." Dorothy sharply shut it again and stepped back, shrugging at the other girls. Sally took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"We had no idea they were there until ten seconds before the factory blew. They saw us yes, but they did not recognise us. We made sure of it."

"Did you?" Lady Une turned to them slowly, and though they didn't move from their at ease positions, the girls shrank back a little. Sally gulped and hastily stepped back. Their commander gazed at them coolly. "No, I didn't think so. What is the first command I gave you?"

"To never tell a soul who we are and what we do, and kill anyone who finds out ma'am." The girls chorused, military style.

"And last night, did you kill them?" The girls hesitated.

"Ma'am, no ma'am." They mumbled. Lady Une finally snapped and slammed her hand on the table.

"I told you! I told you what would happen! I told you that your only hope for success in mission lay in being invisible. I drilled it into you! Or did it not stick?" The girls cast their eyes downward. "As it is, we have now got loose ends to tie up, and you will take this mission with no hesitation, do you hear me? Or so help me, I will throw your asses out of an airlock and let you drift in space, understand?!"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" The girls yelled. Lady Une smiled a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Follow me." She hissed, and led the way out of her office.

The headmaster looked up as the door opened and the five boys graced his office once again. He sighed heavily and put his pen down, then laced his fingers together. His eyes drifted over them slowly, and came to rest on the nicely forming bruise on the jaw of the braided one. Gazing sedately at him, the headmaster furiously racked his brains. Ah yes, that was it.

"Been getting into trouble, Mr. Maxwell?" He drawled, moving around to the front of his desk and leaning nonchalantly on it. The boy's eyes flickered and he grinned guiltily.

"No sir, just fell over on the steps." He grinned in a manner that might have been disarming, if the headmaster were female. However, it failed to compute with him, and Duo stopped grinning quickly.

The headmaster appraised them quietly as they stared at him. He was sure that they were weighing him up, as he was doing with them. After a few moments of silence, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Miss Kinhouse tottered in on heels that were much too high. She quickly glanced at the silent group and then nodded to the headmaster, who stood and smoothed his tie. "Send them in." Miss Kinhouse tottered out again and hushed words were spoken in low tones. As Heero expected, the next person through the door was Lady Une, followed by her new protégés. She strode to the headmaster, greeted him warmly and shook his hand, and then seated herself in his chair as if she had every right to be there in the world. Picking up some of the files in front of her, she began to glance over them, with the headmaster murmuring to her and pointing out certain things. The The girls silently filed in and mirrored the boys positions behind her. her attention otherwise engaged, the young people in the room took the chance to appraise the changes over the years.

Heero drank in the sight of Relena, who stood right behind Lady Une. She was no longer the gawky adolescent girl he had come to know, but had grown and matured into a fine young woman. She had an hourglass figure, and her golden hair floated around her face like a halo. Her blue eyes stared into his, the girl he had known reflected in the eyes of the woman before him. She spared Heero a perfunctory glance that told her all she needed to know about him. He had kept up his training and was still as emotionless as he used to be, but he was drop dead gorgeous. His teenage body had been shed in favour of a lean and muscular physique, and his gaze still had the power to make her weak at the knees. Duo studied Hilde as hard as she studied him, their actions this morning coursing like an unseen river between them. Duo recalled the feel of her in his arms as Hilde watched his lips and remembered the searing kiss that they had shared. Her eyes drifted to his bruised jaw, and she caught his eye and smirked, watching as his eyes danced with mischief when he realised exactly what she was smirking about. I will get you back for that. I'd like to see you try it.It hung in the air between them like a cloud.

Trowa's visible eye quickly raked over Catherine, as she hungrily stared at Trowa. He had filled out slightly, becoming a handsome and, she admitted to herself, a very sexy young man. Her body flushed with heat as he met her gaze and held it. Even though she had grown, he was still taller than her, and his lean and muscular body looked as though he could pick her up like a feather. Cathy had grown slightly taller and was just as slim, but she had grown into her body and looked fantastic. The realisation that she wasn't his sister had hit him two years ago, and he realised that the so-called brotherly love that he felt for her was a lot more than that, as his pulse quickened when she flashed him a small smile. Dorothy hadn't grown at all in height, Quatre noted, and realised that he now stood taller than her. The long platinum blond hair that he had imagined running his fingers through so many times was pulled back from her face and wound into a complicated style at the back of her head. She stood proudly, her eyes glaring at him, and he noticed how good she looked now that she had curves that defined her body even more. Dorothy hid behind a mask of contempt as she studied Quatre's new look. He had obviously had a growth spurt, as he now towered over her, she could tell. His face had retained his big baby blue eyes, but had lost its childlike quality and been replaced with a handsome young man. He had grown strong, she could tell from his arms, and she briefly wondered what it would be like to be held by them. Her eyes widening at the thought, she resumed her glaring at him from across the room.

Sally mentally nodded satisfactorily. Wufei had always been handsome, but as a grown man he was just gorgeous. His sleek black hair was neatly pulled back and his dark eyes burned with the intensity that had first attracted her to him. He stood strongly, his stance betraying the strength of his physique, and Sally could tell that underneath his clothes there would be hardened muscle from endless hours of training. Wufei couldn't believe that the woman standing in front of him was the girl he had known. She had always impressed him, for a woman, but he was astounded at the change in her now. She was sure of herself, and stood easily, her body full and beautiful. The teenager on a vigilante trip that he had once joined up with had disappeared, to be replaced with a well rounded woman that knew what she wanted. And, if the veiled look in her eyes was anything to go by, Wufei was pretty sure he wanted the same thing. Shocked by his wayward thoughts, he took a slow breath in and cooled his head with meditation. He blinked as his head cleared, and when he again met Sally's eyes, there was nothing to find but cool indifference. The girls stood uniformly, dressed in plain white vest tops, khaki green shorts, and black calf length boots, and their eyes darted over their male visitors as they assessed them. Each of the boys hungrily did the same, and also took note of the Glock 17 9mm pistol that was tucked into their waistband under their tops.

Lady Une cleared her throat and shuffled the papers away, and ten pairs of eyes snapped back to attention, their owners faces calm again..

"Headmaster, leave us please." The headmaster gave a small bow and quickly left the room, shutting the heavy oak door firmly behind him. Lady Une leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers. "You've caused quite a quandary." She began lazily. "You saw something that you shouldn't have." She clicked her fingers and the girls moved around the desk, lining up opposite the five boys. "No-one lives." Une said softly, a malicious glint in her eye. The girls swiftly drew their guns and pointed them at the boys. To their credit, the boys didn't move a muscle, and the surprise was hardly registered before they schooled their features once more. The girls were less conspicuous. Their eyes glanced to each other before their resolve hardened and they lifted their Glocks slightly higher. The atmosphere was suddenly tense, and the girls squeezed their triggers a tiny bit. Dodging to the side, the boys rolled and took the feet out from under their would-be assassins. Disarming them easily, they pinned them down and glared at Une. Sensing a weak moment, the girls bucked and threw them off, then turned the table on them and pinned them down. A sharp clap sounded, and the girls let go and stood up, then resumed their position behind Une. The boys slowly stood up, shooting death glares at the young women across from them, all of whom were having trouble hiding a smirk.

"Very good." Une said, rising from her chair. She perched on the edge of the desk and looked at them. "As you can see, the girls are very different to the girls that you once knew."

"What have you done to them?" Heero grated out through clenched teeth.

"I gave them a way to protect that which they loved. They are no different, just stronger. But they are not strong enough." The girls lost their control and stared at her in outrage. Une anticipated their questions and held up a hand. Their mouths snapped shut and they glowered at the smirking men across from them. "They allowed themselves to be seen, and they allowed their viewers to live, which is against mission parameters. And before you smirk at them Mr Maxwell, remember that you were no different. All five of you neglected to kill these women when they saw your Gundams seven years ago. As such, I have two options. One, kill you now, either by hand or by the hand of these soldiers." She said, gesturing to the women stood silently behind her. "Or two, I put your admirable talents to use and employ you. The latter seems more amenable at this present time." The girls mouths dropped open in shock, then quickly closed again. "You will follow me to the West Wing." Une said and left the room.

The ten young people left behind stared at each other, one side glaring, the other smirking.

"We don't need you anymore." Relena hissed angrily.

"We can manage well enough on our own." Hilde agreed with her. Duo yawned and stretched, then sauntered out.

"Well, looks like we are gonna be working together babes, so you better get used to us being around a bit more." He threw over his shoulder as he left. The other four pilots smirked even more, and left with him, leaving the girls to follow in barely concealed anger.

They stood in the darkened hangar, the girls standing defensively beside their suits as the boys cast a critical eye over them. Even Heero had to admit that they were well made. Lady Une approached them from the shadows.

"Howard." Une said quietly. The boys turned to look at her. "He built the suits. They're called Shifters. They incorporate the latest in kinetic technology. All they need is co-ordinates, and they can go anywhere they like. The only downside is that they can only apply it to small suits. Bigger suits are too heavy to Shift."

"What do you want from us?" Wufei asked, stepping forward. Lady Une smiled.

"There is a man who is a threat to the peace of the world. He has bullied and threatened his way to his position and is intent on dominating the whole ESUN and creating the first Earth Empire, which will then wage war on the colonies. He is a deranged lunatic, and backs his power with an arsenal of nuclear weapons that could take out the sun. I want you to help stop him."

"With what?" Trowa asked, folding his arms. "We can't take on armies of mobile dolls and suits with our bare hands, we need our Gundams, and last time I checked, they had been flown into the sun." Lady Une looked decidedly shifty, and avoided their eyes.

"What did you do?" Quatre murmured.

"We thought they might be needed again, and so Howard built replicas while you were off fighting. Empty shells, and we sent them into the sun and hid yours. We updated them, and hid them. But now their time, and yours, has come again." She flicked a light switch, and the young men once again gazed upon their dear friends.

They looked no different from the last time that they had been seen at the Mariemaia Incident, but subtle differences showed that they had been upgraded with more powerful weapons. Une glanced at the faces of the young men next to her. Their faces were masks of indifference, but their eyes betrayed their emotions. Each one of them had a look in their eyes that told her they had come home.