A/N: Holy smokes, sorry about the gap between updates. I've been working furiously on my next story to get a bunch of it finished before beginning to post, and so I successfully forgot to post this one XD My bad!
p.s. I am looking for a beta reader for my new GW fic. Message me for more info if you're interested!
Enjoy!
-picimadar
When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 21: The Call
"You," Heero said, the word barely holding even an accusation, but Neil still nodded.
"Sorry, Heero. Sometimes you just have to go with the highest bidder." Disengaging the safety, Neil stowed his gun away, strolling over to Middie.
"If we're the highest bidder, this place really has gone to shit," Middie said, pulling out another gun and aiming at Neil. "Now. You both get bonus good-boy points for not killing Relena on sight, however hiding her from both your boss and from us? Bad plan."
"I told you!" Neil said, horrified, and the blond smiled at him menacingly.
"Good for you! Now get in the car." A heavily tinted vehicle pulled up behind them quickly as if on cue, one of the doors thrown open from the inside. "Go, go on!" Middie said, gesturing with the weapons. "And don't worry, they're not going to kill you, Neil. As for you," she said, following Heero into the car, "I'm not gonna make any promises." Slamming the door in his face, Middie backed away, the car's tires squealing as it took off. Turning around, she took off her sunglasses, sweeping her long hair back off her face with them. "Well, kids, get back in there! Looks like we got some phone calls to place."
"You're sure about this? It could be a trap." Trowa paced the suite, feeling unusually nervous. "You hated this guy less than two weeks ago; why trust him now?"
"Because he has nowhere else to go, and I made him an offer he can't refuse." Middie put her phone down, having spent the past few minutes furiously typing out responses and queries to at least a dozen unnamed or unfamiliar people to Trowa.
"And what was that, exactly?"
"Simple. I promised him we'd make Relena leave before we launch a take-over. He just wants to see her safe. He pleaded for us to save his ass, too…. Told him if he fights with us, he's at least got a somewhat better chance of living."
Trowa sighed. "Middie, we have to cause as few casualties as possible."
"I know, I know. Relena wouldn't have it any other way, anyways. Alright. I gotta meet some people, and then I'm going to go and pick up a few precious pieces of cargo. Neil's got Heero with him, gives me the chance to bag 'em both," pulling on a jacket emblazoned with the colony's name and number, FREE TO CHOOSE written on the back, Middie looked at him. "Oh, yeah. Look at me, all under-cover-like. Feels like the good ol' days." Approaching the taller man, Middie seized his shirt and pulled him down to her, kissing him deeply on the mouth.
"You stay here. Knowing our little Princess, she's likely already halfway here."
Trowa kept running through various memories from the past few weeks: their first sight of Relena, finding Heero, his nights spent with Middie, all turning over in his mind as he continued to pace the same section of floor, the rhythmic sound of his steps tapping against the floor. The door opened, and Trowa spun toward it, his heart leaping into his throat before he looked away, scoffing with disappointment.
"Dude, you have to stop walking! You're making us crazy!" Jesse walked in, almost closing the door on Liam, who scurried in after him. "Just sit down and chill! She's not gonna have any problems getting over here. It's friggin' Relena. She's lived this long here already." Sitting down in an armchair, Jesse flicked on the television, and both Liam and Trowa regarded him with stunned faces.
"Did Middie even say where she was coming from? Who knows how she's even going to get here… what if she gets caught on the way?... Wait. How does she know where we are?" Liam grew increasingly frantic with each question, practically shouting by the time he reached the last one. The door opening could barely be heard over his raised voice, but Trowa had tuned him out completely as he looked at their new arrival.
"They have this thing called 'the internet'. Fascinating the amount of information you can find on there." Relena walked in, put down a bag and threw her arms open, welcoming Trowa into them, squeezing him as he lifted her off the floor, both laughing. "God, I've missed you. How did you even get back here? And do I even want to know how you know Middie?" Smiling coyly, Relena stood up and kissed the tall man on the cheek. "She'd told me about you… She always thought you were the same boy she'd met back then. Guess that proves it."
Liam, recovering from his mild panic attack, slowly turned around and practically leaped at the young woman, reaching her just before Jesse dove off the couch and tackled both of them, the two twins shouting and laughing, greeting her back into their lives once again.
"Alright, okay! Okay, off now, please," Relena said, and the two boys let her go carefully. It was then that Trowa truly got a chance to take her in, her long hair restored to a bright, light blond, lighter than her original colour, her sun-kissed skin mostly covered by a slim windbreaker and jeans. "We have a lot to do, and I don't have much time to explain. I assume Neil called Middie?"
Trowa shrugged. "She didn't say, but she left in a hurry disguised like one of Lavie's people."
"Perfect. We need to call everyone we can, as soon as we can." Settling down at the kitchen table, Relena pulled a small black book out of her knapsack.
"What's that?" Liam asked, the three men joining her.
"It's a list. Look," she said, snatching the book away from Jesse's prying eyes. "Every name of every member of L'Ombre is in here. There will be people you know, some you don't, some that most don't even know are part of us. There will be people who are dead, people who we think are dead, and people who want us to think they're dead. Don't let that stop you. If anyone hangs up or gives you trouble, tell me, I'll call on them myself." She paused, sighing as she looked at Trowa. "I'd hoped it would never come to his, but these people," she said, holding up the book, "are some of the most trustworthy, dependable people I have ever met. They have stood by me for most of my life, and I owe them everything for that. To ask more of them, or any of you, is cruelty of the highest order, but we must.
"We can't win this fight alone. We'll need Preventers, L'Ombre, colleagues, gangs… Anyone with the ability to help us contain the insanity that's taken this colony."
"… 'Gangs', really?" Jesse laughed lightly before his expression darkened. "What is the best case scenario here? I mean, what are we really fighting?"
Relena put the book down on the table carefully, handling it as though it were an old Bible. "I'm not entirely sure, but it's not going to end well. They're targeting life on Earth. Lavie thinks that by eliminating the majority opinion who believe that war is wrong, he can fight with anyone he pleases to take power over the colonies."
"…. Didn't we just do this like… five years ago? I mean, after it failed like the first fifteen times, how do these megalomaniacs not go "gee, this whole 'conquering the universe' thing may just be a bad idea!"?"
Relena grimaced slightly. "It certainly feels that way… without the people in this book, without all of you, this cycle will keep continuing. I know that there are some on this colony who sympathize with pacifism, who see no need to resort to violence or a power-struggle to live their lives. We have to appeal to these people first. I'm hoping that if we can do that and get enough of our agencies on the inside, we can turn this whole colony and Lavie's plan upside down before it gets out of hand."
The three men nodded as she opened up the book. "Now, we need to work on this until Middie gets back. We've already contacted everyone on this colony through her and Neil, I assume, so… let's start with the 'a's'."
"Wufei, you gotta get in here," Grace Velasquez said, waving to him as she ducked in his office door. Standing up, Wufei locked his door from the inside before stepping into Grace's office across the hallway.
"What in the hell happened here?" Wufei asked. The tall desk chair swiveled around, and a tall woman with long, wavy black hair and distinct, large eyes the color of lilac sat, smiling.
"This happened, obviously," she said, gesturing down over her lean form. "And how are you doing, Mr. Chang?"
"Who, exactly, is this?" Grace asked, crossing her arms, her broad shoulders heaving with anger. "I walked in, and here she was. Obviously you know her. What's going on?"
"Sister!" a voice sounded behind them, and Dorothy Catalonia pushed her way in, sweeping past her audience and hugging her sister congenially, kissing her on both cheeks. "So good of you to come. Just wait until you see what's happened… Gosh, I just become more infatuated with that Relena Darlian every day!" Pressing her palms to her cheeks, the blond made the perfect model of a wooed young lady.
"Who doesn't?" her elder sister joked, taking her seat again behind the desk. "Now, Chang. What's all this I'm hearing about this 'Lavie' man? Seems like an issue for Preventer, not me."
Wufei sat down, closing and locking the door behind him. "The room secure, Grace?" he asked, and she nodded. "Good. Sit, we've got to lay some things out. Middie Une and Trowa Barton are friends of mine and fellow agents who are now on X-18997, the colony run by one Lawrence Lavie. Taking out his computer, he aimed a small projecting lens on it toward an empty wall, showing a picture of the now infamous politician. "His was one of the first colonies to claim independence upon Quatre becoming V.P., and since then they've generally been nothing more than a nuisance, the brains behind a few protests and small-scale attacks. In December, they kidnapped Relena, keeping her in prison until she escaped. Apparently Trowa and Middie have now found her and are looking for a way to get her out of the colony safely while making sure they don't draw the conflict onto Earth sooner."
Changing through a few slides, Wufei continued. "This is a technical file for what the colony's engineers are currently working on. I recognized it as soon as I saw it; they're clearly the blueprints for a mechanism allowing the colony to become a mass method of dispersing a biological weapon. What the weapon does, I don't know. I haven't found enough information yet. What I know is its' clearly meant for only certain victims, whom I believe to be the citizens of Earth."
Bella uncrossed and crossed her long legs, straightening her black dress. "So it comes down to another 'fight or die', hmm? These politicians, all they cause are problems. If it's not Treize's ass on the line, it's Darlian's." Sighing, she looked to Grace and Wufei. "You're asking me to disclose the members of my organization, my family, to you. What do we get in exchange?"
"Bella-donna, don't be so dramatic," Dorothy said, rolling her eyes. "He's giving you the chance to be part of something incredible! This can only bring good press to our family, regardless. Besides, who needs an excuse? Think of all the people you'll save, including Miss Relena. It's a no-lose situation… except for Lavie."
"I wouldn't say that," Grace said, and Wufei nodded in agreement.
"There are a lot of risks at stake. We just don't know what we're walking into up there, which is why we need to bulk up our numbers as much as possible. For all we know, every person on that colony is trained, armed and working for Lavie. Until I talk to Une, I can't even be sure we'll have any government-sanctioned method of attack." The three women nodded, and Bella stood.
"Well, best let me talk to her, then. I know her from when she worked for our cousin, may he rest in peace. She'll hear me out." Excusing herself, Bella Catalonia walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
"Well, guess we'd best start making some calls then," Grace said, but Wufei shook his head.
"Middie claims to have it under control. We have a week to get everyone coordinated and set a time and date for our takeover. It's got to be as smooth and swift as possible so we can avoid any real combat, so we're gonna have to get as many people through the gates to the colony and on the inside before we pull the trigger."
"So you want to Trojan-horse Lawrence Lavie?" Grace asked, incredulous, drawing a smile from the typically stoic man.
"Exactly."
"No, I'm serious! Don't… fuck!" Jesse tossed his phone down, aggravation running high. "This is impossible. There's no way we can get through this whole list!" Laim put his own phone down, nodding in agreement.
"There's got to be thousands of names here, Relena. There has to be an easier way."
Relena put the book down, flipping her fingers through the pages absent-mindedly. "There is another way, but I'd been hoping to avoid it. Give me your computer, Trowa," she asked, and the man handed his laptop to her. She typed in a few things, opening up a few applications, her brow creased as she concentrated. Finally, she seemed to have accomplished what she wished.
"I know this seems ridiculous, but there's an emergency number we all have programmed, one that we all have the ability to use to contact some or all of our comrades. It signals the people who are closest first, then branches out. I think if I can get a strong enough signal for long enough, I should be able to get nearly everyone on the line at once."
Jesse put his forehead down on the table. "Why is that not the first fuckin' thing you tried?"
Relena grimaced slightly, narrowing her eyes. "There are risks with this type of thing. The call will be extremely traceable, as it is meant to alert the recipients as to the location of the person making the distress call… chances are anyone monitoring the communications on this colony will see it. There's also no insurance that everyone it reaches on this colony will still… be loyal to us." Lowering her blue eyes, Relena sighed.
"That has to be a risk we're willing to take. You're safe now, Relena. We have everything under control. Wufei's bringing up a plan as we speak to come up here and contain this thing. That said, Preventer isn't going to be enough. We need all the help we can get."
Relena nodded, steading herself before she typed in the secret number. It began broadcasting, and the first phones to ring were Jesse and Liam's, both chiming as they sat on the table. "Wow, I thought you were just shitting us," Jesse said. "But wait… if everyone's supposed to know this number, why don't we have it?"
"You live with your sister, that's why. She's going to kick the ass of whatever gets in your way long before anyone else will." Relena shushed them, waiting. 11% complete, the screen read, and Trowa watched the number slowly climb.
"Does this just use the internet to make the call?" Relena nodded. "Seems incredibly insecure."
"Sometimes you just have to hide these things in plain sight," Relena responded, her voice sounding far away.
14% complete.
November, A.C. 193, L2
"Why are you hiding?" a small voice asked her, and Relena felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she turned around. "Hey, chill out, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm none too eager to be found out myself." The blond girl leaned against the brick wall of the surrounding building, keeping to the shadow of the alleyway, watching Relena as she watched her.
"Go away," Relena finally said, turning back toward her quarry, watching the street carefully. "You're just going to draw attention."
The girl smiled, but kept from laughing with some obvious effort. "Says the Foreign Minister's daughter, hiding away in an alley on L2. Yeah, you're right. There's about a thousand better hiding places on this stretch of road than next to you. Peace." Relena couldn't tell if she used the slang word for its original purpose or as a slight to her father's position, but either way hearing it bothered her. The strange girl turned and went to leave through the far end of the alley, but froze as men's voices echoed inside. "Shit. Run!" The two girls turned and ran as fast and quietly as they could, dodging traffic as they shot out of the alley and into the nearby boulevard.
"Quick, this way!" Relena shouted, and Middie turned and followed her out of curiosity, intrigued that the girl was so familiar with the city's geography. They continued to run, only slowing as they reached the edge of a massive park. "Here, come with me," Relena said, holding out her hand. Middie followed her, and they stepped out behind a bunch of bushes onto a pathway leading into a beautiful simulated forest.
"Wow. How'd you find out about this place?" Middie asked, fingering a few leaves as they passed by.
"My father. It's restricted access but I'm allowed in when I want, so I come here a lot to get away…" Relena closed her mouth abruptly, as though she had said too much.
"Well, cool. Thanks for saving me, 'Miss Darlian'. The name's Middie, by the way." Holding out her hand, she laughed as Relena shook hers tightly. "And what are you running away from, exactly? Nuns, governesses, trust fund monitors, bodyguards?"
"Worse," Relena said, and Middie realized that not only was Relena truly running from someone, but all the above, seemingly ridiculous options were completely viable options. "Teachers."
23% Complete
"You're kidding me. You go to school here, like… voluntarily?" Middie sat across from Relena at a nearby bistro, having navigated their way out of the park and forest and onto the other side of the 'city'.
"I've never been to school on a colony before. It seemed like it could be interesting."
"Wouldn't catch me dead staying up here," Middie said, practically shuddering.
"Why's that?" Relena asked, taking a drink of some sweet-smelling tea.
"Never liked space. It's just… odd. Everyone's so friendly and strange. Never been my cup of tea… not to mention if it were like this on Earth I'd be dead out of work." She had simply ordered a Coke, annoyed that Relena had paid without asking her.
"What are you doing here, then? 'Working'?"
Middie swallowed, but decided to tell the truth as she rarely did. "Someone paid me to find out some things. Nothing terribly interesting, a bit run of the mill, but when it comes to space it usually is."
Relena smiled. "It's definitely quieter up here, safer. I think that's why I like it; it was a nice escape from all the insanity on Earth. I don't know anymore though… it feels like big things are brewing up here. People are more on edge than I remember."
"That's for sure. I'm hoping shit calms down… I haven't gotten home in a while." Taking another drink, Middie watched as Relena regarded her with curiosity.
"Don't you go to school?" Middie threw her head back and laughed, a loud, unabashed sound that most of the other patrons were clearly unused to, turning to glance at the two young women.
"Hell, no, lady. No time, and no money at that. I'm putting my brother's though school on Earth, just some public deal, nothing special."
Relena looked into her cup of tea. "Do you want to go to school with me?" she asked, and Middie looked at her strangely.
"Who wouldn't? Doesn't matter, someone has to pay the bills."
"I will," Relena said, and Middie looked even more surprised than before. "I'd be willing to do that, for you. I can talk my dad into anything, and he'd see the merit in this. I'd get your brothers into a better school, get your parents looked after… Let me." Reaching over the table, she took Middie's hand. "Let me help you."
"You're crazy," Middie said, with little conviction.
"No, but I like people, and I like you. You deserve to do better than being a teenaged spy. You should work on those skills in school and get a good job that can help people, rather than just working for whoever will pay you in cash. Come on, please?" Relena was smiling now, swigging down the last of her tea and standing up from the table. "Let's go. If we leave now, we can get back to school and get you registered this afternoon."
"Wait, wait. Aren't they gonna be pissed you're gone?" Middie trotted after the other girl, mystified.
"Of course not, my lovely Middie! Who would be mad at me for meeting my best, favorite friend from the spaceport?" Winking, Relena took her new companion's friend and led her away.
"This isn't the first time you've done this, is it?"
"Not even close."
44% complete
"Where are you taking us?" Neil asked, and Middie almost laughed from the passenger seat.
"Get over it and enjoy the ride, Oppen. We're clearly not taking you off the colony, we're just getting you away for a little drive. Relax, enjoy the scenery." Signaling to the driver, Middie gave them directions to leave the 'city' portion of the colony, progressing farther and farther into the more open farming complexes. "I love this part of colonies. It's the only part that even looks close to the Earth. You're gonna love it out here."
Heero sat, silently looking out the window, which irritated Middie. "No questions, hm?"
"Where's Relena?"
"She's safe, and far away from you, although the two seem to be mutually exclusive anyways. Do you have any idea what you put her through? You're lucky you even got to see her alive." The driver shushed the blonde woman, who sighed and folded her arms.
The rest of the ride continued in silence until, finally, they arrived at a massive farm, clearly meant for some kind of grain operation. Pulling down the massive driveway, they met up with the set of houses that were set central to the large storage and shipping containers and stopped.
"Everyone out," the driver said, and before Neil could protest several men and women reached inside, pulled the two men out, handcuffed them and took them inside the house.
"How do you think they're not going to find you? You can't just kidnap us! I didn't do anything!" Neil stopped talking as he was pushed roughly into sitting position on a couch, Heero continuing to stare at the floor, impassive. "Come on, man! You're a fucking Gundam pilot, so kick some ass and get us out of here!" The man remained stoic, almost comatose.
"Just shut up, Neil!" a woman yelled, and he tried frantically to look over his shoulder.
"Patty, Patty, I swear to god, I didn't hurt her, I didn't do anything!"
"Exactly. You knew she was in prison, and you didn't do anything to help get her back to us. You may not be one of us, but you betrayed her, and for what? Lavie? Your precious 'freedom'? Get a grip." The woman Heero guessed was 'Patty' sat down across from them. "You have ten minutes each to explain to me why you don't deserve to die, or at least deserve a fair trial first."
63% complete
"You're telling me this thing is so awesome it can reach thousands of people, but it takes a goddamn hour? Jesus! Get some better coding!" Jesse was slouching behind the table now, looking exhausted despite it being relatively early in the evening. Two notifying lights still blinked on their phones continually, also working as an alarm. If the process was stopped, their phones would immediately shut down the program, alerting them that they had been found out.
"This is the fastest and most secure way. Just be patient." Trowa's phone rang, and he picked it up and stepped away from the table, murmuring quietly as Liam and Jesse continued to question Relena about various inner workings of L'Ombre and how it really all began.
January, A.C. 188, North Wales
"Relena? Relena…. Hey!" Relena heard the other girls calling her, but she chose to ignore them, sitting in a self-imposed exile, her knees tucked up under her chin.
"Hey, Lena? If you wanna be left alone then that's cool but I was wondering if maybe you wanted company because you seemed a little lonely and I don't want you to be lonely but if you want to be lonely than that's okay too! Okay, I'll go." Natalie Nemkov was a hyper young girl, the same age as Relena, sporting fair long hair but dark, enormous eyes. Bouncing around from foot to foot, the girl went to run off, and Relena let her, tears starting to well up in her dark eyes.
"What is wrong, Miss Relena?" The elder Nemkov sister asked in heavily accented English, sitting down next to her.
"Nothing," she replied, a sob accenting the word, making her flinch at the sound of her own voice.
"Oh, come now. Do you miss your family? You will see them at Christmastime, don't be so sad." Katarina put her arm around the younger girl, but her words did not seem to comfort. "Talk to me, Relena. Tell me what is wrong."
Relena breathed a heavy sigh. "Do you ever feel like something is missing, even if you don't know what it was?" Her large blue eyes turned and stared at the older girl, who nodded, surprised at such introspection from a child even younger than herself. "I'm just so lonely. I feel like I lost something… something important, and it eats me up sometimes. I feel like I have no one to care about, no one to talk to who understands…" she started crying again.
"Now, now. Stop that right now. You can't sit here in the shadows all day being sad. Sometimes you have to just find something to fill that void. You will find friends who understand, who will help you just like you help them. I can be the first one." Smiling, she stood up, dusting off her pants before walking away.
"I can stay in the shadows as long as I have people who will stay with me," Relena said quietly before standing up and following, her eerie words making Katarina feel restless and uneasy.
89% Complete
I never realized how true that is, Relena thought to herself. So many times she had convinced herself to quit, forfeit her job and title and work quietly in an office, retreat into her home and live off her savings, or even take her own life in order to escape the stress, pressure and disappointment that was being Relena Darlian, the Foreign Minister. They always brought me back. Sobbing lightly, Relena looked over to Trowa, who had finished his conversation and rejoined them at the table.
"Wufei wanted you to know that he's 'sending everyone and everything'. Preventer has gotten approval as well, now that Une's seen the blueprints. She's making a presentation tomorrow morning, first thing. Is that enough time?"
Relena sighed, wiping her eyes. "It'll have to be."
91% complete
"I protected Relena. I love her, you know that! I left L'Ombre because it scared me. I was selfish… I wanted her to myself, and I couldn't have that if she had you, so I just left." Sighing, Neil looked at the floor. "I learned about what Lavie was doing and I knew it couldn't be good. I came up here before the war started… he came into power when I came of age, and I figured what better way to know what was going on than from the inside? I met the man, got to know him, got to know life on this colony, and it seemed normal for the most part. People just didn't want to change their way of life, and you have to respect that… For these people, the war was all they had. Being a soldier was all they knew… other soldiers were the only friends and family they had. After all the war referendums, they didn't want to live on Earth.
"Once I found out Relena had been kidnapped, I did what I could, but I couldn't risk losing Lavie's trust to save her. If I had, she never would have forgiven me. I gave her the thought, the possibility, and she got away. When she came to me, I didn't turn her in. I'm willing to help you however I can, but you have to let me go. Lavie will know I'm missing. I can talk to others, sympathizers, and see what I can do."
Pattie nodded her head, satisfied, before smiling. "I wasn't asking you, Neil, but thanks for laying yourself out like that anyways." Neil blushed while glaring at her, angry that he had been duped into so freely giving away his feelings. "Now, you," she continued, nodding to Heero. He sat, silent for a minute, before speaking.
"I never wanted to hurt her. She was everything to me, but her job was everything to her… I saw what was happening here, and I knew that if it got out of hand, she'd blame herself, so I left. I hurt my friends, I abandoned the woman I… I love. I left all of that to get inside of this and find out what was happening. She showed up at my door a month ago, and I found out what they'd done to her…" He closed his eyes, his handcuffed hands turning white with the force of his hands making closed fists in anger. "It's unacceptable. There are ways to live and fight the majority opinion without killing anyone or taking away anyone else's choices."
Pattie looked at him, and Middie sat down, somewhat dazed. "Didn't know he even talked."
"No kidding. Well, unfortunately, Yuy, that doesn't tell me why we should save you."
"You shouldn't," he said brokenly, and the two women frowned. "If you don't kill me, my own friends and family will. Relena left me even when she knew I wouldn't hurt her. There's no reason to stay; I've hurt her enough for a lifetime."
Pattie sighed, standing up and releasing both the man's handcuffs before kneeling before Heero. "I'm not gonna kill you, even though part of me would love to. You hurt her, yes, a lot more than I think you'll ever really know. Relena's a tough woman, but she's been through a lot of loss. You never really recover from losing two families and the man you love in twenty years o' living." Looking into his eyes, she continued. "She loves you, and she'd kick our asses if we killed you. You're gonna have to work with us, and we'll figure things out with Wufei and the others. They don't know you're here, Trowa's kept your secret because you kept hers. Respect that." Heero nodded, mollified.
"Hey, you hear that?" Middie asked, fishing her phone out of her pocket, the notifying light blinking as it beeped for her attention. Several others in the room and the surrounding ones did the same, and Middie's eyes widened. "Holy crap. Holy crap! I didn't think she'd do it this soon! How in the hell did Wufei pull it together fast enough?"
"I know," Heero said, and they all turned to him. "I sent him the blueprints. Une will know. Preventer will be on their way."
"Wonder when she's gonna make the call," Pattie said, taking out her own receiver and sitting down between the two men, staring at the screen.
"What are you talking about?" Neil asked, vocalizing the question Heero had been wondering for hours.
"Watch," she said, and the screen lit up.
100% Complete
"You ready?" Liam asked, and Relena nodded, swallowing carefully as the video screen finally started up. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Relena sighed before starting.
Opening her eyes, she looked out on what she hoped were still, and would always be, her many friends, allies and comrades. Smiling slightly, she spoke.
"Hello, everyone."
