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Chapter Seven

Revival


"No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves." – Rachel Carson


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Zechs makes poor decisions - Odin gleefully helps. Relena is more than happy to pick up the slack, however, and the Maguanacs throw a party. Meanwhile, the trio in America deal with something far less glamorous than the Apocalypse, and Quatre gets a pleasant surprise.

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Edits:

There's been a little bit of clarification on locations, as well as cleaning up Noin's thought processing in her scene.


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July 1st 198 – Tuesday – Southern Sudan – Blue Nile Base

Odin twitched sharply when the base klaxon started to wail and clenched his jaw as he sloshed hot coffee down the front of his shirt. Growling, he set the cup down on the counter and started to jog to the control room. There weren't supposed to be any drills or tests today.

The base personnel he passed in the hall seemed to be responding to the sound fairly well, quickly but calmly going to their assigned stations… Nothing out of the ordinary, or at least nothing they hadn't been drilled into boredom over. It was a sign of a well-trained group – the Alliance regulars had always had something of a tendency to mill and yell ridiculously.

When he reached his destination, however, there was no missing the distinct taste of panic in the air, or the mass of blips on the radar readout approaching their perimeter.

Abdul's jaw was tight, and his arms were crossed as he stared at the readouts. Noin stood near him, and was talking briskly to two different men, asking logistics, response times… Odin focused on the tech he had mostly been working with over the past few days who appeared to be furiously focused, and went to stand over his shoulder. After a moment, he frowned. "Move."

"Busy, Yuy…"

He backhanded him and while the man gasped and reached for the side of his head reflexively, Odin shoved his chair to once side and took over the computer console, seeing if an old trick worked. "I know this encryption. You're going about hacking their coms the long way."

"The fuck I am! You can't just tell from one damn second of…"

"We've got their radio link," Odin called out.

"Put it through line three," Noin ordered. "Koln, monitor it, switch it to the big speakers as soon as they start tossing orders."

"Ma'am." The tech – Koln, apparently – swore as he shoved his chair back into place and did as told, snatching up a pair of headphones. "I'm not sure how the hell you do that, but don't hit me next time."

"Practice. Next time, move." He'd only swung hard enough to startle.

Koln growled and began to mutter darkly in a language that the pilot couldn't hear enough of to decipher. Odin moved quickly to Abdul's side, only to have the Arabic man raise his eyebrows at him. "That was fast even for you."

"The first thing I do with any com system I run is work out how to crack it. Treize did a good job with it, but…" He shrugged.

"And you never let Zechs know you could eavesdrop whenever it suited you," Noin finished, her tone… odd.

Odin focused on her, and noticed the white-knuckled grip she had on the back of the chair in front of her, the unevenness of her breathing… the flatness in eyes that, he had realized over the past few weeks, were normally very expressive.

Epyon was out there. Zechs. This wasn't the seething rage he had seen the other day when she tore into her recruits… This is more… upset.

Zechs. Maybe not everything had changed.

And… Zechs. That sounded… incredibly… good. His blood started to pound, adrenaline slamming into his veins at the very idea.

"Give me Heavyarms' access codes."

Noin spun around to face him, eyes narrowed. "No." She focused on Abdul. "You're on lead; I need to go fly."

"No," Abdul argued. "My kids are on the field in this one; they know my patterns, not yours. They're not ready for this."

She grit her teeth. "I can do this."

Odin grinned back at her, elation outright shocking up his spine. "You could." He didn't doubt that she would, for all that she found the idea distasteful. "But I would love to do it instead."

She blinked, surprised… and finally looked at him, starting to smirk. "You really would, wouldn't you?"

A phrase of Marlé's came to mind. "Any day of the week."

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Brussels, Belgium

"What the hell are you people letting him smoke?!"

Somehow, the fact that she was in her nightgown and her hair all a mess from sleeping didn't make Princess Relena any less intimidating.

"Your Highness, I assure you that-"

"I just woke up to a call from Ambassador Kim, saying that he's sorry, but he's gathering his people and heading home because they're about to go to war with us!" She slapped one hand down on the desk in front of her set of screens. "Because apparently, Milliardo just broke his bloody peace treaty by attacking an outpost on their territory! Territory they have full rights to by the truce he crafted in 196!"

General Lee felt his cheeks go cold, even as he tried to sooth the blonde woman. It was a mistake! "There are rebels in that base, we confirmed-"

"Rebels be damned! The Chinese are a greater threat on all counts. Half the colonies are under their alignment! Get your men off the battlefield, General, or so help me, I will make a statement that your inability to pick up the phone and negotiate with your allies before sending out troops – sending out a gundam of all things – just cost us Europe's winter crop!"

…He wouldn't last an hour out of doors if the princess followed through on her threat.

"Get him off the field," she persisted, "and I can mend this. At least, I can mend it well enough that the people won't feel it, and we don't all have angry mobs coming after us." She hung up, and the screen went blank.

Lee took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He had been assured that the wording of the treaty document… Well, assurances be damned, apparently. They couldn't afford Chinese hostility right now, and if the princess could fix that, then he was following her lead. "Someone get me a secure line to Geraldi." He doubted the Lightning Count would listen to reason while in the midst of battle – his record certainly didn't suggest it – but his first lieutenant would.

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Southern Sudan – Blue Nile Base

"Sir, we need to-"

Zechs tuned out Geraldi's voice as he fought his traitorous lungs and gravity both, pushing the thrusters to their limits in order to not move into the position Heavyarms had slammed him towards, struggling to get an upper hand.

None of the analyses he had run on the battles this new variation of Heavyarms had participated in matched today's… ferocity. It was faster than he had thought as well. Apparently the pilot has only been running it as fast as the situation called for, each time he flew.

Also apparently, the hours, weeks, he had poured into the sims trying to get ready for this didn't hold a candle to a real battle. He had known that, but…

The red beam saber dug deep into Epyon's tail before the computer could input the need to deflect properly, or he could manually do it himself.

Something was terribly wrong. The timings within his machine were off, and not in any consecutive way that he could decipher. The computer system was… wrong. It didn't make sense, he had run literally every diagnostic again and again, but it-

A lance of pain shocked through his chest and right arm.

I am wrong.

The fear suddenly struck him that the machine might not be the problem. Before he could consider it in any depth, however, the world spun as Heavyarms sent Epyon flying and he heard more than felt his head crack through the cushions of his chair into the unyielding metal behind; his vision momentarily blacked out. He reflexively tried to heave up the nothing he had purposely maintained in his stomach, but couldn't coordinate enough to even gasp as the nerves of his back burned like the flames had been reignited.

'Shit' didn't even begin to cover it. Nothing more creative came to mind, though.

"Sir!"

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Heavyarms willingly retreated when the five Tauruses launched themselves in front of Epyon while two Aries hastily moved to pick up the other gundam.

They had been screeching about a retreat and a treaty for a while now, and Lucrezia had snorted through the com link and noted that it was a little late for that, but that they were to allow the troops to withdraw once they reached the perimeter line. Zechs, however…

She felt her jaw clench. The man, as usual, just didn't know when to drop it.

Heero seems to be enjoying himself, at any rate. She couldn't help but smile a bit at the memory of that predatory grin… and she was going to have to chase him about exactly how he was opening up the gundam's capabilities, because he'd already pulled off at least two maneuvers that she hadn't considered possible with the extra weight of the armor. Hilde ran her little programs that sped things up, but they tended to be highly detrimental – an iteration of robbing Peter to pay Paul. If there was something decent for that effect in the coding arena, Heero would be the one to ask.

Knowing him, it's just as likely to be something I overlooked entirely that he doesn't know how to do without. She shook her head a little, amused. He might be confused about what I'm even talking about, when I ask.

Confusion was his most common first reaction to a great deal of things. Serious contemplation and casual revelation usually followed, tailed by a startlingly easygoing brand of acceptance. The remote, occasionally alarming boy had grown into one of the most straightforward, laid back men she had ever met. Not that she had personally ever seen him upset before – despite at least a few instances that would have warranted it. Relena had mentioned him glowering and storming off or leveling threats before he'd come back to Sanc, but… The blonde she had met three months ago was effortlessly serene.

Then again, is that really new? He'd been practically blasé about any and everything the first time they'd met – it had been Trowa who balked at the trip to Antarctica. Heero had just shrugged and gone along with it, and made his point by proceeding to absolutely own every action he made in response, making the rest of them feel downright small. In Sanc he'd been skeptical, but perfectly willing to play along once again.

When he'd come to Peacemillion, she could tell that something had changed, but hadn't really put much thought to it beyond how he seemed older. She had… Well, her thoughts had been focused elsewhere, hadn't they? She hadn't really cared what Heero did so long as he held to their pact and didn't start fights, and all he'd done at every turn was win them more support, first from Wufei, then drawing in the other gundam pilots as well.

Had he already reached this point of resolution, by then? She thought he was… looser now, even while still almost regally confident. Less hemmed in by pride, maybe. Though she was pretty sure he'd insisted on dueling in Heavyarms instead of Wing as a big 'fuck you', not the flouting of charity Zechs took it as. A dare to prove that he could outmaneuver the Lightning Count even with the odds against him – Zechs at his prime against himself in a suit he'd never flown before.

Her lips twitched. And he certainly was excited enough to do it again today, even though he was anonymous. But he never really meant for us to know him, did he? The first time he let us see his face, he was committing suicide – suicide in the name of preventing colonial genocide.

There was a repeating pattern there, and she didn't care for it. It said some pretty damning things about their culture as a whole, that that tactic kept coming up.

In any case, the danger was officially over, so she turned and headed for the hangar to see everyone back in – though she kept her com link on, listening in on the Epyon's channel until they were out of range. The Regime soldiers didn't allow their devoted dictator to argue with them until they reached the territorial boundaries, which was likely for the best. It's not as though he's been listening to the ongoing frantic arguments for the past ten minutes on why they needed to leave immediately. Something along the lines of 'the Chinese will come and kill us all' only more politically correct and less fear mongering. This Geraldi seemed to be one of the more verbose types when under pressure… something Lucrezia had always found rather annoying, though sometimes highly amusing. The things that spilled out of David Mitchell's mouth once he got going were usually worth recording to embarrass him with later.

…Dave was fighting off the madmen to the north, now. It wasn't a job she envied in the slightest, but she was relieved he was in charge – her old friend knew how to get things done. He'll make the best of it… if anyone can salvage a bad situation and turn it into a boon, it's Dave. According to their little peephole into the Regime intelligence network, it was going well. Reports kept coming back about how he was finding far more sane victims in Cambyses than they had anticipated.

I wonder how many of them he's recruiting for Treize, then? Once they'd learned her old instructor was still alive, there had never been a shadow of doubt in her mind that Mitchell was a faithful agent – loyalty was the very core of David's being, the same way contentment was hers. Not everyone could be defined so simply, of course, but they all had their strongest aspect. Jake's concept of beloved, Treize and his notion of true nobility, Zechs and…

But was any of that ever true? She knew, now, that she had missed something critical – a large part of what made Milliardo who he was. The fallen prince she had fallen in love with had never been real. So, no… After Libra, she wouldn't presume to know his focal personality traits. Not anymore.

Cassie had always persisted that something about the prince troubled her, hadn't she? Jake had never grown to like him, though he'd at least agreed to civility… and Jake's version of civil was frighteningly close to Zechs' definition of loving, so they had gotten on amazingly well after she convinced him to at least play nice.

She fought down a grin. The pure hilarity of that particular situation just kept increasing every time they pulled a report related to Relena out of the Regime. Zechs had charged Jake with Relena. He had allowed him to simply refuse any inquiries towards his men when suspicion rose. Not to mention the sudden skill Relena had in flouting and fudging every possible line in existence?

Milliardo appeared to implicitly trust the man now, and Jake was far from above using that mistake to his greatest advantage. She hadn't lied when she told Sally that she had no idea what side Jake might be working for, but that was because above all else, Jake worked for himself – and while that usually included an allegiance, he wouldn't compromise if he didn't appreciate his options. The puppet master had a strong talent for custom crafting his own sphere of influence… and by everything she could learn, he revolved around the princess these days.

As Relena was becoming more of a power in her own right, they probably had their answer about his alignment right there… which in turn meant that the ball was in Relena's court, and the question became tricky again.

Unfortunately, personally being on the list of the man's beloved didn't count for much when he was so thorough with his security that finding him alone to approach and talk to was physically impossible. And with the webs of deceit the chameleon weaves through everyone around him, there's no way I can trust anyone he's keeping nearby, which makes privacy a must. She had only had a scarce minute of access in Amsterdam to see him last December, and even that had been risky as hell. Relena's company would be safe too, of course, but on the off chance that he took her on outings without the other guards he selected, Lucrezia knew she would have a snowball's chance in hell of finding them on such an excursion.

Jake was useless when it came to anything mechanical, but in trade for that, he was a master in virtually all other arts of violence and espionage. There was literally no one she would feel safer with at her back. Milliardo's mistake was that he never got close enough to realize just how exclusive the man's trust was. She could count the people who had ever held full rights to rely on the man on her hands, and half of them were dead. Well, there might be a total of eight, now. Relena has a way of winning people over.

"Heavyarms reporting," muttered Heero's voice through her earpiece. "Could someone get my grey backpack out from under my bunk?"

Lucrezia looked around and gestured at someone with a radio questioningly, who shrugged agreeably and waved before jogging out of the room. "I've got someone on it," she assured him. "You're going to have to teach me some what you did out there today, Yuy. You sure you've only flown that baby once?"

She smiled and closed her eyes as the bay doors opened, enjoying the blast of hot wind on her face as her hair was blown back. She had been ready to damn Sally to hell when the troops had shown up, but now, she could kiss the woman. Their ally had held true to their promises… and while it changed the playing field earlier than planned, it might not be a bad thing. She was going to have to get Heero's help on yet another project now that she had only been idly considering before, but it ought to peak his interest in any case.

The pilot's tone was a touch amused. "It doesn't handle anything like it did in Antarctica; it's been remodded too many times. It's not too different from Wing, though."

That made sense. "Good to know. You have fun out there?"

His laughter, more of a chuckle than anything, was refreshing. He had laughed easily enough over the past few months of course, but it was still startling, in contrast to before. Whether he had been so unflappable before or not, he… she didn't remember him ever really being happy, before.

In some ways it would have been easier to consider him someone else entirely, but it wasn't a schism she cared to allow her mind to take solace in. The idea was a crutch. She preferred to face her reality fully, especially after… after everything.

"I owe you a favor for this," he announced after a moment. Yuy was waiting outside the hangar while the other pilots quickly settled their suits into the appropriate resting bays – he didn't know the usual formations, so he was waiting for them to clear the floor. "I…" He paused, seeming to seriously consider, before deciding, "I forgot how much I missed this."

Abdul laughed delightedly as he activated his own com. "Oh, but Heero, my friend, it was worth it to see you knock him flat on his ass, believe me."

Lucrezia snickered. Not at the concept – although it had been vindictively amusing to watch – so much as the fact that the leading Maguanac cursed so rarely that it surprised her every time.

"Do you drink?" the Arabic man went on to ask.

"…Alcohol?"

She made sure her earpiece was on manual and muted before she gave into helpless giggles. His puzzlement was all too evident.

Abdul laughed outright. "I'm buying you a drink tonight."

Silence met that announcement for a good five seconds. Finally, "Why?"

Abdul took it in stride. "To celebrate, of course!"

"…You get what you want as part of a celebration, right?"

"That too, naturally."

"Can I have a hot bath instead?"

Lucrezia closed her eyes while Abdul howled, and pretty much everyone near her laughed or shared disbelieving looks.

"I've only seen showers so far," he protested mildly.

She let out a few more giggles, eyes still shut. He did always look in the bathrooms of anywhere he stayed almost immediately, but she had dismissed it as a perimeter check habit. He also did seem to enjoy taking an inordinately long time in the bath or shower, but that wasn't an uncommon trait in the colony-born who realized they were completely without water restrictions; especially those who had once lived such strict lifestyles as Heero. I hadn't thought it was so high a priority as this, though.

Touching the button on her earpiece, she suggested, "How about a compromise? You've been too busy to go down there, Heero, but there's a hot tub off to the side in the gym." She smirked a bit. "Hot water and partying don't have to be exclusive, I've gathered."

There was a definite hesitation, but after a moment he apparently shrugged it off. "Alright."

Banter broke out to her more local hearing as her soldiers finished powering down and exited their machines, happy to be home safe. Abdul had been in his rights, earlier… counting on the protection that Sally had forged with her homeland, they hadn't considered that Milliardo might be foolish enough to attack before they did something overt, and consequently, the most inexperienced and young recruits resided here. Before all was said and done this would likely be their stronghold, but… they had not been ready for battle against veterans, and they knew it.

She let the soldiers' chatter wash over her and found her own comfort in it, allowing relief to settle in her chest and make its home there. Casualty-free victories were rare, especially with such green troops. She would bask in what she could get; she'd braced for the worst, once the news came in.

Letting out a deep breath, she opened her eyes and found Abdul standing off to one side of her in his calmly excited way. His stance was relaxed and his smile easy, but this mood, for him, was akin to other men virtually bouncing off the walls. She hadn't expected any less, really, considering her own humor, but seeing the reflection in her comrade added another layer of pleasant reverb.

When he frowned, however, alarm bells went off and she moved to follow his gaze. Once he was this happy, it took-

Oh, hell.

Heero had finally parked and exited the suit, and was limping towards them. The front center of his shirt was too dark, the edges of the dark splotch were just starting to dry and crust over. "Heero?" she demanded sharply. What in the hell did he find in the cockpit to cut himself on? "Get the doctor," she snapped as she strode forward, and she saw Abdul dart away in her peripheral vision.

Heero stopped and narrowed his eyes at her. "Calm down."

Damn it, this is my fault. She was supposed to have been the one out there, not him. "What happened?"

His glare was more suspicious than anything, she estimated, and there was still confusion there as well. For whatever reason, this time. "Could you be more specific?" He shifted higher on his good leg to look around her. "Did anyone bring my bag yet?"

Horror stories of him dealing with his own injuries rose unaided. She'd never call Duo a rumormonger, but he didn't keep his mouth shut about things that impressed or creeped him out, and Heero was good at evoking both emotions. "You'll be seeing the doctor on base," she informed him. "Sally handpicked him, and I trust him with my life."

He blinked at her, expression clearly showing he thought she was being absurd. "It's not necessary."

"I insist."

Exasperation crept onto his face. "Fine. Is my bag here yet?" He started to limp forward again, and her alarm actually grew when she saw just how gingerly he was treating his right leg.

The boy who would reset his own femur and walk it off was being that delicate with his body. Her approach was also not getting far, however, so she purposefully chose her next words to have less concern. "What happened to your shirt?"

He snorted. "I poured coffee all over myself when the alarms went off."

Some of the tension in her chest lessened. Not blood. Taking a few steps closer and focusing on it, she could see, now, that it was too brown to be blood, even drying blood. That still left the leg, though…

He was limping Saturday afternoon too, she recalled suddenly, and was hit with the worry that he had done himself some fairly decent damage testing her base's defenses. Damn and damn.

And he was eying her as if worried she might explode, now… which did not help her temper.

Instead of continuing to mother hen when he was obviously off put by it, however, she crossed her arms and glowered. She had learned, after a certain point, to let the physicians do the lecturing. He met her gaze with exasperated annoyance, seemingly content to wait her out… which was fine, because she was only waiting for someone else to show up and take over.

Instead of the doctor, however, it was the man who had gone to fetch his knapsack who interrupted them. Without breaking from her gaze, the pilot muttered a gruff thank-you and hooked one arm through the grab loop on top so he could hold it aloft and use both hands on the zipper at the same time, opened it, and dug for a moment before pulling out another bag, at which point he let the backpack slump to the floor. Tugging the drawstring open, he pulled out something long and cylindrical and quickly unwound a cord around it, revealing it to be three separate pieces. He tucked the cord into the bag then dropped it in the gaping mouth of the backpack at his feet before fitting two of the ends together and deftly spinning them into place, connecting them to the third in the same fashion. It wasn't until he pulled it to his right side and comfortably rested his weight on it that she realized what it was.

A cane.

Her mind went blank, and stayed that way even as he began to move towards her again with far more ease than he had any right… the kind of ease that was earned with long familiarity.

He carried that pack everywhere he went. The cane was unusual enough that it was likely custom made, and he carried it with him in that bag without fail. The easy way he'd gone through the wrappings and assembled it without breaking their staring contest screamed of the same long familiarity.

All the tension left her in a rush, and she sighed, feeling drained. "What happened?" she asked quietly, relaxing her stance.

He seemed to relax minutely as well, though he just shrugged. "I've been pushing myself. I overextended."

"Does it happen often?" she asked quietly. He hadn't answered fully, but she hadn't honestly expected him to; she could ask later, or let the doctor ask. She still wanted him looked over, even if it was just a confirmation of what he knew.

"Not anymore." He considered her eyes for a moment, then shook his head ruefully. "The day after I caught Chang Xutao, I could hardly move at all. But it was a good sign."

She frowned. "How so?"

He canted his head to one side, considering his answer. She resettled her weight and waited; Jake had nearly identical body language when he was genuinely debating how to explain something. "It was an acceptable price," he announced after a moment. "I had to sprint as fast as I had at New Edwards, to catch Xutao. It was… true, again."

She closed her eyes as the implications sunk in. "You couldn't run, before that."

He snorted. "It was fifteen months before I could walk, Noin."

That would explain the newfound patience, wouldn't it? She couldn't even imagine managing such an injury. Over a year… "Libra?"

"Hn." After a moment, he added, "I would recommend against fighting mid-atmo fall."

So there was a price to consistently doing the impossible after all, it seemed.

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oOo

Munich, Germany – Sarracenia

"I understand," Relena was muttering into the phone. "I'll work out all the necessary adjustments and get back to you, but I'm positive it won't be a problem. I just need a few hours to get the paperwork ironed out. They've actually offered to do this before, but there was no need at the time." A pause. "Of course."

Mai bumped the door closed behind her with one hip as Relena wrapped up her current phone conversation. Seeing as she wasn't using the vid function, it was probably the ambassador again; he didn't have that capability on his cell. It was just as well, seeing as, at the moment, the princess still wasn't suited to be seen in any case.

That was what she had come to solve. Approaching the couch, she mentally debated how she wanted to arrange the packages for Lena to go through.

"Of course, naturally. I certainly intend to do exactly that, but it would also be good for you to talk to him yourself." The younger woman grimaced, though she took a moment to smile appreciatively at Mai and offer a little wave. "I'm afraid I'm not sure I hold very much weight with him, so a more aggressive stance from your angle might be the best course; I can approach him more gently from an alternate direction afterwards and smooth any ruffled feathers. I believe we will get the best results that way." She paused again, then laughed a little. "Yes, well, it's the truth of the matter, isn't it? We can negotiate new points after this one is settled, after all. I won't let him jeopardize the wellbeing of the people. In the end of the day, it's as simple as that."

Best sort by type, Mai decided after a moment, beginning to juggle the bags.

"I appreciate that, Ambassador, more than I can express. Are we still on for lunch on Friday? Hopefully negotiations with the Regime will have finished by then. Alright. I'll be sure to send you the authorizations and new contract as soon as I have it. Thank-you. Good-bye." Ending the call, Relena dropped the phone on her desk and pressed her hands to either side of her head before meeting Mailin's eyes with a weak smile. "Hi."

Mailin winked at her. "G'day, love. Done saving the world for the moment?"

"For the moment," Relena agreed wryly. "My brother's bound and determined to screw us all over, I swear."

"I'm not about to argue," Mai returned easily as she continued organizing. "Just to add salt to the wound, though, apparently a few news crews saw the carriers heading out to the base and put two and two together fast enough to catch the whole thing on camera, so there's better imaging on it all than just the satellite feeds. They're blaring the footage all over the news."

The princess grimaced and picked up the remote to switch the TV to the news before turning to actually focus on the clothes and sighing. "You're a lifesaver, Mai, thank-you."

"It's not a problem," the major dismissed. "I like to shop, and with everyone focused on what's happened, I didn't have to wait in any lines." She grinned. "I agree it would have been altogether embarrassing to ask your colonel." Holding out the very pink bag with lingerie, she added, "And I even managed to find some pretty ones."

The downside of being ridiculously famous was that it made it very difficult to shop like a normal person. Unfortunately, when said celebrity still had a teenager's changing body, things like gaining a cup size essentially overnight could happen, and all her nice shirts suddenly looked like she was trying to burst out of them. Constantly in the public eye as she was, it was something of a crisis… and even if this morning hadn't been utterly psychotic, if someone caught the princess out buying underwear, the rumor mill would have a heyday and twist it into scandal.

Thus, Mai had gone on something of a shopping spree this morning while Relena did her politicking. She fully expected to take at least half of it back, but she had assumed variety and proper size was important, and they should be able to get at least a handful of outfits out of the lot. The majority of girl's pants had been getting visibly too tight around the hips for the past few weeks too, so she'd taken the liberty of getting a decent assortment slacks and jeans as well.

Her arms had about fallen off carrying it all up to the third floor. It would have been easier if the handles of the damn bags didn't bite into the skin so hard, because she could sure as hell carry a lot more weight than the clothing accounted for, but it was another story altogether when your circulation was vanishing by the second. Lorenzo had been following her rather curiously throughout the house, but thankfully he didn't like the nightingale floor leading into the office, so he had lost interest at that point. She really didn't need to get dog hair all over the new wardrobe.

She'd go play with him after Relena got into the shower. He was such an attentive creature, especially considering she'd only had him for a week.

"Ooh, cute…" The girl's expression of actual delight made the extra effort with it. She looked around for a moment, considering, before shrugging and shucking off her pajamas.

"When's the colonel due back?" Mai asked curiously. The door locked automatically, but it also opened automatically for Jake.

"Not for another hour at the soonest," Relena assured her. "And Dorothy and Mu ought to be arriving at Brussels any time now." She sighed. "Olivia is coming by this afternoon… she's been insisting on taking me to a late lunch at some restaurant she knows, and she says she wants to make sure the dog is settling well."

Mai nodded, considering. "You should ask her how she goes about her clothes too. She's not famous like you, but I can't see her wandering a department store either."

"That's not a bad idea." She sighed again. "This is so ridiculous."

"I'm not about to disagree," Mai returned easily, selecting a shirt and holding it out. "But I also see it's necessary. Try this first." She winced as some of the battle footage came on and Heavyarms sent Epyon flying. "Oh… Do you think he's alright?"

Relena didn't even glance up. "I'm sure he'll manage."

It was an easy way to kill time, and Mai watched the princess visibly brighten and cheer up, relishing the 'girl time' as it were. Jake was far more courteous than most men, but in the end of the day, he was still very male. And Dorothy… Dorothy was a drama queen fashionista, which, by definition, included the maturity level of a middle school queen bee. The two noblewomen cared for each other a great deal, as far as Mai had been able to gather, but had next to nothing in common.

All the same, Mai wasn't too surprised when, forty minutes later, they heard the floors outside the office chirp. She also couldn't help but be amused, however, by Relena's squeak as she yanked a pair of jeans up over her hips… and tripped over the hem to fall flat on her back. She rested one hand over her lower face to hide her smile as the office door opened and Jake came in, a confused and almost alarmed expression on his face… before he focused on Mai and the pile of shopping bags. "Lena?" he called tentatively.

"Just a minute…" The girl was trying to finish snugging into her pants and doing up the buttons before getting off the floor. Note to self: next size up on those.

Jake let his eyes wander more pointedly over the brands on the discarded bags. "Do I want to know?" he asked after a moment.

"No," Mailin informed him easily, giving him a dashing smile. "You're early." She debated for a moment, considering Relena as she climbed back to her feet. "And the princess hasn't quite graduated to a Long length on her pants, looks like."

"I'm aware," he noted dryly… which made Mai grin all the more broadly at him.

"Well, they're cute," Relena decided after a moment, moving around the couch and shifting her weight experimentally. Mai blinked, a little surprised that they did look good… damn good, in fact, not too tight after all. "Little hard to get into," the princess amended, "but… fun." They certainly weren't work jeans, but every teenager wanted a pair of hot high fashion jeans at least at some point, right? Even if she only ever wore them around the house, Mai had figured it was worth a shot. It was the little things that made a girl feel appreciated, after all.

"They are," Jake admitted after a moment. Shaking his head, he added, "I could probably lose you in a mall, with those and a t-shirt."

She grinned at him. "Jeans and a t-shirt make a disguise? Not even a pair of glasses, huh?"

"Those only work for Superman," Mai dismissed impulsively. "A hat or bandana might do the trick, though." She had no idea if Jake was being serious, but she could already tell that the idea of a set of clothes to hide in plain sight greatly appealed to their princess. "High heeled boots, maybe some jewelry you wouldn't be caught dead in." She tilted her head to one side. "That shirt would look nice with this neck scarf I passed by earlier, if you didn't button it so high… maybe a camisole under it?"

"Hm…" She just about cackled to herself when Relena turned to the mirror on the back of the bathroom door and began fiddling with the buttons, trying to decide how many she could undo without being indecent. Despite being store-bought, the blue blouse that matched her eyes was a damn near perfect cut for her curves… and the colonel was trying very hard to not notice.

It was downright adorable.

"Not to interrupt the fashion show," Jake muttered after a moment, "but you told me to make sure you needed to be in the bath by ten so you would be ready to leave by noon, but now you have an appointment with Agatha Schiavonne downstairs at eleven, so you should probably go hop in."

"Oh, you got a hold of her? Excellent." She considered her reflection a moment longer and nodded. "I'll wear this one, then, and…" She looked back to the couch strewn with clothes, biting her lip.

"The pale grey slacks?" Mai hazarded.

"Yes. And…" She wrinkled her nose and gestured a little wildly, starting to flush, in the direction of the lingerie pile of things to keep.

"Got it." She shook her head. "Go draw your water and run down to your room to hang that shirt up, and I'll take care of the rest. We can organize what you didn't get through when you're done tonight."

"Thank-you." Relena focused back on Jake. "Any other news?"

His expression was amused as he walked towards her, looking the disaster on the couch over with some interest as he ticked off points on his fingers. "You have a hair appointment for Friday, Dorothy has decided that Mu has a stick up her ass…" He blinked as he caught sight of something very sheer and lacy and shook his head. "And we need to decide when to visit Brussels to check on your brother. Olivia has something up her sleeve today, I'm sure, but that's a general healthy assumption to run with for her ilk."

"That's a shirt," Relena defended, seeing what had caught his attention. Mai suppressed a snicker. She hadn't really expected the princess to like the overshirt, but it had caught her attention enough that she'd decided it was worth a shot. If nothing else, her reaction had been worth it.

"That isn't comforting."

"I'm not keeping it."

"I might hold you to that."

The princess snickered and ducked into the bathroom, heading for the trap door down to her closet… leaving the office door wide open. Letting out an annoyed sigh, the colonel briskly walked over and pushed it shut before leaning back against it, eyes shut… and rapping the back of his head against it once, hard.

Mai raised one brow at him as he opened those pretty blues of his again and half-heartedly glowered at her, to which she grinned unabashedly.

He rolled his eyes… and banged his head against the door a second time.

oOo


oOo

Marlin, Texas – The United States

"Yo traje alimento por usted, señora."

Hilde pointedly ignored the woman's voice, trying not to lose track of what she was doing. Reducing the ambient radiation output had been relatively easy in the short-term, and while Xutao focused on the programming of that, she and Adam had been relegated to trying to fix the slew of mechanisms gone wrong inside the little bunker.

"Señora, traje alimento; ¿tiene hambre usted?"

Of all the things they had expected to find, horrifying and otherwise, nothing quite this… pathetically obnoxious had occurred to any of them.

There was a long-suffering sigh. "Usted trabaja demasiado duramente. Lo dejaré aquí. Gracias."

Well, she knew that last word at least, but that was about as good as her Spanish got.

Unfortunately, no one here spoke a word of English.

Adam, thankfully, was fluent, and had been able to get some answers out of the little… the little underground village they had stumbled across. Some illegal immigrant had found the bunker more or less on accident almost two years ago and, upon finding it stocked full of nonperishable food, had invited all his friends and relatives, and then all of their friends and relatives to his new home before locking the rest of the world out for safety reasons. They had brought every piece of hydroponics equipment they could find with them too, and had lived rather well – until the generators started to run out of fuel. After that, they had started to figure out how to jerry rig the generators to the base's last-ditch nuclear reactor.

Great ideas, great ingenuity, impeccable survival instinct and heartwarming care for their neighbors… but shit execution.

Why?

All the manuals, all the programs for controlling the damn thing, were in English.

All they knew was that a few months ago, the computer screens started flashing red and a bunch of gibberish they couldn't understand every time they brought them out of hibernation.

More recently, everyone had started to get sick. And it was no wonder, with how much radiation was seeping out of the nuclear reactor that they had removed over half of the damn shielding from.

She tried to remind herself that it didn't count as base stupidity when the degree of pure ignorance was this high. No matter how much she wanted to screech at them, it really wasn't their fault that they didn't know better. Unfortunately, that only made the whole situation worse.

Well, at least we didn't stumble into the nuclear holocaust after all. This was considerably tamer than anything they had been prepared for, even if it made her want to cry tears of frustration.

Flopping the rest of the way against the ground, she considered her handwork. Other than the final sauter, this piece looked pretty decent. After the past few days spent wiring the connections correctly, she was trying to get all the shielding on the reactor back into place. Or at least, well enough in place to get the job done. Adam was focusing on the more domestic problems, like making sure they had been managing their plumbing and wiring well enough that they wouldn't soon kill themselves some other creative way. He had – correctly – assumed Hilde might be happier with a job that required a hammer and blowtorch more than troubleshooting appliances.

Now was probably a good time to see what the woman before had wanted, though it sounded like she'd left. Better late than never. She was astounded at just how much could be gotten across the language barrier with gesturing and drawing and some small amount of charades. Pushing out from underneath the behemoth of a machine she had been under, she pulled off her helmet and looked around. They had gotten the radiation down to relatively safe levels right off the bat, and she was loaded with a purely ridiculous amount of radioprotectors, but she preferred to have extra layers of protection over her body all the same. It never hurt to be too careful when you were getting up close and personal with an invisible killer. Her jumpsuit was made out of the same blocking material – she was fairly sure she wanted kids someday, or at least the option to decide if she did, thank-you – and froze in disbelief as she saw the plate of food that had been left for her.

Is that…?

Half dashing forward, she knelt and examined the pale green leaves mixed with the canned beans and rice and god knew what else. It can't be. Quickly, she yanked off her gloves and snatched up a piece to pop in her mouth.

Light, crisp, moist… It tasted more like water than anything. Holy shit!

She hadn't had lettuce in years. She hadn't realized how much she missed it until just now, but… Damn, when had fresh green food become such a novelty?

Settling back into a cross-legged position, she pulled the plate into her lap and began to eat with relish. There were only little pieces mixed in with the rest, but these people, however pathetic in other ways, knew how to make a meal worth eating.

oOo


oOo

Jerusalem, Israel

The house was still empty.

Quatre pursed his lips as he debated what to do. He had come by earlier in the day and rung the bell, to no answer. When he moved to look through the windows again, he could tell that nothing had been shifted around, which was a clear indicator of Moira's absence. She liked to spend her evenings either watching TV in the living room or baking, and he had a clear view into both rooms. It was equally obvious that they still lived there, however, with photos lining the walls and knick-knacks covering every available surface.

He had tried the doctor's office first, but the man had moved to a different location, and Quatre was unsure if that was something of an attempt to dissuade patients like Heero and he had been from showing up to hold him at gunpoint. Of course, it could also be assumed that very few of his patients – legitimate or otherwise – were invited into the Sronas' home like the two of them had been, so he had thought to try there next. It wasn't too great of a jump to think that the doctor might want to avoid having suspicious characters lingering outside his office, especially if someone in the government had noticed the neutrality he displayed – the very reason he had chosen to go to him in the first place.

With no one home, however…

He would just have to wait until Dr. Srona closed up shop for the evening before dropping in, like last time. This was his only link back to Heero, and that seemed like the best place to start. "Come on Cory. Let's go get some dinner."

oOo


oOo

Dachau, Germany – Evening

Relena looked around as they came into the restaurant, half expecting a dramatic change, but… no. She was inwardly rather surprised by Olivia's choice of venue, but her assessment essentially matched Jake's; this was to say it was worth blinking at, but then only earned a shrug. Neither of them would have guessed that the restaurant the young noblewoman insisted they just had to try with her was a homespun diner, but it wasn't entirely out of character either. Relena preferred this over the more high end dining she had assumed she was surrendering herself to, in any case.

Olivia was already seated and waved them over happily. Lin nodded to Jake and moved to sit on his own at a little table where he could watch the front and side entrances with ease while Mars moved back outside, now that he knew where they would be. Vaughn had stayed in the car, keeping an eye on the back of the building. Jake waved vaguely at Olivia as he turned away. "Save me a seat?"

"Of course," Relena returned automatically, and went to sit down while her bodyguard went to poke around the staff areas. If this had been a bigger venue he would have stationed someone in the kitchens, but as it was, there was little need. He couldn't justify intimidating the staff in a tiny kitchen when, after an initial inspection, it served just as well to watch the exits and patrol periodically on the pretense of being bored and friendly. Smiling at Olivia, she asked, "Have I happened on a favorite hideaway of yours?"

The redhead grinned. "It's as good as any other place. I've actually only been twice, but I stumbled across something I just had to share." Her smile turned secretive. "I thought you might appreciate it."

That sounded either promising or horrid; unfortunately, she didn't yet know Olivia well enough to guess which. Instead, she decided to focus on an aspect of the establishment that she did know she appreciated, even having only just arrived. "I like that no one's made a fuss over me yet." Some places, these days, she was virtually mobbed by well-meaning staff.

Though of course, there was still the chance that they simply hadn't put two and two together yet. If that was the case… Well, I can dream until they dash my hopes.

"Good evening, ladies," the waitress chirped as she bounced up to the table. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Water, please," Olivia decided without looking away from the princess, her eyes sparkling.

Debating exactly what she might have signed herself up for, Relena turned to meet the girl's eyes- froze in surprise. Honey blonde hangs hung over sky blue eyes set in a heart-shaped face. Her teeth were straight and perfect, and other than the fact that her hair was long enough to pull into a tiny ponytail… it was nearly like looking into a mirror. "Oh my…"

"Wow," the waitress agreed, just as taken aback. She nibbled at her lower lip and stared in apparent awe. "And people always say I look kinda like…" Her eyes widened as apparently Relena's identity actually clicked. "Oh wow. That's almost scary."

"What's scary?" Jake had finished his quick rounds and was walking towards them.

"Jake, come meet our waitress!" It was a little bizarre, but also undeniably cool. They say everyone has a twin out there, don't they?

The teenager spun to stare at the colonel and gasped. "Jake?" Her tone was disbelieving. "Jake Miller, is that you?" When he didn't immediately deny it, she let out something of a squeak. "Oh my God!"

The blonde man frowned, choosing to not react to her striking resemblance. "Do I know you?"

She laughed a little nervously and offered him a sheepish smile. "Oh, well, you wouldn't remember me, but you worked with my sister about six years ago, in L2… Adelia Fonne?"

Jake blinked, and Relena saw recognition light up his eyes as they widened with delight. "Daniella?" At her quick nod and eager smile, he dashed forward and pulled her into a hug. "Look at you!" he crowed, half spinning her so she giggled. "All grown up and beautiful! What are you now, sixteen?"

"Fifteen," she corrected, pulling back. "And you're younger than Addie, right? So… twenty-two?"

"Not for another two months, but close. How is Addie?" He frowned. "And while we're at it, why are you on Earth?"

"Oh, well…" The girl shifted in an embarrassed sort of way that Relena found herself suddenly grateful she didn't do herself. "We're getting by."

Now if that doesn't set off warning bells, I'm not sure what qualifies. Picking up on Jake's comment, she led with one of her own. "When did you leave the colonies?"

"Oh, November of 195. Nat proposed to Addie and asked us to move down to live with him." Her expression was sorrowful, but in a tired sort of way that made it obvious that the pain was old. "He was a soldier, though, so when Treize called everyone to fight at Libra…" She shook her head. "He never made it back. Uncle Madison told us he never wanted to see us again if we really had the gall to run off, so we didn't have anywhere to go back to, and Addie already had her baby on the way, so we just settled in. I started off here washing dishes, but waiting tables pays better, so here I am." This all had been directed at Jake, who was trying to make her meet his eyes, but then she bit her lip again and focused nervously on Relena. "Which reminds me… What can I get you to drink, ma'am?"

"Waters all around, for now," Jake decided, not wanting to drop the subject. "There are funds allocated to the families of the soldiers who died. Aren't you getting that?"

Daniella glanced quickly back to Relena and Olivia as if to check that they were okay with the continuing interrogation in favor of their order, before focusing back on Jake and shaking her head. "Nothing was really official… He hadn't even bought a ring yet because they used the money for my passport and ticket down instead. He was going to buy her one after he got his next check, but… well." She shrugged. It was fairly evident that if she had ever been bothered by that slight, she had long since gotten over it.

"What about the baby you mentioned, though?"

The girl's smile was bright and genuine. "Oh, he's just fine. Addie works a couple different places as a cleaning lady during the day, and I work evenings, so one of us is always home with him. We don't see too much of each other in between rushing in and out of the apartment, but we're not wanting bad for anything either." Shaking her head slightly and offering a gentle smile, she reached out to clasp both of Jake's hands. "It's really good to see you, though." Looking back to the table, she announced, "I'll be right out with your water, and I'll take the rest of your order whenever you're ready."

Jake looked a little lost as they watched her walk away… maybe a little heartbroken. Disenchanted, Relena decided, feeling her own heart wilt a little at the sight. Then his stance straightened, and he met her eyes with a determined glint in his own.

She preempted him before he could voice the idea in his head. "We do need a maid or two, and I don't see any reason why the little one would be a problem." She paused, then decided to ask the obvious question – the reason they still didn't have a maid. "You trust them?"

"Addie's an old friend," He told her seriously. "She has a good heart and a practical mind. We were both hired on for some projects in L2, and she almost always had little Daniella with her; their parents had died in the plagues that rose up in 185. Technically they were being raised by their uncle, but," he grimaced, "he was alternately either an asshole or not around." He let out a deep breath and moved to sit down, watching the door to the kitchen. "Apparently, when it rains, it pours. I'd like to go talk to Addie tonight, see if Dani isn't making it sound better than it is, and extend the offer. It'll probably take them a week or so to wrap up any business, and I want to be sure that that's a pleasant week instead of a hellish one." Relena nodded, not thinking of any particular point to dispute.

Olivia, meanwhile, chuckled. "Not to mention you'll have at least one, maybe two body doubles living in the same house as you. Once the neighbors get used to seeing them all the time, if they catch a glimpse of you, they will likely assume it's one of them and not you." Her smile widened into a smirk as she rested her head on one upturned palm. "And if you want to be out and have everyone think you're home, you could ask them to spend time, say, reading near a window in view of the street."

Relena narrowed her eyes at the other woman speculatively. "You were trying to arrange this."

She raised her brows coolly. "I arranged to show you the possibility, since I had seen her. I hadn't expected you to immediately insist she ought to move in with you. But," she flicked her eyes to Jake, "I also didn't suspect you had a previous connection to the girl that you might claim." She tilted her head away from her hand. "I feel I must note that I had no idea she had a close-knit family to go with her. In either case, however, such an arrangement would be beneficial to both parties, and cost no one anything just to open the door."

The princess studied the other woman for a long moment before nodding. That fit in with what she had already deciphered of Olivia. While she delighted in complex subtleties the way Dorothy did – she suspected it was a means both noblewomen used to convince themselves they were clever and thereby was simply an exercise in ego-stroking – she had a very strong focus on mutually beneficial relationships. Olivia… believed in a system working the way it was intended. The redhead would be the first to argue that in an ancient feudal system, if a lord behaved properly, there was nothing wrong with serfdom – both parties benefited from the arrangement. She would instead argue that the problem with classic feudalism was that there were no decent checks in place to ensure that said lord didn't take advantage and destroy the balance.

So… no, this maneuver was perfectly in line with Olivia's nature. Perfectly mutually advantageous arrangements… and there was a level of comfort to be had in that, however cold it might outwardly appear. It was something she was beginning to trust that she could rely on… and it was a good trait in an ally. "What did you think of this morning's show?" she asked curiously, her tone purposefully bland.

Olivia smiled and rested her head back in her hand. "My brother demanded I ask you all sorts of searching questions that I had to assure him I could repeat nigh verbatim. They all essentially boil down to him wanting to know how you think he ought to behave towards Milliardo concerning the incident."

"Your familial loyalty is simply astounding," Relena noted dryly.

She rolled her eyes. "When he gets this worked up about something, he desperately overcomplicates it."

oOo


oOo

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Devil's Den

"Amos got a girlfriend!"

"Did not!"

Nolan just laughed as he dashed around the couch to avoid the other teenager, who looked about ready to smack him. "She's totally your girlfriend!"

Amos looked about ready to strangle his pseudo-brother. "Having a friend that's a girl does not just mean-"

"She bought him a phone!" Nolan appealed to the other Devils in the den.

"It doesn't mean anything!"

"A phone?" Karina asked in surprise, looking up from her crossword.

"A nice phone, with paid net and everything," Nolan confirmed.

Amos was blushing furiously now. "It's because she moves around so much that she only gets to talk to her mom and brother," he defended. "She said it was the only way she could stay in touch at all."

"A long distance girlfriend," Robby mused, winking conspiratorially at Nolan. "Even better. There's that whole thing about different area codes, isn't there?"

"You're impossible!" Anika exclaimed, smacking him upside the head as she moved to the kitchen. "Don't teach him your bad habits."

Amos was even redder now, and he grit his teeth. "She isn't my girlfriend." The statement was half growl.

Rina picked up on the fact that he was actually bothered about the teasing and tried to sooth the boy's ego. "There's nothing wrong with it, whether she is or isn't," she assured him. "Like you said, if she's rich enough that buying you a phone was easy convenience, then I'm sure that's all she meant. From what I heard her say while she was here, she doesn't really have any friends except her brother, and he's family." She couldn't help but smile at him as she noted, "You have to admit that you two get on like peas in a pod, though. I bet she does like you."

The fifteen-year-old, who had started to calm, glowered at her. "She's twelve." Forcing a deep breath, he reaffirmed, "She's twelve, brilliant, way cool, and she's my friend."

…And the girl probably did like him, but there was no reason to try to continue the argument. Rina was debating how to end the conversation on a comfortable note when a catchy but odd bit of music started to play.

It was coming from Amos' pocket.

"Better answer that," Nolan sing-songed, then bolted out of the room before the other boy could retaliate.

Amos glared at them all and pointedly headed for the door that led outside as he pulled the phone out. "I'm going to work."

Rina snickered after he'd left, and she wasn't the only one. Renee looked up at them all from where she was idly playing on a blanket by her mother's feet, curious for a moment, before focusing back on gumming the iced teething ring Kay had bought for her. Pursing her lips and nodding seriously at her, she asked, "It tastes that good, huh baby?" Her little girl gurgled at her happily, and Rina smiled before picking her crossword puzzle back up, tuning out the conversation sparking back up around her as ambient noise. She didn't like to be alone, but she wasn't feeling social either… and it was a good way to relax, being with everyone without having to pay attention. She was off work today, and intent on enjoying it being lazy.

oOo


oOo

Frankfurt, Germany

"So what that means, is that he's going to be at least a day later than he said," Marlé concluded grumpily. "I'm seriously thinking I'll ditch."

Odin, of course, hadn't been able to really say why he was going to be longer than he'd said, but that wasn't exactly something to tell her new friend. All the same, though, the Sronas were not her mother, and however nice they were, she was really done traveling with them. It wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself, and their flight back to Jerusalem was scheduled for the morning.

"You're ditch your grandmother?" Amos sounded scandalized.

"Well, really she's Odin's stepmom," Marlé dismissed. "And besides, I haven't told them that Odin isn't going to meet me where he said yet, so I'd just say we're meeting up the next city over, and let Odin know I took the train back to Amsterdam."

"You're coming back?"

"Well, it's not like I've got anything better to do. I mean, if you'd rather I didn't, I could wander to France or something, but I think I want to be near the ocean, so I'm not staying here." She didn't want to, like, be overbearing or something, but if he was weirded out by her leaving the Sronas to their own devices, she didn't want him thinking he was the reason she was doing it.

"No, I don't mind," he argued. "I just… I have school, and you wouldn't…"

"I'll camp out in my hostel bunk and work on my programs or something when you're busy," she noted. "I think I'm finally really getting somewhere with it, and it's what I'd be doing anywhere. I can do my own thing, Amos – it's just if I'm in the same city, I can visit when you've got time for it. I don't want to put my relatives out telling them, because then they'd cancel their flight and wait here with me instead of going home, because I don't have a ticket." She shrugged a little. "Odin doesn't really care either way, so long as I keep him posted and don't do something stupid." Like get on the plane with the Sronas. That would count as stupid.

She had to take care of a few things if she was really going to do it, though. "Hey, I'll let you know when I've got a better idea of when I'll get in town, I've gotta do some stuff." It was as good an idea as any other, really. "Catch you later."

"Catch you later," he mimicked quickly, and she hit the disconnect before hopping to her feet to make sure her bag was packed.

It actually didn't occur to her until after she had said her goodbyes to the Sronas, bought her ticket, and was already on a train that she'd never traveled alone before. By then, however, it was a little too late to do anything but blink in surprise at the passing scenery as she tried to decide what that meant.

oOo


oOo

Southern Sudan – Blue Nile Base

It was… nice.

He honestly hadn't expected that, for all that he hadn't thought it would be hard to tolerate – he had managed well enough with people he liked far less in the past. This, though… He'd never been to anything like this.

He was up to almost his shoulders in hot water, which was great on its own, and though there were other people in the giant tub with him, they didn't insist he join their conversations. There was music in the background somewhere, a lap pool full of people, a few TVs, and as many voices as he'd expect in a city square… but beyond proximity, these things didn't appear to be interrelated. Groups mixed and separated as the night went on, and the atmosphere stayed very relaxed.

Nothing was expected of him.

This was not to say he was ignored; soldiers smiled and waved, or raised a glass in cheers, or sometimes trotted over to hop in the tub or insist he try their drink. They respected his boundaries… and some of the drinks were really good.

He considered his current favorite as he took another sip through the neon yellow straw. Alcohol had never really peaked his interest before, but he was finding it fairly enjoyable, tonight. There were definitely mental effects that came with it, but they were mild, at least at this dose… and despite having less in the way of side effects when compared to any of the painkillers he'd ever taken, it had a startlingly strong numbing effect on the deep throb in his leg. It definitely wasn't something he could use when he needed his full focus, but it might make a pleasant addition on the evenings after he had overextended himself, like tonight. Its ready accessibility only made it that much more useful of a tool.

"Mm, you look happy," Noin muttered as she climbed the stairs into the tub.

Odin smiled. "I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would." He made sure not to be too obvious about it, but another revelation of the evening had been that the bikinis the soldier women wore were… appreciatively distracting. Abdul had happily informed him, upon seeing his attention wander, that so long as he didn't 'gawk like a schoolboy', they wouldn't mind being watched; something about how they would have worn something a little more conservative if they didn't want to attract some admiration. Considering his memories of the modest one-pieces the noblewomen at Relena's Sanc school wearing when in the pool, that seemed like a sensible conclusion.

Her hair piled in a messy bun on the back of her head and all her smooth skin and curves laid bare, Noin looked far more a beautiful stranger than Relena's aide.

Then again, he supposed he was no more a gundam pilot now than Noin was Captain-General of Sanc. So many things had changed… some irreparably, and some maybe for the better. Too much had happened now to try to trace the decisions back and consider where other paths might have led.

The idea of having a gundam again, though… that had a lot of appeal. He hadn't realized how much he had missed piloting until today, and he knew himself well enough to recognize it was a craving he might never fully sate. He had already started planning out what exercises he needed to add to his daily regimen to recondition his body for the cockpit; it had been the fine manipulation of the foot pedals that pushed him to the point of needing his cane. The motions themselves came to him easily enough, but his muscles hadn't been ready for the fast, minute repetition required for fast maneuvering. It was just different enough from everything else he did that it made all the difference.

Noin smiled at him as she sank into the water and leaned back into one of the jets with a happy sigh. "You buzzed yet?"

He considered that for all of one second before nodding decisively. "Yes." His senses were definitely compromised and his thoughts were fluid. But as the room had not yet begun to spin, he was fairly sure he hadn't crossed over from 'buzzed' to 'tipsy' yet.

She grinned broadly, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back to rest on the edge of the tub. "Always so honest."

He frowned, considering; it was far from the first time she had said that. "There isn't any reason not to be," he defended slowly.

The general didn't open her eyes as she idly trailed the fingertips of one hand over the surface of the water. "It's just nice," she explained, a little smile playing on her lips. "A refreshing change. I grew up surrounded by people always intent on showing only their best, proper, or preset face… I think I've had my fill of mystery and intrigue, however charming. Life provides enough of that to satisfy me, I think, without adding more."

There was something strangely enchanting, graceful, even, about the way she was moving her hand, and he couldn't quite figure out what. "That makes sense." Tilting his head to one side as the pattern changed, he felt the need to note, "I'm not always honest."

She giggled, opening one dark violet eye to glance at him for a moment before resuming her pose. "Oh yes, I haven't forgotten. I've made a point, in fact, to not ask questions that sound like orders." Giggling a little more, she shook her head, resuming her patterns. "Damn cell phone… How is Marlé, by the way? Weren't you supposed to meet back up with her tonight?"

"She went to visit a friend," he explained, still focused on the woman's movements. "She wouldn't have decided to do it if she wasn't comfortable, so she ought to be safe enough. Her instincts are good."

"Good for her," the woman murmured. "The first steps are usually the biggest."

He shrugged, still trying to sort out why her hand was so fascinating. The best he could come up with was that it had something to do with the alcohol in his bloodstream, and that idea was even more disturbing than the notion that… there was something unique… that thought didn't actually go anywhere that made sense, actually.

Definitely inebriated.

The water swished forward in a small wave as Abdul pushed himself their way, letting himself sink up to his neck. "Sweet Lucrezia," he crooned playfully. "You finally decide to grace us with your presence!"

Not opening her eyes, she used thumb and forefinger to flick water at him. "I was busy socializing with everyone, raising morale and the like," she informed him dryly. "Remind me why I agreed to come do your job for you, please?"

"So I could look manly and important hanging out with the hero of the hour," he returned easily, his tone implying this was pure logic. "This also raises morale, yes?"

She snickered as she opened her eyes to give him an incredulous look before glancing back to Odin. "Can you believe him?"

He blinked, fairly sure the man hadn't been serious… but the expression on Abdul's face wasn't exactly encouraging. In lieu of anything relevant to add, another phrase of Marlé's came to mind that he was at least fairly sure was true. "I had nothing to do with it."

Abdul laughed uproariously, and Noin pushed him back across the tub with one foot while she dissolved into giggles. Odin smiled, but mostly only because they were laughing – he was fairly sure he'd missed something, but was willing to go along with it for the moment. He had a question he had been meaning to ask for a while now that the Maguanac had reminded him of, and it was frustratingly difficult to keep in mind while the other pilot caught her breath.

She had programmed herself into his phone originally as 'Lu', and while during the war he had never been entirely sure what her first name even was, she had used it so rarely, he seemed to hear it near constantly now. She had been going on about being plain a minute ago…

When she seemed to have calmed herself somewhat, he asked, "Why do they call you Lucrezia?"

"Mm…" She settled her head back on the tub rim again, but kept her eyes open, meeting his. "Why do I call you Heero, Heero?"

…That was a very good question. One he didn't have a very definitive answer to. Heero Yuy wasn't really… Well, it had really been his name at some point… and it was all he'd ever given her to call him… though actually, he didn't think he'd ever introduced himself, someone else had told her that was his name…

She probably thought it was actually his name.

She shook her head and went on; either she decided she wasn't getting an answer out of him any time soon – probably accurate – or it had been a rhetorical question. "I only call you Yuy when we're on a mission, you might have noticed."

That was a far simpler explanation than he had been expecting. There were a few holes in the theory, however. "But Relena always-"

"I also might have been trying for a bit more formality than was necessary in the past," she interrupted with a grimace. "I…" She looked away from him, staring at the far wall. "I wanted… to be seen as something very particular. I spent years moulding myself into that figure only to realize, up at Libra, that I didn't even know what it was." She offered him a rueful smile and closed her eyes again. "I'd spent so long chasing a fairy tale that I forgot I really only knew maybe a third of the story to begin with. I decided I was done with flights of fancy, and took some time to get my head together, and remembered that before I started sacrificing everything for an ideal dream… I was Lucrezia. And I still am. It just… got a little buried for a while."

That… sounded eerily familiar. They had made him bury who he had been during the retraining, forced him to focus on the ideals of emotionless, perfect performance, but by the end of the war… then after… When he had started trying to decide what to do with himself, he had tracked back what he remembered from before Odin had died – started living by the codes he had been taught as a child. He was more than aware he had continued remaking a mimicry of his old life, teaching Marlé and taking her with him everywhere the way Odin had looked after and taken care of him. And… he was actually enjoying life again.

"Odin," he announced abruptly, sitting up and meeting her eyes.

She blinked and focused on him. "Hm?"

"Heero Yuy is just a name," he explained. "I don't mind it, it's mine too now, but…" He licked his lips. "I'm Odin." That statement either made perfect sense or none at all, he was fairly sure, but hopefully Noin… Lucrezia… could piece the meaning together.

She seemed lost in thought for a moment, turning over the new piece of information in her mind, before smiling and sitting forward to hold out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Odin. I'm Lucrezia."

He laughed, that fantastic bubbling of emotion rising in his chest the same way it had this morning as he ran for Heavyarms. He couldn't explain it… but something had just…

He shook her hand firmly, and as an afterthought offered her his drink, which she grinned and took a long sip from before passing back.

He'd figure it out later.

oOo


oOo

Jerusalem, Israel

"Can I help you?"

He didn't recognize the man from before, but that didn't mean anything. He could hear water running somewhere out of sight. "I was hoping I could see Dr. Srona," he announced after a moment. "Is he still in?"

"He is," the man noted, looking them over critically… but not in the typical way, he realized. He wasn't looking down on them… he was looking for injuries, confused at finding none. "Come on in, both of you… If you could tell me what the problem is, I can get what's needed while you talk to him."

Someone turned off the faucet. He could feel muted curiosity… and easygoing resignation, when he focused. Two years ago, he would have had to strain to his limits and only gotten the barest edge of the emotion from such a disciplined mind as the doctor, but for better or worse, his time in the desert had ripped his abilities bloody and screaming into the open.

Everyone acted like he had taken in Cory and saved him… But in truth, he didn't think he could say his mind was still intact if he hadn't found the quiet boy's peacefully blank psyche to revel in.

"We're actually not hurt at all," he admitted. "It's been a while, but the Sronas are an old acquaintance, and I was actually just hoping to catch up."

Sam Srona came into his line of sight, drying his hands on some paper towels as he focused on them… and obviously didn't recognize him. Still, it was good to see a face from before; he hadn't known the man more than in passing, but the doctor had treated he and Heero better than anyone else had for over a year, before their visit. He had helped them despite the risks, and gone far beyond what his medical code required he offer his patients. "Doctor," he greeted, "It's good to see you." He had been afraid that he wouldn't find the man at all, and he didn't think it would be possible to find Heero without anything to build from. "I tried to stop by your house first, but no one was home, so I thought I would try your new office."

The older man frowned. The note about visiting his home was a definite clue, but apparently not enough of one, with how much he had changed. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't quite recall…"

He chuckled and shrugged. He hadn't expected the doctor to recognize him, but it still gave him a thrill that he was properly anonymous now. "I was wondering if you would. I grew, and changed." He gestured at his face, offering another hint. "You actually helped with this part, though; my eyes used to be blue, but you provided drops to change them." He had debated asking for more of the solution, considering the rather distinct blue flecks scattered throughout his now honey-colored irises, but had decided he liked it; he had changed enough that the peculiarity shouldn't really matter. When the doctor still only appeared to be wracking his mind, he decided enough was enough and added, "My friend stayed with you while his leg healed. I was hoping you could tell me which way he went, once he recovered."

Confusion reigned for another long moment before a spark of sharp disbelief lit the man like a beacon and he took a few steps forward to peer into his face. Quatre let him, unable to help a pleased grin at the reaction. He was more than happy to let the surprised wave of joy wash over him as the man reached out and pulled him into a tight embrace. "It's good to see you!" he exclaimed as Quatre hugged him back. This was more emotion than he had been expecting out of a mere acquaintance, but he could hardly complain. "We'd given you up for dead!" Pulling back, he admitted, "We had hoped, but… he wasn't sure you would have been alright with leaving him behind." He shook his head. "Where are my manners? This is my son-in-law, Matthew. Matt, this is-"

"Katriel," Quatre inserted smoothly, holding out his hand to shake.

"I was going to say Odin's friend, but a name works too," Sam noted, amused.

Odin. There was one clue, at least, and would give him something to work off of if they didn't have anything more solid. He wondered why his friend had chosen it, though; he wouldn't have thought Norse mythology was something that would pop into the taciturn soldier's head.

"In any case, the women of the family decided to take a vacation touring through Western Europe, with all the tumult from northern Africa going on," Dr. Srona went on to explain. "We thought it might be best to limit any risks of violence if Colonel Mitchell didn't catch all his stragglers. We've been sleeping in office the past two weeks, but they're due back tomorrow, so we were planning on heading home tonight." He shook his head a little, eyes sketching over him again and again, taking in the new details. "You're welcome to stay the night, if you would like; we have plenty of room for you and your friend."

There was amusement when he focused on Cory, which almost put Quatre's back up, but it wasn't with any of the twisted insinuations that usually accompanied that line of thought. It was decidedly bland and innocent, but still there… in a warm way. There was no way to ask, though, as it wasn't obvious in his facial expression, so he decided to just leave it lie. Cory probably reminds him of someone he cares for. "I appreciate the offer, but we were intending to catch the train north in a few hours." He shifted his weight and shrugged his shoulders. "I was mostly hoping that you had known where Odin intended to head next."

"Ah. That, in particular, is not something I know." Damn. "He moves around so much I doubt even he knows beyond a few hours, some days."

Even as his hopes dropped, however, he caught the hint, the implications. He didn't have a chance to probe before the doctor continued. "I don't have his number, with the way he goes through them, but Moira does." He grimaced and shook his head. "With the difference in time zones and the current hour, however, I rather doubt she will pick up her phone. She's not a woman who wakes easily."

Quatre blinked, stunned, then smiled broadly. "He stayed in direct contact?" He had never even considered that option.

"Well, not originally, but Moira got her hooks in well enough that he came back for a visit a few months after he'd rushed out," Dr. Srona explained cheerfully. "If you still have a few hours, why don't we get ourselves some dinner? If you really must leave tonight, I'm sure you can give me an email address to forward along in the morning?"

"We already ate," Cory admitted, seeming to warm up to the stranger a little.

"Dinner for me and dessert for you?" the man suggested without missing a beat. "I'm certain there's some sort of ice cream decadence stashed away in my freezer." He winked at Quatre. "She insists it's for emergencies."

"Or keeping the peace," Matt noted dryly, crossing his arms. "I've certainly seen it stop what looked to be a hell of a warpath at least twice."

Quatre shook his head, grinning. The doctor's emotions were entirely genuine and as bright as a child's, which was always pleasant, and though the other man seemed more reserved, it was only that his emotions were low-key, not mixed. "I think we would enjoy that."

oOo


oOo

Brussels, Belgium – Night

Before today, Milliardo hadn't believed so much could go so horribly wrong in the span of twelve hours. Barton had beaten him soundly back into Dr. Sanders' frustratingly steadfast, stubborn care. At least that wasn't entirely his own fault – Epyon had been malfunctioning – but the truth was even more depressing than the alternative. China was apparently dropping its isolationist stance for the first time in millennia in favor of his enemies, and he couldn't do a thing about it; he had lost the fraction of leverage he had over them this morning, and now had to rely on his sister's graces to deal with them.

He rubbed his tongue hard over the roof of his mouth before realizing he was doing it, and bit the inside of one cheek gently as he grimaced. His head was still spinning from the concussion he had sustained in the cockpit earlier, but Sanders had point blank refused to be put off again.

He would have thought physicians were above resorting to blackmail.

Apparently, however, it was an acceptable method for coping with 'stubborn jackasses who don't understand their limits or know what's good for them'. Milliardo frankly hadn't been cognitive enough to come up with a properly convincing argument for continuing to refuse treatment, especially when the pain was searing lightning hot, but this was… abhorrent.

Three days. He'd argued the man into leaving him alone if this didn't go away within three days; surely he could claim that much after the rather spectacular debacle that news crews had managed to get full footage of. I can write it off as the lingering effects of the concussion. And hopefully avoid face-to-face contact.

The mop-up in northern Africa was going well, at least. He wasn't even sure where to begin with the problems further south anymore, but clearing out those psychotic anarchists had to be a decent start for sorting out that continent, and in the meantime…

Epyon.

He needed a software engineer. One of the best, who had worked with custom suits before. Unfortunately, he was fairly sure the best were all either dead, at this point, or out for his blood.

Not for the first time, he wondered if Treize had had any idea what kind of nightmare he had created in his gundam. Considering the fact that the man had simply given the damn thing away, he was starting to find that possibility more and more likely. Treize had been a superb pilot, but he had decided Epyon was too much for him – despite having had no problems with Tallgeese or its various reincarnations. Despite the fact that Tallgeese had a talent for killing its pilots. Wing Zero and Epyon were both just as maddeningly powerful as Tallgeese, but both newer suits had a distinct programming difference from the gundam archetype: Zero.

Epyon was incapable of high-level combat without Zero. Its programming was essentially corrupt.

It hadn't shown up in the diagnostics because on a theoretical level, it was fine. However, once the systems sped up past a certain point, where calculations needed to be made and reacted upon within microseconds, depending on the results for smooth movement, there were blatant gaps several milliseconds wide.

The best analogy his diagnostic team had been able to give him was that of the old Blackbirds, the spy planes before technology had sorted out metals capable of resisting thermal expansion. On the ground, it was incomplete, with gaps between the plates that made it whole; but flying at Mach III, the metal expanded and made the plane perfectly capable where otherwise it would have been falling apart.

Zero was meant to fill those gaps in Epyon's coding, because even with modern technology as it was, the untapped power of the human brain outperformed the greatest processors. Zero's unique ability to interface directly with the pilot's brain, sync with it, and turn the mind into a probability supercomputer was what made it so unstoppable.

Unfortunately, dark, psychotic urges and distance variables were equally valid data; Zero didn't understand enough about the human mind to differentiate the two.

Milliardo could never trust himself under the influence of Zero again. Not after what had happened last time. He needed solid programming to fill the gaps… and considering the damage the battle at Libra had done to him, he needed to craft something with better variations for considering the G forces exerted on the pilot than Tallgeese had used.

He had people working on it, but it was… a disaster as bad as not realizing the problem before trying to fight a gundam with it. Ideally, the information was out there for the taking somewhere, but he had no guarantee Wing Zero hadn't been crafted on the same principle. And even if it did exist, he had put relatively little effort into counter-intelligence since his rise to power. Too many would like to see him fall, and he was no tyrant, capable of instilling fear so strongly into the survivors of his madness that they would be too terrified of repercussions to revolt. Perhaps in his circumstance that was a weakness, but not one he would ever wish he was without. He might have done something monstrous, but he was not a monster.

Some things simply had to be done.

He looked up when the door clicked open without a knock, and eyed his general appraisingly. "Lee." He looked… Ah. If it didn't feel so surreal as fate, he might have had the urge to laugh. Of course. "Where?"

The man closed his eyes for a moment, then shut the door behind him and strode forward to slap a folder onto his desk. "L1-X16426. All we have are a few images from a nearby satellite as proof of the invasion. All contact otherwise, lost."

Milliardo leaned forward and opened the folder, glancing at and flipping the first few pages as he ignored the odd way they felt on his fingertips, then focusing on what he already knew: L1-X16426 was one of his more important midrange bases, a perfectly positioned relay. An excellent first strike. Of course, it would be. "How wide is our blackout?" Twelve clusters, at least.

"Thirty-eight colonies confirmed, fifty-three overdue and suspected."

Milliardo nodded. Six colonies to a cluster… Fifteen confirmed. Sixteen likely. That would keep them neatly concealed at the core of it all… With outside communications cut, literally anything could be happening in there, and with that wide of a bubble…

Sometimes, he despised space.

"We're lucky they missed their timing on the shots, or we wouldn't know what was in there at all," Lee muttered, but his cheek twitched as he said it.

Normally, Milliardo would have let it go, but he just didn't see the point in dancing around the subject, leading into the possibilities. "You don't believe that."

He closed his eyes and jerked his chin to one side in concession, but didn't bother apologizing. "No. The rest of the execution was too perfect. The preparation this took… either these images were unavoidable in order to accomplish a simultaneous goal, or-"

"It's a declaration," Milliardo finished tiredly, letting the papers drop back to the first thermal image in the stack. A solid formation of carriers, perfect, even… and something else he couldn't begin to identify that was flying under its own power. It was a firm statement… almost artfully so.

"We shall need to craft a suitable response, then," he murmured, resisting the urge to rub at his eyes.

"…You should get some sleep, sir."

Milliardo nodded. "You as well. We've got our work cut out for us in the morning."

oOo


oOo

July 2nd 198 – Wednesday – Prague, Czech Republic

Treize, you sly son of a gun, Sally mused fondly, trying not to laugh outright. This has you written all over it, but you knew he wouldn't see the truth of it. You'll hide out in the open now, and make him come to you.

If he'd been standing in front of her, Sally could have kissed the man. A feint, a taunt, hints of intrigue that reeked of power… If they were lucky, Marquise would fall for it hook, line, and sinker before recognizing the unique flair of his "dead" friend. And if Treize kept to himself in space until the situation stabilized enough on both sides to bring in liaisons, that meant she could stop worrying so much about counter-ops, and possibly kicking over his sandcastles on accident. He still had infiltrated just about everywhere, she could assume, but she gave people a chance to run as a matter of course – Lucrezia still had nightmares of watching her students' dormitories burn to the ground. Sometimes that sort of tactic couldn't be helped, but Sally found collateral damage appalling at best and thus believed it a last resort best abandoned in all but the most extreme circumstances.

Ramming Libra with Peacemillion had been one such circumstance; the entirety of the planet would have died if they had held back, there.

In truth, however, she had lived through far too many of those situations in her twenty-five years, both in her homeland and elsewhere. Hell, she'd met Lucrezia in a damned gory situation… but at least in that instance, they had all been soldiers. Warriors died – it was part of the career path they tried to cover with frills, but it was a simple fact that you had to either accept or go mad with when you joined up. The majority of people out there, however, hadn't signed up for any of that shit… and yet they were right in the middle of it.

In any case, Treize had presented an ideal solution for the time being, and she was perfectly sure he'd gift-wrapped it for her as much as he had his old subordinate. He'd stay in his sandbox, and she in hers; they'd talk once their castles were a little less fragile. And in the meantime, they were able to work a hell of a pincer without any coordination whatsoever.

She'd gotten worse presents before.

oOo


oOo


Revival


oOo


Thoughts? Theories? If anyone wants to see why Sally's age isn't canon, please see the rant I'll post below… If you don't care, then hey, Sally's older than the majority of the main characters, whatever. Personally, I really loved this chapter on practically all points… Odin and Lucrezia rather ran away with it, but Relena screeching at Zechs' general makes me grin every time I look back to it too.


oOo


Sally Rant

I have some overall issues about Sally. The canon says she's a medical doctor. It also introduces her as being nineteen. But, okay, a lot of people in this universe are damn far in their careers at a young age, I mean, Treize is leading OZ at twenty-four, and Une is supposed to be the same age as Sally, Noin, and Lucrezia, and no one bats an eye at their ages, so this is fairly normal. That might also be why they're willing to take Relena as seriously as they do at some points of the show, except for the fact that it seemed fairly clear she was in high school during the show, but hey, we never saw the actual schoolwork (did we? I haven't seen the show in forever…) so they could even be more at a college level, which would make sense with the school being so politically oriented and specific in a lot of ways, and it might make sense why all those people had no issue sending their teenagers off to Relena's school. That or there are both early/fast tracks to follow for careers if you really know what you want at eleven years old, and then there's what we would consider more normal of an education track.

Thing is, Sally was a medical doctor when she was in Episode Zero, in 194, at 18, supposedly, and she apparently had also already specialized because she just transferred to the South J.A.P. Point medical facility where it first shows her in the show because Heero was taken there – where Duo rescues him and they jump out that 50 story window – one year later, and she's pretty high up. Residency, I don't care how condensed, is going to take a minimum of three years, so we have a doctor at age fifteen, apparently. Say they condense current medical school by ditching all things not immediately necessary to understanding the body and cut it down to three years instead of four, from a little above average high school education, that means she got into medical (or at least the Alliance military version of it) school at thirteen. And far more academic proficiency is required to be a doctor and understand just the conceptual so forth of the body workings than to go be a soldier, so she had to have spent more time and study at it, so even if she's finished their version of high school at eleven… eleven-year-old brains, just in terms of development, are only barely reaching the level where they are capable to begin understanding highly conceptual stratagems like those involved in chemistry or advanced biology or a lot of kinds of math. That sort of set-up for medicine wouldn't work unless you're dealing with a genius, and Sally is point blank never vaguely suggested as being extraordinary beyond her ability to lead and pull off what she wanted to do with kinda shitty resources.

Therefore, I'm making Sally a bit older, because I think this is kinda like the random date swapping surrounding Mariemaia where the creators were being really stupid with their timeline and not doing any research whatsoever. She's twenty-three at the start of the show, finished residency at twenty-two and went out on the Sanitation Squad bit she was on in Wufei's Episode Zero, graduated medical school at nineteen, started medical school at sixteen. I'm sorry, I was pre-med and I'm still hip deep in medicine, and the previous timeline is just stupid and laughable. Seeing as it's now mid 198, she's twenty-five, while Zechs, Noin, and Jake are twenty-one and Treize is twenty-six. The increased age and would also make sense as to why she has more control and respect from her troops, especially if they all start so young as Zechs, Noin & co.