Author's Note: This is a bit of a long one. Sorry about the delay. But hey! I have a beta-reader now! Thank you so much, Wing's Landing! Of course any further errors are still entirely due to my own sloppiness and not hers.

Negotiations

Ravensthorpe Castle, Northamptonshire

Mareen watched as the gentle rolling hills of the English countryside opened up to reveal behind them a lone house in the distance situated on an isthmus by a still lake seemingly untouched by time. She knew however that this was not some magical fairytale palace from the middle ages but a modern construction erected by the efforts of Relena's paternal great-great-grandfather some ninety years ago. Rather new, considering the ages of the other great houses in the region.

The approach to the primary Darlian residence in England had always conjured up butterflies in Mareen's stomach. She remembered the first time she had come to this place. She was no older than Relena. She had come as Robert's fiance and the young heiress of some minor provincial estate in the backwaters of Normandy, or so the girls of Romefeller Court would often remind her. And she was sure that the great House of Darlian would look down upon her as unworthy for their eldest son and heir apparent. She wasn't wrong.

She had to work hard to gain the respect of his illustrious family. And through the years as she admirably performed her duties as Robert's wife and partner, they finally accepted her as one of their own. Her refusal to kowtow to Dermail after the blatant murder of her husband by the hands of OZ under the directive of Romefeller led her to being estranged from the rest of her in-laws, who had always been adept at rolling with the tides of history. But those terrible days were over now and in truth, the Darlians quite admired her opposition to Romefeller, even if they couldn't say so in public. And they had always been unfailingly proud of Relena, whom, regardless of her true blood lineage, they had always considered one of their own.

Mareen's car pulled up to the front gate and after a moment of deliberation between her driver and the security guard, the black iron gates slowly slid open allowing them through. It took another good five minutes of driving up a winding path covered by a canopy of foliage before they came to the main approach. The car traveled along the left side of the perfectly manicured gravel road divided down the middle by a series of fountains.

The butler, Roland, received Mareen with his usual professionalism. He was a capable servant, although, nothing compared to Pagan, Mareen secretly thought. He led her into the main library where Beatrice, her mother-in-law, and Stella, her sister-in-law, were and announced her arrival.

"Lady Mareen Darlian," he said before excusing himself.

"Ahh, my dear, so glad you are here," Beatrice said as she got up from the couch and made her way over to Mareen.

"Yes, we were beginning to think that you weren't coming," Stella said still staring at the papers in front of her and decidedly making a point not to get up or even look at Mareen.

"I apologize, I was held up in London," Mareen said politely.

"I wasn't aware you knew anyone in London," Stella said.

Mareen merely rolled her eyes and followed Beatrice to sit down. Apparently they had been working on something that requires quite a bit of focus and attention.

"Well, we've narrowed down the candidates quite a bit," Beatrice said as she picked up her tablet.

"Yes, naturally, mother and I have different preferences," Stella said with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Stella cares for money above all," Beatrice said shooting Stella a quick but nasty glare.

"Only a fool would deny the importance of financial security," Stella countered with a glare of her own.

"I dare say, Relena is quite rich enough," Mareen remarked.

"Precisely, she doesn't need money, she needs… refinement," Beatrice said with a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

Beatrice pulled up a picture of a handsome young man in an Alliance dress uniform on her tablet and handed it over to Mareen.

"May I present… Sir Gerard Monreal," Beatrice said. "Son of Felip Monreal, Count of Pallars Jussà. Currently serving as the Development Minister in the Casiano Administration in territorial Spain. Oh, and was a captain with the Alliance Airforce. I know how much Relena likes soldiers."

"Another brutish soldier, that's the last thing Relena needs," Stella scoffed.

"And your alternative?" Mareen asked.

Stella opened up her file folder, flipped through it and placed the photo on top and slid it over to Mareen.

"Andreas Metternich-Hyeon, CEO of Deutsche Bank," Stella said. "28 years old, youngest executive in Deutsche Bank history. He does business in Brussels all the time. Their paths must've crossed already."

"And how do you know he's interested?" Mareen asked.

"Please, any single man in the universe is interested," Stella answered dismissively.

"And some of the not single ones too, I'd imagine," Beatrice added with a little giggle.

Stella merely shot her mother a knowing look and a hint of a smile.

"Impressive ladies, very impressive, both fines choices," Mareen said suddenly sounding rather smug. "You are both to be congratulated for your efforts."

"Oh and I suppose you've come up with someone better?" Stella asked as she rolled her eyes.

"I might have," Mareen answered.

The smoke and the heat of the flames made his eyes water. He could barely keep them open. But it didn't really matter. He didn't need to be able to see particularly well to complete his task. He could feel if they were alive or dead just by placing the blade of his bayonet gently on a body for a few seconds. They could play dead all they wanted but Heero had gotten proficient at finding their pulse. The task was simple enough and there was no real danger at this point. Check for survivors. If there were any, plunge the blade through their chest and move on to the next one.

It wasn't the most exciting of assignments but it was what he was ordered to do so he did it without complaints. It didn't matter that he had participated in the assault itself. One of only 14 men who did so. It didn't matter that he had killed six men during the initial assault and held off a counter attack in one of the corridors of the base all by himself. All that mattered was that he was the youngest member of the team by far, so he had to do the job that no one else wanted to do. Kill the survivors.

Doctor J had lent Heero out to the colonial rebels for an assault on an Alliance base. He said it was good for him to have some experience fighting alongside some irregulars, to learn how asymmetric warfare was conducted in real time, and to get his hands a little bloody after all that training. They did manage to take the base in short order and Heero turned out to be an excellent combatant.

He heard the quivering sounds of another living human beneath his feet. This one wasn't even trying to play dead. She was just terrified. He traced his bayonet near to the chest but just as he was just about to plunge it into her chest when he heard:

"Wait!"

Heero turned to look. It was the commander and one of his comrades. They made their way over to him through the hellscape of flames and mangled steel.

"What are you an idiot?!" One of the men shouted at him as he slapped him across the face.

He then made it over to the girl, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to her feet. She screamed in pain. Even through his blurry vision, Heero could see the absolute terror in her eyes.

"Shut up!" He said as he punched her in the stomach.

She let out a desperate yelp.

Confused, Heero looked at the commander. The young man with kind eyes, who had commanded the raid, who must've been no older than 30 looked down at Heero sympathetically and ruffled his hair. Heero remembered being rather confused as to how such a seemingly nice man could commit such violent acts.

"You did good today," he said as he knelt down in front of Heero.

"Oooh," the other man said as he gently dragged his finger down the side of the terrified girl's cheek. "Boss, this one's pretty."

"She's all yours," the commander said.

"I don't understand…" Heero said. "I thought you said to kill all the survivors."

"We don't kill the girls," the commander explained.

Heero looked at him, still confused. The commander offered him a kind smile and ruffled the boy's hair once again.

"You're still a little young," he said. "Next time."

The commander got up as the other man dragged the girl away. Heero remembered staring at her as the young Alliance officer was dragged away by her hair, kicking and screaming. Her eyes expressed a fear, an absolute terror, he had never known before. The image of that girl being dragged away has never left him.

Heero woke up covered in a cold sweat. He was shivering and his pulse was racing. It took him a second to remember where he was. Through the fog of his nightmare, he had to try to piece back together what had been his dream and what was reality. He was Heero Yuy, Gundam Pilot, Personal Protection Officer to the Vice-Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. He was 18 years old. He was in the penthouse suite of the Regency Hotel in Elgin on L2 G-17868. The war is over. He looked around at the dark room around him. Beside him, Relena slept peacefully. Completely unaware of the nightmare from which he had just awoken. Yes, the war is over.

He got out of bed and made his way over to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror. His cold eyes started back at him. He couldn't remember if that stare was something he developed over the course of his brutal youth or something he was born with. Either way, it was a constant reminder of where he came from and what he would always be. And if he should ever forget, the deep recesses of his mind would always resurface that memory. That try as he might, he would never be able to escape sins. That every time he touched Relena, he was infecting her. And that whenever he lost control of himself when he was intimate with her, he was participating in that very same violence that he had witnessed that first time, when the young rebel commander and his man dragged that girl away.

He turned off the lights in the bathroom and crawled back into bed. He checked the time on Relena's phone. It was 3:45am. It was a long time until daybreak. He turned to look at Relena. She was still sound asleep. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if he should try to go back to sleep. The fear of going back into that hellscape scared him. A few minutes later, he felt her stir.

"Heero?" Relena murmured through the fog of sleep. "What time is it?"

"It's still the middle of the night," Heero whispered. "Go back to sleep."

He held her gentle fingers entwine with his. "Hold me."

She had no idea how much he needed to hear those two simple words. She probably wasn't even aware that she had said them. But somehow, in that moment, he felt all of his fears and anxieties melt. He complied. Wrapping his arms around her as he pressed his chest against her back and lacing his leg in between hers, he felt the tension in his back dissipate. Not long after, he fell back asleep.

The Valknut, Brussels

"And you just let them take him?" Nolan shouted at the top of his lungs.

Une, Duo, Nolan, Hope, and Morgan Barnes, the Preventers general counsel convened in Une's office. Nolan was his characteristically enraged self and while Une managed to maintain her composure, this time she did feel his vitriol a little more than usual. He was right, Tristan was part of her investigation, not Ingrid's, despite the executive order she had from the president. Perhaps part of her felt like somehow, she owed something to her.

"Now hold on a minute," Duo said as he stepped in between Nolan and Une fearing in that moment that he may attempt to strike her. "The AG had direct orders from the president, what was she supposed to do?"

"Fuck the AG and fuck the president!" Nolan said seethingly.

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say," Duo said. "You don't make the decisions around here."

"What'd you say to me, punk?" Nolan said as he got up in Duo's face.

Never one to be bullied, Duo furrowed his brow and pushed Nolan back. "You heard me."

Just as Nolan grabbed Duo by the collar, Hope jumped in and tried her best to separate the two. Une stood up in one swift motion and declared, "that's enough!"

Immediately the two men, untangled their arms and retreated.

"Get the fuck out of my office, you animals," Une ordered. "I need to talk to Morgan alone."

Her words struck fear into each and every one of them despite her wounded demeanour. Without opposition or even a hint of hesitation, Duo, Nolan, and Hope filed out of Une's office.

"What can I do?" Une asked as she sat down in her chair again.

"There's not much you can do legally," Morgan said. "An executive order is an executive order. Do you really want to defy the president?"

"God damn it, Ingrid…" Une whispered to herself.

"You can offer a trade," Morgan suggested.

"A trade?" Une asked looking up at Morgan.

"From what I understand, there's not that much more you can get out of Mr. Campana, you're just holding him until trial," Morgan said. "You need a new lead and the Justice Department wants more out of Mr. Campana."

"I don't know how much more there is to give," Une remarked. "I've been careful but I've given the Justice Department most of what they've asked for."

"Yeah, but they don't know that," Morgan said as she let slip a slight grin.

Hope deliberately inserted herself between Duo and Nolan as they exited Une's office. Duo flashed an awkward smile at Une's secretary as they marched pass her on their way out of the waiting area. Once outside, in the hall, Hope could immediately feel the tension between the two men flare up once more.

"This is bullshit," Nolan said said under his breath.

"This is her decision!" Hope countered.

Nolan looked at the both of them with venous intent. "If we lose another opportunity, we may never get another one. This organization was created to prevent wars, not cover its own ass and play bureaucratic chess."

But as frustrated as the former soldier was, he had no intention of getting into a fight with either Hope or Duo. Instead, he simply walked away without saying another word. Duo breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Nolan walk off.

"That was a close one," he said. "I'm not sure if I have another fist fight in me today."

Hope ignored Duo's comment. She exhaled slowly, letting the tension that had been building in her body for the last several hours dissipate. She felt numb. This was exactly what she had feared the most. This was her worst nightmare. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control and she had no ability to stop it.

In the back of her mind, she had always known that it would come to this. She knew why he had left. It was naïve of her to think that Tristan would just disappear and never come back.

"Hey..." Duo said with a hint of sorrow in his soft voice. He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry..."

She turned around and pressed her forehead against his chest. She needed the physical contact. As guilty as he felt about what he had done to Tristan, Duo didn't deny her. He wrapped his arounds around her and gently caressed her back, silently promising that everything was going to be okay.

A familiar warmth welcomed her into the land of the living. As she awoke from her deep sleep, she felt Heero's tongue probing her and massaging her gently. God, she had missed this. For a moment she wondered why she had ever denied herself this most exquisite of morning rituals. And over her irrational jealousies over girls she had never met and most likely meant nothing to him no less. She could be such a ridiculous girl sometimes. But luckily for her, Heero was imminently reasonable. And now that she had gotten him to finally punish her a bit for being a little brat, she felt a little less bad about her behaviour of the last week.

Heero left a trail of kisses on her stomach as he moved his body up. His fingers replaced his tongue and massaged her inside as he buried his face into her neck, squeezing out a breath of anticipation and pleasure from her. He kissed his way up her jaw and gently massaged her lips with his own.

"Good morning, princess," he whispered.

Relena smiled as she kissed him back. "Good morning, good sir."

"I trust that you slept well," Heero whispered into her ear as his fingers began to move more rigorously in and out of her.

"Oh yes, quite well," she panted breathlessly as her body writhed in pleasure, a slave to his most magical of fingers.

"Good, now let me start your day off right," Heero said as he moved down her body once again.

He kissed his way down her neck and to her breasts and took the nearest one into his mouth. His tongue danced and massaged her nipple causing her whole body to shudder with pleasure. He watched her other breast bounce with the rhythm of her gyrations, so deprived of attention, begging for the same gentle pleasures he was currently administering. But that was Heero's way. He always left her wanting more. For that's what she did to him without even trying.

As he brought her to climax, he felt her walls close around his finger, her knees clench together, and her hips thrust up into his hand. Despite him wanting to prolong the experience, Heero didn't have the heart in that moment to deny her and pressed deeply into her mound sending her over the edge. A soft squeal escaped her lips as her legs shook violently.

Relena opened her eyes after enjoying the afterglow of her early morning orgasm after feeling Heero's mouth upon her neck. She gently caressed his hair while his hands played with the breast that he had so cruelly ignored before.

"God, I missed that," Relena said breathlessly.

"I'm glad," Heero said in a muffled voice as his mouth was still thoroughly attached to her neck. "I was missing you too."

"Is there anything I can do for you, my love?" Relena said seductively as she turned to look at him.

Heero returned her look and said softly, "I want you… to… read this."

Before Relena could respond, Heero stuck a bunch of papers stapled together in the corner in her face. Relena took the pages into her hand and read the title. The Decline of the Senate During the Diocletian Reforms. Upon reading that, Relena was about to smack Heero with the papers but he had already gotten up and out of bed.

"Seriously?" Relena asked, sounding rather annoyed.

"Yep, homework is homework, regardless of if we attend class or not," Heero said as he dropped to the floor and began doing push ups.

"You read it already?" She didn't know why she was even asking. Of course, he read it already.

"What do you think?" Heero asked as he turned to look at her, still lounging on the bed.

After completing his push ups, Heero got up, tossed on his undershirt (much to Relena's chagrin) and said, "come on, get up. You got a long day ahead of you."

She let out one last thrash of frustration before forcing herself out of bed. She really wanted to suck his cock. After spending half an hour in the bathroom, she took Heero's dress shirt off of the chair in the bedroom, threw it on and joined Heero in the kitchen. She hoisted herself up onto the counter next to Heero who was hovering over the stove making breakfast. He had the TV on in the background on mute, presumably so that Relena could finish her reading in peace. But she was distracted regardless.

"Oh my god…" Relena asked as she read the chyron on the TV. "What happened?"

"Someone tried to kill the key government witness in the Lucio case," Heero said.

"Are you serious?" Relena asked sounding quite concerned.

"Don't worry, apparently Duo was there to stop it," Heero said as he slid his phone over to her.

Duo: Turn on the news. Check me out.

There was a selfie attached to the text message of Duo standing on the front steps of the Hotel Brussels giving a thumbs up. In the background, behind the yellow tape, was a swarm of reporters. Relena put the phone down and simply rolled her eyes. She returned her attention to the TV and saw a young man in cuffs being put into a police transport.

Relena furrowed her brow as she watched him. She could feel his anguish just by looking at him. "I can't imagine what would drive someone to do something like that."

"I can," Heero said as he flipped the omelette in his frying pan.

"You don't mean that," Relena said.

"Yes, I do," Heero said as he stared down at the eggs. "There's not a lot of difference between me and him. What are we supposed to do after the war? We lived our whole lives for this. And now that it's over..."

His fell into silence without completing his thought. As if something inside of him was also incomplete. He promised himself that he would survive the war. And had promised Relena that he would stop trying to throw his life away. She made him promise that his life had value. And in fact, he was beginning to wake up every morning with a sense of hope. Something he had gone his whole life without. But what he was doing here, in a posh hotel, with a beautiful girl by his side, he was still unsure.

Relena sensed the pain in his voice and it tore at her soul. More than anything, she hated the muted pain that Heero seemed to always be carrying. But she was glad that he wasn't so hard to hide it from her anymore. He was beginning to trust her. He was beginning to let her in. She knew she had to be gentle with him.

She reached out and caressed his cheek and brought his gaze up to meet hers.

"Baby, it's going to be okay. You made it out alive. You're here with me… this is real..." she whispered, her voice failing as tears welled up in her eyes. "You made it."

She leaned forward and kissed him passionately.

"You made it."

The Presidential Palace, Brussels

Une arrived at the Presidential Palace, just a few hours after transferring custody of Tristan to the Metropolitan Police. She had only just managed to convince Ingrid and President Hoch to meet with her. She knew it was a long shot and it was pretty evident by the tone of her voice, Ingrid was in no mood to deal. Still, Une wasn't above to let all of her months of hard work fall apart over some political horsetrading, not to mention the petty vendetta of a jealous ex-girlfriend.

She walked through the halls of the Presidential Palace, her heels clicking against the tiles as she strode past staffers and other government officials making calls in-between meetings. A few of them even congratulated her on the foiled assassination attempt that was only just then being made public on the news. When she arrived at President Hoch's office, his secretary immediately recognized her and let her in.

Une found President Hoch in his usual chair. On the other side of his desk, sat Ingrid who was facing away from the door. She didn't physically acknowledge Une's arrival at all. Une silently sat down beside Ingrid and tried to maintain a professional demeanour.

"Well, now that we are all here," President Hoch said, trying to ignore the obvious tension between the two women in front of him. "Let's try to work this out before lunch. I've got a busy day."

"All I want is my prisoner returned to me," Une spoke first.

"Domestic terrorism is in the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police," Ingrid countered. "It's as simple as that."

"He was detained secured by one of my men while trying to assassinate a state's witness under my watch. You had no right to take him," Une said, trying hard to maintain her composure.

"A state's witness in my case!"

"Ladies, ladies!" President Hoch interjected. "Is this really necessary? Can't we come to a compromise? We're on the same team here."

"I'm ready to deal," Une said.

Ingrid cocked an eyebrow and looked over at Une. "Since when?"

"Since you stole my prisoner."

"You know what. I've had it up to here with your-"

"Enough!" President Hoch said as he slammed his fist down on the table.

That demonstration of violence caught both Une and Ingrid off guard. They weren't used to the president exercising his executive privilege in such a crass manner. But it was effective enough and the two of them back downed.

"What is it that you are offering?" President Hoch asked Une pointedly, his annoyance still clearly present, though subdued, in his voice.

"I'm willing to trade Toro Campana for Mr. de Vries," Une answered.

Silently, the president turned to look at Ingrid. The Advocate General didn't say anything for a moment.

"She's already gotten everything she needs out of the witness," Ingrid finally said.

"What does it matter? Do you still want him or not?" The president asked.

Une could see that Ingrid was trying to formulate a response that would sound convincing and not petulant. That was the lawyer in her, but despite his usual aloofness, the president seemed to be sensing this as well. Perhaps he just had other meetings and wanted to get this one over with.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you two but it has to end now," the president said before Ingrid could speak. "This case is bigger than whatever personal squabbles this is. Frankly, I'm shocked that I even have to say this. Katerina is offering a truce. Do we have a deal?"

It took Ingrid a few more seconds to summon the words.

"Fine."

Capitol Building, Elgin

The Brussels and L2 delegations met at the Capitol Building the day after the state dinner to begin formal negotiations. After standing for a few publicity shots and answering some questions from a few of the reporters present, Relena, Ainsley, their team members, and the L2 brass were escorted into a private conference room on the top floor away from the media to begin deliberations.

They sat down with the Brussels delegation on one side of the table with Ainsley in the center flanked by her team and the the L2 delegation on the other, headed by Senator Horatio Silva. Relena sat at the head of the table alone.

There was a palpable tension in the air as the L2 delegation flipped through the packets in front of them. They looked at each other nervously and occasionally even looked up at Ainsley with an expression that read you can't be serious, only to be turned aside by a silent reply from Ainsley that said do I look like I'm joking?

They checked the numbers and graphs again and again, cross referencing them with their own numbers. None of it matched. The Brussels delegation's growth projections were much higher than the L2 delegations and thus, the terms of the proposal were rather restrictive. Relena herself shared the same pensivity as the colonists as she too reviewed the numbers in Ainsley's proposal. They were different than she had last seen them during the preparatory period leading up to the trip.

"Ms. Vice-Finance Minister, I'm sure you'll agree these terms are quite harsh," the young economic advisor finally said, breaking the tense silence that had filled the room.

"I don't agree at all, I think these terms are more than fair," Ainsley replied cordially yet with a slight hint of aggression in her voice. "The period of repayment has been doubled and the interest rate as been reduced by one percent."

"The austerity requirements are beyond this cluster's ability to bear. Our economists say that our growth rate is much lower than your current projections," Senator Silva said, sounding rather offended. "If we accept this deal, we will be guaranteeing that any growth will be stripped away for the next 20 years."

"While your concerns are understandable given the context of historical circumstance, if I may be frank, your vision is much too small," Ainsley said as she placed her forearms on the glass table and leaned forward slightly. "So long as you see this colony cluster as an independent economic unit rather than part of the larger ESUN trade union, you and these colonies will never achieve your true potential."

Relena focused intensely on Ainsley, watching her every move as she spoke. They were far more refined, practiced to the point of perfection, but Relena immediately recognized Ainsley's old tricks. She had been a persuasive orator back in high school. She had only gotten better since.

"I'm well aware but if that is to be the case," the old senator said, apparently less drawn in by Ainsley's subdued yet still effective charisma than his colleagues. "We expect that far more of the debt would be taken on by the World Government directly."

"And why would that be the case, Senator?" Ainsley asked sounding rather amused.

"Traditionally speaking, the victors of a war take on the debts of the vanquished," the senator answered.

Ainsley was a little surprised by that answer. As was Relena. But that surprise quickly faded as Ainsley's mind began to formulate a retort.

"And is that how you see yourselves? Are you the vanquished, Senator? How about you Mr. Mayor? And you, Governor Kelder?" Ainsley made a point to turn to each and every one of them and look them directly in the eye. "Did the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, invade and occupy the colonies and impose martial law? I don't recall that happening."

"Vice Foreign Minister, please be reasonable," Senator Silva said as he turned his attention towards Relena. "Our cluster bore the brunt of the Alliance's military expenditures during the occupation. While our industrial and natural resource sectors have bounced back in recent years, the terms of this deal can only be to the detriment of our citizens. We were promised that we would be equal partners in the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, not vassals."

Ainsley turned her attention towards Relena, facing her that signature disingenuous smile of interest. It never failed to make Relena feel dumb. Relena understood the position that Ainsley had just put her in. As the arbiter, her default position was to bring both parties together and create a compromise. But Ainsley had set her goal post so far out of the realm of the possible that any compromise in the middle would be heavily disadvantageous to the colonists. Yet, she siding completely with the colonist would make her look like a partisan rather than a mediator.

Ainsley leaned back slightly, throwing her arm over the top of the back of her chair as she put down her pen and smoothed out her flaming red skirt. Relena could hear and see the tapping of Ainsley's heel against the metal frame of the table as if using it as a timer, counting down the seconds until Relena had to speak. Time's up little girl, what's it gonna be?

"This is a difficult situation to be sure. On one hand, the World Government has every right to demand structural reforms to the economy if it is to take on the sovereign debt of the L2 colonies. On the other, to ensure, not only the peace and stability of the colonies but of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation itself, the colonies but be allowed to thrive. I fear that such harsh terms would only lead to further unrest and turmoil," Relena said.

She said it. And it was exactly what Ainsley was hoping for. She took the coward's way out. She tacked to the middle. Ainsley had gotten the best of Relena yet again. Despite being able to stand up to OZ, despite being the Queen of the World, despite all of her political experience, she still folded. Some patterns never go away.

Ainsley offered a slow condescending clap.

"Spoken like a true diplomat," Ainsley said. "But this isn't about ideology or hope, princess. This is about cold hard numbers."

It took emergency responders nearly three minutes to show up on the scene but he was long dead by then. Toro's eyes didn't even have time to close before his brains were splattered across the rear window of the car that was transporting him from the Valknut. The EMT's did their best to try to revive him but it was perfunctory display of duty. He was dead. Shot and killed in broad daylight while driving down a busy street in the middle Brussels, flanked in front and behind by a Preventers cavalcade.

Satisfied with her work, and after taking a moment to silently congratulate herself on the fact that she still had it, she looked up from the scope and drank in the sound of distant sirens. A melody that she created all by herself, with a simple pull of the trigger. It was a high like no other. From her vantage point atop a church steeple, with the bells just finished ringing marking the new hour, it would be at least another 15 minutes before they even figure out where her approximate location was. She'll be long gone by then. She stood up, dusted herself off, and turned to look at Jacques, her arms dealer, who had been acting as her look out.

"What do you want me to say?" Jacques asked. "Wow?"

"I just killed a man in a car from three kilometres away," Kerestina said as she picked up the sniper rifle and folded back the bipod. "You don't have to say it. I know you're thinking it. God, I'm good."

Jacques merely rolled his eyes. "I forgot out giddy you get after killing people."

Kerestina let out a sigh as she made her way over to Jacques. "Let me have this. It's been a while for me."

"Are we done here?" Jacques asked as he looked around the church steeple, getting antsy as the sound of distant police sirens grew louder..

Kerestina looked at her watch and then around at the city beneath her. She let out a little sigh. She wished that she could enjoy the moment a little longer. It had been so long since she had worked but she figured that Jacques was probably right. She tossed the sniper rifle back at Jacques, who only just barely managed to catch the damn thing. Reaching the duffle bag on the ground, Kerestina pulled out a couple of cheap plastic pig masks.

She cocked an eyebrow as she examined the thin molded sheet of plastic with thin rubber band that connected both ends of the mask.

"This is the best you could do?" Kerestina asked, apparently unimpressed.

"You call me up yesterday morning," Jacques said defensively. "It was the best I could do on short notice."

After several hours of tense negotiations, the Brussels and L2 delegations decided to take a break to clear their heads, grab some coffee, and a meal before continuing. Stepping out of the conference room, Relena made a point of cornering Ainsley. Relena may have been played by Ainsley, but this wasn't high school anymore and she wasn't about to take her bullying lying down.

"What the hell was that?" Relena asked viciously.

"I beg your pardon?" Ainsley fired back.

"Why are you going so hard in there?" Relena asked.

"If you haven't noticed, Relena, this is my job," Ainsley answered in an aggressive tone, matching Relena's. "I'm here to represent the interests of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. And that's what I'm doing."

"You know as well as I do that these terms are ridiculous, bond holders to be repaid 85 percent of the original investment, to be repaid in full within 80 years?" Relena asked. "You're dooming these people to perpetual poverty!"

"Oh look at you, you've done your homework," Ainsley said condescendingly. "How cute. But you're out of your depth here, Relena. You don't know what you're talking about. Need I remind you, you do not represent the colonies, you are here to act as an arbiter between two negotiating parties. I suggest you act the part!"

Relena's hands instinctively tightened in a fist. She could just about smack Ainsley for her tone but, of course, that's exactly what her nemesis would want. Relena let out a deep breath.

Ainsley took in Relena's frustration and smirked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to."

With that, Ainsley walked away, leaving Relena in a stew of her own rage. She was only saved from herself when Heero came by and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"Ma'am, your team is waiting for you," Heero said in his most formal voice.

"Please, don't call me that right now," Relena asked as nicely as she could in that moment.

Noticing the obvious annoyance in her voice, Heero changed tactics and began to rub the small of her back gently, immediately relieving some of the tension that had been building up within her. He gently pulled her close to him and kiss her on the temple.

"What's wrong, babe?" Heero said softly, dropping the bodyguard act for a moment.

Relena melted into him. It was a small gesture but it was just what she needed in that moment. "Nothing, it's just Ainsley being Ainsley. She hasn't changed a bit."

Hunt, X-12553, L3 Colony Cluster

If New Galveston was the unimpressive manufacturing town that also happened to be the capital of a perennially stagnant colony, Hunt was the dilapidated waste in the boondocks that was the inevitable result of decades of economic failures. Its sole reason for existence was due to its location along the colony infrastructure. It sat atop of one of the colony's main stabilizers and for decades had provided work and a sense of pride for the town's inhabitants. But being a small town with only one major employer and largely disconnected from the socio-economic life of the rest of the colony let alone the cluster, it was a perfect location for the Barton Foundation to set up shop.

Trowa had suspected as much when he first arrived. But he figured waltzing into a town with a population of less than a thousand was a bad idea. He didn't know what he was looking for, and he certainly didn't know where. But his intimidation tactics along with his tracker worked like a charm. The mobster that he had planted it on, obeyed his instructions perfectly. He had first followed the man to a house in the suburbs of New Galveston, in one of the few affluent neighbourhoods in the whole city and had even managed to snap a few pictures of the man he was meeting with. The face was unfamiliar to him, but he figured the Preventers would have a file on him if he was anyone of note. He would deal with that later. Next, he followed the man from a distance as he drove out of town and into Hunt.

Trowa tailed the man's vehicle from a distance. But since it was the middle of the night it was rather obvious to anyone who was paying attention. Luckily, no one was. At night, the town looked dead. The only lights that were on was an old convenience store and a titty bar at the edge of town. Trowa knew the man had seen him but he wasn't worried about that. What was he going to do? Trowa could blow him up with a touch of a button.

The car that Trowa had been tailing for the better part of an hour finally stopped on the side of an old dusty road. Trowa slowly drifted passed it and pulled over a distance away. He watched the man get out of his car in his rearview mirror and head towards the colony wall, that massive expanse of metal that stretched from one edge of the horizon to the other. Trowa got out of his car a few moments later and followed the man.

Immediately, the quiet sounds of crickets and the artificial wind was drowned out by the constant hum of the colony engine as he stepped through the door. It was dark inside, a maze of pipes, gauges, digital displays, ladders, and staircases surrounded him. These were the parts of the colony that few people ever saw. Trowa followed the man through the labyrinth until they came across a secret hangar. And there he saw what he had feared most; an entire squadron of Serpents.

Relena had been provided with a small private office in the Capitol Building by the L2 government to work in so that she didn't have to go all the way back to the hotel. She and her team had been frantically reading through the proposal that Ainsley's team had sent to them and comparing all the details point by point to the initial proposal they had received weeks ago from the Finance Ministry when had first been assigned to this project. Heero sat calmly on one of the couches reading through the textbook for their Western Political Tradition course, all the while trying to ignore the havoc of the ladies' work.

"I don't know what kind of game she's playing but she's being absolutely ridiculous! Even by her standards," Relena said as she paced around the room in circles.

"This is outrageous, to not send us a copy of the revised proposal." Dorothy agreed with Relena. "We're supposed to be on the same side."

"Well, technically she did," Cindy said as she looked up from her laptop for a moment. "Her team send it to me after the dinner last night."

There was a gentle but audible knock on the door. The girls ignored it completely and continued on as if they didn't even hear it. Heero got up and made his way over to the door to open it. It was their lunches, courtesy of the Capitol Building's cafeteria. They didn't have time for anything fancy. Heero accepted the box lunches and thanked the delivery boy before he kicked the door shut behind him and placed the four boxes on the table next to Cindy. She immediately grabbed one and flashed Heero a thankful smile.

"What? She was at the dinner, there's no way she could've been working on it," Relena said. "Trust me, I would've notice. I would've savoured every moment of her silence last night."

Heero shoved a lunch box into Relena's hand while she was in the middle of her little rant and gave her a kiss on the cheek before whispering into her ear, "you need to eat something."

"Considering the extent of the revisions," Dorothy said as she flipped through the pages of both proposals simultaneously. "Her team must've cooked this up weeks in advance."

Heero then dropped a box off next to Dorothy before going back to his seat on the couch and opening up his.

"This is just like her. You know she would pull the same kind of thing back in high school," Relena as she sat down and opened up her lunch. "I'd make the honour roll, and she would politic her way onto the top of that list. When I joined field hockey, she picked on me the whole time!"

"I doubt this is about you, Relena," Dorothy commented letting her out a small chuckle.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at the extents she'll go to," Relena said as she took a bite of her food.

Dorothy couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile at Heero. Heero didn't return the smile but somehow Dorothy knew that she and Heero were on the same page.

"This is not funny!" Relena said, sounding a little more petulant than she intended.

"I'm sorry, Relena. But it kinda is," Dorothy said. "I don't mean that in a bad way but it makes you more human. Makes you… more relatable."

"Hn. That's interesting," Heero said as he put his lunch aside on the table beside the couch and picked up his textbook again.

"What is?" Relena asked curiously.

"She's not doing this to spite you," Heero said rather absently as he flipped through to a page he had marked down before and quickly scanned the page again. "She's strong arming the colonies to try and get them to accept a disadvantageous deal. What does that matter to you?"

"She knows I sympathize with them," Relena answered.

"No, she's signalling that she's a strong negotiator and that she has the interests of the bond holders on Earth," Heero said as he looked up from his textbook and made eye contact with Relena.

She stared back at him, initially with a look of confusion. But she furrowed her brow as his meaning became apparent after a few moments of consideration.

"No…" Relena said in disbelief.

"She's going to run for office in the next election," Heero said.

The morphine that the doctor had given him was beginning to wear off and he was starting to feel the pain his arm and his leg again. The occasional bump in the road didn't help either. But he didn't bother saying anything as he was sure that the guards that were escorting him neither cared to or knew how to help.

He had just been thrown into another metal box for transport after only just arriving at the police station. The detectives didn't even get a chance at a preliminary interview before he was whisked away by the SWAT guys. He figured he was just being moved to a more secure and secluded location where they could improvise more during the interrogation.

He had considered escaping but quickly relinquished the thought. Normally, he figured he could take out his two escorts considering their were carrying heavy duty assault rifles that were rather ill suited for the tiny little box they were currently in. But he was badly damaged and the beating he had recently received at the hands of that one Preventer had him a bit rattled. His confidence wasn't where it needed to be to take such a decisive action. Instead, he resigned himself to his fate. Life in prison, somehow the thought brought him a modicum of relief.

That feeling of relief did not last long as a series of loud cracks rang out. The transport swerved violently and threw Tristan and his two escorts off the benches and to the floor. A second later, a loud explosion shattered the bullet proof glass of back door. A smoke grenade soon followed immediately causing the men in the confined space to start coughing violently. The door was then opened from the outside. A couple of short bursts of a assault rifle rendered Tristan momentarily deaf. After a few moments, he realized that he wasn't dead. In fact, he may not have even been hit. He opened his eyes and checked his body. He had to do it a couple of times just to be sure. He hadn't been hit. He looked around and as the smoke lifted, he could see that his escorts were both resting lifelessly in a pool of their own blood.

Terrified, Tristan turned to look at the assailant. Before him stood a towering figure, in a skintight black suit and body armour. It was a woman. She was wearing a plastic pig mask stood in front of him carrying an assault rifle in one hand. Tristan, confused, yet no less terrified could do nothing but stare in awe of the figure in front of him.

She lifted the mask.

"You're a fucking idiot," Kerestina said.

Tristan cautiously let out a sigh of relief.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Kerestina asked impatiently. "Get off your ass, let's go!"