BWAHAHA!! Left y'all on a cliff hanger, didn't I? Well, I'm back! Hopefully this chapter will be as good as its predecessors! Thank you so much to all the people who have written me! It was no nice and it really encouraged me to keep going through the writer's block!!
Hey, don't forget to check out the GW Campaign: http://www.geocities.com/save_releena
Please show your support for Relena and visit it!

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing belongs to the Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and
Fuji TV. I claim no rights upon the characters or their respective
personalities.

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Human Nature - A Gundam Wing Fanfic by Goddess Moon
(jmcchick@hotmail.com)
Chapter 6
Year: After Colony 198

Heero slowly ventured to open his left eye and quickly shut it. His vision was blurred and the bright light made him feel nauseous. He could hear low, muffled voices in the background and took care not to move a muscle. Eventually the voices became distant and silence surrounded him. He waited a few more minutes before opening his eyes again. It was bright - too bright and everything seemed off balance. To make matters worse, his eyes refused to focus. The best he could do was make out fuzzy shapes and shadows. And that worried him. His mind raced frantically to analyze the situation. What had happened? What was he doing here? Where was he? Faintly, he remembered the attack. Those boys - they were just like him - fast. Too fast and there were just too many of them. They had known his moves like clockwork and responded in a more than timely and accurate fashion. The more he thought, the more his head began to pound. 'What is wrong with me?!' He cried silently. Everything hurt. He'd never felt this bad - not even after self-detonating. If he could just think! But he was so tired.so tired. Eventually, his eyes closed despite his best efforts to stay awake and everything went black.

__________________________________________

Her breath quickened as she slowly made her way up the huge marble steps leading to the cathedral. The hooded black cloak she wore swished up with each step she took. Releena could hear the echoes of the singing voices inside. Swallowing hard, she stepped though the
gatehouse and into the atrium. As she approached the main holding area, her heart dropped to her toes. The singing - it was children. She peered into the nave and saw them clustered together in the transept, their angelic faces smiling and happy. Breath refused to come to her as
she felt her lungs constrict and a few tears spilled down the sides of cheeks.
Evil. Wicked. Sadistic. She couldn't even think of words horrible enough to describe this man. Fighting desperately for some control, she took a deep breath. 'He's doing this on purpose and you know it, Releena.' She told herself. 'He's trying to get to you and it's working!' It made her sick to her stomach. She shook her head. "No." She whispered. "I can do this. I will do this." Releena turned back to glance at the children. "For them.for the future." She abruptly turned
before the security guards could see her and ducked into the shadows of one of the side isles. She quickly lit a candle before slipping through a door and climbing up an old, musty stairwell. She turned the handle on the old wooden door and entered a private box overlooking the nave.
Bartkusonete sat with his back to her in a large, plush theater style seat, watching the event. She carefully pulled back her hood and removed her cloak.
"Welcome, Vice Foreign Minister." The deep voice rumbled. He kept his back to her and beckoned. "Do have a seat. This is quite a performance. It would be a shame to miss it."
Releena placed a hand over her heart, trying desperately to slow down its rapid pace. Slowly, she made her way to the seat next to his and sat in the plush chair, looking as dignified and confident as she could manage. Refusing to meet his gaze, she kept her eyes focused on the
children below.
"They are beautiful, aren't they?"
"They are." She replied.
"This Cathedral adds to the effect, don't you think? It was the first to be built in the colonies - a grand, resplendent reminder of the rich history of Earth. And that history will continue on, here, in the colonies with tradition and rite."
She narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly where he was going. "The nobility will not last forever, General. Times are changing and the people will not stand for it."
Bartkusonete let out a low rumble of laughter, heartily enjoying one of her sermons. "Yes, Miss Darlian, I am familiar with your libertarian policy. And, I must say, I agree with you. If we continue on with your policy, the nobility will fade into non-existence. But, as you are already aware, both the cabinets in space and on Earth have rejected it."
She boldly turned to face him, fixing him with a burning stare. "That won't be the case for long. The decision is already going through the appeals process."
The smug smirk quickly faded from the General's face. "It will never pass, Minister Darlian. I will see to it personally, if need be. Tradition demands the continuance of our status. The colonies were based on that very premise - each one was founded by one or more great houses. The Barton Foundation is made up of one of the largest and oldest European Families. The nobility has lasted for millennia and, as a part of it, I will not allow it to be destroyed so easily. Think of the chaos it would create! Why, economies would collapse!"
"It would only fail if rejected by the common masses! For all those millennia you spoke of, the upper class has been dictating law and order to the people - acting in the interests of politics and
bureaucracy. And look where it lead us - to one war after another! Soldiers dressed in their pretty uniforms, marching gallantly to their own destruction with the numbers of innocent casualties swept under the rug. All those dead people! What did they die for?! It wasn't for
freedom or rights, it was for the nobility and their interests!" She cried, her eyes flashing dangerously.
He sighed. "Miss Darlian, self-rule does not and will not work because people are unable to make decisions in the interests of the common good. We are a selfish race and will do what we have to in order to ensure self preservation."
Releena glared at him through narrowed eyes. "You are no exception, General. By keeping your title and rank and exercising your military authority, you can easily gain control over mining imports to Earth from the Colonies. Thereby, through your relations with the Barton Foundation, controlling intercolonial commerce." Bartkusonete smiled sardonically. "I've always admired your intelligence and intuition. Unfortunately, a person of your status can afford little or no mistakes. How tragic that one should have occurred so early in your career. Why, had you been present when the relief proclamation made its way to the stand, you might have stopped me. Yes, I have much to be thankful to you for. You see, you have made everything possible. The nobility will continue as before, trade and commerce will be mine, and there will no one capable of stopping me. I couldn't ask for more."
She curled her fingers into fists and her knuckles turned white as her nails dug into her palms. She fought to keep her voice steady as she answered him. "But your plan is incomplete. There is a missing piece in the puzzle and your elite forces will die off one by one." He ground his teeth and quickly lashed out his hand, slapping her across the face. "That will not be the case for long."
Releena wiped the blood trailing from her mouth. "I won't let you turn him into a unfeeling monster like you tried to do to Heero! You underestimate us. People are stronger than you think. The power was in your hands when you had the gundams and their pilots. But your plan
backfired. They stopped you then and they'll do it again."
He raised a brow. "I don't think that's an option anymore. But I'll tell you what. I'll allow you to correct your mistake." Bartkusonete stood and walked to the far end of the room, concealed in darkness. Slowly he made his way back towards the light.
She sucked in a breath when she saw what he was carrying and jumped to her feet. The chamber. 'No. No. No.' She shook her head in denial and shock. Her entire body began to shake as she glanced up into his face, half concealed by the shadows.
He set the chamber on the floor and placed a small square detonation device on it. He set the control and then strode to meet her. He took her hand and placed the switch in her palm. "End it, now. Correct your mistake and save the world. The only casualties will be me and you."
She stared at the object in her palm then shifted her eyes briefly. The holster at his side was unbuttoned. Blinking her eyes, she felt lightheaded and dizzy as if it were a nightmare. 'Was this really true?
Oh, God.' She clenched her eyes shut. 'No. I can't.' Without a moment's hesitation she brought up her knee, kicking him in the groan and swiftly pulled the gun from his side and held it up to his chest.
"Very good, Miss Darlian." He chuckled through his strained voice. Releena's eyes went wide as she felt the cold metal of the barrel of a gun placed against her temple.
"But not good enough." A familiar female voice rang through the silence.

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Duo smiled at the baby asleep in his arms and shook his head. "Only acouple of months old and you're already given' everyone hell, kid. But, you know - your old man sure means a lot to me. I guess because once you strip away my good looks and sense of humor; we're not all that
different. So until he gets back here, I'll take care of you as best I can." The baby tightened his grip around Duo's index finger and opened his bright blue eyes, letting out a long yawn.
Duo rose from his chair. "Yah, you're right. There couldn't be anything more boring!" The baby cooed in response and tugged on his braid. "Hey, no complaints from the peanut gallery, Yuy. For the moment you have it pretty easy! Yep. Eat, sleep, and poop. If I had a choice, I just might trade places with yah."
He walked out of the main hanger area into the locker room. He walked to the back to 2C and opened the door. "Alright! It's here!" He set the baby on the floor and carefully excavated an odd looking contraption that was stuffed in the locker along with weapons, food, and an extra
set of clothes. It had antennae and wires hanging out all over the place. He set it on the bench in the isle and winked at the baby.
"These were illegal when Solo and I built it. We were dying to find out what was going on in our sector." Duo shook his head. "We never figured the range would be so good!" He shook his head, remembering old days.
"Well anyway, let's see if we can pick up something, huh?" He put two oversized earphones over his ears and turned a few switches on the box.
"Whoa." There was so much activity, almost every channel had something on it. "Sheez.you'd think there was another war goin' on. They're all encoded! Damn! " He placed a hand over his mouth and then winked at the boy. "He he. Sorry 'bout that. Your mom'd wash my mouth out with soap for talkin' like that in front of you."
He frowned. Hmm.there had to be something he could do to read these messages. Mmm. He raised a brow, eyeing the other pilots' lockers.
Aside from his obsession with his swords, Wu-man was a pretty smart guy and he always had some gadget or another. Sure enough, his locker was full of stuff - swords, a few paper scrolls, incense, some weird statue, his old preventors' jacket - ah-hah! "Yah! This is perfect!" He
cried, snatching a small device from the bottom. He carefully attached it, connecting the two black and red wires.
His eyes widened as he listened to one transmission after another.
"Hell, kid! We're in trouble!" He cried and threw off the headphones, quickly shoving them into his locker along with the box. He bit his lip. Damn! What was he gonna do with this kid? They had to get out there.but how was he gonna hide a baby?
"Argh!" He began ripping open the lockers one by one. First, Trowa's - hmm.some grenades, a picture of Cathy, a long range wrist laser canon -very cool- and.a 50 oz. can of mouse?! "Uh.ok."
Next, Heero's - mostly empty except for a jacket, an extra shirt, a few detonation switches - big surprise- and a few of the latest hand-gun models and cartridges. He grabbed the holster hanging from the hook and loaded two of the guns.
Then, Quatre's."What the." Hanging from a hook was a long powder blue skirt. "Err." He looked at the baby. "Remind me to ask him about this later, ok?" Suddenly, an idea stuck him. This could work. He practically tore the skirt from the hanger and slipped it on over his
pants.
___________________________________________

His hearing slowly began to fade in. Two voices were engaged in a heated conversation and they were not far. They sounded young.
___________________________________________

A girl with short red hair shook her head incredulously. "Liet! I can't find anything! No trace of chemicals. His cells - they're normal - no mutation at all!"
Liet's bangs fell in curls above her green eyes and she wore a gray space suit. A line creased her forehead as she frowned. It couldn't be.
He was the one. "Check the levels again, 063! You must have missed it!"
The girl, 063, ran the scanner again. Normal. She turned to the screen with the blood analysis and shook her head. "The same. We must be missing something. We're running out of time! We need someone who knows what they're doing. We should contact the commander."
"No. We'll just be wasting time." Liet spun around and glared at the figure on the table. "How about we ask him?" She turned to the girl.
"Can we?"
She was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure. We could give him a dose of clyzenodine. But.I don't know what it would do."
"Do it!"
"But, don't you think we should wait for orders?"
Liet narrowed her eyes and spun around, pointing with an accusing finger at the door. "There are 300 children that are about to die in the next twenty four hours if we don't find a way to help them. Once that's done, then we can worry about orders. Besides, I doubt the General will be happy if half of his forces were to die."
063, bit her lip and then nodded. She filled tube with a yellow tinted fluid and made her way toward the man. Just as she was about to inject him with the serum, his eyes flew open, the pupils desperately trying to focus. She gasped. "Liet! He's awake!"
'I knew it.' She thought. '01.' She strode over to him, leaning down.
"Can you hear me?"
______________________________________

Heero struggled to speak, struggled to move, struggled to see.but it didn't matter. The pain was so unbearable. His world kept focusing in and out, colors fading from red back to black and white.
Liet frowned. "What's wrong with him? If he's awake, why doesn't he answer me?!"
063 stared at him in awe. "It's a miracle that he is awake. The pain must be excruciating The dilectide injection was supposed to cause microseizures throughout his body. His brain would then cut off the intense pain by sending him into a coma - putting him into a perfect state for experimentation. I just can't believe that."
"Enough already!" She shouted at the 14-year-old. "Just give it to him."
The girl nodded. "I'm sorry." She whispered to him as she removed the cover from the needle and put the injection into his right arm.
_______________________________________

Duo's feet hit the pavement hard as he landed 10 feet below the window of the locker room. Although, his face was encrusted in a thick layer of foundation and Sally's red lipstick had been applied rather crookedly, he had to admit that he hadn't done that badly of a job. He then quickly adjusted the straps of the bag on his back and took a quick look at the sleeping bundle in his arms. "Alright, Yuy. Here goes nothin'."
He took off running down a back street. Back alley to back alley - each were dark and strangely.empty. "I've got a really bad feeling about this." Suddenly, an explosion racked the ground. He turned and he saw what was the old abandoned shuttle hanger go up in smoke and flames.
"Holy." His voice trailed off and he took off running again. The hanger was only a good kilometer away. Those suicide units wouldn't be far behind. One thing was certain. He had to get the kid off of the colony.
______________________________________

He suddenly sat up, gasping for air. It took him a moment to gather his bearings, but his vision and inertia quickly returned. He felt.good.amazingly good. The pain was gone. He hadn't felt this way since..hmm. A girl no more than 13 or 14 years old was staring at him with wide brown eyes.
"How do you feel?" He turned to the owner of the voice. She was just a bit older, 15 - 16 at most. He stared at her, his eyes burning holes right through her. "Your name is Liet." He stated.
She raised a brow. "I'm the one asking the questions, not you. I'm not going to waste any time, so let's get straight to the point. I know who you are. You're 01. You underwent the first injections of clyzenodine, but suffered none of the side effects. I want to know why."
"I can't answer that."
His flat monotone voice angered her. "Look, don't think that you're going anywhere until you give me the information." She pulled out a laser pistol and held it up.
He didn't even flinch. "It doesn't matter. I can't answer you." He repeated. "Holding me here will not help your situation."
She whacked him across the face with the gun, reopening the wound on the right side of his face. "You lie! Tell me the truth! No one survives prolonged exposure to clyzenodine without cell mutation. Yours are normal! Now tell me why!"
Heero was silent for a moment analyzing the situation. The redhead was young and nervous - odd for someone who should be a trained soldier by now. The older one, while definitely more confidant, was angry. She'd lost her battle already, though she didn't realize it. "I said before -
I can't tell you that. I don't know the reason. I'm a soldier not a scientist."
She struggled with her anger. 'Calm. Calm.' She kept repeating in her mind, but the moment he spoke the words she didn't want to hear, she cried out and lunged at him, wanting to kill him with her bear hands.
If he didn't know, then he was useless. But he was quick - much quicker and he had her in a death lock before she could think.
"You've lost."
That flat monotone voice was grating her nerves. What kind of thing was he? Don't you get it?! We're all about to die!"
"You're afraid." He stated and let her go. "Then why are you still here?"
"Why?" She repeated bitterly. "Because in about 24 hours I'm about to die along with a good number of the others. The final effects of clyzenodine are about to kick in. It was supposed to mutate our cells so that we would be like you. Well, it mutated them all right. For the first few years, you feel incredible - almost invincible - like you're on a drug. But then the injections stop, giving the formula time to work. I only have but a few hundred healthy cells left. Once they're
gone...that's it. I'm here because I have no where else to go! Who can help us?! No one! Out only hope for survival was to find you and our cure! Now do you understand?!"
"Liet! Look at this!" 063 cried from the computer terminal.
"What is it?!"
She pointed to the diagram of the compound and the DNA structure next to it on the screen. "Clyzenodine - it contains fractions of his DNA.  It was meant to be compatible with him - never for us."
Liet stepped away from the monitor, her breaths close together. "But.the General.that means that he knew. He knew what would happen."
It all made sense. Dr. J had altered the chemical to work only with him so that there would be no others. But then.these new units. Heero strode over to the girl. "These suicide units. Tell me about them."
She didn't respond at first and he had to shake her. "The suicide units?" She shook her head. "They're still on their first two years, but.they're on a different version of clyzenodine. It's new. And they have implants that are stimulated by it. They're deadly.much more so than any of us, but.it slowly makes them go insane. It's like a game simulation that tells them what to do and how to win."
The Zero System. "How many suicide units are here?"
"About a hundred."
"Do they have mobile suits?"
She smiled. "Of course they do. We all do. That was the idea from the beginning. My number is 09. They brought me in just a year after you were sent on Operation Meteor. Eventually, we would each have had gundams like you and the other original four. We were supposed to be an
elite force. One strong enough to control everything and stop any opposition."
"Can you distract the suicide units long enough for me to get out of here?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Why should I help you?"
"I don't know if I there's anything I can do for you, but I have to stop Bartkusonete. Or this will never end. There will be more than just a few hundred children. It will be thousands. He won't stop."
She was silent for a few moments. "All right."
"Liet!" 063 cried.
"We have to. There's no other way." She turned back to Heero. "But I'm coming with you. He's going to pay for he's done."

______________________________________

Releena dropped the gun to the floor and slowly shifted her eyes to meet the cool green ones of Commander Janez who had her mouth set in a crooked smirk. "You are far too caught up in your own little world - so far apart from reality. And now you're going to pay the price."
"Now, now. Don't be so quick." Barkusonete gently pushed the commander away. "There's no need for such violence in a holy place. Miss Darlian deserves a death worthy of her title and birthright. Besides, she still may be of some use."
"Just kill me here and now." Releena stated flatly, her eyes cold and hard.
Bartkusonete brought his face close to hers and chuckled. "Now why should I do that? Are you afraid, Releena Darlian? No. You're not. What is there left to be afraid of? Standing in the face of death really isn't that hard, is it? But watching your whole world collapse around you - yes. That is hard to swallow. Don't worry. I won't leave you in misery for long."
He circled her slowly, like a vulture waiting to devour its prey - knowing that its victim is about to perish. "I doubt this will add any pleasure to your outlook, but you have proved me correct. If all people appeared to be as you were - peace loving, unable to kill or destroy - then I would have had something to worry about. But.you're not that different. Your eyes betrayed you. Yes, you were ready to kill me. It would have been interesting to see how that drama would have unfolded, but, alas, I have more important work to do. First, I have to take care of something." He turned to Janez who suddenly got a rather strange look in her eyes. With lightning speed Barkusonete retrieved a gun from inside his jacket pocket and shot Janez through the head. She still wore a shocked expression as her body hit the ground and stirred no more.
Releena's gasped and stood in shock. Her heart pounded in her chest and her ears were filled with swishing noise of her blood. She backed away, shaking her head, tears coursing down her cheeks.
"Now, now, Miss Darlian. Don't look so shocked." The smile slipped from his face and he motioned with the gun toward the chamber. "Go open it. I want you to hand him into my arms personally."
"I don't think that will be necessary." A cool voice spoke quietly. Bartkusonete whipped around, totally taken off guard. Right in front of the balcony, Trowa hung upside-down, his legs wrapped expertly in the coils of a thick rope and a gun in each hand. "Now, let her go."
Bartkusonte ground his teeth and pulled out a knife, as Releena quickly moved to the balcony's edge, but just as she was about to grab onto Trowa, the door to the stairwell burst open behind them and her brother along with Noin barreled through, weapons ready.
"Quick, Miss Releena." Trowa jerked around and did a few twists so that he was hanging upright. She quickly jumped into his arms and they slid down to the ground level. Trowa immediately took her arm and pulled her down the aisle, through the Apex, and out the entrance. Then he took off in a dead run. "Hurry." He said urgently as he felt her tug on his
arm to stop.
"But, my brother, Noin! Oh my God, the chamber!"
"They'll be fine." He quickly reassured her. "And don't worry. He's safe." He said no more and pulled her forward. Just as they ran into a dark alley between two large skyscrapers, Releena turned her head as she heard rapid rounds of gunfire coming from the Cathedral.
"Have faith in them." Trowa called, but did not stop.
______________________________________

"Welcome Major Po, Major Chang. Please follow me." Rashied's deep voice bellowed at as he turned and led them to an elevator.
10 stories below, they disembarked into a large holding area. Each of the gundams stood tall with tons of mechanics and workers scurrying to complete them on time.
"Wufei, Sally!" Quatre called. "I'm so glad you're here!"
Wufei began immediately, "We would have been here sooner, but she just had to insist."
Sally's eyes flashed. "If you want to get yourself killed then you go right ahead! Why can't you admit that I saved your butt back there?! You don't mess with suicide units!"
"Look, woman. I had everything under control until you."
"Um.this really isn't the time for."
Sally huffed and held her hand up to Wufei. "Quatre's right. We'll continue this later!" She spat and took Quatre's arm, stomping toward the center of the hanger - leaving Wufei to stutter behind them.
"Well, I have to admit - they look good."
"Thank you very much," said a familiar, raspy voice. She turned around.
"Howard!" He stood with a wrench in hand, still wearing his flashy pink Hawaiian shirt.
"I should have known. After all, when Quatre does something, he does it right." She said glaring at Wufei, whose face had turned crimson with anger. But before he could say anything, one of the Maganacs rushed over. "Master Quatre! There's a secure call for you!"
"Oh, thank you, Abdul. I'll be right back."
Sally spied another familiar face, giving out orders and instructions to various crews. "Howard, isn't that."
"Oh, yes - Dorothy Catalonia. She's been working with us from the start. I think it's done quite a bit for her. Quatre had asked for her assistance. I think he felt sorry for her - she was so lost after the war ended."
Wufei snorted. "Well, I wouldn't have trusted such a conniving."
Sally abruptly cut him off. "Yes. We know what you think of all women."
"Now just wait a moment! In the proper situation, a woman can be a great asset."
She raised a brow. "Oh? You mean like before when I saved your life?"
Once again Wufei was spared from answering as Quatre ran towards them. "Hurry! We have to get the gundams to the Moon. We're going to meet Trowa and Heero! I've heard from them both!"
"Hmm.we just have one problem." Howard said, scratching his chin.
"We're a pilot short and shipping out mobile suit carriers or shuttles, is out of the question."
"What about Rahied?" Wufei asked.
Quatre shook his head. "No. They have to stay here. This place has to remain secure, especially if we're going to be keeping the gundams for a while."
"Then where are we going to find a suitable pilot - let alone one who can be trusted?"
Suddenly Sally smiled, eyeing Wufei. "I have an idea."
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To be continued.
::sigh:: I hope you liked this. I know there wasn't any mushy stuff, but I do have to develop my plot. I worked really hard on the action scenes, so I'm praying that it wasn't too boring! Anyway, let me know if it was okay.
I'm thinking that this story will either have one or two more chapters and an epilogue. I'm going to try really hard to have the next chapter out soon. But.with the end of classes, comes work.*sigh* Gotta pay for books for the next semester! Ick.