The Petite Rebel 3/12

[Little Green Miko]

CHAPTER THREE: THE SANQ AND THE PREVENTERS

L2?s Gundam Garage was incredibly quiet. Five young men were inside and yet it was still silent. Duo had closed shop for a few days so they could work on finding the new threat. It had been three days since Hilde?s kidnapping and all that was heard was the tippity tapping of keyboard keys as they filed through the web and cracked secret databases to discover information on this new secret organization that Trowa had found out was the reformation of the White Fang.

?I still can not believe its White Fang! When the hell did they resurface and we not notice?? Duo grumbled as he plowed through the Pentagon?s secret files.

?Duo shut up. We were busy with other things...They were very discrete about resurfacing...And still are being so.? Heero said as he clicked away at files from L1?s military bases.

?Mmm, but there is an evident upraising in kidnapping reports over the last few days.? Trowa commented, skimming the police reports from all over.

Quatre looked over Trowa?s shoulder. ?Hn...Yeah-? Then he stopped and his mouth fell open. ?Trowa! Trowa! Go back up on the screen! Go back up!? He commanded. Trowa?s fingers whisked and brought them back till Quatre yelled to stop.

?What?s the matter Q-man?? Duo asked sitting on his knees backward in his chair look.

?Oh my god...Dorothy Catalonia has been kidnapped as well!? He stood completely abashed.

Duo laughed all of a sudden. ?Oh don?t worry about that old bag Q! They?ll get sick of her and throw her out before you can blink twice!?

?Either that or she?ll be running the organization before you can snap your fingers.? Wufei muttered from his seat running checks through the Preventers? files.

?Yeah, that could be a possibility too.? Duo said smirking.

?Of course then we know Hilde will have a lot of trouble.? Wufei then smirked at his screen and flipped through another file.

Duo became very silent then and very quietly turned to face his computer console again. Quatre glared at Wufei. ?Wufei! How can you be so inconsiderate?? Wufei just shrugged. Quatre then went to Duo and put a hand on his shoulder. ?Don?t worry Duo-We?ll find her...and the reformed White Fang. She?ll be back soon, don?t loose heart.?

Duo looked at Quatre. ?It?s been three days Quatre...How much longer can it take? I thought we were the best.?

?It could take a few years according to this.? Heero?s monotone voice broke through.

Everyone turned to him. ?Wh-what?? Duo exclaimed.

?It could take a few years. I?ve got information on them because I found a White Fang encoded site. I broke through and I am now looking at special plans...problem is they?re in a different kind of computer code I?ve never seen.? Heero answered. ?All I?ve gotten out of it is that the main base is located on Earth. No specifics where on Earth and no blueprints.?

?What you think they?re going to leave you a road map and invite you down for tea and biscuits? Of course they don?t have a blueprint on the web.? Wufei said.

?Which means we have to find the place and go to the main computer board for the prints of the place so we can blow it up. But this like I said may take several years. Earth is a big place and we want to kick this before it reaches the public, we can only work with internal recruits, specifically Preventers Headquarters and the New Sanq?s military when needed.? Heero said eyeing Wufei.

?So basically we all have to take a one way ticket to Earth for a while.? Trowa said quietly.

?That?s what it looks like to me.? Quatre said and began to get up to leave the room.

?Where are you going Winner?? Wufei asked.

?To contact Miss Relena, she will want to know about this and Heero said we might have to use the Sanq?s Special Forces.? He responded and slipped out.

?That?s a fine idea...I?ll go contact Sally and the Preventers also.? Wufei said and left the room too.

It?s about that time Duo fell off his chair. Heero and Trowa spun around to see what had happened when they heard the *whump* he made hitting the floor. ?Duo?? Heero said and got little reaction from the braided boy lying there. He looked at Trowa and Trowa looked back. Neither said a word to the other as Heero got up and walked to him kneeling down and shaking him. ?Duo!? He said more harshly. Duo was giggling in a fit of hysteric laughter when he looked up at the perfect soldier. ?What the hell is up with you?? Heero asked, nonplussed but still monotone.

?N-Nothing!? He answered. ?Just your face when Quatre went to call Relena!? He burst out again.

Heero?s eye ticked. ?Very funny??

Duo then went quiet and looked back at Heero and spoke quietly. ?Is it true...that it?ll take years before we find the reformed White Fang??

Heero dropped the annoyed look and nodded solemnly. ?Yes.?

?I?m afraid so, Duo...? Trowa finished.

Duo?s eyes dropped closed and he heaved a breath. ?Face it-I?ll never see Hilde again...She?ll be dead by then I?m sure. We won?t get to her in time...its just not possible.?

Heero?s eyes grew rather hard at Duo and he slapped him, hard. ?Duo don?t ever talk like that. With an attitude like that it will never happen. I don?t know what you see in this Hilde girl that makes you act like this but it better stop! We don?t need this kind of action from anyone during this, you got me?!?

Duo gasped at the sudden pain that shot through his face, his eyes wide staring at Heero. His violet eyes then also got hard and he glared at Heero. ?You cold heartless bastard...? He growled as he sat up away from Trowa. ?Of course you wouldn?t see what I saw in her! You can?t feel anything! She is my best friend, and a far better one then you?ll ever be! And you should know anyway! You knew her before I even did! You make me sick....? He hissed and got up and rushed out of the room.

Trowa looked at Heero, who had his eyes shadowed by his hair. Trowa knew that Hilde being lost had a harder impact on Heero then any of the others knew especially Duo. He knew what had gone on between all of them during the training. He let it slide and stood up to go search out Quatre, leaving Heero to stew in his own mistakes.

?He is so blind.? Heero said suddenly making Trowa stop and turn. ?Doesn?t he see what she is to him??

Trowa shrugged. ?He doesn?t know his feelings for her yet.?

?He?s blind.? Heero muttered.

?This may wake him up. Your right, he really doesn?t know his feelings, even though they are evident. He is blind, for now.? Trowa said and left the room.

The five assembled in the living room a short time later to discuss what was to happen. They all agreed that it would be best to go to Earth together and search with help. Relena had gladly offered the assistance of the Sanq Special Forces and told them they could stay with her for the time of searching for the base.

?Yes, she did realize that it would be a couple years,? Quatre was saying. ?But she said she would be absolutely happy to have us all there. We?re like a family to her I suppose. That?s a really nice thought too.?

Heero sighed and Wufei groaned. ?Of course she would-She?s Relena.? Wufei concluded. Heero shot him a glance but made no sound.

?All right so when do we leave? I need to find someone to work the garage while I?m on Earth.? Duo said.

Trowa raised a brow at Duo. ?Use Howard.? He said in an obvious tone.

Duo rubbed the back of his head. ?...Oh yeah...My minds off today.? He gave a forced smirk and trickled off to the phone.

?And will stay off till we find ?her?? Heero muttered under his breath.

?Poor Duo. He?s taking this whole thing really hard.? Quatre said watching the pilot sit at the phone desk.

Heero rolled his eyes. ?Not as hard as he should be.? he thought.

?You would too if someone you were incredibly close to was kidnapped right under your nose.? Trowa said following Quatre?s eyes.

They got off the L2 shuttle and wandered into the terminal. Relena was there, waiting for all of them with Pagan, her trusty butler, and her pink Cadillac limo just outside waiting to take them to the palace where Sally, Une, Milliardo, Noin and the rest of the Preventers? team was waiting.

Duo of course was the first to spot Relena and went over to her slowly, leaving the other pilots to take care of their luggage. ?Jousan.? Duo said coming up to her with a sad smile on his face.

Relena looked at him and smiled back. ?Hello Duo, welcome home.?

Duo?s eyes brightened just a bit and he hugged her. She hugged back, and then pulled back to arm length keeping his elbows in her grasp. ?My, you shot up like a tree didn?t you!? She said.

Duo?s mouth quirked again. ?You bet, you don?t think the ?God of Death? would stay a little short squirt now did you??

Relena smiled, showing her teeth. ?No I suppose not.? She then stopped ad looked at Duo who had kind of averted his eyes to the floor. ?I-heard-about what happened...I?m so sorry.? She said quietly.

He looked at her again. ?It?s ok, really. I?m not gonna die over it.? He shot her a phony smile.

?I know, but it must hurt awfully.? She said.

?It does, but it?s a pain I should be used too.? He responded as the rest of the pilots came up and their conversation ended.

?Miss Relena!? Quatre chattered. ?It?s so awfully good to see you in person again!? He ran to her and enveloped her in a big bear hug, one of his specialties, and she hugged back.

?It?s so great to see you again also Quatre!? She responded.

Trowa and Wufei followed suit by nodding and saying hello to her and she responded back with a smile. Heero in this time had moved all their things to the trunk of the pink car and was now leaning against a pillar staring quietly at them. Relena spotted him and walked over. She bowed slightly and stood to face him. ?Heero, it?s good to see you again as well.? She said with no smile on her face and he did not smile at her.

He just took to a curt nod and looked at the rest of the group. ?If you are all quite finished, we should get moving now. We have no time to loose with searching for the new White Fang and Rodney Lewis. We must stop them before any real damage is done.? He said and slid past Relena.

Relena turned solemnly and sighed with her eyes closed. Her head drooped a bit forward and she opened her eyes to look at the floor and said nothing. Looking up again she made her way to the limo thinking that if Heero didn?t open up at all while he was using the Sanq as a mainstay base, then she wouldn?t be able to live near him. A few years would be a long time.

The Sanq?s palace steps were lined with Mechas and soldiers ready to serve and protect it from any disturbance that may threaten it. The five pilots and Relena were saluted as they ascended the stairs to enter the palace. As they entered the great hall maids and butlers scurried this way and that in the final preparations for their stay.

One butler came to each of the guests and bowed, asking them to follow him to his room. Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei all looked at each other.

?Go with them.? Relena said. ?When you?re all satisfied with your quarters come to my office. The Preventers and my Special Forces head should be there waiting for you to start planning out the search for this base.? Heero nodded at this and followed his butler up the grand staircase. The others took that as it was and did the same. Relena sighed and turned to Pagan. ?I hope this works for the sake of the peace.?

?Do not worry Miss Relena,? Pagan said reassuringly. ?You know the Gundam pilots are the most competent in this sort of predicament.?

Relena eyed Duo and Heero as they turned the corner at the top of the stairs. ?I hope your right. Duo has me a little worried...He obviously hasn?t been himself since Miss Schibecker was kidnapped. And Heero I always have my doubts about, yet he always seems to come through when truly needed.?

?Yes, well Mr. Yuy has never been very reliable has he? And as for Mr. Maxwell, I?m afraid you?re right Miss Relena, but he is a headstrong boy. He will get over her in time.? Pagan said.

?Again, I hope your right.? Relena answered tearing her eyes away from the now empty landing.

?Come along Miss Relena, we must be getting you ready for the meeting with the pilots, Preventers and Miss Noin.? He said and led her off by the elbow.

The heads of the Preventers headquarters, Lady Une, the pilots, the head of the Special Forces unit, Lucrezia Noin, and Relena, were jammed into her huge office. Relena sat at her desk and looked around at the surrounding company. ?Well we all know why we?re here and what we are here to accomplish.? She began. ?Just recently we have found that a faction started in outer space during the war that we had no idea about has surfaced calling themselves the New White Fang. They have kidnapped many retired soldiers to put them in a genetic altering test that could turn them into the ultimate soldier. They have especially gone after those retired soldiers who had rebelled against the different army factions, such as Oz or the original White Fang. They see it as punishment for becoming traitors to them. We do not know more than that about this new faction, but we do know it must be stopped or the Earth and the colony?s will be ravaged with war again for a reason that is not true. So we must find them and stop them, with that I?ll pass on the briefing to Heero.? She gestured toward the perfect soldier who nodded and stood up.

?I worked with the scientist they are using for the making of the ultimate soldier serums. He used it on me when he first began his study. He is an incredible genius so finding this base will not be easy. All we know for sure is that the base is on Earth and it may take a few years to locate it.? He said quietly and gravely.

?But what if in a few years it?s too late Mr. Yuy? What then?? Noin asked raising her finger.

Heero inclined his head slightly to encompass her face. ?All we can do is pray it isn?t.? He responded flatly. ?I do know that whether or not these serums make the victim an ultimate soldier or not, the soldier will have to be trained vigorously to hone in on his or her skills, to make them beyond perfect in ability, so we will have some time. But if they finish their training and are deployed, we as normal people in battle will have no chance. So it is imperative we find the base and end the experiments before anything terrible happens.?

?How?? It was a simple question from Zechs.

Heero?s head shifted a quarter of an inch to look at the Lightning Count. ?He who is patient and listens, will understand.?

Zechs sat back. ?Well then get to the point Yuy. We don?t have all day.?

Heero glared at Zechs. ?No, you?re right admiral. We don?t have all day.? He looked at Lady Une, who looked back and nodded for him to continue. ?We will need the highest quality radar systems and tracking devices that are available. I?ve said before the scientist working for them is a genius so it will be incredibly hard to find their base. I?ll want people deployed all over the world looking for it. We need the best scouting men out on the job for this and just in case they were deceiving us, I want people in space looking as well. We will find the New White Fang and destroy it. It is a very apparent threat to the peace that has been established by Miss Relena, and we are here to keep the peace. On top of that people have been kidnapped and we must get them back to their families ASAP.? Duo made a small-strangled noise. Quatre whispered to him and pat him on the back. Heero gave a little back look at Duo and then at Relena. Relena understood and came to lead Duo to her desk. He continued. ?We are here as protectors of the people as well as the peace, so we have to keep it.?

Applause broke out and Une stood up. ?Heero, I understand that we must help in any way possible, so why don?t you assign duties to us so we have order as we search.?

Heero nodded. ?I already took that into consideration Miss Une. I had Trowa write up the jobs, Wufei will hand them out.?

Wufei stood up and handed out the jobs. ?Miss Noin, you are to get together all the best people on the your Sanq Special Forces team and give them these places to search. You will have them in outer space and especially Earth.? Wufei said gravely.

Noin saluted. ?I?ll get right on it.? She stated and hurried out of the room.

Wufei handed Zechs his assignment. ?You are to find all possible best quality radar and tracking systems known to man at the present time. We will really need those pieces of machinery for this search and you are the best with the technology of today.?

Zechs mulled over his assignment. ?Being ordered around by Yuy. The disgrace of it all...? He muttered.

?Milliardo! This is serious and you know that. Now get your ass moving!? Une yelled at him.

?Yes Miss Une.? He said saluting her and heading out.

Wufei rolled his eyes and hissed ?baka? under his breath as he came to Sally. He eyed her somewhat warily. ?Why did you not add anything to the conversation woman?? He asked before he handed her, her assignment.

She looked up at Wufei with her arm draped over the back of the chair and her legs crossed. ?I had nothing to add. There?s not much I can say for this situation. Heero is right, it will take years before we find the base if the scientist is as much of a genius as Heero denotes. All I can say is I hope, for the victims sake, they figure out how to escape before it?s too late.?

A solitary, almost unheard, slight whimper wafted across from Relena?s desk where Quatre, Trowa and Relena sat trying to comfort Duo in some way. Sally took note of this. ?I?m sure Hilde will be the first to get away...? Duo obviously hit his head because there was a slight squabble as Relena asked if he was ok.

Wufei narrowed his eyes at where Duo was, surrounded by the other three. ?He is a fool to let his emotions get in the way of a mission like this.?

Sally looked sharply back at Wufei. ?Shut up, Wufei.? He quickly snapped his head back to face her in surprise. ?Hilde was very close to him, and she was the one they took first, to change her body and mind structure so she could become a drone of war for the New White Fang?s personal use. If she comes out of this alive, she will never be the same! Do you understand that?! So he was the first to loose someone very dear to him in this war and your saying he?s a fool for mourning over it? I say you?re the fool. You will never get anywhere without feelings. Give me that assignment now, I?m leaving.? With that she ripped the assignment from a very stunned Wufei?s grasp and went out.

Heero had been speaking with Lady Une during this and he finished the conversation with a tight nod and he and Lady Une turned toward the group. ?All right, we have a very long search ahead of us, as well as a conference to decide strategy?s for when we find the base. We start tomorrow I suggest everyone get some sleep now. It will be very tiring.? Lady Une said. ?I want all of you in your rooms now!?

The boys moved out. Duo had recovered somewhat being helped to the door by Relena. Quatre took him the rest of the way. Heero turned to Lady Une and nodded at her. She understood and left the room closing the door behind her, leaving Heero and Relena alone.

Relena sat back down at her desk and looked at the top of it. She sighed. Heero turned his head after the door had been closed when he heard Relena sigh. He came up to the desk and looked down at her.

Sensing his eyes on her she looked up at him. Their eyes met, locked and tore away. She looked sidelong. ?Heero...I?m worried.? She started breaking the silence.

Heero tilted his head somewhat. ?You told me you wanted to speak to me after the meeting.? He said flatly.

She sighed again and looked up, propping the underneath of her nose on her the top of her hands. ?I did. For a couple reasons.? She responded blinking slowly.

?Which are??

?Well first and foremost that?s on my mind is, I missed you-and when you see me all you can do is give a curt uncaring nod. What?s with that? Even Trowa gave me more than that.?

Heero blinked. ?What relevance does this have to the problem at hand??

?Let me make this simple. You are staying here as a mainstay base, are you not??

Heero nodded.

?Well then you must be open with your feelings and emotions while your here. Ok??

Heero groaned. ?I knew you told us to use this place for some supercilious reason.?

?Just say ?ok? and I?ll move to the next reason.? She glared at him intently.

Heero rolled his eyes and said emotionlessly ?I?ll try.?

?Ok, next is I?m worried about Duo. He is not acting himself...I don?t know if he can handle this.? She said.

?Duo is a fighter a soldier, he will survive.? Heero stated.

?He is, but he?s not like you! He can?t just switch off his emotions like some cyborg, and I?m afraid he?ll get hurt!? She protested.

?He is blind Relena.? He answered her. ?He has feelings for that woman he is not aware of yet. As long as those feelings stay at bay, he will be fine.?

?That?s horrible! And sounds just like you.? She growled.

?What?? Heero looked at her bewildered.

?Never mind...? She quickly covered up. ?Just keep his condition in mind and go get some rest. We have a long time with a lot of hard work ahead of us all.? She got up and walked Heero to her door. ?Goodnight love.? She said and pecked his cheek quickly before closing the door behind him.

Heero spun and looked at the closed door placing his hand on his cheek where the imprint of her lips still was. He pondered what just happened for a second before putting it behind him and heading off down the hall.

~*~Chap. 3 fin.~*~

[Eienvine]

Ooh, I like it! Especially when Sally chewed Wufei out. Ha! Who's the weak onna now? Anyway, this story is getting to be really interesting. Keep up the good work!