[If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died]
--- Lyrics to 'If Everyone Cared' performed by Nickelback
A Silver Lining Part 41
Sighing deeply, Noin reached up and rubbed her red, dry eyes. After working without pause through the early hours of the morning immediately following their long night of recovering the data chip, exhaustion was beginning to set in. Still, with Heero missing and being as close as hey were to finally putting an end to the White Out Organization as they were now, she did not dare allow herself to slow down.
In the small computer room long with her were Trowa, Quatre and Anna as they sat at the other corners of the space. Each showing the first signs of their own fatigue, the young pilots' fingers continued to type hastily over the keyboards at their stations. Pausing in his efforts, Quatre sat forward in his chair and blinked a few times to focus his cloudy vision. "Okay," he announced, "I ran into another snag."
Trowa quickly rose from his seat to walk across the room to his friend. Peering over his blonde friend's shoulder to examine the problem in the link, that he was decoding, the Latin pilot quickly found the source of the issue. Pointing to the break in the code, he said, "Try the F-stop buttons. It's a trick that might help reveal whatever the programmer was trying to hide. After that, look for similarities within the symbols that you found up to now."
Following the tall Preventer's advice, Quatre keyed a few F-stops and watched with wide eyes as more code began to appear where there had been none to link the broken pieces of code together. "Nice," he grinned as he looked up to his friend. As he looked up to the tall agent, his grin turned sheepish as he told him quietly, "Thanks for the help. Sorry I forgot about that little detail."
Gently patting the smaller pilot's shoulder, Trowa smirked and reassured him, "Both you and Noin had to take in a lot of information in a short period of time to help out. You're both doing great. Just don't be afraid to ask for help if something doesn't seem right. Better to get it right the first time than to have to fix a mistake." Nodding gratefully, Quatre turned back to his work as the tall pilot returned to his own station.
At the soft knock at the door, the four pilots kept their eyes on their screens and called in unison, "Come in."
Bearing a carrier with four tall, steaming paper cups, Wufei entered. Her deep blue eyes widening when she looked up to him, Anna breathed, "Oh my God. Is that what I think it is?"
With a smirk, the Chinese pilot chuckled deeply, "I thought that the four of you could use a little pick-me up, so I picked up some cappuccinos."
The first to rise to her feet and all but run to him, Anna beamed with excitement as she took up one of the warm cups. Now having a chance to get a good and close look at the red-head's scratched face, Wufei shook his head and snorted, "You get to have all the fun, Anna. Wasn't getting hit by a truck enough for you?"
As she took a sip of her hot drift, the braided young woman's blue eyes narrowed over the rim of her cup. Bending her free arm at the elbow so that the back of her raised fist faced him, she slowly extended her middle finger. Wufei's head fell back as he laughed at the gesture. The other three pilots laughed along as they gratefully accepted their own cups of much needed caffeine.
The door opened once more as Lady Une entered with a bag in each hand. "Breakfast is served," she grinned. The eager pilots went through the bags of doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches with their delight and relief evident.
Heading back to her desk with her cappuccino and a couple doughnuts, Anna sighed deeply, "I'll be writing the two of you a really kick ass Christmas card this year." Taking a bite from a custard-filled pastry, she closed her eyes and hummed in bliss.
With a firm nod, Noin said sincerely, "This was really needed. Thank you." That said, she returned to her own station with her meal. Quatre smiled at the commander and his Chinese friend, his own appreciation evident in his eyes as he went through the assortment of breakfast options before quietly going back to work.
As Trowa came close, Lady Une asked quietly, "How is progress?"
Sighing deeply, the tall pilot rubbed the back of his neck and answered just as softly, "Slow. But steady. The encryption used to cover the transcripts is one of the more complex pieces of work I've ever come across."
"That's good," Wufei smirked. "It only proves that whatever is on that card was worth their efforts to secure the information."
His emerald eyes gleaming with mischief, Trowa smirked, "Exactly."
Lady Une ran a hand through her bangs and sighed deeply, "Thank God. We finally have a solid lead." Gently patting the tall pilot's shoulder, and smiled, "Good work, all of you. Keep me posted."
With a firm nod, the Latin pilot replied, "Of course." Turning on his heels, he walked back to his corner of the lab.
As she faced Wufei, Lady Une suggested, "We better go and check on Tim. I don't like leaving him alone with Zechs for very long. We need him in one piece in the event that someone actually does come after him. If the chip is decrypted before that happens, all the better."
Snorting, Wufei shook his head in amusement, "So little faith in Zechs?" The corner of his mouth tugged up in a smug grin as he commented, "Besides, he wouldn't kill Tim if he did do anything. He'd just have a little fun."
Her brown eyes narrowing in a half-hearted glare, the commander frowned deeply, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of. There will be plenty of time for 'fun' once we know we've gotten everything we can out of that son of a bitch. Once he's worn out his usefulness, then I promise that we'll discuss how to handle him best before going through the motions of a trial for treason against him."
Slowly taking a deep breath, the Chinese pilot sighed deeply, "Well, I suppose that I can live with that."
At the quiet knock on the door, all eyes turned in its direction as Duo peeked his braided head inside. "Sorry to interrupt," he winced. Scanning the room until he spotted Quatre, he nodded to his blonde friend, "Rashid and Abdul are here."
His eyes widening at the announcement, the Arabian pilot quickly rose from his chair. Bowing his head to his team, he excused himself, "Please pardon me, everyone. This should only be a moment. I have something that I need to take care of." With that, he quickly followed Duo out of the room.
In the lobby, its windows shielded with black lenses, Relena was looking after Rachel as the child busied herself with Yuuki. The small pup managed to knock the girl playing with her onto her back in a lunge to lick her face. Laughing as she was attacked, Rachel giggled, "Okay, okay, Yuuki. You win."
The pregnant young woman chuckled deeply at the sweet scene just as the sound of footsteps approached from the hallway. Looking up, Relena's blue eyes widened at the sight of the two men entering. "Rashid. Abdul," she smiled widely as she slowly rose from to her feet.
Rashid approached quickly to embrace the young woman as she opened her arms to him. As he pulled back, he sighed deeply in relief, "Miss Relena, we've been worried about you ever since Master Quatre informed us of what happened at the safe house. I am relieved that you were unharmed."
Yuuki barked excitedly at the tall man's feet, her tail wagging excitedly in recognizing the gentle giant. Chuckling deeply, Rashid bent down to pat the furry dog. Rachel remained hidden behind Relena as she watched the frightening-looking men. When the smaller of the two smiled kindly and waved at her, she smiled back and came out of her hiding place.
Waving her hand, Relena grinned, "Oh, I'm fine." Walking over to Abdul, she gave him a tight hug and stated, "But it is wonderful to see the two of you."
The two Arabians eyed each other anxiously before Abdul asked the young woman, "You mean, Master Quatre did not tell you that we were coming for you?"
Taken aback by the question, the politician's eyes narrowed slightly as she opened her mouth to speak. Before she could speak, Quatre and Duo quickly entered. Biting his lip, the blonde pilot gently took his lover's hand in his own and whispered to her, "Can we talk about this alone?" He squeezed her hand for reassurance.
As she took a deep breath, Relena squeezed his hand back and nodded. Gently, Quatre led the way out into the hall. When the young couple was out of earshot, Rashid glared at his sheepish-looking comrade, "Smooth." Loosening his suddenly tight collar, Abdul chuckled nervously.
When they were alone in the hall, Relena folded her arms over her swollen belly and declared firmly, "I'm staying here. I know that your intentions were good in wanting me to be looked after by Rashid and the others, but I am not about to leave you behind. Not with everything that's been happening."
Shaking his head, Quatre frowned deeply in concern, "Relena, I hate the thought of you being away, but you've been in danger twice already by being involved with this investigation. The incident at Heero and Duo's house being destroyed should have been enough for me to come to this decision. Instead, you were nearly killed last night as well. As close as we are to finally solving this case, I'm not about to take the chance that things are just going to start winding down."
Gently resting a hand on her stomach, the blonde pilot bit his lip and whispered, "The two of you are my world, and I don't want to risk ever losing either of you. As much as I want you close, neither of us can afford to be selfish anymore. There's another life counting on the two of us to look after them."
Tears filled Relena's eyes as she rested her hand over his. Gently kissing her forehead, Quatre rubbed the back of her neck and locked their gazes as he reassured softly, "You won't be too far. Should anything happen, Rashid will be able to reach me and I'll be with you before you know it."
Reluctantly agreeing with her love's logic in seeing that their child was protected, Relena finally nodded and breathed, "All right." A few tears ran down her cheeks as she bit her lip. Her sadness fading for a moment to show her firm resolve, she ordered, "But I want you to keep me posted on everything."
Smiling warmly, Quatre reached up to gently wipe away her tears and reassured her, "I will." Slowly kneeling before her, he grinned to her swollen belly as he ran a hand over it and whispered, "You take good care of mommy while I'm gone, little one. I promise I'll be back soon." As if understanding his words, the baby kicked excitedly. Leaning in, he placed a soft kiss there before rising back to his feet.
With the last of her resolve to keep from falling apart, Relena wrapped her arms around her lover's neck tightly. Biting back a small sob, she said brokenly, "I love you, Quatre. Please be careful."
"I love you, too, Lena," Quatre breathed, fighting back his own tears as he returned the embrace. As they pulled back, the young couple shared a long and fierce kiss. Only parting their lips at the need for air, they took each other's hands and walked back to the lobby.
The small group gathered in the open room looked up as the pair returned. Forcing a smile, Relena nodded to Rashid and Abdul, "I'm ready to go whenever you are." The two men smiled in relief at her acceptance of their offer for protection.
"Very well, Miss Relena," Rashid replied with a deep bow. "We already took the liberty of having your belongings taken to the estate. We were just explaining to Rachel, here, that she will be residing with us as well. That is, until Trowa and Anna can reclaim her when this is all over."
As he mentioned the child, the tall man smiled down to Rachel as she continued to hug his leg with a wide smile. "You do remember them telling you that now, little lady?" Her smile growing, the girl nodded excitedly. Relena couldn't help but grin at seeing how the two Arabians gained the child's trust in such short order.
Clearing his throat, Duo stepped forward with Yuuki in his arms. Sadly looking down at his wiggling pet, the braided pilot asked, "Would it be too much to ask if you could guys look after Yuuki for me?"
At the thought of the braided pilot having to part with the pup at such a difficult time, Relena swallowed past the lump that formed in her throat. Quickly nodding, she grinned, "Of course, Duo."
Biting his lip as he carefully handed his puppy over to Abdul, the American ran a hand over her furry head. "You be a good girl, now, Yuuki," he whispered. Fighting the tears that shimmed in his eyes, he kissed her furry head as she licked his face.
Gently scooping Rachel into his arms, Rashid grinned, "And now, little princess, your chariot awaits."
With a bubbly laugh the little girl wrapped her arms around his thick neck. Waving over his shoulder, Rachel grinned, "Bye, Duo. Bye, Quatre."
"See 'ya soon, kiddo," the American grinned as he and his Arab friend waved her off.
As Rashid and Abdul led the way from the lobby, Relena threw her arms around the braided pilot's neck and kissed his cheek. "Be careful, Duo," she whispered in his ear as he wrapped her in his own arms. "I need you to stay in one piece to keep an eye on my 'husband' and to give Heero a hug for me when you get him back." With a snort, Quatre laughed and shook his head at the comment referring him.
With a watery smile at that, Duo chuckled deeply at her attempt to lighten the air. Sighing deeply, he replied softly, "Thanks, Lena." Gently cupping his cheek, the blonde politician smiled warmly at him before allowing Quatre to lead her from the room by the hand.
Left alone in the lobby, Duo sunk into one of the couches heavily. Being alone in large rooms like the white-walled one that he was in was beginning to play on his nerves again. And now, feeling more alone than ever, he wrapped his arms tightly around his small frame as he shuddered at the chill sinking in.
* * * * * *
Later that afternoon...
With a smug grin on his face, the President of the Earth stepped into the office of the building designated for his special meeting. As he entered the room, the seven people within rose from their seats around the long table. Raising his hand, the aging man chuckled deeply, "Please, be seated, everyone. We have a great deal to discuss and I have little time before I must return to the Earth." That said, he took a seat at the head of the table.
Isis, at the opposite head end of the table, remained on her feet as her associates took their seats. "Mister President," she began with a friendly smile. Raising her right hand, she revealed the small chip in her possession and commented, "As I advised, our elusive chip is finally back in our possession. I already examined it closely and found it to be unharmed."
"Good," the gray-haired man sighed deeply in relief, "And not a moment too soon. With the election coming around the bend, I was beginning to worry that everything we had been working for would be for naught." His eyes narrowing in contempt, he inquired in a deep growl, "And Heero Yuy?"
Her smile growing, his second-in-command answered, "I have already made arrangements for his collection. Tonight, he will be moved to one of our transport ships to be held there until we dissolve the organization all together once we've carried out our plans. Just as Maxwell experienced, the highest bidders will have their chance to do as they wish, just short of killing him before we kill him."
At that, the President smirked, "Excellent. I see that I made the right decision in moving you up in Kent's place, Isis." The six other guests, three sitting on either side of the table, made sure not to show their contempt for the young woman show as they turned to watch her.
Bowing her head, Isis grinned, "Why thank you, sir." As she straightened, her smile faded as she spoke of the serious matters at hand. "I assume that you have already come up with a team to decrypt the data that we had obtained over the years."
With a nod from his gray head, the tall man answered, "They are anxiously awaiting the return with it. And with the passwords and access codes used to hack into the accounts of the Colonies, they will be transferring the funds to our assassin of whom I have also picked out. I am not going to take any chances with the acted attempt on my life. My next public appearance will be in less than a week. I want this all carried out at that time."
Isis smirked, "It's all too perfect. So your 'assassin' is captured and interrogated. The feds find that he had been paid heavily through a wiring system that comes directly from the secured account of the joint Colony Senate account. Then the witch hunt begins until the Colonies fight amongst themselves for the guilty party to come forward."
One of the young men seated beside the orange-haired woman grinned mischievously, "When no one comes forward, the Earth declares war on the Colonies until the people responsible are brought to justice."
Nodding, the President chuckled deeply, "The war will end as it should have, with the Earth the sovereign power in space. With the Presidential election taking place in six months, I will be guaranteed my reelection. My drop in popularity will be a thing of the distant past by then."
Still smirked, he leaned forward and commented, "Because, as history has shown us time and time again, a President at war time -no matter how many mistakes he had made while in office - has never been removed from power." [1]
As he sunk back into his seat, the gray-haired man shrugged, "And of course, you will all be repaid for your services. The idea of making a slave trade business was a brilliant cover up to transfer the information that we needed for the grand picture. The money made from that, alone, will be more than enough to support you all for the rest of your lives, and the next generations of years to come."
A few faces around smirked, knowing that he was well aware of their involvement of creating the White Out Organization. Sighing deeply, the President frowned, "I just wish that we could have captured the remainder of those Gundam pilots for you before having to end the operations of the trade service."
"Oh, we'll eventually have our shot at them through other means," Isis commented nonchalantly. Rounding the long table, she held out the small chip to the President. "Speaking on behalf of everyone here," she began, "It has been a pleasure doing business with you, sir."
Carefully taking up the data card, the leader of the Earth appraised the seemingly innocent piece of metal. "Oh, no, my dear," he whispered. "The pleasure has been all mine."
* * * * * *
At the conclusion of the meeting, Isis ran to her car and began her brief ride back to her residence. As she rode through the winding roads and barren surroundings, she couldn't help but smile to herself in the anticipation of surprising the President once more when she announced her successful strike against the Preventers by leveling their headquarters.
With a quick glance at her clock, the orange-haired agent made a quick assessment that Angie would not be far from making her way into the facility. She needed to check the tracer that she had put on the unsuspecting pilot. There was a brief moment where Isis almost felt bad for having to mislead Angie to her death after everything she had done.
Knowing how handsomely she would be paid for doing so quickly erased that guilt.
It was going to be a busy evening. The team that Isis had called for was going to be arriving shortly to take Heero into their captivity. Her smile grew at the thought of the treatment that awaited the formerly known Perfect Soldier. At the end of their partnership with the President, Isis and her collogues would rapture in witnessing Heero Yuy's death to join the friends that he would lose that evening.
Finally rounding the large hill that hid her small residence, Isis parked her vehicle and all but ran up her porch stairs. Her excitement building, she fumbled with her keys a few times before removing the one to open her front door. As she stepped in and flipped the lights on, she went straight for her desk just beyond the door.
Impatiently waiting for her computer to come to life, the young woman's green eyes narrowed as she muttered, "Come on. Come on." When she was back into her system, she quickly typed her access code into finding where her messenger was.
A few keystrokes and the command to find the tracer, Isis waited as the program searched. With the blinking letter of bold red blinking 'SEARCHING,' she tapped her fingers against her desk top. The wording changed to announce "FOUND" just before pulling up the coordinates of where Angie was.
Her smile fading, Isis spoke quietly to herself, "This can't be right." Her fingers typed quickly to try the search once more. After another short wait, the same results appeared on her screen. "I set that transmitter, myself. It shouldn't be acting up like this," she growled in frustration before trying yet another search.
Again, the results showed that the tracer was within her residence.
The sound of a pistol pump slicking back and forth into place behind her proved that the results were accurate.
Frozen straight and stiff in her desk chair, Isis paled several shades. "Looking for something?" a familiar voice asked. Slowly, the orange-haired agent turned in her seat to peer at the hallway entrance.
Her brown eyes narrowed heatedly on her commander, Angie raised the small tracing detonator that had been placed on her with the hand that did not hold her gun trained on the shocked young woman. "I never would have looked for it if Yuy hadn't made me second guess you," she hissed darkly.
Swallowing hard, Isis pleaded with her wide eyes, "Angie, I can explain." Slowly, she moved her right hand on her lap to reach for her own weapon at her belt.
Quick to catch it, the fallen Preventer fired three rounds into the orange-haired agent's chest. With only a brief gasp at the initial shot, Isis's body jumped at the bullets riddling her before sagging lifelessly in her chair. Her wide green eyes, even in death, stared up in shock at her killer. Her eyes still narrowed, Angie lowered the smoking pistol to her side as she watched the still body as blood began to pool at the dead woman's feet.
As she turned on her heels, Angie quickly moved down the hall and replaced her weapon at her belt. As she passed the armory closet, she took a rifle and shotgun to strap over her shoulders. Rounding the corner, she reached the cell at the end of the corridor and threw open the heavy latch. Opening the door, she watched as the pilot sitting across the room looked up at her in surprise.
Quickly closing the distance between them, the dark-haired woman reached into the pocket of her black pants and told him flatly, "Get up."
Not having much of a choice in the matter, Heero rose to his feet. Pulling his bound wrists towards her, Angie undid the steel cuffs. "There is a shuttle on its way to collect you. You don't have much time to have an advantage on the guards."
Blinking his wide cobalt eyes, Heero tried to get his wits to understand everything that was happening. When Angie removed the rifle from her shoulder and shoved it into his arms, she growled deeply, "You can tell me you told me so later. Let's move."
At that, the Japanese fell at ease. Strapping the gun onto his own shoulder, he smirked, "Lead the way."
TBC...
[1] No need to mention which President I was referring to there. :0)
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