Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon.

Rating: T (Ratings may change to M in later chapters)

Pairings: Heero/Usagi

Title: A Sealed Innocence

Chapter III

Silence consumed the two for what seemed like an eternity. A wolf had caught its prey with ease, and is now ready to devour its meal. In this case, Heero was the wolf and Usagi was his prey. Heero had indeed caught his prey with ease. Usagi was lying underneath him, motionless. Heero had ignored Usagi’s surprising comment and glared at her.

“Not until you give me a detailed explanation as to ‘what the hell are you doing here?’ You know very well that you are forbidden to show even the slightest sign of your existence in society. Using your real last name, what’s wrong with you?!” Heero said icily in return.

If she wanted to play games with him, then so be it. He’ll just have to give her a taste of her own medicine. Heero glared at her dangerously. He violently increased his weight and grip on her, indicating that he was serious. There was no way he’d let her get away without giving him some answers.

“Hii-chan, I’m warning you. Get off of me! I swear that I will not hesitate to kill you,” Usagi said monotonously.

By now, Heero was getting annoyed. She was being very stubborn. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. Heero gave her his famous death glare and increased his weight and grip on her again, making her body to slightly bruise. His grip had cut off Usagi’s blood circulation. She didn’t even show any signs that she was in pain. It was as if she was paralysed from neck to toe.

“Serenity, stop being stubborn and explain.” Heero said without emotion.

Heero had rarely used her real name. The only time he used it was when he was angry or annoyed at her. To think that he’d use her real name now meant that he means business. He was also hurting her, and it didn’t seem like it mattered to him.

“Mission,” Usagi answered coldly.

Heero glared at her one more time and released her from his grasp. Usagi’s blood flow started to circulate itself normally again. Usagi’s wrists were a little swollen from Heero’s tight grip, but she didn’t care.

He got off her bed and went to lean his back on Usagi’s bedroom door. There were still some things that he wanted to know, and there was no way he’d let her leave until she enlightened him with some information.

“Care to elaborate?” Heero said monotonously in Japanese.

As soon as Heero uttered that question in Japanese, it instantly hinted that he wanted them to use their native tongue. Whenever they were alone, they always spoke in Japanese. It reminded them of the orphanage and of all the memories they treasured. At the orphanage, they had always spoken in Japanese. The only time they spoke in English was when Doctor J came into the picture. Even then, they spoke in Japanese whenever he wasn’t around.

“Doctor J allowed me to dorm with you. He also wanted me to attend the same school as you.” Usagi explained, also in Japanese.

“Why’s that?” Heero asked.

“What? You don’t want me to dorm with you? Fine! I’ll dorm with someone else!” Usagi pouted playfully, which earned herself an icy glare from Heero.

“Okay! Okay! So I can be close to you and the other pilots. The start of a bloody war is approaching. The Negamoon organization is building hundreds of mobile suits and mobile dolls as we speak. They have specially trained soldiers, designed to eliminate even the most elite of pilots. The organization’s objectives are to have all of the colonies and the earth to bow down before them, and to create a world that is ruled by one feared dictator.” Usagi explained.

“In other words, the war that we were originally trained to stop is about to start.” Heero clenched his fist.

“Precisely,” Usagi replied.

“How will you act towards the other pilots?” Heero asked, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t intend on revealing my identity to them. Instead, I will act as your enemy. I expect you to attempt to kill me with the best of your abilities to decrease any suspicions. Treat me as you would with any enemy.” Usagi explained.

“Our missions won’t be the same I assume.” Heero spoke in understanding.

“Affirmative, but we will always see each other during our missions.” Usagi added.

“It’s only a matter of time until the other pilots realize what importance your last name holds. Do I dare ask what the hell were you thinking?” Heero asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“It’s more of what the hell J was thinking. I used my last name upon J’s orders. Why, you ask? I have no idea. Of all people, do you really think that I’d do something that stupid willingly?” Usagi replied with a hint of sarcasm at her last sentence.

“Yes,” Heero smirked, earning him a pillow thrown at his face.

“We have to protect Relena Peacecraft at all cost. J gave me strict orders to do so.” Usagi said with a serious tone.

“Coming out of you, the thought of you wanting to protect Relena amuses me.” Heero grinned.

“I don’t find that amusing. The fact that people think that you two are in love with each other, does not amuse me one bit.” Usagi glared at him in annoyance.

“It’s a one sided love. I don’t love her and you know that! You don’t need to get mad Usagi,” Heero sighed; it turned out that Usagi was in fact jealous of Relena.

“I know that! But you could at least tone it down. Or at least, in an extremely slow pace, pretend to fall in love with me. That way, it wouldn’t be suspicious. Just act the same way as you would normally act with the others.” Usagi pouted.

“Why do I need to pretend to fall in love with you, when I already am in love with you?” Heero smirked.

“Hii-chan, you know exactly what I meant.” Usagi glared dangerously at him.

“Maybe it’d be best if we all worked together. I bet it’d make your life a lot easier.” Heero offered, knowing her answer already.

“I don’t trust them.” Usagi said bluntly and stood up.

“I knew you’d say that, How will you act towards me then?” Heero asked.

“I’m playing the role of an innocent, kind and loving girl. I’ll just attempt to talk to you a lot more than the others, since you’re my roommate and all. That and I’ll show a lot of curiosity towards you.” Usagi smirked, and stood up.

She walked over to Heero’s figure that stood against the door. She stared into his eyes and smirked.

“One final question,” Heero stated with a serious tone.

“And that would be?” Usagi asked impatiently, ignoring Heero’s serious tone.

“Do you still wish that Relena’s theories were true?” Heero asked her in curiosity.

“Hii-chan, you of all people should know that no matter how hard people may try to maintain peace, it won't last forever. We were taught by Doctor J that it is always a matter of time before humans find themselves drawn back to war again. Everyone is born with the instinct to kill and to fight. No matter how hard we try to suppress these instincts, they will eventually resurface. We were given brutal training and were taught that Relena's theories of total pacifism are only ‘play talk’ that those who have never stained their hands can say.” Usagi said in her monotone.

“And because of how we were raised, we are also drawn back to Relena’s ‘play talk’ that we both wish that her theories would one day become truth. We both stained our hands with blood, and that is why we want to believe in Relena’s theories.” Heero responded in his monotone.

“Therefore giving you the only reason as to why you feel that you must protect Relena from any danger, so that you can be near her fake truth.” Usagi smirked and crossed her arms.

“Admit that you also feel that you should protect her,” Heero grinned.

“It’s part of our mission. Let me pass,” Usagi ordered, changing the subject.

Heero smirked knowing that he was right, and moved aside. He watched her open her bedroom door, walk a couple of steps out, and stop.

“I won’t hesitate to kill the other pilots if they get in my way.” Usagi said in her monotone and went inside the bathroom.

Sighing, he went inside his bedroom to put on his favourite green tank top and black spandex shorts. He knew how serious she was. It worried him a little. The sound of the shower running told him that she was going to be awhile. Heero picked up his laptop and went to the living room to wait for her. He sat down in his single seat couch and started to search for some information about the Negamoon. After about 40 minutes, Heero’s urgent e-mail popup appeared on his screen.

Staring at the sender, he noticed that it was from Doctor J. Without wasting any time, he opened the e-mail and read it. His eyes widened at the content of the e-mail, and glared at it. He then turned his gaze towards the closed bathroom door that Usagi was in, and glared at it as well. The e-mail was urgent alright. He and his comrades would have surely been doing the wrong mission, if Doctor J didn’t realize what was going on in time. Everything made sense now.

Heero deleted the e-mail and turned off his laptop. He quickly went to the telephone and punched in Trowa and Quatre’s dorm room phone number. A few seconds later, he heard Quatre’s voice on the other end.

“Hello?” Quatre asked.

“We have a mission. The mission that was given to us was a fake. Pilot 06 hacked into my system and created a fake e-mail. Notify the others immediately, and report to our Gundams in 30 minutes. Tell everyone to wear something warm. Do not mention any of this to Relena.” Heero stated and hung up.

“What? Hey! Heero, what’s going on?” Quatre asked, but it was too late. Heero had already hung up.

Heero knew that Quatre was speechless. It didn’t matter though. Quatre would notify the others without fail. Heero walked towards the bathroom and knocked a few times.

No Response.

His knocks started to become more frequent and louder. There was still no response, as if there was no one inside. Annoyed, Heero took out a pin from his pocket and started to pick open the lock. When he heard a click, he turned the door knob and opened the door. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

Usagi was nowhere to be found.

He quickly went into her room, and checked her bedroom. Everything was in place, but no Usagi. There was one thing that came clear to him; she snuck out to do a mission. In other words, she had planned to do so from the very start so that he wouldn’t ask her about it.

He quickly went inside his bedroom and changed into his blue jeans and his white sweater. Where he was going was going to be cold. Heero grabbed a few ammunition and guns from under his bed and left his dorm to meet the others. He already knew that the others were either there or heading there promptly.

--

“What’s taking him?! And he’s the one who called us!” Duo whined and kicked the dirt.

“Calm down, Duo! Heero doesn’t live alone anymore. Usagi is living with him now, remember? She probably was holding him back.” Quatre explained, defending Heero.

“I was looking for some sort of information about Pilot 06 and the Negamoon, earlier.” Trowa announced, as everyone turned to face him.

“What did you find?” Wufei asked, giving him his full attention.

“I found absolutely nothing on the pilot. It’s as if he doesn’t exist. On the other hand, I did find something interesting about the Negamoon. They had an alliance with the Tsukino Foundation. Ring a bell?” Trowa asked, as if he just told them a key word.

“The Tsukino Foundation you say? Isn’t Usagi’s last name Tsukino? Are you saying that she could be our enemy or in fact be related to the Foundation? I don’t think so. She seems so innocent!” Quatre defended.

There was no way someone as sweet and pure as Usagi could be an enemy. She didn’t even do anything suspicious.

“She has incredible skills on fencing. Remember Heero made it clear that there was a 100 chance that no one could dorm with him. Only an extremely skilled hacker could out hack Heero’s hacking abilities. Not to mention, her last name is Tsukino.” Wufei pointed out.

“The entire Tsukino Foundation was brutally slaughtered by an unidentified person or group about sixteen years ago. There were no survivors.” Trowa added.

“It’s probably just a coincident. I personally don’t think she’s any harm. Need I remind you? There are people on earth and in the colonies whom are not related with each other whatsoever, but share the same last names. Plus, Heero practically lives with her. He will watch her like a hawk.” Duo grinned.

“She’s always smiling brightly. I doubt she’s our enemy.” Quatre sighed at their suspicions.

“We can never be too careful. Where the hell is Yuy anyways?” Wufei said impatiently.

“I’m right here,” Heero said in a monotone.

“It’s about time!” Duo glared at his Prussian blue eyes.

“I’ve been here ever since Trowa spoke.” Heero said coldly and walked towards his Gundam.

“What the hell? You’ve been here for that long and you decide to spea-” Duo quickly shut his mouth at the sight of Heero’s gun pointing at his forehead.

“We have to go to the Arctic.” Heero spoke without emotions.

“That’s going to take us about half a day to get there. It’s going to be very suspicious if we’re all absent for a couple of days.” Wufei commented.

“There won’t be any classes for the rest of the week. I hacked the university’s supercomputer and implanted a virus that will completely shut everything down for a few days. That’s why I was a little late.” Heero explained.

“Only Heero would do something like that.” Duo muttered under his breath.

“What do we have to do at the Arctic?” Quatre asked in curiosity.

“We have to retrieve a special type of video chip that has information regarding illegal experiments that occurred about sixteen years ago. Also, we are required to destroy their base without causing any turmoil.” Heero explained.

“We better start heading there then.” Quatre insisted, going inside his Gundam.

The others mimicked Quatre and started their Gundams as well. A couple of minutes later, the five took off in the air and headed towards the Arctic.

--

Darkness embraced the cold air, which seemed to lead to a black hole of emptiness. It was very cold, and the wind howled dangerously. There appeared to be no signs of life for miles. It would be impossible for anyone to live with a temperature below freezing. Who would have thought that a base was stationed somewhere deep in the Arctic? The only thing that proved its existence was the many lights surrounding what seemed to be a large warehouse.

The pilots had finally arrived at the Arctic, after a long ten hour trip. They landed behind a large pile of ice and snow a short distance away from the base. The dark night was able to conceal their Gundams perfectly.

“Of all places, it just had to be the Arctic! It’s freezing! Not to mention, we haven’t eaten yet!” Duo sneezed and kicked the snow.

“Calm down Duo! We’re all cold and hungry, but we have to think of a plan.” Quatre scolded.

“It may be best if we all assigned each other a job to do. We’ll give each of us a time limit of an hour and a half to complete our tasks. Heero and Duo, you two secretly steal the tape recording. Quatre, you stay inside your Gundam and wait for the time limit to end. Destroy the base when the time is up. Wufei, place a few bombs wherever you see mobile suits or dolls. I’ll plant a deadly virus to erase all of their data,” Trowa ordered with confidence.

“It sounds reasonable enough. The time difference between the Sanq Kingdom and the Arctic is completely different. It’s 2:10 AM at the moment, so let the time limit end at 3:45AM. That’s an extra five minutes in case it’s needed. You better not mess this up Maxwell.” Wufei said in a threatening voice.

“Why would I mess up? You’d screw up before I even trip.” Duo smirked, which earned him a hard punch in his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

“You bastard!” Duo glared, clutching his gut in pain.

“Move out!” Heero ordered and started to head towards the base.

“You heard him, let’s go.” Trowa ordered as they all started to head for the base, leaving Duo and Quatre behind.

“Hey! Wait up! Don’t you all see that I’m in severe pain?!” Duo whined and dragged himself towards the base.

The snow was deep. Its white substance reached each of their knees, making it somewhat tiring to plough their feet through. It didn’t make anything easier when the Arctic’s sky decided that it wanted to start a blizzard. Its winds were harsh, howling violently. The four pilots were tired, hungry and cold. They wanted nothing more than to get this mission over with.

After what seemed like days, they finally reached the base. Luckily, there was no one watching the outer sector of the base. They quickly hid behind a pile of snow for a better view of the place. It seemed that someone had ploughed the snow around base, to make it easier for workers to walk outside. There was a fair amount of cameras distributed around the base. The four pilots decided that now would be the most appropriate time to split up and do their own tasks.

Trowa and Wufei went their own way and Duo and Heero stayed together. It was going to be very troublesome to get in, especially if someone were to spot their footprints on the snow. If they managed to get in, their shoes would be wet from the snow, creating wet footprints inside. They were at a major disadvantage.

Heero and Duo started to walk around the base in search for another way to get in. Each of them was carefully avoiding all of the cameras along the way. An abandoned door that had no security cameras guarding it was found near the back of the base. The two ran towards the door with their bodies somewhat crouched so that they wouldn’t be seen. Heero and Duo both took out their guns and unhooked its safety switches off, preparing for the worst.

Duo analyzed the door to ensure that the door did not trigger an alarm. When Duo gave the signal, Heero slowly turned the knob around. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked. He slowly opened the door a crack to view if the coast was clear.

The door seemed to lead to a pitch black hallway. It appeared to be an abandoned section of the base. Heero went inside, and Duo followed him while quietly closing the door behind him. They both followed the dark hallway’s path without knowing where it led. Their guns were in front of them, ready to shoot the first unidentified person they see.

After a few moments, Heero and Duo found a set of stairs. One set that lead up and the other that led down. Heero motioned Duo to check where the lower level would take them, while Heero went to check the upper levels.

Heero left Duo to look for the video chip, while he went another way to search for it as well. Duo proceeded to go down the staircase, making no sound whatsoever. When the staircase ended, it had led him to another door. He went towards the door and was about to open it when he heard voices from inside. Judging by their voices, there seemed to be three people. One seemed to be a male voice, owned by someone around their 50s or 60s. Another voice seemed to be owned by a young woman around her late 20s, maybe even older. The last voice seemed to belong to a young man around his early 20s that seemed to have a higher authority than the other two.

“Serenity is alive. There is no way that the Tsukino Foundation would let someone like her to die. We need to find her at all cost. She is a vital piece for our plan.” The young man said in arrogance.

“The only clue we have of her is a portion of her blood. We did a few DNA testing in every possible area that she could be in. It’s as if she disappeared from existence. We sent out some hunters to find her, and they are still searching for her as we speak.” The woman explained.

“We’ve also examined this recording that we have from when the drug was created. If you give us some more time, we may be able to create another vile. The issue is that the video chip has no sound so it’s hard to decipher what liquids were used, as well as how they are used. It’s crucial that everything is made correctly to avoid any possible side effects.” The old man explained.

“Are you telling me that you truly believe that the original drug has no side effects?” The young man said in amusement.

“What do you mean sir? The original drug was not perfected?” The young woman questioned in disbelief.

“Correct! It caused the girl to slightly mutate from beneath her flesh. More specifically, it’s inside her back. It grows in correspondent of how fast she ages, how tall she gets and how heavy she gets. I’m not sure what type of mutation occurred, but you can best describe her as a monster if you like.” The young man chuckled in amusement.

“In other words, she’s vital to the plan because she’s had the drug for about 16 years. The drug has already merged with her whole body. The faster we find her, the faster our dream can take its course.” The old man explained.

“You finally understand the situation. I’ll be leaving the base in about 30 minutes. I want you two to accompany me to L3. We’ll return to the Arctic in about a month’s time. I suggest you put the video chip back in the safe. Be at the roof in 20 minutes. If you wish to not come, that’s your choice.” The young man ordered and started to head for the door.

Duo heard footsteps coming towards the door. In panic he hid behind the staircase and watched as the door opened. The light from inside distinguished the darkness, causing Duo to stay behind the staircase. When the door closed and the darkness came back, Duo looked at the direction of the door in hopes of seeing the mysterious person’s face. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see the person’s face because of how dark it was. All that he saw were his red eyes. Duo waited for about ten minutes in case the young man decided to return. He was quite confused at this new found information. Who was this Serenity they speak of? They seem to know about the Tsukino Foundation. He’d have to tell the others later.

Duo snuck back towards the door without a sound. He put his ear towards the door to try to find out what the other two people were doing. It was quiet. Not a word was spoken. Had they left without him knowing? The young man did tell them to report to the roof in 20 minutes, but only ten minutes has past. Something did not feel right.

He slowly opened the door to find two people lying on the floor, dead. But that was impossible. Had they committed suicide? He doubted it. These two were murdered. Had that young man murdered them? Duo knelt down to examine the two bodies.

They each had three long silvery like needles sticking out of their neck. The woman had long shoulder length hair and the old man barely had any hair to begin with. He only had a few grey strands around the sides of his head. They both wore white lab jackets with a strap of a black upside down crescent moon on their left arm sleeve. These two people were indeed dead. The question was who killed them? Then it hit him. He wasn’t alone in the room. Someone was inside the room with him, but who?

His eyes widened when he felt a stingy pain pierce his neck. His own blood started to trickle down his neck, making him feel slightly paralysed. This unknown person was attacking the most vital area of his neck. It would be instant death if he stabbed that vein. Duo knew that any sudden movements would ensure his death. He felt the needle start to slowly enter deeper beneath his flesh, causing more blood to ooze out.

Duo gave the person his gun and put his hands on his head. His body started to feel a little numb. Was this person going to kill him? It was obvious he was. He knew that he was in a bad position. Duo heard a gun’s safety switch turn off from behind. It was most definitely his gun. He was going to die by his own gun!

It was over.

This person was going to shoot him. How could he have been so careless? Duo closed his eyes and waited for the bullet to impact his head.

Nothing came.

“I’ll kill you!” A familiar monotone said from behind.

Duo’s eye’s widened at Heero’s voice. Out of all the times he had to face Heero’s unwanted gun, this would be one of the rare occasions he didn’t care if he had it out. He stood up and turned around to meet his captor. Who he saw was someone who was about a head shorter than him. Judging from his height, he looked to be around 11 or 12 years of age. The fact that he was wearing a silvery mask that showed no expression didn’t help much. Was this the famous Gundam pilot 06? But why would someone give a child a Gundam? Duo removed the needle out of his neck and applied pressure to the wound with his hand. It was stinging a great deal, and the blood still fell.

Duo noticed something interesting in the pilot’s right hand and grabbed it, placing it in his pocket. It apparently was the video chip that they needed to retrieve. But why would this pilot go through all that trouble to steal it? Questions flooded Duo’s mind. First things first, he wanted to remove the pilot’s mask.

“What might you be hiding under that mask of yours?” Duo grinned and started to remove her mask.

Usagi grabbed Duo’s hand and quickly and twisted it, causing him to moan in pain. Before Heero was able to react, she elbowed his gut extremely hard, knocking the wind out of him. She quickly took the opportunity to knock Duo’s gun across the room and run for the door. Heero shot a few bullets at her running figure, but had missed by a few millimetres.

“Damn!” Duo cursed under his breath and started to head for the door to follow.

“We have to leave the base at once. There’s no time to chase him. It’s already 3:35AM, we need to leave now.” Heero ordered and watched Duo glare at the opened door.

Duo dragged himself to get his gun. He checked if the video chip was still in his pocket and zipped the pocket shut. The two ran out of the base and started to head for their Gundams. Time seemed to have started to speed up because it was already 3:44AM.

Heero noticed Wufei and Trowa were following them from behind and smirked. At exactly 3:45AM, a large explosion was seen from the base, obliterating everything in sight. Quatre had indeed destroyed it at 3:45AM sharp. There should have been no survivors.

“Yuy, that’s not Quatre’s Gundam!” Wufei yelled from behind.

Heero’s eyes widened and halted. He turned around and saw Usagi’s Gundam in the air, and watched it fly back towards the direction of the dorms. If that was Usagi, then where was Quatre? Then it hit him. Where was Quatre? Heero increased his speed towards their Gundams.

“Wait up Yuy! Pilot 06 will get away!” Wufei exclaimed and increased his pace.

“Something’s not right. Where’s Quatre?” Trowa asked, increasing his pace as well.

When they got there, they saw Quatre’s Gundam sitting there. The Gundam was on, but it just stood there. Something didn’t feel right. Heero went towards the hatch of Sandrock and opened it. What he saw made him widen his eyes in horror.

There sat Quatre with needles all around his body. Quatre’s blood was trickling down around the areas he was hit. Thankfully, none of the needles reached any of his vital points. By the looks of things, it seemed to have happened recently. Judging from where he was struck, Usagi didn’t intend to kill him.

“H… he… was…. H…he…here…I’m……s…s…sorry.” Quatre managed to say while coughing out blood.

His voice was barely above a whisper and it seemed like he was having a hard time to talk. Quatre gave him a smile that indicated that he was alright before he passed out.

Heero slowly removed all of the needles carefully. He took out Sandrock’s first aid kit and started to bandage him up. Quatre had lost quite a bit of blood. There was no way he’d be able to pilot Sandrock. Heero took a cloth that was inside the first aid kit and wrapped a few of Usagi’s silvery needles inside it. She did say to treat her like an enemy and that’s exactly what he’s going to do. He put the clothed needles in his pocket for safe keeping.

“What’s wrong Heero? What’s Quatre doing?” Trowa asked.

“He’s wounded and unconscious! He won’t be able to pilot Sandrock home!” Heero explained.

“What did you say?! Quatre’s hurt?” Duo said in shock and anger.

“Pilot 06 did this to him.” Heero said in a monotone.

He felt sorry for Quatre. They were dealing with pilot 06. It’s what she’s trained to do. Quatre had gotten off with just a few minor scratches. That alone was proof that Usagi did not intend on killing him. It was her way of saying that she was serious about killing them if they got in her way. Heero had seen things that are far worst than this; things that he would rather not have to see ever again.

“How bad is it?” Wufei asked bluntly and crossed his arms.

“A portion of his blood was lost and there are wounds all around his body. He’s currently unconscious and he will not be able to fly back.” Heero explained.

“I’ll take care of him since he’s my room mate.” Trowa offered and watched as Heero took the unconscious Quatre out of Sandrock.

Trowa saw Heero jumped down with Quatre on hand and started to walk towards him. He gave Quatre to him and walked back to Quatre’s Gundam. Heero pressed a few buttons from inside Sandrock and jumped down.

“I put Sandrock on autopilot. It will follow Wing Zero from behind.” Heero explained and went to start up Wing Zero.

The others copied Heero and went to start up their own Gundams. Trowa went inside his Gundam and pressed a few buttons. An extra chair appeared from behind Trowa’s chair. Trowa put Quatre on the new chair and buckled his seatbelt. When he was done, he went to sit in his own seat and buckled his own seat belt as well. Trowa closed Heavyarms’ hatch and turned on the communication system.

“I’m ready.” Trowa stated and waited for a response.

“Do we have the video chip?” Wufei asked.

“I have it!” Duo exclaimed, smirking from ear to ear.

“Move out!” Heero instructed as they all went back to the dorms.

Sandrock started to fly on its own and started to follow Wing Zero. It was going to be a long ten hour flight, not to mention they still haven’t eaten.

--

“I see the University. It’s about 30 miles ahead.” Wufei informed as they went towards the woods to hide their Gundams.

“Food is calling my name! I’m going to pig out!” Duo whistled in excitement.

“Has Quatre woken up?” Heero asked.

“He’s still asleep and he seems to be developing a fever. We have to treat his wounds ASAP. It’s not uncommon for someone to die from those types of wounds, especially if they are returning from the Arctic.” Trowa said with a serious tone.

“Roger,” Heero replied and landed his Gundam somewhere in the woods.

The others followed him and landed their Gundams around Heero’s Gundam. They all made sure that their Gundams were lying down so that people wouldn’t be able to see them. Sandrock had proceeded to lay down on its own and turned itself off.

Trowa carefully unbuckled Quatre from his seat and opened his Gundam’s hatch. He carried him and took him out of his Gundam, jumping out in the process. His Gundam immediately closed by itself once Trowa and Quatre had gotten out.

“Trowa, you go ahead to your dorm room and treat Quatre’s wounds. We’ll camouflage your Gundam for you!” Duo exclaimed, watching Trowa nod then run towards the dorms.

Duo turned around and watched Wufei and Heero start to put twigs, grass, leaves, sticks and anything else they could find, and placed them on their Gundams. He noticed Wufei and Heero putting things on his Gundam as well and grinned mischievously. Duo slowly turned around and started to quietly head back towards the cafeteria. Unfortunately, he was stopped when he heard a certain someone remove the safety switch off of his gun.

“Okay! Okay! You got me Heero! I’ll help!” Duo moaned in hunger, picking up some random twigs, leaves, etc and placing them on their Gundams.

After about an hour, the three finally finished and started to head back towards the dorm rooms. Duo had given Heero the video chip and had run full speed ahead towards the cafeteria. Wufei and Heero were left behind, so they walked towards the dorms in silence. They were going to check up on Quatre before they joined Duo and his eating fest.

The two walked towards the elevator and pushed the up button to call forth the elevator. None of them spoke a word to each other. It was as if they were both zombies. A few minutes later, the elevator door opened and they both went inside. Wufei pressed the button four and watched as the elevator closed.

“Are you able to find any type of information on the pilot? Hack everything he has. I want to know everything about this pilot. He seems to always be one step ahead of us.” Wufei exclaimed with an irritated tone.

“I plan too.” Heero smirked as the elevator opened.

The two walked to the left side towards room 403. Heero knocked on their door a few times and waited for Trowa to let them in. After a few minutes Trowa opened the door and went inside. They removed their shoes and went into Quatre’s room, only to see him sleeping peacefully with about five layers of blankets.

Quatre had a wet towel sitting on his forehead and clean bandages wherever he was wounded. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to see. From time to time, Quatre would slightly move or moan in pain.

“How is he?” Wufei asked.

“He caught pneumonia and his fever is getting worst. There’s a chance he might-” Trowa wasn’t able to finish his sentence because he was interrupted by a certain someone.

“He won’t die! Quatre is stronger than this.” Heero interrupted.

“I’m going to the cafeteria. I’ll bring something back for you Trowa, and some soup for Quatre.” Wufei said gruffly and left.

A few moments later, Heero took out Usagi’s silvery needs that he had wrapped a while ago. It was still stained with Quatre’s blood and had dried out. He wondered how Usagi could handle using those needles. She was extremely gifted for a girl.

“I found these needles all around his body. There were 20 or more, so I kept a few.” Heero explained and handed Trowa the cloth of Usagi’s weapons.

“These are 06’s weapons?” Trowa asked in surprise and Heero nodded.

“He’s incredibly skilled. My theory is that he has the ability to instantly kill someone from a distance or severely wound them. This pilot seems to have the skill to put someone in a death like sleep with these needles. He seems to know every vital point of the human body.” Heero explained with a serious tone.

“In other words, he purposely didn’t kill Quatre.” Trowa stated after Heero’s words finally sunk in.

“Duo and I met him at the base.” Heero started, alerting Trowa.

“What happened?” Trowa asked in interest.

“The pilot is about a head shorter than us; maybe around the ages of 10 and 12. There were two people inside the base that were already murdered by him. Three needles were found piercing each of their neck, which seemed their deaths were instant. Duo would have perished that night if I had not been there in time. He had already started to pierce Duo’s most vital area in his neck when I got there. We both had him at gun point but he escaped with ease. He was able to knock the wind out of me with his strength and twisted Duo’s arm.” Heero explained in his usual monotone and sat down on Quatre’s bed.

“He wore a silvery mask that held no expression.” Quatre suddenly spoke with a weak tone.

“Don’t talk! You need your rest.” Trowa ordered and quickly rinsed Quatre’s cloth, then putting it back on his forehead.

“His very presence felt as though all of the good things in life had disappeared from existence. Only emptiness and solitude remained. He wore only black from head to toe. The mask’s emotionless figure was what sent icy chills down my spine. Before I even noticed him, a bunch of those needles had already impacted my body and paralysed me. I don’t remember much, but I can never forget that mask.” Quatre whispered weakly, and passed out.

Trowa quickly wiped Quatre’s sweat and grabbed a chair to sit on. He noticed Heero making his way towards the door. It was clear that he was going to go eat. He couldn’t blame him. None of them had eaten for over 20 hours. They were all very hungry.

--

Heero made his way towards the cafeteria deep in thought. He wanted to have a long talk with Usagi but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. It was what she was trained to do. She did warn him that if they got in her way, she’d kill them. Heero’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt two familiar arms wrapped around his waist. He turned around, only to be met with a pair of golden meatball like buns in front of him.

“Hii-chan!” Usagi chirped happily and let him go.

“Usagi, it just ha-” Heero scolded, but was cut off by Usagi’s soft lips.

It was a kiss that lasted about a second or two. Heero wrapped his arms around her waist and glared at her for interrupting him. At the same time, he was happy that he finally got his first kiss in over two years.

“Usagi, it just had to be Quatre? I understood Duo, but why did you attack Quatre?” Heero continued.

“I’m hungry.” Usagi whined, quickly changing the subject.

Usagi refused to explain everything at this very moment. She was hungry and she wanted food right this instant. The pilots weren’t the only ones who had to miss out on food for over 20 hours. She broke free from Heero’s embrace and pouted.

Heero sighed in disappointment from their short embrace. He knew that they just made a huge risk. Anyone could have seen them. Luckily for them, no one had seen them. There wasn’t a student or professor outside. She ran a few steps ahead while Heero followed her from behind. Clearly she wasn’t going to answer him right now. After a few minutes, they finally reached the cafeteria.

There weren’t many people at the cafeteria since it was almost 4PM. They spotted Wufei, Duo and Relena sitting at a table at the far left corner. The three seemed to have not notice their presence at all. Heero and Usagi both brushed the three aside and picked up a wooden tray. There wasn’t any line up so they went to get some food right away.

Usagi decided to get a meal Greek salad, mixed with chicken strips on top, a bottle of water and a strawberry cheesecake for dessert. She loved strawberry cheesecake. It was her favourite desert.

Heero decided to get a plate of lasagne, a bowl of garden salad and a bottle of water. He didn’t feel like eating anything sweet today. The thought of having to face Relena kind of killed his cravings.

The two walked towards Relena’s table. Duo had been sitting to the right of Relena, while Wufei sat in front of them. Heero proceeded to sit beside Relena, and Usagi went to sit beside Wufei. She had purposely sat in front of Heero so she could have a closer eye on Relena and Heero.

Duo was happily munching on the last of his three burgers, while the rest seemed to have finished eating their meals before they had gotten there. None of them spoke a word. It felt as if the earth would end if someone uttered a word.

“Hi guys! Why’s everyone so quiet?” Usagi asked cheerfully, and put some of her salad in her mouth.

“It’s Usagi! I missed you! Where have you been?” Duo exclaimed in a playful tone, swallowing the last bit of his burger.

“Where have I been? Everyone seemed to have disappeared for almost two days!” Usagi pouted and crossed her arms around her chest.

“Hello Usagi! Sorry, we just feel a little down at the moment.” Relena said and smiled warmly.

“Where are Quatre and Trowa? Your neck Duo! There’s dried blood on it!” Usagi exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Oh, you mean this thing? Don’t worry about it. I decided food was more important that bandaging it up.” Duo grinned.

“Quatre caught pneumonia. Trowa is taking care of him as we speak,” Relena sad sadly.

“How do you catch pneumonia when it’s not even cold?” Usagi asked in confusion, secretly amused at their sudden silence.

“It’s not uncommon. He was badly injured by someone.” Duo said angrily.

“Quatre’s injured?!” Usagi exclaimed in horror.

Wufei nodded and they all sat there in silence. Usagi started to eat extremely fast. It seemed as if she wasn’t breathing. Duo blinked and smirked at Usagi.

“Slow down girl or you’ll choke!” Duo grinned and laughed.

“How can you say that? When Quatre’s sick?” Usagi asked, drinking the remainder of her water.

Without another word, Usagi stood up, grabbed her tray and went to put it inside the bin. The others watched her grab another wooden tray and run to get some more food. A few moments later, she came out with a bowl of soup, some sandwiches and three bottles of water. She also had a plate of strawberry cheesecake sitting on top of her head from the lack of room on the tray. After Usagi had balanced everything, the four watched as she sped out of the cafeteria.

A few moments later, she came back and walked towards them. Relena, Heero, Duo and Wufei watched her in amusement and waited for her to speak.

“What’s Quatre and Trowa’s dorm room number?” Usagi asked in embarrassment.

“They’re at Room 403, on the fourth floor.” Duo smirked and watched as she sped off again, yelling a quick ‘thank you’ as she ran.

Usagi really didn’t care if Quatre lived or die. She was only going to help him because that’s how she was portraying her character towards the pilots: A kind, innocent and loving female who everyone can love. She didn’t intend on getting close with them. In fact, it annoyed her a bit that Heero prevented her from killing Duo back at the Arctic. Duo was indeed lucky. She decided she’d slowly break them during missions. Killing them off quickly would be too simple and boring. Two-faced would be the best way to describe her situation. After all, she was a ‘kind hearted person’ in their eyes, and at the same time she was ‘the ultimate weapon’.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the room number 403 stood in front of her. She was going to have to really try to act out this character. Trowa was most likely in a position that anything she did or do could be suspicious in his eyes. This was going to be interesting. She placed the tray of food on her left hand and knocked a few times with her right. In a matter of milliseconds, she held the tray with both hands again and waited for someone to answer the door. A minute later, Trowa opened the door and starred at her.

“Hey Trowa! Relena and the others told me that Quatre’s sick and that you were taking care of him. I brought some food for the two of you because I’m a little worried.” Usagi said with a worried frown.

Trowa stared at her for a few seconds and nodded, taking the wooden tray away from her. He opened his door wider, motioning for her that he was inviting her inside. It amused him that she had a plate of strawberry cheesecake on her head. The fact that she was able to balance it for a long period of time interested him. Usagi gave Trowa the cheesecake and walked in. Trowa closed the door and led her to Quatre’s room. The moment Usagi had seen Quatre, she quickly ran towards his side.

“Thanks Usagi,” Trowa stated, remembering that he forgot to thank her for her kindness.

“It was no trouble.” Usagi said with a bright smile.

Usagi gazed at Quatre’s sleeping form in amusement. She remembered that she purposely missed his vital areas so that he wouldn’t die. The fact the he caught pneumonia proved that he was weak. She sighed and looked around the room for anything useful. Trowa had left the room so that he could eat his share of the food. She noticed Trowa had left the bowl of soup on Quatre’s night table. Usagi spotted a small basin filled with cool water on the floor. She realized that Trowa had been using it to rinse Quatre’s cloth. She slowly removed the cloth off of Quatre’s forehead and rinsed it inside the basin. After she had squeezed out the water, she sat on his bed and placed the towel back on his forehead. The moment Usagi had put the cloth on his forehead, Quatre’s eyes slowly opened.

“Usagi?” Quatre whispered weakly.

“Feeling any better? I brought you some chicken soup from the cafeteria. Let me help you sit up so that you can eat it before it gets cold.” Usagi smiled warmly.

“You shouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to help me Usagi,” Quatre whispered, slightly blushing.

“I wanted to!” Usagi exclaimed in a perky tone and sat down beside him.

Usagi carefully helped him sit up, so that she wouldn’t hurt him. She then used Quatre’s pillows to steady his back so that he could lean onto something soft. After she had leaned him towards the pillows, Usagi picked up the bowl of chicken soup and held a spoon full towards his mouth.

Quatre blinked at the spoon in front of his mouth. It was obvious that she was trying to feed him. He had never met a girl like her before. In a way, she reminded him of Relena. Then again, her personality was completely different. Usagi reminded him of a rabbit that was always cheerful and perky. She seemed to put other people’s needs before hers.

“Usagi, don’t trouble yourself. I can feed myself.” Quatre said in embarrassment.

“The plane needs to land! Open up!” Usagi grinned, and made the spoon of soup imitate a plane.

Quatre blinked in surprise. How old did she think he was? She was treating him like a five year old now. Before he was able to speak, the spoon impacted his mouth and its liquid spilled inside his mouth. A second later, he heard someone laughing from his door.

Trowa had seen what had happened and had started laughing.

Quatre quickly swallowed the soup and proceeded to speak again. This was embarrassing him to no end. If Duo had seen this, he would pretty much wish he was dead right now. In a way, he kind of enjoyed Usagi’s little tease.

“Usagi! I-” Before Quatre could finish his sentence, Usagi had shoved another spoonful of soup inside his mouth.

Usagi was indeed amused. It reminded her of the time when Heero was sick and she had to force feed him some soup. No matter how hard Heero struggled to stop her from feeding him, she always won in the end. He would have either been too weak to stop her, or to sick to defend himself.

“Be a good boy and eat your soup. It will make you feel a lot better later on.” Usagi teased, and shoved another spoon of soup inside his mouth.

“This is humiliating and cruel,” Quatre frowned, and another spoon of soup entered his mouth.

“I was taught that sometimes cruelty is a form of kindness,” Usagi winked and stuck out her tongue playfully.

Quatre couldn’t hold it in anymore. He suddenly burst out laughing at Usagi’s comment. He clutched his stomach and continued to laugh. A minute or two later, he was able to regain his control. Quatre noticed that his strength was returning to him. He felt a lot better. Her very smile and presence was enough to make him feel a lot better. He smiled at her with a slight blush.

Trowa had leaned his back near a wall to watch the two. He had to admit, he was very entertained. One thing that bothered him though was Usagi’s last name. He hadn’t forgotten that Usagi’s last name was the same as the Tsukino Foundation. If she was indeed related with the scientists, things may not go well for her.

“Thanks for everything, Usagi and Trowa. Sorry if I troubled you,” Quatre said in gratitude.

“Thank us, after you’ve eaten all your soup!” Usagi scolded and shoved another spoon of soup in his mouth.

“After you’re done eating, I’ll change your bandages.” Trowa said in his monotone and left the room.

“How did you get hurt? Oh sorry! You don’t have to tell me,” Usagi stopped herself and fed him the remainder of his soup.

“I rather not talk about it. Sorry Usagi,” Quatre sighed, hoping she wouldn’t ask more.

“It’s okay! It’s none of my business after all. I’ll call Trowa so that he can change your bandages. Be right back,” Usagi said with a huge smile, placing the empty bowl on his night table.

A few moments later, Trowa and Usagi returned with the first aid kit. Usagi had left the room to give Quatre some privacy. She heard a knock from outside the dorm room and walked towards the door. Knowing exactly who it would be, she opened the door and saw Heero, Duo, Relena and Wufei.

“Hey guys! What took you so long?” Usagi teased.

“Sorry about that. We were held back.” Relena apologized, blushing slightly.

Duo coughed at Relena’s excuse and nudged Heero’s elbow. Heero glared at Duo, mentally promising to give him a slow and painful death later on. If Duo dared to open his mouth, God have mercy on his soul

“Let’s just say that Heero and Relena were having one of their moments,” Duo muttered and grinned when he saw Relena blush a crimson red.

“Moments?” Usagi asked in a confused tone, knowing exactly what he meant.

“Well, let’s just say-” Duo grinned mischievously, but was interrupted by Relena.

“Duo!” Relena glared, as her blush turned into a darker red.

“Maxwell, shut the hell up! It’s none of your business.” Wufei said dryly, annoyed at Duo’s idiocy.

Heero could feel that Usagi was boiling inside. He had a feeling that he was in for it. It was safe to say that this was not his fault this time. Duo caused what happened earlier to happen. Now he had to explain what had happened, as well as make it up to her when they were alone. That’s if she didn’t literally kill him before then.

“Anyways, Trowa is changing Quatre’s bandages at the moment. I don’t think Trowa would mind if I let all of you in.” Usagi said, giving out one of her most famous smiles.

Usagi opened the door wider to let them in. She closed the door and watched as they removed their shoes. Trowa had opened Quatre’s bedroom door to tell them that he was done replacing Quatre’s bandages.

Everyone except Heero, Trowa and Usagi went to check up on Quatre. If they had all went in together, it would have been too crowded. Usagi proceeded to sit on the single seat couch, while Trowa and Heero sat on the love seat. The couches were a navy blue colour, which matched with the carpet. Trowa and Quatre’s dorm room was smaller than Heero’s and Usagi’s. They did have a balcony though. Usagi decided that this would be a perfect time to start interacting with Heero in front of other people.

“Heero, zutto omottetan dakedo.” Usagi started in Japanese, which meant: ‘Heero, I’m wondering.’

Heero gazed into her eyes to show that she had his full attention and grinned mentally. He figured that she wanted to start getting close to him in front of others so that they won’t think that Heero and Usagi had known each other before. There was no way that he’d make it easy for her. He waited for her to continue.

“Anata ha nihon jin nano?” Usagi asked in curiosity, which meant: ‘Are you Japanese?’

Heero, nodded to her with no emotions. Trowa had been listening, oblivious to what she was saying. He figured that she was speaking in Japanese and was wondering if Heero understood.

“Sitteitawa! Soredeha, korekara anatano koto Hii-chan tte yobu wa.” Usagi said happily, which meant: ‘I knew it! Then I’m going to call you Hii-chan from now on.”

Heero’s eyes widened at Usagi’s comment. She wouldn’t dare! Was she actually going to call him ‘Hii-chan’ in front of them? That’s an embarrassing name! Heero didn’t mind her calling him that, but in front of Relena and the pilots? He most defiantly did mind! Not to mention, Duo would harass him about it for the rest of his life. He glared at Usagi and grunted at her remark.

“Ore no koto Hii-chan to yobe. Demo omae no koto yurusanai.” Heero said coldly, which meant: ‘Call me Hii-chan and I won’t forgive you.’

“Watasi no koto yurusanakute iiwa. Demo anata no koto Hii-chan tte yubu wa, kawai kara!” Usagi replied and stuck out her tongue playfully, which meant: ‘Don’t forgive me then. I’m still going to call you Hii-chan because it’s cute!’

Trowa was amused. This was the first time he had heard Heero speak in Japanese. He wondered what he had said. His tone didn’t sound as if it was pleasant. He did somewhat understood that Hii-chan was a nickname. She was probably giving Heero a nickname and he wasn’t very happy about it. This was probably the reason as to why Usagi was rooming with Heero. The ones in charge of rooming people had probably thought that it was most appropriate to place her with someone who she could understand well. Maybe English was not her first language, so they may have thought that she may have a hard time to communicate with others. She did look Japanese to begin with.

“Oh Trowa, sorry! It was rude of me to speak in Japanese when you couldn’t understand. I was just really happy to find someone who could speak my language.” Usagi apologized placing her right hand behind the back of her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m assuming Japanese is your first language then.” Trowa asked in interest.

“Yep! Maybe the reason Hii-chan was chosen to be my room mate was because he was Japanese.” Usagi said perkily.

That made sense. Heero was probably the only Japanese person left that didn’t have a room mate. One thing that didn’t make sense was that Heero had said that he had hacked into the university’s system and placed an imaginary student that was rooming with him. That way, people would think that his room was full. Maybe the school had done a name check to see who was still going to the university. That would be the only explanation other than she hacked the system. She couldn’t have hacked the university’s system, could she?

“So what have you three been up to?” Duo suddenly asked as he walked in along with Relena and Wufei.

“You missed it! Usagi got Heero to speak in Japanese.” Trowa smirked.

“He said that if I called him Hii-chan, he wouldn’t forgive me.” Usagi laughed at the thought.

“Hii-chan? Maybe I should start calling him that too!” Duo grinned, slightly mocking Heero in the process.

“It’s cute, right? See Hii-chan? Even Duo thinks it’s cute!” Usagi defended in amusement.

“Maybe cute is not the correct term for it.” Duo shrugged at Heero’s death glare.

Usagi knew that she was definitely in for it. Heero was angry to the max. Duo on the other hand might end up sitting in a wheelchair later on. He did kind of mock him after all.

“Are you Japanese as well, Usagi?” Relena asked in curiosity.

“Yep!” Usagi replied, energetically.

“How’s Quatre?” Trowa asked, changing the subject.

“He asleep now. It seems he’s feeling a lot better.” Duo replied and smirked.

“Thank God!” Usagi smiled in relief.

“So Usagi, where are your parents at?” Relena asked in interest.

For a few moments, there was a short silence between all of them. Usagi had completely muted her self from the question. Relena was about to say that she didn’t have to answer, but Usagi had beat her to it and answered

“They passed away a very long time ago.” Usagi smiled vibrantly with her eyes closed.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Relena said in sympathy.

“Why do you smile when you speak of your parents’ death?” Wufei suddenly asked in suspicion.

Wufei watched as she slowly opened her eyes to look at him. She was still smiling, but what he saw did not match with her smile. Her eyes held no emotions. It was clear to him that she had purposely made herself smile. She’s been forcing herself to smile all along. Everything made sense now. There was no way that someone could always be happy and carefree. Who was this girl?

“I read in a book that people like it when they see others smile. It makes them feel secure and to not worry about them.” Usagi explained and smiled again.

This time Wufei noticed that Usagi’s eyes suddenly turned to normal. It seemed as though it had regained its light and spark. What bothered him was that sudden change of personality at the thought of her parents. He decided to leave it at that. It wasn’t any of his business after all. Also, what did she mean by she read it in a book? Was she indicating that she’s purposely smiling? But that didn’t make sense either because her eyes seemed like she was smiling from the bottom of her heart.

“Don’t smile if you don’t mean it.” Wufei snorted and sat down on the sofa.

There was a small silence due to Wufei’s comment. Usagi didn’t know what to say to his comment. If she continued to mess with them at this point, they may start getting suspicious of her.

“I’m going to go start on my assignments now.” Usagi said perkily, breaking the silence.

Usagi went to put on her shoes, hoping they wouldn’t question her for her reaction. She had to admit, she was slightly underestimating the other pilots.

“I’ll come with you Usagi! Might as well start on my assignments as well. Plus, it may not be a good time for me to stay here.” Duo frowned at the thought of Heero and went to put his shoes on.

“Maybe when Quatre gets better, we can all go grab some ice cream Usagi.” Relena smiled warmly.

“Sure! That’ll be fun!” Usagi said happily.

“Don’t get too cozy Heero! Later!” Duo teased, and left knowing very well that Heero was on the verge of killing him.

“Bye everyone! We’ll be at my dorm room if you need us!” Usagi winked and left.

“I swear, that girl reminds me of someone,” Wufei muttered under his breath.

“Who?” Trowa asked.

“I don’t know. Something about her reminds me of someone.” Wufei replied.

“She’s really sweet.” Relena said with confidence and went to sit where Usagi had been sitting.

“That doesn’t change the fact that her last name is Tsukino. It’s the exact same name as the Tsukino Foundation. I’m going to keep an eye on her.” Heero said in his usually monotone.

“I think you’re overreacting Heero. She doesn’t seem to be the war type person. I’m sure she also supports total pacifism.” Relena defended.

Usagi’s isn’t the war type? It mentally made him laugh at her statement. If only Relena had known the real Usagi, then she wouldn’t have been defending her as much. Instead, she may argue with Usagi about what she’s doing is wrong. What amused him was that if Relena decided to argue with her, Usagi would just have to listen to her lecture or argue back. Since they were given strict orders as to protect Relena, Usagi can’t hurt her. In a way, Relena had an invisible barrier that protects her from pilot 06.

“You’d be surprised Relena. People are two-faced. It’s our duty as Gundam pilots to always be aware and ready.” Heero said without emotions.

“You don’t have your Gundams anymore. Technically you’re all no longer a Gundam pilot.” Relena argued back.

Relena didn’t like it when Heero started to go on about war. People should not be made to fight or to create wars. It’s because people don’t listen that wars are created. Also, there was no war at the moment because the colonies and the earth are trying very hard to maintain the peace. Maybe from time to time, Heero and the others would get a small mission to do test runs, or to report to the Preventers for some type of small job.

“Relena, our Gundams were all recreated. It seems that war may break out once again.” Heero explained and watched as Relena’s eyes widened.

“What?” Relena whispered in horror.

Heero continued to explain to Relena and the others what was going on. Apparently, Duo had told her that Quatre had fallen down a staircase and got injured. He didn’t want to even think of what kind of reason Duo had told her about Quatre getting pneumonia. After about 20 minutes, Heero had finished explaining everything. Relena was speechless. Heero had also detailed his knowledge of the Negamoon Organization and the Tsukino Foundation, as well as Quatre’s experience with the pilot. He did leave out the things he knew about Usagi. Relena had known some information about the two because the Negamoon and the Tsukino scientists are well known in both the colonies and the earth.

“I saved some of the weapons that the pilot had used on Quatre.” Heero continued and took out the cloth containing Usagi’s silvery needles.

Heero passed around the needles for the others to observe. He put his hand in his pocket and realized the video chip was still there. It wasn’t any ordinary video chip. He removed it out of his pocket to analyse the black device. It wasn’t very big, probably as big as his palm. There was a somewhat big lens-like part on it. It had a button and what seemed to be a small set of speakers inside it. The video chip was very advanced, meaning these scientists must have been experts in this field. He was sure that it had information about Usagi and her family.

“Is that the video chip that we were supposed to retrieve?” Trowa asked, already knowing the answer.

“It seems to be a projector,” Heero explained as he continued to analyse it.

“What does it contain?” Wufei asked, giving his full attention.

Heero pressed the button and pointed the lens forward. A bright light appeared. It took the device a good five minutes before an image started to form. Once it had finished loading, the image became very clear and crisp. It started to play what seemed like a short movie.

Heero widened his eyes in horror and disgust. He felt like regurgitating at the images that were being played. It had contained the Tsukino Foundation’s final experiment before they were brutally murdered. A baby that seemed to have not reached its first year of age was shown. They were using it as a guinea pig, putting various liquids and needles inside it. None seemed to care how much the baby cried and continued with their work.

It contained the experiment that was done on Serenity Tsukino, 16 years ago.

--

Hi Everyone! I’m back! Yes, I know. This chapter took forever and a half. To be honest, I got bored of this story and very lazy. I decided to continue this story because when I decided to one day check my stats for my stories, I was shocked to see 90 reviews. Not only that, I was amazed at how many people had this story on alert and on their favourites list. 59 people have this story on their alert list, and 27 people have it on their favourite list. Oh and this time, I was actually able to write this chapter on Microsoft Word. Open office made me very sad. It barely had any features on it! But now I have Microsoft Word, so I’ll keep updating. That is, depending on the number of reviews it gets will determine if I update again or not. I had to reread this story to get myself addicted again. And it’s safe to say that I am. I also would like to thank my friend Chario who translating some things to Japanese. Thanks for reading everyone! Baibai!