Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Sunset Over the Horizon ❯ Sunset Over the Horizon 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam boys or any other character from the series.

Warnings: Evil child like mischief by young child/children will be present, lemon, lime, yuri, occasional fluff.

Pairings: 1X2X1, 3X4X3, HXRXH, 5XS, 6XN.

Rating: NC 17

Author: Ryouga.

Title: Sunset over the horizon ---- Sequel fic to A Love Beyond All Measure.

Part 6

Trowa and Quatre were the first to arrive at Preventer Head Quarters. Trowa had called Cathy and asked her to watch Sebastian while Duo and Heero had finally got a hold of Relena. She and Hilde had turned up together and Duo gone out of his way to make sure the two girls were thoroughly embarrassed before he and Heero left to meet up with the others at HQ.

Une sat at her desk, Noin beside her, going through paperwork while waiting for everyone's arrival. Noin and Zechs had walked in only a few moments before Wu Fei himself arrived and they all congregated together in Une's rather small office.

Noin whispered to Zechs, who nodded. "Let's adjourn to the conference room people," the platinum blonde suggested, leading them out. He headed for a room at the end of a long corridor and opened the door, holding it while everyone entered into the vast spaciousness that was before them. He followed them through, closing the door behind himself. "Please sit down everyone. We need to address this issue with all seriousness," he glanced over at Duo who pointed to himself and shrugged.

"Sally has been missing since late this afternoon and we have no known motive as to who committed the act or why."

Wu Fei walked to the front of the group and stood arms down by his sides fists clenched. Duo swallowed, he had never seen the ex 05 pilot this angry since…

"This is an injustice I refuse to bare indifferently. My wife is missing and I will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice. I have not wasted my life fighting for peace to have…." he paused, breathing the deepest sigh he had ever sighed in his life, "To have the one thing I…" another pause, shorter and more poignant than the first. It wasn't hard to tell that the usually cool, calm and collected Wu Fei Chang was having a hard time trying to relay what he really wanted to say. Finally, with all eyes resting upon him the young Chinese man took a long, deep breath and set his manly traditional pride aside. "…To have the one thing I care for more than anything else in this life taken from my side."

Silence reigned throughout the conference room. All eyes still trained on the young man in front of them. Heero nodded at the Chinese man as a sign of respect and understanding. "You don't need to ask us Chang, I'm sure I speak for us all when I say we will do everything possible to help find Sally and let justice take its course."

Wu Fei's eyes met Heero's and Heero saw, he was sure, for the first time ever since he had known the Chinese warrior, a small glistening in the corner of his eye. He said nothing.

"Thank you Heero." Wu Fei nodded, returning the sign of respect.

"Yeah Wuffles," Duo winked. "We're behind you all the way on this. We'll get her back don't you worry."

Wu Fei let Duo's misuse of his name slide. Just this once it wouldn't hurt to let the braided baka get a free shot in. "Your words of encouragement are appreciated, Duo."

Duo grinned. It was the first time in a long time that the Chinese man had called him that. "Friends stick together through thick and thin, that's what we tried to do during the wars, and it's the same way now."

Zechs unfolded his arms and placed a hand over Wu Fei's shoulder. He was about to speak when Une burst into the room. "Heero, get Wu Fei to the Preventer hospital right away!"

Puzzled eyes found their way to the serious look on the woman's face. "They've found Sally."

Wu Fei glanced at Heero, Heero glanced at Wu Fei, then both men almost yelped as Duo grabbed their arms and ushered them out of the conference room. "Shit! Would you two stop staring at each other and move it!" echoed down the hall as he directed them; well, more like dragged them out of Preventer HQ and to their car.

Heero pulled free as did Wu Fei and the two men seemed to have finally gotten the hint as Heero opened the car up and motioned for the other two to get in. Seeing Wu Fei hesitate Duo placed a hand over the Chinese man's shoulder. "I'm sure she's all right and the sooner we get there the sooner you'll know."

Wu Fei nodded in silent reply. Words were not something he chose to reciprocate at this point in time. He got in and fastened his seatbelt. Justice was all that mattered now and as long as he was alive then those who had dared to defile his wife would be found.

There was no mistaking that.

~*~

Trowa folded his arms as the meeting was called to disbandment. "Wait a minute. Just because Sally has been found does not mean that we should leave this to the others. I think we need to discuss ways of finding out who these people are."

Quatre looked up at his husband in admiration and smiled. "I agree with Trowa. We still have to find out who these people are. I mean, there's no telling where or when they might strike again. For all we know this could be stemming from something more sinister."

Zechs thought for a moment before replying. "We're not dropping this Quatre. I'm going to call an official Preventer meeting. All of you will be required to attend." He let out a light sigh. "However; we need to wait now and see if Wu Fei and the other two can discover anything from any information that Sally can provide them with."

"If she's in any condition to cooperate. I mean it's not like she…"

"That will do Quatre," Trowa spoke gently. "We all understand the frustration and we all feel it. For now let's just let Zechs organize what he needs to."

Quatre stayed silent, only daring to nod in agreement.

Zechs moved towards the door of the conference room. "For now, this meeting is officially adjourned. As soon as I know anything else I'll call the official meeting. Dismissed!" He turned on his heel and left.

Silently, the remaining few followed after him.

~*~

The girls sat quietly on the boys couch watching TV, Hilde's head laying in Relena's lap, when a small figure rounded the doorway to the lounge room. Hilde sat upright and nudged Relena who focused her concentration from the TV set to the young child before them. "Hey there," she smiled, "You must be Itel, right?"

Itel nodded, "Yep but you're not Heero and Duo. You're girls like me, which would mean you don't have penises right? Because boys have penises and girls have `ginas. I learnt that from my friend Ricki but I don't know where he is now."

Hilde bit her lip as Relena blushed slightly. "Well yes, but you shouldn't be saying things like that, should you?"

Itel looked blankly at her. "Is blonde your natural color or did you just get dumb some other way? Don't you know that boys have penises and girls have `ginas is somethin' kids are s'posed ta say?"

Hilde tried hard not to laugh as Relena shot her a glare, before returning her attention back to Itel. "I wasn't aware of that, no. I, um…." She glanced at Hilde, who promptly threw her arms up in the air.

"Don't look at me I'm keeping out of this."

"Thanks Hilde, I'll remember that," the blonde haired girl retorted playfully before once again turning her attention to the child, "So, Itel, what's up?" Relena asked bringing a change of subject into play.

"I'm thirsty can I have a drink; and I wanna know who you are too."

Hilde grinned. "I'll go fetch the drink," she said, nodding towards the kitchen, "You can explain the rest. What would you like Itel?"

"Ummm, Milk…."

"Alright. Milk it is." Hilde smiled as she started to head towards the kitchen.

"No wait, I mean… ummmm, can I have juice instead?"

Hide nodded, "You can have any juice you want, Duo always has tomato, orange and apple in the 'fridge."

Itel nodded. "Yup I know, but you left out blackcurrant."

Hilde gave her a puzzled look. "I did? Since when did he start drinking blackcurrant? He once told me he disliked the taste of it."

Itel shook her head. "I dunno, you people are s'posed ta know all this stuff for when kids like me gets thirsty."

Hilde raised an eyebrow. "Oh I see. Well then Itel what juice would you like?"

"Watermelon."

"Watermelon?" Hilde gave Relena an odd stare and the blonde-haired woman shrugged her shoulders in answer to the one word question.

"But they don't have any of that Itel," Hilde replied patiently.

Itel gave her a lopsided look. "Yeah I know that, but the store does." She rolled her little eyes in frustration. As Hilde stared at her, "You know, the store, where you go and give them the money and they give you the stuff?"

Hilde blinked. This kid was attitude, pure attitude, "I.. er…"

"It's eaaasy. You go to the man at the counter, you ask him for the stuff and he takes the money. You get the stuff and you go home."

It was Relena's turn to hold back the laughter as Hilde threw her a glare. This kid was worse than OZ. Shame the wars were over. She could have gotten a job as an interrogator. Five seconds with this little demon and you'd gladly talk.

"I'm afraid the store has already shut sweetheart." Relena finally came to the rescue. Poor Hilde looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Dammit. Ok, I'll just have orange then." She sat herself down next to Relena as Hilde, sighing with relief, headed off into the kitchen "You gots an ID badge too? Heero and Duo gots one. They were Gundam Pilots yanno."

Relena grinned. Itel had already started to sound like Maxwell; but was that a good thing or a bad thing? Well with the attitude, more than likely a little of both. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, maybe she was a little too bold, but, oh well. Heero had filled her in as much as she could about Itel's background history and Relena could only assume that the attitude was the girl's only mechanism of defense. "Yes I do. Would you like to see it?"

Itel nodded and watched as the blonde-haired woman reached into her back pocket, pulling out her wallet and opening it up. "Here you go. This is my ID badge. It's a little different to the one the boys carry, but it does tell you who I am."

Itel stared hard and then suddenly her eyes widened and she looked up into Relena's face. "WOW, you're the Vice minister!"

A sheepish look suddenly crept up onto the young girl's face. "Oops. I is gonna get into so much trouble from Heero."

"Why's that?" Hilde asked, coming back into the room with three glasses of orange juice and handing them over. One for Itel, one for Relena, and one for herself

Itel sighed, "Cause I was being cheeky before and to the Vice Minister person too."

Relena laughed. "I won't tell if you don't." she winked at the girl.

"You can bet your butt cheeks I won't. OOPS um don't tell him I said that either k?

Both the young women chuckled and Hilde ruffled the young girl's hair smiling affectionately at her, "Don't worry Itel. You can bet your butt cheeks we won't."

~*~

Two young men cowered behind the large desk as a fist slammed down onto it, thankful that they were on the other side of it, and not the fist. The tall dark-haired man on the end of the offending 'would be weapon' straightened up in his seat and glared at the young men It was obvious to see that he was more than *less than* impressed. "What the hell do you mean she got away? You stupid bloody fools, I told you not to let her out of your sight!!"

One of the young stepped a little closer to the desk. "But dad, she said she needed the bathroom. What the hell were we supposed to do? Say no?!"

The older man sighed, frustrated by the incompetence of his son. "You mean to tell me you fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book?"

"But dad…"

The dark haired man held up his hand, silencing the boy before him. "Enough! I'm tired of your bullshit excuses Damon. You and Grigson are nothing but a couple of two-bit losers who can't even exact revenge without fucking it up completely."

"Look Mr Dawson," Grigson began. "She said she was pregnant, couldn't hold it in. I wasn't about to stand there and deny her that. We agree not to harm her and your men bruised her up a little more than necessary. I want revenge on that Yuy bastard! Not a woman who had nothing to do with what happened."

Mr Dawson's eyes flared up. How dare this nothing, this dirty, filthy, little piece of street shit in front of him even think that was a good enough excuse. He reached across the desk and only just managed to grab Grigson's shirt in his hand. "Listen here you stupid fuck! I told you both that if you really want to get revenge on Heero Yuy, then the best way is to use his friends as the means to an end. Hurt his friends, you hurt him. Do you understand? Or do I need to spell it out for you?" He let go of the shirt and sat back in his chair, arms folded

Grigson and Damon glanced at each other before Damon plucked up the courage to speak again. "Why are you so obsessed with him, he's our problem not yours, he fucked us over, shouldn't we be the ones to decide what way this goes?"

Damon's father raised an eyebrow as his mind went over the question briefly. "Let me explain myself boys, maybe then you'll be intelligent enough to at least add two and two together. You remember the incident in which a young girl and her puppy were killed?"

"Yeah, so what of it?" Damon asked

"It was a deliberate act of destruction of a whole city and the crux of the matter is, it was Heero Yuy who did it. One of his damn missions of mass destruction."

Damon's eyes widened and Grigson shot his friend a puzzled look.

Dawson continued, "And that's not the half of it son, he took away something particularly precious to me," he paused, a look of sorrow drifting across his previously hardened face. "You'd better sit down. This is something that no one else in the family knows but me and I prefer it was kept that way."

Damon bit his lip. This was the first time that he had ever in his life seen his father act like this. The usual cold and cruel exterior suddenly seemed to be shattered for the moment and Damon, complying with his father wishes, pulled the chair out from the front of the desk and sat down. Grigson remained standing.

"Go ahead," the young man urged, "I'm listening."

Dawson sighed as he sat forward a little, resting his elbows on the desk. "That little girl was your sister."

Damon's mind played those words over in his head before he replied, "What the fuck do you mean my sister? I don't have any sisters. What the fuck's going on dad!!??"

"Let me finish then you'll know everything alright!?"

Damon folded his arms. Had his father gone insane? "Fine. I'm listening."

Dawson carefully chose his next lot of words before continuing. "Before your mother died, we had tried to have another child. We both had wanted a little girl but by try as we might we weren't having much luck at all. That's when we found out that your mother had developed the uterine cancer, but by that stage it had developed too far along to save her, and so we couldn't conceive naturally. So your mother had some of her eggs saved. Then, she privately commissioned other women, interviewing them herself, and finally she chose a woman who fitted her ideals."

Damon could see this was an emotional strain on his father. Here was a man who had no shame or morals when it came to business or exacting vindictive revenge, but this seemed to haunt the savage beast no end. He continued to listen intently

"She received an egg, impregnated with my own seed and we were lucky. Some people spend hundreds of thousands of credits and sacrifice everything trying to conceive this way, but we succeeded on the first try. Your mother and I were ecstatic and as the days, weeks, then months went by, the time finally came and we rushed to the hospital to see the birth of your sister. However, the woman refused to let us see her and we were made to leave. We started court proceedings but your mother became too sick to go any further with it and we dropped the whole thing."

Damon was shocked. His father was not the sort to be so open like this.

"It was after your mother died that the woman contacted me and asked if I would like to see her. So I went and the woman explained herself. She had only one ovary and it was deformed, she had problems with conceiving also. Well to cut a long story short, I agreed to support the child as long as I could play a part in her life, even if only a little. We agreed, and all those business trips I went on, well a lot of them were to see Celeste. I brought her that puppy for her birthday a few months before that murderous bastard Heero Yuy killed her and took thousands of other innocent lives."

The young man swallowed as his father went silent. This was just too much to take in. "Why wasn't I told, I mean I'm your god damned son aren't I?"

Dawson took a deep breath, "What was the point of breaking a third heart son. You were trying to come to grips with your mother's illness; we both knew it was hard on you and when we couldn't bring Celeste home. Well your mother made me promise not to tell you until I felt the time was right."

Damon stood pushing his seat out of the way. "That bastard will pay for what he's done to you and for what he did to us. Mother and I both never got to see her. I can't blame him for mother, but I can for me. That's two strikes against that bastard." Damon turned to face Grigson, "Get up. We're about to go researching."

Grigson made a move to stand when Dawson cleared his throat. "That's not necessary boys. I can tell you everything you need to know. I've already got my contacts working on this, don't you worry. So if you have the time, I have some really interesting information you might like to hear…."

Damon grinned evilly, "Oh, I'm sure I can spare a few more minutes father."

"Good, because it's time for you two to learn how a real pro' does things!"

TBC….