Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Thin Red Line ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Thin Red Line (2/?)

By Anne Olsen

Rating : This fic has been rated in accordance with the approved TTFF rating system.

OK (Oz/Kiwi spelling/grammar etc) - PG - Action, drama, angst, romance.

Author's notes: This story is part of the 'Triunity' canon based arc, which is a joint project with my partner in crime, Sakura Rose. For further information please visit the series archive at http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/shadesandechoes/triunity/triunity.html

The writing soundtrack for TRL is 'Thin Red Line' by Glass Tiger.

Pairings: 3x4, 1xR, 2x5

Summary: The shuttle transporting Relena, Quatre and Trowa to a political conference is hijacked in an endeavour to reveal the identity, and exact revenge, on a specific Gundam pilot. But it's five years after the Eve Wars, and people change. Or did they always have a predilection for attempting stupidly heroic things in the name of love?

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the boys in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any broken bones or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.

Thanks to: Sakura for many hours of plottage conversations on AIM, beta reading, the summary and the soundtrack. Also to Bast for beta reading, and encouraging the … evil, and Anon for beta reading and fic stalking.

Comments to: anneo @ paradise.net.nz

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Chapter Two

"Agent Chang, Agent Maxwell, my office. Now!" Lady Une exited the room without giving her employees a chance to reply. Wufei and Duo exchanged a glance before following. Bad news travelled fast.

Entering her office, Une motioned for Duo to close the door. "I'm presuming you already know about the missing shuttle," she said, after he and Wufei had each taken a seat.

Wufei raised one eyebrow. "Do you have additional information we should be aware of?" he countered.

"I see the Gundam pilot network is working as well as ever," Une commented dryly from behind her desk. "So far we haven't received any demands, but I suspect the intention behind the abduction is to disrupt the upcoming peace talks on L1." She linked her fingers together, glancing between both men before opening a folder and removing a sheet of papers.

"So the shuttle's now listed as officially missing?" Duo asked, edging closer to get a better look at the information on Une's desk.

"Yes," Une confirmed. "And foul play is no longer merely a suspicion but a certainty." She paused. "The shuttle's pilots…"

"Dead or alive?" Duo's tone was urgent, and Wufei knew what, or rather who, was on his mind.

Trowa.

Was their friend even still alive, and if so what was his life expectancy? Wufei reached over to give his lover's hand a reassuring squeeze; their chairs were close enough that Une wouldn't see the action.

"Alive," Une answered. "They were found an hour ago, drugged but otherwise unharmed. Whoever has masterminded this operation is very efficient, I'll give them that."

"Any indication of who the bastards are?"

"Agent Maxwell, please watch your language," Une reprimanded him.

"I was," Duo muttered. It was definitely time to step in and play the levelheaded negotiator before Duo said what he was really thinking. They needed to convince Une that they were the ideal agents to head this investigation, and rudeness would not achieve that objective.

"Were the pilots able to give any useful information?" Wufei took the photos Une offered, passing them over to Duo after he'd examined each one carefully. They were less than helpful. Heero and Trowa had already done a thorough investigation of these men; information regarding the events leading up to the shuttle hijacking would yield far better results.

"I'm sending the agents assigned to the case to the hospital to interview them once they have recovered fully," Une answered.

Wufei nodded his agreement, hoping that the information he and Duo could extract from them would prove advantageous. "I also wish to request a shuttle so that we can retrace the original shuttle's route before it disappeared off radar." Hopefully too, a re-examination of where the pilots had been discovered might yield further clues to either the perpetrator's identity or intentions.

"No." The tone in Une's voice was emphatic.

"What? C'mon, the shuttle gives us more of a chance of finding them than sitting on our ass discussing theories." Duo added his approval to Wufei's suggestion.

"No," Une gave them a stern look before elaborating. "The shuttle is a good idea, but I'm not assigning you to this investigation."

"I beg your pardon?" If the enemy had managed to take out Trowa and Quatre, the stupid woman needed the agents best suited for the job, which in this situation, were himself and Duo.

"What the fuck?" Duo rose to his feet, gripping the front of Une's desk with both hands. "Quatre, Trowa and Relena are missing. There's no way in hell we aren't going to be in on this."

"And that is exactly why you and Chang aren't going to be 'in on this'." Une's tone remained even. "Maxwell, sit down." Her voice softened as she continued. "You're too close to the situation; it's difficult to keep your head cool when the lives of your friends could hang in the balance. I'm assigning Abrahams and Newkirk to the case."

"We were friends during the war and it didn't stop us kicking Ozzie and Alliance butt…Ma'am." Duo shrugged but, unimpressed with his superior's show of authority, remained standing. "Your choice. It's been a while since I've piloted Deathscythe and I'd hate to lose my touch."

"You wouldn't?" Une's tone grew cold and her eyes narrowed, yet she didn't move from her seat.

"Watch me."

"If you won't provide us with the resources to do the job, we'll use whatever means we have at our disposal," Wufei decided he'd had enough, and got straight to the point. "I'm sure Rashid and the other Maguanacs will be only too happy to be of assistance." Once Rashid and Howard, the Gundams' present caretakers, learnt of the current situation, they'd be less than impressed with Une's decision. The arrival of two Gundams at the conference, with the ever so slightly annoyed Maguanac Corp right behind them, would do wonders for furthering peaceful relations between Earth and the Colonies.

"Of course then there's the fun job of telling Heero we aren't coming." Duo shrugged again. "Don't know about you, but I'm kinda attached to life about now." He smiled at Une, and Wufei noted with a degree of satisfaction the way her complexion somewhat paled. "Heero's not known for his subtly, especially when the lives of his girlfriend and two of his closest friends are on the line."

"How high do you figure the death toll would be?" Wufei pondered aloud. "But of course if we worked together I'm sure we could lessen that by…" He began counting off on his fingers, glancing at Duo for confirmation.

"One hundred per cent?" Duo reasoned. "But of course that would depend on how long it took us to get there. It's going to take us a while to collect our Gundams, but a Preventer shuttle could be prepped and ready to go by the time we've finished at the hospital and examined the crime scene." He glanced at his watch. "What time did we promise Heero we'd meet him?"

Wufei consulted his own watch. "As soon as we'd received Lady Une's blessing for the mission I believe."

"You present a convincing argument, gentlemen." Une sighed. "Use whatever Preventer resources you need, and don't make me regret my decision to invite Gundam pilots to join this organisation."

"We'll be good, Aunty Une, promise." Duo winked at Wufei who prayed frantically that Une hadn't seen the very suggestive look accompanying it.

Une gave Duo a disapproving glare and stood to dismiss them. "Give my regards to Mr Yuy, and good luck."

"Thank you," Duo gave her a mock salute before heading for the door. Wufei followed him quickly after muttering his thanks under his breath. Once outside, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God we didn't have to actually go through with the Gundam threat," Wufei said, a rather unpleasant thought occurring to him in hindsight as they made their way toward the elevator.

Duo grinned. "I can just imagine the effect the reappearance of the Gundams would have had at this point of the peace negotiations."

"Quatre and Relena have worked hard to get those idiots to listen to reason and even agree to sit at the same table. You'd think five years after the war the situation wouldn't have regressed so far, but people just don't learn from their mistakes. And they wish to be reminded of them even less so." Wufei's admiration of their friends had grown after observing the way they dealt with these people on a day to day basis. He wasn't sure how they'd managed to keep their sanity, but he had a fair idea that Trowa and Heero had something to do with it.

"Yeah," Duo shuddered. "Can you imagine Cat and Rel's reaction?"

"I'd rather not," Wufei answered. A very pissed off Quatre and Relena watching all their work disintegrate because of something he and Duo had done was not something he ever wanted to contemplate.

"Hospital, crime scene, then shuttle port," Duo pushed the elevator button a few times before deciding the stairs would be faster.

"Still thinking about Heero?"

"Yeah," Duo nodded. He paused on the top stair before turning to Wufei. "There's something we're missing, Fei, something important, and I get the feeling time isn't on our side."

******

"He'll be okay, Quatre."

Quatre tore his gaze away from the door that Trowa had just been escorted through. Trying to hide his growing fear, he turned his head slowly towards Relena. "I wish I could believe that."

The woman behind this had put too much planning into the operation to take 'no' for an answer. Her initial wound of loss might have healed over, but the infected tissue was still breeding under the surface; her pain had hit him as soon as she'd begun to speak. She was determined to extract the information she required, and her grief would drive her until she achieved her revenge. It was a path that would only lead to more heartache. ZERO had taught him that in a lesson he knew he'd never forget; he'd come too close to losing his future in order to exact vengeance for a past he couldn't change.

"You have to," Relena reminded him. "Losing hope now is not what Trowa needs."

As Trowa had been led away, his and Quatre's eyes had met momentarily, and they'd each projected love, hope and reassurance through their shared empathic bond. Quatre sighed. Trowa was one hell of a lot better at remaining calm than he was. At present it was all he could manage to keep his breathing and tone even, and his imagination under tight reign.

What if Trowa didn't have the information this woman wanted? Or, worse still, what if he did? There had been so many battles, so much killing. Wasn't it enough that, five years later, the carnage still haunted their dreams?

"I fight so that others don't have to," Duo's words repeated through his mind. They'd all fought to protect the innocent, yet they'd had to kill to do so.

Soldiers weren't innocents. Soldiers entered a battle knowing that in the dance with Death, he leads the waltz and they merely follow.

Yet for every soldier who fell, what of the family they left behind? They were the true victims of war. They were the ones who suffered with each life taken.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Relena spoke sharply, cutting through Quatre's thoughts with a knife of truth. "She might have lost a loved one but making the person responsible suffer as she did isn't going to bring them back."

"Unfortunately I don't think she's in a frame of mind to be reasoned with," Quatre pointed out. "She's hurting, Relena. And when people hurt they don't always think logically."

After several minutes Relena broke the silence. "Do you think Trowa will tell her?"

Shaking his head, Quatre craned his neck in order to examine his restraints more carefully. These people were too bloody efficient; it was going to take time to free themselves, and time was something they didn't have. "But if he's the pilot she wants," he sighed, "he might attempt to negotiate for our lives." Quatre kicked at the wall behind him angrily and swore loudly in Arabian. Trowa was too damn protective; if it was a choice of saving himself or those he cared about he knew whom his husband would choose.

Relena continued for him. "And if he's not, he wouldn't sacrifice a friend or…" The word hung unspoken between them.

A lover.

It was a no win situation. "I'm sorry," Quatre said. "This isn't your…" His voice trailed off as the pain ripped through his space heart, leaving him gasping for breath. Instinctively he attempted to rub at his chest, forgetting for the moment that his hands were shackled above his head. Biting his lower lip, he let out a low moan, dimly aware of Relena's voice as he reached out empathically for his soul mate.

Trowa!

"Quatre?" Relena's voice had an edge of panic in it. "Quatre?" she repeated. "Cat, look at me please."

Trowa!

Sharp fingers of fire gripped him, squeezing him in an embrace of fear and panic and Quatre cried out.

"Focus, Quatre, focus." Relena's voice came from a distance but all Quatre could think about was Trowa. Trowa was hurting. He was hurting. He was…

Something brushed against his mind, seeking sanctuary, seeking solace. The whirlpool of emotional frenzy calmed as they caressed each other through their shared connection.

"I'm okay, Relena." Quatre managed to lift his head to give Relena a strained smile. "He's…" Quatre pulled himself up in time. "I wish I could…damn I feel so useless." He pulled at the chains around his wrists in an attempt to find a physical outlet to siphon off some of his anger; an emotional response wouldn't help Trowa ride out his interrogation.

Surprise. Fear.

Trowa attempted to mask his reaction but, with their connection this open and raw, he was fighting a losing battle. Whatever question he'd been asked, it was one he had no intention of answering.

Determination. Fear.

It wasn't Trowa they wanted. It couldn't be. Trowa was scared; but not for himself. Quatre had felt that desire to protect often enough to recognise it.

Who was the pilot they wanted? Which of them was responsible for the death of their captor's loved one?

A thought crossed Quatre's mind, a very unpleasant thought, and he shuddered. Please, no, not that. Would he never escape his mistake? No, he wouldn't allow it to cost him the life of anyone else he cared about.

Fear. Determination. Panic.

Trowa was fighting to stay calm, but inside he was screaming.

The link between them began to fade. Quatre closed his eyes and focused, reaching out frantically to keep it open.

"No!" Quatre wasn't sure whether it was his own voice he could hear or Relena's. "No…"

The link slammed shut. Quatre reached again but his sense of Trowa was gone, dark, dead.

"Quatre? Please…"

Quatre's breath came in uneven gulps of air. He shuddered, realising he was shaking. I can't feel him. Why can't I feel him?

Forcing himself into calmness Quatre reopened his eyes. Drugs, it had to be drugs. Either that or…no he wasn't going to consider the option. Drugs dampened their connection. Certain types of drugs, including the strong sedatives they'd been given earlier, could sever it completely.

It was important to hide his and Trowa's relationship. It was even more important to hide the strong empathic bond they shared. He needed to anchor himself, and quickly. "Relena," Quatre's voice was little more than a whisper as he prayed that their earlier suspicions of surveillance weren't correct. "I need to…" He paused. "Relena…I need you to be strong for me. Strong and calm."

"I'll…try." Relena gave him a tiny shaky smile, the hand she'd held up to her chest falling to rest across her stomach. There were very few people who were aware of Quatre's ability, and even fewer who knew that between he and Trowa, the ability to sense emotions flowed both ways. Luckily Relena was one of those trusted few.

"Thank you." If Trowa were unconscious they'd be returning him soon, and Quatre had to give the appearance of being fully in control before that happened. Closing his eyes, he focused his ability and reached out empathically for Relena

Fear. Concern. Hope. Despair.

"Deep breaths, slow and even." Relena spoke the phrase aloud, repeating it like a mantra.

Calmness.

As one, her breathing slowed in tandem with her wildly fluctuating emotions. Allowing himself a sigh of relief Quatre used the welcome wave of tranquillity to slow his own breathing, and concentrated on working through his and Trowa's shared empathic trauma.

A tendril of something reached out tentatively to merge with Relena's own unique empathic signature, the two strands twisting around each other, not quite becoming one, but each drawing from the other.

Quatre frowned. Severing the connection quickly, he blinked rapidly to clear the fine mist from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Relena, I didn't…"

Before he could continue, the door to their prison opened and Davis and Smythe entered, supporting a semiconscious Trowa between them. He groaned as they dumped him on the floor, none too gently, but gave no sign of being aware of his surroundings. Giving his own restrains an angry pull, Quatre wished he could get close enough to Trowa to assure himself that his husband was all right. There didn't seem to be any obvious signs of physical assault but the top buttons of Trowa's shirt were unfastened, the black fabric contrasting with the unusually pale hue of his skin.

Groaning again, Trowa opened his eyes, but the empathic connection was still dead, his usual brilliant green, glazed and dull. "Quatre," he mumbled. "Quatre, Quatre." Glancing around in panic, his eyes sought out Quatre's but there was no sign of recognition. His head fell forward, and something inside Quatre snapped.

"What the hell have you done to him?" So much for staying cool, calm and collected. Forcibly pulling again at his restraints, Quatre's voice rose still further in anger. "Did it occur to you idiots that he might not have the information you required?"

"I would remind you, Winner, that this is none of your business." Davis' voice was calm and cool, and Quatre struggled against an overwhelming desire to introduce the man's face to his fist. "Your role here is merely that as a hostage, nothing more. Barton is a Gundam pilot…"

"And that gives you the right to do this?" Quatre interrupted. "The war was five years ago. Can't you see that revenge isn't the answer? Tracking down and killing a specific Gundam pilot won't resurrect the dead."

"I've waited a long time for this, Mr Winner, and I don't intend to let the uninformed ranting of a pacifist stand in my way." The woman's voice was quiet but determined; Quatre hadn't even noticed her enter the room.

"I'll give you fucking pacifist," he retorted, ignoring the tiny voice of reason urging him to stay quiet.

"Quatre, please," Relena urged. "You're upset, please don't make this worse for yourself, or for Trowa."

"If you don't shut up, Mr Winner, I'm going to have to get one of these gentlemen to gag you." The petite woman turned her attention back to Trowa. "I was under the impression that this drug was supposed to loosen Barton's tongue, not knock him out so we can't get anything out of him at all," she complained.

Crossing the room, Davis grabbed a handful of Trowa's hair, using the motion to drag him to his feet. "These Gundam pilots appear to have a quick recovery time, I'm sure we won't have to wait too long." Davis released his grip, and Trowa's head fell forward, his lips moving in a whispered mantra.

"No," Trowa protested. "No!" As he raised his head in a struggle to retain consciousness, the light from the open door caught the reflection of the gold band hanging from the slim chain around his neck, the brightness highlighted against the drab interior of the room.

Davis' smiled in anticipation as he rolled the object between his fingers. "Mrs Walker," he called out, "I think you'd better take a look at this."

******

I'm missing something. I know it. Heero swore at his laptop, and ran a hand through his untidy mop of hair in frustration. He'd run every scenario, every possible flight path through the program parameters, but still nothing. The shuttle only had so much fuel, and he knew the exact coordinates of its exact location when contact had been lost.

Heero stood to refill his coffee - he hadn't rested since receiving the news and had no intention of doing so until Relena and their friends had been returned.

There had been previous attempts on her life - there were still certain factions who resisted the idea of peace - but he'd always taken out all threats calmly and efficiently. Relena was more than capable of looking after herself; she'd handled herself admirably in the past, and she had Trowa and Quatre with her. There was no point dwelling on possibilities, the best approach to a mission was to map out the certainties and work through them one by one. He would continue to presume they were alive until he was presented with evidence to the contrary.

Love changes your priorities. He could still hear Trowa speaking those words at Quatre's bedside after Libra.

Taking a slow sip of his coffee, he returned to his seat and allowed his eyes to close momentarily. His mind drifting to the plain velvet box in his pocket, a tiny smile creased his lips. It had taken seeing Relena almost at breaking point for him to find the courage to voice his feelings for her; and for her to admit that those feelings were reciprocated. Three years later, almost to the day, they had planned to publicly announce their engagement, although they'd both agreed it would better to wait until the conference had finished to do so.

Her engagement ring was finely crafted, gorgeous, yet elegant. It suited Relena perfectly. When Heero had collected it from the jeweller's after re sizing he'd seen a wedding ring that was the perfect match. It was plain gold, but with tiny stones of the same brilliant blue of the engagement ring set into the band. Heero's own ring, though lacking the stones, complimented it perfectly.

"Relena Yuy," Heero tested the combination aloud. He'd almost asked the jeweller to engrave it on his own wedding band, and his name on hers, but then had decided against it. Maybe initials and a quote would be better? Not being sure of the correct etiquette, he'd planned to ask Quatre and Trowa's advice. They'd had their own rings engraved, but he couldn't remember whether they'd decided on each other's initials or full names.

Shaking himself out of his musings, Heero glanced at his watch. Duo and Wufei should be arriving shortly; he'd promised to meet their shuttle after it docked. Hopefully their investigation thus far had yielded better results than his own.

Whoever had instigated this kidnapping had no idea who they were dealing with - they wouldn't live to regret their unknowing decision to mess with Gundam pilots and their loved ones. Heero didn't remember his own family and now he had one of his own, he'd protect them any way he could.

Who was the real target? Relena and Quatre were the key speakers for the success of the peace talks. Quatre and Trowa were Gundam pilots. Either scenario was a possibility.

Fingers flying over the keys, Heero booted up another program on his computer. When Une had assisted them in resuming their lives after the war, he'd designed a program to track anyone attempting to investigate his or any of the other pilots' backgrounds by following a cyber trail back to the instigator. There had been little need for it over the past five years - few close calls with investigative reporters and the ilk - and those responsible had been encouraged not to repeat the offence.

Civilian life had affected him far more than he'd suspected. Once he'd run this program regularly as part of his security routine, but over the past few years it had only been instigated when there was reason to suspect a leak. It wouldn't surprise him if the others had been equally as careless.

The computer signalled it had finished the current search. Heero wasn't surprised at the result. Very few suspected that Quatre was anything but the persona he projected, and although he was frequently in the public spotlight, those unwise enough to dig for dirt had been dealt with quickly.

It would be interesting to see if Trowa had received the same lack of interest. Heero typed in the new commands and hit the enter key. Duo and Wufei would be arriving any moment; he'd check the results upon his return.

******

"Good to see you again, Heero." Giving their friend a hug, Duo noticed with a grin that Heero seemed less uncomfortable with the close physical contact each time they met. Relena had helped him to loosen up one hell of a lot over the past few years.

"Nice to see you too, Duo. And you, Wufei." Heero nodded his greeting to both of them, once he disentangled himself from Duo's embrace. "Any news on the shuttle?"

"Nope, nothing. Zero. Zilch." Duo shook his head as they followed Heero out of the docking bay. "Whoever these guys are, they've covered their tracks too damn well."

"Though the fact that the shuttle pilots were drugged but otherwise uninjured bodes well," Wufei tried to reassure Heero, but the comment only served to increase Heero's agitation. "I think we should grab a coffee before Duo and I settle in. Is Alfred's Café still open for business?"

"He never closes," Heero replied. "You can order coffee if you wish, but I'll refrain."

Duo raised an eyebrow. "Just how much of the stuff have you been drinking?"

"Enough."

"Have you slept since the shuttle disappeared?" Wufei steered them into the café, choosing a table away from the main crowd, so they could talk without any danger of being overheard.

"No." There was an underlying strain in Heero's voice that Duo didn't like.

"She'll be okay, Heero. They all will." Wufei placed his duffle under the table after ordering two coffees from the waitress. "We'll find them even if we have to pull this sector of space apart satellite by satellite."

"Thank you," Heero sighed. "I'm sure I'm missing something regarding this scenario and I don't like it." He paused. "If the shuttle pilots were drugged, I suspect a stronger dose may have been necessary to subdue Trowa and Quatre. I hope, for their sake, they didn't attempt to use the same dosage on Relena."

"She'll be okay," Duo repeated Wufei's earlier reassurance. "Probably have one hell of a hangover but she's a strong lady and I'm sure the guys will be looking out for her."

Heero clenched one hand into a fist. "Look, I know she's your fiancé, but..."

"Relena called me from the shuttle to let me know the results of a test we'd both been waiting on."

"Is she ill?" Wufei shot Duo a worried look, and Duo knew it wasn't only himself thinking the worse. He placed a hand on Heero's arm but it went unnoticed.

"No," Heero said. "She's pregnant."

******

End of Chapter Two

TBC