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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
Luxembourg Date 28th Feb AC 198 Time: 11:45 Relena Relena had requested a private meeting with her grandfather, and the old politician's secretary had sent a confirmation, and the location of the meeting as the Marquis's private manor on the outskirts of the city. A rambling house rebuilt after the destruction of Luxembourg by Romefeller's OZ retaliation against the Treize Faction. The house was constructed from original blueprints dating from the 1800's, pre colony era. As the black limousine rolled through the high gates after passing the security check, Relena silently admired the sprawling classical manor house and then shuddered. Everything looked so ordinary. So ordered. As though the war had never happened. As though there was no strife on Earth. It seemed as though she was stepping into another world. A world where time had not changed. She half expected to see ladies in flowing gowns walking the gardens. A much more sedate, genteel era. The footmen at the door were even dressed in period regalia, in royal blue and gold jackets and snow white breeches. Relena noticed that Pagan seemed ill at ease and wondered why. The old retainer had always been there for her and she had hated being at odds with him. It seemed that he had forgiven her readily enough, but she had the distinct impression that Pagan knew far more than she had told him. He seemed quite relaxed with Heero in their company as well. She had had the impression at one stage that he disapproved of her near obsession with the former gundam pilot. Lately though, his resistance had seemed to soften. But then, she admitted, she had stopped pursuing Heero so obsessively. She was eighteen, after all, not a silly young girl infatuated with a dashing young man who constantly threatened to kill her. She had had to grow up quickly over the last two years. She had had to deal with more than her girlish dreams of dangerous men threatening to kill her and imagining them falling in love and him coming to her rescue. True, some of those things had happened. He was darkly mysterious, her Heero and he had, indeed threatened to kill her. However the romance she had dreamt of had failed to eventuate. Heero had been conspicuous by his absence for much of the time between the Barton Incursion and now. He was her on again, off again body guard supplied by Preventers. It had been little more than a year since he had enlisted in Preventers and she had no idea where his many wanderings had taken him, though he seemed to have most of the wanderlust out of his system. She knew how serious the threats against her were when Heero was assigned to her protection. Where had time gone? Where had she lost control of her life? Had she ever had control since she had met a particular Gundam Pilot? It seemed her greatest challenges were fought with or about the gundam pilots. Not just Heero, but the whole five of them had actually needed her protection, and she had fought hard for them. Her quiet struggle against the ESUN security agency had not been just about her brother. She and Lady Une had had to work tirelessly to keep all of the Gundam Pilots out of the justice system. The general amnesty that followed the war had enabled them to keep the pilots identities from being widely known. The fact the pilots had fought the White Fang and prevented Libra from impacting Earth had earned them freedom, provided they could be contained and controlled. Yes, Relena admitted, older as she now was, she could admit that the pilots had been Terrorists with a capital T. They had killed thousands of people. They had controlled such power in those machines and they had used that power to kill. They were soldiers. Killers when needed, not that she considered it necessary to kill. She was a Pacifist. The true daughter of the King of Pacifists, and the foster daughter of the man who had worked tirelessly to bring about peace between Earth and the Colonies. She blushed, biting at her lower lip. She oh -so- clearly recalled herself ordering Heero to kill her own brother. `Heero kill that man!' She, the advocate of total pacifism, had screamed that out over an open channel. Miss Noin had been so disappointed in her. No, not disappointed, she reflected. Not exactly. Hurt. Very hurt. Noin loved Milliardo and now they had children. Relena sighed. She was an aunt. Would she ever see her nephew and niece? Would she ever really get to know her brother? "The Marquis is waiting in the solarium." the servant bowed and led the way through the gold gilded grand foyer and out into a great glass enclosed room filled with tropical plants. The heat in the room was a sharp contrast with the freezing chill of the air outside the manor. The air was perfumed with the exotic scents of tropical plants and steamy with tropical heat and high humidity. Brilliantly coloured butterflies fluttered from vibrantly coloured flower to flower as they stepped out of the small hallway connecting the house to the enclosed environment of the solarium. With the door securely closed behind them the servant assisted with the shedding of winter clothing and led them into the rainforest setting toward the sound of running water. "Thank you, Peterson. That will be all." Seated on a cane settee in a white painted gazebo the Marquis Wayridge stood to greet his guests, extending both hands toward Relena. A beaming smile greeted his grand daughter. "My dear grand daughter, you look more like your mother with every passing day. It is a pleasure to see you again and outside the halls of power is a rarer thing." he embraced Relena and then turned to the two men who followed her. "I know Pagan, of course, but I do not recall ever having met this young man." "A very close friend, Heero Yuy, who is also my Security Chief." Relena introduced, deliberately avoiding mentioning any more about Heero. "Heero and Pagan have convinced me that I should talk to you about a rather serious matter that, I am afraid, I have lost total control over. I need your help, Grandfather." "Please, be seated, my dear." the old politician settled himself on the settee again, drawing Relena down with him. "Tell me what an old man can do for you?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pagan Pagan stood beneath the fronds of a massive fern, watching the old Marquis. He looked almost the same as on another day so many years before, when Pagan had come to him. Desperate. In his arms had been a very tired, very disheveled six year old boy. It was not a conversation the old retainer would forget in a hurry. Less than an hour they been on the estate belonging to the Marquis. Less than an hour it had taken for the Marquis to turn his back on his grandson. He had been heartbroken that the child had had to remain during the heated discussion that had resulted not in a safe and secure, loving home, but in the promise of funds for a boarding school. They had been hustled out quietly and quickly lest anyone learn that they had appeared. Exile to a small boarding school in the middle of nowhere, where he knew no one, and that only after Pagan had reminded the noble repeatedly that the child was his much loved daughters son. Pagan was in no way happy to see the Marquis again. "What did I do wrong, Pagan? Why do we keep getting sent away?" the sleepy, heartbreaking whisper still remained with him to this day and seeing the Marquis now only brought his anger surging back. He only hoped that the Marquis would give aid for the grand daughter, where he would not for the grandson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heero "I need your help. I know it will be asking a lot on a very sensitive subject, but I can not leave this alone. The general amnesty offered after the One Year War was, I assumed, to apply to all participants in the fighting. It was to apply to OZ soldiers, the army assembled by Treize Kushrenada, the Gundam Pilots and to the White Fang." "Yes, I believe that is the case." "The ESUN Security Office has, however, issued certain documents that defy the amnesty. In one case the Gundam Pilots were to be arrested and tried as Terrorists." The Marquis nodded slowly. "I know of this. Though the young men involved did have a major role to play in the destruction of the Libra, they were, never the less, terrorists, Relena. Still, the warrant was suspended. I believe that you and that woman, Lady Une, handled the appeal. Quite well, actually. I know you were associated with some of the pilots. Really, my dear, you should watch out and be more careful of who your friends are. You could do severe damage to your political standing." Heero shot a fierce look at the old man, but then looked to Pagan quickly. He was standing right next to the old retainer and he saw the fierce light in his faded eyes that wiped away years from him. He also heard the low growl of anger and was more than surprised. Pagan had always seemed the unflappable one. He himself was not too amused by the Marquis's words or their implications both to the past and to any future actions that might take place. He could see that Relena was not happy about it either. Suddenly he was not so hopeful that Relena was going to get any help here. A discreet cough interrupted the conversation and the servant returned, placing a heavily laden tray on the cane table near the Marquis. An elaborate tea service and plates of delicate sandwiches and pastries was set out and the Marquis dismissed the servant, watching as Relena chose to pour the tea and offer her grandfather something to eat. "Ah, thank you, my dear. Now then. What is it you want of me? You have successfully defended the Gundam Pilots. They may be under probation, but they are free to come and go as they please. You must realize the necessity for this type of action. One can not have trained soldiers running around wily nilly without some checks and balances. This is still a fragile peace and we must work to ensure it grows." "Milliardo." Relena whispered the name. The Marquis winced and set aside his tea cup. "My dear, your brothers life was a tragic thing. I wished so much more for him. Had he not come under the influence of those people I am certain he would have been a very different man. The Kushrenada's-" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pagan "Took Master Milliardo in when his own grandfather threw him out on a winter night. Those people sheltered him for many years and saw to his every need. Those people loved him more that his own blood kin." Pagan fairly snarled, glaring at the Marquis in rage. "You really need to mind your place, Pagan." the Marquis snapped back. "You know nothing -" "I know more than you ever credited me knowing. Miss Relena," Pagan turned to the wide eyed girl staring at him is amazement. He had never interrupted before as he did now, but he could see that she needed to understand very quickly where they stood on this matter. If she did not suspect it from this beginning then she was not half the politician he knew her to be. No, it was better that he take the Marquis's anger than Relena. They were old men and there had never been any love lost between the two of them. Relena might yet be able to salvage any damage done to her standing with her grandfather over this matter. He already knew how it would end. "I apologize to you for my behavior, but I can not listen to this man insult the only people who were willing to protect your brother. It was a long time ago, and I had hoped the Marquis would recall what his last decision concerning Master Milliardo resulted in. I assumed he might have learned to see beyond politics. I appear to be wrong. I doubt you will receive the help you had hoped for here. I apologize for raising your hopes." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Relena Heero lightly touched the old mans sleeve, a gentle touch offering more comfort than restraint, aware that Relena was watching Pagan with wide eyes. Her eyes had deepened with her tumultuous emotions and she looked to the Marquis, face pale. "Milliardo came to you? You turned him away?" The Marquis sighed and bowed his head. "Your brother came to me, yes. Pagan brought him. It was not safe for him or I in those times. Do you think I enjoyed turning away Katerina's child? How much use do you think I could have been in reigning in the Alliance excesses if I had taken in the boy? We would have been discovered. Alliance officials were forever in and out of my estates in those days and I traveled constantly. Your brother was just too noticeable to be safely hidden on my estates." "Yet the Kushrenada's managed it." Relena glared at her grandsire. "From what little I know he was with them for many years. If they could manage it, why could you, his grandfather, not?" "Relena, the politics of the time made it too dangerous for me to offer more than the finances to place him in a boarding school. I will not apologize for my actions then. Past is past. Had Pagan not removed your brother from that boarding school and given him to those people, we would not have faced the situation we did. Your brother would not have become the leader of the White Fang and might well be alive today. Your father and mother would have been horrified at what he did. I can not forgive him his warped view on the pacifist principles of your father. He would have been disinherited had he survived the war. He was no true son of the Peacecrafts." Relena gasped horribly reminded of her own similar words on a number of occasions. Reminded that she had rejected everything to do with her brother since the Libra incident. //I am no better. I did the same thing, but I have had time to think. To consider new information. Grandfather has had even more resources than I, has he not chosen to learn why my brother became so desperate? // "How dare you! Grandfather that is a horrible thing to say. Even I can understand what Brother was trying to do. I had to step back from it and take a really long hard look to see it, but I could, in the end. That is not to say that I agree with what he did, or how he did it, but the fact remains that we have the peace we all sought. And that we have it because of what he did. Directly because of what he did." The Marquis sighed and waved a hand in the air, dismissing the topic. "The point is moot, anyway. Yes, we have peace. Now we must work to maintain that peace. Relena, you have your mothers fire and passion, and you focus that on your fathers drive for the total pacifist principle. You can go far in this world and will bring about that peace, but you must control your passions. You are a diplomat. You must see the broad picture, not concentrate on a narrow field of vision. Your brother was a tragic mistake on my part. It's done. He's dead and we must go on and ensure that there is no cause for anyone ever to enter into a war again." For a long moment Relena struggled to retain control. She could not believe she was hearing this from her grandfather. For a moment she loathed politics. For politics he had betrayed the blood that they shared. Betrayed a little boy's need for family when his world had fallen apart. //Oh, Milliardo, I'm sorry. I never understood. I never knew everyone turned away from you. I turned away from you on the Libra. When you put your arms around me I-I didn't hug you back. You really did only have Treize, didn't you? I need to understand you, Brother.// "If you want to stop any further chance of war, and if you are sincere about being sorry for turning Milliardo away, then there is something you can do, grandfather." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heero Pagan looked as though he would erupt into a rage or pass out, Heero wasn't sure which. The old retainer was clearly reliving bygone days, and they were not pleasant memories. Given the attitude the Marquis had shown to date, Heero knew he considered Pagan as a servant who had stepped out of the bounds of his profession. Marquise Wayridge was hide bound in traditions where the nobility knew how to rule and the servants were not to step above themselves. He himself felt anger. He had always wondered what it would be like to have a family. He had watched from hiding the warmth and love in many families and between people in general and wondered at what he had missed out on. He could not recall his parents. What would his life have been like had they survived? He could see the hurt in Relena. The pain that her grandfather had caused her by his callous disregard for her brother, and his placing of politics first. Suddenly he wondered if he was not better off not having family. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Relena "What might that be, Relena? I have no wish to hurt you, my dear, but you must be made aware of the facts as they are. In our station we must put many things above our own lives. Or the lives of our family. It distresses me, the fate of your brother, but we must go beyond that. He made his choice. A choice that his parents would never have sanctioned, let alone understood. I still do not understand what he thought he could accomplish. The Kushrenada's turned a Pacifist into a War Monger. That was shameful of them. More shame to your brother for allowing it to happen. It is past. What can I do to further the peace?" Relena trembled, fighting to control her shaking. She was deeply ashamed. Ashamed that she found she could not believe her grand father's protests of distress over the results of his actions. He said it too mildly, with shallow emotion. She was a politician and she could read just how distressed he was not. Yes, she could see that he preferred to place the blame of her brothers shame squarely on the family that took him in. "You can help me stop the ESUN Security Office from plunging us all back into a war. Milliardo joined the White Fang and threatened to destroy Earth, for our fathers pacifist principles to be embraced by all. What do you think he would be capable of doing if someone stole his children `for the good of all mankind'?" "What?" the Marquis looked stunned. "What are you talking about?" "Milliardo is alive. He has two children and the ESUN Security Office is trying to force me to sign papers, that will allow them to abduct those children and have them reared on Earth, in protective custody, away from their parents. Do you think Milliardo would allow that, grandfather?" t.b.c.
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