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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"
Earth Sanc Kingdom Preventer Headsquarters 1st March AC 198 Time: 10:13 Lady Une Lady Une sighed as she sipped the coffee, a sigh of utter pleasure. At least her secretary could brew a decent cup. There were not many pleasures the Lady found in life, but a decent cup of coffee was one of them. The last secretary she had knew how to poison the palate. It was no great loss when she was moved. A plant by the ESUN, Lady Une had allowed her to remain in her position for fully six months, feeding her carefully chosen information to pass on before arranging for her to be employed by the Winner Corporation. Quatre had agreed to take her and had placed her where she could do the least harm and be available when they needed to feed information to the ESUN. It had been getting too dangerous to have the woman in Preventer headquarters. Lady Une was not at all sorry to see her depart, her current secretary was much more to her liking, both for her coffee making skills, and for her loyalty. Her eyes moved unerringly to the clock. It would have started by now, the affair on Mars. The shuttle would have landed about now and what would transpire on that distant planet would rock the Earth Sphere, one way or the other. That blonde on Mars could start another war. The psychologists, not one of them, could give her an indication as to which way he would jump. He was a certified genius at doing the unexpected. She knew that from their days in Oz. He had proven time and again to be infinitely capable. To be wildly inventive and to be able to read others like a book. He had never given her or anyone else cause to dismiss him lightly. So why was the ESUN Security Agency making a glaringly stupid move? How had he survived the explosion of the Libra? Yuy and Marquise had been on the Libra when the power core had blown. She had taken the opportunity to speak at length to Yuy about that time. He had been on the section of the Libra falling toward Earth when Zechs had blown the power core and he had survived. It should not be so surprising, she supposed that Zechs had survived too, but how had he survived later, when Heero Yuy had blown the piece of Libra out of the sky with the Buster Rifle? She had reviewed hours of footage taken of the battle, from various positions around the battle field. Nothing had indicated that Zechs had escaped either of the explosions that had taken place on the Libra. There had been nothing that might even suggestion that red suit had survived the destruction. When she had put the question of whether or not he thought Milliardo Peacecraft aka Zechs Marquise could survive the destruction of the Libra to him, Heero Yuy had shaken his head, no; then paused, reconsidering and responded with words that had given her no real indication. *"I don't know. I should not have survived the self detonation of Wing."* Later, after the Barton Incursion had been settled, when she had time to think, she had gone to the pilot and demanded to know how he had survived. When she had put the question to Zechs he had merely shaken his head and declined to comment. Yuy had survived the self detonation of Wing Gundam. Marquise had survived the Libra. Trowa Barton had survived against Quatre in the Wing Zero, when the Oz prototype Mobile suit had been destroyed. Why then, could Treize Kushrenada not survive the explosion of the Tallgeese II? The thought startled her. She had thought she was over that. Thought she was beyond recriminations and reproaches. The past was the past and she had to get over the loss of the one man she had ever found it in her to love. Or obsess over, as she knew certain other people believed. Who was Noin to talk, though? Look at the obsession there. // Noin. You could not get anymore obsessed than she is with Marquise. It has started, out there. Just how great an effect it will have on the Earth Sphere is yet to be determined. What is he likely to do? Will he be the biggest problem or will it be Noin? She will be a problem, no doubting that. She will not allow them to go in there and dictate to her. She will not allow them to take her family.' Just what action she would take Une was almost afraid to contemplate. Noin had lost her family during the height of the Alliance's power on Earth, in a power play between political factions. With that history in her past this current state would not be well received by Lucrezia Noin. It would bring back old memories, old hurts. As for Zechs, well try as she might she could not formulate a plausible scenario. //I don't see what she sees in Zechs. I never did understand her infatuation with him. For that matter I never understood why Mr. Treize backed him to the extent he did. Milliardo Peacecraft. Heir to Sanc. Did Mr. Treize intend to place him in a position to rule, as Relena was placed by Romefeller? That is possible. There was so much Mr. Treize did not confide in me. So much, even now, I do not understand of the plans you made. I wish you were here. You would know what to do about this idiocy. What could be done about this. I have to keep that girl alive. She is a symbol of the Peace you wanted and whoever controls her, controls the Earth Sphere. With Zechs alive and in the hands of the ESUN she is unable to work independently as is needed to maintain the peace. Maybe I should have her brother killed? Would you consider that? Solving the dilemma that way. Another assassination. No, no, no. Are my hands not bloody enough, after the wars? Have I not learned other ways of achieving my goals? You wanted the world and the colonies to be at peace, Mr. Treize. You would not have ordered the death of your friend, even though he betrayed you, I am sure.// The buzz of the com on her desk distracted her and she sighed, pulling herself together. No time to sit and reminisce about old times. No time to wonder what actions might have been taken in the past to avoid this current problem. No time to moan that she could not affect what happened on Mars beyond what she had already done, or about how inadequate her preparations had been. It was up to the players, on that far away planet, to complete the act. To start a new round of disasters or not. What more could she do? "Yes, Joan?" "We have received a report from a Patrol Cruiser in the Asteroid Belt, ma'am. I think you need to see this." Reality bites. The Asteroid Belt could mean the Raiders were active again. "Bring me the details." Une set aside her coffee when the door opened and the dark haired Preventer agent hurried in. The folder she carried was red, denoting the urgency of the situation and Une nodded a dismissal on taking the folder. If it was from one of the cruisers patrolling the asteroid field then it was likely trouble with a mining transport. She had four cruisers in the vicinity of the asteroids. Four cruisers. It was no wonder the Raiders were so productive there. The area was just too big to be adequately patrolled. Even with the addition of the Mining Consortiums own Security forces and the ships of the ESUN the area was just too vast to police. Flipping open the folder she settled down to read. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- L2 Colony L2-0397 [La Grange point 2. Serial Number 0397] Date: 1st March AC 198 Time: 12:15 Duo //So small. So helpless. A part of me. I never thought about having kids before. About the changes it would mean. It hurts that Hilde never told me. Never wanted me to know. She could have said something. I could have been there, when he was born. I could have watched him come into the world. I'm not really happy with what she said about why she didn't tell me. It's not any sort of an explanation I understand. Not really any explanation at all. Would she have let me know? Eventually?// Duo lightly ran a finger over the delicate soft cheek. Chubby cheeks. His son would never grow up amid the slums and streets of L2. He knew what that was like. Only too well. He was determined that no matter what the future held his son would never know the depravation that was living on the streets of L2. He had told Hilde what he had done. Wincing at the thought of the scene that had provoked he sighed and bending over the cradle he touched his lips lightly to the soft cheek. He only hoped he had managed to convince her that he was right to do this. He was a Preventer field agent, not a desk jockey. He put his life on the line every time he accepted an assignment, and he had never refused an assignment, no matter the dangers involved. He wanted to protect the peace, so that his son and other children like him never knew the wars and despairs that he had known. He had even more incentive to work for the continuing peace now that his sons future was involved. Hilde just had to understand how he saw this situation. In the background he could hear her in the kitchen preparing a bottle for Aidan. He was uncertain if she would talk to him again, at least civilly, after his bomb shell. She had been furious that he was interfering in her life. Why couldn't Hilde see that what he had done had needed to be done? He was not interfering in her life, but providing a safety net should it ever be needed for his son. Their son. If the absolute worst case happened who would look after the boy? He just needed for her to have some time to think it over. He had no family. Hilde had no family beyond some cousins she admitted she did not know well. Surely she would see that Quatre was the best choice of guardian if anything should happen to both of them? //Did she expect me to give up Preventers and return to her when I found out? No, that makes no sense. None at all. If she had, she would have told me, wouldn't she? Maybe she wanted me to come back subconsciously and give up Preventers and ... I don't know. I don't understand the way she thinks.// Vaguely he registered the sound of a com consul chiming in the background and the sound of Hilde answering it. Aidan stirred, beginning to wake for his feed, not fussing yet, content to wake and think baby thoughts. He smiled, wondering what, babies dreamt about? Must be a boring life to just sleep and eat. To sleep, to eat, to be loved and to be safe. That was the right of every baby on Earth and in the colonies. That was just one of the things he fought for by staying in the Preventers. Hilde herself was now a Preventer. Not a field agent, of course, but a Preventer none-the-less. She had to have some understanding of why he did this job. It was no use arguing with him that someone else would do the job, either. If everyone thought that way then no one would do it and the peace would already be ruined. "Duo." Hilde motioned him to leave the room and when he joined her in the lounge she indicated the com. "Earth wants you. There's trouble." "Secured line?" Duo queried, making his way to the com. "Level five security. Monitored for hacking." Hilde returned, leaving the room to Duo and the Lady waiting on Earth. "Earth." Duo settled on the seat fronting the consol. "Reaper, my apologies for disturbing your vacation. You are, however the best qualified agent I have for this assignment who is free to act at this time. We have a strong lead on the current activities of the Reavers working the asteroid field. A shuttle will be waiting for you in two hours at the docks at port station three. Take it and rendezvous with the cruiser Bounty in sector three, La Grange Point four. I know the Reavers are likely to be a long way away from the location we have been given when you get there, but investigate. It is the best lead we have had on their activities in the last year. There is a cruiser already in the area who are investigating. You will take charge of the unit. I want those sick bastards. They've harassed the asteroid miners too long. A full report will be waiting for you when you rendezvous with the Bounty." "Anyone hurt in the latest raid?" "No. Its all in the report. Mid way you will need to rendezvous with the ship Silver Lady. She is an independent L4 registered vessel No. 667384E. The Captain is a Derek H Sandler. Find out why they were suspicious and if they are conducive to joining the Preventers. Initial reports from our ship in the area suggest the crew or at least the captain may be Preventer material. Two hours Reaper. Again, sorry for the interruption to your leave." Hilde was not going to like this, Duo thought as the screen darkened. He sighed softly. Two hours. Two hours was barely enough time to get back to his hotel and pack his bag, let alone time to get some solid reading material and entertainment disks together for a protracted flight. Not enough time to smooth things over with Hilde either. The asteroid belt? No way. This was how Lady Une would get him to Mars. Mars. Just what was happening there? That shuttle would have grounded by now, surely? Would the trouble start immediately or would the ESUN Agents wait until the shuttle was serviced and ready for departure? Just what Lady Une expected him to do there was beyond him. It would all be over long before he could get there. It was a three month journey to Mars in its current position in relation to Earth. While it was true that the current engines were faster than those used in past excursions to Mars it was still the simple truth that he was well out of any effective time frame to be of use in the current circumstances. He had to face the facts and the facts were that he was obviously just the Preventers investigator into the incident and the deaths it no doubt would cause. After all, everyone knew that Milliardo Peacecraft was supposed to be crazy. //So they say. So they say.// Duo shook his head. Lady Une would have full briefing material on both of the missions he was assigned to, the Reavers and the secret mission to Mars. He could better judge what his expectations would be when he had gone over the files that would await him on the Preventer Cruiser. "Duo?" Hilde stood in the doorway, Aidan held in her arms. //Oh, boy. I can't help it, though.// "I have to go, Hilde. I'm sorry. Really I am. I wanted to stay around and get to know Aidan, but I seem to be the only one available for this mission right now." Duo stood, waiting for the eruption he just knew was coming. "Its alright Duo. Lady Une already apologized that she has to assign you to this case. I've grown up, since you left. Having Aidan has really taught me that I can't be a kid anymore. Not everything will go as I so fondly wish it to. It's okay." //Wow. What just happened? That's not Hilde!// Duo blinked. Stunned. The fights they had had in the past had been volcanic and now, after all his expectations, she simply said it was alright? "Uhm." what was he to say? He had to say something. "Yeah." Hilde smiled, knowing what Duo's problem was. "I'm sorry, Duo. Really I am. I know that we never got along really well toward the end of ... well, you know. I wanted everything to be perfect and I... I apologize for some of the things I said. Only some of them, mind you. I am a Preventers agent now. I have acquired a broader view of the situation than I used to. I really do understand. I can send you pictures and vids of Aidan. It will be a long while before you are back." A long while. That was an understatement. "I am not certain how long it will be, but I would think a year. Maybe more." "The Reavers killed a number of friends of mine who were working at the Patrice Mining Corporations new resource satellite project about seven months ago, Duo. It was one of the reasons I started to have a real good look at the way I was viewing the world. Teach the bastards that payback can be a bitch for me? For my friends." There was a look in her eyes that Duo had not seen since the One Year Wars. The last time he had seen it she had found a way to board the Libra and steal the blueprints for the fortress. She had nearly died. He had hoped never to see her look like that again. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that." Duo hesitated. "I'll find the Raiders, Hilde. For your friends. They've caused enough trouble. Uhm, can I hold him? Just for a minute?" "Of course, Duo." softly "If you have the time, you can even feed him his bottle." "I'll make the time." ~ * ~
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