|
"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"
New Port City Sanc Palace Date 26th Feb AC 198 Time: 15:55 Duo's P.O.V. Une had listened in silence when I told her what I wanted, and to my surprise she had just nodded and called the pay officer in. In front of me she arranged for a part of my salary to be transferred into an account and for Hilde to be notified about the account. When the pay officer had left she called an acquaintance with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and I found myself looking at my sons birth certificate. Nowhere in the document was my name mentioned. “Your genetic information is on the Preventer Medical database. The required gene sample was taken at his birth and encoded. It won’t take a moment to confirm paternity.” I wondered why she bothered. She was confident enough to dock my pay before checking to see if he was mine or not, but in a few minutes the comparison confirmed it. He was mine. Une had obviously known it, so Hilde must have made a clean breast of it to her. “If you wish I can start proceedings to have the appeal for your son to be listed under the name of Maxwell. You realize, I hope, that the appeal may be denied? Do you want custody of him?” Shit, I couldn’t take care of him, I knew that and so did Une, but I suppose we had to do this by the book. I wanted to be able to see him and to hold him and to watch him grow. “Visiting rights and I want to be listed as Next of Kin if anything should happen to Hilde.” “Very well.” I thought I saw a faint smile at that. “I will start proceedings. I will need you to sign a few forms. I can have them drawn up and ready for you to sign by this time tomorrow.” “I will be here.” Lady Une shook her head in denial. “No need. I will be at the Palace tomorrow evening for dinner. I will bring the necessary documentation with me.” I had found myself wandering around New Port City, in the freezing winter air, thinking about my past and my future. I was not alone. I could not remember family beyond Solo and the street gang or Father Maxwell and Sister Helen at the orphanage and mission. I had family now. Real family and I had no idea what I could do about it. It was not real. It could not be real. Eventually I found my way back to the palace, bone weary and not ready to sleep. I had duty as coordinator of the security detail later today and I should have slept, but it just was not possible. So now I found myself walking through a dimly lighted internal hall of the palace still in a state of shock. I had a son. I was a father. God, I wasn’t alone anymore. Yeah, it was then, as I walked along that hall and saw that huge portrait of the old King that I realized that I was a father, that I had responsibilities to a part of me that was different, but had need of me. I stopped and looked at the old man in the portrait. A spotlight shed soft light on him and I found myself looking into the blue eyes that seemed to stare at me not with judgment, but with gentle concern. One father to another. Looking at that face, knowing he had gone to so much trouble to have his son, brought it all home to me. It was real and I really should move past the shock. “I have a son, Your Majesty.” I told him quietly. This was between him and me. No need for anyone else to hear and think me a raving loony. “I have a little boy. A part of me. Where’s your son? Somehow I don’t think you’d approve of what’s been happening. No, I don’t think you would have approved of the war, or what he did. Thing is, he did it for you. To bring about your ideal of peace. I wonder what my son would do for me? Hilde has to let me see him. So we can get to know each other.” I studied the old man’s face. A strong face. Despite what the flowing beard covered up you could see a wealth of character in that face. Patriarch. It was the face of a patriarch. The last of the Peacecraft kings. Relena was Princess of Sanc and I had the feeling she wanted nothing to do with the idea of being crowned Queen. Which left her brother, Milliardo. Zechs. “I don’t think he believed in it, you know, your exact idea of perfect pacifism. From what I have learned of him I think he’s too different from what I’ve been told about you, to see it your way. But he gave his all to see your ideal come into reality. Not the way you’d intended, but he did it anyway, the only way he could see it coming, I think. So what would you think of what he did? What would you think of what Relena is doing? What would you think about Relena turning on her brother? Would you have disowned him?” Somehow I thought King Stephan Peacecraft would advocate forgiveness and understanding. Had Relena even tried to understand what her brother was doing, or did she see only the war and not beyond it? What I had witnessed on MO2 didn’t speak highly of her, but she was younger then. Hell, we all were young. Too young . Even Zechs and Noin. They were only nineteen during the One Year War. I keep forgetting they’re not so much older than me. I’m not so sure about the wars now. Not so sure about the motives of the Doctors. Not so sure about my motives, even. There was too much politics in the One Year War. There is always politics in war. I never thought about it then. Never considered looking deeper into anyone else’s motives. If I am going to be honest, I guess I never even looked at my own motives. It was better than life on the streets. Politics. This place stank of politics. “I don’t know, Your Majesty, but I think something is very rotten in the palace and Sanc in general. History is rarely fair, I was told once. Seems to me its just bloody well written from the victor’s point of view. Takes a generation or two for someone to write something about the other participant’s views. So what happens when no one wins, Old Man? What happens then? ‘cause I don’t think anyone really won this war. Shouldn’t the perfect peace principle incorporate forgiveness? I wonder what He thinks about what he did now? If he regrets it? If he would do things differently if he had the chance?” ********************************************** Duo With a sigh Duo turned and walked away, absently toying with the end of his braid. One day soon he would see his son. Maybe he had chestnut hair too. Would Hilde let him grow his hair long and braid it for him? What kind of a world would his son see? Earth was already a hot bed of disputes over this no border policy. Some countries had their own currency system and were resisting having to go to the trade credit system. It was going to take a lot of work to make the people of earth unite into one working nation. Maybe Relena was now realizing that. Maybe she would see soon that not everyone saw everything in exactly the way she envisioned it. She would not be able to convince everyone of her ideal’s benefits to them. “Heero?” He looked into the security room but Heero was not there. “Ice said he would be a waitin’ fer ye in his room, Reaper.” Agent Thunder, the red head from Scotland who was once an Alliance pilot glanced up from the consol. “Yer no lookin’ good, mon.” “Thanks, Jimmy. All quiet?” “Aye, Duo. Nae alerts. The delegates hae arrived and are in tae dining room now. We took tae liberty o placin’ their security guards in tae east wing; in tae yellow sitting room with their monitorin’ equipment. We scanned all their gear. Nought suspicious.” “Fine then. I’ll go find Yuy.” He might not think much of Relena Peacecraft’s views, but he had to give her credit for working for her goals. Almost every night delegates from countries around the earth and the colonies came for discussions and social chatter that hid negotiations and deals. The Palace was active twenty four hours, most times, delegates and their staff arriving and departing at all hours. Duo hated it. Security wise, it was a nightmare but he had other reasons to dislike the situation. He did not like politics at the best of times, but being a Preventer Agent had given him a closer look than he had ever wanted. The back stabbing and flattery that went on was sickening and he wondered how anything ever got done. Surely they would be further along by now if they would just speak plainly. “Mrs. Darlian.” He nodded in greeting to Relena’s foster mother. He rather liked the woman who had moved into the palace for an extended stay a few days ago. “Mr. Maxwell.” She nodded briefly. “Off duty?” “For a few hours. Just thought I’d take a stroll.” He climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and nodded to the guards stationed there. The fourth floor was used to house Relena’s security contingent and it was considered a plausible threat that someone could threaten the Vice Foreign Minister by attacking her security staff as a diversion. So the body guards had body guards, a fact that amused Duo to no end, especially since he trusted no one anyway. Yuy’s room was halfway down the hall and Duo heard movement beyond the door as he paused, casting a glance up and down the darkened hallway. “Come in Duo.” Yuy opened the door to his knock, glanced the length of the hall both ways and shut the door, leading the way to the small lounge of the suite Relena had assigned him. “Sorted?” “Done.” Duo returned. “Une is working on it. I talk to her again later tonight. Got some papers to sign. I’ll ask for leave and go see Hilde. Try to find out why she never let me know.” “Have you had any sleep yet?” Duo sighed. “Nah. Can’t stop thinking about things. I’ll sleep tonight. Just got to get used to things having changed.” A faint nod and Heero settled at the lounge, four laptop computers plugged into power packs and satellite receivers set on the low table. “Fair enough.” He flicked a finger at the working computers. “I’m in.” Duo grinned, fire coming into blue-violet eyes. He felt the fatigue and his musings fall away, interest sparking. Maybe now some answers would be forthcoming. “Good. Ah, Heero, what’s all this then?” he motioned to the lineup of computers, three screens filled with scrolling numbers, the fourth was tilted away from him so that he could not see the screen. “You might want to sit down, Justin.” Duo looked suspiciously around the room, even behind him. Upset. Heero was supposed to keep all of this secret. It showed how much trust he could not put in the Wing pilot. Damn. Now who did he have to worry about? “Who you talking to? Who did you invited in on this?” “I was talking to you, Justin Anthony Simpson.” Heero’s eyes were bright with an unholy light that Duo realized was amusement. When Duo just stared at him Heero pulled him down to the couch and turned the fourth laptop to face him. Duo stared at him for a few minutes until Heero nudged Deathscythe’s pilot and then Duo looked at the screen. He had recently seen just such a certificate as was displayed on the laptop. It was a Birth Registrar with a genetic bar code. A birth certificate stating that Justin Anthony Simpson was born in the General Hospital of colony - Duo could not read any more and looked back at Heero. “It gets better.” He grunted, leaning close to tap at the keyboard for a moment and then leaning back so that Duo could see. “Wu Fei.” he said, showing another registrar of birth, then stabbed at the keyboard again. “Quatre. He’s going to be pissed. His records are not supposed to be able to be accessed anywhere on the United Net. The Winner Corporation spends a fortune on security. Then you have Trowa.” Duo looked again at the screen and there was another certificate with genetic bar code on it under the name of Triton Amery. This one with a curious adjunct, a logo for identification in multicultural zones, and a foot note that the parents, Tristan Amery and Dorothea Bloom were transients, circus performers. Heero, blue eyes intense, was watching Duo closely. “Heero?” Duo looked at him expectantly. “This can’t be right. Can it?” It all seemed so surreal. First finding out he had a son and now, this. It was a dream, leading into a nightmare. Nothing seemed real. He had another identity? Trowa’s name was Tristan? He knew Heero had no idea what his real name was. He had no memory of his early life before Odin Lowe found him. Duo almost pounced on that. He knew Heero had tried to find out who he was before Odin Lowe had acquired him and Heero had failed. There was no information on anyone who remotely could have been the now recognized Heero Yuy. “If Romefeller had tracked us down, even Trowa, then have they managed to track down who Heero Yuy was before he became Heero Yuy?” //It’s all fiction. It has to be. Heero tried and failed and no one is better than Heero at hacking information.// Heero crouched over the keyboard again and typed at the keys and Duo watched the screen change. Stared at the now very familiar opening logo of the genetic laboratories of Romefeller, only this laboratory was coded for L1. Subject File : 6118954SNI series. Before he could read more Heero was punching through more information and the screen changed again. Duo found himself looking at an Oriental man who looked quite like Heero and a delicate European woman with the very familiar intense blue eyes he knew so well. “My parents.” Heero stared at the screen like a starving man stares at a banquet set beyond his reach. “They were on L1 and worked in a laboratory. I was genetically enhanced, Duo. At least now I know. My name was Shuichi. They were killed in a lab accident.” Heero hesitated then shrugged. “I suspect it was deliberate. They ran a genetic Research Laboratory for the Space Exploration Program. Genetic alterations that would mean we could go beyond the solar system eventually. I know why I am different, Duo. I was a prototype for a deep space explorer.” Hero was at the keyboard again, changing the screen to once more display Duo’s birth certificate and then sat back. He was willing to wait however long it took for Duo to come to terms with this new information. It had not been an easy night for either of them, but Duo had had it rougher. First the discovery of his being a father and now the totally unexpected knowledge of who he and all of the other pilots were. Heero admitted it felt surreal to him. He had not slept either and he felt no need to as yet. Whether that was a result of the genetic alterations performed prior to his birth or the fact he was too keyed by this whole affair he did not know. It was unimportant. Duo reflected that it was not what he had expected to find when he had asked Heero to crack the data file. Hell, the last thing Duo had expected was to find out who he really was. Or who he had been born, because he did know one thing, and that was that he was Duo Maxwell, product of war, not Justin Anthony Simpson, the son of L2 accountants. He could not accept that this was who he was. It just was not so. “That’s not me.” he whispered. He had read the information the file contained through twice, and still it remained separated from him. He knew why. He knew it only too well. “That is not me, Heero.” “That is you.” Heero said just as quietly and Duo could see he had understood what he meant, despite his assurance. Then Heero explained his comment. “That is who you might have been. Who you could be again if you want to be.” He stared at the screen. Accountants, both of them. Working for the L2 government. That’s what they had done. He was the first child, according to the birth certificate, no siblings listed. If he wanted to, he could become Justin Anthony Simpson again and make an ordinary life for himself anywhere in the colonies. There was only one problem. He was Duo Maxwell, the God of Death. He was anything but ordinary. “I was Shinigami during the war. Not an accountant’s son. I grew up on the streets. I became a thief, an assassin, terrorist and Gundam Pilot. There was no way, is no way, I could be Justin Simpson.” He met Heero’s intense blue eyes. “I am not an accountant’s son. I am not that Justin Simpson.” “Think about it for a while.” Heero said quietly, blue eyes alight with understanding sympathy. “No.” Duo looked at him. “Make a copy on disk and then wipe it off the data base. That kid died years ago, but I do want to keep it. Just to know.” Duo watched as Heero slipped a mini digital disk into the drive and made the copy. When that was done cobalt blue eyes locked with blue-violet and Duo nodded. He knew he would not regret this. A long time ago a door had closed. He could not turn back the hands of time. He was who he was, now, not who he might have been. When he had left Hilde to become a Preventer he had, unknowingly provided an answer to the dilemma of having two identities. He had already made his choice between being ordinary and being Duo Maxwell. Dr G and others before him had made changes to him that forever made him Duo Maxwell. “Yes, I want it off the database. Not only off Romefeller’s system, but off whatever system they found it on.” “I am still trying to trace the source of their information. This is huge, Duo. It will take time to trace their systems.” Heero deleted the reference from Romefeller and then hacked into the Colonial Birth Registrar Data Base and brought up the records that pertained to one Justin Anthony Simpson. He hesitated a moment and then looked at Duo and pushed the lap top toward him, making it Duo’s choice to wipe Justin Simpson-himself-out of existence. With the information on disk it was possible at some later time to hack the system and re enter the records, but at this time Duo could not foresee any circumstances in which he would want to. With a deep breath he deleted the file. It actually felt liberating to do it. “We need to speak with the others, to see what they want to do about this. What I can do is copy all of the information down to disk and delete it all off the Romefeller data base. When the others know of this they can make their own decisions and then we can delete their records; or not; depending on what they want. Trowa might want to leave it on the net. He’s not known who he was for so long, and I know it bothered him.” //God, I’ve never heard Heero speak so much. Never. He’s always been the strong silent type.// Duo watched him down load the information for each of the former Gundam Pilots and Heero himself, finishing with deleting the entire section of the Romefeller data base pertaining to the Gundam Pilots. Someone somewhere was now going berserk. Alarms had to be responding to the system purge Heero initiated. Duo only hoped they had enough off that thing to serve when he needed it. It was a pretty sure bet he’d not be hacking into the protections they would now put up. What’s more, they would have a fair idea who had done it. It had to be one of the Gundam pilots. Who else would be interested? Unless they muddied the trail by wiping out whole sections of the system and other systems linked to it. Duo owned up. He told Heero what he had found, specifically how he had found the files on the Gundam Pilots. Through the explanation Heero sat in silence, listening and watching the three computers working. It took him hours to tell it all and during that time Heero worked on the three computers, even going so far as to install external hard drives to carry extra information they copied down from the source computer. Gradually the information dwindled, but Duo noted a series of links amongst the downloads on one computer. They had not yet completely copied the systems of Romefeller, and who knew if the information they had copied would assist them in any way? It could take them years to filter all the information and determine if any of it could be of importance to them. They may have left vital clues they would need because they ran out of storage space. One by one their available secure hard drive space was filled and Heero closed down the three computers. When the last computer beeped its completion Heero initiated a worm to wipe Romefeller’s genetic stud book. Romefeller would salvage some of it, no doubt, but hopefully not much. Maybe they had a backup system somewhere where all of this information was duplicated, but Heero was fairly confident that they would loose good sized portions of their system. It would have to slow down their machinations. If the worm could penetrate to a quarter of the system Duo would be happy. He found himself grinning as the worm was set loose. Heero motioned to the three computers now with dark screens. “I have down loaded everything I can with what hard drive space I had available. I also set up a watch dog on the systems you had accessed that had nothing directly to do with the stud book, but had listed the locked files that I think might well be the records of genetic modifications. A key word alert. Any one accessing those files will trigger the alert. Their access codes will be recorded and we will then have access to those files. It will take me some considerable time to break into the files that we now have. There are so many. Any work they do for me, unknowing on their part, will be appreciated.” Duo sighed softly. It was late. He wasn’t alone anymore. It felt good. Even cold Heero Yuy had a soul and he had glimpsed it repeatedly over the last twenty four hours. It had been Heero who had told him about his son. How many others knew about Aidan? How many people that he associated with on a daily basis knew that Hilde had had his baby and not wanted him to know? It was more than that, though. Much more. Romefeller was up to something. Heero knew now that there were infiltrators in Preventers and spies in the palace. He even knew that it had been Duo who had sent the warning to guard Relena just a little more diligently. Heero knew and had understood why he had been so cautious about who he thought he might be able to trust concerning the problems associated with Romefeller. Why would Romefeller initiate a search for Zechs? Alone Duo had been pushed for time and had had little opportunity to make inroads into the files he had copied. Now, with Heero to help, he knew progress would be made. Already Heero had initiated a search for Zechs and Duo had confidence that if anyone could find Zechs Merquise and Lucrezia Noin, it would be Heero. It was not his intent to disturb Zechs if he had made a life for himself, and he was not involved in anything that would threaten the peace. He had only glimpsed him in person once, just after the Mariemaia Incursion. He had looked tired and sad then, as though the worst had still not happened and he waited for the next blow to fall. As though he expected it to fall at any time. No, it was not his intention to disrupt what ever life Zechs had managed to make for himself, and Duo determined to make sure that Heero didn’t take it into his head to shoot the renegade Peacecraft on sight. He was uncertain of what Heero’s views on the Peacecraft son were, so caution was needed. No, he did not intend to interfere with Zechs, not unless he absolutely had to. When Duo had fleetingly watched the blonde man, Zechs had looked like he was close to collapse and just wanted to crawl into a dark hole and sleep. Duo had felt like that often enough. Like now, he reflected. Something about the man had made an impression that Duo as yet did not understand, yet could not ignore. //Man, he is one fine looking man. I keep having to remind myself what he was capable of. I’ve thought long and hard on the One Year War and I think I seriously misunderstood both Zechs Merquise and Treize Kushrenada. Une always said Kushrenada wanted peace, but I notice she didn’t say much about Zechs. There seems to be a lot of ill feeling there. Ah, time. It’s time for my security rounds. The delegates will be leaving shortly and Heero is on duty in the foyer tonight. He’s got copies of all the files now and he’ll work on them when he can.// “Make copies of all the files, for me, huh? I have my rounds to do.” Duo quietly left Heero’s suite and headed for the staircase. //I think he found something in those files of his from Romefeller’s data base that he’s not mentioned yet. That’s okay, because I think I might know what it is. I’ve read more of this stuff than he has and I know about Romefeller’s breeding programs. Well, something about them, at any rate. I wonder how much he likes Relena? I wonder if Romefeller would smile or frown on the Peacecraft daughter having it off with Heero Yuy; or Suichi, as his name really is. Was. Damn. I can’t think of him as anything other than Heero anymore than I can think of me being anyone other than Duo Maxwell.// ********************************************* Rosemount Station Asteroid Belt Orbit, sector 5 Date: 26th February Time: 22:17 EST [Earth Standard Time] Beyond the protection of the screen most would call a window, the cold vastness of space caught the eye. The panoramic view was impossible to ignore. The entire outer wall of the study was taken up by the plasti-glass expanse. Visible to the naked eye asteroids seemed to hang motionless in space. However, the star pointed darkness was far from empty. Even as she watched a scout ship crossed her view, heading out toward their eastern borders. She smiled at that. Why did they give compass points in space? Yes, it did sit better with her than just sector numbers, but it still seemed odd. East side, sector nine, sub sector J. Probably another survey craft for one of the big mining consortiums or a freelance prospector searching for a prime asteroid to snare as a resource satellite. Until they knew for sure how deep into the belt the trespasser would travel they had to be careful. It was too soon for anyone to know where they were. What they were. The junior officer glanced up at the soft chime, studying the array of blinking lights and pursed her lips, eyes widening. It was unexpected. Few calls were received from that source and she half turned, watching as her superior leaned against the wall. It still unnerved her, that great seemingly open expanse of wall. More than the modern molded glass protected them. This close to the asteroid belt micro meteors were a very real danger. The entire flotilla was protected by the energy screens, but even knowing that it still was unnerving. “Madame Lilac. Message alert from Rose Errant, ma’am.” The piercing blue gaze swept over her and flicked to the door, a tactic dismissal and the junior knew well enough when to leave silently and quickly. The commanders study was spartan, a work place with no trace of personal effects. It served to remind her assistants that they had little time for anything other than the project. Alone the hard eyed commander settled at the consol and sighed, steadying herself. It was usually bad news when Rose Errant contacted her. Too soon as yet for reports on the trespassers in the area, but not too soon to ruin her day. It had been a quiet day. Somehow she had the distinct feeling that that was over now. HE never called unless it was urgent. Taking a deep breath Lilac toggled a switch. “Here, sir.” There was no vocal acknowledgement, but a screen cleared on the consol and words quickly flowed in elegant flowing script. Increase search for Zechs Merquise. Other parties now involved. Imperative Marquise location discovered. “Understood. I will increase our efforts immediately.” She resisted the urge to groan. Her resources were stretched as it was. Too few agents still free to walk the halls of power in the ESUN. Discreetly, please. It is imperative for his safety that we locate him first . Romefeller now has confirmation of his survival. We need him. We need him alive and healthy and we need him soon. “I understand, sir.” She could swear later, when she had revised her assignments. It was not only the Peacecraft that she had to locate and acquire. Lilac. Some enterprising soul has set a worm loose in Romefeller’s database. Do what you can to help the little beastie feed well. Lilac stared at the screen and then laughed aloud. “Priceless. Certainly, Sir. I shall endeavor to ensure the creature is positively bloated.” Out. Chuckling quietly at the thought of Romefeller’s misfortune to have attracted a worm Lilac found herself happily revising her agents assignments. With some judicious juggling she could perhaps spare six-no … no more than five. Yes, no more than five or the overall time table would suffer irreparably. It took only a few minutes to relay her instruction to set another five of her too few agents on the task of finding the misplaced Peacecraft. Her instructions given, Lilac settled back to consider events. “Now who might have set a worm on Romefeller? Whoever you are, I wish you luck. I’ll even give you a little helping hand.” She turned to the task of accessing sealed sections of Romefeller. It had taken them years to crack the Romefeller database. More years than her life numbered had gone into the infiltration of the organization. She was horrified when she had the chance to read within the files they had acquired from the data base. Romefeller was corrupt. So corrupt. No doubt they would have back up systems, but this would hold them at bay for a time, while they sorted their security systems out and rebuilt the data base. It would give her own cause a breathing space. Opening a few cracks they had so carefully placed and nurtured in Romefellers security system so that the worm could more easily do its work was an absolute pleasure. She smiled as she eased back in her seat at the thought of the very select doorways she had opened to allow the worm to run that little bit deeper. Somewhere out there someone else was upset with Romefeller. She wished them all the best. The advent of the worm in the system quite made her day. It somewhat compensated for the loss of five agents available to pursue her acquisition program. “Now if we could only just access all the crew. We could be free of Romefeller and the policies of this system for good.” With a sigh she turned back to the panoramic display. “Soon. One step at a time. One acquisition at a time. It will all begin soon.” t.b.c.
|
