By Aryn

The dark alleyways on the way home seemed more dangerous. Every corner, Ceres held her breath, wondering if he was going to be waiting for her. By the time she had reached her apartment building, she was a jittery mess. Rushing through the lobby, she ran for the elevator that had just emptied out of people. The doors slid shut and she slumped against the back wall. She was almost safe.

"Long day Miss Jarleth?"

She jumped at the sound of the low voice. But it shouldn't have surprised her. She should have known he would follow her.

"Heero Yuy."

"You look a little stressed."

"What do you want from me?"

"I think we should talk. It's not polite to just invite oneself into another's home, so I was hoping you would ask me in."

Ceres gave him a defeated shrug. "Why not? If you're going to kill me, you're going to kill me. There's nothing I can do to stop you."

"What gave you the idea that I was going to kill you?"

"Isn't that what you do? Kill people?"

Heero looked away from her and stared at the elevator doors as the lift stopped at her floor. "I don't anymore."

The chime sounded and the doors slid open. Ceres watched him for a little bit and realized he wasn't going to move unless she did. He also wasn't going to talk out in public like this either. Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, she pulled out her keys and started down the hallway. She went to fit her key into the lock when she noticed the door was already open. After a closer inspection, she saw that the lock had been forced, splintered the door slightly.

She heard the click of a gun and saw Heero had drawn his pistol and nudged her away from the door.

"Stay behind me."

Ceres barely heard him over the thudding in her ears. A man who had killed all his life, piloted a huge mech that brought nothing but destruction in its path was now acting as a guardian for her. Not the way she would have planned out her life, but then again, she had no room to disagree with him.

Heero pressed his back to the wall and held his gun up. Ceres was standing next to him, not quite sure how to go about the situation. He wished he could send her someplace a little more safe than here, but the safest place for her was with him.

"Stay behind me."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her nod. Getting his balance, he stepped away from the wall and kicked the door open, sweeping the room with his gun. The apartment was in shambled. Lamps overturned, pillows shredded, books off shelves littered the floor. Ceres stayed directly behind him as he had ordered and moved with him throughout the destroyed apartment. After a thorough check, no one was in there. Heero lowered his gun and put it back into the waistband of his jeans. The apartment looked like it had been nice. It was a shame. He turned to leave the kitchen and almost fell over Ceres. She merely stumbled out of his way as he fixed her with a glare.

"What?" she shot back. "You told me to stay behind you."

"There's no one here. You don't have to follow me anymore."

Heero stepped into the living room and looked around at the feathers, fabric and paper that littered the floor. It looked like the place had been ransacked for a few hours at least. Apparently, they didn't mean Ceres harm. However, she wasn't going to be safe here anymore. Something that sounded like a filled laundry bag dropped behind him. Turning, he saw Ceres standing there, a duffel bag at her feet. She had changed into a pair of jeans, turtleneck, boots and large wool coat. A locket and small earrings were the only jewelry she had on. Sunglasses held her blond hair back out of her face.

"Where to now, Mr. Yuy?"

"So all of sudden you trust me?"

She shrugged. "You said you don't kill anyone any more. And I'm sure by now that you would have if that's what you were sent to do. Especially in this situation. You could have lead me in here, shot me and claimed I was already dead, killed by the hands of those who ransacked the apartment."

Heero was impressed with her reasoning. Now he understood how she kept herself hidden for so long. She was smarter than the normal business owner.

"So, where are we headed?"

Heero looked around the trashed apartment again. "Did they get the disk?"

"No, they didn't. I have it."

"Then we go into hiding."

______________________________

Ceres stepped through the polished marble entranceway of the Preventer's headquarters and stopped in awe. High vaulted ceilings with floor to ceiling windows flooded the elaborate lobby with bright sunlight. Large, golden chandeliers hung from enormous linked chains, the crystal pieces acting like tiny prisms, casting rainbows throughout the room. Everything was on such a large scale, it was if giants had built the palace and left it to the humans.

"Ceres."

Snapping herself out of her stupor, she shifted her bag to the other shoulder and followed Heero to a set of elevators.

"Uh, Heero, these say for Personnel only."

He stepped into the elevator and held the door for her. "I know. We are."

"We?"

"Welcome to the Preventers, Miss Jarleth."

"We never discussed this."

Heero reached out of the elevator and pulled her in by the arm before shutting the doors. "Would you rather be hunted by a group of people we can't identify or would rather stay safe in the ranks of the Preventers?"

"What do I have to do in the Preventers?"

"We're going to meet with Colonel Une and figure that out."

Ceres nodded her head. She hardly felt like she was appropriately dressed for the occasion. She and Heero had left the L-1 colony as soon as her bags had been packed. No sooner than they stepped off the transport, a limousine picked them up and brought them there. The weather was extremely warm in the Sanc Kingdom considering it was the beginning of winter. She had shed her coat and wanted to change her turtleneck, but that was out of the question. The doors slid open with a loud ding and she followed Heero down a long hallway of large oak doors on one side and bay windows on the other. He stopped in front of a large set of doors and knocked, sending the sound reverberating down the long, quiet hallway.

"Come in." a feminine voice answered from inside.

Heero opened the doors and Ceres cautiously stepped through. Three people were waiting around a large oak conference table. The deep blue Sanc Sea was clearly visible over their shoulders by more windows. The woman standing in the middle addressed her.

"You must be Ceres Jarleth."

Ceres dropped her bag and coat on the floor. "Yes, I am."

The woman smiled pleasantly and brushed long locks of brown hair over her shoulder. "My name is Colonel Une. On behalf of the Preventers and the Sanc Kingdom, I welcome you."

"Thank you ma'am."

Une motioned to the man on her right. He had short almost white hair that hung over his forehead, stopped just above the clearest blue eyes Ceres had ever seen. "This is Milliardo Peacecraft, baron of the Sanc Kingdom. And this is his wife, Lucrezia Noin-Peacecraft."

Ceres noticed she, too had short hair, only black with lavender eyes. She was a beautiful woman that matched her husband's good looks. They made a beautiful couple.

"Pleased to meet you both."

Une motioned to a chair in front of Ceres. "Please, sit down."

Ceres did and saw Heero go over to take a seat by Noin. She shifted in the high-backed chair uncomfortably. Sitting before four of the most powerful operatives on Earth and the colonies didn't relax her in anyway. Une and Noin were the friendliest in the room. Noin just watched sympathetic while Une smiled slightly. It was Milliardo Peacecraft that scrutinized her. And Heero was his usual apathetic self, offering her no support what so ever. She was on her own. Straightening her shoulders, she forced her back to straighten and met everyone's gaze equally.

"Do you know why you were brought here?"

"Yes, I do."

Une's smile lessened. "Do you have the disk?"

"Yes, I do."

The smile disappeared. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I ask to have it."

"I don't mind at all. However, I'm not going to hand it over just like that. In fact, I'm not sure I want to hand it over at all."

All four shifted in their seats. Noin looked over at her husband, who just passed a quick glance in her direction. Even Heero gave her a slightly confused look. Une folded her hands on the tabletop. "Would you care to explain your reasoning?"

"Of course. You are correct in assuming that the information on the disk is dangerous. I will openly admit that. However, how am I to know that you will use this information responsibly. You could create the Gundams again and use them as OZ did, to 'keep peace'. I'm not willing to allow that to happen."

"Neither are we." Une agreed. "We want to disk so we can destroy it."

"But destroying the information isn't going to solve anything either. What if people who sympathize with OZ do come forward. And what if they have the information to start building mobile dolls or other suits. What are you going to defend yourself with? As long as people coexist in peace, war is always imminent. It's only a matter of time before it breaks out again. It could take a year or it could take another hundred years. But as long as people live, they will fight for control."

Heero finally spoke up. "She is right."

Une looked over at the usually silent pilot and then back at Ceres. "I agree."

Milliardo leaned forward in his chair. "Then wouldn't it be logical to give the disk to the Preventers so it doesn't fall into the hands of any OZ sympathizers?"

"No, it isn't. The Preventers are a very large organization. It's very easy for one disk to lose itself within such a large outfit. Besides, I feel that you would understand my other reason very well, Mr. Peacecraft. You stepped down from the leadership of the Sanc Kingdom due to the fact that you were a warrior and went against your father's pacifist ideals. But you felt like you owed it to him to continue a Peacecraft reign, so you set up your sister to rule. I also made a promise to my father, and that was to guard this disk with my life and use it only in a dire situation. That is why I can not just hand it over to you, the Preventers or anyone else. I have nothing against the Preventers. In fact, if there's any organization that I would put my faith in, it would be the Preventers."

Une leaned back in her chair. "Thank you for your confidence."

"I'm sorry I didn't react the way you expected."

Noin spoke up. "Actually, you reacted exactly as we expected. Would you allow us to set up some quarters and protection for you while you stay in the Sanc Kingdom?"

"How long will you want me to stay here?"

"As long as you want. Heero told us that your apartment had been broken into."

Ceres nodded her head. "Yes, it had been."

Une spoke up again. "You are more than welcome to stay here for as long as it takes to get you situated again."

Ceres looked at all four of them again. Were they for real? "All right. That's fine."

Une turned to Heero. "There's a room ready for her in the North Tower, fourth floor, room 411. Your room is five doors down in case she needs anything."

Ceres followed Heero's lead when he stood up. Picking up her things, she started for the door. But just as she about to leave, she paused and turned around. "I just wanted to say, thank you. I really do appreciate you going out of the way for me."

Une's smile had returned. "Thank you for coming. You're a very brave person."

Ceres nodded and shut the door behind her.

Milliardo tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "She didn't expect us to offer her a place to stay."

Noin agreed. "She expected us to throw her out on the street for not giving us the disk."

Une turned to Milliardo. "Do you think she has the disk or was this an act?"

"She has the disk. She's a very upfront honest person. She believes what she says. She reminded me of Relena. However, this girl is more aggressive than my sister. She will carry out her ideals, through force if necessary."

Noin caught his meaning. "In other words, she's not going to give us that disk until she's ready."

"However," Milliardo broke in, "When the time comes, she won't hesitate to give us it."

Une smiled at the closed doors. "I kind of liked her. She has a lot of spirit."