In the Crosshairs

Chapter Four

By Aryn

Ceres sat down at one of the outside tables with her cup of coffee. It wasn’t her neat little coffee shop with the book-lined walls, but it would have to do. The sun shone bright overhead, bathing the cobblestone street and historic town homes in a golden light. The Sanc Kingdom was truly a fairy tale land. She could understand why the Preventers wanted the disk from her. She fingered the silver chain around her neck. She would be willing to do anything to help them preserve this beautiful land.

Someone turned the page of a newspaper behind her. Ceres dropped her locket and turned around in her chair.

"Would like to join me, Mr. Yuy?"

The paper folded slowly down to reveal the slightly surprised blue eyes of the Japanese man. "How did you know that it was me?"

"You’ve been following me for the past two weeks. I must say it’s been fun trying to find where you hide yourself around me. Rarely do you get close enough for me to call out to you."

Disgruntled, Heero folded the paper and picked up his coffee. He sat down across from her and eyed her warily.

"You’ve been able to pick me out of a crowd for the past two weeks?"

Ceres shrugged. "Not for the complete two weeks. At first it was hard to figure out where you were, but after a while it became easier. Why does that surprise you?"

"You’ve had no training in espionage."

"I’ve been trained in more things than you think. How do you think I’ve been able to stay in hiding so well?"

Heero nodded his head in agreement. "I would assume you are heading for the ocean next?"

Ceres’ coffee mug stopped halfway to her lips. "Why would you assume that?"

"You’ve dragged me all over the Sanc Kingdom. The only place left is the beach."

"Well, ease your mind, Mr. Yuy, I’m not planning on visiting the ocean."

"Why?"

"Haven’t you just turned into Mr. Chatty today?"

Heero took the lighthearted hint and looked out at the sea. "I don’t necessarily have very fond memories of the sea either."

Colonel Une shuffled through papers on her desk, waiting for Sally Po and Wufei Chang to show up in her office. She looked at her clock and noticed they were over an hour late. But Sally had already called to tell her that. Relena, Milliardo, Noin and Kenton Sterne, Relena’s fiancée had already left for the summer home located in the northern part of the Sanc Kingdom. She was suppose to go with them, but had to stay behind due to Sally and Wufei’s delay. She had sent Mariemaia with Relena instead of forcing the poor child to sit and listen to a debriefing.

Une wasn’t particular sure about Relena’s choice of a husband. It seemed like a hasty decision that was pushed upon the girl by the media. Many questions had risen to the surface concerning ambassador’s social life. Une hoped that it was a right decision, for Relena’s sake. However, with a brother like Milliardo Peacecraft, Une was sure the representative from the L-2 Colony Cluster had passed inspection.

The door opened the office and Sally walked in, looking tired and travel worn. An equally exhausted and somewhat annoyed Wufei tailed her. Both fell into the chairs opposite of Une with simultaneous sighs. Une regarded the agents for a moment.

"Tough mission?"

Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Don’t give us rookies."

Sally rolled her eyes. "He wasn’t that bad, Wufei. All you had to do was tell him what to do."

"Yes, and that’s called incompetence. We don’t need people that can’t take initiative and do things right."

"He’s new. He was sent with us so we could teach him what to look for."

Une usually found the after mission banter between the two amusing and sometimes even entertaining, but today she wasn’t really ready to listen to it.

"Sally, Wufei, I need the basics. I’m already late for heading up to the Peacecraft summer home."

Sally immediately perked up. "That’s right, you’re going to help out with Miss Relena’s wedding plans."

Wufei snorted.

Sally smacked his arm. "Don’t you start."

Wufei ignored her. "The mission went fine. The group was brought in and is being questioned by the local authorities in Tibet. They were going to get back to us if they find out anything." Wufei looked over at Sally with an annoyed look. "And Sally got a date for the wedding."

Sally crossed her arms and tried to look indignant. "And thank all the Chinese gods is not you."

Une raised her eyebrows. "The rookie?"

Sally nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Well, congratulations." Une turned to Wufei. "Now all we need to do is find someone who will put up with you."

Wufei crossed his arms moodily. "Are we done here yet?"

"Unless there’s anything else you feel the need to tell me."

Both shook their heads.

Une waved her hand. "Dismissed."

Both got up to leave when the phone on Une’s desk rang. Picking it up, she answered.

"Mr. Peacecraft, what can I do for you?"

Sally cast a glance over her shoulder before leaving and noticed the look on Une’s face. She grabbed Wufei’s arm and pulled him back into the office. It looked as if all the blood had drained from Une’s face. Sally knew something was wrong. She looked over at Wufei and saw he understood what the look meant too.

"I understand," Une said somberly. "I’ll take care of it personally. We’ll be waiting for you here."

She hung up the phone and turned to Sally and Wufei.

"Call Heero and tell him to meet me in the conference room. Tell him to bring Ceres with him. Wufei, call up the other pilots and get them ready for a teleconference."

Both agents nodded their heads and left to go do their respected orders. Une looked at the phone for a moment and then picked it up and dialed.

"This is Colonel Une from the Preventers. I need to speak with Dr. Tionne Khushrenada."

She waited for a moment till Treize’s younger sister answered the phone.

"This is Dr. Khushrenada, how may I help you?"

"Tionne, this is Une. I was wondering if you’re free to come to a meeting at the Preventer’s headquaters."

"Has something happened?"

"Yes, I am afraid something has. I think you should come."

"I’ll be there as soon as I can."

Colonel Une looked around the room at the various faces of comrades and friends alike that stared back at her tense and unsure what she was about to say. Even Heero looked tenser than usual. Ceres shifted in her seat next to Sally and Wufei who had quit their teasing and remained silent. Tionne had shocked Une by walking into the room still dressed in hospital scrubs. It was odd to see someone that resembled Treize not dressed as aristocracy. Une noticed the Khushrenada sibling watching both her and Milliardo extremely closely, knowing that something was terribly wrong.

Une took a deep breath. She had asked Milliardo if he wanted to speak but he had numbly shook his head no.

"Duo Maxwell," she called.

The American’s voice crackled over the speaker. "Here."

"Trowa Barton."

"Here."

"Quatre Winner."

"Here."

Une gave them all one quick glance over before continuing.

"I am greatly grieved and distressed to inform you all that Miss Relena Peacecraft, Colonel Lucrezia Noin Peacecraft, and Mariamaia Khushrenada have been assassinated in the Peacecraft summer home."

Pandemonium broke out. Questions, gasps, cried of outrage all blended together, drowning out any hope of coherence. Reality had chosen to reveal itself to Une at that moment and the noise turned to a buzz in her ears.

Someone slammed their hand down on the table, which allowed silence to come back to the room. Une looked over to see Milliardo standing up and ready to address everyone. Silently, she took her seat.

"I had gotten caught here in the office due to technically problems. It was three hours after the time I was to have been at the house. By the time I had gotten there, the three women were dead, shot execution style. I couldn’t find Stele anywhere. I’m sure you Gundam pilots know what this means. I ask you to once again take your positions and fight again."

Duo’s voice filtered through the speaker. "But we self-destructed our Gundams, remember? We don’t have anything to fight with!"

Quatre broke in. "Give us Taurus suits."

"We will find and destroy these people that did this." Trowa added.

Une and Milliardo looked at Ceres. The girl was staring blankly off into space and fiddling with her locket. Silently, she slipped the necklace over her head and handed it to Heero. Not knowing what else to do, he took it from her.

"The computer chip that contains the schematics for all the Gundams can be found in the locket."

Heero handed the locket to Milliardo.

"We’ll start construction immediately."

Ceres seemed to snap out of her daydream world. "Colonel Une, Baron Peacecraft, would you allow me to call in a friend of mine who would be able to help with the construction?"

Une looked up at Milliardo. He nodded his head.

Ceres took a deep breath. "I was also the one that originally designed the Zero System. Would you allow me to do so now?"

Milliardo narrowed his eyes. "In all of the Gundams?"

"Yes. The Zero System was never used the way I designed it. You of course will give the final decision as to whether it is used or not."

Milliardo stared at her long and hard. "We’ll discuss this at a later time. As for now, Heero you are to remain her guard. If she’s a spy, we’ll find out soon. If she isn’t, she could be a great asset to us. Where’s this friend of yours?"

"L-1. She lived in an orphanage not far from my coffee shop."

Duo broke in. "I want to come to the Headquarters and help. I’ll bring her if you give me the details."

Milliardo nodded his head. "Fine. We’ll get them to you when a decision has been reached about Ceres."

Une watched as the only living Peacecraft lowered his head and braced both arms on the table. Everyone remained silent, wondering what he was going to do. Une couldn’t even imagine the kind of grief that he was feeling at the moment. He had lost his family, again and completely this time. It was a burden greater than anyone should have to bear. Finally, he lifted his head and leveled his gaze with everyone in the conference room. Une suppressed a mental shiver. She had seen that look before in his eye and remembered the destruction that had followed.

"We are going to war again. It appears peace did not last as long as it should have. Milliardo Peacecraft has been laid to rest. I take the name Zechs Merquise again, and will not relinquish it until I, too, am laid to rest. Today is the day that the Peacecrafts have become extinct and with them, peace itself."