Disclaimer: By popular demand, I am attempting to work again on this fic. I have no idea where it’s going to go, but I guess we’ll see ^_^ Oh yeah, I don’t own Gundam Wing. Big surprise, ne?

By Starling

Chapter 3

Mei rushed into her office, putting her laptop into her shoulder bag and grabbing extra disks. Slinging the bag across her chest, she quickly flipped through the papers in her in box. Nothing too pressing, except for the fact that Colonel Une had given all of Arys’ work to Mei. Which shouldn’t be too hard since Mei could do most of the work from the hospital room. She shoved the papers in with the computer and headed for the door. Before she could grab the knob, the door swung open. Colonel Une stood there, a very displeased look on her face. Mei’s hopes of getting back to the hospital as soon as possible quickly diminished.

"Leuitenant Chang, I need to speak with you."

Mei grimaced inwardly. Wufei had told her whenever the Colonel used your rank and last name, you were in for it. However, now was not the time to deal with her about anything petty.

"Yes, Colonel?"

"I’m sure you know by now that I’ve given you Arys’ workload and passed off some of your work to Nari."

"Yes, Ma’am, I noticed that."

Une looked down at the computer case. "Good, so then you realize that you’ll be spending your time in your office."

"Actually, Colonel…"

"And I was wondering if you knew where Wufei is?"

Mei was beginning to feel her annoyance turn to anger. She tried to keep all sounds of bitterness out of her reply. She doubted she was successful.

"Wufei is at the hospital with Heero, which is where I am headed now."

"I’ve already lost one good agent. I don’t need to lose four."

"Call in Trowa and Duo."

"I can’t call them in when I have three agents who are quite capable of performing their jobs."

"Heero is far from being capable of performing his job right now, so you can count him out till Arys recovers. If, due to some miracle, Arys stabilizes, he’s going after this guy. And I can assure you that Wufei will be going with him."

"And where will you be?"

"With Arys."

"I highly doubt she will miss you."

Mei was through explaining the circumstances. Colonel or not, Une needed to be informed about the bonds of friendship.

"I don’t know how you treat your friends, but I for one don’t turn my back on them when they’re lying comatose in a hospital bed. I never had too many people in my life that I would be willing to drop everything for, but let me tell you something, the Yuys are top of the list."

Colonel Une eyed her up and down, and Mei resisted the urge to look away from those probing eyes. She nodded. "Two days a week, Mei. Two days a week you can stay at the hospital, but I want you here for three days out of the week. You may pick which days they are. Preventer Headquarters has been infiltrated and whoever did this may return. And I don’t want this to happen again."

Mei stood at the door as Colonel Une turned on her heel and strode down the hall, back ramrod straight, high heels clicking in perfect rhythm. Mei sighed. Two days were more than nothing though she would have preferred to stay at the hospital the entire week. For some reason, Mei had the distinct feeling that the would-be assassin had already found what he wanted and would not be coming back.

When Mei arrived at the hospital, Wufei and Heero were still in the waiting room. Heero was pacing back and forth, although his pacing was less frantic than before. Wufei sat in the middle chair of an empty row, head bowed, obviously thinking. There were a few other people in the waiting room, but their attention was focused elsewhere.

Mei walked up to Wufei, who immediately looked up as she approached. She glanced over at Heero.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Better. He agreed to let me help him get this guy." Wufei shrugged. "Didn’t take much."

Heero walked over, running a hand through his already thoroughly mussed hair. "They’re moving her to another floor in five minutes."

"Which one?"

"Third," Heero replied just as the doors to the emergency room hallway swung open to reveal a bed pushed by an orderly rolling by. As if attached to an invisible thread, he headed for the doors.

Mei watched as a doctor spoke to Heero. Heero shook his head and tried to push past the doctor. The doctor stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Heero clenched his fists a few times but finally relaxed and nodded. He came over to Mei and Wufei.

"He says I’m too excitable."

Mei heard Wufei hide a laugh by coughing hard. Heero just glared at him.

"Arys is in stable condition, so the doctor told me to go home and rest." Heero looked at Mei. "He said you should probably stay with her." His eyes were hooded and dark.

"Me?"

"You’re not excitable," Wufei said to her matter-of-factly.

Heero just gave him a look that said to shut up and turned back to Mei. "Take care of her, Mei. I can’t sleep no matter what the doctor says, so I’m going back to headquarters to search Arys’ office. I’ll do her more good trying to find out who did this to her than sitting at home…" He stopped, and Mei could see the grief in his eyes.

"You have my word, Heero." Mei took Wufei’s hand while Heero left the waiting room to give them some privacy.

Wufei pulled his hand from her grasp and embraced her tightly. "Be careful, Mei. This guy might come back and try to finish the job."

Mei smiled at him. "Actually, I’m more worried about this guy when Heero gets his hands on him."

Wufei glanced away from her and to the hallway outside the waiting room, where Heero had resorted to pacing again. "You got that right."

Heero swiped his identification card through the side door lock to Preventer Headquarters. Wufei stood behind him, hand unconsciously settled on the gun in his pocket as he scanned the street. The door clicked open and Heero pushed his way inside, Wufei following. The building was dark, but Heero pulled out a pocket flashlight and flicked it on. Wufei nodded.

They made their way up to Arys’ office by using the stairs. It was too late at night for even dedicated Preventer agents to be wandering around, so they made it to Arys’ office without incident. Heero opened the door and walked into the dark room. He felt Wufei come in behind him.

"I knew you’d be back."

Without hesitation, Heero pulled his gun, instincts coming into play. He heard the safety of Wufei’s gun click off to his right. The lights flickered on, and they lowered their guns when they saw who sat at Arys’ desk. Wufei muttered something about women under his breath.

"Nothing has been moved," Colonel Une stood to her feet and came around the desk, a sardonic grin on her face. "We have taken samples of anything out of the ordinary, but the room is essentially in the same condition it was when Arys was shot."

Heero holstered his gun. "Why are you here?" He asked.

Colonel Une stood in front of the desk, the grin gone, replaced by a somber look. "Heero Yuy, Wufei Chang, you are hereby relieved of duty until further notice. I suggest you get out of here after you’re finished."

She walked past the two shocked pilots and stopped at the door. She turned around. "Good luck, Heero. I mean that." And she was gone.

"We’re going to need resources, Heero. How are we supposed to get this guy without the support of the Preventers?" Wufei asked.

"She’s protecting the organization, Wufei. That is her highest priority." Heero walked over to the spot where Arys had fallen, staring down at the dark stain of her life-blood. "From now on, we’re going to have to operate outside the system."

Wufei crouched down at the trash can and fiddled with the items in it. A half-eaten apple, a plastic bag, and a wadded-up piece of paper. Heero crouched down next to him and looked at the piece of paper. There were dozens of strange symbols scrawled across it one half of it. The other half held intelligible letters but no intelligible words. Heero couldn’t make any sense of it. Heero studied the paper for a moment and then went to Arys’ computer. He turned it on as Wufei scouted around the rest of the room.

Arys’ e-mail inbox was still full and she had not opened any of her mail since she had come in that morning. That was unusual. Arys always checked her e-mail as soon as she came in to work. Something had kept her from doing so.

Wufei’s cell phone went off, and Wufei snatched it up on the first ring.

"Chang Wufei."

Heero came over and watched Wufei’s face, somehow knowing who it would be.

"What is it, Mei?" Wufei asked shortly, eyeing Heero. Heero could see the slight worry in his eyes. Wufei hit the speaker phone button, allowing Heero to listen in as well as take part in the conversation. He held the phone in front of both of them.

"Arys’ transmitter just came on. I don’t know why. She’s not conscious, but her implant’s blinking like crazy. The doctors don’t know what to do, so they’re not trying to shut it off," Mei said, her voice a little fuzzy with static.

"Good. Tell them to keep their hands off that transmitter," Heero said.

"I already did, Heero. Do you know what’s going on?" Mei asked.

Heero glanced at Wufei. "I think so. Arys might be trying to communicate with us through her Gundam. We’re going to go find out."

Author’s notes: The first scene of this chapter was generously provided by Aryn. She probably doesn’t even remember writing it. ^_^ Anyway, thanks, Aryn!