Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Fine Line ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

A Fine Line

"Good Morning Madeline. How's my favorite administrative assistant today?" Duo chirped brightly. He approached the older woman's desk and replaced the slightly wilted flowers from the crystal bud vase with a fresh spray of variegated carnations and greens.

"Agent Maxwell, I keep reminding you that all of this frivolous attention is totally unnecessary." Madeline sputtered; a slight pink flush began to adorn her cheeks.

"And, I keep reminding you to call me Duo. You don't realize how important your job is. Why, without you, how could Lady Une keep all of us agents in line?" Duo winked and threw her one of his rare honest smiles.

"I suppose you'll be wanting to see her?" Madeline looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, if she isn't busy, I do have a few things to go over with her."

Madeline checked the appointment book and then picked up the hand set and buzzed Lady Une's office. "Agent Maxwell is here to see you, Lady Une." There was a short pause as she listened. "You may go in now….Duo."

"Thank you Madeline," Duo bowed slightly then turned for the inner office door.

Madeline shook her head as she watched the personable young man walk away, his long braid swinging merrily from side to side with each quick step. She smiled to herself as she glanced at the appointment book. Agent Maxwell's name was written in for his regular meeting at this time every other day.

Lady Une sat behind her desk, fingers steepled in front of her in thought. Duo settled into his usual chair in front of the desk. "Fresh carnations again?"

"Is there a problem?" Duo asked seriously.

"Besides ruining a perfectly good secretary….I see a change that is good for her. I thank you, but can't help wondering why you continue."

"Why?" Duo paused for a long while as he thought back to his young days on L2. Solo was gone, leaving him to lead the gang. There was an old woman who lived near their refuge. She was always yelling at them for various reasons, too noisy, too dirty, the usual stuff. But every once in a while when they woke up there would be a basket of food, some used clothes or a few toys for the little ones. He guessed she was trying to be a mother to them, in her own sort of way. He didn't think she had anyone else in her life, or maybe she did, at one time. He suspected she may have been the one to put a bug in Father Maxwell's ear about them. If he could pass on just a little of the kindness that she had given to him. Duo finally broke away from his memories, "She just reminds me of someone special."

"Say no more, Duo." Lady Une shifted in her chair. "Your little excursion into databases seems to be paying off; but are they connections to Relena and her pacifist school?"

"I'm working on it. I'm sticking with the Earth side and L2 connections. I've asked Trowa to help with the L4 organizations since he has connections, so to speak." Duo smiled. Besides, Quatre's gonna be busy doing his mind reading thing on Relena and his trainer won't let Trowa hang very close; so he might as well keep busy and help me."

"What do you plan to do next? I need you to get closer to the leadership."

"I'll keep going to the PPO meetings. They seem to like me and I've become a trusted gopher for them. I stay after the regular meetings and do the coffee and doughnut thing, clean up and all that. They just act as if I'm not there.

"During the meeting, it seems like the President of the chapter runs things. Talks like a street corner preacher most of the time. It's Sumner that controls the show after hours. He's been responsible for the sudden increase in membership from the more well to do types. People I would never expect to be at this sort of thing."

"What sort of people? Do you have a copy of the new member list?" Duo handed her several sheets of paper.

Lady Une scanned over the names. "I don't recognize the names, what do you know about them?"

"Well, the newest top five have something to do with manufacturing and on the next page the top two run large agricultural supply companies. They're the kind who sit around the country club discussing which vacation home to use next week." Duo scratched at the back of his head. "Don't even expect to see them in that part of the neighborhood."

"What kind of contacts does Sumner have with the other PPO chapters? Do they coordinate their work with each other and how?"

"I've seen notes on his desk calendar about weekly teleconferences. It's not specific who is supposed to attend. It could be for the whole membership or just the board members.

"I need specifics, Duo, connections." Une's voice cracked with frustration. "Our preparation deadline to find a connection to Relena is closing in fast. The whole subject will be moot after she has us shut down."

"I know; it would only look like we were disgruntled employees trying to discredit her."

Une closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Duo watched in silence, waiting for her to speak again. "I apologize, Duo. I know how hard it is to gain the confidence of the subject when you're trying to infiltrate an organization. One slip, and everything we are trying to do is exposed and the operation fails."

Duo pounded the desk with his fist. "Damn, it's so frustrating."

"I have faith in you and all the other former pilots. We will succeed."

"The PPO is forcing good honest people out of work. That is no way to promote peace. Why Relena would support such an organization is beyond me." Duo stood up to leave. "We won't let you down, Lady Une." Duo left the office with a determined look.

Madeline watched with concern as Duo left without his usual cheerful banter. Lady Une stopped beside her secretary's desk and placed some correspondence in the out basket.

"Madeline, is something wrong?" Concern showed in Lady Une's voice.

"I should be asking you that question." Madeline's words accused. "He's usually not that sullen when he leaves."

"Getting a little protective of him, aren't you, Madeline?"

Madeline turned away quickly, wiping away the slight mist that was beginning to form in her eyes. "My Eric would have been about Duo's age now…." Madeline faced Lady Une, having regained her composure. "I'm sure his parents are very proud of him."

"I thought you knew…..Duo is an orphan; from L2.

Madeline brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp. "The poor boy," Madeline quickly shook off her surprise and regained her usual stern demeanor. "Off with you Lady, we both have a lot of work to do. Shoo, now."

**********

Duo entered the office he and Heero shared to find the room crowded with his fellow former pilots turned agents. They were gathered around a small table, Duo had piled with print outs, in serious discussion.

"These codes and satellite signatures are almost identical to the ones Quatre and I used up until the start of the last war." Trowa pointed out on the paper. "It routes piggy back with other communications between L3 and L4."

"These signatures resemble subfiles I embedded reports to J on L1 from Earth." Heero added.

Wu Fei frowned in concentration. "How could these show up on the PPO communications logs? I don't believe in coincidence, some how this has to lead to the connection of the PPO to Relena."

"What's up guys?" Duo interrupted the intense conversation.

Heero looked up from the sheets of data to face Duo. "Remember the communication codes you brought to my attention a while ago? You said something about them seemed familiar."

"Yeah, you didn't get back to me on that so I thought it didn't pan out." Duo moved in closed as Heero made room for him next to the table and pointed out several areas highlighted on the papers.

"Does this section look familiar at all?" Heero indicated another sequence.

Duo studied it as his memory tried to match it up with something he should know by second nature. Then, it clicked. "It's the satellite route Quatre and I used to discuss getting rid of our Gundams. Duo looked up in disbelief as he faced his friends. "Someone in the PPO knows how we communicated with each other during and the wars," Duo thought out loud. "Heero, you and Quatre stayed with her at Sank for a while. This has to be the connection between Relena and the PPO."

"But Noin was there also. She had the military experience and know how to look for this," Wu Fei added. "But I don't think she would have given the information to Relena. She was there to protect Relena for Zechs."

They paused, each to their own thoughts to try to figure out the meaning of this new information.

"There was someone else close to Relena who only reported to her and had the military knowledge to look for this and use it," Trowa broke his silence to add his comment.

A flicker of understanding flashed in Heero's eyes. "Pagan! He always knew how to find me so Relena could chase after me," Heero looked at all the others in disbelief. "And now, she is using what she learned from Pagan to undermine the Preventers and the peace."

"That's our connection, Heero. Relena must be communicating and giving orders to the PPO chapters through the same links we used," Wu Fei sounded almost excited as he began to calculate Relena's downfall and the preservation of the Preventers.

"You forgot just one little detail here, guys," Duo spoke up to burst Wu Fei's little balloon. "It's just circumstantial right now. We have to prove she is using these channels. We need to intercept actual communications from her to them," Duo paused in thought. "We've been monitoring all their communications since I planted the bugs. But we haven't been listening where the real information is. Imbedded in everyday communications," The sound of the metal waste basket echoed as it flew across the room then lay bent against the wall. "Damn it all! How could we be so stupid?" Duo paced the length of the small office, his hands flying in exasperation. "We underestimated our enemy because they were peaceful everyday people, not conniving terrorists like we were."

"Calm down, Duo, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place. We will succeed," Heero tried to reassure Duo.

"I should have seen through it, I should have been suspicious."

"We know where to look now. Trowa, do you have recordings of today's communications? Heero asked.

"I'm sure we do, I'll go run it through the computer to look for any imbedded files," Trowa picked up the highlighted pages. "I'll check and see if we still have disks of these as well. I'll run them also."

"Isn't this their public meeting night you usually attend, Duo?" Wu Fei asked.

"Yeah, I have to set up the refreshments and chairs a few hours before the meeting starts, that sort of stuff. Sumner said they were expecting a larger crowd than usual due the current membership drive."

"It's a wonder they have any refreshments to serve if you're behind the counter, Duo." Wu Fei remarked with a soft laugh.

Duo froze in place, slowly turning, irritation showing on his reddening face. Heero tensed, ready to break up any altercation.

"I'm sure it's one hundred percent better than anything you've tried to make for Sally. A gourmet cook you're not…." Duo stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what he just said.

Heero could only hope that Wu Fei would take Duo's remark as just a joke.

Wu Fei's eyes widened in shock; not believing what had just come from Duo's mouth. "Duo………what do you know abou…"

"Mr. Chang, Mr. Yuy, are you in there?" Vivian's anxious voice called accompanied by frantic pounding on the door.

Duo breathed a huge sigh of relief. Vivian's usually unwelcome intrusion couldn't have come at a more opportune time. He moved quickly to open the door. Vivian literally fell into the room and into Duo's arms.

"Ohhhh!" Vivian squealed as Duo's arms tightened around her and steadied her back on her feet. "Oh my goodness thank you, Duo. I'm sure I would have hurt myself if you weren't there." Vivian blushed as she gazed into Duo's eyes, her hands holding onto his shoulders.

From across the room Heero seethed with a new unknown emotion. Anger burned in his belly, watching what could be considered an embrace between Duo and Vivian. It took all his emotional strength to keep from rushing over and pushing Vivian away from Duo. Instead, he barked "Control yourself, Vivian! What is so important that you need to barge in and disturb an important meeting?" Heero stood his ground, his fists clenching at his sides as if ready to defend his property.

Vivian backed away from Duo and straightened herself. Duo took a more neutral position against the door frame, puzzled by the extreme irritation he heard in Heero's voice and the unfamiliar stance of his body language.

"Yes, Vivian, what is all the shouting about?" Wu Fei followed up, completely forgetting about Duo's comment.

"I'm sorry, but Lady Une needs you all immediately. Miss Relena has arrived unannounced and…." The rest of her words drifted away unheard as surprised shock showed on four faces.

"Holy shit, we're screwed now," Duo spit out.

"What! She's over a week early. This can not be happening," We Fei shook his head.

"Who ever said Relena was predictable, Wu Fei?" Heero remarked "It's always been her method of operation."

"Heero, come with me. Trowa, make sure everyone is prepared in testing. Duo…." Duo looked up in anticipation of orders, feeling the thrill of impending battle tingle over his skin. "Just stay out of the way." Wu Fei finished as they followed Vivian down the hall.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Duo hissed under his breath, following at a slower pace.

Trowa hung back and fell in step with Duo. "Don't take his comments so personal, Duo. Wu Fei has a lot riding on this whole operation."

"I know, Tro. I've resigned myself to being his whipping boy until this is all over," Duo shoved his hands into his pockets. "I just thought we had a friendly understanding, that's all."

"Wu Fei is a very complicated man, Duo. I'm sure he respects you just as much as the rest of us," Trowa tried to calm Duo.

"I don't doubt that at all, Tro. He knows I have the PPO meeting tonight and look at you, you have to set stuff up without Quatre here for his part," Duo stopped walking and looked at Trowa. "Wasn't Quat supposed to be back this morning?"

"Last night, actually," Trowa answered reluctantly.

Duo sensed Trowa's unvoiced concern. "Hey, Tro, they're probably having too much fun and decided to stay a little longer," Duo joked to lighten Trowa's mood. "I bet he'll have a present for you, maybe there was a two for one sale on straight jackets in the gift shop. Nothin' like a new toy to celebrate his homecoming," Duo wiggled his eyebrows and jabbed his elbow, playfully, into Trowa's ribs. He received a small smile in return.

"Let's get going. Help me set up the testing lab, then we'll join the others," Trowa led the way down the hall.

**********

Relena smiled inwardly, pleased as she watched the guards at the gate scramble nervously to be polite and accommodating while alerting Lady Une of her arrival. She loved the effect surprise had on people.

TBC