Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo's Dilemma ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer - Gundam Wind does not belong to me. It never did. The only thing I own of this story is the plot, and the characters not originally created by the owners of Gundam Wing.

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Duo's Dilemma

Chapter 7

Crazy Midnight Ramblings

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"She doesn't want to leave." Heero said simply into the cell phone he was holding to his ear. "I've already tried convincing her to leave, but she refuses."

"Did she say why?" Une asked crisply on the other side of the line.

"She doesn't want to be scared away." he said. "And she trusts the woman Covington sent us with."

"Ms. Saucier?"

"Yeah." Heero said stoically. He heard his superior groan and could almost see her rubbing her temples in agitation.

"Trying to force Relena to leave will be pointless." Une finally said. "She'll fight you every step of the way. But if there is another attack, get her on a plane and get her back here, am I understood, Yuy? I don't care if you have to knock her out, just get her away from that city."

"Understood."

"Anything else, Yuy?" the woman asked.

"No."

"Very well, then. Goodbye, Yuy. And if anything else happens, contact me immediately."

"Hn." Heero did not even worry about saying goodbye as he snapped the cell phone shut and walked down the stairs to find Relena. He had contacted Une about getting the Vice Foreign Minister to leave the States. Unfortunately, Une had not agreed with his decision to bring her back to Europe against her will.

Needless to say, Heero Yuy was not happy.

As he came into the kitchen area of the house, he found Belladonna in the middle of a heated argument with Preventor Asher.

"I need to go to town, John." she said plaintively. "There's no telling how long we're going to be here, and I need to go get some things from the store."

"You can't leave." the red-headed man said firmly. "It's not safe."

"Relena is the one who isn't supposed to leave." she pointed out crossly. "Not me!"

"You're not going." he said firmly.

"If I take one of the other Preventors with me, will you let me go?" she asked, trying to compromise with the headstrong man in front of her. "Look, with as many people as I have around here, I'm going to run out of food by tonight. I really don't think you guys want to go 12 hour shifts with nothing to eat, do you?" She finally turned around and noticed Heero standing in the doorway. She immediately tried prying him for assistance. "Isn't that right, Mr. Yuy?"

"He's right. You don't need to leave." Heero answered calmly, causing Bella to growl in annoyance at being shot down yet again. "Just because you were not named in the threat, does not mean you are excluded as a possible target. Where's Relena?"

"The Vice Foreign Minister stepped outside to speak with your second in command, Preventor Chang." the red head answered. "She should be right outside." Heero nodded and turned to the back door, walking out to leave the two Americans to their bickering. By the time he got to Relena's side, he heard a vehicle crank up and Preventor Asher's voice telling the man named Poydras to keep her out of trouble and get her 'stubborn ass' back in one piece.

Relena gave her bodyguard a small grin when he stopped beside her.

"I take it she won the argument?" the ex-Queen of the world asked.

"Apparently so." Heero answered, looking down at the rather large fish pond Relena had been admiring before he got to her. He watched for a few moments as they settled into a comfortable, companionable silence. He could see the shining fins of the numerous goldfish as they swam in the murky water, and wondered why Relena seemed so taken to the little creatures because she had a small smile on her face as she watched them swimming around the plants and rocks that littered the bottom of the pond.

"Heero?"

"Yeah?"

"I think something is wrong with Duo."

"What makes you say that?"

"He was awful quiet this morning at breakfast, and he didn't eat as much as normal. Do you think Hilde's giving him fits again?"

"I don't think so. I think your friend Belladonna is the one that's got him in fits now.: Heero answered, once again checking the surrounding security as two green clad Preventors stepped around the edge of the property a few hundred yards away from them. Relena said nothing as she stepped closer to Heero for warmth and a little more protection from the biting winds that had picked up that day. She felt his arm go around her waist and she sighed in contentment.

"He's having rotten luck lately, isn't he?" she asked. Heero only nodded, not really knowing what to say or do to get Duo out of the emotional mess he'd gotten into this time.

Relena had pulled Duo along on this trip to get him away from things that were stressing him, namely Hilde, and to get his mind focused again. She had never intended to make him face the family of someone he had possibly killed on accident during an unnecessary attack on his allies almost seven years ago. Unfortunately, that was exactly what had happened.

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Duo couldn't sleep.

He hadn't even been able to close his eyes to rest since hearing Bella's words the night before. They just kept swimming around in his head. he had remembered every battle he'd ever fought in with Deathscythe, and up until now, he had never really worried about what he'd done when he had been following the doctor's orders.

'But she said she doesn't blame me, or any of the rest of us for what happened. So why in the hell do I feel so damned guilty about what happened. It wasn't our fault. Romefellar was the one who gave out false information just to stir up trouble. It was their fault!' Duo groaned and shook his head, unable to get the annoying, nagging voices inside his head to shut up. He picked himself up from his bed, threw on a shirt, and decided to check his e-mail on Bella's home computer since he couldn't sleep. She had already told them that anything in her house was at their disposal, and to make themselves comfortable. So Duo did not feel bad for commandeering the computer while Bella wasn't home.

As he made his way down the stairs and into the office she had shown him the first time he was here, he heard a door slam and a vehicle crank up to leave. He also heard Preventor Asher's voice calling out to one of the other men to keep an eye on Bella. He just shook his head again and sat down at her desk, waking the computer from its stand by mode and clicking the icon to connect him to the internet. When the page he wanted finally pulled up, he signed in and scrolled through the contents of his inbox. A little bell sound broke the silence of the air in the office, and Duo noticed that she used the same instant messaging provider he did.

With nothing more pressing to do, and considering he still wasn't sleepy, he signed on under his own screen name to see if anyone he knew was on. Immediately, a dialogue box popped up and he recognized the sender as none other than Hilde.

ScavengrGrl - Hey! What's gong on? I haven't talked to you in a while.

DarkOverLord- I wonder why? What do you want, Hilde?

ScavengrGrl- Come on, Duo, lay off. I'm trying to work up an apology here. Quit biting my head off, will ya?

DarkOverLord- I don't want to hear it, Hilde. Leave me alone.

ScavengrGrl- Please? Duo?! Do you realize how bad this makes me feel? Especially knowing you're with some little bitch with a fetish for leather and whips?!

DarkOverLord- Huh?

ScavengrGrl- The one that answered your phone the other night when I called. She said you were 'tied up' at the moment and couldn't answer your phone. What's up with that, Duo?

DarkOverLord- Oh, you mean Bella? And why are you so worried about it?

ScavengrGrl- Yeah, her! What is with you, Duo? That girl sounded like a total freak!

DarkOverLord- Leave Bella alone, Hilde. You don't even know her. So quit passing judgment as if you're one to talk!

ScavengrGrl- So that's her name, huh? Sounds like some little tramp to me.

DarkOverLord- She's no tramp, unlike someone else I know.

ScavengrGrl- Are you calling me a tramp, Maxwell?

DarkOverLord- Is there anyone else in this conversation besides the two of us? The truth hurts, Hilde. Now leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you.

ScavengrGrl- But, Duo! Kennan was a mistake. I wasn't thinking! Besides, I was half drunk!

DarkOverLord- You seem to be in the habit of making mistakes a lot before you learn from them, Hilde. Quit lying to me. You never seem to learn until it's too late to fix your screw ups.

ScavengrGrl- You're no angel yourself, Maxwell. So don't try to play the innocent little martyr!

DarkOverLord- I never said I was innocent. But I am truthful. Which is more than I can say for you.

ScavengrGrl- Duo..

DarkOverLord- Leave me alone, Hilde. I'm sure Keenan’s missing you right about now.

ScavengrGrl- Duo! Wait..I'm..

-DarkOverLord has signed off. 09:34:23AM-

Duo stood up and walked out of the study room pissed beyond all measure. That blasted woman just wouldn't give up. Fortunately enough though, it seemed as if his anger had triggered his sleepiness, because now he was yawning as he climbed up the stairs to the room he shared with Wufei. He plopped down on his bed and groaned in frustration.

'This is crazy!' he thought, rolling over onto his stomach and shutting his eyes to drift into sleep. 'Can't the witch just take a fucking hint and leave me alone? I'm almost tempted to sic Bella on her just for the royal damn hell of it!'

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When Bella pulled back up to her house and shut off the vehicle, Relena and Heero came from around the house. It had taken her almost four hours to get to town, do what needed to be done, and get back. Now she had a trunk full of food to bring into the house.

"Everything go alright?" Relena asked, walking out to help bring in the bags. "No problems, I hope."

"Nah. Everything was fine." Bella said, popping the hatch of the SUV and grabbing a handful of bags. "Worse part was the blasted traffic. How's everything here?"

"Fine. Quiet as can be." Relena answered, taking three of the bags herself. "Heero, can you get Wufei to help us, please?" The stoic man nodded and went to retrieve the other Preventor, returning soon with the scowling Chinese man behind him.

"What do you want, woman?" he barked at Bella.

"We need an extra pair of hands, China-man." she said, grabbing some more bags. "Grab some and help us bring them inside, will ya?"

"You expect me to do a woman's job?" he scoffed. "I'm busy!"

"What's wrong, China-man? Afraid to break a nail by lifting the little grocery bags?" she taunted, cutting her eyes up at the ever-angry Preventor. "Quit being a sissy, and help. Look, even Yuy's a bigger help than you are." Wufei looked at the taunting woman and growled in annoyance. The only other woman on the planet that baited him this much was Sally, and she was currently across the Atlantic Ocean in the Preventor Headquarters.

He glared at Bella and grabbed an armload of grocery bags, mumbling something about 'weak, annoying women and their idiosyncrasies'. Bella just grinned, grabbing another bag before hearing another vehicle pull up the driveway.

'Wonder who that is?' she thought, carrying the bags in to the house and placing them on the counter where Relena was pulling out the contents. She caught Heero's eye and frowned.

"We've got company coming." she said seriously. "Someone is pulling up the driveway. And I don't know who it is." Heero jerked up and quickly walked outside, giving Relena a stern look that almost screamed 'Don't-you-dare-come-out-here!' Wufei followed behind him immediately. Bella looked towards Relena and nodded, telling her silently to keep doing what she was because she was going to find out what was going on.

Bella walked out of her kitchen and through the living room to peek out the door....only to find Heero and Wufei, as well as a number of other Preventors, surrounding her sister's SUV. When the window rolled down, Marguerite nodded at them and smiled.

"Where's Belladonna?" she asked.

"What are you doing here, Margie?" Bella asked firmly, stepping out of her house and walking across the porch before any of the men could say anything to her younger half-sister. She also noticed her two dogs come romping from around the corner of the house and stalk towards the SUV. "You know what daddy said. We're to stay separated until all of this is settled and everything calms down."

"You're making it sound like I'm the one that's trying to kill Relena." Marguerite said sourly, glaring at the other woman. "I was coming to see if everything was okay here."

"Yeah, I'm sure you were." Bella mumbled. "What do you want, Margie? You could have just called, you know. Oh, and by the way, where were you Tuesday night before the attack on the house?"

"Not that is should matter to you, but I stayed at my house that night. Now, where's Duo at?" the other girl asked, completely ignoring her older sibling's other question. "I didn't see him walking around. Is he okay."

"He's sleeping, Ms. Covington." Heero said simply, walking up next to Belladonna.

"Still have him on night patrol, huh?" she asked, smiling. "How's Relena?"

"She's fine." Bella said. "In fact, she's inside right now, helping me with some work."

"Well, let's go help her then, shall we?" Marguerite asked brightly, unbuckling her seatbelt and pushing the door to the SUV open, only to come face to face with a pair of very angry rottweilers known as Mordred and Damian. "Jesus, Belladonna!" she said, slamming the door shut quickly. "You still have those monsters!"

"They're not monsters, Margie." Bella said simply, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "They're just particular about who they let near me."

"It will be getting late soon, Ms. Covington." Heero said stiffly, derailing an argument between the two women. "It would be wise for you to return home soon." Marguerite stiffened at the apparent dismissal, but did not want to try and fight with the Preventor. She simply nodded and pulled her seatbelt back around her, latching it in place and starting the SUV.

"I'll talk to you later, then, Bella." she said stiffly. "Try to keep yourself out of trouble, sister dear." Bella growled and watched as her younger sister pulled off and left out of the gates, leaving the property. Heero just turned and walked back inside the house after conferring with Preventor Asher for a few moments. Bella wasn't sure what he said, but the older man only nodded and frowned, assuring Heero that he would get right onto whatever he had said.

Bella took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Leave it to Marguerite to deliberately disobey their father when something like this happens. She shut the hatch on her SUV and walked back into the house behind Heero, resigning herself to help Relena put up the massive amount of food she had purchased earlier that morning.

They had just about finished placing all of the food into the cupboards when the phone in the kitchen started ringing. Bella went to pick it up, and was surprised to hear her dad's voice on the other line.

"Hey, daddy. How's everything? You and Rita okay?" Bella pulled a chair up and sat on it as she got ready to talk to her dad.

"Really? Well, that should make things a little easier. Have they found out who attacked the house yet?" Relena and Heero turned to listen to this side of the conversation, hoping to figure out if anything new had been found.

"Well, that sure doesn't help matters any, now does it?"

"Yes, I know sarcasm is not helping the situation, daddy. You needn't remind me."

"Funny. Very funny, daddy. You might have meant that as an insult, but I'll take it as a compliment."

"Yeah, I'll be sure and tell Relena. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Yeah, I got the number. I'll call them in a bit. Oh, and I just got a visit from Margie. I thought we were supposed to stay separated until this was settled down." Relena heard the outburst from Kenneth Covington, and had no doubt that he was not happy with that little fragment on information on Marguerite.

"Don't get your pants in a twist, dad! I told her the same thing. But she won't listen to me, and you know it."

"Yeah, I know."

"Okay, daddy. I'll talk to you later. You guys be careful and I'll call this evening after dinner, okay?"

"Love you too, daddy." Bella hung the phone up and turned to Relena. "Well, the meetings have been put off until Monday. So no ones meeting tomorrow."

"Have they heard anything else about the attackers?" Heero asked.

"They ran the description of the SUV we gave them, but with no license plates, they can't pinpoint anything. Apparently those two that were caught in Mr. Winner's hotel room are cracking under pressure, though. Dad said they're slipping up and letting information leak out."

"Well, that is reassuring at any rate." Relena said. "What else did he want?"

"Just to tell me to get a hold of the repair guys to fix the windows in the house." she said. "I've got to go dig their number out and call them before dinner. Oh, speaking of that. Relena, would you mind looking over the speech I've got for the presentation mess next week at the conference hall. I'm not much on formal speech things, and I don't want to get up there and sound like some kind of idiot."

"Sure. I don't mind. It'll give me something to do, anyway."

"All your paperwork's caught up?" Bella asked, walking over to a counter to pull out what she was planning on cooking that night for dinner.

"Amazing, isn't it?" the blonde asked, the sarcasm in her voice light.

"Quite." Bella answered, a grin on her face. "Well, since you don't have anything to do, want to help make dinner?" Relena frowned and put her hands up, quickly backing away from the counter.

"I can't cook." she said pointedly. "I'm warning you now. I can't even cook toast without burning it to a crisp." Bella laughed at her friend and shrugged.

"You can stop a colony from crashing to Earth, but you can't cook?" she asked. "Relena, what am I going to do with you?"

"You could quit teasing and show me how to do it right." Relena pointed out sullenly. Bella nodded and threw a white apron at the blonde girl.

"Well, since you put it that way," she said, grinning even wider. "Get that on. And welcome to Cooking for Dummies 101. I'm your instructor, Bella Saucier. And today, we're going to teach the Vice Foreign Minister, and ex-Queen of the World, Relena Peacecraft-Dorlian how to cook a simple meal without burning the whole house down."

"You think you're so funny, don't you?" Relena grumbled, tying the apron around her waist. "Just wait, you're going to get it one of these days, Ms. Cocky. Just you wait."

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Dinner actually turned out alright, considering the mess Relena and Bella wound up making in the once pristine kitchen. The simple dinner had almost turned into a war zone when Duo had come down from his room, seeking something to stop the rumbling in his stomach. He walked into the kitchen right when Bella had given Relena a measuring cup of flour to pour into some type of cake batter. Unfortunately, the politician didn't turn the hand mixer off before she poured the white, powdery substance into the bowl....resulting in a thick cloud of flour being thrown up into the atmosphere of the kitchen. When it finally settled, the entire kitchen looked like a snow storm had come crashing through.

But, despite the huge mess that had been created, the two women managed to get enough food ready to feed not only Duo, but the rest of the Preventors on hand as well. The mess had been cleaned up, and everyone had separated and retired to their own activities for the evening. Duo was about to take up his post outside when his cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out and looked at the number, frowning in annoyance.

"What's up, Duo?" Bella asked, coming outside to sit on the porch swing in the fading sunlight.

"Nothing." he said flatly.

"What's wrong, your ex bothering you again?" she asked.

"Don't you know it." Duo muttered, refusing to answer the ringing phone. "She just won't leave me alone!"

"Want me to get rid of her again?" Bella asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Seemed to work last time." Duo shook his head, remembering the conversation he'd had with Hilde earlier that day on the computer via instant messaging. He was afraid that if Bella talked to Hilde so soon after that little conversation, it would not turn out to pretty.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "Maybe she'll get the point and quit calling." Bella gave him a 'are-you-kidding-me-stupid?' look that showed exactly how much she thought that would work.

"Suit yourself, then." she said. "But if you need me to get rid of her, I will. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Duo said, wondering if he ought to let Hilde tangle with the other woman. Bella just nodded and curled up on the porch swing with a light blanket and a book. Even though it was quickly getting darker, the porch light gave off enough light for her to read her book.

"Whatever." she said, settling herself down and opening the book where her bookmark, a wrinkled and obviously old ace of spades, had been placed. "Oh, there is some left over food in the refrigerator if you get hungry tonight."

Duo just nodded and walked off the porch, pulling his jacket around him and turning his cell phone off when the low ringing tone refused to stop.

Next time, he was letting Bella get rid of Hilde for him. He couldn't take much more of Hilde's whining and pleading for forgiveness.

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A couple of hours later, Duo walked into the house as quietly as he possible could. It was a little after midnight, and he was making another round around the house, checking for anything suspicious. He walked past the kitchen door and noticed a weak light coming from the living room. He walked over and looked around the corner, seeing Bella sitting sideways on the couch, holding what looked like a framed picture to her chest. She wore only a white robe, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. It looked like she had been sitting there for a while, though.

'What's she still doing up?' he thought. 'She should have been asleep hours ago.' He had seen her leave off of the porch and go into the house after receiving a phone call from her father earlier, but paid no heed to it. Now, he was wishing he had paid more attention to what was going on because it looked like something had happened to make her upset.

"Bella?" he called out softly, gaining her attention. "What are you doin' in here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" The young woman in question turned her head to the doorway, seeing Duo resting along the door frame, an inquisitive look on his face. She clutched the frame to her even tighter and blinked her eyes, letting them adjust to look at the young man in front of her.

"I couldn't sleep." she said simply, watching as he walked over towards the couch, looking down at her with concern flashing in his eyes. "Nightmares, you know. Happens every now and then when things get hectic."

"I understand." he said. "I have them too, when everything gets stressful. Something got you worried?"

"Relena." she said simply. "And my dad."

"Why?"

"Something just seems off." she said. "Call it a gut feeling, but things just seem weird."

"You mean the attack on your dad's house?" Duo asked, leaning down and resting his elbows on the back of the couch.

"Yeah, that's one thing. But there's something else. Marguerite's been acting weirder than normal. And dad is worried about it." she said. "And I ran into Johnathan Artigues, my dad's personal lawyer, today while I was at the post office. Remember how Margie said she was at her house the night before the attack?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Artigues told me that she spent the night with him Tuesday night." Bella said, shaking her head. "Which is plausible considering their good friends. Johnathan's the family lawyer, and I don't think he would lie to me, but something's not right. Why would Margie lie to me about being with him?"

"Maybe she didn't want you ragging on her about spending the night with her boyfriend." Duo commented easily, shrugging his shoulders.

"Humph. Fuck buddy would be a better, more accurate description of that relationship." Bella scowled angrily. "Something's not right with her, but I don't know what it is. Daddy said he wasn't able to get a hold of her all day."

"Well, you tighten your hold on that picture frame any more, and we're going to be picking glass shards out of your hands all night." he pointed out, nodding towards the frame in her hands when her fingers tightened instinctively in anger with the mention of her younger half-sister. "And I don't think you want to be doing that." Bella immediately loosened her hold on the gilded frame and looked down at it, sighing in exasperation. "Who is that anyway?"

"My mom." she said simply, turning the picture to show Duo the picture of a woman in her late twenties that could pass for Bella's twin sister. He looked from the picture, back to the woman holding it and shook his head.

"You look a lot like her." he said finally, noticing the way the woman in the picture smiled cockily, and remembering the look on Bella's face the day of the food fight when she'd thought she had won against him. "You could almost be twins."

"I know." she said with a smile. "Daddy tells me that all the time. I wish she was here now. Momma always knew how to fix things for everyone. She...she always knew what to do during messes like this. I just wish she was here to tell me what I need to do to keep Relena and my family safe from the protestors."

"What happened to her?" Duo asked gently, prying the girl for more information that could help him piece together why she was the way she was. "I know she passed away, but...."

"She was killed on the New Edwards base when the Gundams attacked." Bella said sadly, running her hand over the portrait of the smiling woman. "I was with her when it happened. We had been there for the conference, but when the Gundams attacked, we were ushered into a bunker. The bunker collapsed after we were put in there, and we tried running for another shelter."

"She was shot?" Duo asked, playing along with the information he already know to be true.

"No. She was knocked down and metal pieces and parts hit her during an explosion caused by one of the attacking pilots knocking out a line of stationary Aries suits near where we were trying to get away from. The shrapnel killed her." she said sadly. "I don't really know whether to blame whomever was in that suit for my mom's death, or blame Romefellar for building suits that couldn't withstand an attack from a Gundam, and then sending out false information."

"Which Gundam was it?" Duo asked. "I know there were five of them, but do you know which one it was?"

"It wasn't the one that sliced Marshal Noventa's shuttle in half." she said simply. "I know that for a fact. And it wasn't the red one; I think that suit was called 04." Duo nodded, his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration and fear of hearing what she was about to tell him. "In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the one that was captured and blown up in space later on by some OZ trainee soldier. But everything was in such a ruckus during the attack, I couldn't really tell you. I remember seeing flashes of black, white, and gold, but that's it really. Although I think if I ever saw it again, I'd know it immediately."

Duo's eyes went wide in surprise, remembering when Trowa had blown up hid Deathscythe suit while posing as an OZ trainee. He felt the blood drain from his face as he watched Bella continue to stare at her mother's picture. What was he supposed to say o her? Especially considering he could have very well been the one responsible for the woman's death.

"Bella..." he began, but was cut off by her voice.

"I know we owe so much to those wonderful pilots of those suits." she said, a small smile on her face. Duo just looked at her like an idiot, waiting for her to continue. "They came to Earth and done what they had to do. I thank God everyday for what they did. After the final battle with Treize, I was almost saddened to see them leave." She gave a gruff laugh and shook her head, almost as if she didn't believe what she was saying. "Imagine my surprise when they popped up a year later to take care of Mariamea and that last of Treize's supporters. I felt safe again, knowing they would fight for the ideals that Relena, my father, Marshall Noventa, and Minister Dorlian had advocated. Ideals of peace and prosperity between the colonies and Earth. They didn't let us down, either. They really are amazing pilots, and extraordinary people, whoever they are."

"You say all this, but you still blame one of them for killing your mom." Duo said, shaking his head in confusion. "That doesn't make a lick of sense."

"I don't really blame the pilots for what happened at the New Edwards base." she sighed. "As much as I keep trying to convince myself they are responsible for it, my more practical side keeps pointing out that OZ and Romefellar are to blame for issuing false information. I don't know much, but I do know that no one knew the Alliance members were there, other than OZ's officials and the Foundation. So, I can't really blame the Gundams."

"That's nice to know." Duo mumbled quietly.

"I'm sorry, Duo, what was that? I didn't hear you?" Bella asked, turning to the Preventor standing beside her.

"It was nothing." he said quickly. "Nothing at all. What's got you so upset about this? You seemed fine earlier, now you're acting like your best friend's up and died on you."

"I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about everything. I wish there was something I could do to fix this mess with the attacks and the protestors, but....well, my hands are tied because no one knows who is doing this." she said.

"You're not Superwoman." Duo pointed out. "You can't do everything, you know."

"I know." she answered sullenly. "I just don't like not being in control of what is happening around me."

"Control freak." Duo muttered, throwing a smile her way. "You always like this?"

"What do you think?" she retorted, laughing gently, and shaking her head. "I really shouldn't keep you from your patrols because of my depressing, midnight ramblings. Don't need you getting in trouble with Yuy because of me."

"Don't worry about it. Yuy's tucked in tight with Princess right now." he said with a wave of his hand and a cheeky grin. "The only way he's coming out of that room is if he hears gunshots start firing." Bella chuckled and stood up from her position on the couch.

"He really loves her, doesn’t he, Duo?" she asked. "I never thought I'd see the day when she would be able to snag him, considering the way they did not hit it off so well when they first met at St. Gabriel's."

"He loves her more than any of us realize." Duo said. "Just goes to show you exactly how powerful Princess' pull with people is. Heero was never an easy nut to crack."

"I'm glad, for both of them." she said simply. "They're made for each other, and I don't know about Yuy, but with what Relena's been through, she deserves someone who'll love her and take care of her." Bella set the framed picture on a nearby table and stepped back. There were a few moments of silence before either spoke again.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" she asked.

"Don't you think you deserve to by happy, too?"

"Duo, when I find someone who loves me, and treats me like my dad, I'll latch onto him and not let go." she said with a grin. "Until then, I'm fine on my own. But, I'm rambling again, and getting nowhere." She pulled the belt around her robe tighter and turned to walk out the room. "Goodnight, Duo."

"G'night." he answered, watching her walk across the room. Right before she walked out, he stopped her. "Bella?"

"Hmm? Yeah?"

"If you could meet one of the pilots of the Gundams, possibly even the one partly responsible for what happened to your mom....what would you do?" Bella stopped and blinked in surprise of the question. She turned around and faced the young man with a sad smile on her face.

"Well, if it was a guy, I'd probably kiss them." she said with a true smile. "And then thank them for what he's done."

"You wouldn't bring up your mother?" he asked, completely surprised. "Why not?"

"I'm relatively sure that whomever it is, has enough on their conscious from that day at the base. No need for me to add insult to injury, is there?" she said with a shrug. "They know what they done. And they know they were tricked. Hell, if it was me, I'd still be feeling guilty about it, even now."

"I guess you're right." Duo answered, his lopsided smile making her feel better somewhat. "I never thought of it that way."

"Goodnight, Duo." she said once again, leaving out of the room finally to try and sleep. He waited until he heard the sound of her steps going up the stairs and then the soft 'click' of her door shutting before shaking his head sadly.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, walking out the room and towards the door that lead into the cool night air. "I'm so sorry for everything, Beauty."

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A/N - Okay, that's the latest chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Remember to leave a review telling me what you think.

Later,

A.A.