Part Nineteen

“You found out who the Gundam pilot is and you didn’t tell me?” Dorothy faced Treize with her hands on her hips. “I thought my job was to find him!”

“It was,” Treize said. “I just happened to find him first.”

“And you’re not going to tell me who it is?” Dorothy asked.

“Sorry,” Treize said.

Dorothy looked disgusted.

“Besides, I need you for another job,” Treize said.

“What now? Don’t tell me it’s to find another Gundam pilot,” Dorothy said warningly.

“No, this job will be far easier on your intellect and far more trying on your patience,” Treize said. “I want you to go keep an eye on the Sank Kingdom for me.”

“Why do I need to do that?” Dorothy asked.

“Because their talk of Absolute Pacifism has me puzzled,” Treize said. “I can’t tell if they’re really that naïve or if they have some secret plan. Anyway, Relena has started a school for other kingdoms to come and learn about it. So I’d like you to go.”

Dorothy sighed. “I can see how this would try my patience. What are you going to tell your pilots? They may get suspicious.”

“Death in the family, leave of absence for the rest of the semester,” Treize explained.

“So don’t be confused when everyone starts offering condolences.”

Dorothy nodded. “I’ll go pack.”

****

“I said, you can’t go in right now!”

Treize glanced up in trepidation, hearing Une’s most fearful I-am-Colenel-hear-me-roar voice fading through his door. Whatever this was, it couldn’t be good. This was why he kept a gun in one of his desk drawers . . .

His suspicions were confirmed when the door opened and Tsuberov came storming in. Une was on his heels, looking quite put out. “Lord Treize,” she said stiffly, “this imbecile wishes to interrupt your work.”

Treize surrpetitiously slid the drawer open and rested his hand on his weapon.

“You’ve misunderstood me, Lady Une,” Tsuberov said smoothly. “I don’t wish to interrupt his work. I wish to relieve him of it.”

“What?” Treize asked, then proceeded onto, “Shut up!”

Une stifled a smirk.

Tsuberov cleared his throat. “Lord Treize, I regret to inform you that you are no longer in control of OZ and, as of this moment, both of you are under arrest.”

Treize laughed. “Really.”

“My men have already taken control of your troops,” Tsuberov said. “My mobile dolls are taking care of what little resistance there was. Face it, Treize - it’s over.”

“Not by a long shot,” Treize said, standing up. “But just to amuse you, I’ll go peacefully . . . for now.”

Tsuberov smirked. “I’m sure you’re planning on using your pet pilots to get rid of me . . . had you noticed that my mobile dolls seem more than efficient in taking care of Gundams?”

“I’m sure the Gundams can take care of themselves,” Treize said calmly.

Tsuberov smiled. “Wait and see, Treize. I think within a few days you’ll be convinced. Since you were, after all, a respected member of Romafeller, we’ll be kind and only place you under house arrest. There will be a special contingent of guards put to make sure you don’t leave the premises.”

“Your generosity astounds me,” Treize said dryly.

****

“Man, not again,” Rigel griped as he and Xiaolong were pulled out of Calculus. “How are we ever supposed to learn anything in this stupid class if we keep getting interrupted?”

Xiaolong shrugged. “And where do you think Une is? She’s usually the one who comes to get us.”

Rigel made a face. “Probably busy. She and Treize seem to have had a joint headache for the past three days. Ever since we got back from the last mission, really.”

“Think more’s wrong than we know?” Xialong asked.

“Oh, most likely,” Rigel said. He frowned and added, “Come to think of it, Trowa’s been really tense lately. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

There was a moment of silence as they followed the guard down the hallway.

“Hey,” Xiaolong said after a second, “where are we going?”

“Lord Treize needs to see you.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Xiaolong said.

“You’ll find out when we get there,” the guard replied.

Xiaolong glanced at Rigel. Rigel looked back.

“Something wrong?” Rigel asked, sounding as innocent as he possibly could.

“Yes,” the guard answered flatly.

“What?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Xiaolong muttered something uncharitable.

“Here we are.” The guard pushed a door open.

Xialong and Rigel gave each other nervous glances and walked in. Tsuberov was waiting for them.

“Treize, you’ve changed,” Rigel said pleasantly. “You got uglier.”

Tsuberov cleared his throat. “I’m afraid you won’t be seeing Treize.”

“And why not?” Xiaolong asked coldly.

“He’s been arrested,” Tsuberov answered.

“On what charge?” Rigel asked.

“High treason, of course,” Tsuberov replied. “Disloyalty to OZ.”

“What?” Rigel asked. “Shut up!”

Tsuberov paused for a split second, then continued. “I believe it would be best for you two to be taken into protective custody.”

“Protect this,” Xiaolong said, and moved forward with lightning speed.

By the time that ten guards had him pinned, Tsuberov had a broken nose.

“That was satisfying,” Xiaolong said from his place on the floor.

Rigel peered down at him. “I’m sure.” He decided to abstain from any heroics, so at least one of them would still be in working condition.

“So where is our ‘protective custody’ going to be?” he asked, voice dripping sarcasm.

“Well, given that display of temper your friend just indulged in,” Tsuberov said, “I think I have an ideal place.”

****

Treize was somewhat startled to see that Trowa was the guard on his door. But not very startled. At this point, not much about Trowa could surprise him. He pretended not to recognize the pilot, trusting that Trowa would get in touch with him. He was glad to see that he was still allowed to use his laptop. The news he received on it, however, was somewhat less than appealing. Treize thudded his head against the desk and wished that Une had been allowed to stay in the same place as him; he could have used a good rant right about then.

Before he could blow his top, Trowa came into the room. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Treize’s head snapped up. “Don’t scare me like that. Why are you here?”

“I figured you could use the company.”

“I could use your help. We’ve run into a . . . situation.”

“You mean the fact that the OZ faction has taken custody of Rigel and Xiaolong?”

Treize blinked. “How do you know that?”

“The same way I know everything.”

Treize sighed. “You know, if we’re going to get them back, we’ll need to work together.”

“I’m taking care of it.”

“You’re what?”

“Taking care of it.”

“And how are you doing that?”

“With some help from a few friends.”

I’m going to start losing hair in a minute, Treize reflected. “You’re trying to kidnap them from me, aren’t you?”

“It’s nothing personal.”

“They’re loyal to me now.”

“How could I forget?” Trowa asked dryly. “Besides, I’m not trying to kidnap them. I’m succeeding.”

“Wonderful. And do you plan on letting OZ conquer the world?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you might need my help.”

“You’re right,” Trowa said. “Then again, I might not. So now we’re playing by my rules.”

Treize just blinked at him.

“So to begin with,” Trowa said, “I’m taking care of this. I’ll talk to Rigel and Xiaolong. If they want to come back to you, maybe I’ll let them talk me into it. But keep in mind that we’re coming as a unit, so don’t think you control the situation just because you’re their favorite uncle figure. So until I see you again, try to keep OZ from conquering the world on your own time.”

****

Duo flopped onto his bed. “I’m beat . . . the guys here are much better at basketball . . .”

Heero rolled his eyes and sat down at his computer, pulling up his email.

“Naa, Heero, you went all quiet,” Duo said, ignoring the fact that Heero was always quiet.

“What’s up?”

“We have a mission.” Heero stood up.

“What, right now?” Duo asked, also getting up.

“We have to go get Quatre and Wufei.”

“What? Why?”

“I told you about OZ factioning. Apparently the side led by Tsuberov - the side which controls the Mobile Dolls - has decided that they want Quatre and Wufei in their possession. They also apparently decided they could just take them.”

Duo’s eyes darkened. “So it’s a search-and-rescue, huh?”

Heero nodded. “Trowa sent me the necessary information. He’s relying on us to get them out safely.”

“Will they trust us? They don’t know us anymore,” Duo reminded Heero.

“Given that they’re in a jail cell, they’ll probably look upon any rescue as better than no rescue,” Heero said. “And Trowa said he could meet us tonight and reassure them.”

Duo grinned. “Kick ass! We get to see some action!”

****

“So there’s no way out . . . for the fourth time?” Rigel asked, watching Xiaolong as he yet again examined their cell for any possible escape routes.

Xiaolong glared daggers at him. “I don’t know how you can just sit there,” he complained.

“I haven’t found anything better to do,” Rigel said. “Treize will find some way to get us out of here. It’s just a matter of time. Calm down. It’s not like Tsuberov is going to try to force us to pilot for him; he’s got his precious Mobile Dolls. He doesn’t want us for anything. He just wants to keep Treize from having us.”

“I still don’t like it,” Xiaolong muttered.

“Of course you don’t,” Rigel said. “I don’t either. But there’s no point in getting frustrated.”

They both looked up as they heard gunfire.

“See?” Rigel said. “Here comes our rescue now.”

The door opened a few minutes later and Duo bounced in. “Hi! We’re here to rescue you. Catch.” He tossed Rigel a gun, which Rigel caught easily.

Heero came in behind him. “Hurry up.” He handed a gun to Xiaolong. “We don’t have much time.”

“Could we ask who you are?” Rigel asked.

“Trowa sent us!” Duo proclaimed cheerfully. “We’re friends of his. He said, umm . . .” He looked at Heero for help. “What was that message we were supposed to give Rigel so he would know Trowa sent us?”

Heero rolled his eyes. “Trowa said he’ll meet us later and walk on a high wire for you, Rigel.”

Rigel’s eyes brightened. “I’m convinced; let’s go.”

Xiaolong rolled his eyes. “The fact that they gave me a gun convinced me. By all means, let’s.”

Between the four of them, they managed to make it out with relative ease. Duo hopped into

a car. “C’mon, let’s go!”

“I have the keys,” Heero said.

“No, you don’t, I snuck ‘em out of your pocket while you weren’t looking!” Duo said, grinning.

Heero sighed, turning to the other two. “Get in back.”

“Where are we going?” Xiaolong asked.

“Where OZ won’t find us,” Heero said.

“Works for me.” Rigel climbed into the backseat, tugging Xiaolong after him. Duo waited for Heero to get in, then floored it. “So where are we going?” Rigel tried again.

“It’s a hangar not far from here,” Duo said. “’Bout an hour away from here.”

“Not the way you drive,” Heero said, rolling his eyes.

Duo grinned. “Preee-cisely.”

About forty minutes later, they pulled up outside a large hangar. “Come on in, make yourselves comfortable,” Duo said. “There’s some food in a cooler in the corner. Hey, OZ didn’t do anything weird, did it? You guys aren’t injured, right?”

“We’re fine,” Rigel said. “We’d only been there about half a day.” He looked longingly at the cooler.

Duo caught his glance. “I said, make yourselves at home. The food’s for the taking. We can get more.”

Rigel nodded and opened the cooler. Most of what was there were some sandwiches and a few cans of soda. There was a bag of chips lying next to the cooler. He glanced over at Xiaolong.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

Xiaolong was staring.

“What are you looking - ” Rigel turned to see two Gundams. “Oh.” He turned to Duo. “You two are Gundam pilots?”

“Yeah, sure,” Duo said. “Sorry about that little . . . thing . . . the other night.”

Xiaolong looked between the two Gundams. “Whose is whose?”

“Deathscythe here is mine.” Duo waved at his Gundam. “And Wing Zero is Heero’s. Oh, we didn’t introduce ourselves! Well, I’m Duo Maxwell. This is Heero Yuy. We already know your names, I think . . . It’s Rigel and Xiaolong, right?”

Rigel nodded.

Xiaolong glared at Duo. “You gave me a concussion and a sprained wrist.”

“Yeah, well, you gave Heero here a concussion, so let’s call it even, ‘kay, Wu?” Xiaolong blinked. “Who’s Wu?”

Duo blinked. “Did I just call you Wu?”

“Yes, baka.” Heero smacked him on the back of the head.

Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero. “Save it for the bedroom, Heero.”

Heero attempted to make up for his blush by giving Duo an extremely cold glare.

“You never answered my question,” Xiaolong interrupted.

“What question?” Duo tried to look innocent.

“Who is Wu?”

Duo didn’t see many options, so he went with what he was best at: the truth. “Well, you’re Wu. Chang Wufei, to be precise. Can’t expect to learn new names, after all.” Rigel and Xiaolong both blinked, glancing at each other.

“Wait, are you saying . . .”

“Yes,” Duo said. “We know you two. Knew you two. Something. Trowa’s gonna kill me; he wanted to break the news to you. Anyway, we used to work together, Quatre Raberba Winner.” He grinned at Rigel. “That would be you.”

“Trowa is going to kill you,” Heero remarked, sitting down and picking up a sandwich.

“Well, you can’t leave us hanging like that,” Rigel complained. “Tell us the rest of it. If we used to work with you, why are we now working against you?”

“Not precisely sure on the details of that myself!” Duo said. “OZ hijacked you.”

“That’s not entirely accurate,” Heero chipped in.

“Yeah, yeah. First White Fang hijacked you,” Duo corrected.

“Who?” Rigel got himself a sandwich and a soda and sat down. This was looking to be a long story.

“White Fang, the guys who trained us and gave us the Gundams,” Duo said. “Their plan was to destroy the world, so we all defected and wound up working together. Anyways, they got hold of you somehow - and we still don’t know how - so we had Trowa - he’s the other Gundam pilot, there’s five of us all told - infiltrate OZ. He had OZ rescue you from White Fang so you’d be within easy reach, then suddenly you were working for OZ, had no memories, and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.” Duo shrugged. “Didja follow all that?”

Rigel was looking slightly glazed. “I think so . . .”

(Author’s Notes: All long stories like this need a plot summary in the middle, heh.)

Xiaolong interrupted. “Wait. Are you saying that nothing Treize told us was true?”

“Well, we don’t know everything Treize told you, so we really can’t make that decision,” Duo said. “What’d he tell you?”

“That we’d been working for him our whole lives, that we were his most valuable pilots . . .” Xiaolong trailed off.

“See, there you go,” Duo said. “The first part of the statement is a lie, but the second is true.”

“How do we know you’re not lying?” Xiaolong asked suspiciously.

“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t be willing to take my word on it,” a new voice said.

They all turned around. “Trowa!” Rigel said, standing up and going over to him. “What’s going on?”

Trowa gave Rigel a quick hug. “Well, I see Duo started explaining things even though I told him not to.”

Duo made a face. “It was an accident. I slipped up on the name thing.” Then he grinned wickedly. “I see the lost memory didn’t slow you two down anyway.”

Trowa rolled his eyes.

Rigel stared. “Wait . . . we were a couple . . . before I lost my memory?”

“Yeah, we were,” Trowa said. “Don’t feel too bad; I got my first kiss twice. Interrupted both times, though.”

Rigel frowned. “But . . . that person you mentioned, who played the violin . . . you said he was dead. Were you talking about me?”

“I was talking about Quatre,” Trowa said gently. “You’re not Quatre. You’re similar to Quatre. But you’re not him. That doesn’t mean I care for you any less.”

“Oh,” Rigel said, looking pleasantly confused.

“I still want proof,” Xiaolong said, looking a little less pleasant but just as confused.

Trowa sighed. “You can ask Treize. He won’t lie; not if you ask outright.”

“Wait, when are they going to be seeing Treize?” Heero asked, giving Trowa a ‘you’d-better-not-say-what-I-think-you’re-going-to’ glare.

Trowa plopped down next to the cooler and took out a drink. “Well, I think we’d all agree that Tsuberov and this faction of OZ is a more important threat, since they have the backing of Romafeller and the Mobile Dolls, and their plan is to take over the earth. So my theory is, we help Treize get rid of them and get back in power, then figure out what to do with him. And to do so, we’ll have to work with him.”

“Wait,” Xiaolong said, “you’re talking about betraying Treize.”

Trowa just nodded.

“That is unacceptable,” Xiaolong said.

Trowa raised an eyebrow. “You’d protect the man who lied to you?”

Duo interrupted before a war could break out. “Look, you two are going about this entirely the wrong way. Trowa didn’t say we’d kill him or anything. He didn’t even say we’d betray him! He just said we’ll figure out what to with him. Maybe we’ll decide not to do anything at all. Can’t we please just burn that bridge when we get to it? So far nothing’s gone as planned. Why would it start now?”

“Though I hate to admit it, he has a point,” Heero said.

“Thank you.” Duo folded his arms and looked smug.

“I have a question,” Rigel spoke up. “What was that . . . the first time we went out on a mission? With those people who seemed to know me?”

“Who, the Fez Patrol?” Duo asked.

Rigel blinked.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. They’re just your private army. Y’know, work for your family. But really they just work for you.”

“Wait, Treize said I had no family - ” Rigel began.

“Yeah, and that almost means something,” Duo said. “Weren’t you listening to me? You’re Quatre Raberba Winner. Winner as in the L4 colony, heir to a whole bunch of really impressive stuff. And I suppose he wasn’t listening when I said he was Chang Wufei, as in a might-as-well-be-a-prince of L5.” Duo threw his hands into the air. “Doesn’t anybody listen to me?”

“No,” Heero felt it was necessary to answer.

“Yeah, shut up,” Duo said. “I know you listen to me. Don’t lie. Anyway, that answer your question?”

“I nearly hurt friends of mine?” Rigel asked.

“You didn’t know any better,” Duo said with a shrug. “Now you do, so it won’t happen again.”

“I suppose,” Rigel said, moving a bit closer to Trowa.

“Good, that’s settled,” Duo said. “I’m gonna try to get some sleep. Are we going to go see Treize in the morning?”

Trowa nodded.

“’Kay then,” Duo said.

****

“Lord Treize?” Une stuck her head into his makeshift office. She had finally threatened her guards into letting her see Treize. She was serving as his secretary as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “You have, um, a few visitors.”

“A few?”

“Five, to be exact. Three of whom you know, two of whom you don’t.”

Treize shot out of his chair like five pounds of gunpowder in a one pound bag. “Show them in. Please.”

Une nodded. A few minutes later, the five Gundam pilots trooped in. Une came in behind them and shut the door.

“Good to see you again,” Treize said. “Rigel, Xiaolong, you two okay?”

“We’re fine,” Rigel said. “Confused, but fine.”

Treize looked at the others. “How did you get in here?”

“Once we got past the guards on the outside, we were fine,” Rigel said. “Everyone inside knows us, and they’re all loyal to you.”

Treize nodded, then looked at Heero and Duo. “Don’t believe I know you two.”

“Course you don’t, and we wish we could’ve kept it that way, but alas! Such is not to be!” Duo grinned and bounced forward. “My name’s Duo. Duo Maxwell. The ice-glaring guy back there is Heero.”

“Hn,” Heero said.

“See what I have to put up with?” Duo lamented.

“See what I have to put up with?” Heero countered.

Duo laughed. “You do have a sense of humor buried in there somewhere . . . ANYways, what are we doing about, you know, the thing. Evil people.”

Treize felt a migraine coming on. “Trowa, may I ask a question?”

“You can ask.”

“Why are you here?”

“You’re the one who mentioned we would all have to work together.”

“So are we all working together?” Treize asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Weeellllll,” Duo said, “we certainly can’t let OZ take over the world, and Trowa here says you’re not a half-bad guy. Sorta. You know, for an evil domineering world dictator. So we figure if we have to pick a side, it oughta be yours. And we can’t do it all by ourselves - that’s kinda been proven by now.”

Treize looked at Trowa. “And to think I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I don’t,” Trowa said.

“Good to know I still have my powers of observation, then,” Treize said. “But are we all agreed to work together?”

There was a general rounds of nods until a sharp voice interjected, “No. Not yet.”

Everyone looked over to see Xiaolong.

“What’s wrong?” Treize asked.

“I want to know if it’s true,” Xiaolong said. “Did we used to work against you?”

Treize paused.

“We told you already, Xiao,” Duo said, draping an arm around the Chinese boy’s shoulders and then shrugging as Xiaolong moved out from underneath it.

“I know what you told me.” Xiaolong’s voice was cold. “I want to know if it’s true.” He looked at Treize.

“I’d like to know too,” Rigel said softly. He was looking uncertainly between Trowa and Treize, not wanting to believe that either of them would lie to him.

“It’s true,” Treize said, not seeing much else he could say.

Xiaolong glared. “You lied to us.”

“Yes,” Treize said simply. “I had to.”

Xiaolong looked like he was ready to spit fire. “Explain.”

Treize crossed his arms and looked at the two young men. “For one thing, I’m not the one who erased your memories. That was done without my knowledge and without my permission. So let’s say that you had woken up and I had informed you that you were fifteen year-old terrorrists being held captive by your enemy. How comforting would that really have been?”

“Don’t tell me you had our best interests in mind, Khushrenada,” Xiaolong snapped.

“You’re right; I didn’t,” Treize said flatly. “I’m fighting a war, and in war sacrifices have to be made. You two were screwed anyway, I figured I might as well get something out of it.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“You know,” Duo said solemnly, “there is a certain twisted logic in that.”

“Shut up, Duo,” Heero replied.

“Well,” Duo said, crossing his arms and sticking to his guns, “tell me that if we had suddenly gotten hold of him, we would’ve treated him kindly.”

Another long moment of silence.

“Valid point,” Trowa finally said.

“So why were you nice to us?” Xiaolong snapped. “Why did you pretend you care?”

“I saw no reason to be mean to you,” Treize said.

“And you wanted to be closer to us?” Rigel was starting to sound a little angry himself.

“Since we were your prized pilots? Your prized possessions?”

“That’s not true!”

Everyone turned to look at Une.

“Stay out of this, onna,” Xiaolong said irritably.

Une walked over and grabbed him by the hair. “I don’t want to hear either of you talking about Lord Treize like that. He didn’t look on either of you as possessions and he wasn’t pretending to care. Don’t you understand that any other military general probably would have ordered you both killed? He didn’t. And when your memories had been lost, he gave you lives that you never could have had. You owe him for everything he’s done for you. Maybe it wasn’t all entirely in your best interest, but he put effort in to keeping harm from coming to both of you. And trust me, when you see him woken up at three a.m. to go running to Arabia for the both of you, and you know he’s worried, then don’t tell me that he was pretending to care about you.”

Still more silence.

“Thank you, Une.” Treize thudded into his chair.

“We’re sorry,” Rigel said softly.

“I’m not sorry,” Xiaolong snapped, then glared at Une when she reached for his hair again.

Rigel pinched him. “Yes, we are,” he said firmly. “We’re just understandably . . . upset, that’s all.”

Trowa put his arms around Rigel’s shoulders.

“Well, I’m sorry too,” Treize said with a sigh. “But I never meant to force you to work for me . . . like this. I swear to you, I had nothing to do with your memories being erased.”

“Who did, then?” Xiaolong demanded.

“It really doesn’t matter,” Treize said.

“It matters to us,” Xiaolong snapped. “I want to know, so I can hunt him down and kill him.”

“You don’t know him and you can’t hunt him down. He’s - ” Treize turned to Une. “Where is he, anyway?”

Une blinked. “I don’t know. I lost track of everyone’s whereabouts when OZ factioned.”

Treize sighed, feeling a migraine coming on. “Try to track him down for me, will you? I could use his help.”

“I’ll track him down,” Xiaolong muttered.

“For now, can we just put aside our differences and work together?” Treize asked, sounding pained.

“Yes,” Trowa said, “on one condition.”

Treize looked at him apprehensively. “And what would that condition be?”

“I want you to find a way to restore their memories,” Trowa said flatly.

Treize hesitated, then nodded. “Agreed. I think I may know someone who can do it.”

“I trust you won’t mind if we call in our own specialist to team up with yours?” Heero’s tone of voice suggested that Treize had better not mind.

“That’s fine,” Treize said. “I’ll get to that right away.”

****