At pretty much the same time, all three shuttles arrived in the hanger, with a very unhappy Noin waiting for them.
"Where have you been?" She demanded. "You all know that it’s against regulations to…"
"Oh chill out Noin," Duo sighed as he and Helen and Hilde stepped off their shuttle. "Its no big deal…"
"NO BIG DEAL! ARE YOU CRAZY? IF…"
But Duo wasn’t listening. He and the rest of the Gundam pilots and their families stepped happily out of their respective shuttles.
"I don’t know why she’s complaining," Joel muttered to Jasmine, "With all of us gone, her and Zechs had more time to…"
"Joel!" Jasmine shrieked. She hit him in the stomach and cut him off.
"Disrespectful child," Wufei growled. "You have no right to speak of authority that way."
Sally chuckled at her husband as he continued complaining.
"What did those useless foster parents teach you?" Wufei bellowed. Joel grimaced at the thought of what had happened to his foster father. He shrugged it off and headed out of the hanger.
"Wufei," Sally scolded. "That wasn’t necessary…"
"Are you correcting me woman?"
"Damn right I am!"
"THAT’S ENOUGH!" Noin screamed. "All of you! In the conference room, NOW! I have you’re next mission lined up and we’ve already lost valuable preparation time!"
"What crawled up her ass?" Jason snickered, but one cold look from his father shut him up immediately.
Jason’s foster father stood near the entrance to the hanger, watching all of them.
"What’s going on Jason?" He asked as his foster son passed him.
"Oh, nothing much, Noin has a mission for us so we’re going to see what it is."
"A…mission?"
"Yeah, she probably wants us to blow up another enemy base or something simple like that. Nothing to worry about."
"Blow…up?" Gary was dumbfounded.
Heero gave him a disapproving look at he stalked past. Shrugging of all the looks he was getting, Gary followed the group to the conference room.
Jason took his seat next to Helen and his father. He noticed that his foster father was just standing by the door. He was about to get him a seat when Noin barged in and told everyone to sit down without a sideways glance at Gary.
"Now," She said a she looked around the room. "We’ve lost a lot of time already since you all decided to disappear…" She glared around the room. "But then I guess we’ll have to increase your workload for the rest of this week before your mission, now won’t we?"
All the kids groaned as if she was a teacher assigning extra homework.
"We’ve received word of an enemy base that is collecting valuable information. It is important that we not only to destroy this base, but also to gather all the information we can. Also, we believe the enemy is holding some new technology that is without a doubt being held under extreme security." She handed out manila folders to all the kids, who opened them and flipped through the pages inside.
"We have split you up into three teams. Two teams will infiltrate the base and get to the control room. From there you need to get a map of the base. Team one will consist of Jason and Helen."
Helen groaned while Jason smirked.
"Your job," Noin continued, "Is to get down to the high security area and retrieve this new technology. It most likely to be a small, pocket sized object that resembles a TV remote control. Our sources tell us it is a computer database containing information on enemy weapons. We need that database. If you are unable to retrieve it…then you must destroy it." She paused and looked Helen and Jason in the eye. "Do you understand?"
"Yes ma’am." They said in unison.
"Now, team two will remain in the control room and hack into the firewalls. That will be Indigo and David."
They nodded in acknowledgement.
"You need to remain in radio contact with the rest of the group and keep them updated on enemy maneuvers. The last team is the Chang twins. You two will be in you mobile suits providing cover for their entry and exit. We are expecting a major mobile suit battle so be prepared."
"Yes ma’am," Jasmine said proudly. Joel muttered under his breath.
"All the details are in the reports I just handed to you, so if there are no questions this meeting is adjourned."
Helen raised her hand. "Miss Noin, are you sure it’s a good idea to put me with Jason?" She asked, not waiting for Noin to call on her.
"Of course I am," Noin smiled. "Like it or not, you two are the most skilled in hand to hand combat rather than mobile suit battle. I wouldn’t think of putting anyone else in there."
"So I guess that’s a big ‘no’ on me getting switched hun?"
"That would be a negative, there’s no reason short of a major injury that will change my mind."
"Oh…dad, can you break my leg?" She asked casually.
"Funny Helen," Duo snorted, "But I don’t think Jason will try anything funny on a mission, do you?"
Helen sighed, "I guess not."
"Right then, I’ll see you all at out next meeting tomorrow."
The group got up and all headed in their separate directions. Helen went to train, Jason was intent on following her, and Joel stormed angrily off towards the dorms.
Joel grumbled under his breath about injustice as he stormed down the empty hall. How dare that woman put him out in his mobile suit. Did she not trust him with being able to sneak into the base successfully? Everyone else had something useful to do, but he and Jasmine were hardly needed. The others could easily destroy any mobile suit resistance without them.
"Joel! Hey Joel wait up!" Indigo cried as she ran after him. Joel turned and waited impatiently for her to catch up.
"What do you want?" He growled.
"Just to talk." She replied, "Why’d you run off so fast?"
"Hn, I can’t believe she doesn’t trust me."
"Hun? Who?"
"NOIN! She gave me the easiest job…"
"You’re job is easy!" Indigo laughed. "At least you get a little fun, all I get o do is watch dots on a computer screen."
"Hn, at least she thinks you have enough talent to trust with something that important."
"I don’t think so, each job is as important as the next." She clutched her clown doll tightly and sighed.
"What is it with you and that doll?" Joel shot.
"Oh this? It’s nothing, my aunt gave it to me the day they took us from our parents." She said sadly.
"Oh…" Joel felt his inside tighten when he thought of his foster parents. His mother was a mess and his father had killed himself.
"One time, my mom sold it to some people who lived down the street, I cried and said I hated her and then I stole it back." She laughed through her tears. "I can still remember the look on her face when I told her that I didn’t love her anymore." She could no longer conceal her feelings and she started to cry.
"I-I know how you feel," Joel muttered. "My dad…" Indigo nodded. "I guess we’re sorta in the same boat."
"How can you say that?"
"My dad, he was, well he got really drunk one day when I was seven after he and my mom had a fight. He was so depressed and I guess really hammered cause the next thing you know he was splattered all over the sidewalk under the Eiffel tower."
"Ah…" Joel didn’t know what else to say. He looked at Indigo and saw that she was bawling her eyes out. "It’s not so bad," He said, "Taking a step closer to her. "We have our real families now.
But it didn’t help her any. Joel took another step towards her and placed a comforting hand on her back.
Without realizing what she was doing, Indigo flung her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. Joel was feeling worse every second for bringing it up. He let her stand there and cry for as long as she needed to. And, he had to admit, it was good for him too because she was so busy sobbing that she didn’t notice the tears running down his own face. Although it was painful to think about, Joel was glad he was able to get it off his chest, and he was sure Indigo felt the same.
Both of them were so caught up in their own emotions that neither of them noticed the dark figure watching them from just around a corner. The figure pulled something out of its pocket and aimed it at the two teens.
Heh, heh, heh it thought. It got the two of them in its sight and pushed the button on the device. Blackmail.
Jason found Helen in the gym, just where he figured she would be. She wasn’t one to lounge around when she could be getting work done.
She was in the middle of the gym, standing on a huge area of padded flooring used for hand to hand combat.
She was wearing baggy red shorts that came down to just above her knees and a gray sports bra-type shirt that exposed her well-toned midriff. Her hands were wrapped in bandages wound tightly all the way down her arms to almost her elbows to protect them from injury and to shape her fists. And they did shape her hands in loose fists while she punched the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. The bandages were unwinding near the bottom but Helen didn’t pay any attention. Her braid swung as she punched and kicked the bag and it swung around wildly. Jason waited until she came for a drink of water to talk to her.
"You think you can do that with something that fights back?" He smirked.
"Are you suggesting a fight?" She asked as she put her water bottle back down.
"Damn right I am, care to rise to the challenge?"
"It won’t be a challenge," Helen laughed.
"We’ll see."
Jason and Helen went over to the mats and took their fighting positions.
"You’re goin’ down Helen!" Jason warned.
"We’ll see."
The fight started suddenly and Jason and Helen lunged at each other. Jason threw the first punch at Helen’s face. Helen ducked out of the way and threw a punch at Jason’s stomach. It hit him square and he wheeled backwards, winded. Helen smirked and waited for him to regain his composure. Jason lunged again and this time he managed to hit Helen across the face.
Across the gym, Jason’s foster father, Gary, was watching them. He winced as he saw Jason hit Helen and her lip started bleeding. He was about to scream when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
It was Duo, Helen’s father. "Don’t stop the fight now," He whispered, "It’s just getting good."
Gary grumbled, "I thought I taught him better than to hit girls."
"Phhfffffftt, Helen can handle it. She’s a tough kid."
"I’d be worried about Jason," Said another voice.
"Thank you Heero," Duo grinned.
"B-but, he’s your son!" Gary stuttered.
Heero shrugged. "He’s not concentrating. He’s afraid of hurting her." "Phhfft, he couldn’t hurt Helen."
Heero shrugged again. "If he would put a bit more effort into it, he might stand a chance. But Helen’s more into hand to hand combat than he is."
"Maybe…GET HIM HELEN!" He screamed suddenly as Helen delivered a severe kick to Jason’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground.
Jason fell backwards and tried to swipe his legs under her and trip her as well. She jumped over them and stepped back as he got up again. Without giving him time to recover, she jumped forward and started a series of moves. Jason blocked and then fought back. This continued for a while, with Jason or Helen throwing in a special move every so often.
Both teens knew that their routine was getting old. They had fought each other too many times and they knew the other’s fighting style. They had to try something different.
Helen jumped at him with an uppercut and got him in the chin, making him bite his tongue.
"Ow," He said as he spit out some blood. He jumped back at Helen and tried a few punches. She caught his punch and threw one of her own. He caught that one. So they were standing there arm wrestling, trying to overpower the other. Suddenly Jason stepped forward and pulled Helen toward him. He flung his arms around her waist and locked his mouth over hers. Helen screeched but Jason didn’t pull back.
Duo winced and said "Uh oh."
"What?" Heero looked up from what he was doing and saw Jason in Helen locked in an embrace.
"Hn," He snorted and turned back to his work.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?" Gary screamed.
"Trying to throw her off guard." Duo shrugged, "It won’t work."
"But…he just snuck a kiss out of your daughter. Aren’t you even a little upset?"
"No, but she will be. I’m just concerned about what will happen to Jason when he lets her go."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You’ll see," He pointed to the two teens again. Jason was just pulling back, a wide grin spread across his face. Helen was absolutely furious. She started to kick but he spun her around and got her in a headlock and kissed her on the cheek.
"WHAT THE…HE JUST DID IT AGIN!"
"Calm down Gary, Helen will get him." He chuckled, "You should have seen that last time he kissed her without permission."
"HE’S DONE IT BEFORE!"
"Yeah, but don’t worry, Helen would never let him get away with it. Last time she had him running scared for months." He paused and looked at Helen, who was trying to twist out of Jason’s headlock.
"KICK HIS ASS SWEATHEART!" Duo screamed to his daughter. Helen heard him and smirked and then gave him a wink. Duo chuckled and waited to see what she would do.
Helen suddenly elbowed Jason in the stomach and when he let go she spun around and kicked him in the head. Jason toppled backwards and fell to the ground. He lay there panting for a moment and Helen was the winner.
She stood over Jason and smiled. "Was that enough for ya? Or do you want more?"
Jason tried to catch his breath, smiled and said "Basketball."
"You’re so on!" She offered Jason her hand, which he took, and helped him up to his feet again.
"What are they doing?" Gary wondered.
"New game," Duo answered. Gary only shook his head in wonder.
After Jason beat Helen at basketball, he also won at soccer and weight lifting. But Helen had won the fight, beaten him on the Zero System simulator and floor hockey. They were at it until about four in the morning. They wanted to continue with a tiebreaker race, but both were too tired and could hardly even move.
Helen stumbled off the track to her father and nearly fell over. Duo caught her and held her up.
"Come on baby," He said to his daughter, "Walk it off."
"I can’t walk." she moaned. "Someone set my lungs on fire."
"Just relax and have some water." He handed her a water bottle as he helped her walk around the track a few times.
"I don’t wanna walk," She mumbled.
"You have to unless you want to feel like a cement block in the morning." Helen grumbled some more but didn’t argue.
Jason stumbled over to the bench and drank down three water bottles before he decided to say anything. "We finish this tomorrow," He mumbled at Helen as she passed.
"You’re on."
Gary had gone to bed somewhere around the middle of the hockey game, so Jason had no one to help him stretch his muscles. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. Heero entered the gymnasium and looked at his son lying there, and then he looked at his watch.
"Hn," He grabbed Jason’s arm, pulled him up and helped him to the door.
"Bed, Jason," Heero said sternly.
"Hi daddy!" Jason mumbled.
"I’ll tell Noin to let you and Helen sleep in tomorrow. Get some rest." Heero practically dragged Jason down to his room and threw him on the bed. Jason was asleep instantly.
Duo sighed and gave Helen more water as they finished walking. Helen was already falling asleep, so he picked her up and carried her to the dorms. He shifted her in his arms and opened the door.
"Night Helen," Duo said as he put her in her bed. He pulled off her shoes and pulled the covers over her. He switched of the light as he left and went back towards his own room.
The next morning, Indigo, Joel and David were in the cafeteria eating breakfast.
"I wonder where the other three are," David said as he stabbed his fork into the eggs on his plate.
"I heard Noin is letting Helen and Jason sleep in today."
"Why?" Joel cut in.
Indigo shrugged. "I heard from Zechs that they were up all night having some sort of decathlon or something."
"Decathlon?" David snorted, "Why would they do something like that with just the two of them?"
Indigo just shrugged.
"Brother dearest?" Jasmine slunk up to the table and stood smiling next to her brother.
"When did you get here?" Joel snarled.
"Just now," Jasmine cooed. "I need a word with you, if you don’t mind."
"N-now?" Joel gulped. Indigo and David were both giving him horrified looks. Not only had Jasmine just called Joel ‘brother dearest’ but she wanted a word with him too. Everyone who knew Jasmine knew that those two things were bad.
"Yes now," Jasmine said, grabbing her bother’s arm. "We really need to talk."
"Ummm…" Joel followed his sister out of the cafeteria and into the empty hallway.
"What do you want," Joel asked as his sister peeked around the corners.
"Indigo seems rather quiet since we got back, don’t you think?" Jasmine grinned.
"WHAT! You called me all the way out here just to gossip! I’m going back inside!" Joel started to turn but Jasmine grabbed his arm. "One more thing Joel," She pulled something out of her pocket. It looked like a picture but Joel couldn’t see what it was a picture of.
"How much do you think Jason will pay for this?" She asked sweetly. She turned the picture around to show Joel what it was. Joel nearly choked at what he saw. Jasmine had a picture of Indigo and him in the hallway the night before. They were hugging, but from the camera angle it almost looked like they were embracing!
"J-Jasmine! You’ve got this wrong. We were just…"
"Oh I know," Jasmine said, "I saw the whole thing. But that definitely isn’t what it looks like here, now does it?"
Joel stuttered again and Jasmine laughed. "I guess you’ll have to be really nice to me, if you don’t want this getting out."
"Jasmine! That’s not fair!"
"All’s fair in love and war, brother dearest. And this is war."
"Damn straight it is Jasmine."
"Now, now, if you want, I can go straight to Duo with this. I wonder how fast he could spread this around the base."
"NO! Please Jasmine, don’t."
"Ok then, I think we have a deal." She walked to the cafeteria door and let her brother in first. Joel was seething and he had his hands clenched into tight fists.
"Can you see what they’re doing?" Indigo asked David in a fierce whisper.
"She’s taking something out of her pocket." David answered after a minute. "It looks like a picture…"
"Of what?"
"I-I dunno, it’s not clear…"
"Oh let me see!" Indigo pushed David out of the way and grabbed the binoculars from him. But she wasn’t able to see what it was a picture of either. "Oh shit! Here they come!" Indigo gasped suddenly. The two of then lunged for their seats and Indigo stuffed the binoculars back into her bag.
"What was that all about?" Indigo asked calmly as the two approached the table.
"Oh nothing," Jasmine smirked, but Joel looked ready to kill.
"Brother dearest," Jasmine cooed. "Can you get me some breakfast please?"
"Get your own breakfast." Joel snarled.
Jasmine shrugged and reached for her pocket.
"OK! What do you want?" Joel cried as he jumped up from the table. Jasmine quickly gave him a long list of items for her breakfast and Joel stormed off muttering to himself.
Joel went up into the line and started roughly grabbing things for his sister. He finished and stormed right back and dropped the tray in front of her.
"There," He said bitterly.
"You forgot ketchup."
Joel groaned and headed towards the line again.
"Blackmail?" He heard Indigo ask.
"Blackmail." Jasmine chuckled. The two girls started to laugh and talk, ignoring what was going on with him. Joel couldn’t believe his sister was doing this to him!
He picked up the entire huge ketchup dispenser, carried it over to their table and dropped it in front of Jasmine.
"Enough ketchup?" He asked sweetly.
"Yep, thanks bro."
Joel sighed and flopped back down into his seat. This was going to be a long day.
