Jason sat outside Brittney's cell, waiting for the guards to bring her from the interrogation room. He watched the door, doing his best to stay out of sight. He just wanted to talk to her again. And he wanted to talk to Seth as well. He needed to figure out who was his enemy and who was not. It was all so confusing at the moment.
He heard muffled voices from down the hall and pressed himself further around the corner to watch. Once she was safely in her cell he could talk to her again.
Four guards half-dragged, half-pushed her towards the cell door. She looked very tired from hours of intense questioning. Jason wanted to ask them to be gentler with her, but that would just make her angry and arouse suspicion among the other Preventors. He stayed where he was, but was unprepared for what happened next.
Brittney somehow managed to free her right hand and slammed her fist into one guard's stomach and punched another in the face. In the shock and confusion of the instant, she managed to free herself from the guards' grasp and dash down the hallway. Jason was quick to follow her. He followed her around a corner and saw Seth heading towards them. This would be his test. If Seth let her go, then Jason would know for sure that he was an enemy. But if he caught her, he could be on their side, or he could be pretending. Part of Jason hoped that he would fail, because at least then he would know where he stood.
But Seth stopped when he saw Brittney running down the hall, and his eyes grew wide. Brittney saw him as well, and started to turn down another corridor when Seth sprang into action and grabbed her around the waist, pinning her arms to her sides.
Jason caught up with them and stared helplessly as Brittney kicked and flailed in Seth's grip.
"Let me go! I have to leave!" She insisted.
"I don't think so Brit, you can stay right here."
"No, stay away from me!" She screamed at them.
"Hey Jason, a little help here?" Seth growled. Jason nodded and managed to grab Brittney's legs. Together the two boys carried the screaming girl back down the hall to her cell.
"You really should think things through a bit more, Brittney," Seth sighed as they handed her over to the waiting Preventor guards. "But I must admit, it was a nice attempt."
"Shut up!" She snapped. Seth smirked at her and watched as the guards tossed her into her cell.
"You can't keep me in here forever!" Brittney insisted; her voice was hoarse from all the screaming and crying she had been doing.
"We weren't planning on it," Seth grinned, "Once Noin finishes with all her reports, she's going to hand you over to a judge to decide what will happen to you. Most likely you'll end up in a penal colony forever."
Brittney glared at him through the cell door window. "Armand will come for me," She vowed once again, "Just you wait and see. And then we'll have all you lousy Preventors where you belong."
"And where is that?" Jason wondered.
"In hell," She hissed. Jason sighed and started to follow Seth as he left the corridor and headed in the direction of the offices.
"Seth, I have a question." Jason started as he caught up with the other teen.
"You want to know what there is between myself and Brittney, don't you?" Seth looked up at Jason and grinned.
"Yeah…" Jason admitted.
"Well, Brittney is, well...she's my sister."
Jason had been preparing himself for Seth's answer, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Seth and Brittney were siblings?
"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. You said she was your sister?"
"Half sister actually, same father, different mothers." Seth sighed.
"So, your father is the no-good lousy pig she's talking about."
"Yep,"
"Is he as bad as she makes him out to be?"
"He can be," Seth said, "But I have a certain loyalty to my family, even Brittney. I can't just leave him like that. If I didn't work he and my sister would have nothing. My dad will probably never be able to hold a job."
"But aren't you concerned about your sister living with him over there?"
Seth nodded and let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, but my dad won't let her leave, and he has custody of her. There's nothing I can do short of stealing her, and that won't look good on my resume for the Preventors." Seth managed to grin. "If I weren't a minor I would have taken over responsibility for her and brought her with me to L3 to the circus."
Jason nodded; he no longer had the slightest doubt as to whose side Seth was on. He was obviously with them, the Preventors, the good guys.
"That's a lot to put on your shoulders when you're just sixteen."
"Yeah, but so is saving the world," Seth laughed. Jason nodded in agreement. "Are you going to tell the other guys?" Jason wondered. He would understand if Seth didn't want to. After all, that might cause some of the others to think of him as an enemy.
"I guess I'm going to have to. If I didn't they would find out anyway, and then I might get into some trouble."
Jason nodded again and saw that they had arrived at the dorms. "I'll see ya later, Jason." It was Seth's way of dismissing him.
"Yeah, see ya," Jason nodded to the other boy and then turned to leave himself. He really had a craving for pizza at the moment, so he decided to go down to the cafeteria for some lunch.
~~~
Seth left Jason and wandered into the room Noin had provided him with for the time he stayed there. He dropped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. He though about his sisters. He wasn't sure what was up with Brittney. He was desperate to know why Armand had insisted on lying to her about her mother. There had to be a reason why Brittney was so important to him; but what was it? And what about Denise, his younger sister; she was stuck at home with their alcoholic father, waiting for him. He needed to get more money to send them, but he wasn't getting any money from the Preventors at the moment since he wasn't a member. And since he wasn't at the circus he would lose money from lost hours. He needed to do something and quick or his family would get into serious trouble.
He closed his eyes and tried to think of something more positive. He soon found his thoughts focused on Jasmine Chang. He smiled unconsciously as he pictured her beautiful face and soft features and brilliant blue eyes. It was the eyes that first got him; he decided. They stood out against her black hair and pale skin and seemed totally out of place. He liked Jasmine, and cursed himself for almost ruining his chances with her by being so unresponsive when she made a move on him. That too would have to be corrected.
~~~
Armand sat staring at the picture on his desk. After he escaped from the Preventors he had met up with some of his subordinates and was now safe in his base at Normandy; far away from Whitehorse and all those damn Preventor search parties. He tapped his pen on his desk, and then started to chew on the cap. He looked at the picture of a beautiful dark-haired woman and her small daughter. Both were smiling at the camera. Armand had taken that picture of them years ago. He had once been in love with the woman in the photo. Her silky brown hair and captivating dark eyes. She was everything Armand had wanted in a woman. That is, until she discovered his plans. He moved his eyes to look at her daughter, Brittney, whom he had taken in as his own.
But now Brittney was also in the hands of the Preventors; and he had lost any leverage he had ever had on Cheryl. But it didn't matter, Brittney was almost useless now anyway, and so was her mother. He could afford to lose their help now that he had his plan in place. The Preventors would never know what hit them. Armand smiled and then started to laugh. What idiots they were. He had his doubts at first, but now he knew for sure; his plan was foolproof.
~~~
Helen stared at the blank walls of the office waiting room. She was supposed to be talking to Noin about some details of their next mission, but Noin was busy with Relena talking to some foreign delegates. And worse than that, they would probably be hours still; and yet, Helen couldn't find any of the other kids anywhere.
Well, that was a partial lie. She knew that Joel and Indigo, and David and Alexis were in the quad. Jason was nowhere to be found, not that she really wanted to talk to him anyway. He had been acting strange ever since they got back from the Yukon. That left only Seth and Jasmine. But Seth hadn't been seen since they had brought Brittney in, and Jasmine; well…Jasmine was in one of her psychopathic moods and Helen really didn't want to bother her. So she was stuck in the waiting room trying to find something to do.
She absently raised a bubble wand to her lips and blew, sending the shiny bubbles floating around the room.
She groaned as she realized that this was the most interesting thing to do. She could always go to the gym…but what if Noin finished?
Helen didn't even care anymore; she was going out of her mind with boredom! She decided to leave a note for Noin. If she really wanted to discuss their next mission, she could walk down to the gym and find her.
Helen quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and raced out of the room. Hopefully Noin wouldn't catch her on her way out.
She quickly dashed own the halls until she found the gym. Peeking inside, she saw that no one was there and smiled. She was glad she had the gym all to herself.
She headed for the storage room and pulled out the mats. She arranged them neatly on the floor and took her position. She started practicing her moves. She could feel herself beginning to feel more at home. She hadn’t practiced in a long time.
~~~
When Joel and Indigo finally decided to leave the quad they were shocked to find Trowa waiting for them. Joel stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the older Gundam Pilot.
Trowa stood calmly next to the doors, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Have fun, kids?" He asked coldly. Joel sighed; he knew that Trowa knew.
"Yeah," Indigo answered cheerfully. We were just going to go down to the cafeteria for some food…"
Trowa looked up at them and glared in Joel’s direction. "What were you two doing?" He asked.
"Just uh…you know, hanging out." Indigo continued to deny having anything to do with Joel romantically.
"Really, that’s not what I saw." Trowa stated. Indigo paled considerably and Joel groaned.
"So uh…you saw me and Joel hun?" She blushed. Trowa nodded.
"Listen, Daddy I…"
Trowa held up his hand to indicate that she should stop. He walked up to the young couple and glared at Joel. Joel held the cold stare. Indigo groaned something and buried her face in her hands, trying to think of something to say to her father.
"I want you," He pointed at Joel, "To stay away from my daughter." Joel sighed, not this again. Stupid parents, overreacting again.
"Hmm, no." Joel said smoothly.
"No?" Trowa raised his eyebrows at the Chinese teen.
"I can't do that, Sir." He figured he would put up the 'respect' bit; that seemed to work every once in a while.
Trowa's eyes narrowed dangerously into thin strips. "You mean to tell me that you won't stay away from my Indigo?"
"Dad…"
Trowa didn't bother to answer; he was more interested in staring down Joel.
"Dad…" Indy said again, still she got no response.
"Daddy! Joel and I are a couple now and I'm not going to stop seeing him!" She cried.
Trowa's head snapped up. His eyes widened for a split second before returning to their narrowed state.
"I am your father, you are going to listen to me." Trowa said firmly.
Indigo looked slightly amused for reasons that Trowa and Joel could not yet understand.
It wasn't until Indigo motioned with her eyes to the two figures standing behind them that they realized why she was so happy. Oh great, Trowa thought, There's no way she'll be on my side…
"Indy and Joel are…together?" Midii Barton squealed. "Wow, why didn't I know about this?"
Sally, who was standing next to her, only shrugged.
"What are you two doing here?" Trowa growled.
"Well, Midii and I were just on out way down here because Indigo was late for her check-up." Sally explained. "But I guess now I can understand why." She looked over at her son and winked. Joel blushed and rolled his eyes.
"How can you two be so calm about this?" Trowa asked, astonished.
"Oh Trowa," Midii sighed. "She's sixteen years old, she can have a boyfriend if she wants."
"Thank you mom,"
"No she can't! No greasy hormone-driven, son of Chang Wufei is ever going to date my daughter!"
"Hey!" Joel cried. "I'm not greasy!"
"What's wrong with Wufei?" Sally snapped.
"You're being unreasonable," Midii argued. Trowa groaned and banged his head on the wall. There was just no fighting these women! Now he understood why they infuriated Wufei so much. Indigo grinned, she knew her father was beaten; and he knew it too.
"Come on Trowa, stop and think a minute. Who better can you trust with our daughter than Wufei's son? You know, the one that pumps his kids about honor and justice 24/7?"
Trowa sighed and looked at Joel, standing there coolly, as if he didn't even care. The only sign of his discomfort was the slight red tone to his ears.
"Fine," Trowa growled. "But if you break her heart I'll break your neck!"
Indigo blushed, but also let out a sigh of relief. At least that took care of their parents. And for sure the news would be around the entire base. It was dealing with Jason and Noin that had her worried the most.
"Well, I'm glad that's all sorted out!" She grinned. "Now if you don't mind, I have an appointment. Come on Sally!"
Joel blinked as he watched her leave and then looked over at Trowa, who was still glaring at him. Joel laughed nervously and then took off himself.
~~~
Gary sauntered slowly through the hallways of the Preventor base. His loyal dog Pluto trailed behind him. He sighed deeply and stared at the empty gray walls. As he turned down a corner he noticed he was in a part of the base he had never seen before.
He stopped only for a second, trying to decide whether or not he should continue on his walk down this hallway. He would have turned back if it had not been for the tiny noise he heard from inside one of the rooms.
Curious, Gary kept going and peeked into each room as he walked. They were all locked, so he had to be content to just look in the barred windows.
"Hey," he heard someone call.
Gary stopped dead in his tracks and looked around.
"Over here," Said the voice again. Gary looked behind him and saw a small, frail hand waving at him from inside on of the rooms.
"Who are you?" Gary asked suspiciously.
"My name's Brittney," She said.
Gary's face hardened. "You're from the enemy side," he hissed.
"No!" Brittney insisted. "I'm not! It was all just a misunderstanding. I was…I was confused." She sighed and Gary decided to take a step closer.
"My son brought you here."
"Your son? I thought he was Heero Yuy's son."
"He…he is, I'm his adoptive father." Gary growled.
"Oh…"
Gary looked up and into the girl's face. He reminded him of one of Jason's ex-girlfriends. What was here name again…? He couldn't remember.
"Listen, uh, what's your name?"
"Gary,"
"Well listen to me for a minute, Gary. I need your help."
Gary glared at the girl. Did she think he was some kind of idiot? He wasn't about to be tricked by her.
"I know that you guys don't trust me around here…" She started. Gary snorted.
"And I don't expect you to! I know that I have been working for Neo Zion and…"
"And what?" Gary snapped. "You're sorry and you want me to help you get out? Not a chance."
"Of course not, I know that would just make Jason even more distant from you. All I ask is that you deliver a message for me."
"No way," Gary snapped.
"Please Gary, you must know how it feels to be separated from your family…"
Gary glared down at the floor. "Your only family is your father the leader of the Neo Zion."
"Wow, I'm impressed you knew that. They probably don't tell you much around here, being a civilian and all."
Gary's head shot up and he stared at her. How could she possibly know that? No, He shook his head roughly, I won't let her manipulate me...
"You know Jason doesn't really love his parents that much."
"He…he doesn't?" It was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Did he say that?"
"Not exactly. But we spent a lot of time together on Earth. I could tell that he's only loyal to them because of who they are. Of course, what kid wouldn't be? They're Relena Peacecraft, an incredible Peacekeeper, and Heero Yuy, a former Gundam pilot…and of course, they gave Jason his own Gundam as well."
Gary could only stare at her.
"You know that the Preventors knew all this time about the attacks on the colonies and on your hometown, and they didn't do anything about it?"
"No…" Gary gasped. Painful memories of his wife lying dead in his arms flashed before his eyes. He shut them tightly to block out the images, but they were burned to the backs of his eyelids. His fists clenched into angry balls. There were so many things he didn't know about them. What if Brittney was right? NO! She had to be tricking him. The Preventors were there to keep the peace, weren't they?
"Listen Gary, I know you hate the Yuys as much as I do. You could join the Neo Zion and help us!"
"No! I could…I could never do that. You and your organization are destroying the peace we worked hard to maintain."
"That's not true, my father is just reshaping the world to better suit the needs of the people. It's not his fault the Preventors declared war on us."
"No way! Your tricks won't work on me!"
Brittney sighed. "I figured they wouldn't," She said bitterly.
"Hun?" Was she admitting that she was lying?
"But still, I was serious about my offer, think about it, please? We sure could use someone like you."
Gary snorted; flattery wasn't going to work either.
"I just find it strange that you would be loyal to the Preventors after they brainwashed your son and stole him away from you."
Gary stopped and thought for a moment. They had stolen his son from him. Jason was so in awe of his biological parents that he had forgotten about the man who had raised him.
"Gary, I can guarantee that Jason will see that you are his true father. I can help you get him back Gary…but only if you can help me out."
"How?" Gary asked uncertainly.
Brittney smiled gratefully. "You just send out this message and leave the rest to me. There are instructions on the back. Afterwards, I'll help you out with your son. But…"
"But what?" Gary urged.
"But it would be so much easier if you were more powerful than the Yuys. That's what got him in the first place…"
"Power hun?" Gary mumbled. He grinned and snatched the piece of paper from Brittney's hand. He didn't care anymore about being honorable or sticking to his loyalties; all he wanted was his son back… "You have yourself a deal."
~~
It took Gary a total of only five minutes to get into the communications room. There was no guard outside the door, and he was so trusted now around the base that no one questioned a thing. He looked at Brittney's instructions and smiled. They were so easy to follow that even someone as technologically challenged as he was could get it.
He smiled viciously as he tapped the keys and watched as if by magic as various screens popped up, just as the girl's instructions described. He looked at her message, but it was encoded and he couldn't make out a thing. Oh well, if he was repairing families than it was worth it. And after this one small thing he would have Brittney's help to get Jason back where he belonged; with him.
Screw the Preventors; all they had done was be rude to him anyway. They treated him a like an ignorant civilian, and maybe he was. But he had also raised one of their top mobile suit pilots. That had to count for something. He couldn't help but consider Brittney's offer. He would be doing something out of his own choice, finally, instead of taking orders from the Preventors. And he would have power that would be sure to impress his son and bring him back. The more he thought about it the better it seemed. He hated the Preventors anyway. Why should he protect them?
He grinned maniacally as he tapped a few final keys and watched as the message disappeared. He followed more instructions and quickly covered his tracks. Then he was out of the room before anyone could figure out what he had been doing. It was so incredibly simple! He almost laughed at the Preventor's for trusting him.
~~~
Armand watched as the message appeared on his screen. It was encoded, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he began to decode it. After a few minutes, the message popped up again, this time decoded, and he began to read. As he read, a tiny smile crept onto his face. So the little brat had come through for him.
The message described the coordinates of the Preventors base, and gave details on the weakest spots in security in the base. The tiny smirk turned into a maniacal, hollow laugh. The Preventors were going down! And he was finally going to destroy them!
He read the last part and laughed again. Brittney had told him where her cell was and about the route to get out. She actually expected him to rescue her? Even the mere thought was hilarious. She had lasted out her usefulness. She was expendable.
