"Well, this is the place," The girl sighed as she looked up at the sign overheard. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed she would be able to pull this off.
She reached for the handle and let herself in.
"Can I help you, miss?" A receptionist inside asked her rudely.
"Uh…" For a moment she almost forget why she was there. "Um, yes actually," She forced a bright smile onto her face. "I was hoping you could test this for DNA. She held up a small container containing a few strands of hair. She’d recovered the hairs from inside a locket believed to have been left with her by her mother.
"You want to us to identify whose hairs those are?" The woman snorted indignantly.
"Well…yes, you see, I think they are from my mother. I…I just want to find her…"
"Oh, cry me a river." The woman said harshly. The girl was taken aback.
"But…"
"Get out of here, kid, we’re very busy. We don’t need little street brats like you bothering us."
The girl’s eyes narrowed. "Hold on a minute! I don’t have to be treated this way! I…I can pay you…"
"Please…" The woman went back behind her desk.
"What’s going on, Phyllis?" A man came out of a room in the back.
"Just a little rat from the streets." The woman, Phyllis, snorted.
The girl was insulted.
"Well, what does she want?"
"Some hair tested for DNA, I told her we were busy." Phyllis glared down at the girl.
"We’re not busy at all." The man said.
The girl smirked.
"My names Greg Thomas," The man introduced himself. "How can I help you Miss?"
"I-I want to find my mother."
"And you have a DNA sample?"
"Yeah, I do…" She handed him the strands of hair.
"I see," He studied them carefully. "Well, I may be able to take a look at these for you."
"Really? I mean, I don’t have a lot of money. But I will pay you…eventually…"
"Not to worry Miss, I’ll be happy to help you find your mother. After all, it’s such a noble cause."
"R-really!"
"Of course, may I ask your name?"
The girl smiled, "It’s Carol."
~~~
Cassius was fuming as she watched the Gundam pilots escape from her labyrinth through the sewers. She clenched her hands into tight fists. Those brats had messed with her one too many times.
"You," he turned and glared at a random soldier in the room. The young boy froze and looked terrified. "Go and retrieve Lt. Chinambu from the maximum security holding cells. And make it fast!"
The boy nodded and quickly made his escape from the room.
"The rest of you, prepare to barricade Manhattan! And then the rest of New York! We’re going to seal them off!"
~~~
The semi-fresh air of Manhattan, New York was like a breath of heaven to Helen as she emerged from the underground sewers. Still wearing the partial Matatara uniform, she collapsed on the pavement and waited for the others to follow her.
She looked around and found herself in the middle of Times Square in New York.
The people walking by looked at her curiously, and held their noses as they passed. She knew that the stench from the sewers was nearly unbearable, but it was better than the stench of Jeff’s breath.
She waited until everyone else was out before she stood up again.
"Are you sure you’re alright, Helen?" Duo asked as he pulled her protectively under his arm.
Helen nodded weakly.
"Are you gonna tell me about it?"
"Maybe later, Ok dad?"
He sighed but nodded. "Alright, but I’m going to hold you to that."
"Come on, we need to get out of here and back to base." Heero said lowly. Everyone else was in complete agreement.
"Uh, guys? I hate to spoil that party but…is it just me, or are those Matatara helicopters up there?" Jason frowned deeply and looked up at the sky.
The others followed his gaze.
"Shit," Joel cursed. "They are Matatara helicopters."
"But…what are they doing?" Indigo wondered.
Helen looked around and cursed.
"There are Matatara goons all over the place! We have to get out of here! Cassius is isolating New York!"
~~~
"I wonder what’s going on out there?" Carol sighed as she waited for the result of her DNA test the next day. Above her, armoured helicopters and military soldiers were everywhere.
"Here you are, Miss Carol," Dr. Thomas emerged from the lab carrying a pile of papers. "This is a lot of technical stuff. Let’s just say that the hair you provided was from your mother…"
"It was!"
"Yes, and it’s been matched to a Woman named Doris Marina. She’s been fingerprinted and locked up countless times for petty robbery and narcotics."
"She’s a…a criminal…?"
"I’m afraid so dear," Dr. Thomas sighed, "I’m sorry, she’s on prohibition right now, not far from here. The address is in the folder."
"Thank you very much, Dr. Thomas. I appreciate it."
Dr. Thomas just smiled and let her outside. The first thing Carol did was check on the address of her mother. Finally, she was actually going to meet her birth mother! Even if she was a petty criminal, she was her mother. She could hardly wait to meet her.
~~~
"How lovely…" Indigo grimaced, studying her surroundings. She sat back in the mud underneath the floorboards of an abandoned house.
"As soon as we’re able too, we’ll get out of here." Joel promised her as he pulled her under his arm.
Helen sighed and rubbed her arms. The single Matatara jacket was doing nothing to keep her warm.
"Helen?" Duo hugged her tightly, he sighed and gave her his coat.
"How long must we hide like insects in this place?" Wufei hissed angrily. "This is hardly suitable for…"
"Wufei! Chill!" Heero, Duo, Jason, Brittney and Seth all snapped. Wufei looked a little stunned, but said nothing more.
"I don’t want to sit here for who knows how long, either." Helen remarked. "I suggest we come up with some kind of plan. We have to get out of New York and back to headquarters."
"Well…we could call the girls…" Duo suggested timidly.
"I will NOT accept help from those onnas!" Wufei growled. Indigo, Helen, and Brittney all glared at him. Even Saber looked a little annoyed.
"Well…" Duo tried again, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps above him.
"I heard something over here." A voice said. Several Matatara soldiers tromped overtop of them. The Gundam pilots held their breath.
But, as one of the soldiers stopped right over Helen’s head, his foot fell through the floorboards.
"What the…?" As he looked down to get his foot out he caught sight of the group.
"Hey! Here they are! They’re in here!" He called to his companions.
Jason cursed and grabbed Helen and pulled her to her feet. The others followed quickly away from the soldiers.
They emerged from the floor in the next room.
"Stop right there!"
Helen cursed again and grabbed Jason’s gun from his belt. She fired off two rounds before she ran for the back door. "Hurry up!" She growled.
Jason hurriedly ran after her.
"What about the rest of them?" Jason called after her.
"They’ll be fine!" She ran into an alleyway and searched for an escape.
"Up there!" Jason cried, he pointed up to a fire escape on the side of a building. Helen nodded and started to climb up. They made it to the top just as the Matatara soldiers came around the corner.
~~
"Where the hell did Helen and Jason go?" Brittney cried as she tried to cover the escape of the rest of the Gundam pilots.
"I dunno," Indigo snorted, "Just keep moving!" She helped Brittney hold off the soldiers and then followed the group outside.
But once outside, she wasn’t sure which way the others had gone. She paused only momentarily, before shots from the Matatara scared her into moving. She ran and hopped over the fence in the backyard, heading down the busy streets. Soon, she had lost herself in the crowd and the Matatara soldiers were at a loss.
Brittney, too, made a run for it. She hopped over the fence but chose to run down an alley and through various old houses. She ran up the stairwell of and apartment and ran into someone’s home. After scaring the old woman who lived there, she climbed out the window and climbed over the balconies.
"Hey! Brittney!" She looked down and saw Duo, Joel, Trowa and Heero waving to her from down below.
She quickly found a way down and joined them.
"Where are the rest of them?" She asked.
"Don’t know," Heero told her, "We were all split up."
"Hm," She sighed and kept walking. "We should go, the Matatara were right behind me."
She glanced up at the apartment building, but saw nothing more than the old woman peering over the edge of her balcony.
~~~
"What a dump…" Carol sighed as she looked at the house where her mother supposedly lived. "I hope this is the right place…" It took all her strength for her to lift her hand and knock on the door. Finally, a tired middle-aged woman opened the door and looked down at her.
"Yeah?"
"Um…I’m looking for Doris Marina?"
"That’s me," The woman drawled. "Who are you?"
"My name is Carol, can I come in?"
Doris stared at her curiously but shrugged and opened the door wide enough for Carol to get in. Carol watched as Doris sat down on the couch and motioned for her to sit down to.
"Um…I know this may come as a shock but…" Carol started. "I think…I think that you’re my mother."
Doris didn’t look shocked at all. "You look like me," She studied Carol’s curly mass of blonde hair and nodded. "I…I knew I would see you again."
Carol smiled, "You mean it?"
"Yeah, but I wasn’t hoping you would. I was never really ready for a kid."
"I just wanted to know who you were." Carol promised. She didn’t want to scare her own mother away. "I have a question though…"
"You wanna know your father?" Doris chuckled.
Carol nodded.
"Of course, come here, I’ve still got a picture of him."
Carol got up and followed her out of the room. She was so excited about finding her parents that she could hardly speak. Finally, she would know where she came from.
~~~
Helen stared out over the city from the top of the building. The wind was cold and she rubbed her arms for warmth. Below her, Matatara soldiers swarmed through homes, searching for them.
In the quiet, her thoughts drifted back to the events of only a few short hours ago. She looked down; she was still wearing Jeff’s clothes. She felt so dirty; she wanted to tear them off her body. Shuddering, she did her best to hold back tears. She couldn’t be weak, especially not in front of Jason or any of the others.
"Helen…are you OK?" He sounded a little scared. Helen rarely showed weakness. Her mood was definitely terrifying.
"Do I look OK?" She hissed as she spun around to face him. Her eyes were already watering.
"Helen, I…"
"Jason, I’m not in the mood. I want go home, and I want to get out of these clothes! Leave me alone!"
"I think you’re overreacting…"
"Overreacting! Jason! He tried to rape me! Twice! I don’t think I’m overreacting."
Jason shut his mouth. He had nothing to say to that. Helen took a long, shaky breath and buried her face in her hands. It looked like she was going to let herself drop to the ground.
Jason quickly ran to her and caught her as he knees gave way. She fell against his shoulder and let it all out.
Sighing, Jason gently rubbed her back and waited for her to finish.
"Hey! Jason! Helen! You might want to move away from the side of the building!"
The two teens sprung apart and peered over the side of the roof. "Indy?"
"I’m coming up!" Indigo waved at them. "There all soldiers all over the place down here!"
"Ok!" Jason called back. He moved away from the edge and glanced at Helen. He was about to say something when he heard a horrible ‘whirring’ sound from behind them. He turned and saw a Matatara helicopter heading towards them.
"Indy! We gotta get outta here! We’ll meet you at the bottom." He told the French girl.
Indigo nodded in understanding and ran around the side of the building. "Come on Helen," He grabbed her hand and pulled her for the door, "Let’s go!"
~~~
"Thank you very much, Doris," Carol smiled as she left the small home. "I appreciate it."
"No problem kid. You can come and visit me later if you’d like. We’ll have some uh…mother-daughter time."
Carol smiled brightly. "Of course." She looked down at the photograph of her father. It was taken a long time ago, and he was with some woman other than her mother. Doris told her she was his wife. She didn’t care whom he had married though. All she wanted to do was meet him. Doris even told her where to find him. But…she would have a few problems getting there. She needed to make some money, and fast.
~~~
"Where are we going?" Indigo asked as she and Jason followed a very pissed-off Helen Maxwell. She was even more irritable than usual.
"Somewhere where we can hide." Helen told them evenly. She looked around and smiled suddenly. "There," She pointed ahead of her to a rather large building. It was a high school.
"A school?" Jason wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I haven’t been to school in nearly two years. And even before that, I hardly showed up. I’m not sure a school would be a good idea…"
"Shut up Jason!" Helen snapped. "We can probably barricade ourselves inside if the Matatara finds us, and there are plenty of places to hide. Let’s go."
Indigo had no problem and followed Helen quickly; Jason sighed and lagged behind, following at a fair distance.
Helen let herself in through a side door of the school. There were classes in session, so there weren’t many students in the halls. Helen looked around trying to figure out exactly where in the school she was.
"Indy, you go notify the office that we are taking over the school, but normal classes should continue."
Indigo nodded, and Helen turned to Jason. "Jason, you and I are going to scope out the school and find anything we can use to defend ourselves in case the Matatara discovers we’re here."
"Ok…but, where are we going to find stuff like that in a school?"
"Think about it Jason, there’s an auto shop, table saws and a million other tools in this tech wing, and probably a lot of dangerous, explosive chemicals down the science hall. We’ll find something."
"Oh…!" Jason’s eyes lit up. "Cool,"
Indigo giggled as she headed off to find the office, and Helen let herself into the first room on her left.
It was a small class sitting in the middle of a huge auto shop garage.
The teacher looked up and glared at the two. "You’re late, what are your names?" He grumbled. Helen sighed, the teacher thought they were some of his students.
Helen approached him. "My name is Lt. Helen Maxwell of the Preventor headquarters, and pilot of the Gundam Tyrant. We’re claiming this school as a Preventor refuge."
The teacher snorted and some of the students chuckled. Helen glared across the room and it quieted instantly.
"The Preventor’s require your co-operation." Helen told him.
"You’ve got quite an imagination there, Miss Maxwell. Now why don’t you go find a seat…and what are you wearing?"
Now Helen did get angry, she pulled out Jason’s gun again and pointed it at his head.
The teacher paled and all the students dove under their desks.
"Uh…Helen!" Jason gasped, he was no longer stupid enough to grab her arm, but he did pull out his Preventor badge.
"Please forgive her, Sir, she’s been through a lot lately." He showed the man his badge. "My name is Lt. Jason Yuy, also of the Preventor headquarters. Pilot of the Gundam Morpha. We really are taking refuge here, we need uh…anything we could use as weapons or for defence, if you don’t mind."
"Y-you two kids really are Preventors?" The teacher sputtered.
"Yes,"
"I told you…" Helen grumbled. "And while I’m here, does anyone have some extra clothes I can change into?"
Almost immediately, all the guys jumped up, offering her their sweaters and shirts.
Helen was a little shocked, and Jason was annoyed.
"Uh thanks but…I think I would rather have something smaller. I need to fight in this stuff you know. Where’s the girls’ gym class?"
~~
"Excusé moi? Monsier?" Indigo tapped lightly on the desk.
"Can I help you?" A secretary looked over her square glasses and peered at her. Indigo suddenly remembered why she had always hated school.
"Yes, I must speak to the Principal immediately, s’il vous plait."
"The Principal is very busy, perhaps I could help you? Are you here for a detention?
"What! No, no, no, I’m a student here."
"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at some other school?" The woman’s eyes darkened. Indigo sighed and retrieved her Preventor badge from her uniform. "My name is Lt. Indigo Barton. I’m with the Preventors. We need the assistance of this school as a refuge."
"You’re joking right?" The woman said as she studied the badge.
"I’m afraid not. The enemy as isolated us inside the city, and we must defend ourselves until we are able to return to headquarters."
"I can’t allow you to do anything that will endanger our students." The woman said briskly.
"Of course not, we don’t expect you to. All classes may continue on their regular schedule, if you wish."
"OK, I’ll inform the Principal."
"Thank you very much, Madmoiselle."
