A Sixth Gundam Confirmed

"Trowa! We've got problems!" Duo yelled over the intercom of his Gundam, Deathscythe.

"There's too many…we have to pull back," Quatre responded. OZ had completely surrounded the five mighty Gundam suits and even though they all knew that the Gundams could easily take out the surrounding enemies, their mission had already been completed.

"Let's go!" Heero yelled as he cleared a way for the others to follow him away from the facility. No sooner had they stowed the Gundams on the cargo trucks and hidden them, then the facility was completely destroyed.

~~~

"Sorry to see you guys go," Duo told Trowa and Quatre as they readied to once again go their separate ways.

"We'll see each other again, we've already proven that we need to work together to win this war," Quatre stated. Trowa nodded his head in agreement as he stepped up into the truck.

"Trowa! Quatre!" a sweet voice called. Relena ran over to them.

"I wanted to give you both these, they'll keep you warm while you travel," she said as she handed two jackets to the two boys.

"Thank you Lady Relena," Trowa said. Then left with his Gundam. Quatre soon followed with his father's men and left to the mansion where he stayed.

"Duo, do you know where Heero is?" Relena asked him.

"No idea what so ever," Duo responded then turned to leave.

"If you see him later, tell him I said thank you," Relena said as she stepped into her car and her chauffeur drove off. Duo walked around campus, looking for Heero. Duo was well liked by most of the girls, so was Heero, just no one ever got a chance to get to know them. He noticed that the dean was showing a new girl around, she looked very proper and like she came from a wealthy family. That one was definitely a stay away from me kind of girl.

~~~

"Shikira! Where do you think you're going?" a deep voice yelled as the girl got on her motorcycle.

"Huh? I'm just going into town," she replied.

"Then at least let one of the chauffeurs take you, it would ruin your image to be seen on that…that thing," her guardian stated. With a laugh and a wave of her hand Shikira sped off down the road away from the school her guardian had spent so much money to send her to. But with all the attacks on OZ she had to be extremely careful at how she acted. She could easily be deemed a spy or a rebel with the way she acted. However her guardian, Zechs, had made sure that that wouldn't happen anytime soon. She was after all, a noble, and supposedly respected by OZ. She stopped her bike at a nearby garage and locked it. She walked in and immediately recognized one of the boys who were standing beside a computer. Duo, she had heard someone call him, hopefully he didn't recognize her.

"Yes as soon as possible, its important I have these parts," she said to the man behind the counter.

"Okay, they should be in later tonight if you want to wait," the man stated.

"Okay, sure," she said. Duo had been listening to the conversation and in fact did recognize Shikira from school.

"Duo…where are you going?" Heero asked.

"I'll be right back," Duo said as he walked over to Shikira, who had her back to him.

"Shikira, right?" Duo asked her. Shikira turned around startled at his voice.

"That's right…you're Duo, right?" she asked him. Duo nodded instead of responding and stole a glance over at Heero who was once again typing away at the computer.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but what's a nice girl like you doing here?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm just getting parts for my motorcycle," she stated simply.

"You ride?" he asked a bit shocked.

"Yes, however Zechs doesn't like it very much…" she said but was interrupted by the sales clerk.

"The parts have arrived, we'll ship them to the school garage," he said. Shikira nodded and turned back to Duo.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said and walked out the door. Duo knew he should have killed her, she knew that Duo had been there, and with what was about to happen. Shikira had started her motorcycle and was about a half a block away from the garage when she heard a very loud explosion. She turned around quickly and saw two Gundams with the parts she had ordered, and some other parts that had been ordered for OZ. She quickly turned her bike and headed for the nearby forest. She quickly glanced up and saw OZ mobile suits.

"Damn! Amateurs, don't they know how to attack without attracting that much attention!" she cursed to herself as she reached her destination. She hid her bike in a bush and looked up at her own Gundam suit.

"Okay, Starwing, let's show these pilots how you're supposed to fight," she said as she entered the mighty Gundam. Meanwhile Heero and Duo were fighting the flying OZ suits when they both picked up the other Gundam on the radar.

"Do you think its Trowa or Quatre?" Duo asked.

"No! This is a flying model like Wing0!" Heero yelled over the communicator. Shikira flew towards the other two Gundams and just as she was about to attack the OZ fighters she got a mission.

"Shikira, I need you to let these two Gundams handle this mission, I have a more important one for you," a voice said to her. Duo noticed that the other Gundam had flown off away from the battle and was heading towards an OZ base.

~~~

Starwing flew out over the desert, she had completed her mission and the OZ base had been destroyed. She shut her eyes tight at something else she had seen. As she had flown over her school, she had seen it completely destroyed, survivors were few she had noted, and she had seen no sign of Zechs. She opened her eyes again and landed on the ground, two more Gundams stood in front of her ready for a battle.

"Come out of your Gundam and we won't kill you," a voice stated to her. Shikira was weak enough as it was, her Gundam needed repairs but she had lost the parts to the other two Gundam pilots, and she was injured. What choices did she have? She slowly made the suit kneel on the ground and she opened the cockpit and stepped out. No sooner had her feet touched the ground then she collapsed. Quatre and Trowa both stepped out of their Gundams and walked over to the fallen pilot.

"The Gundam is almost exactly the same design as ours," Quatre pointed out as he looked up at the machine. Trowa bent over the pilot and moved the brown hair out of the pilot's eyes.

"It's a girl?" he asked out loud. This brought Quatre over to help Trowa. Quatre's men were loading the Gundam onto a separate shipping trunk while the two boys carried the girl to the cab of one of the trucks and placed her inside.

"Do you think she's from the colonies?" Quatre asked Trowa.

"Probably, her Gundam is too identical to ours to ignore that possibility," Trowa responded. Shikira awoke to the sound of someone playing a flute and a violin. She sat up quickly, but then regretted the movement. Her hand rested on her forehead and noted that the gash on her forehead had been taken care of. She stood up slowly and left the room to see where she was and who was playing the music. She looked around the room and saw two boys about her age playing a flute and violin.

"Oh, you're awake," one of the boys stated. They both stopped playing and turned to Shikira.

"Where have you brought me?" she asked without emotion.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," Quatre stated.

"You're with OZ aren't you?" she asked them as she stepped away from them.

"No, we're not with OZ, we actually thought you were," Quatre stated.

"Ha! No, I was a spy in OZ, my guardian had no idea that I was from the colonies," she laughed out loud.

"So you are from the colonies," Trowa stated. Shikira looked over at Trowa and nodded her head slightly. Just then they received a transmission.

"Quatre, Trowa, we have a rouge Gundam pilot, last we saw he was heading out your way," the voice of Wufei sounded over the communicator.

"We know, we already picked the pilot up," Quatre stated. When the transmission ended he turned to Shikira.

"Two other Gundam pilots stole from me cargo that I needed to repair my Gundam," Shikira stated.

"Two other Gundams, that must have been Heero and Duo," Trowa stated.

*"Duo is a Gundam pilot like me?"* Shikira thought to herself.

"Don't worry about that, my men have already repaired your Gundam," Quatre stated. Later that night, after Trowa had left, Shikira was sitting in a room that Quatre had given her to stay in while she stayed with him. She had explained to him and Trowa how she had been a spy for the rebels within OZ and her school had been completely destroyed so she had no where to go. She was sitting at the computer trying to hack into the OZ communication system when she got through she saw a woman.

"Lady Une…good work in destroying that school. It was such a shame, I mean Zechs is heartbroken over the death of the Lady Shikira. And all those other young girls, it does not matter now because OZ believes that it was the Gundams that attacked the school," a man said.

"Yes sir, but Lady Relena was not there," Lady Une stated.

"It does not matter, we'll get her eventually," the man said. Shikira couldn't listen any longer and she quickly turned off the computer. Her guardian, no…her best friend, the only one she looked up to like a father thought that she was dead, and all because OZ wanted to make sure that Zechs would not betray the cause.

~~~

"Damn! This isn't working!" Duo yelled.

"There's too many!" Quatre responded. A new model of OZ suits surrounded the five Gundams.

"Come out of your Gundams and we might not kill you!" Lieutenant Zechs ordered. Just then all of the pilots picked up another mobile suit heading directly at them. In a blast of white light another Gundam suit landed in front of Zechs.

"Need a little help, Quatre?" a voice, asked.

"That pilot is a girl?" Wufei asked himself.

"You've got great timing," Quatre responded.

"Exit your Gundams now!" Zechs once again ordered. The new Gundam faced Zechs and opened up a communication line. Only Zechs and the other five Gundam pilots were able to hear what the pilot of the mysterious Gundam was saying.

"Lieutenant Zechs! We will not surrender! Why don't you think about what OZ is really trying to do!" the girl yelled.

"It was OZ who tried to kill Lady Shikira in the first place. They knew that if they killed her and made it look like the Gundams did it then you would fall once again into their ironclad grip. Why don't you ask Lady Une?" the pilot stated. The other pilots where a bit shocked but had over come it and were making their retreat.

"Lieutenant Zechs? Should we follow them?" a voice asked.

"No…return to base," he stated and turned around.

~~~

The Gundams had regrouped at Quatre's mansion and one by one exited their mobile suits. When the new Gundam landed and kneeled they all turned to see who the mysterious pilot was. Shikira opened the hatch and slowly made her way down the exit cable.

"Shikira?" Duo asked. Heero too was shocked that this girl from the last school he had attended was the pilot of the Gundam.

"Duo…Heero?" she questioned as she jumped a few feet to the ground from the leg of the Gundam.

"Oh, man…now if only we knew if Relena was alive or not," Duo stated. Shikira turned to look at Duo.

"You mean you didn't know? Relena wasn't on campus when it was destroyed," she stated.

"How do you know that?" Heero asked coldly.

"She hacked into OZ's communication system," Quatre stated walking up beside her knowing what Heero was thinking about Shikira.

"No way…that is like the most complicated system ever," Duo stated in surprise. Heero glared at Shikira and Trowa stepped in front of her.

"She was a spy, she's a Gundam pilot from the colonies just like all of us," he stated.

"Heero," Wufei started to say.

"What!" he yelled.

"Surely you heard her voice when she was talking to Lieutenant Zechs. I figure he was family, am I right?" he stated and turned to Shikira.

"How…how did you know?" she asked.

"The way you spoke to him," he replied.

"Zechs wasn't my real father, just my guardian," she stated. Heero relaxed a bit, he still didn’t trust her. He glanced up at her Gundam, but right now he didn't have much of a choice. Later that night Shikira was sitting on Quatre's roof looking up at the stars and at the colonies. The moon was full and she had never seen it so bright before. She pulled a photograph out of her pocket and looked at it. She turned suddenly realizing she wasn't alone.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was up here," Trowa said as he stepped into her view. Shikira turned again to look at the stars.

"Its okay," she simply replied. Trowa sat down beside her and noticed the picture she had in her hand.

"Who’s that?" he asked. Shikira looked at the picture she held sadly.

"It’s my real family. My mother and father were killed when I was very young," she stated.

"What about him?" he asked as he pointed to a small boy.

"That's my twin brother, except I don't really know who he is, where he went, I don't even remember his name," she said.

"That's sad," Trowa said looking up at the stars. He had no idea who anyone in his family was, heck, his name wasn't even Trowa. He had never had a name, until the incident at the garage on the colonies. He looked up at the stars and thought for a brief minute. Shikira stood up to leave but was stopped by the sound of a gunshot. She didn't know what was happening until she felt Trowa push her to the roof and a bullet whizzed over their heads. Bullets ricochet all around them. Trowa was covering her from the spray of deadly bullets when they both heard Wufei call from the ground.

"They’re gone! You can come down now!" Shikira felt Trowa get up off of her and walked over to the edge of the roof.

"What was all that?" he asked.

"Not sure. Heero and Duo went to go check it out," Wufei stated. Shikira stood up slowly and looked at Trowa, he didn't even look stunned at what had just happened. She made her way down the stairs and stopped when she saw one of Quatre's men.

"Lady Shikira, are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yes, I’ll be fine," she stated. She quickly walked outside to where Quatre and Wufei were standing waiting for Duo and Heero to return.

"Do you think that was OZ?" she asked them.

"No, OZ doesn't know that we're here," Quatre responded. Trowa walked up beside Shikira and looked into the bushes. A few minutes later Duo and Heero emerged from the bushes.

"No sign of them, they covered their tracks too well," Heero stated. Shortly after a limousine pulled into the driveway. Relena stepped out of the back of the car.

"Heero, Duo, I need your help," she stated very softly. Shikira walked over to Relena slowly and when Relena looked up at her she saw various levels of hurt and sorrow radiating from her eyes.

"Shikira? What are you doing here?" she asked so only she could hear her. Shikira glanced behind her and saw that Heero was still in a bit of a shocked state.

"Come on inside, it's not the safest outside right now," she said and led Relena into the mansion. When they were inside one of Quatre's men whispered something to Shikira and she quickly left the room. Relena had no idea what the strange girl she had met at school was doing with Heero, Duo, Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa.

~~~

Shikira hid a pistol in her right boot and in her left she hid a very sharp knife. She stood up and looked in the mirror. She grabbed the picture of her family, neatly folded it and placed it in the back of her jean shorts. This mission that Dr. J. had given her would prove to be more difficult than she thought. She made her way down the hall and passed the room that Quatre had given to Relena.

"Shikira?" she asked as she stepped out into the hall. Shikira turned around and looked at Relena.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" she asked not noticing the pistol or the many blades she had hidden well on her. Shikira glanced out the window at the Gundams that were hidden from view from the air.

"You're a Gundam pilot?" Relena asked her.

"Yes…listen Relena, I'm going after Lady Une, don't tell Trowa or any one else that I've gone on my own," she stated as she turned away from Relena.

"Be careful Shikira," Relena stated as she watched her walk towards a window.

"I know what Lady Une has done to you and I promise you I'll bring her to justice," she said and with that jumped out the window to the ground. She hopped on her motorcycle when she was about a mile or so away from the mansion and sped off towards the OZ base where Lady Une was. Unfortunately it was also where Zechs was at the time. A small smile spread across her lips as she thought of ways to trick them into thinking she had escaped the Gundam attack on the school and sneak in. That way they wouldn't know that it was her who killed Lady Une. A Mile or so she stopped her motorcycle suddenly, rolling it down a hill. She held on tightly to the handlebars until she felt it come to a sudden halt. She stood up on shaky legs and looked at her bike. It would need a bit of work on it, but it was nothing major. She hid it in a bush and climbed the hill. Her bare legs were covered in dirt, scratches, and signs of bruising. Her face was dirty with a bit of a gash on her forehead, but she didn't pay any mind to the slow trickle of blood that ran down the side of her face. She approached the guardhouse and stumbled across the line. The guard came out to see what it was he had heard and saw her lying there. He rolled her over and immediately recognized her.

"Medical emergency! Get Lieutenant Zechs!" he yelled over the radio. Within minutes Shikira was in a separate room in the base with a doctor tending to the gash on her forehead.

"What was so important that you had to drag me out of that meeting!" a voice yelled from down the hall. Shortly after Zechs walked into the room.

"Shikira?" he questioned as the doctor stood away from the bed and quickly left. Zechs sat down beside the bed and took Shikira's hand in his. Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to smile.

"You're alive," he whispered. Shikira just smirked at his concern for her. Just then Lady Une entered the room.

"Lady Shikira…" she almost yelled. Zechs stood up and left the two women.

"I thought I had killed you, it appears that I was wrong," she said as she closed the door and drew her pistol. Shikira jumped up out of the bed and landed behind her and pulled out the knife in her boot holding it to Lady Une's neck.

"Now, you wouldn't want my blood on your hands now would you?" she asked. Shikira didn't answer. She walked over to the window, taking Lady Une with her.

"No…I won't but someone else will," she sneered. Shikira took out her own gun and fired it across the room putting a hole in the far wall. She screamed, shot again, but this time killing Lady Une. She hid her own gun in her shorts and shot Lady Une's out the window. She sunk to her knees beside the dead woman still holding the gun in one hand at arm length towards the window and put her acting into work and pretended to be in shock. Moments later the door burst open and Zechs rushed into the room with several armed men. Zechs took in the scene before him and quickly took the gun from Shikira's hand and embraced her trying to sooth her.

"What happened?" a guard asked her.

"A man…at the window shot at her…and then I grabbed her gun…but he was gone," she sobbed into Zechs shirt. Two men took the dead Lady Une away and gave their regards to the Lady Shikira and wished her well. Shortly after Zechs left her to sleep she heard a loud explosion from the other side of the complex. Someone burst through her door and dragged her away.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Gundams. We've been ordered to take you to safety," the guard stated. Shikira stopped and drew her pistol.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. She closed her eyes and shot the guard, then quickly ran in the opposite direction. Duo and the others didn't know that she was there and she had to get out of the complex. As soon as she stepped out onto the battlefield she saw Wing0 and Deathscyhte, yet she couldn't see the others. She quickly ran away from the deadly spray of lasers and bullets and was confronted by yet another problem. With a quick flick of her wrist she threw a deadly bomb at the cement fence. When Duo saw Shikira exit the compound he was a bit puzzled as to why she was there. Once they were done they both headed back to where Quatre and the others were waiting for them. Shikira saw them land in the over growth of the forest not to far away from where she was. She put more power into her motorcycle and headed to where the five other Gundam pilots were.

"I don't get it, why would she be there?" Duo asked out loud shortly after he and Heero and told the others what had happened. Relena was sitting in a tent that Quatre's men had set up for her listening to their conversation.

"Maybe she's helping OZ," Heero said coldly.

"Maybe, but I'm not too sure about that," Wufei stated. Just then Shikira entered the small clearing on her bike and stopped short. She instantly jumped out of the way of Heero's deadly aim.

"Heero! Stop!" Relena called as she ran from the tent. Heero let another shot ring out but this time she was not as quick and the bullet hit her arm. She didn't scream but instead sank to her knees clutching her arm.

"Heero! Stop it! She had a mission!" Relena stated as she stepped in front of him.

"What mission?" Heero asked bitterly.

"I was to kill Lady Une," she said defiantly as she stood up and glared at Heero. Slowly he lowered his gun and looked to the ground. He didn't say anything, and Shikira didn't expect anything from him. She started to walk towards the tent but her step faltered. She expected to feel her impact with the hard ground, instead she looked up and saw that Trowa had caught her in his arms.

"Here," he said as he helped her into the tent, all the time Duo was a bit jealous of Trowa. When Shikira was sitting on the small chair in the tent Trowa poured alcohol over the bullet wound, Shikira didn't flinch, and wrapped the wound with gauze one of Quatre's men had given him.

"Thank you Trowa," she stated when he put the alcohol and the rest of the bandages back in a box.

"It's okay, you're pretty lucky that he didn't hit you to kill you," he stated and sat down beside her again. Shikira laughed a bit.

"I guess so," she stated. She tensed a bit when Trowa took her hand in his.

"Trowa?" she questioned. This was the first time he had shown any sign of human emotion, to anyone. He slowly lowered his face to hers and was inches away when Duo came into the tent. Shikira jumped slightly and Trowa instantly stood up and left.

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked sarcastically.

"No…excuse me," she said as she walked out of the tent. Duo noticed something fall from her pocket and land at his feet. He bent down and picked up her photograph of her and her family and stared at it. Then looked at the retreating figure of Shikira.

~~~

The six Gundam pilots ran through the Oz complex with guns ready to fire. It had been a week since Shikira's mission to the last Oz complex and she was tense. She knew that some of the guards had recognized her but she wasn't sure how many of them had got away from them. She turned around the corner and they all stopped in their tracks. In front of the six pilots stood Zechs and several hundred Oz soldiers.

"It's Lady Shikira…" a soldier behind Zechs whispered.

"Shikira…why have you betrayed me?" Zechs asked her. Duo raised his gun ready to shoot but Shikira stopped him.

"I didn't betray you…Oz has," she stated looking at the masked man in front of her that held a pistol aimed at her. The other Gundam pilots watched Zechs carefully as he looked back at her. Without any warning one of the shoulders shot at her and the bullet ripped through her shoulder. Zechs turned around and shot the soldier who had disobeyed him. He turned back only to see Shikira unconscious and being picked up by one of the other pilots and another one throwing some kind of bomb to the ground. The tiny capsule exploded into smoke and when it cleared all six of the rebels were gone. Zechs clenched his fist tightly as he stared at the empty space in front of him. Elsewhere Trowa was carrying Shikira and running as fast as he could to the transport where Quatre's men were waiting for them. Duo looked over at her as they approached the truck and felt so sorry for her. They all jumped into the back of the truck and felt the driver start to head towards Quatre's mansion. Trowa placed her down on the flatbed and applied pressure to the bullet wound. Duo sat down on the other side and leaned up against the panel. Suddenly he had a flash back.

~~~

"Mama…what's going on?" a small boy asked his mother as they ran away from an explosion.

"Don't talk…I'm going to get both you and your sister off of this planet and onto the colonies," the woman had said. The small boy lost his grip on his mother's hand as an explosion impacted close to where they were. An old man grabbed him up.

"MAMA!" he had yelled.

"Hang on kid…I'll get you to the transport," the man said as he ran to the nearest ship. The small boy saw his mother laying dead in the middle of a pile of rubble, his sister was no where to be found. He started to cry and lost track of what was going on around him until the old man had handed him over to a nurse on one of the colony transport ships.

~~~

"Hey Duo…you okay?" Wufei asked as they waited for word on Shikira's condition.

"Yeah…I'm okay, just worried I guess," he replied.

"Why, you like her?" Quatre asked him.

"Huh? No…no," he replied. The other Gundam pilots just looked at him. The man that had been tending to Quatre's wound walked out of her room.

"She's a bit tired, she lost a lot of blood on the way over here, so she'll be out of it for a while," he stated and turned to leave. Duo sat down and gave a sigh of relief, then took out the photograph Shikira had dropped in the tent before.

"Hey Duo…who’s that?" Relena asked as she sat down beside him.

"Huh? I'm not really sure, Shikira dropped it back a while ago when Heero shot her," he said quietly.

"You like her don't you?" she asked him. Duo didn't respond to her question and Relena didn't expect an answer from him. An hour later, with the help of Wufei and Quatre, Shikira walked into the room where the others were waiting for her to wake up. Shikira noticed Trowa and Duo both looking at her. She couldn't deny that she had feelings for both of them, but for some reason it was different with Duo then it was with Trowa. Wufei helped her to sit in a chair at the table while Relena was escorted to her room.

"We need to make a plan to take out another Oz base," Trowa stated.

"Yes…but now we're one Gundam short," Heero stated, which surprised everyone including Heero.

"I can still pilot Starwing," Shikira stated.

"No way…you're hurt too bad to pilot a Gundam," Duo remarked.

"He's right Shikira…you lost a lot of blood and you need time to recover," Quatre stated. Shikira knew that what they were telling her was true but she didn't want to admit to being weak just right there. She glanced at her left shoulder at the white bandage that was wrapped around her arm and shoulder, she knew she was injured…badly, but she had a mission to complete.

"Shikira, please," Quatre said as his men helped her to stand up.

"Fine…I'll try to rest and recover," she said quietly.

"Oh, Shikira…this is yours," Duo said as he stood up and walked over to her. He handed her the photograph of her and her family when she was very young.

"Where'd you find this?" she asked him.

"You dropped it and I figured you'd want it back," he said. Shikira kissed his cheek then was escorted to her room to rest. Duo felt his face get red then walked back towards his own room leaving the others to wonder what had just happened.

~~~

"Shikira…it's good to see you up and about," Quatre said as Shikira walked into the room. It had been a week and a half since the accident at the complex with Zechs.

"Yes…well I don't like to be in one place for too long," she replied quietly. Heero and Duo walked into the room with saddened expressions on their faces. They had failed a mission to destroy another OZ base.

"What we need is some battle tactics, we've used similar attacks too many times and they know each of the Gundams weaknesses," Shikira stated. Trowa nodded his head and silently agreed with her.

"What we need is a sneak attack, instead of going in and attacking head on without knowing what we're up against," Wufei stated.

"That's it…that's how we beat them, all we need is…" Quatre explained to them.

~~~

Duo stood with his back pressed against a wall, to his right stood Shikira with her pistol held up against her chest. He had vowed to protect her no matter what happened, the only problem was he had to stay alive too. They watched as Wing0 flew over their heads and saw the other Gundams appear in front of the complex. Shikira gave a nod to Duo and they took off across the perimeter line of the security fence. A, supposedly, stray shot from one of the Gundams hit the back wall and they slipped inside. They stealthily made their way down the hall towards the main computer room to disable all security alarms and to set the bombs that would destroy the base. Duo watched Shikira type away on the keyboard in front of her while also keeping an eye out for any uninvited guests. Just then an image of Zechs appeared on the screen in front of her.

"Shikira, I knew you would somehow find your way into this mess, I can only hope that I'm still alive when you get this message. No matter what you think, I am not a traitor to OZ, the Earth-sphere alliance, or to any of the colonies. I was afraid that if OZ took measures to take over the alliance that they would somehow target you. In this file are plans that OZ has created in plans to destroy the alliance. Shikira I am truly sorry I got you involved in anyway with OZ," the message stopped. Shikira wiped away the tears that had stained her face and popped in a disk.

"Can we trust that?" Duo asked her while glancing out the doorway.

"Yes, I already checked it for bugs, and Zechs has encrypted it in our code," she said as she grabbed the disk and hid it in the back of her jean shorts pocket.

"Come on…we have to get out of here," Duo stated. They were starting to run out of time.

"Hold on…there…Heero! Now!" she yelled over the communicator. Shikira and Duo ran down the hallway but they didn't get very far.

"Drop your weapons!" a soldier ordered. Shikira glanced at Duo, there were too many soldiers and too few of them.

"Drop them, or I'll drop you where you stand!" the soldier yelled. Duo was the first to drop his gun while Shikira hesitantly placed her gun on the ground and stood up. Things definitely weren't going as they had planned. Two soldiers grabbed Shikira under her arms while three other soldiers had grabbed a struggling Duo. The man that had ordered them to surrender walked over to Shikira and yanked off her communicator.

"Gundam pilots! We have two of your friends here! End your attack now and we might spare them!" he yelled into the communicator. There was no response from Heero or any of the other pilots. The soldier nodded and when another's fist contacted with Duo stomach he yelled out in pain.

"DUO!" Shikira yelled as she watched Duo's form slump slightly forward.

"Now! If you don't want anything else to happen to them, especially this one, he traced a finger along Shikira's jaw line, you'll end your attack now," he stated. Still no response, but one soldier declared that the Gundams had left.

"It appears that your friends don't care too much about you two," he said and turned to another soldier, "take them away. Lieutenant Zechs will deal with them later," he ordered. The men saluted and Shikira and Duo were dragged away.

~~~

Duo opened his eyes to find that he was in a barred cell, what was even worse than that was he was alone. Shikira wasn't anywhere to be found. Then he heard a high-pitched scream from down the hall. He leaned forward and clutched the iron bars.

"Shikira!" he yelled as the screaming continued. Finally the screaming stopped and he heard footsteps coming down the hall towards him. He gasped when he saw the state that Shikira was in. Her face was bruised as were her arms and legs. The two soldiers roughly through her into the cell and a tiny moan escaped her lips. She struggled to push herself up and felt Duo helping her to lean against the wall. Shikira looked up at Duo and saw the look of worry and concern on his face.

"Don't…worry. It doesn't hurt…that much," she said between breaths. Duo touched her bruised cheek and looked hurt when she flinched at his touch.

"What did they do to you?" he asked her.

"They beat me, to try and get information out of me," she said.

"Did they find the disk?" he asked her quietly. Shikira smiled at him and shook her head.

~~~

"We have to go back!" Wufei yelled at Heero. Quatre and Trowa were watching the two argue. They all knew that they had to save Shikira and Duo from OZ, they also knew that they hadn't been able to disengage the security systems to the other OZ bases and store houses.

"We can't we don't even know where they are!" Heero yelled. True he still didn't trust Shikira but Duo was his best friend and he wasn't going to let some OZ scum kill him. Trowa looked out the window, he wasn't sure what it was he felt for Shikira but it was something new, and he wasn't to sure if it was a good thing during a time of war and such violence. He closed his eyes and continued to listen to the two Gundam pilots argue over where they should start looking for the two missing pilots. Quatre was also getting fed up at Wufei and Heero's bickering.

"Stop!" Quatre suddenly yelled. He had heard enough.

"We have to go back yes…but we can't do anything until we find out where they are. I'm sure they'll find some way to contact us," Quatre stated to them. Both stopped arguing and realized that Quatre was right and that fighting wasn't going to help Shikira or Duo.

"What we need to do is find them first," Trowa stated as he walked over to the other boys.

"They could be anywhere…or at the same base," Wufei said. This got Trowa thinking to where they might actually were being held captive. It would make too much sense for them to be held at the same base that they were captured in…but maybe that was the point Maybe they were in the most prominent spot, right in front of their faces and they didn't realize it.

"Think about it…why would they keep them there?" Heero asked Wufei.

"Why wouldn't they, it would be the first place they'd think we'd rule out as possible places to search for them," Trowa stated walking in between Heero and Wufei. Both of them looked at him then at each other.

"He's right," they both agreed.

"Then all we need to do is find out where exactly they are in the base, that shouldn't be too hard," Quatre stated.

"Let's go for it!" they all yelled.

~~~

Duo was working at the electric lock in his cell while Shikira slept on the hard cot in the corner. The bleeding on her arms and legs had stopped and the bruises on her face and arms were still darkening. He frowned when she had told him what they had done, the bastards would pay dearly for touching her. Although he was certain that she had managed to land a few good kicks to the soldiers who had held her and the one that had attacked her. He didn't know if Heero and the others would attempt to save them, for all he knew they thought that both of them were dead. Just then he heard soldiers come down the hall and he quickly replaced the panel and sat beside Shikira's limp form on the cot.

"She's in here, sir," a soldier said. Duo recognized the man it was Lieutenant Zechs. Duo watched the electric door open and the man walked in. As soon as he did the door shut behind him and he started to walk towards the cot. Duo promptly stood up and stepped in between Zechs and Shikira.

"Don't touch her," he said in a low voice.

"You'd think I'd hurt her boy?" Zechs replied to his threat. Duo just growled at him and kept his ground.

"She is after all my adopted daughter and I know you saw the transmission I left for her," he said. Duo relaxed and moved out of Zechs' way. He watched as Zechs kneeled in front of Shikira and wiped the dried blood from her face.

"I know who you are kid," he said to Duo.

"What…"Duo sounded a bit shocked.

"I know that you are a Gundam pilot and that you're Shikira's twin," he stated. Duo was at a loss for words as Zechs was saying this.

"How?" Duo asked him.

"I saw the pictures that you two both had, and how you protected her and worried about her. I can get both of you out of here you just have to give me time to distract the guards for it to look like you escaped on your own. I've been sending information to Dr. J. and need to keep my cover from being blown," Zechs said. Duo pondered what Zechs was telling him, was it possible that Zechs was telling them the truth?

"Why should I trust you?" Duo asked.

"Because I'm going to help you and Shikira get out of here and to your Gundam suits. The only problem is I need her to wake up. I had no idea that they would try to get information out of her when I first found out that she was here…" he said, as he was talking to Duo Shikira stirred and sat up on the hard cot.

"Duo?…Zechs?" she questioned their presence as if she thought she was dreaming or something.

"It's okay Shikira…Zechs is going to get us out of here," Duo whispered to her. Just then there was a loud explosion from above.

"It seems that your friends have the same idea about that…come on…with the power out I can get you two to your Gundam suits," Zechs said as he opened the door. All of the guards had already left to fight the attacking Gundams so Zechs could easily lead them through the narrow halls and passageways to the storage bunker. Duo was helping Shikira along since she was still not in the greatest condition to be moving at all. Zechs opened the hanger door and Duo and Shikira looked up at their Gundams.

"Take care Shikira…" Zechs said as he turned to leave.

"Thank you Zechs…when this war is over I'll find you again," she said as she watched her once guardian and supposed enemy walk away.

"Come on Shikira…we have to get out of here!" Duo yelled as he made his way up into Deathscythe. Shikira climbed into Starwing and they both powered up. In a quick second both Gundams were seen blasting through the roof of the storage hanger of the OZ base.

"You guys okay?" Trowa asked over the intercom on their mobile suits.

"We've been better…" Shikira stated. Once Duo was sure that Zechs had left the base he detonated the explosive charges he had set. That night six Gundams flew off into the forest towards an unknown mansion in the distance.

~~~

Shikira was talking to Relena as she cleaned the various cuts on her arms and legs she had received while being held prisoner at the OZ base.

"That's a pretty necklace…where'd you get it?" Relena asked.

"My guardian gave it to me when I was still just a little kid…it has my full name engraved on it," she stated proudly.

"What is your full name?" Relena asked her.

"Shikira Maxwell Peacecraft…Peacecraft is my adopted name…Maxwell was my father's name," she said sadly.

"Did you say Maxwell?" Relena asked.

"Yes…why?" she questioned.

"Maybe you should go talk to Duo…" Relena said as she stood up and left the room to let Shikira think. As if on cue Duo walked into her room.

"How you feeling?" he asked her. Shikira just nodded her head, still in deep thought.

"Listen Shikira…there's something I need to show you…" he said as he rummaged through his pocket. He pulled out a small piece of paper and held it out to her.

"This is mine…where'd you find it?" she asked as she stared down at the photograph of her family.

"Actually it's mine…I've had it ever since I was separated from my family during the war on the colonies," he said as he sat down beside her.

"Duo…Duo Maxwell?" she asked him. Duo nodded and found Shikira's arms wrap tightly around his waist.

"I thought you were dead…" she sobbed. Duo wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. Neither noticed that Trowa was standing outside of her room watching. It had at first broken his heart to see Shikira embrace Duo but then he heard Duo call her his sister…even more so they were twins. Trowa walked away silently leaving the two to remember what all had happened since the day they were separated and that moment in time.

~~~

Trowa was once again playing the flute accompanied by Quatre on his violin. Heero and Wufei were listening to them play when Heero spoke up.

"I don't know how you can't be jealous of Duo, Trowa…I mean it's obvious you really like Shikira," he stated. He too had seen Duo and Shikira hugging one another. Trowa laughed at Heero's remark and set the flute on a nearby table.

"Jealous…no. But I guess it is obvious that I like her," he laughed…(OMG…Trowa was actually laughing) . Wufei and Heero gave Trowa a bit of a confused look.

"I think I'll let them tell you guys later," he said as he put the flute back into it's case where Quatre kept them.
"Tell us what? What do you three know that we don't?" Wufei asked. Trowa laughed and turned to walk up the stairs to the roof.

"They'll tell you…later," he said as he vanished leaving the tree Gundam pilots with confused looks on their faces.

<THE END>

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