Duo: Good thing your readers aren't personal pets!!! Otherwise they'd die of neglect!!!

Heero's Girl: Grrr…. Well I'm sure our dear readers don't like to be referred to as pets!!!

Duo: Just making a point….

Heero's Girl: *sharpening a knife* yeah, me too….

Duo: Eep… I'll shut up now. Quick! Post the chapter before you skewer me!!! ;_;

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Chapter 15: "They're going to get us and the colonies in trouble."

"I was able to hack into Hampshire's computer system and get info on their new mobile suits…" Quatre explained, as he sat down at the table. Six pairs of eyes looked back at him.

"So how bad is it?" Noin asked.

"Well, they're not invincible…" Quatre said carefully.

Wufei took the paper that rested in front of Quatre and looked it over. "What's this new metal they're using??" Wufei questioned, pointing to a point on the paper.

"That's the problem. It's a mix between Gundanium alloy and some earthly metals." Quatre explained. "That makes it exceptionally strong."

"But not as strong as gundanium though, right?" Blaze replied.

"That's true…" Quatre said. "But the pro's and con's is that pure gundanium is heavier than this new metal that Hampshire has been able to create. It makes our enemies much faster."

"That depends on the pilot." Trowa said.

"It does," Quatre agreed. "But this new mobile suit definitely makes high speed fights much easier to handle. You don't need as much expertise as you did for previous mobile suits, which means more people can pilot them." He pointed to the mobile suit blue prints on a larger paper that he unfolded. "Also, it's not nearly as bulky as most mobile suits. It's much more aerodynamic."

"There's more to a mobile suit than speed." Heero said stoically. "We'll still defeat them."

"Of course we will. But it will take up more power and effort, and it may not be as quickly taken care of as say an Aries or a Leo." Noin said, starting to include herself in the discussion.

"Exactly." Quatre agreed. "Also, the entire Hampshire team has given themselves a name now."

"Are you serious? What is it?" Duo asked.

"Blue Angels. BA for short." Quatre said with a shake of his head.

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Geez, how tacky! What a freaking sell-out!"

"So… what about productions?" Duo asked. "We have to do something…"

"And we will." Heero said finally. "I'll be sure to convince Dr. J. and the others to let us take action before it's too late."

"I'm done with having permission." Wufei hissed. "I'm not going to sit here and let the colonies be overrun or destroyed."

"Don't be reckless, Wufei…" Noin said, brushing off his comment. Wufei huffed at this, but let it slide.

"This is all interesting and all," Blaze finally said. "But I'm with Duo on this one. Let's get to the point. What about productions??"

"Actually," Quatre said. "There's a very large shipment of gundanium coming in sometime soon for the factories."

"But gundanium is extremely expensive!" Noin exclaimed. "How is it that they can afford that??"

"First off, they're ESUN." Trowa said finally. "The entire ESUN organization has money, not to mention they have funding. Second off, Hampshire probably paid for all of this in advance, and very much in secret."

"That's right…" Duo pondered. "After the wars, the need for gundanium and metals for mobile suits made the prices drop to extreme lows. And Hampshire must have done it in secret, because he didn't have permission from ESUN beforehand."

"It would have looked suspicious." Blaze said. "It would have been obvious what he was preparing for, and ESUN and the colonies both agreed to bring an end to mecha productions. My friends, I do believe there's some illegal activities going on here…"

"That's no surprise…" Wufei snorted.

Duo floated silently in space, his gundam undetectable on his enemy's radar. He watched the large cargo shuttle with a grin that only Duo could wear. "Time to slow down productions!!" he announced. "It's about time I get to do something with ya Deathscythe!!"

He rocketed forward then, scythe at the ready.

Suddenly the shuttle exploded into a combustion of rocket fuels and smoke, which quickly dissipated in the large vacuum of space. Debris flew in all directions, many of the pieces falling towards earth. They would disintegrate before they hit the ground.

Duo's violet eyes were wide with shock, and then flared with anger. "GODDAMN IT!!!! WHO THE HELL TOOK AWAY ALL OF MY FUN?!?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???"

"This is unbelievable!!!" Duo raged, as he stomped out of his gundam and walked away from the hangar.

"Duo!!" Noin exclaimed. "What happened???"

"The damn thing exploded before I could do my job!!" Duo yelled, motioning widely with his arms. "Someone else got rid of it!!!"

"Are you sure?? What if it was a technical error??"

"Trust me, Noin, as a man who loves explosives, I know very well that it wasn't a technical error. Someone planned for that to happen." Duo grumpily crossed his arms.

"But…. How is that possible? Who could have done it??" Noin asked, completely surprised. She followed Duo as he walked out of the hangar, and into the locker rooms where he could get out of his space suit.

"I don't know, that's exactly what's pissing me off!!" Duo replied. He punched his locker, and the door swung open. He grabbed the towel and pulled out his clothes. He paused for a moment, Noin waiting for him to say anything else about the matter. "Noin…"

"What?" Noin asked.

"You're in the guy's locker room and I have to change…" Duo said, his mischievous grin playing on his lips. "unless you have something else in mind…"

Noin rolled her eyes. "Not on your life, Duo! You're a bit young for my taste…"

Duo laughed as Noin walked away and yelled after her, "Lemme know if you ever change your mind!" Noin shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Trowa slung his coat over his shoulder and turned to face his comrades. "I'll keep in touch. Let me know what's going on."

"We plan to." Heero replied.

"Good. I'll be at the Blue Angels base in Los Angeles." Trowa said. He turned and walked away towards the plane that would take him to his destination.

"Be careful…" Quatre and Blaze called in unison.

"Yeah!!" Duo added. "We can't afford to limit our numbers!!"

"Thanks." Trowa called back.

Duo chuckled. "Just wanted to make you feel loved, man!"

Wufei rolled his eyes at Shinigami. They all watched as Trowa's aircraft left, dimming to a small dark point on the bright blue sky of the desert daytime. Heat shimmers eventually caused it to disappear, swallowed up by the distance.

Blaze sighed. "Alright… now what?"

"We take action." Wufei replied, starting to walk back inside. The others followed him.

"With what?" Blaze asked testily.

"Our gundams, of course… among other things we'll be using to equip ourselves…" Wufei answered.

"You mean your gundams." Blaze corrected. "I don't have one."

"You will…" Heero said.

Blaze stopped and looked at him. "What haven't you told me yet?"

"That we're going to get your gundam in two days." Heero replied. Blaze stared at him completely shocked. She was going to get her own gundam!

Duo laughed and winked at her. "You better start packing!" Blaze was completely delighted.

The next night Blaze stood behind Heero, massaging his shoulders while he worked on his laptop, finding whatever information he could concerning the Pacifist's positions, the colonies positions, and Hampshire's positions.

"So…" Blaze started. "When were you going to tell me about this little trip we're taking tomorrow, huh?"

"Yesterday when we got back in here, but you brought it up early so I told you then. Surprise." Heero replied calmly, and he continued to type and scan what was on his screen. Pages continuously popped up quickly, and Blaze had trouble keeping up with what he was looking at. She sighed loudly. This was really boring.

Blaze moved her hands from Heero's shoulders and down to his chest, hugging him. "Heero…" she whined, and nibbled on his ear playfully. All of Heero's actions ceased. "Stop working for once. Take a break."

Heero couldn't concentrate enough to form a reasonable sentence while Blaze continued to play with his earlobe with her tongue. 'Cold shower, cold shower, cold shower…' Heero thought to himself. It didn't work. Finally she stopped her teasing for a moment.

"I can't…" Heero replied. "We need to know as much as we can. We need to find out who destroyed that cargo shuttle before Duo did."

"Oh, c'mon…" Blaze whispered to him. "Five minutes, and then you can get back to what you're doing. I know it's important…"

Heero turned his head slightly and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, do you have in mind?" Blaze smiled mischievously at him. She pulled him out of his seat by his tank top.

"I don't know, Heero… what do you think we can do in five minutes?" she asked.

"What do you want to do in five minutes?" Heero replied, his arms wrapping around her waist.

"Hmm… what do you want to do in five minutes?" Blaze repeated back to him, her arms going comfortably around his neck.

"You know…" Heero said. "if we keep doing this, then we'll have no time left to do whatever it is we decide on."

Blaze grinned at him. "So we'll go for ten minutes."

"Your pushing it…" Heero scolded.

"Oh darn…" she whispered, and rolled her eyes.

Their conversation didn't get much farther, because then Heero kissed her. She pulled away slightly, and he moved forward to catch her lips again. She pulled away again, and Heero growled at her for teasing him. Then she nipped his bottom lip and kissed him the way he wanted her to.

With his hands on her hips, Heero walked Blaze backwards until they fell on the bed, causing Blaze to laugh. He silenced her with his mouth again, his hands starting to roam the sides of her body, and she nearly purred with satisfaction.

Then someone knocked on the door. They both groaned with aggravation, and Heero pushed himself off of Blaze. "Shit…" he muttered.

Blaze covered her face, and she wanted to scream with built up tension that had yet to be released. Damn it, impeccable timing. Absolutely impeccable. She had the urge to grab the gun that she knew was in the nightstand and threaten whoever it was that bothered them.

Heero opened the door, and naturally it was none other than…. Wufei??? Why in heaven's name was Wufei bothering them?? Whatever the case the glare that Heero gave him gave Wufei a pretty good idea of what he interrupted. He chose (wisely) not to say anything about it.

"I recommend that you turn on the news." Wufei said.

With covered annoyance, Heero turned on the television while Blaze attempted to act natural. What was being shown on the news sobered them up real quick.

A poor quality video showed a rather familiar cargo shuttle blowing up in space. A voice spoke while the image was being shown. "This shocking footage was taken from one of the Earth's hidden satellites just hours ago. The satellite belongs to Russia, the latest in space technology. It is disguised to look as a piece of space debris, where it can go undetected."

"Oh, shit." Blaze muttered. She turned to Wufei. "Is Duo seeing this?"

"More closely than anyone, I'm sure…" Wufei replied. "He was there, and we're hoping he wasn't seen."

As if in an answer, the reporter continued with, "The cause of the explosion is unknown. All leftover materials fell and disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere, leaving no evidence of a possible planned attack. However, suspicions are high, though evidence is low. This shuttle was property of ESUN, and was in the process of sending Gundanium Alloy to numerous BA factories to continue productions of the mysterious new mobile suit model. There is no evidence as of yet of there being another space craft of any sort near the shuttle when the event happened. All on the shuttle have been immediately declared dead, taking the lives of two pilots, one engineer, and two other passengers. We will continue updating as we receive more information."

"They think it was deliberate." Heero finally said.

"Because it was." Wufei replied. "But it wasn't us. We don't know of any forces coming together for the colonies. Sally's been keeping me updated as much as she can, but it has been much more difficult now that her and her men are not part of ESUN."

"They have no proof its deliberate." Blaze reasoned.

Heero stood up and crossed his arms. "That doesn't mean anything. People never follow rules when it comes to this sort of thing. They'll find a way to give someone the blame, and it'll end up being the colonies. The only good thing out of this is that they didn't spot Duo."

"I'd think of it more as lucky." Blaze replied. "His gundam must have been out of the peripheral vision of the satellite cam."

"Whoever these guys are," Wufei said, "They're going to get us and the colonies in trouble. Now Hampshire has a reason to attack. It won't take long for him to find someone to take the blame, and he'll make sure whoever it is will be located specifically on a colony."

"This whole thing will probably start sooner than everyone expected…" Blaze sighed.

"All the more reason to get you to your gundam ASAP." Heero replied. "You still have to try and pilot it."

"If it was mine before, then I'll probably get the hang of it pretty quickly." She replied.

"Good. Out of all of us, you need to be the most prepared." Heero said.

Finally Wufei spoke up. "How long will you two be gone?"

"However long it takes." Heero replied.

"Great." Wufei muttered.

Blaze stepped off the plane, and stared up at her new gundam with her mouth open like a fish out of water. It was gray and magenta, with shining metal plates on the shoulders, forearms, and around it's waist area like a sort of battle armor. It held a long shield, also shining. She had never seen it before from what she could remember, but at the same time… something prickled at the back of her mind. Something familiar, something… close and comfortable, something that felt like home. A small breath came out of her, like a sigh of release.

Heero enjoyed the look he saw on her face, and a corner of his mouth tilted up slightly. Finally he had to pull her away by her arm and lead her to where Dr. J. was standing.

Dr. J. had the same goofy old man grin that he always wore, as he saw Blaze for the first time in a long time. "I see you recognize what's yours…"

"I'm going to pilot that???" Blaze finally said. Her eyes never quite left her gundam.

"Most certainly. Your mobile suit is the greatest weapon of all." Dr. J. said. "Do you remember it?"

Blaze shook her head. "No. Not really. Gives me a good feeling, though."

"Always a good thing for a pilot to be close to his machine." Dr. J. said. He turned to Heero. "So, how has the lady been doing in her training? I trust you taught her well?"

"She's a handful…" Heero admitted. "But nothing I can't deal with." Blaze nudged him in his ribs.

"Likewise." She shot at him.

Dr. J. noticed this exchange with intrigue, but said nothing. He asked Blaze, "What will you name your gundam?"

"Name…? I don't know. What did I name it before?" She questioned.

"What it was before doesn't matter. You are different now, and so your gundam is different. Name it whatever you wish." Dr. J. replied.

"Phantom…" she said finally. "I'll name her Phantom."

"Very interesting." Dr. J. replied, playing with his mustache.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"That's what you named her last time." Dr. J. answered.

Blaze stared at him, completely shocked. Was he serious?? She didn't have time to ponder it, because then he turned around and led them out of the large hangar and into a hall.

"This is where you'll be staying." Dr. J. replied. "This is where I stay, also. Would you two like separate rooms, or share one?"

Neither Heero nor Blaze were ready for this kind of a question. True, they were together now… but Heero was a bit uncomfortable with it being out in the open, and Blaze could obviously tell that he didn't want Dr. J. to know. Such the shy one…

"Uh…" Heero started. However, he was unable to get it past that. Blaze had no idea what to say and kept her mouth shut. Still, it did not go unnoticed by Dr. J. that she was blushing. Even Heero seemed to have a little color to his cheeks.

"I see…" Dr. J. muttered, grinning again, more maniacally than before.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Blaze was finally able to force out.

Dr. J. didn't answer her. Instead he led them both to a single door, and opened it for them. "This'll be Blaze's room."

There was no arguing, no sounds of protest. Instead Blaze inconspicuously brushed her arm against Heero's. She hadn't been alone in a room for a very long time. Not since that time she was in a motel. It was so long ago. Things were simpler then, but harder at the same time. She sighed quietly and walked in, looking around the boring room.

"This was your room when you were here before." Dr. J. explained. "But after you had disappeared, I thought you had died. I had removed all of your belongings and put them in boxes. If you'd like to see them, the boxes are in the closet."

At that sudden tidbit of news, a strange wave of fear swept over her. Everything from the past was in this room. Did she want that?? The panic in her heart told her no.

"Heero, follow me." Dr. J. said. "Blaze, stay in here and unpack." He didn't explain why, and Blaze knew better than to ask at the moment, and so did Heero.

Dr. J. did not take Heero to his room. Instead he took him outside into the late afternoon air. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the entire place was completely enclosed by wilderness.

Heero didn't say anything, because he had a feeling he knew what was coming.

Dr. J. sighed, and leaned on his walking stick. "I see that the two of you get along well." he finally said.

"Well enough…" Heero muttered, looking away.

Dr. J. wasn't one to try and beat around the bush. He got straight to the point. "I see that you care for her." Heero could feel Dr. J. looking at him, and looked away further. Dr. J. chuckled. "So it's true…"

Heero was prepared to take whatever lecture Dr. J. would give. Instead, Dr. J. took a completely different road. "I'm glad." Heero's jaw dropped, and he stared at his guardian. "I mean it, Heero." He took another long sigh, and finally started to explain things. "Dekim Barton ordered me to make you what you are. I never thought it right myself. No child should have their ability to love stripped from them. No human, for that matter." Dr. J. looked at Heero and smiled at him, for once showing the wear of his age. "Now you have your own reason to fight in this. Now you can fight to protect her."

Heero was stunned. "Dr. J…" he stuttered, at a loss for words.

"True, you are fighting to save the colonies and bring peace… that was what I was forced to teach you. But there's more beyond life than that. It brings much more passion to your spirit when it's something you can touch both with your heart and with your hand, Heero. I was never able to teach you this because it's something that life brings on its own. But now that it's here, you have to be careful with it."

"I will…" Heero replied. "I'll fight again so she won't have to. So no one will have to. I've been able to win twice. I can do it a third time. When this is all over, none of us will have to kill again."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Aww… now isn't that sweet??? I'll pick this up a bit faster, okay? Question: should I end this fanfic here and make a part 2 so we don't have 50 chapters??? Of course that's if anyone's even reading this anymore. If people review I will be amazed! ^___^ And very happy.

So what's my excuse?? I've started college, still adjusting, and now I've started another fic, and for a long while I lost my inspiration for this one. But now it's back and I will try and work on it much more, okay? I've never tried balancing two fics at once before, so this'll be an adventure.

So I know you may hate me now, but please review anyway! Please…? Pretty pretty please??? I promise not to fall off of the face of the earth again!!! And I vow to finish this fanfic no matter HOW LONG IT TAKES ME!!! .!!!