Eternal Flame

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier ne? :) I do however own Shane, Paul, Colin, Mickey, Benny, Toby, Fayah and any other unfamiliar characters that crop up. I also own the plot if you can call it that.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Sap, angst, OC, Lemon, Lime, abuse, violence, language.

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, OC x OC and maybe some more... check each part to be sure ;)

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com
http://sweetlysour.net
http://www.adult-fanfiction.org
http://www.theforsakenwk.com/

Status: Work in progress.

Beta: DBZVelena, Yami_Tai & Ryouga... *huggles*

Author: ShenLong

Authors notes: *sigh* Well here I am again caving into pressure. I know it has taken a while to get to this and for that I apologize but I could not come up with a plot I deemed worthy enough.... until now. This is yet another sequel... this time to United Hearts. I did promise I would write the wedding for you and and I intend to do that. For those that haven\'t read United or Lost Souls I recommend that you do, otherwise this sequel will not make much sense. All of your favorite characters are back and up to as much mischief as possible.
This is set fourteen months after the end of United and all the children are older now. The Gundam Pilots are all 20yrs, Shane and Fayah are 16, Paul is 15, Colin is 14, Mickey is 12, Benny is 10 1/2 and not forgetting that little ra Tob Toby who is 10.
Thank you to all those who supported me through the writing of United, I hope you enjoy this just as much.

\"Eternal Flame\"

April 2003 ShenLong

Chapter 22.

Trowa slipped the t-shirt over his head and tugged it down, smoothing the wrinkles and settling his bang in place. Quatre gave him a smile as he walked back into the bedroom from the bathroom. \"Nearly ready?\"

Trowa nodded and walked over to the night stand to pick up the file. With the file in his hand he wrapped his other arm around Quatre\'s waist and gave the blonde a quick kiss. \"I\'ll go and round up the mini terrorists,\" he said with a soft smile.

Quatre laughed. \"I\'ll meet you downstairs in a moment.\"

Trowa left his lover to finish getting himself ready and went in search of their ‘sons’. He followed the noise to the games room and found the pair locked in battle, the sounds of explosions and cheers ringing out through the room. Trowa paused in the doorway and watched the scene for a moment.

\"Hah! That\'ll learn yer.... Try ta blow up my space ship will yer.\"

\"It\'s called revenge fer yer blowin up my home base.\"

\"Really? I thought it were sour grapes,\" came the sarcastic reply.

\"I\'ll show yer sour grapes, yer sneaky devil.\" The sound of a colleoller hitting the floor jolted Trowa into action.

\"Not fighting are we, boys?\"

Toby and Benny looked up from where they were lying on the floor, about to exchange a few friendly wrestling moves. \"Nah, we were jus playin\', Trowa.\"

\"I hope so.\"

Both boys got their feet and dusted themselves off. \"We goin\' then?\" Toby asked, his blue eyes sparkling.

\"As soon as Quatre comes down we will be off. Have you both cleaned your teeth?\"

Two enthusiastic nods and one wide grin were proof enough.

\"Good. How about we go and bring the car around from the garage?\"

\"Great!\" Benny jumped up and down and shot out the door, racing for the rear exit and path to the garage. Toby was seconds behind him. Trowa shook his head in amusement and followed the two whirlwinds at a more leisurely pace.

By the time Quatre had finished getting himself ready; Trowa had fetched the car from the garage and was awaiting his presence outside the front of the main doors with the two boys secure in their seat belts in the back.

Toby gave his usual wide grin as Quatre slid into the front seat TrowTrowa eased out the clutch. Conversation was kept to a minimum, Benny and Toby listening to the radio while Quatre read through the file yet again, refreshing his memory and preparing for the task ahead.

Soon they arrived at the WEI building and parked in the underground car park. Toby enthusiastically pushed the elevator button that would take them to the main office floor, after Trowa persuaded him that it was *not* a good idea to push all the buttons.

The lift doors swished open and the group exited and went to Quatre\'s office where he retrieved the personal file that Trowa had gotten for him on Shand. Flicking through it briefly Quatre placed it with the other file and nodded to Trowa. \"Let\'s head to the Lab\'s and see what we can find out.\"

\"Cool! We gets ta see the Labs, Benny,\" Toby stated, nearly bouncing with excitement.

\"Just because we\'re going to the Labs doesn\'t mean that you two will be allowed to get into any mischief.\" Trowa gave the pair his sternest look. \"We expect you both to be on your best behavi"
"

\"We will,\nny nny sighed. \"Geeze, yer can\'t have any fun with these pair any more, Tob.\"

\"I finks they\'s gettin old,\" whispered Toby in a knowing voice.

\"Must be,\" Benny whispered back.

Quatre nearly choked as he overheard the soft chatter and gave Trowa a glance.

Trowa raised an eyebrow and gave his lover the once over. Taking his partner’s hand as they exited the office, so Trowa leaned over and let his words brush quietly over Quatre\'s ear. \"I don\'t think you\'re getting old, Quat, in fact...\" A lick up the shell of his ear, \"..…in fact I think you have matured just nicely.\"

Quatre shivered and gave the green eyed man a sensual look. \"Oh you do, do you?\"

\"Mmmm... You\'re like a fine wine, the more you age the better you taste.\"

Quatre stifled the small moan and tried to draw the blood back to his brain.

\"I\'d like to drink from you later and sample the flavor if I may.\"

\"Sampling can be arranged this evening in the solitude of the master suite if you\'re interested.\"

A gentle brush of lips. \"I\'ll be there.\"

\"Can yer cut the mushy stuff and take us ta the Labs now?\" Benny was grinning wickedly at the pair.

\"You wait until you find that someone special, Benny, then you won\'t think of it as mushy stuff,\" Trowa replied with a smile.

\"Yuk! I ain\'t plannin on findin anyone. I gots Toby and me an \'im don\'t needs anyone else. Ain\'t that right, Tob?\"

\"Yup.\" Toby placed his small hand in the slightly larger one of Benny\'s. \"We only needs each other.\"

\"Is that so?\" Quatre laughed. \"I\'ll remind you of that when you\'re planning on getting married.\"

Both Benny and Toby began to fidget. It was clear they weren\'t going to win thie soe so they did what any good little kid would do.

They changed the subject.

\"Can we go now? Trowa promised us we would gets ta see where all the research stuff is done,\" Toby complained.

Trowa chuckled and ruffled the boy\'s hair. \"Come on, short stuff, this way to the Labs.\"

\"About time,\" muttered Benny as they headed back to the elevator and the floor where the Labs were located.

~ * ~

Benny and Toby had their faces pressed against the glass. \"This is way better than the stuff yer sees on the telly, ain\'t it, Toby?\"

Toby didn\'t bother to reply, all his attention was focused on the white coated attendants on oth other side. Two were busy mixing chemicals while another was filling small tubes with a substance contained in an eye dropper. Further over others were working on computers, inputting and calculating data.

Benny noticed a tall man exit the and and greet Quatre and Trowa. \"Ahh, Dr. Richards, I\'m sorry to inconvenience you like this but as you will appreciate, this matter does require urgent attention.\" Quatre shook the Lab head\'s hand.

\"No problem at all, Mr. Winner. can can help in any way I\'m happy to. I\'ve briefed the staff and they are ready to let you know anything they know relating to Shand in the time he was employed here. May I suggest that we go through to my office? That way you can interview the staff one at a time.\" Dr. Richards waved in the direction of his office.

\"Thank you. That would be the best thing I think.\" Quatre replied with a smile.

Trowa turned to where the two boys were still gazing through the window. \"Would it be all right for our sons to remain in this office while we interview everyone?\" he said as he turned back to Richards.

\"They should be fine in here by themselves but I\'ll call Adam to keep an eye on them if you like,\" replied Dr. Richards.

\"Thank you.\"

Dr. Richards summoned a young lab technician with dark curly hair and asked him to keep an eye on the pair. Adam agreed and went into the small office to introduce himself to the boys while the rest of the group disappe int into Richards\' office.

~ * ~

Toby and Benny had tired of watching the technicians at work and so had turned their attention to Adam, firing question after question at him and picking his brain on everything they could think of in relation to all he knew about what went on in the Labs. Adam was beginning to get a little frazzled to say the least. Baby-sitting two inquisitive ten year olds had not been in his job description and he made a mental note to ask Dr. Richards for danger money if he was required to repeat this performance again. He\'d much rather be working out complex formulas and calculations any day than watch two kids. He also made a note to let his girlfriend know that he was no longer interested in having kids of his own.

Finally having exhausted the technician, Benny and Toby turned their attention to the equipment in the office... namely the computers. \"Can yer play any games on these things, Adam?\" Benny asked.

Adam gave a small sigh of relief as it seemed like the inquisition was over for the moment. \"Yeah, I think there are some games on there.\" Adam got up and went to one of the consoles, switching the unit on and letting it run through its start up program. Checking that the two wouldn\'t be able to access any of the important files he handed over the mouse and relinquisthe the chair.

\"You should be able to find some games on there to play,\" hed asd as Benny took over the control of the mouse.

\"Can yer fire that one up fer me please?\" asked Toby in his best pleading voice.

Unused to the manipulative tactics of the pair and being somewhat relieved that the two could be occupied in a different way, Adam was only too happy to turn the second computer on and allow Toby to take control of it. \"I need to go back into the Lab, I\'ve got some work to finish off but I\'ll be right on the other side of that window there.\" Adam pointed to the glass where on the other side sat a long bench with computers on it. \"I\'ll be able to watch you from there so if you have any problems or need anything just tap on the glass and I\'ll be right back in.\"

\"Okay,\" the boys chorused.

\"Just play the games you find on there, don\'t go into anything you shouldn\'t,\" Adam said, trying to sound firm.

\"We promise ta just play games, we won\'t goes inta anyfin we shouldn\'ts so don\'t worry. Yer can trust u Tob Toby gave Adam his best innocent face.

Adam was fooled, hook, line and sinker. He gave the boys a nod before returning to the door to the Lab and punching in the electronic code.

Benny and Toby immediately began to search through the programs, looking for games to play.

~ * ~

Paul got up and showered, taking great pains over his appearance. They were going to pick up Leith from the hospital at lunch time and he wanted to look good for his boyfriend. Once he was satisfied that the jeans fitted just right and the t-shirt hugged his slender chest in the nicest way he returned to his bedroom and removed the sheets as Sally had requested. He found a fresh, clean pair and quickly remade the bed. A general tidy up was all that was needed as Paul wasn\'t a messy person by nature and the room was done. With a satisfied smile on his face he left to find Sally and Wufei.

He heard them before he saw them.

\"Not there, Wufei, I said the there.\"

\"Make up your mind, one minute it\'s put it there then the next you want it somewhere else.\"

Paul grinned as he stuck his head around the door frame of the \'spare\' room. \"Reckon it will be ready fer me this afternoon?\"

Wufei grunted and put the box he was carrying down. \"At this rate it should be ready by the next millennium,\" he scowled.

Sally gave him a glare. \"If you would only listen to what I\'m saying, this room will be ready in an hour.\"

\"I am listening; you just keep changing your mind!\"

\"I\'ll go pop the kettle on fer a cup of tea, shall I?\" Paul was finding it hard to contain his laughter.

Sally ran a hand through her hair. \"Thank you, Paul, that would be wonderful. Now, Wufei, do you think you can stack those boxes over there please?\"

Paul left them to it. As long as he could find the bed, he didn\'t care what state the room was in.

~ * ~

Heero scowled as he went through the file again; surely there was a clue in here as to what had happened to Bob Martins, all he had to do was find it. The police had been pretty thorough in their investigation so far, having done most of the leg work. All of Martins\' fellow workers had been interviewed and each statement was recorded in the file. Martins\' movements over the preceding 12 hours were also recorded but there was nothing to indicate anything out of the ordinary. The man was a good worker, well liked and didn\'t socialize a lot. He was a valued employee.

Heero frowned and ran his hands through his bangs, flipping through the next part of the file; he looked for the projects that Bob had been working on just before his disappearance. The furrow in his brow deepened as he took in the lack of information.

\"Found anything yet?\"

Duo\'s voice and the accompanying cup of coffee broke into Heero\'s thoughts and he looked up into the violet eyes of his lover and partner. He shook his head. \"There\'s not really much in the file to go on.\"

Duo sighed and sat on Heero\'s lap, placing his own drink next to Heero\'s on the desk. He slung an arm around Heero\'s shoulders. \"Yeah, I couldn\'t find much either when I looked through.\" Duo paused, deep in thought. \"Yanno, I still can\'t help my gut feelin\' that somehow all this shit is tied in tagether.\"

\"I have the same feeling, Duo.\" Heero looked at his lover. \"There\'s one thing in this file though that I think needs looking into further.\"

Duo reached over and picked up the file, scanning through the part that Heero was currently looking into. His eyes darkened as he studied the information. Having read as much as he could he turned back to Heero. \"Am I guessin\' right when I say there ain\'t much on what Bob actually does fer the company other than rewrite data and create new programs?\"

\"I think you just hit the nail on the head, Duo.\"

Duo\'s eyes lit up with a feral gleam that Heero recognized. It meant his lover was on to something and if Heero guessed correctly, it was the same something he had been thinking of.

\"I\'ll bet\'cha the connection fer why Bob\'s missin canfounfound in what sort of programs and data rewrites he does.\" Duo grinned at Heero.

\"That\'s exactly what I was thinking.\"

\"Wuffy is supposed ta be talkin ta Leith, I wonder if he mightw whw what his dad was working on?\"

\"I think we should give Wufei a call and see if he has anything of value to add to what we already know.\"

Duo bounced up. \"I\'ll call him, he\'s supposed ta be coming around later ta pick up Paul\'s stuff anyway. If he hasn\'t already asked Leith I\'ll get him ta do so before he calls in.\"

\"Good idea, Duo.\" Heero grabbed his lover\'s wrist and pulled him close for a kiss. \"I knew there was a reason why I love you,\" he whispered.

\"Yer mean afta all this time it\'s only my mind yer wanted me fer, Heero? And here I was thinkin it was my handsome features, my great body and the mind blowing sex,\" Duo teased.

\"Well, there is that too,\" Heero replied as he gave the long haired man a quick feel up.

Duo shivered and moaned. \"Fuck, Yuy. Don\'t start anythin yer can\'t finish right now.\"

\"Okay.\" Heero removed his hand and gave Duo an evil smirk before turning back to the file.

\"Bastard!\"

Heero chuckled at the sound of frustration Duo made, then taking pity on his boyfriend he turned around. \"I\'ll take good care of your *little* problem later, Duo.\"

\"Less of the little, Yuy. I\'ll have yer know this equipment is above the standard package deal.\"

Reaching forwards, Heero took Duo completely by surprise when he grabbed the front of Duo\'s sweat pants and looked inside before releasing the elastic to return to its place around Duo\'s hips. \"Yep, definitely bigger than standard issue.\"

Duo rolled his eyes. \"I thought I was the one with the warped sense of humor here.\"

\"What can I say? You\'re a good teacher and I\'m an excellent student,\" Heero replied, continuing to tease his lover.

\"Then let me tell yer, Heero, I expect yer in my office later fer detention.\"

\"I\'ll be there.... Sir...\"

Duo swallowed hard and his eyes glazed slightly. \"I think I may need ta punish yer if yer keep this up, Yuy.\"

\"Mmmm... Promises, promises.\"

\"I\'m going ta call Wuffers, the sooner he gets here, the sooner we can get through all this lot and then I\'ll deal with yer punishment.\" Duo spun round and left the room, trying to get his mind back from the bedroom where it desperately wanted to go.

Heero watched him leave, an amused smile on his face before turning back yet again to the file.

~ * ~

Quatre turned to Trowa after the employee left the room and gave a frustrated sigh. \"This is hopeless,\" he said quietly.

\"I\'m nninnning to agree with you,\" Trowa replied as he looked down at the neat handwriting of his boyfriend. \"There really isn\'t much to be found.\"

\"No, there isn\'t. Our man pretty much kept to himself.\" Quatre and Trowa had interviewed all but one employee and \'t \'t gotten any more information on Shand than they had to start with. The guy was pretty much a recluse.

Trowa had gone through the file and even contacted Shand\'s former employers in an attempt to find out anything that would indicate why the guy would want to take the chips from WEI. The previous employer couldn\'t give him any more to go on than they already knew. There was simply nothing to warrant the theft or the man turning up dead.

\"Let\'s see what this last person has to say and then collect the terrible twosome,\" Trowa said quietly.

Quatre gave him a smile. \"I\'d also like to go out to where it was that Shand was murdered and check out the scene, see if there is anything there that the police may have missed.\"

\"I agree,\" Trowa said. \"We might get lucky and find something.\"

Quatre stood and went to open the door, admitting the final person inside and motioned them to a seat before sitting himself and beginning again with the now well known routine list of questions.

~ * ~

Toby was bored with his game and so exited out. He glanced across at Benny, seeing the look of concentration on his friend\'s face he sighed softly to himself. He swung his little legs back and forth as he contemplated what to do. He thought about concocting up a silly e-mail and sending it through the system to all the computers but then decided against it. Given the recent trauma with Leith and e-mail, maybe it wasn\'t such a good idea.

He sighed again and swung his legs harder, drumming them against the wooden panel of the lower part of the desk.

Benny frowned and hit pause loe looked over at Toby. \"Can yer keep it quiet, Tob? I\'m tryin ta concentrate here.\"

\"Sorry but I\'m bored,\" Toby whined.

\"Why dont\'cha play a game?\"

\"Don\'t wanna.\"

\"Well, be quiets then \'cause I\'m playin one an Trowa will be back soon. Yer don\'t wants us ta gets inta trouble, does yer?\"

\"No,\" Toby sighed.

\"Then have a looks around the files on the computer, maybe e\'se\'s some other games on there, different ta what yer found already.\"

\"I suppose so.\" Toby brought up the files list again and Benny went back to his game.

Knowing he\'d promised not to go looking into files he shouldn\'t, Toby carefully went through the list displayed on the screen. He had trouble reading the titles on some of the files and remembering what Shane had once said to him he bypassed them. / If yer can\'t pronounce the name then yer best ta leave it alone \'cause yer wouldn\'t understand it./

Toby smiled as Shane\'s words ran through his head. He continued to scan, pausing from time to time to open up a file, only to close it immediately when he realized that it wasn\'t a game but something he shouldn\'t be looking at.

Eyes roaming down a little further he spotted a name that caught his eye. \"Battlezone\". Now that looked like an interesting game. Toby drew the pointer to the file and clicked on it. The screen changed and the file came up. He looked it over with interest before selecting a sub folder. From what he could make out, thame ame involved the purchase of various parts to build your own army and then go out into battle. Eagerly Toby clicked again, this was more like it.

~ * ~

Duo headed for the vid \'phone to contact Wufei. No sooner had he sat down to place the call than the unit beeped at him. He pushed the receive button and recognizing the face on the screen he broke into a wide grin. \"Howie!\"

\"Hey Duo, You\'re still looking great.\"

\"Yer ain\'t too bad fer an oldie yerself, Howie.\" Duo\'s face settled into a concerned frown. \"So how come yer contacting me, Howie? I mean, yer only left last night so yer ain\'t had chance ta get far.\"

\"Do I need a reason to call you, Duo?\" Howard chuckled.

\"Nah, I guess not.\"

Howard\'s face changed to one of deep thoughtfulness. \"I told you both I would call if I found out anything regarding the scrap out here in space. Well, I have some information, it might not be related to what you\'re investigating but I thought I\'d mention it anyway.\"

\"Well, firay, ay, Howard,\" Duo said, impatiently.

\"There were five companies that we knew about that were buying up large amounts of scrap MS parts. I did a little digging of my own and guess what?\"

\"What, Howie?\" Duo was beginning to bounce around in his chair, the suspense getting to him.

\"Well, it seems that four of these companies are in fact subsidiaries of the fifth company.\"

The words fell like a stone and Duo\'s mind raced as he processed the information. \"They are?\"

\"Yes. Seems that the mother company runs several smaller companies and had them all buying up the parts. I don\'t know what they want with them as I haven\'t found out anymore on the mother company, I thought Heero or you might be able to hack around and find that out easier than I would be able to.\"

\"Hmmm.\" Duo tapped his chin. \"I reckon we could, Howie. So, what\'s the information yer got on this mother company?\"

\"All I can tell you is that the company name is Automation Industries. I think they have their headquarters on a satellite out near the L3 cluster.\"

\"Did yer say a satellite in the L3 cluster?\" Duo sat bolt upright in the chair.

\"Yes, I did. Is there something wrong, Duo?\"

\"Howie, yer wonderful man!\"

\"Well, I always said I wasn\'t too bad but I wouldn\'t go as far as ...\"

\"Howie, I think yer may have given us a pretty big clue here.\"

\"I have?\"

\"I\'ll let yer know; right now I gotta give this information ta Heero and see if he\'s thinkin what I\'m thinkin.\"

\"Okay then, Duo. Take care, kid, and call me if you need any more information.\"

\"Thanks, Howie, I will. Yer look afta yerself. See yer.\"

\"Good-bye, Duo.\"

The call was severed and Duo walked back to find Heero and tell him of Howard\'s call and pass on the new information. /The L3 cluster.... a satellite.... That was where they had managed to trace Bob Martins e-mail to, somewhere near the L3 cluster.... /

~ * ~

Toby\'s eyes widened as he continued to explore the contents of the file entitled \"Battlezone\". He was searching for the sub folder that would tell him how to play the game, what he had to do to load it up. So far he was drawing blanks. He was beginning to think this was some sort of joke when he clicked on a file that immediately flooded the screen. Toby blinked and then blinked again as he scanned the words on the screen. He swallowed and turned to Benny.

\"Ummm... Benny?\"

Benny sighed and paused yet again. \"What now, Tob?\"

\"I fink yer should comes an take a look at this.\"

Reluctantly Benny got up from his seat and wandered over. \"What is it that\'s so... Shit!\" Benny paused, his mouth hanging open. \"I fink yer shouldn\'t have opened that Toby.\"

\"I didn\'t means ta. I thought it was a game, the name did say \'Battlezone\' so I opened it.\" Toby was a little worried.

Benny studied the data a little more, unable to make out much of the scrambled words. What he did managed to understand though told him that this was something that Quatre and Trowa needed to know about. \"I fink we should show this ta, Trowa.\"

\"We can\'ts \'cause then I\'ll gets inta trouble.\"

\"No, yer won\'t, Toby.\"

\"Who\'s going to get into trouble? What have you been up to now?\" Quatre asked as he entered the office, Trowa and Dr. Richards behind him.

\"I\'m sorry, I didn\'t means ta open it, I thought it was a game.\" Toby tripped over the words in his haste to get them out.

\"Open what?\" Quatre asked as he began to walk over to the console.

\"I fink yer needs ta look at this Quatre. I don\'t understands it but it looks like it coulds have somefin ta do wiv this man yer afta.\"

Both Quatre and Trowa were at the console within seconds, peering over Toby\'s shoulders and looking at the screen. Quatre drew in a sharp breath. \"Fuck!\"

\"Automation Industries,\" Trowa mused as he read down the page.

Benny looked at Toby who stared back in shock. \"Quatre swore,\" Benny hissed.

~ oOo ~

tbc................