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 all 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 rascal 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\"

Started April 2003 - ShenLong

Chapter 25

While Trowa, Quatre and Duo had gone to Leith\'s apartment to try and find the back up disc, Wufei and Heero had set about finding out what they could in regards to the company known as ‘Automaton Industries’. Armed with the information from the file Trowa had brought, they scoured through the information trying to find something to give them a clue as to what this company manufactured and what it wanted with all the scrap.

Heero gave a frustrated sigh and ran his hands through his bangs. It was yet another dead end.

\"It seems there isn\'t much about on this company at all,\" Wufei stated as he scoured the data on the screen.

They had gone through shipping records, taxation and tariff records; hell, they had even searched through the employment lists as well as the advertising companies. All they had managed to find was that the company made robots, specifically robots for other companies that required specialized automatics for dangerous occupations and hazards, jobs that would prove almost certainly fatal for humans to do.

\"Well, that would account for circuitry and some of the scrap. They would need to ensure that the robots were tough for some of these jobs,\" Wufei stated.

\"That might be all well and good but the amount of scrap they have purchased far exceeds anything they would need for production of the number of robots they have either sold or have on order. No, there is something more to this. Why would they need to have Shand steal the chips? With the sort of operation they\'re running, they would be able to buy the chips they require for these specific types of robot from any of the major computing companies, either that or have them made to order.\"

\"Unless they have something in particular they want these chips for... Robots... Dolls....\" Wufei mused.

Heero looked at him, a sudden dawning on his face. \"You don\'t think?\"

\"It\'s highly possible. Run those invoices back through again.\"

Heero complied and Wufei scanned the various invoices, noting the amounts of scrap as well as various other items either scavenged from space with the scrap or purchased through the various yards scattered around the colonies and earth.

Only about a third is accounted for in these invoices,\" Heero began. \"Based on what Howard has told Duo there is a stack more out there that is unaccounted for.\"

\"I don\'t like this,\" Wufei said quietly. \"Somehow, I think Leith\'s father is the key to this riddle.\"

\"You and me both, Chang.\" Heero replied. \"I hope that the others can find a backup disc, but in the meantime, I\'m going to do some digging on the net and see if I can\'t find anything on Bob Martins.\"

\"You\'re intending to hack into the computer company he works for, aren\'t you?\" Wufei stated.

Heero declined to answer, offering a smirk by way of reply.

Wufei rolled his eyes. \"Just don\'t leave any trace of you being in there,\" he warned. \"Une would frown upon Preventer being charged with hacking.\"

\"Since when have you known me not to be careful, Chang?\"

Wufei just ‘humphed’ in reply and then settled back into the chair to await the findings... if any.

~ * ~

Quatre did his best to control his jealousy, knowing that Duo was only baiting him.

Trowa managed to recover from the sudden invasion to his person and glancver ver at Quatre, trying to convey to the blonde that he hadn\'t participated in the kiss willingly.

Quatre gave him a reassuring smile in return, letting his lover know that he completely understood.

\"Are yer gonna sit there all day or are yer comin back with me ta get this looked at?\" Duo asked as he walked towards the doorway, smirking at the reactions he\'d drawn from the pair..…

\"Right behind you,\" Quatre said as he stood and went to follow the American.

Trowa rose gracefully and followed along, brushing against his little lover as he caught him up. Trowa placed his hand on the small of Quatre\'s back and leaned over to whisper softly so only Quatre could hear. \"I love you, and only you.\"

Quatre turned his head. \"I know.\"

They were soon on their way back to the Yuywellwell residence, disc tucked safely in Duo\'s pocket.

~ * ~

Heero had managed to hack into the files at Past and Present Technologies and was busily working his way through the personnel data, trying to locate the file of one Bob Martins. He wasn\'t having a whole lot of luck. The company obviously had some expert people working for them as the security on the data base was pretty good. Heero was impressed. He knew he would be able to get through, it was just going to take time and he wasn\'t sure how much time they had.

Wufei watched patiently, occasionally making suggestions and filtering through the various information data that came up on the screen. His eyes were beginning to ache and he rubbed them in an attempt to ease them a little.

Fayah stuck her head around the door jamb. \"Would either of yer like a drink?\"

Wufei gave the girl a smile. \"I would love a cup of tea if it\'s not too much trouble.\"

Heero continued to type at the keyboard, never raising his head but replied. \"Coffee please, Fayah.\"

\"I\'ll go make them.\" Fayah left and Wufei returned his attention back to the screen.

A few minutes later Fayah returned with Toby, each was carrying a mug. Toby was looking very important at being trusted to bring Wufei his tea. He carefully walked up to the Chinese man and offered the mug. Wufei took it, a small smile playing on his lips. \"Thank you, Toby.\"

\"Yer\'s welcome, sir.\" Toby beamed.

Fayah set Heero\'s mug down beside him, Heero giving her a distracted murmur of thanks. Turning back to see how Toby was faring, she watched in amusement as Wufei thanked the little boy.

Toby turned to look at Fayah. \"I didn\' spill a drop, Fayah,\" he said proudly.

\"Yer did very well, Toby. Now, how\'s about we goes an\' checks on those cookies, they should be just abouts done by now.\"

Toby\'s grin got even wider at that prospect. \"Let\'s go!\" Grabbing Fayah\'s hand, he pulled the girl from the room and did his best to drag her back to the kitchen.

Heero continued to work at getting through the security that surrounded the personnel files of the staff, finally he gave a sigh. \"I\'m in\"

Wufei closed the distance between himself and the screen once more as Heero scanned the data, looking for the file on Bob Martins.

\"Got it,\" Heero said and moved the cursor around the screen. He opened the file and the information on Martins came up on the screen.

\"Scroll down slowly,\" Wufei stated as he perused the information. There was the usual blurb, Name, Address, DOB, references, skills and previous employment. \"Go into the skills file,\" Wufei commanded. Heero obeyed, clicking on the file and opening it up. At that point Trowa, Quatre and Duo returned.

Heero looked up from the screen as the three walked into the room. \"Any luck?\" he asked.

Duo pulled the disc from his pocket and handed it over. \"Trowa managed ta find it. We\'re pretty sure that\'s it. Shit! Yer wanna see all the discs that guy has,\" he said as he flopped into a chair.

\"There were quite a few to go through,\" agreed Trowa.

Heero retrieved his laptop from its bag and placed it on the table next to the computer he was currently working on, booting it up he slipped the disc into the slot and waited patiently for the thing to load. While it was humming away, he turned back to the three. \"We have managed to find out quite a bit on Automaton Industries.\"

Quatre leaned forwards from his position next to Trowa on the couch. He was making sure to put himself between Duo and his boyfriend. \"What did you find?\"

\"The company it seems makes automotive robots, designed and programmed specifically for use in areas where it would be potentially fatal for humans to go. Jobs such as disarming space mines, where it wouldn\'t matter so much to lose a machine. That would account for them purchasing the scrap from the war.\" Wufei told them.

\"But the invoices don\'t add up to the amount of stuff they have purchased. In fact, it only accounts for a third of it.\" Heero added.

\"So where is the rest of it? And what are they doing with it?\" Trowa asked.

\"That is what we hope to find out and I\'m sure the key lies with Bob Martins.\" Heero replied.

The computer beeped to indicate it had finished loading the disc; Heero turned around and glanced at the screen. \"Chang, would you mind going through that to see what you can find in relation to the re-writes Martins was doing?\"

Wufei nodded and turned the laptop to face him.

\"Trowa, you and Quatre mind helping him? Duo, you can give me a hand to continue going through these personnel files.\"

Trowa and Quatre moved behind Wufei and began to scan the screen\'s information while Duo draped himself over Heero\'s shoulder and began the search through the files.

~ * ~

The shuttle seemed to travel for ages, or so Bob thought. He couldn\'t see much out of the window, just the inky blackness of space. God, how the hell had he ended up in this mess? He reclined his head back and closed his eyes, immediately Leith\'s face sprang up to torture him. Leith smiling, Leith joking around, Leith with his car, Leith lying on a stretcher covered in blood...

Bob gasped and his eyes shot open. / Leith..... Would he ever see his son again? /

The throb of the shuttle\'s engines changed and Bob looked out the window. He could just make out the gray metallic structure of a satellite and realized they had reached their destination point. The craft shuddered as the engines were manipulated to allow it to dock and soon there was a distinct metal *clang* as the shuttle connected to the satellite.

The engines were cut and an eerie silence greeted Bob\'s ears, but it only lasted for a moment. The shuttle soon became a hive of activity, people moving about, the main doors opened and various people exited. Bob began to think they had forgotten all about him but then a guard approached and turned the magnetic force that held Bob\'s \'cuffed arms to the seat, off. Bob raised his arms and pushed himself up as the guard had indicated. His hands were soon cuffed back together though and he was pushed along the aisle towards the door.

\"Where are we?\" Bob asked the guard.

There was no reply.

\"Can you at least tell me where you\'re taking me?\"

The guard grunted and shoved him forward.

\"Didn\'t we get out of the bed on the wrong side this morning,\" Bob sneered sarcastically.

That little quip earnt him a rather sharp blow with the butt of the rifle to the side of his head.

Bob stumbled and saw stars, his vision blurring momentarily and then clearing. His face throbbed and he made a mental note not to try that again. A few more corridors and they arrived at what Bob presumed to be their destination. The steel door slid open and he was pushed inside.

He stared around him. It was a control room of sorts.... a very large control room.

One side was completely clear, the huge *window* taking up the entire area and giving a perfect view of the universe outside. In the center was a large semiculacular console with two rows of other consoles behind it. There were four seats in the main console and Bob gathered that whatever it was this room was used for, the orders came from those four seats. He didn\'t get a chance to ponder any further as Grant came in.

\"Ahh... good. What do you think of my little set up?\" he asked.

Boblinelined to answer.

Grant just smirked and turned to the guard. \"Take him away, clean him up, feed him then let him rest for a while. I will require him back here in five hours.\"

The guard saluted then turned to Bob. \"You heard the boss, move it.\" He pushed Bob towards the door.

\"Here we go again,\" Bob muttered under his breath. / What the hell am I going to have to do now? /

~ * ~

\"Well, I\'ll be,\" Quatre stated as he gazed at the current information on the screen.

\"He\'s certainly rather talented,\" Trowa added.

Wufei just frowned and then spoke to no one in particular. \"He must be quite the expert in his field.\"

Heero and Duo meanwhile had delved deeper into Bob\'cordcords but couldn\'t find much to assist them. \"What yer found, guys?\" Duo asked as he switched his attention to the screen in front of Wufei.

Wufei stretched, his spine popping as the joints loosened. \"It seems that Mr. Martins is one of the top programmers in this company.\"

\"We already know that, Wuffers, give us somethin we don\'t know.\"

\"Do you want to hear this or not, Maxwell?\" Wufei replied in his cold voice.

Heero gently pulled on Duo\'s braid. \"Be quiet, baka!\"

Duo yelped and pulled his braid from Heero\'s grasp and held it possessively in his own.

\"According to what we have found on this back up, he does most of the programming for the military.\"

Trowa took over. \"It seems that the company has a large contract with the military to create scenarios for soldiers to gain experience without actually going into battle.\"

\"Sort of like a vid game?\" Duo asked.

\"Yes. In fact, it looks like a type of VR system from what I can make out here. Martins is responsible for writing up the new programs as well as altering the current ones, there by giving the soldiers in training new and varied situations to deal with.\" Trowa finished.

\"Well, that would make sense,\" Heero stated.

\"Huh?\"

\"I\'ve found something rather interesting on Mr. Martins.\" Heero turned back to his computer and typed in a few commands.

The rest of the group crowded around behind him, eager to see what it was that Heero had found.

\"Well, fuck me!\"

\"No thanks, Maxwell, I\'ll leave that to Yuy.\" Wufei said.

Duo\'s eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the Chinese man. Trowa and Quatre both wore grins they hadn\'t a hope in hell of hiding and Heero sat there, not sure if his hearing was playing up or not.

\"Wuffers just made a joke... Glory be, put out the flags and call the United Earth Sphere. This has got ta be recorded in the history books!\" Duo crowed.

Heero cleared his throat. \"As much as I appreciate Chang leaving the fucking of my boyfriend to me and the offer from said boyfriend, I think we should get back to the task at hand.\"

Duo rolled his eyes. \"Shit! Aren\'t we all just the comedians today?\"

Quatre snickered. \"Losing your touch, Duo?\"

Duo spun around. \"Yer just jealous \'cause I kissed yer lover and not you.\"

Quatre went a deep shade of red again. \"I am not jealous.\" / Yeah, right! /

Heero\'s head snapped up. \"You kissed Trowa?\"

\"Umm... errr....\"

\"You kissed Trowa?\" the words were repeated a little stronger this time.

\"It wasn\'t..... it isn\'t what yer think, Heero.\"

\"Children... If you have quite finished...\" Wufei tried to bring some order back... and failed.

\"I\'ll deal with you later,\" Heero growled at his lover.

Duo swallowed. \"Ooh... you promise?\"

\"Yuy! Maxwell! That\'s enough. You can sort out your jealousy issues and punishments later, right now we have a case to solve.\" Wufei\'s voice was sharp and brooked no argument.

Duo poked his tongue out at Quatre and then turned his attention back to what was being displayed on the screen.

\"This is Martins\' personnel file registered with the company,\" Heero began. \"When I go into the skills file it lists that Martins has worked in the military before.\"

\"A lot of people have worked in the military before, Heero,\" Quatre said.

\"Hai, but, when I go into the previous employment records, he\'s listed as having worked in communications for another company. The information on what he did with the military isn\'t here... or it\'s been removed.\"

Wufei closed on the screen. \"I see. All it says, is that he was employed by the military but not what he did.\"

He's e's eyes took on a glint. \"I have a hunch. Chang, pass me the laptop would you?\" he said and then taking the laptop, his fingers flver ver the keys.

\"Heero, What are you doing?\" Duo asked.

Heero held up a hand. \"Just wait a moment. If my hunch is correct...\" The screen flickered and new information came up. \"Aaa. I thought that might have been the case.\"

\"What?\" four voices echoed behind him.

\"Bob Martins worked in the military, yes. But what he did was classified. He worked for OZ.\"

\"That bastard.\"

\"Hang on a minute, Duo. Don\'t condemn the man just yet. We don\'t know anything about him other than what we have here. There are lots of former OZ soldiers out there, all living normal lives just like you and I are.\" Heero said. \"Well, as normal as we can be.\"

\"I guess yer right.\"

\"Think about it, Duo,\" Trowa said quietly. \"We were all Gundam pilots and five of the most wanted men out there, during the war. The governments refused to make our identities public knowledge knowing that there are many people out there that would like nothing more than to see us dead. It must be the same for the OZ people too. Many of them that survived could also be on people\'s *hit* lists for their part in the war.\"

\"Yeah, it makes sense.\" Duo sighed. \"So, do yer think yer can hack in a little more and find out what exactly he did fer OZ?\"

\"I\'ll need to find OZ\'s files and go from there but I can\'t see why not.\" Heero replied and then began to type away again.

The sound of Quatre\'s cell phone suddenly pierced the air and the Arab scrabbled at his belt trying to unclip the thing. Finally he managed it and popped the device open, pressing it to his ear. \"Winner speaking.\"

Heero continued in his efforts to hack into the OZ data and locate Martins\' file while Trowa watched the various emotions flit over Quatre\'s face. Duo was absorbed in Heero\'s hunting while Wufei reclined back again and watched what was going on around him.

\"I see,\" said Quatre.

There was the sound of a voice on the other end of the line.

\"Thank you. I appreciate the call. No, no, keep him there. My partner and I will come right down. Good-bye.\" Quatre folded the \'phone back up and clipped it to his belt before turning to Trowa. \"That was Detective Nicholls; it seems they have managed to find the person who murdered Shand.\"

~ oOo ~

tbc......