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... *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\"

April 2003 ShenLong

Chapter 30

Wufei\'s eyes slowly traveled the length of the gleaming suit, registering Howard\'s words as he did so. When Howard said the suit\'s name, he froze. The soft snicker caught his attention and he turned his eyes to meet with the sight of Maxwell doing his very best to hold his laughter in check. \"Puff?\" he inquired, raising an eyebrow and transferring his gaze to Howard.

Howard swallowed nervously, the cold dark eyes boring through him. But before he had a chance to reply, Duo beat him to it.

\"Yeah, Wuffers. Puff. Yanno, as in Puff the Magic Dragon?\"

\"I am fully aware of the name, Maxwell,\" Wufei growled. \"This... this is not an injustice... this, this is...\"

\"Sacrilege?\" Quatre offered as he tried to keep his own face straight.

That was the end of Duo. With a deep belly laugh he collapsed into his lover\'s arms, unable to hold himself upright any longer as the laughter rocked his slender frame and tears coursed down his cheeks.

Wufei\'s fists curled at his side and he began to shake himself; not from mirth but from anger. The name itself was bad enough but to have Maxwell making fun of it as well!

Softly Trowa began to hum a few bars of the song and that only served to make Duo laugh harder and Quatre to join him. Wufei was having a very hard time trying to control his temper.

Howard cleared his throat nervously and faced the irate Chinese pilot. \"Umm, sorry about the name, Wufei, but in one way the suit is aptly named. It packs more fire power than Shenlong did, so I guess you could say that it will be a force to be reckoned with.\"

\"Of all things it had to be... Puff?\" Wufei shook his head.

\"Just think of all the pirate ships that will lower their flags when yer come along, Wuffy; or should I call yer Jackie?\" That sent Duo off on another round of hysterics.

Quatre was hanging TrowTrowa\'s arm as his sides began to ache from the giggling he had done, and was still doing. God if Duo didn\'t stop with the smart assed comments soon he was sure his heart would give out, either that or his lungs. He\'d heard of the expression to die laughing but wasn\'t particularly eager to experience it himself.

Heero gave his lover a squeeze and spoke sternly to him, \"Duo, I think you should stop teasing Wufei now. We don\'t have a lot of time to formulate this plan and we are going to need both him and…\"

Dare he say it?

\"…Puff to help us take this guy, Grant down.\"

Duo did his best to stifle the giggles and hastily wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. He managed to temper them back to controlled snickers and faced the rest of the group, careful not to make eye contact with the Chinese man lest his laughter burst forth again.

Wufei looked at the ground and continued to shake his head slowly. \"Puff...\"

\"May we go and have a look at them, Howard?\" Trowa asked as he tried to change the subject a little.

\"Sure. Desert Storm is the only one that isn\'t finished but the others all are. By all means, go ahead and check them out. I\'m sure you will find them similar to your old suits, we built them from the blueprints of the previous Gundams, but with a few modifications.\"

Duo was already half way into Reaper\'s cockpit when he heard the word \'modifications\'. Instantly he spun around. \"Modifications?\"

The other four pilots also stopped in their tracks and turned their questioning gazes towards Howard.

\"What sort of modifications?\" Duo asked, taking a seat on the cockpit hatch, legs dangling over the side.

\"You remember the cloaking device that we built into Deathscythe Hell?\"

Duo nodded, as did the rest of the group. They all remembered that little number.

\"We have built the same device into all of these new suits; and into the Zodiac as well.\"

\"Cool!\"

\"Well that will certainly be an advantage,\" Trowa stated calmly from his position by Hercules\' large foot.

\"We have also made other improvements.\" Howard turned to face Heero. \"Eagle One has the same twin buster rifle that Zero had, only now it has double the fire power.\"

Heero smirked.

\"Reaper has now got a triple bladed scythe as well as extra fire power in the form of \'bats\'.\"

\"Bats?\" Duo echoed.

\"Yeah. Ever heard of boomerangs?\" Howard asked, looking up at Duo.

Duo nodded the affirmative.

\"Well these little babies work on the same principal. You fire them off at the enemy, they have the ability to cut through pretty much anything as they have their own small thermal weapons attached to their \'wings\' and once done, they return to you.\"

Duo grinned maniacally. \"I like the sound of that.\"

Howard turned to Trowa. \"Hercules has a second gattling gun as well as another 36 rockets and 20 missiles added. The arms have been hollowed out to allow for more ammunition storage and the size of the rockets and missiles has been significantly reduced to enable the extra units to be added. Don\'t worry, the amount of explosive in them is still the same; more in most.\"

Trowa felt relieved. He\'d long endured the taunts of his fellow pilots, well namely Duo, during the wboutbout his continuously running out of ammo, especially when it was most needed. Maybe now he would have enough to finish a fight with.

\"Storm, once completed, will have the same power as Sandrock had with one added extra.\"

\"Oh?\" asked Quatre

\"The Scimitars will have thermal power, similar to the scythe that Reaper carries.\"

\"Woo, hoo! Way ta go, Quat! Now there will be no stoppin yer.\"

Quatre grinned. Unfortunately he would have to wait until his suit was completed before being able to explore its many functions. Not to worry though, he was sure he would have just as much fun exploring Hercules with Trowa.

Wufei waited patiently and when Howard turned to address him he lifted his eyes expectantly.

\"Wufei, Puff has the thermal trident, same as before but with double the power in it. We have also kept the extendable dragon arm but improved upon it.\"

\"How?\"

\"The arm will operate the same as the one on Shenlong did but I\'ve installed a thermal flame thrower into the end. In effect you will become a fire breathing dragon with that addition.\"

Wufei smirked. The little additions and improvements almost made up for the ridiculous name... almost.

Howard watched as the five pilots inspected their suits, the smile playing upon his lips. Seemed as if he had done the right thing after all when deciding to rebuild the Gundams. Just in case of course. \"There are a few other modifications as well.\"

The five turned their attention back to Howard.

\"All the suits have more power in their engines than their predecessors so they should move much faster. We have also improved the thrusters and stabilizers so the suits have a much better maneuverability and response time, which should give you guys much better handling and accuracy skills. Oh, and we also added a little something courtesy of the Vayette and Mercurious.\"

\"A force field?\" Trowa asked. He was familiar with the kind of force field those suits had pioneered.

\"Yes. Only thing is, they\'re unstable. We haven\'t had the chance to fully test them yet and work out any kinks.\"

\"Right.\" Trowa turned back to the impressive suit and began his ascent to the cockpit while Quatre remained on the ground, inspecting the Gundanium plating and various recesses for the ammunition.

Heero sat in the crafted seat, instantly his mind drifting to the past and an old friend. With his eyes closed he could almost believe he was in the cockpit of Wing Zero once again. His fingers ran over the controls on the console, feeling the familiar buttons and switches underneath the pads of his fingers. He grasped the piloting handles and curled his hands around them, the dips and curves as well known to him as his lover\'s name.

Having gotten over the initial humiliation of his suit\'s name, Wufei was eagerly inspecting the console and familiar layout of the new suit as compared to his old one. He was pleased to find that Howard and his crew had stuck as close as possible to the original plans of Shenlong when building this new suit. That made it much easier to pilot. Not that Wufei would have had much difficulty in learning a new layout, but under the current circumstances, it was far better to stick with what they were familiar with.

Duo was in seventh heaven. Of all the pilots he was the one that had missed his suit the most. While he had understood and agreed with the reasons behind the destruction of his beloved Deathscythe, it had still torn him apart to say good-bye. It wasn\'t simply a piece of machinery to Duo, it had been his ally, partner and more importantly; his friend. It was hard to explain how he\'d felt to the other pilots, so he didn\'t, although he had a feeling that Quatre had known. To say good-bye to something that had protected you, saved you and brought about universal peace was one of the hardest things he\'d ever had to do. With Deathscythe gone, Duo had drifted for a while, unsure of where his future lay. He had hoped to get to know Heero a little better but the Japanese man had disappeared, the other pilots all went back to their previous lives and Duo was left adrift. Finally he\'d gone back to Hilde and the scrap yard, thinking it was the only option left to him. As much as he\'d loathed the pile of floating tin called L2, it was still the only home he\'d ever really known. All that had come crashing down around his ears though and had it not been for Heero coming to find him he would surely have been dead now. [1]

Lovingly he ran his hands over the console, control panel and various other equipment in the cockpit, the memorflooflooded his mind and he could easily believe he was seated inside \'Scythe once again. He settled himself into the pilot\'s seat and strapped on the familiar harness. His hands grasped the control levers and he tested their weight and maneuverability. Suddenly the com unit crackled and the small vid screen opened. A pair of intense blue eyes stared at him from underneath a mess of chocolate.

\"Hey, lover. How\'s the suit?\" Heero\'s voice was soft, yet strong, his eyes full of life and glittering with excitement.

Duo smiled. \"Suit\'s just great. I reckon I could sure kick some ass with this baby. How\'s your suit?\"

\"Perfect.\"

\"Gonna be just like old times, hey Heero?\"

\"Sure is, Duo. Sure is.\"

Duo gave a maniacal grin. \"I can\'t wait ta get out there and give this piece of machinery a run through its paces.\"

Heero gave a grin of his own. \"I guess we will get the chance soon enough.\"

\"Yeah.\" Duo\'s eyes lowered. \"I suppose we better get back ta Howie and the others and figure out what the hell it is we\'re gonna do as far as a game plan goes.\"

\"See you on the ground then.\"

Duo nodded and then cut the link and unbuckled the harness. He would get the chance to fly this baby soon enough, but for now they needed to thrash out a feasible plan for taking care of the piece of shit known as Grant. Duo climbed out of the cockpit and grasped the cord that would take him to the ground. As he slipped his foot into the loop and leaned forward to press the button to operate the cable, so he whispered softly to the machine. \"If yer half as good as \'Scythe was then we\'re gonna get along just fine, Reaper. Yer take care of me and I\'ll take care of you.\" Duo could almost swear that the machine hummed at him and with the grin firmly in place he hit the button and the cable began to lower him to the cargo bay floor.

Howard watched in silence as the group finished their inspection of their mechas, a small, satisfied smile played over his lips. Once they were all back on the cargo bay floor he addressed them again. \"We can leave the Gundams to the boys to check over and finish fueling up. We need to talk and work out this plan of att\"
\"

\"I thought you said you had a plan, Howard,\" Quatre stated.

\"I do, but it\'s sort of sketchy,\" Howard hedged.

Wufei tilted his head, Trowa peered through his bangs, Heero remained as stoic as ever while Duo was still lost in thought about the fun he could have with his new toy. \"Sketchy?\" echoed Quatre.

\"Look, why don\'t you all come through to the galley, grab a bite to eat and I\'ll explain my ideas to you. Then we can work from there.\"

The five agents followed Howard through the Zodiac\'s corridors until they met with the galley doors. Seated inside, food in front of them, Howard began to talk.

\"This guy, Grant. From the information we have managed to gather on his activities out here in space, aside from the obvious, it appears he fully intends to carry out his threats. He needs to be stopped and without the surrendering of any of you to him. I propose that we find out the coordinates of the rendezvous and fight it out with him.\"

\"Is that all?\" Wufei asked, his arms folded over his chest.

\"I did say it was sketchy,\" Howard defended himself.

Duo snorted. \"Sketchy alright. I\'d say more like a coupla lines, Howie.\"

Quatre sat deep in thought and then spoke up, his mind shifting gears. \"Howard\'s plan isn\'t all that bad, guys.\"

Trowa placed his hand upon Quatre\'s forehead. \"You sure you\'re feeling okay, Quatre?\"

Duo sniggered as Quatre shook his lover\'s hand away and scowled at the green-eyed man. \"I\'m fine,\" he muttered.

\"What do you propose, Quatre?\" Heero knew that when it came down to tactics, Quatre was the best of them; he\'d proven that on many occasions during the wars.

Quatre\'s brow furrowed as he thought. \"Well...\" he began slowly, \"I think we need to get the coordinates as soon as we can, then head for the point of contact. You said the Zodiac has a cloaking device, Howard?\" Quatre turned to the older man, eyebrow raised with the question.

\"Yes she does.\"

\"Good. We travel under the cloak and stay under it while at the meeting point. Once we are within range but not close enough for usual detection, we send one of the shuttles out with Heero and Trowa on it, to rendezvous with this guy. They will both be fully armed,\" Quatre added hastily as he saw Duo\'s concern about to make itself heard. \"We give Grant the chance to surrender, talk to him, try to reason with him.\"

\"And what if he doesn\'t want to listen?\" Wufei asked.

\"Duo and yourself will be in your Gundams, cloaked and ready to provide any necessary back up. Should things take a turn for the worst then we do what Howard suggested; blow them apart.\"

The four pilots thought about Quatre\'s idea for a minuminutes before Heero spoke. \"I can\'t think of anything else for now so I guess we go with Quatre\'s suggestion.\"

\"Everybody happy with that?\" Trowa asked. The remainder nodded consent. \"Right, Quatre\'s idea it is then.\" Trowa turned to Howard. \"Can we please contact Commander Une and update her? Hopefully she will have the coordinates for us by now and we can fine tune this \'mission\'.\"

Howard stood. \"Follow me,\' he said and led the somber group out and to the bridge of the large craft. Quatre sat down in the seat indicated to him by Howard and slipped on the headset. Seconds later he was patched through to Preventer HQ.

\"Agent Earth,\" Une\'s voice carried an edge to it.

\"Commander,\" Quatre acknowledged. \"We have some news for you but firstly have you received the coordinates yet for the meeting?\"

\"Yes, yes I have. They came through from the UES headquarters a little while ago.\"

\"Can we have them please and then I will tell you what the proposal is.\"

The sounds of Une flicking through papers could be heard and then her voice returned. \"The coordinates are as follows; Quadrant L5, sector 469, latitude 118 degrees, longitude 372 degrees.\"

Howard quickly punched the coordinates into the Zodiac\'s computer. \"There,\" he said as he pointed to a spot on the screen and then brought the image to the main screen on the side of the bridge.

The five turned to study the map as Howard zoomed the computer in on the small dot. \"It\'s an old abandoned work satellite.\"

\"Well there is one advantage there,\" Duo said.

\"And that would be?\" Heero inquired.

\"No civilians ta get in the way when we kick this bastard\'s ass.\"

Wufei shook his head. \"Let us hope that it does not come to us having to use battle tactics, Maxwell.\"

\"It will be far better if we can get this guy to see reason,\" added Trowa.

\"I agree with yer, guys; but can yer honestly say this piece of shit is just gonna roll over an surrender? I don\'t think so.\" Duo replied.

\"Let\'s wait until Quatre has finished talking with Une and then we can get to the finer details of this mission. It would be desired that the guy gives himself up without a fight and Trowa and I can try to convince him of that, but the back up is also a valid point.\" Heero\'s voice was low as he spoke. He couldn\'t see this guy giving up without a fight er, nr, not after he\'d blown up a colony without so much as a second thought.

The men continued to converse quietly amongst themselves while Quatre finished his conversation with Une. Once done he turned to the others, the lines of weariness etched into his usually handsome features. He rubbed his eyes before speaking. \"I think we should set a course immediately for the rendezvous point, Une is sending a message back to Grant to let him know that his request will be met.\"

\"Right,\" Howard responded and immediately passed the coordinates on to the navigator who punched them into the computer. With the flight plan set the Zodiac hummed into life and was soon speeding through space towards her destination. \"Engage cloaking device.\"

\"Cloaking device engaged!\"

\"Good. Let me know when we are within radar range of the destination.\"

\"Roger, Howard.\"

Howard turned back to the group and addressed Quatre. \"What now?\"

\"Come, let\'s find a more suitable location to discuss this plan in more detail. Oh, Une is sending through blueprints of the satellite. When they come through, could you please get someone to bring them to us?\" Quatre replied.

Howard nodded and then spoke with the communications officer who confirmed the request. \"This way, guys. Lounge 2 should be free.\" Howard led the way from the bridge.

Moments later the doors swooshed open and the group stepped into the lounge area, Wufei seating himself in the only hardback chair in the room. Duo sat on the couch, Heero beside him. Trowa also sat while Quatre preferred to remain standing. Howard sat in one of the large armchairs.

A light tap to the door and one of the sweepers entered, the blueprints in hand. He passed them over and then left them to their discussion.

~ * ~

Grant rubbed his hands together. Finally he was going to get his wish. He would have the Gundam Pilot responsible for his hatred delivered to him on a silver platter. He would pay... oh yes, Grant was sure about that. Barking his orders to the crew, the ship was reprogrammed and the course set. The Dolls were brought back to the \'Mother\' and loaded into the carrier which then followed the main ship into the void of space, bound for a remote abandoned satellite in the L5 quadrant.

Lying on the small bunk in his room, Bob Martins felt the tremor run through the ship as the engines fired and the course was set. The beast thrummed and shuddered before settling into a steady hum of engines. Looked like Grant\'s demands had been met. Bob couldn\'t help but shake his head. He didn\'t blame the UES, god knows they were pretty much caught between a rock and a hard place, and handing over one person to save the many was really the most logical thing to do.

But what next?

Bob sighed. Having seen that look of nitynity in Grant\'s eyes the first time he\'d reacquainted with the man there was no doubt in Bob\'s mind that Grant wouldn\'t stop there. After the pilot and with the firepower he now had at his disposal, Bob had that gnawing feeling that Grant would want to go further.

\"What a mess,\" he moaned to the room. For the umpteenth time Bob questioned his mind as to any way he could possibly stop this mad man, and for the umpteenth time, came up blank. All he could ds sus suffer in his self-loathing and pray for a miracle.

~ * ~

Sally sat in the dark of the apartment lounge room, her mind a jumble of thoughts. She had no idea what Wufei and the other agents would possibly be able to do to stop this crazed lunatic. She knew Howard could usually be relied upon to come up with a reasonable plan, he had in the past and she didn\'t doubt him for a minute, but given what she knew there was no way that the agents would be able to bring this idiot down.

She shifted on the couch, drawing her legs underneath herself and took another drink from her near empty glass. The clock ticked away the minutes while outside the traffic continued to flow, not as thick by any means as usual. Most people she guessed were probably safe in their homes, especially after the television reports.

She had switched the television off, having seen more than enough of the carnage and knowing that her husband was one of the men going out there to do battle with a mad man, she didn\'t want to listen to the speculation of the press any longer. She could hear the soft snores coming from the two bedrooms and her mind switched track a little. If Wufei was correct in their assumptions that Leith\'s father was with this deranged man, was he there by choice? Or by force?

And if he was there by choice, how would Leith react to the knowledge that his father was part of this whole murderous plan? If he was being forced, was he still alive? Somehow she knew that Leith would be shattered if the former were the case. If the latter...

Then there would be another name added to the list of orphans should Leith\'s father be... deceased.

Sally stood up and drained her glass. She thought about going to bed and then decided against it. She would only lie there and think. Better to sit out here and let her mind work, at least she was right next to the \'phone should it ring with any news. Pouring herself another drink she returned to the couch and curled up on it, opting to let her mind stray to wherever it wished as she\'d learnt a long time ago it was fruitless to try and prevent it.

It was going to be a long wait.

~ * ~

\"Any questions?\" Quatre turned to each of the people present.

Wufei shook his head, Heero lowered his eyes; Trowa simply smiled.

\"I think yer got it all covered, Q-man.\"

\"Good.\" He turned to face Howard. \"Let\'s go back to the bridge. We should be coming within range of the target soon and I want to get this shuttle launched before we are in detection distance of the enemy. If the shuttle just appears out of nowhere then they will know something is up.\"

Howard nodded.

\"We put this plan into action in five, gentlemen.\"

Duo moved close to Heero and wrapped his arms around his lover, burying his face in the crook of Heero\'s neck. \"Yer stick ta the game plan, Yuy, ya hear me? None of this sacrificing yerself fer the mission shit.\"

\"Hai. I’ll follow orders, Duo.\" Heero hugged his lover close. He didn\'t want to hand himself over anymore than Duo wanted him to, but he couldn\'t let the lives of millions be threatened by this unstable man. He would stick to the plan... and wing it, if and where necessary.

\"I want yer safe and sound in my arms and bed, Heero. I love yer and dunno what I\'d do without yer now, so yer better make sure yer come back ta me.\"

Heero ran a soothing hand over Duo\'s back and braid, his voice caught in his throat as he tried to speak, coming out husky and low. \"I love you too, Duo and don\'t you go taking any risks either. I want you safe with me. Remember, we have a promise to keep.\"

\"Huh?\" Duo\'s eyes searched those of his lover.

\"Don\'t you remember? Just the two of us, a bed and unlimited supply of lube?\" Heero smirked.

Duo smiled and his anxieties eased a little. \"Yeah, I remember,\" he replied and then took Heero\'s lips in a shattering kiss.

Trowa hugged Quatre close to his lean frame. \"You be careful, Quatre.\"

Quatre sighed as he nestled against Trowa. \"I will. You don\'t have to worry about me as I will be quite safe here. You are the one that needs to be careful. Watch out for Heero, don\'t let him do anything stupid.\"

\"I\'ll keep an eye on him.\"

\"You\'d better! I don\'t even want to think what Duo would do if Heero...\"

\"Hush. Everything is going to work out just fine. We\'re Gundam pilots, remember?\" Trowa tilted Quatre\'s tear filled eyes to meet with his own. \"I love you, Quatre Raberba Winner, so you make sure to keep in contact with us at all times, we\'re going to need you in charge to pull this off.\" Trowa lowered his lips and kissed Quatre soundly.

\"I love you too, Trowa Barton. You had better come back to me.\"

\"It\'s time.\" Wufei\'s voice broke the tender moments and the four other pilots broke apart. They walked hand in hand to the cargo bay where the small shuttle awaited them.

Howard took Heero and Trowa aside and handed them both weapons, which were quickly hidden away on their person. With a last minute hug and kiss good bye, Heero and Trowa entered the shuttle and prepared to leave the Zodiac.

Quatre went with Howard back to the bridge where he could coordinate the mission from. Wufei and Duo went to the other cargo bay and climbed into their new Gundams, checking the systems and then buckling up in their harnesses.

\"Operation \'Kick ass\' is now in progress,\" Duo said over the com link, his trademark grin in place.

\"By Nataku, let this all end swiftly and peacefully,\" Wufei muttered to his deity as he powered up the mecha. \"Let\'s see what you have... Puff.\"

~ * ~

tbc........

[1] See the first fic in this arc: \"Lost Souls\"