Yes, it's about darn time. Now for my usual apology: I'M SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG! The writer's block was unbelievable, but I finally managed to do something with this story *falls over from the shock*. I hope it was worth the wait!

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing. There. I said it! :p



Chapter 9
A Day of Surprises




"Put them over there - and get Stark down here for God's sake, unless one of you wants to deliver that baby," he spat, annoyance seething through his words.

"Sir!" After a quick salute, Marius Kahn's officers set out in search of Quinze's elderly physician, but not before casting a look of extreme distaste in Relena's direction - how dare she decide to have her baby now and distract them from the glory that lie ahead; the new age that Quinze and Marius had promised them, where the powers of the earth would be decimated and control would lie with the space colonies, where it belonged.

Relena sunk down to the cold marble floor of Lowen Palace's Great Hall, wearily resting a hand on her stomach while trying to catch her breath. The contractions were coming at regular intervals, the time between growing alarmingly short. She mentally fought against yet another wave of panic threatening to overtake her: What were these men going to do to them, to her husband, to her kingdom... to her baby? Her only comforts lay in the fact that her brother and the others had not been captured - and that Heero was here with her and safe, at least for the time being.

The world had seemed to take on a fuzzy quality as Heero squinted, trying to focus on his surroundings. His whole body ached, and he struggled to sit up, gaining no compliance from his limbs. He could feel Relena's hand holding his own, and he gave a slight squeeze to let her know that he was awake. She all but jumped, and slowly slid closer to lean down and talk to him.

"Heero," she whispered, close to tears, "Are you alri-...?"

"Yes," he lied, trying to ignore the pain coming from what he was sure were fractured ribs. "You?" he asked quietly, gritting his teeth as the determination to see their child born safely took hold. A few subtle movements, and he was on his feet - no amount of pain would stop him. Whatever Quinze and Kahn were planning, there was no way he was going to let it happen.

"Up and about already?" A raspy voice questioned from the shadows. Heero whirled around, standing protectively over Relena. He hobbled into the light, this twisted remnant of a man, scarred and broken, but Heero recognized him.

"Quinze."

"Moved up in the world since the last time we met, have you?" the older man taunted. "Betraying the colonies to protect the earth wasn't enough - you had to align yourself with the powers that oppress them, and become one of them."

"You're living in the past, Quinze," Heero growled through his teeth. "This is all meaningless - all the people of the earth and the colonies want is to just live in peace."

Quinze shifted his singular eye to Relena. "Turned him into a pacifist, too?" he smirked. "And now you've begotten a little pacifist brat to carry on the line," he chuckled to himself, still staring at Relena in a way that made Heero even more uneasy. Quinze wasted no time and pulled a gun from his belt. "I hear childbirth is unbelievably painful. Would you like me to save you the trouble, Lady Relena?"

Relena stiffened and stared at him defiantly as Heero placed himself between her and Quinze. At that moment, one of the doors burst open and Marius Kahn entered with Dr. Stark in tow. "I see you've found my offerings, Quinze," Marius smirked, stopping alongside the hunched older man as Stark made his way towards Relena. Quinze lowered his gun and looked to his younger officer.

"Is everything in place?"

"Yes, sir. And they seemed to have abandoned the gundams, though they took out all the Aries suits we had at this site."

"No matter. When communications are severed between the earth and the colonies, and we've moved on to attack Brussels and Luxembourg, a few suits won't matter when we have control of the gundams. Finally Operation Meteor will be carried out as it was meant to be."

Their conversation was interrupted by a wild eyed Dr. Stark. "This woman MUST be taken to a more comfortable room, she'll be giving birth within the hour."

"She stays here," Quinze said firmly. "I haven't decided whether or not to shoot her."

"You're a monster," Stark hissed, "and it has nothing to do with those scars on your face."

His words were answered by a swift blow from Marius Kahn. "You'll do well not to overstep your bounds, doctor, or you may find yourself past all medical help as well. She stays here."




"He's going in first," Duo whispered, casting a glance at Zechs as he descended the stairway from the mezzanine, leading towards the main level of the Great Hall.

"Sally, you're going to cover him from up here," Quatre said in a barely audible tone. "The rest of us will each take an entrance to the Hall and wait for his signal." Sally nodded in affirmation as the rest of the former pilots stealthily headed towards their targets. Keeping her eyes on the scene unfolding below, she couldn't help but wonder about where Lucrezia Noin had gotten to. They had split up in the catacombs while searching for Relena, but Noin hadn't appeared at their rendezvous point where she had met up with Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Zechs. She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of a gunshot and a scream. The doctor had fallen, and Relena knelt at his side. It was too late - he was gone.



"We told you Stark," Quinze mused standing over the kindly old man's lifeless body, "She stays here."



"That's right," a familiar voice echoed through the hall. "You'll be the ones who are leaving!"

The voice caught them by surprise. "Zechs Merquise - or should I call you Milliardo Peacecraft," Kahn said lowly, turning to acknowledge the tall blonde figure who had just entered the room and was aiming a pistol in their direction. "I was wondering when you would finally be joining us."

Zechs looked past Kahn and fixed his gaze directly on Quinze. "Your problem is with me, Quinze. Leave my sister out of this."

Quinze motioned for the dozen or so soldiers flanking the walls to surround Zechs as he hobbled towards his former ally. "You see, I simply can't do that. She is the reason you all betrayed us in the first place. She can't be allowed to corrupt further generations."

"She corrupted no one! You failed because your ideals were misguided- in all this time have you not seen the error of your ways?" Zechs pressed, never lowering his gun despite the fact that he was outnumbered and completely surrounded. Heero's eyes searched the room expertly. He saw them, at the corridors. A plan was already in place.

"This is war. Mistakes are subjective, wouldn't you agree?" Quinze asked, his raspy voice lilting as his remaining eye sparkled with delight.

"Gentlemen," Quinze said, addressing his men. "My trump card, if you would."

A pair of soldiers entered from one of the corridors carrying Noin between them. It didn't appear as though she were injurred, but she seemed to be barely conscious. Zechs' brow furrowed in concern and frustration as Quinze addressed him further. "I suggest you come quietly - you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Miss Noin in her delicate condition, would you?" Noin raised her head, sure that she had hear Zechs' voice. Quinze sidled up before her, cupping her chin in his good hand. "What is it with you people, thinking the world needs more little versions of yourselves? Why, Miss Noin, did you feel the need to create another little Milliardo? Hmmm, Miss Noin? Or should I be calling you Mrs. Peacecraft? When were you going to spread the happy news?" Quinze taunted further.

Duo let his jaw drop, momentarily distracted from the task of knocking a guard unconscious as quietly as possible. "Well, I'll be damned," he said to himself.

Relena looked up in surprise, tears still flowing across her cheeks for the murdered Dr. Stark. "Milliardo?" She whispered. Heero, kneeling beside his wife, glanced up as well, not believing what he was hearing. But guaging from Zechs' reaction, it was true.

Zechs was unable to conceal the look of shock that crossed his face as he lowered his weapon, the expression on his face asking how Quinze could possibly know.

"I have my sources," Quinze said, obviously very satisfied with himself. Zechs glanced around the room, checking to see that everyone had made it to their positions. He was just about to raise his arm to signal the others when the resounding click of a gun being cocked echoed through the vastness of the Hall.

This time it was Marius Kahn who stepped forward, a smirk overtaking his features. "Oh, it is a day for surprises, isn't it?" he stated in mocking glee. "Well, I have one more to add."

Heero held onto Relena as they both watched Marius make his way towards Quinze, training the gun on the rebellion's leader.

"Kahn, what is the meaning of this," Quinze stammered, his features twisting even more grotesquely as he regarded the young officer.

"Quinze... Quinze... I'm afraid you've outlived your usefulness, old man. You were merely a means to an end."

"Marius, what do you-?"

"I thank you," Kahn said, giving a short bow, "but I'm afraid that I don't need you getting in the way of what is rightfully mine."

Quinze, unable to speak, looked silently to Kahn for an explanation.

"Didn't Dekim ever tell you that he had another son?" Marius asked impatiently, waiting for Quinze to piece it together. "This new world belongs to the Barton family, as it should have eight years ago. My brother Trowa, murdered - his name stolen. My niece Mariemaia thwarted and my grandfather cut down. It's time now - to avenge them all. I am Marius Barton; this new world will be mine. And there is no place for you." Without another word Marius pulled the trigger. The blast rang out and a spray of crimson splattered against the white stone wall and Quinze slumped to the floor, his one eye staring blankly upwards as the life flowed out of him.

Marius turned around to address the other occupants of the room and raised his gun again, this time at Zechs. "And now, Milliardo Peacecraft, you will join him."

"Not today, buddy," Duo Maxwell shouted, aiming his own gun right at Marius while the others herded the remaining (and completely baffled) enemy soldiers against the wall, Quatre helping the still barely conscious Noin to a chair.

"I should have known - you do stick together, don't you?" their enemy spat, bristling and shouting as his eyes darted around the room. "But there's one in particular I want! Where is he? You're not him! Trowa! Where is the man who took my brother's name? Coward?! Where are you?"

"I'm here," Trowa calmly stated, walking forward.

"Drop your gun!" Duo warned Marius as he watched Trowa step closer to the crazed young man.

Trowa never diverted his gaze from the man who sought him. Marius stared in like kind.

"All these years I've waited - some small part of me hoping that Trowa was still alive. And then, then I knew it couldn't be true," Marius stated pathetically, trying to ward off the feeling that he was defeated, he continued. "That day when you first came to Lowen, after I'd come to the earth to find you. I knew all along. Trowa would have never betrayed Dekim's vision. Trowa would have never come to live on the filthy earth!" Marius cried out, the emotion choking him. "And then I saw you. You gundam pilots," he said desperately, weakly gesturing around the room. "I joined the Preventers, looking for a way to strike out against you. Then Quinze conveniently came along. TRAITORS! You all deserve to die." Marius crumpled to the floor, weeping for his lost vision, his lost family. "Do you know what it means to have a family?" he cried as the others watched him, bewildered. "Do you?" His gun skittered across the smooth marble floor as he collapsed. Trowa approached the man, and knelt down beside him in abject pity. Marius became still, and eventually quiet. Having made no movement for quite some time, he was able to catch Trowa by surprise when he lept up from the floor, knife in hand. "I'll see you dead if it's the last thing I..."

The bullet stopped him midsentence, and Wufei Chang lowered his gun and stepped towards the mortally wounded man. "This is the last thing you will do. I know what it is to have a family," Wufei said. "These people here are my family. And you will not harm them."

The knife slipped from Marius' grasp as he fell to the floor clutching his side. He tried to speak, but could only produce a fainst gurgling noise as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He felt the cold stone beneath him, and finally surrendered to the urge to close his eyes. The last of Dekim's sons drew a final deep breath and departed this world.

The stillness lasted for but a moment. A cry rang out from the opposite side of the Hall, breaking the air of silence and shock. Sally rushed down from the mezzanine and headed straight for Relena, who was resting in Heero's arms.

"Sally..." Relena gasped, "I can't... the baby..."

"Is coming - NOW!" Sally yelled, looking at the men surrounding her. "Heero, hold onto her - keep her as comfortable as you can. Quatre, Duo - towels and water, GO!" Sally looked around for the next person to bark orders at, finding Zechs attending to Noin, the only one left was, "Wufei! Come here! I need you to be ready with SOMETHING... here, your shirt!" Wufei removed his shirt and knelt down beside Sally.

"Ok, Relena, you need to push. Heero, hold her hand and help us count to ten." They counted slowly as Relena struggled to bring her child into the world. After reaching ten, Sally instructed Relena to take a deep breath and get ready to push again. Time passed slowly as Relena's cries resonated through the Great Hall. "One more time, Relena, you can do it!" Heero held on to his wife as she put forth the last bit of effort. "Wufei, are you ready? Wufei?" Sally looked over her shoulder only to see the great Wufei Chang topple over backwards, out cold. Looking around frantically, all Sally could do was yell. "Now is NOT the time to faint! Wufei!"

"The calvery is here!" Duo shouted, racing into the room with an armful of towels, Quatre on his heels with even more supplies.

"Here we go! Last push!" Sally said joyfully, lifting the newborn up. "Relena, Heero - meet your daughter!" Relena, as exhausted as she was, reached out with both arms towards the tiny child as Sally helped to clear the baby's airway. A lusty wail soon filled the hall, and the healthy little girl was washed, wrapped in a blanket, and placed in her mother's waiting arms.

"Hello, little one," Relena smiled as a pair of miniature blue eyes stared back at her. She looked up at Heero, who was gazing with wonder at little person before him. A tiny hand reached out and grasped his finger, and he bent down and planted a kiss on his daughter's forehead.

"I will always protect you," he whispered.

"And so will we," Trowa offered, with Duo, Quatre and a somewhat groggy Wufei nodding in agreement. "And so will we."


END


Ok, everybody all together now: AWWWWWWW... There will eventually be an epilogue, but now I feel like I can start my other fic with a clear conscience. My love and thanks to everyone who stuck with me here and kept reading... and reviewing. THANK YOU THANK YOU! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hugs! Stella